JAMES I; MARE LIBERUM 5 
like privilege to fish in the Irish seas was granted under 
similar conditions by the same queen to “The Company 
of the old Hans.” Foreigners desirous of fishing in English 
waters were, at this time, regularly granted licenses at 
Scarborough Castle. It was in the nature of things, how- 
ever, that foreigners should trouble to provide themselves 
with licenses only so long as the king of England was power- 
ful enough to enforce his ancient rights. As the glorious 
days of the Tudors departed English sea-power declined, 
and the ability of England to maintain her claims was so 
questionable that foreigners no longer paid attention to 
them. Not till 1635, when Charles I. demanded that all 
Hollanders fishing in the North Sea should provide them- 
selves with licenses bought from him, was there any re- 
assertion of this ancient right of the English kings to demand 
payment from foreigners for the privilege of fishing in the 
seas surrounding the English dominions.” 
The Stuarts, however, had brought to England such civil 
strife and turmoil as made it impossible for that country 
to maintain her position among the nations. As the glory 
of England waned, the power of Holland grew; and the 
beginning of the seventeenth century saw Holland no longer 
a mere dependency of Spain but the first sea-power in 
Europe. In 1581 the Hollanders had thrown off the Spanish 
yoke, and with all the energy of a young nation inspired by 
newly acquired freedom had embarked on such a career of 
maritime prosperity as Europe had never before witnessed. 
1Cal. S. P. Dom. Car. II., vol. 339. 
2Cal. S.P. Dom. Car. I., vols. 313, 319, 320. 
Nore.—Other kings and princes claimed like privileges; the Emperor 
of Russia, the kings of Denmark and Sweden, the Duke of Medina and the 
princes of Italy, all derived great revenues from the taxation of fishermen 
fishing on the high seas off their coasts. In the western parts of England 
itself, it was the custom for pilchard fishers to pay a tithe of their catch 
as tribute to the lords of the manors next the coast. Cal. S.P. Dom. 
Car. II., vol. 339, pp. 1-5. 
