384 ESOCID.E. 



That Pike were rare formerly, may be inferred from 

 the fact that, in the latter part of the thirteenth century, 

 Edward the First, who condescended to regulate the prices 

 of the different sorts of fish then brought to market, 

 that his subjects might not be left to the mercy of the 

 venders, fixed the value of Pike higher than that of fresh 

 Salmon, and more than ten times greater than that of 

 the best Turbot or Cod. In proof of the estimation in 

 which Pike were held in the reign of Edward the Third, 

 I may again refer to the lines of Chaucer, already quoted 

 at page 386. Pikes are mentioned in an Act of the Sixth 

 year of the reign of Richard the Second, 1382, which 

 relates to the forestalling of fish. Pike were dressed in 

 the year 1466, at the great feast given by George Nevil, 

 Archbishop of York. Pike are mentioned in the famous 

 " Boke of St. Albans," in the treatise on the art of 

 fishing with an angle ; the first edition of which is said 

 to have been printed at St. Albans in 1481, and again 

 at Westminster, by W. de Worde, in 1496.* Pike were 

 so rare in the reign of Henry the Eighth, that a large one 

 sold for double the price of a house-lamb in February, 

 and a Pickerel, or small Pike, for more than a fat capon. 



The Pike is strong, fierce, and active; swims rapidly, 

 and occasionally darts along with the rapidity of lightning. 

 The spawn is deposited among weeds in March or early 

 in April ; and at this season the spawning fish will be 

 found in narrow creeks or ditches that are connected with 

 the larger waters they at other times inhabit. 



The Rev. Revett Sheppard has noticed " an annual 

 migration of Pikes which takes place in spring in the 



* At the sale of the library of the late Duke of Roxburgh, an imperfect copy 

 of this edition produced 147i. 



