134 
EDIBLE BRITISH MOLLUSKS. 
is said by M. Cailliaud to be used for food in the spring 
(after the fish have spawned) by some of the inhabitants 
of St. Michel-Chef-Chef^ in the department of the Loire 
Inferieure. 
The Almond Whelk, or Red Whelk as it is sometimes 
called, Fusus antiquus, is eaten at Liverpool ; and great 
quantities are taken on the Cheshire coast. In Dublin, 
the fishermen use them principally for bait for tbe larger 
kind of fish, such as cod and ling, 'and only occasionally 
eat them boiled or pickled. The beautiful large white 
variety is dredged off the Irish coast. My largest speci- 
men from Dublin measures 6| inches in length and 34 
inches in breadth, and Mr. Jeffreys saw the shells used 
as lamps in the Shetland Isles by the northern fishermen. 
They are suspended from a nail in the wall or ceiling of 
the hut, by means of a piece of string, which is fastened 
round the shell in a triangular form. The inside is 
filled with fish-oil, and a wick of cotton or tow' is put 
into the canal at the extremity of the mouth.* 
In ^Antiquitates Culinarise,^ it is said that at the en- 
thronization feast of William Warham, Archbishop of 
Canterbury, in 1504, 8000 whelks were supplied at five 
shillings a thousand, and they were served up as an 
accompaniment to sturgeon; and amongst the dishes 
forming part of the second course^ we read of Sturgeo7i 
in foyle with welkes. 
In heraldry we find whelks used, and the arms of 
Sir John Shelley, of Maresfield, in Sussex, are sable, 
a fess engrailed between three whelk-shells or. The 
Shelly s of Lincolnshire bear, argent a chevron gules, 
between three whelks sable ;t and the crest of Venables 
* JeflPreys’ ‘ British Conchology,’ vol. i, p. Ixviii. Introduction. 
t Burke’s ^ General Armorie.’ 
