THE MINNOW 145 



except where It has been introduced artificially in the neighbour- 

 hood of Whithorn. 



I have eaten minnows, but it was many, many years 

 ago, as an Eton boy — a truly omnivorous animal — and 

 I am not impatient to repeat the experiment. Howbeit 

 the old writers commend them ; Izaak Walton giving 

 elaborate instructions how to make a minnow-tansy, wherein 

 the fish being gutted, but not washed, must be fried with 

 yolk of eggs, cowslips, primrose, and tansy. William of 

 Wykeham gave a great banquet at Winchester to Richard II. 

 and Queen Anne, and among the fish served were seven 

 gallons of minnows, costing lu. %d. Frank Buckland, 

 who quotes this instance, speaks well of minnows fried as 

 whitebait or pickled, but persons so treating them should 

 insist upon their being thoroughly cooked, forasmuch as, 

 in common with all the carps, these little fish are infested 

 with dangerous internal parasites. 



Notwithstanding the small culinary repute accorded to 

 minnows in modern days, they are of a high economic 

 value as food for larger fish, and may be safely and profitably 

 introduced into all streams where they are not native. The 

 easiest way to take them is with a shallow net attached 

 to an iron hoop two or three feet in diameter, weighted by 

 a bullet in the middle. A scrap of red cloth may be tied 

 within the net to attract them ; and the net must be 

 suspended from a pole, and lowered into the water where 

 minnows abound. They will scatter in alarm, but will soon 

 return, and, inspired by irresistible curiosity, will gather 

 thickly over the net, minutely inspecting every knot and 

 the bit of red cloth. As soon as they are busy discussing 

 the novelty and testing its edible qualities, raise the pole 

 quickly and you secure the whole company. 



