372 The Animal-Lore of Shahspeares Time. 
southward. One author actually affirms that the whale 
was designed by a kind Providence for the special purpose 
of, at certain seasons of the year, frightening the herring 
away from its native seas into those regions where it 
would be obtainable with greater ease by man; he did 
not care to inquire what might be the opinion of the 
herring on the subject. Mr. Mitchell refutes this notion 
of the shoals migrating from the North, and considers it 
more probable that, after the herrings have spawned, they 
return to the seas in the neighbourhood— 
ci where they continue, and where they feed until the spawning-season 
again approaches, while the fry, on being vivified, continues near the 
spawning-ground until it is of sufficient size to venture further.” 
(The Herring, 1864, p. 84.) 
The title of “ king of the sea ” was probably conferred 
on the herring in consequence of the great profit that 
some nations derived from the fishery. To account for 
the sovereignty of the herring, Nashe relates the follow¬ 
ing fable:—A falcon, which had escaped from confinement 
on its passage from Ireland, not finding its ordinary prey, 
struck at a fish, and thereby came within reach of a shark, 
which swallowed her, bells and all, at a mouthful. All 
varieties of birds, hearing of this murder of one of their 
aristocracy, determined to revenge the insult, and formed 
themselves into a league for the purpose of chastising the 
fishes. Information being carried to the fish by the 
puffin, they on their side prepared for the danger, and 
met in council to choose a king. The stronger fish, such as 
the whale and the dolphin, laughed contemptuously at 
the idea of peril, so the choice was limited to the weaker 
kinds. After much deliberation the selection fell on the 
herring, who was saluted with Vive le Roy by all present, 
with the exception of the plaice and the butte, who 
sneered at the newly chosen king, and for their mocking 
have wry mouths ever since. In remembrance of the 
