n8 NORTH SEA FISHERS AND FIGHTERS 



not been fishing, consequently the beds of fish were 

 undisturbed when the Yarmouth men got to work on 

 them. Salt, indeed, was so dear that herrings, when 

 caught in great abundance, had to be sold quickly for 

 what they would fetch, as the salt necessary for their 

 preservation could not be bought at a profitable rate. 

 There never was a better herring-fishery at Yarmouth 

 than that year's ; but salt was wanted ; " twelve herrings 

 a penny here fills many a hungry belly." 



The sea, indeed, was fuller of herrings than had 

 ever been known. No sooner were fishermen's nets in 

 the water than they were full, and some of the men had 

 been forced to throw three or four lasts overboard, 

 while others had lost their nets because of the enormous 

 numbers of herrings in them. Salt was, however, 13 

 a weigh and bay salt 12, so that the herring harvest 

 was not any great advantage to the reapers who could 

 not afford to pay such prices for the salt. 



It was for a long time the custom at Yarmouth to 

 send to the sheriffs of Norwich a hundred herrings, 

 which were to be baked in twenty-four pies or pasties 

 and sent to the lord of the manor of East Carlton, for 

 conveyance to the king. They are, or were, still sent 

 to the Clerk of the Kitchen's office at St. James's. A 

 bold attempt was made in 1778 to get more than the 

 equivalent of the herring-pies in return for the toll. 

 The sheriffs of Norwich attended personally with the 

 pasties and demanded six white loaves, six dishes of 

 meat out of the king's kitchen, a flagon of wine, a 

 flagon of beer, a truss of hay, a bushel of oats, a pricket 

 of wax, and half a dozen tallow candles. It was con- 

 veniently discovered that there was no precedent for 



