210 A PEW WORDS ON FEN-LAND. 



The evidence of a large Goose-feeder, as taken down by me, May 24, 

 1877, at Boston, runs as follows : — 



"I had one thousand Geese to fat last year; in 1862 I had seventeen 



hundred. Not so many are kept in this day, because the cottagers used to 



feed them on the banks, where they are not allow^ed to be now " *. [Thus 



'Hudibras' — 



" The law condemns the man or woman 

 Who steels the goose from off the common^ 

 But lets the greater felon loose^ 

 Who steals the common from the goose."] 



between 350,000 and 400,000 Blackbirds. They come to that island in vast numbers every winter 

 to feed on the berries of the myrtle and arbutus, with which the mountains are covered. Here they 

 become very fat ; and their flavour and perfume as food cause them to be much esteemed by the 

 gourmets of Paris." 



The Turdi of the Romans, fattened by thousands on figs and bread, were not the Thrush and 

 Blackbird, but the Fieldfare and Redwing. 



* The habit of keeping Geese is as old as Egypt ; and the tablet in the British Museum, 

 representing the flocks of them possessed by a large landowner, is well known. 



In 'Notes and Queries,' Dec. 8, 1877 (quoting the 'Pall Mall,' Dec. 3 previous), it is stated 

 that St. Martin's Day, " the Martinmas of our peasants, and not the modern Michaelmas, is the 

 orthodox goose-day. At all the great markets in French provincial towns the farmers' wives may 

 still be seen rivalling one another in the sleekness and whiteness of their best-bred and best-fatted 

 Goose. Goose-eating has gone out of fashion in France, and fat Geese are at a discoimt." 



In London I have obtained, from a well-informed source, the following statistics as to the 

 number of Geese consumed at Christmas 1877, on which I can rely : — 



In Leadenhall market arrived about 38,000. These were thus divided, viz. : — 



French 20000 



Dutch, fed in England 5000 



Irish, fed in England 5000 



Irish, killed in Ireland 5000 



English natives 1000 



Hambm'g and Belgium (very large) .... 2000 

 A great many Geese, both English and foreign, were sold direct to cooperative stores and 

 clubs, which never came to market. 



It is calculated by the above authority that about 100,000 Geese passed through the London 

 trade; each Goose averaged from 10 to 11 lb., and sold at from Bid. to Qd. per lb. These figures 

 show how much the breeding of English native Geese has declined. 



