56 THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE FISHING 



also to have free access to the various harbours and lochs 

 on the mainland opposite Lewis. In that island an armed 

 force was to be maintained by the Association, so that its 

 interests might be protected. So sanguine were the ex- 

 pectations concerning the enterprise that six acres of ground 

 near Deptford were fixed upon, on which " workhouses 

 and dwellings " were to be built for the poor people, who, 

 it was thought, would soon be employed by the company 

 in the spinning and making of nets. 1 As regarded the fish 

 caught, it was decided that all were to be sold within the 

 British Isles, " except the summer herrings, which are 

 only fit for the market in Muscovia, Poland, and other 

 islands." 2 



Unfortunately, however, the Association never had occa- 

 sion to carry more than a very few of these decisions into 

 effect. It was soon evident, indeed, that Mason and the 

 other managers of the undertaking were insufficiently 

 acquainted with the fishing grounds round the Lewis. 

 Great preparations were made, land being bought and fishing 

 stations erected for the curing and packing of the herring. 

 But the fish had first to be caught, and in this work, their 

 ignorance of local conditions so hindered the fishermen 

 of the Association that a great part of the outlay was lost. 3 



At first, however, all seemed favourable. Captain William 

 Buxton, for example, writes to Nicholas on May 25th, 1633, 

 that he has just arrived at the Lewis and found all going well. 

 The Earl of Seaforth he finds to be ready to do all that he 

 can to further the interests of the society, and this attitude 

 of the Earl animates the natives to do likewise. He thinks 

 the fishing in the Lewis will be very successful, not only 

 for herrings but also for ling and cod. 4 He hopes, indeed, to 



1 Cal S.P. Dom. Car. I., vol. 229, No. 95. 2 Ibid. vol. 229, No. 100. 



3 Simon Smith, A True Narrative of the Royal Fishings of Great 

 Brittaine and Ireland (1641). 



4 Cal. S.P. Dom. Car. /., vol. 239, No. 51. 



