6 THE DUTCH GRAND FISHERY 
The feelings of Britain towards the Dutch changed at once 
with the altered position of Holland; the former attitude 
of easy toleration extended to a poor neighbour was changed 
to a feeling of jealous hatred for a rich and powerful rival. 
This growing animosity was fanned by the works of the 
numerous English pamphleteers who wrote concerning the 
wealth that the Hollanders were deriving from the North 
Sea. These pamphleteers, for the most part, boldly asserted 
that the North Sea, and in particular the parts near the 
coasts of England and Scotland,—and here the Hollanders 
frequently fished—were part of the British dominions, and, 
as such, should be reserved for the native fishermen. 
Though many such pamphlets appeared during the reign 
of Elizabeth, no action was then taken by England against 
Holland in the matter, since the queen was too much alive 
to the danger from Spain to permit herself to become in- 
volved in a quarrel with a people whose hostility towards 
the Spaniard rendered them a likely ally. The controversy 
therefore regarding the right of the kings of England to 
**“Dominium Maris,’ did not reach a head until James I. 
ascended the throne of England. It was such a question 
as James, with his love of legal detail, loved to discuss, 
and he devoted himself zealously to the task of maintaining 
the ancient claims of his kingdom. Before his accession to 
the throne of England, James had already had considerable 
experience of Dutch encroachment. His Scotch subjects, 
particularly those resident in the island of Lewis, had com- 
plained frequently to the king concerning the aggressive 
tactics pursued by the Dutch. 
No foreigners had fished off the island of Lewis till 1594, 
when the Hollanders began to fish in the seas about the 
island by virtue of a license, which kept them, however, at 
a distance of twenty-eight miles from the shore. Finding 
the fishing there a highly lucrative one, the Dutch had 
repeatedly asked James to sell them a little island called 
