28 
EDIBLE BRITISH MOLLUSKS. 
tious^ especially when boiled with milk."^ It is astonishing- 
how quickly an expert cockle-gatherer will fill his basket ; 
and sometimes they make use of a piece of bent iron^ or 
half an old hoop^ to scrape the shells out of the sands. 
At Starcross, they have small “ cockle-gardens/^ where 
the shellfish are kept ; and the flavour of these cockles 
is considered superior to those which are found else- 
where. The costume of the women who gather them is 
anything but becoming large fishermen^s boots^ their 
dresses so arranged as to resemble very large knicker- 
bockers^ and an old hat or handkerchief on their heads^ 
with their baskets on their backs. 
I am told that some of the Gower people^ on the north 
side of the seigniory of Gower (a Flemish colony in Gla- 
morganshire)^ live nine months in the year on cockles. 
They also carry large quantities to Swansea market^ 
whence they are sent to London. 
Mr.Baines^in his ^Explorations in South-West Africa/ 
tells us that cockle-shells are greatly prized by the Da- 
maras^ and^ if they are rich enough to afford it^ one is 
worn in the hair over the centre of the forehead ; and 
he addS;, that if some friend at home would invest three- 
halfpence in these favourite mollusks^ and send him the 
shells after his meal^ he might make his fortune. In 
the British Museum a fishing-net is exhibited^ from the 
Friendly Islands^ with cockle-shells fastened on it to 
sink iL instead of leads. Cockle-shells are also used 
for making garden walks^ and good lime is made from 
them when they are calcined. 
In the heraldry of Prussia the cockle-shell is used. 
Barry of four^ argent and azure^ semee of cockle- 
* ‘ Visits to the Seacoasts : Shipwrecked Mariners/ vol. xii. p. 32, 
1866. 
