THE KING'S CORMORANTS. 261 



fish with cormorants. James himself, who was a great 

 sportsman, kept trained cormorants for many years, and 

 was accustomed to travel about the country with them, 

 fishing as he went. 



We have seen a curious MS. diary* in the British 

 Museum, written in old French, by Hans Jacob Wurmser 

 v. Vendenheym, who accompanied Lewis Frederick, Duke 

 of Wurtemberg, in his diplomatic mission to England in 

 1610, from which it appears that the Duke, proceeding by 

 Ware, Royston, Cambridge, and Newmarket, arrived at 

 Thetford on the /th of May,-f- where King James the First 

 was then amusing himself with hunting, hawking, and 

 fishing with cormorants. 



The entry with reference to the cormorants is as 

 follows : 



Lundy THETFQRD 



5. E. soupa dercchef avecq sa Ma' e , Lesquel en sortans 

 de table, entrerent en carrosse pour aller a la riviere, 

 ou Us virent des Cormorants, oyseau qni par signe que 

 maistre qui les addresses leur donne, se plangent sons 

 I'eanx et prennent des Anguilles et antre poisson ; lequel 

 aussy par signe Von le faict rendir et vomir tons vifs, 



* This diary is amongst the additional MSS. in the British Museum. It is 

 bound in soft parchment, and entered in the catalogue as "Wurmser, H. J.: 

 Travels with Louis, Count (?) of Wurtemberg, 20,001." 



f The presence of the King at Thetford at this date, as on other occasions, is 

 recorded in the ' ' Progresses, Processions, and Magnificent Festivities of King 

 James the First," as published in four volumes by John Nichols, F.S.A., in 1828. 



