404 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



been regarded as valuable. It was formerly used for the borders 

 of the king's robes. See the 'Laws of Howel Dha,' a.d. 940, 

 wherein the value of a Marten's skin was fixed at 24 pence, a 

 large sum in those days, the skin of a Wolf, Fox, and Otter being 

 valued only at 8 pence, while the rarer Beaver was 120 pence. 

 This was not overlooked by Sir Walter Scott, who, when 

 describing the royal garb of a Scottish king, thus alludes to 

 the ancient mode of bordering it with fur : — 



11 His cloak of crimson velvet piled, 

 Trimmed with the fur of Marten wild." 



Marmion, canto v. 



Before the Union of Scotland with England, i. e. prior to 

 1707, the fur of the Marten formed a lucrative article of export 

 from Scotland. For some remarks on Irish Marten skins and 

 their value in former times, see ' Zoologist,' 1881, p. 442. 



Under the name Martern, Martron, or Matron, it is to be 

 found mentioned in mediaeval wills, inventories, household 

 accounts, and other records.* For example, in an Inventory of 

 Serjeant Keble's goods, taken in July, 1500, we find amongst other 

 entries, " a jacket of black velvet furred with Marten's skins, 

 £1 6s. 8d."t So also do we find this fur noticed under the name 

 foine orfoyne, evidently of French origin. Thus in an account of 

 a Lord Mayor's show in 1566, when Sir William Draper was 

 Lord Mayor, forty-six members of the Ironmongers' Company 

 are described as being clothed in satin cassocks, gowns furred 

 with foynes, and crimson satin hoods. J 



It would hardly be supposed that Martens were formerly to 

 be found included in a " bill of fare," but it would seem that in 

 Henry the Eighth's time they were considered good enough for 

 soup. In 1526, on the occasion of the marriage of Koger Kockley, 

 the eldest son and heir of Sir Thomas Kockley, to Elizabeth 

 Nevile, the daughter of Sir John Nevile, of Chete, in the county 

 of York, there was served up at the banquet, amongst other 

 delicacies, " Martens to pottage." For fish they had jowls of 



* See ■ Testamenta Vetusta,' p. 658 ; ' Book of Kates,' 1545, and an old 

 Inventory printed in the ' Archaeologia,' vol. xxx, p. 17, where mention is 

 made of " an olde cassock of satten edgod with Matrons.'''' 



f 'Gentleman's Magazine,' vol. xxxviii, p. 257. 



I ' Fercy Society,' vol. ix, p. 14. 



