HERRINGS AS REVENUES 63 



fishing voyages to what was at that time a 

 hostile country. 



In the reign of Henry II. herring formed part 

 of the revenue of the bishopric of Chichester. 



In 1155 Louis VI. of France prohibited his 

 subjects from buying anything in the towns 

 of Estampes but mackerel and salted herring. 



If Beuckels (see p. 101) had any merit as an 

 inventor it must have been in the introduction 

 of gutting the herring, since the "Kronikel van 

 Holland " tells us that in 1163 herrings were first 

 fished for in the Meuse, and the first fishery 

 established at Brielle. The fishermen of Zierik- 

 zee were the first to fish and pack herrings in 

 barrels ; those of Biervliet, where Beuckels was 

 born, the first to make use of a better method 

 of preserving the fish by cleaning the insides ; 

 while the fishermen of Zeeland, Holland and 

 West Friesland fitted out small vessels called 

 sabards or slabbaerts and joined in the fishing. 



In 1187 Philip II. granted a charter to 

 Liege which records the town's privilege of 

 buying and selling fresh and salted herring. 



King John in 1199 created Dunwich a free 

 burgh, for the annual payment of 120 pounds, 

 one mark of silver and 2,400 herring, a great 

 decrease on the payment in kind recorded in 

 Domesday Book. 



The earliest notice of the herring fishing of 

 Ireland is about the year 1202, when we read 

 that King John confirmed a donation of herring 

 to the abbey of Connal. 



