60 THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE FISHING 



herring fishing, " having the deputie of Ireland his war- 

 rand," and four French ships which came with some men 

 from Ayr, but which transported no merchandize " bot 

 herring and other fishes." 1 



In spite of their protests to the contrary, however, it 

 was clear to all that the men of the Isles were determined 

 to treat the members of the Association as trespassers, 

 and that they would hinder, as far as they could, the work 

 of the society. Nor was this to be wondered at ; the 

 islanders found themselves dispossessed of their natural 

 rights and confronted with the operations of a wealthy 

 corporation, which had already been granted great privi- 

 leges. The island landlord and tenant alike saw much 

 reason to fear an extension of those privileges in the future, 

 and knew well that complaint would be futile in a case 

 where the king himself was interested. Only by petty 

 acts of violence and hindrance could they show their 

 resentment of the situation thus forced upon them, but 

 they were not slow to avail themselves of every opportunity 

 that presented itself of inflicting some damage upon the 

 property of the Association, or of harassing its captains 

 and fishermen. 



On May 28th, 1635, the adventurers of the Association, 

 irritated by the tactics of the islanders, made formal com- 

 plaint concerning the conduct of the " country people " 

 of the Lewis, and, as a drastic measure, urged that none 

 should be allowed to carry on fishing operations near the 

 island " except those admitted by the Council for the 

 Fishing." 2 



On June 19th, 1635, the committee of the Association, 

 sitting with the Earl of Arundel and Surrey as chairman, 

 followed up this general complaint by a petition addressed 

 both to the King and the Council in Scotland, in which they 



1 Reg. Privy Council, Scotland, vol. v. (2nd series) pp. 414-416. 



2 Cal. S.P. Dom. Car. I., vol. 289, No. 62. 



