THE YORKSHIRE FEN 291 



It is a favourite corner. We crept up to the place. 

 Thirteen fine wild-duck rose, for a previous party had 

 evidently acted unconsciously the part of " decoys," and 

 three were shot. One, a beautiful drake, fell across the 

 stream, which was deep, and icy cold. Local knowledge 

 here came in usefully ; a sheep-trough on wheels was 

 fetched and run out into the water, and with the pier 

 so made, and the aid of the shepherd's crook, the fine 

 mallard was secured. 



Mr. Eagle Clarke, in the interesting paper referred 

 to above, has given a history of an ancient duck decoy 

 about three-quarters of a mile from the junction of the 

 St. Catherine's brook and the river Thorne, which was 

 owned by the Corporation of Doncaster. He thinks it 

 probable that Sir Cornelius Vermuylen's Dutchmen, who 

 settled on the reclamation, first introduced the art of 

 decoy-making into England. The decoy on these 

 " carrs " "dates from at least as early as the year 1657, 

 when it was either erected or acquired by the corporation 

 of Doncaster as an investment for certain moneys 

 intrusted to it for the benefit of the poor. It is curious 

 that in the very earliest days of decoys in England we 

 should thus find a public body selecting such an 

 innovation as an investment." Mr. Clarke supposes 

 that the success of the Dutch in other decoys in the 

 Yorkshire fen encouraged the Doncaster corporation to 

 construct one. In any case they devoted two sums of 

 100 and ,60, money left for the poor, to making the 

 decoy, and made a special embankment of over three- 

 quarters of a mile in length, still called " Decoy Bank," 



