160 THE HERRING FISHERY 



Government paid the bounty, rendered the 

 enterprise unprofitable, and it was given up. 



In 1795 there were further modifications of 

 the Acts of 1786 and 1787. Inhabitants of the 

 United Provinces who had been employed in 

 catching herrings were allowed to bring their 

 catches into any British port free of duty, and 

 to receive bounties on the export of such fish, 

 on taking the Oath of Allegiance to the King 

 of England, Dutch fishermen being invited 

 to bring their vessels, nets and furniture into 

 England free of charge and to become free- 

 holders of land. Many Dutch fishermen were 

 then prisoners of war in this country, but the 

 hardships of the salt laws, and the want of 

 communication between the fishing villages 

 and the more cultivated parts of North Britain, 

 discouraged them from availing themselves of 

 the inducements offered by the British Govern- 

 ment. 



In 1799 the British Society for the Encour- 

 agement of the Herring Fisheries was em- 

 powered to give premiums to persons distin- 

 guishing themselves by catching and curing 

 the fish, or in making soap and oil of those 

 that could not be used for food — and they 

 could be reckoned by the million. So great 

 indeed was the number caught around the 

 south-east coast of Scotland at the beginning 

 of the nineteenth century that, although the 

 failure of the Swedish industry led to a corre- 

 sponding importation of Scottish herrings into 



