148 BRITISH FRESH-WATER FISHES 



tench, and quotes Mr. Masefield, of Ellerton, as having 



done so frequently ; * but doubtless a more brilliant fish 



would attract more pike. 



The flesh of the tench is very variously reported on 

 by difi^erent writers. Ausonius, writing in the fourth 

 century, is perhaps the earliest reference. In his 



tenth idyl, treating of the Moselle, this poet wrote : — 



Quis non et virides vulgi solatia tineas 

 Norit, et alburnos praedam puerilibus hamis, 

 Stridentesque focis obsonia plebis alausas.t 



This is neither praise nor blame. Richard Franck, who 

 had a fine contempt for coarse fish in general, is more emphatic, 

 observing of the tench, *' Let me tell you he's a delicious 

 morsel." Others condemn the meat as insufferably muddy in 

 flavour ; but, no doubt, this varies according to the seasonal 

 condition of the fish ; and, having regard to its usual stagnant 

 haunts, where the mud is often deep and fetid, the tench 

 probably improves for the table if submitted to a period of 

 purification and feeding in a clean stew-pond. For myself, I 

 can testify that it is the only one of the Carp Family that I have 

 ever eaten with relish. That was in the month of May, at the 

 wayside tavern of Meung-sur-Loire, a village made illustrious 

 for ever as the scene chosen by Dumas to introduce the 

 immortal d'Artagnan to his million readers. Arriving there 

 from Orleans near midday on our bicycles, we were served with 

 an excellent dejeuner, whereof the only features that remain 

 bright in memory are the good red wine and a dish of small 

 tenches delicately fried in oil. 



Except this fleeting interview with the tench on the banks 

 of the Loire, my personal acquaintance with this fish is limited 



* British Fresh-water Fishes, p. 49 (1895). 



t " Who does not know the green tenches, a boon to the common 

 folk ? and the bleak, a prey for schoolboys' hooks ? and shad, hissing on 

 the hearths, fish-fare for the people ? " 



