WHICH INTRODUCES THE PIKE 11 



pounder from Lough Earn in Ireland was the largest pike 

 he ever handled. 



Some anglers seem to think that pike and jack are two 

 separate and distinct fish, but this is not so ; years ago it 

 was a recognized thing to call this fish if under five pounds 

 a jack, but a pike if he exceeded that figure ; gradually the 

 distinctive title has been abandoned, and, no matter how 

 large or small, they are now more often called jack than 

 pike. 



Very old pike are extremely ugly and disgusting ; as 

 great age creeps on them they get thinner and thinner, 

 the huge head and fins, together with an eel like body, 

 giving them a sour and truculent appearance. I re- 

 member being in at the death of two of these brutes ; one 

 was more than a yard in length and only weighed 6| lb., 

 the other was more than four feet and only tipped the 

 beam at sixteen pounds odd. 



Pike are a pretty ancient fish ; as far back as the reign 

 of Henry II the fish formed part of the coat of arms of 

 the family of Lucie; this is one of the earliest recorded 

 instances of fish being used in English heraldry. We are 

 told that " during the reign of Edward I this fish was so 

 very scarce and dear that very few could afford to eat it, 

 the price being double that of salmon, and ten times higher 

 than either turbot or cod." A well-known authority 

 says that the reason of this is most likely the fact that pike 

 had then only just been introduced into this country, 

 and as a natural consequence was very scarce. Coming 

 down a little later to the time of Edward III we find that 

 " this fish was most carefully preserved, kept in stews, and 

 fed. In 1446 pike was one of the chief dishes at the High 

 Church festival given in that year by George Neville, 

 Archbishop of York. During the reign of Henry VIII 

 it fetched as much again as house lamb in February ; and 

 a very small pickerell was dearer than a fat capon, and 

 pike figured on all the menus of civic banquets in London 

 and elsewhere for many generations." 



