272 EELS 



obedience to the literal Scripture, a special ban seems 

 to have fallen upon eels — partly, no doubt, because of 

 their similitude to snakes, but probably more particularly 

 because they fall under the Mosaic definition of what is 

 unclean : ' Whatsoever hath fiins and scales in the waters 

 . . . them shall ye eat; and all that have not fins and 

 scales in the waters . . . they shall be an abomination 

 unto you.' I'he eel, by the bye, does possess scales, but 

 these may have escaped observation by scrupulous divines, 

 seeing that they are exceedingly small and deeply im- 

 bedded in the skin. 



Now, seeing how greatly appreciated the eel is in 

 England, it is strange that the practical Scot has not 

 turned the abundance of that creature to better account. 

 London imports many hundreds of tons of eels annually 

 from Holland and Ireland, and doubtless could take an 

 indefinite number more. I have seen it stated that the 

 eel-fisheries of the Bann alone produce a rent of £2000 a 

 year. Some day the Scottish peasantry may wake up to the 

 partiality of their English compatriots for eels, and turn 

 the abundance in their own waters to profitable account. 



As with eels now, so it once was with blackberries. 

 I was wont to deplore the lavish crops of this excellent 

 fruit which used to be allowed to rot unheeded. Now it 

 is different. Partly to supply jam factories, partly to 

 meet the demand from dye-works, a regular seasonal 

 industry has sprung up in 'black boyds,' as they call 

 bramble-berries in my country, and hundreds of tons of 

 this once-neglected product are sent south by rail every 

 autumn. 



The highly-educated modern specialist must often con- 

 tent himself with the vocables of untutored primitive 



