XII. 



FISH STEWS. 



ARCHAEOLOGICAL investigations in the north are 

 constantly bringing to light remains of two insti- 

 tutions which once played a not unimportant part 

 in the domestic economy of our ancestors. These 

 are Pigeon Cotes and Fish Stews. They were 

 mostly attached to the old manor-houses and 

 baronial halls, and probably at one time there 

 were few of these strongholds without them. To 

 fully appreciate the value of their products, we 

 must go back to a time when the art of fattening 

 cattle was but little understood and rarely prac- 

 tised. At this period the supply of animal food 

 proved wholly inadequate to the demands of the 

 community, for the stock fed out of doors in 

 autumn was killed off by Christmas, and but little 

 fresh meat, except veal, appeared in the markets 

 before the ensuing midsummer. The more sub- 

 stantial yeomen and manufacturers provided 

 against this inconvenience by curing a quantity 



