322 AN ANGLER'S RAMBLES 



in which it is pursued. Some of the fish on our Scottish coasts 

 are of a much more sportive nature than others. Among these, 

 the one of which there is the greatest abundance holds a prior 

 claim upon our -notice, I mean the pollack. This fish, which, 

 although its appearance is in its favour, for it has a symmetrical 

 build, and both fore and aft is well-shaped and proportioned, 

 engages little attention from the British public in an edible 

 point of view. As an article of food, in many of the places 

 where it is caught, it is no doubt used extensively, but it is 

 rarely brought to market under any one of its numerous designa- 

 tions. That species or variety, however, named the lythe, in its 

 adult stage is by no means bad eating. It excels, in my esti- 

 mation, the mackerel and the rock-cod, particularly in respect to 

 firmness, a quality which, I am quite aware, London epicures 

 hold in disregard ; so also do those habit and repute fush-eaters, 

 the Shetlanders, who give preference to this, their usual diet, 

 when it has arrived at a state bordering on decomposition. 

 Such a perverted taste cultivated at the extremes of the island 

 is happily not universal. It does not prevail, as yet at least, in 

 respect to the king of fishes, in such royal landing-places as 

 Newburgh, Speymouth, and Berwick-on-Tweed, where, without 

 a certain amount of curdiness and consistency, fish-flesh is held 

 in utter disrelish, the cooking and flavouring of it with rich 

 sauces being looked upon as a direct interference with its flavour 

 and wholesome properties. 



The pollack of our coasts admits of at least two distinct 

 species, the saithe or coal-fish (Merlangus carbonarius), and the 

 whiting-pollack, or lythe. These, in their early stages, are called 

 indiscriminately podlies, dargies, cuddies, and sillocks. There 

 is scarcely a rock or harbour connected with our shores round 

 which they are not established in various depths of water, ac- 

 cording to their size and the season of the year. The largest 

 are usually found in tangle-covert, at a depth varying from two 



