XIL 
FISH STEWS. 
ARCHAOLOGICAL investigations in the north are 
constantly bringing to light remains of two insti- 
tutions which once played a not unimportant part 
in the domestic economy of our ancestors. These 
are Pigeon Cotes and Fish Stews. They were 
mostly attached to the old manor-houses and 
baronial halls, and probably at one time there 
were few of these strongholds without them. To 
fully appreciate the value of their products, we 
must go back to a time when the art of fattening 
cattle was but little understood and rarely prac- 
tised. At this period the supply of animal food 
proved wholly inadequate to the demands of the 
community, for the stock fed out of doors in 
autumn was killed off by Christmas, and but little 
fresh meat, except veal, appeared in the markets 
before the ensuing midsummer. The more sub- 
stantial yeomen and manufacturers provided 
against this inconvenience by curing a quantity 
