JAMES I; MARE LIBERUM 5 



like privilege to fish in the Irish seas was granted under 

 similar conditions by the same queen to " The Company 

 of the old Hans." Foreigners desirous of fishing in English 

 waters were, at this time, regularly granted licenses at 

 Scarborough Castle. 1 It was in the nature of things, how- 

 ever, that foreigners should trouble to provide themselves 

 with licenses only so long as the king of England was power- 

 ful enough to enforce his ancient rights. As the glorious 

 days of the Tudors departed English sea-power declined, 

 and the ability of England to maintain her claims was so 

 questionable that foreigners no longer paid attention to 

 them. Not till 1635, when Charles I. demanded that all 

 Hollanders fishing in the North Sea should provide them- 

 selves with licenses bought from him, was there any re- 

 assertion of this ancient right of the English kings to demand 

 payment from foreigners for the privilege of fishing in the 

 seas surrounding the English dominions. 2 



The Stuarts, however, had brought to England such civil 

 strife and turmoil as made it impossible for that country 

 to maintain her position among the nations. As the glory 

 of England waned, the power of Holland grew ; and the 

 beginning of the seventeenth century saw Holland no longer 

 a mere dependency of Spain but the first sea-power in 

 Europe. In 1581 the Hollanders had thrown off the Spanish 

 yoke, and with all the energy of a young nation inspired by 

 newly acquired freedom had embarked on such a career of 

 maritime prosperity as Europe had never before witnessed. 



1 Gal. S. P. Dom. Car. II., vol. 339. 



z Cal. S.P. Dom. Car. I., vols. 313, 319, 320. 



NOTE. Other kings and princes claimed like privileges ; the Emperor 

 of Russia, the kings of Denmark and Sweden, the Duke of Medina and the 

 princes of Italy, all derived great revenues from the taxation of fishermen 

 fishing on the high seas off their coasts. In the western parts of England 

 itself, it was the custom for pilchard fishers to pay a tithe of their catch 

 as tribute to the lords of the manors next the coast. Cal. S.P. Dom. 

 Car. II., vol. 339, pp. 1-5. 



