132 THE HERRING FISHERY 



into British ports. Each vessel was to carry 

 twelve Winchester bushels of salt for every last 

 of herrings the vessel was capable of holding ; 

 the barrels for the fish were to be new, and each 

 vessel of 70 tons was to have two fleets of nets. 

 There were various other provisions as to the 

 interest on the capital subscribed for the ven- 

 ture, which capital might be provided under the 

 name of a fishing chamber of a city or port. 

 The Royal Charter of Incorporation was granted 

 on October 11th, 1750. 



The scheme did not succeed commercially. 

 The gear and vessels were bought at very 

 expensive rates, more people were employed 

 than necessary, and more fish caught than could 

 be sold either in this country or abroad in 

 competition with the better cured herrings 

 in the established markets of the Dutch. 



Oliver Goldsmith in his essay " On the 

 Instability of Worldly Grandeur," 1759 (The 

 Bee), refers to the British White Herring 

 Fishery Company. He says : " A few years 

 ago the herring fishery employed all Grub 

 Street ; it was the topic in every coffee-house, 

 and the burden of every ballad. We were to 

 drag up oceans of gold from the bottom of the 

 sea ; we were to supply all Europe with 

 herrings upon our own terms. At present we 

 hear no more of this. We have fished up very 

 little gold that I can learn ; nor do we furnish 

 the world with herrings as was expected. Let 

 us wait but a few years longer, and we shall 



