﻿FISHES. 
  

  

  257 
  

  

  England 
  in 
  the 
  reign 
  of 
  Henry 
  VIII., 
  in 
  1537 
  How 
  

  

  far 
  this 
  may 
  be 
  depended 
  upon 
  I 
  cannot 
  say, 
  for 
  this 
  fish 
  is 
  

   mentioned 
  in 
  the 
  Boke 
  of 
  St. 
  Albons, 
  printed 
  in 
  the 
  year 
  

   1496 
  .... 
  great 
  numbers 
  of 
  Pike 
  were 
  dressed 
  in 
  the 
  

   year 
  1466, 
  at 
  the 
  great 
  feast 
  given 
  by 
  George 
  Nevil, 
  Arch- 
  

   bishop 
  of 
  York." 
  This 
  was 
  in 
  the 
  reign 
  of 
  Edward 
  IV. 
  "Pikes 
  

   are 
  mentioned 
  in 
  an 
  act 
  in 
  the 
  sixth 
  year 
  of 
  the 
  reign 
  of 
  

   Richard 
  II." 
  

  

  No 
  record 
  exists, 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  I 
  know, 
  of 
  the 
  introduction 
  of 
  the 
  

   Pike 
  into 
  Scotland, 
  yet, 
  seeing 
  that 
  the 
  fish 
  was 
  held 
  in 
  such 
  

   high 
  estimation, 
  it 
  seems 
  reasonable 
  to 
  suppose 
  that 
  it 
  had 
  

   been 
  brought 
  hither 
  by 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  clergy 
  during 
  the 
  time 
  

   the 
  great 
  religious 
  houses 
  held 
  almost 
  absolute 
  sway, 
  fish- 
  

   ponds 
  being 
  usually 
  an 
  adjunct 
  to 
  monasteries, 
  priories, 
  and 
  

   the 
  religious 
  institutions, 
  where, 
  whatever 
  else, 
  gastronomy 
  

   was 
  never 
  neglected. 
  

  

  Much 
  has 
  been 
  said 
  and 
  written 
  regarding 
  the 
  longevity 
  

   of 
  the 
  fish 
  and 
  vitality 
  of 
  its 
  ova. 
  In 
  Cox's 
  Gentleman's 
  

   Recreation, 
  published 
  in 
  1697, 
  under 
  the 
  " 
  Noble 
  and 
  Delightful 
  

   Art 
  of 
  Angling," 
  p. 
  44, 
  it 
  is 
  said 
  : 
  " 
  The 
  Pike 
  is 
  a 
  very 
  long- 
  

   lived 
  creature, 
  and, 
  if 
  we 
  may 
  credit 
  Sir 
  Francis 
  Bacon, 
  or 
  

   Gesner, 
  that 
  famous 
  Brutologist, 
  he 
  outlives 
  all 
  other 
  fish, 
  

   which 
  is 
  a 
  pity, 
  he 
  being 
  as 
  absolute 
  a 
  tyrant 
  of 
  the 
  fresh 
  

   waters 
  as 
  the 
  salmon 
  is 
  the 
  king 
  thereof." 
  

  

  Regarding 
  the 
  ova, 
  in 
  the 
  report 
  of 
  the 
  British 
  Association 
  

   for 
  1845, 
  Bishop 
  Stanley 
  " 
  relates 
  several 
  facts 
  which 
  went 
  

   to 
  show 
  that 
  the 
  grains 
  of 
  the 
  roe 
  of 
  Pikes 
  were 
  deposited 
  in 
  

   the 
  thatch 
  of 
  a 
  cottage, 
  where 
  they 
  remained 
  for 
  some 
  years, 
  

   and 
  then 
  when 
  the 
  thatch 
  had 
  been 
  thrown 
  into 
  a 
  dry 
  ditch 
  

   that 
  afterwards 
  was 
  filled 
  with 
  rain, 
  young 
  Pikes 
  were 
  seen 
  

   to 
  be 
  produced 
  " 
  ! 
  ! 
  

  

  Formerly 
  many 
  virtues 
  were 
  attributed 
  to 
  the 
  Pike 
  in 
  the 
  

   healing 
  art. 
  In 
  Salmon's 
  Neio 
  London 
  Dispensatory, 
  published 
  

   1676, 
  p. 
  241, 
  "they 
  are 
  said 
  to 
  live 
  about 
  two 
  hundred 
  years." 
  

  

  Notwithstanding 
  the 
  encomiums 
  that 
  have 
  been 
  bestowed 
  

   upon 
  the 
  Pike 
  as 
  an 
  article 
  of 
  food, 
  it 
  is, 
  in 
  my 
  opinion, 
  about 
  

   the 
  vilest 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  fish 
  in 
  our 
  waters. 
  

  

  In 
  1839, 
  eleven 
  Pike 
  were 
  put 
  into 
  the 
  Moriston 
  river, 
  

   and, 
  in 
  1843, 
  four 
  or 
  five 
  Pike 
  were 
  put 
  into 
  Loch 
  Tongue 
  

   (head 
  of 
  the 
  Moriston 
  river) 
  by 
  Daniel 
  Lank 
  and 
  Donald 
  

   Gillies. 
  

  

  