92 THE HERRING IN HISTORY 



fifty poor people on Maundy Thursday, he 

 gave each twelve pence, three ells of good 

 canvas for shirts, a pair of shoes, and a cask of 

 red herring. 



In 1563 a statute was passed containing 

 many clauses for the encouragement of English 

 shipping and seamen in order to support the 

 Navy. Among its clauses is one intended to 

 assist the herring fishery by allowing herrings 

 and other fish caught on our coasts to be ex- 

 ported free of duty, and another, of far-reach- 

 ing wisdom, providing that no foreign ship 

 should carry any English goods along the coast 

 from one English port to another. 



National policy and national trade then 

 went together. 



In the famous Household Book of the Percy 

 family the breakfast for the Earl of Northum- 

 berland and his lady consists of, among other 

 things, a quart of beer and a quart of wine, 

 two pieces of salt fish, six baconed herrings, 

 four white herrings, or a dish of sprats. 

 " Baconed herrings " are no doubt the high 

 dried red herring ; I have heard them called 

 " ham herrings " in the Fakenham district of 

 Norfolk, and ham-cured herrings is a descrip- 

 tion used by some London fishmongers to-day. 



In 1563 Caspar Seelar, a German, and in 

 1565 Francis Berty, a Frenchman, were given 

 grants to make salt in England for the fishing 

 industry. 



Dr. John Dee in " The Petty Navy Royal " 



