40 INTRODUCTORY 



be carried through all Europe. No where are they 

 so well cured as at Yarmouth. The poorer sort 

 make it three parts of their sustenance. It is every 

 man's money, from the king to the peasant. The 

 round or cob, dried and beaten to powder, is a cure 

 for the stone. A red herring drawn on the ground 

 will lead hounds a false scent. A broiled herring is 

 good for the rheumatism. The fishery is a great 

 nursery for seamen, and brings more ships to Yar- 

 mouth than assembled at Troy to fetch back Helen.'* 



At the end of "The Praise of the Red 

 Herring," he boasts of being the first author 

 who had written in praise of fish or fishermen : 

 Of the latter he says : — 



" For your seeing wonders in the deep, you may 

 be the sons and heirs of the prophet Jonas ; you 

 are all cavaliers and gentlemen, since the king of 

 fishes chose you for his subjects ; for your selling 

 smoke, you may be courtiers ; for your keeping 

 fasting days, friar-observants ; and, lastly, look in 

 what town there is the sign of the three mariners, 

 the huff-capped drink in that house you shall be 

 sure of always." 



The kippered herring is lightly salted, dried, 

 split open and gutted and then heavily smoked ; 

 it is a valuable fish food, obtainable all the 

 year round, although to some it is indigestible. 

 Kippers, strictly speakmg, should contain no 

 roes. 



The word " kipper " is derived from the 

 Dutch " kippen " = to hatch, and is particularly 

 applied to fish after they have spawned. In 

 Holland, the salmon, which is almost worthless 

 in that condition as food if eaten fresh, was 



