358 The Animal-Lore of Shahsjpeare’s Time. 
saltire with coronets over their mouths; J or he may have only re¬ 
iterated his assertion, saying ‘ The same fish is an old coat/ and the; 
printer, misled by f fresh fish/ may have made it ‘ salt fish/ ” 
The Sea Pike, Merluce, or G-arefish was a curious- 
Garefish l°°ki n g fish which preceded the mackerel 
in their annual visit to shallow waters. It 
was taken in considerable numbers on the east coast. 
Harrison classes it with congers, eels, and other long fish. 
Sir Thomas Browne gives a more correct description 
of it:— 
“ The acus major , called by some a garfish, and greenback, 
answering the figure of Rondeletius, under the name of acus primas 
species, remarkable for its quadrangular figure, and verdigrease-green 
backbone.” 
Stow describes a pageant on the return of Edward I., 
after his Scotch victory, in which there were “ sixe and 
fortie armed knightes riding on horses, made like luces 
of the sea.” Whether the garefish is here intended is 
uncertain, and it is somewhat difficult to imagine either 
a knight or a horse, for it is not quite clear which is 
meant to represent the fish, being “ made up ” into such 
a totally different shape. 
The name sea-pike was also given to the hake. 
In Marlowe's Edward II., the King inquires of 
Lancaster ■ what device he has chosen for tho 
Flying*- s • f or tp com i n g rejoicings upon the occasion of 
Gaveston’s return. Lancaster replies 
“ My lord, mine’s more obscure than Mortimer’s. 
Pliny reports there is a flying fish 
Which all the other fishes deadly hate, 
And therefore, being pursued, it takes the air : 
No sooner is it up, but there’s a fowl 
That seizeth it: this fish, my lord, I bear, 
The motto this*: undique mors esi” 
Edtvard, indignant at this implied threat, declares his> 
