60 THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE FISHING 
herring fishing, “having the deputie of Ireland his war- 
rand,” and four French ships which came with some men 
from Ayr, but which transported no merchandize “ bot 
herring and other fishes.” 1 
In spite of their protests to the contrary, however, it 
was clear to all that the men of the Isles were determined 
to treat the members of the Association as trespassers, 
and that they would hinder, as far as they could, the work 
of the society. Nor was this to be wondered at; the 
islanders found themselves dispossessed of their natural 
rights and confronted with the operations of a wealthy 
corporation, which had already been granted great privi- 
leges. The island landlord and tenant alike saw much 
reason to fear an extension of those privileges in the future, 
and knew well that complaint would be futile in a case 
where the king himself was interested. Only by petty 
acts of violence and hindrance could they show their 
resentment of the situation thus forced upon them, but 
they were not slow to avail themselves of every opportunity 
that presented itself of inflicting some damage upon the 
property of the Association, or of harassing its captains 
and fishermen. 
On May 28th, 1635, the adventurers of the Association, 
irritated by the tactics of the islanders, made formal com- 
plaint concerning the conduct of the “country people” 
of the Lewis, and, as a drastic measure, urged that none 
should be allowed to carry on fishing operations near the 
island “‘except those admitted by the Council for the 
Fishing.” ? 
On June 19th, 1635, the committee of the Association, 
sitting with the Earl of Arundel and Surrey as chairman, 
followed up this general complaint by a petition addressed 
both to the King and the Council in Scotland, in which they 
1 Reg. Privy Council, Scotland, vol. v. (2nd series) pp. 414-416. 
2Cal. S.P. Dom. Car. I., vol. 289, No. 62. 
