206 THE LAWS OF ANGLING. 



ton, lib. iii. fol. 150, Fleta, lib. i. cap. 36, which 

 we will suppose no angler to be possessed with), 

 yet whether by the word pond, we are to un- 

 derstand ponds at large, is perhaps of some 

 consequence for him to know. 



It is a rule in law, that personal goods, and 

 things severed from the freehold, shall go to the 

 executors, and not to the heir. Wentworth's 

 Office of an Executor, chap. v. And so shall fish 

 in a tank, or the like. Ibid. But Lord Coke, 

 in his Commentary on Littleton, fol. 8, tells us, 

 that fish in a pond shall go with the inheritance, 

 " Because," says he, " they were at their liberty, 

 and could not be gotten without industry, as by 

 nets or engines." 



From hence we may conclude, that fish in 

 ponds cannot be said to be mere personal goods ; 

 and then it follows as a consequence, that of such 

 fish larceny cannot be committed : and we may 

 farther conclude, that the word ponds, in the 

 above passage, must mean only stew-ponds, cis- 

 terns, or other such small receptacles of fish. 



Many wholesome laws have from time to time 

 been enacted, to prevent the destruction of fish ; 

 but they are so numerous, that I must refer the 

 reader to the Statutes at large, or to the Abridg- 



