he gives the watch-word, and the fishermen laying hold of the oblique rope, the net is bent round so as to enclose the salmon, while the others keep up an incessant discharge of stones, to prevent the fish from retreating, until the net has been completely drawn round them; when this is accomplished, they all unite their strength, and quietly drag the net and fish close to the rocks."* The rivers in the county of Kilkenny have been long celebrated for their salmon, the catching of which was of far greater importance some years ago than it is at present. Much was sent to Dublin in a fresh state; this was accomplished by means of a slight boiling, called setting, as soon it was taken from the water; of late, however, a very superior method of preserving the fish in a marketable state has been adopted, by packing them in boxes with ice. For this useful art we are indebted to the Chinese; and in consequence of its introduction into this country, the London market is now regularly supplied with fresh salmon from the remotest corners of Scotland.+ The country people in Kilkenny catch salmon with a snap-net suspended between two cots, which are small boats, flat-bottomed, narrow, equal at both ends, and governed by paddles; two men are in each boat, one of whom conducts it; when the fish feels the net drawn, the boats are immediately closed. The fish thus taken are sold chiefly at Ross and Waterford; and jolters find it worth their while to go from Kilkenny to Ross to purchase salmon, in the latter at three-pence per pound, which they retafl in Kilkenny for four-pence, these are the usual prices: they generally take upon a small car about three hundred weight, put into two small baskets.‡ On the Nore, as far as the tide extends, there are several weirs for the catching of salmon; most of them are ebb weirs, open to the descending currents, and are fished only during the latter half of the ebb. The wings, which are staked and wattled, project through that part of the river where the current is weakest, so as not to impede the navigation, and are only as high as the surface of the water at half flood. At the angle formed by their juncture, the fisherman has a seat raised upon four framed posts, where he holds the net. Flood weirs are more injurious, as they catch the fish in their ascent; of these there are few either in the Suir or the Nore. In the Barrow there are no weirs, but the quantity of fish has been much lessened by the navigation and mills; as the river is slower, and more weedy, its salmon are in less estimation than those of the other rivers, though formerly, perhaps, more numerous. Above the place where the tide ceases, they are taken in different ways, of which cross fishing is the most destructive. The quantity of salmon, particularly in the Nore, has decreased very much within the last forty years, owing, perhaps, to various Hamilton's Letters concerning the Northern Coast of Antrim, p. 105-109. + On scait qu'a la Chine on forme sur des batteaux des especes de glacieres, au moyen desquelles on transporte à Canton du poisson frais et bon à manger, qu'on a pris dans des provinces fort eloigées. Duhamel Traité des Pesches, P. ii. p. 283. Tighe's Kilkenny, published in 1800, p. 151. causes; one of the principal is, the number of mills, into the dams of which, the young fry enter, and fare there destroyed. In these pools, it is said, they have been taken up in such quantities, as to be given to the pigs. This is a great abuse of the indulgence which millers enjoy, of being permitted to convert a public stream to their private benefit. Another injury to the salmon fishery is the practice of catching them out of season, at illegal times, and in illegal ways. There are, indeed, many acts of parliament which expressly forbid abuses of this kind, but they are not much enforced.* There is a considerable salmon fishery on the River Liffey, in the county of Dublin, belonging to Sir William Worthington; which gives employment to eighteen men, six on the river, and twelve at Poolbeg, from the first of January to Michaelmas. During the season, from ninety to two hundred fish are caught every week, which are sold on an average at from sixteen to eighteen shillings each. The fishery extends from the weir at Island Bridge, to the Light-house at Poolbeg.+ In the Nore a fish is found called the salmon peal, which has a great resemblance to the salmon, but it is not so large. I never heard of any that exceeded twelve pounds in weight. Willoughby considers this fish as a young salmon ;‡ but Mr. Tighe says that the fishermen always assert, that the salmon and the peal are distinct species, and that they can distinguish the fry of the one from that of the other. The fry of the peal are said to come down the rivers later than those of the salmon, and the peal itself mounts the river at a different season.§ EEL weirs are common in almost all the rivers of Ireland." There are some large ones at and near Enniskillen, where great quantities of these fish are caught. They are not natives of the lake, but come from the sea when very young, and are intercepted on their return. They never take a bait, nor are they ever known to eat any kind of food. Lord Belmore has kept some in boxes for a year, and found this to be the case. The country people catch them by extending across the water a band of hay, in which they get so entangled, as not to be able to disengage themselves, and by these means are easily taken. Those which proceed up into the lake return in autumn, and at that period they weigh, on an average, about three pounds each. They are sold at Enniskillen for five or six shillings per dozen; but if sent to Dublin, they bring 16s. 3d. Those not sent to the capital are cured in barrels, each of which contains eight dozen, and are sold at Belturbet fair at 40s. per barrel. Eighty dozen are sometimes caught here in one night."|| Near the falls of Belleek, in Fermanagh, there is an eel weir belonging to Mr. Paken * Tighe's Survey of Kilkenny, p. 149-152. VOL. II. + Archer's Survey of Dublin, p. 120. Tighe's Survey of Kilkenny, p. 154. Extract from my Journal, Castle Coole, Sept. 5th, 1808. Hist. Pisc. p. 191. N ham, which is let at £120. per annum, and there are three other weirs near that place, which are let at £100. each. There is an eel weir also near Ballyvally.* At Coleraine there is an eel fishery belonging to Lord Donegal, who lets it for £1,000. per annum. Eels are sold here at four-pence the pound. This fishery has been the subject of much litigation between the London Society and the family of Donegal; and in 1802, the dispute was still pending in Chancery. In the reign of James I., the Lord Deputy Chichester obtained a grant of fisheries on the Bann; but this grant was afterwards repurchased in favour of the London Society, In the time of the Common Wealth, Cromwel granted to one of the Skeffington family, the right of the eel fishery of the Bann, in lieu of a certain pension which this family claimed from government. After the Restoration, the Londoners agreed to take out a new charter; but Lord Chichester had the precaution three months before, to obtain from the crown a grant, not only of his former possession, but also of the fishing from Lough Neagh to the rocks, that is to say, to the cuts. In this transaction, the lease granted by Cromwel to Skeffington was conveyed over to Chichester. It appears, however, that Skeffington remained quietly in possession of the fishery for many years; till having ousted a tenant, who was acquainted with the history of the whole affair, this person apprized the Donegal family, who then took the occupation from the Skeffingtons into their own hands, and put their own tenants into immediate possession. The eels come up from the sea in the beginning of May, and having fattened in Lough Neagh, and the upper rivers, they return in September to breed. In these four months they increase from the size of a small pack thread, to the thickness of a man's wrist, and in some instances to that of his leg. The county of Dublin is distinguished for the goodness of its eels, some of which are caught in Tullagheen river, and near Fieldstown, where they are exceedingly abundant. They are called silver eels, on account of their white colour, which they acquire from the superior purity of the water; the bottom consisting either of sand or gravel. Those that live in mud are yellow bellied, and of a less agreeable taste.§ The sand eel, which is about seven or eight inches long, is very frequent in the loose sand near the sea coast in various parts of the country. Dr. Rutty says it is agreeable food, and serves to supply the necessities of the poor. These sand eels are found in great number at Ross Strand, and in the great sandy beach near Castlefreke, in the county of Cork. They are from six to twelve inches in length, have a sharp snout, with an almost transparent body, and are a very de → Journal Church Hill, September 6th, 1808. + Ibid, September 16th, 1808. - Sampson's Survey of Derry, p. 328-330. p. Rutty's Natural History of Dublin, p. 352. licate fish for the table; in taste somewhat resembling the smelt. In the beginning of the summer they make their appearance on the coast, and are then taken with small nets, the meshes of which are very close. In September and October they come higher up upon the sands for the purpose of spawning, and the quickness with which they pierce the sands, with sharp snouts and slender bodies, is truly surprising; for, unless speedily secured, they penetrate to a considerable depth and escape. When the tide has retired, the peasants assemble in great numbers on the strand, with shovels and baskets; and while the men turn up the sand, the women and boys collect the fish; they seldom fail to return with a full load. The night, as well as the day, is employed in this occupation; and sometimes a thousand persons, who exhibit a curious and interesting scene, are engaged in it at one time. Some, standing up to the middle in water, scrape through the sand with an old reaping-hook fastened to the end of a stick, and throw the eels on the shore. They are sold in the markets of Cloghnikilty, and while the season lasts, they materially contribute to the subsistence of the poor.* Whether the inland fisheries of Ireland, as at present carried on, are useful or detrimental to the country, is a point which requires some consideration; for it can hardly be supposed, that the benefit arising from the food which they supply, can be any equivalent for the mischief they occasion from the damming up of the water, by which thousands of acres are flooded at all seasons, and the quantity of land thus destroyed to render these beds prolific. Besides, they are the source of law suits without end, occasion frequent quarrels, and are the cause of much ill-will among neighbours.+ A great portion, of the inhabitants of Ireland being catholics, to whom large quantities of fish are necessary for Lent and fast days, fisheries in such a country, are objects of no small importance. This food is much in use among the people, yet the land carriage is both inconvenient and expensive. London is tolerably well supplied with this article, by machines, in which they are conveyed from Harwich, Brighton, and other places; but in the mackarel season it must yield, in this respect, to Paris, though the latter stands at a much greater distance from the sea. In the maritime Townsend's Survey of Cork, p. 356, 357. + Theauthor of the Survey of Clare says, that eel weirs are the chief cause of the very great damage done to lands on the banks of rivers; but chiefly those built of stone with a narrow mouth, for if they are constructed with wattles like those in the Shannon, the mischief is by no means so great, because the water finds a passage through them. An eel weir that lets for, perhaps, ten pounds per annum, is frequently the cause of damage to land to the amount of upwards of a thousand pounds a year, and often much more; yet the proprietors of land have not the spirit to bring it before a jury, though, it is highly probable, that it is illegal to erect any others than those constructed with wattles, or at least it ought to be so. Dullon's Survey of Clare, p. 234.. counties of Ireland fish is not uncommon ;* but in the inland parts, such as Carlow, it is exceedingly scarce. Dublin is remarkably well supplied with fish; but this kind of food falls chiefly to the opulent class of citizens, and is by no means the common subsistence of the inhabitants of that populous city. The number of wherries belonging to the county in 1801, were as follows: These wherries carry each seven or eight men, and receive a bounty from government of twenty shillings per ton. The hands are all engaged upon shares, two of which go to the owner of the wherry. Those, therefore, which carry eight hands are divided into ten shares. In the season they catch cod, ling, haddock, ray, herrings, &c. They generally complain that the parliamentary bounty is too small, on account of the great rise of iron, hemp, and other articles necessary in their occupation. Besides these wherries, there are about twenty smacks and five seine nets, occupied in the salmon fishery between the Bay of Dublin and Dunleary. These smacks receive no bounty, and with many other small boats are employed in the proper season in catching herrings. At Dunleary there are also eleven yawls, and at Bullock. seven, engaged in fishing for whiting, pollock, and herrings.+ At Kinsale there are four hundred boats, called hookers, generally of about twenty tons burden, employed in fishing, which afford an ample supply of fish to the markets of Cork, Kinsale, and Bandon. These vessels are excellent sea-boats; they go out in all weathers, and are exceedingly serviceable to ships in the way of pilotage. Four men form the usual complement of each crew, and their service, both as fishermen and pilots, is deemed of such utility, as to procure them an exemption from im * April 8th, 1808. There is an excellent fish market at Galway; the greater part of the people of the neighbourhood being fishermen. A large sized turbot may be purchased here sometimes for 16d. A crown is considered as a very high price. Salmon costs 15d. per pound; at the time of the assizes it is 2s. 6d., bus sometimes it is so low as 6d. + Archer's Survey of Dublin, p. 119, 120. |