106 bachelor's hall. 



dinner consisted of Severn fish, sucTi as we no longer 

 have in the river. There were eels cooked in 

 various ways, flounders, perch, trout, carp, grayling, 

 pike, and at the head of the table that king of 

 Severn fish, a salmon. 



Dihdin : " This is a treat. Squire, and I can readily 

 understand now why the Severn should be called 

 the * Queen of Rivers ; ' it certainly deserves the 

 distinction for its fish, if for nothing else.'' 



Mr. Forester : " Do you know, Dibdin, that fellow 

 Jessop, the engineer, set on by those Gloucester 

 fellows, wants to put thirteen or fourteen bars or 

 weirs in the river between here and Gloucester ; 

 why, it would shut out every fish worth eating.'' 



" What could be his object?" asked Dibdin. 



" Oh, he believes, like Brindley, that rivers were 

 made to feed canals with, and his backers — the 

 Gloucester gentlemen, and the Stafi'ord and Wor- 

 cester Canal Company — say, to make the river 

 navigable at all seasons up to Coalbrookdale ; but 

 my belief is that it is intended to crush what bit of 

 trade there yet remains on the river here, and to 

 give them a monopoly in the carrying trade, for our 

 bargemen would be taxed, whilst their carriers would 

 be free, or nearly so." 



