6 
CAKP. 
to have attamctl to an l.undred years; but even this is said to 
have been consi,.erably exceeded in some instances, although on 
evidence that may be considered doubtful. 
There is reason for supposing that the Carp -n^as not originally 
a native of Britain; and its power of living long out of water- 
renders it highly probable that it may have been brought to 
this country, as we know it has been conveyed to others, from 
very distant places. But on the other hand, Leonard Clascal 
affirms that it was himself who introduced it in the reign of 
Henry the Eighth; which boast could only shew that he had 
conveyed it to places where it was not before known; for it is 
referred to as a known, although not common, fish in the Book 
of St. Albans, a portion at least of which is believed to have 
been written or compiled by Dame J uliana Berners, and the 
fishing portion of which was printed with the rest by TEynkyn 
de Worde toward the end of the fifteenth century. It is not 
unreasonable to believe that we owe the possession of this fish 
in the first place to the sagacious industry of monks, who were 
accjuainted with it as a pleasing addition to their table, and a 
variation from the more common of the inhabitants of our 
streams. 
It is believed to have been introduced into Ireland still more 
recently than into England, and its progress from place to 
place in all cases has been slow ; so that it is only in recent 
times it has obtained a residence in the extreme west of England; 
which circumstance however, may be explained by the fact that 
there are there no slow-moi'ing rivers to suit its habits; and 
the cost of forming a pond, which is essential to its preservation, 
is unnecessary, in conseq^uence of the abundance of the fish of 
the sea so easily procured. 
That these ponds were regarded as important in the economy 
of noble and gentle houses in inland situations, at a time when 
a fish diet formed a portion of the religion of all orders of 
society, appears from a variety of authorities in the domestic 
history of our country; and much expense was employed in 
forming them, while severe laws were enacted to keep them 
safe from such as sought to observe the ritual at the expense 
of their honesty, or who may have coveted delicacies of which 
they grudged the possession to their superiors. 
The value formerly set on these ponds is shewn by the fact 
