esh cow's
milk, and to tell the person who sells it not to do so if she has put
water to it; for, unless it be quite fresh, or if there be water in it, it
will turn."

Fish and Shellfish.--Freshwater fish, which was much more abundant in
former days than now, was the ordinary food of those who lived on the
borders of lakes, ponds, or rivers, or who, at all events, were not so far
distant but that they could procure it fresh. There was of course much
diversity at different periods and in different countries as regards the
estimation in which the various kinds of fish were held. Thus Ausone, who
was a native of Bordeaux, spoke highly of the delicacy of the perch, and
asserted that shad, pike, and tench should be left to the lower orders; an
opinion which was subsequently contradicted by the inhabitants of other
parts of Gaul, and even by the countrymen of the Latin poet Gregory of
Tours, who loudly praised the Geneva trout. But a time arrived when the
higher classes preferred the freshwater fish of Orchies in Flanders, and
even those of the Lyonnais. Thus we see in the thirteenth century the
barbel of Saint-Florentin held in great estimation, whereas two hundred
years later a man who was of no use, or a nonentity, was said to resemble
a barbel, "which is neither good for roasting nor boiling."

[Illustration: Fig. 100.--The Pond Fisherman.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut of
the "Cosmographie Universelle" of Munster, folio, Basle, 1549.]

In a collection of vulgar proverbs of the twelfth century mention is made,
amongst the fish most in demand, besides the barbel of Saint-Florentin
above referred to, of the eels of Maine, the pike of Chalons, the lampreys
of Nantes, the trout of Andeli, and the dace of Aise. The "Menagier" adds
several others to the above list, including blay, shad, roach, and
gudgeon, but, above all, the carp, which was supposed to be a native of
Southern Europe, and which must have been naturalised at a much later
period in the northern waters (Figs. 100, 101, and 102).

[Illustration: Fig. 101.--The River Fisherman, designed and engraved, in
the Sixteenth Century, by J. Amman.]

[Illustration: Fig. 102.--Conveyance of Fish by Water and
Land.--Fac-simile of an Engraving in the Royal Statutes of the Provostship
of Merchants, 1528.]

The most ancient documents bear witness that the natives of the sea-coasts
of Europe, and particularly of the Mediterranean, fed on the same fish as
at present: there were, how