16 COENISH PKOVEEBS AND EHTMES. 



And to reward every good thing, come ttie handsome Merchants. 



Look you for a tree thirteen foot long ; 



Put upon it stones five hundred-weight ; 



Three times in a day look you to it, 



Tor in the middle of y* month from it the oyl will fall. (J) 



This is the true way Pilchards to prepare ; 



In the best markets will they sell : 



Year after year let the Ships come, 



And with Pilchards full go out of Gwavas lake ; (c) 



Prom the shore let the North East wind blow them far, {d) 



Por the people of Hot countries to eat em all ; 



As is the plenty of Pilchards on all y* Coast, 



The more the people are impoverished, or enriched. 



Notes. 



{a) Garrach glos enKuz. — " Grey rock in the wood," here signi- 

 fies St. Michael's Mount. Carew writes " Cara Cowz en Clowze^^; 

 Camden and Norden simply " Careg Cowse." 



(b) The process of curing Pilchards is so curious that it may not 

 be amiss, in conclusion, to give a short account of it, without which 

 the above Poem can hardly be understood. The Pilchards, when 

 brought to shore, are placed in layers in cellars built for the pur- 

 pose ; a layer of salt being placed above each layer of fish. This 

 process, which requires great care and nicety, (every fish being 

 placed obliquely on its side, with its head outwards), is called 

 "bulking," and the pile thus erected "a bulk." This "bulk," 

 after about a month, is taken down, the bad and broken fish being 

 thrown away, and the good ones thoroughly cleansed in water. The 

 fish are then packed in a cask placed against the side of a wall ; a 

 pole thirteen feet long is procured, one end of which is inserted in 

 a hole in the wall immediately over the cask, while to the other end 

 is attached a heavy weight of stones ; the centre of the pole passing 

 over the top of the cask. This top, or lid, (called "the buckler") 

 is false ; and thus being heavily pressed by the weight of the lever 

 resting upon it, enters the cask, and in turn presses down its con- 

 tents. By this means a large quantity of oU is expressed through 



