THE PIKE FAMILY. 183 



at all difficult of explanation without any reference what- 

 ever to the cause which would appear to be assigned — 

 namely the recent introduction of the fish. Even on this 

 supposition^ however^ the argument fads, as it will be ob- 

 served that Pike were actually cheaper in the thirteenth 

 than in the fifteenth century, being valued in the former 

 (the reign of Edward I.) at " little more than the Salmon " 

 — then a very common fish, — ^whilst in the latter (the reign 

 of Henry VIII.) they sold "for double the price of a 

 house-lamb." 



But, as before observed, the comparative scarcity of 

 Pike is readily explicable on other grounds. It is well 

 known that, as late as the close of the fifteenth century, 

 it was the custom for most great houses, abbeys, and 

 monastic establishments to have attached to them pre- 

 serves or stew-ponds, containing supplies of fresh-water 

 fish. In this way the productive ponds of the country must, 

 in great measure, have been monopolized, and their owners, 

 being generally wealthy people, would, we can imagine, but 

 rarely allow their produce to find its way into the open 

 market. Thus purely fresh-water fish became a delicacy 

 only within the reach of the rich, and hence the high price 

 of every description of such fish, as shown by existing 

 records. The Salmon, on the contrary, being procurable 

 in great abundance from the sea — and lacking therefore 

 this artificial stimulus — would naturally realize only a fair 

 market value in proportion to other descriptions of food. 



The numerous and widely-difiering dates which have 



