276 NATURE AND WOODCRAFT. 



CHAPTER XXYI. 



PIGEON-HOUSES AND FISH-STEWS. 



Archaeological investigations in the North are 

 constantly bringing to light remains of two 

 institutions which once played a not unim- 

 portant part in the domestic economy of our 

 ancestors. These are Pigeon-cotes and Fish- 

 stews. They are mostly attached to old Manor- 

 Houses and Baronial Halls, and probably at one 

 time there were few of these strongholds with- 

 out them. 



To fully appreciate the value of their pro- 

 ducts we must go back to a time when the 

 art of fattening cattle was but little under- 

 stood and rarely practised. 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 



