A HISTORY OF DORSET 



mention Corfe herrings,' and occasionally Corfe 

 hake. 



Now and again Cornish fishing boats came 

 sailing into Poole, maybe bound on a deliberate 

 trading venture, perhaps driven up Channel be- 

 fore a sou'-wester, or fleeing from the pirate or 

 alien privateer. Early in February,' 1467, such 

 a squadron of the Cornish fishing fleet arrived 

 together, the George and Michael of Fowey, the 

 Catherine and Margaret of Mousehole, and the 

 Saint "Jamei {Sen 'Jame') of ' Ive.' 



The George carried 20s. worth of hake, 'mill- 

 well,' and ling, and half a last of herrings valued 

 at 1 01., and is. bd. subsidy was paid to the 

 king's officers. The Michael, of Fowey, may 

 have been a slightly bigger boat, and brought 

 2 marks' worth of fish called ' hakis,' half a mark's 

 worth of ' puUokes,' 3 burden of ' milwell,' and 

 ling valued at the same amount, and of less im- 

 portance, 2,000 herrings * in rowme ' worth 

 20d.y and 2 cades of herrings priced at 10^. 

 The master paid in subsidy 2s. i^d. Rather 

 less than a month before, on 16 January, Wey- 

 mouth had also received a like visit from the 

 Andrew and Peter of Fowey, and the Thomas 

 and Michael of [St. Michael's] Mount. 



Ships from the Netherlands, Normandy, and 

 the Channel Islands brought in salted fish, con- 

 gers, and broad fish, and took away much cloth 

 on their return voyages. In February,* 1467, 

 a Zeeland ship, beside hops, brought in 3 lasts of 

 herrings worth ^9, on which qs. subsidy and 

 2s. id. customs duty were paid, 6 barrels of 

 salmon worth 5 marks, on which a quarter of 

 a mark subsidy and lod. in customs were due, 

 and half a hundred of salt fish at 6/. ^d., on 

 which the customs duty was only id. and the 

 subsidy ^d. 



Some of the local ships also did a large trade 

 carrying cloth, salt, and other commodities 

 abroad and bringing back fish. For instance, on 

 5 February, 1 468, the ' creyer ' Mary^ of Poole, 

 with Robert Johnson as master, brought in as 

 cargo 45^ lasts of herrings valued at ^^18, 8 cades 

 of red herring at a quarter mark the cade, 3 bar- 

 rels of red herring at half a mark the barrel, and 

 1 7 barrels of herring at \s. the barrel, besides 

 700 hake at i mark the hundred, a barrel of 

 salmon value 6i. Sa'., and 300 dry hake at 3;. i^d. 

 the hundred. The subsidy paid amounted to 

 jTi 95.3;^. Manyyearslater, 23 October, I503,we 

 hear ^^ of a local skipper, German Walsche, landing 

 from his boat, the Peter, of Poole, ten congers ^^ 

 worth 35. 4^., on which he paid 2d. subsidy, 

 and also 4 dozen ' breyms, couners and why- 



* See K.R. Cust. Accts. late fifteenth century, /jw/ot. 



' K.R. Cust. Accts. bdle. 119, No. 8. 



» Ibid. 



' Ibid. No. 9. '" Ibid. bdle. 120, No. 10. 



" In a thirteenth-century grant from Mary, abbess 

 of Shaftesbur}-, to her butler, congers are mentioned 

 as well as plaice, rays (skate ?), and salmon. 



tynges,' worth 20a'., on which only \d. was 

 demanded. 



In the Isle of Purbeck the local fisheries were 

 very active in the sixteenth century, and the 

 exercise of the craft was regulated by ancient 

 customs enforceable in the local courts. A ver}- 

 frequent presentment ^' is that made by the 

 tithings of Studland, Ower, and Swanage, on 

 17 October, 15 13, that certain persons are 

 ' common fishers on the sea coast {costream maris) 

 in their boats, and do not keep their tides [tldas) 

 as of ancient time they are bound to do.' The 

 offenders were amerced j^d. each. Other com- 

 mon ofiFences" detrimental both to the health 

 and pockets of the lieges were visited with an 

 amercement of 3a'., when Richard and Thomas 

 Weryng and Robert Symondsold ' pisces fetosos 

 ac male olentes,' and likewise took excessive 

 gain. 



In 1538 Leland described Lyme as 'having 

 good ships and using fishing,' " Lulworth and 

 Swanage being also mentioned as ' fisher towns.' '* 

 Lyme was ' frequented with fishermen ' in Cam- 

 den's time.'* 



The fisheries of Dorset, in addition to that of 

 the pilchard, have been the mackerel fishery, 

 which still flourishes along the coast from Abbots- 

 bury to Bridport, the oyster fishery of Poole, 

 and the Newfoundland fisherj', to which Poole, 

 Weymouth, Lyme Regis, and sometimes Brid- 

 port, formerly sent their ships. This fishery, 

 however, has long passed into the hands of 

 Newfoundland fishermen.^' 



The fisheries were largely drawn upon for the 

 conventional offerings to great personages, which 

 invariably took the form of local products. 

 Shrlmpls (prawns) of Lyme were thus presented 

 by the mayor in 1557, at a cost of 4^. per 

 hundred, crabs ' given to Mr. Poulett,' costing 

 from 2d. to ^d. each.'* In the same year 

 Sanders Davy was paid 2s. 2d. to carry a broad 

 (flat) fish to my Lord St. John, the manner of 

 taking this fish, it may be mentioned in passing, 

 being with baited hooks set along a ground-line 

 called a trot.'^ From a bill for shellfish bought 

 for an entertainment offered to the judges on 

 circuit at Lyme, in 1674-5, some idea may be 

 gleaned of market prices at that date. Thirty 

 lobsters cost j^i ioj., six crabs, 6x., 100 scallops 

 5J., 300 oysters 45.°" According to Bohn, 



" P.R.O. Ct. R. bdle. 169, m. 13 (5 Hen. VIII). 



" Ibid. (38 Hen. VIII). 



" Leland, Itin. iii, 48. '' Ibid. 



'^ Camden, Brit, i, 51. 



" The chief traffic of Poole in 1826 was said to be 

 the Newfoundland fishery. Paterson, Roads, 380. 



" Roberts, Soc. Hist. Southern Counties, 10. 



" Ibid. 10. 



'" Ibid. 2 5 . Brownsea Island was noted for crabs 

 and shrimps in the seventeenth century, Swanage en- 

 joying the like reputation for lobsters and crabs. 

 Fiennes, Through Engl, on a Side-saddle, 6, 7. 



354 



