the sellers of fresh fish, and the sellers of salt or
smoked fish. Besides salt and fresh herrings, an enormous amount of salted
mackerel, which was almost as much used, was brought from the sea-coast,
in addition to flat-fish, gurnets, skate, fresh and salted whiting and
codfish.

In an old document of the thirteenth century about fifty kinds of fish are
enumerated which were retailed in the markets of the kingdom; and a
century later the "Menagier" gives receipts for cooking forty kinds,
amongst which appears, under the name of _craspois_, the salted flesh of
the whale, which was also called _le lard de careme_. This coarse food,
which was sent from the northern seas in enormous slices, was only eaten
by the lower orders, for, according to a writer of the sixteenth century,
"were it cooked even for twenty-four hours it would still be very hard and
indigestible."

The "Proverbes" of the thirteenth century, which mention the freshwater
fish then in vogue, also names the sea-fish most preferred, and whence
they came, namely, the shad from Bordeaux, the congers from La Rochelle,
the sturgeon from Blaye, the fresh herrings from Fecamp, and the
cuttle-fish from Coutances. At a later period the conger was not eaten
from its being supposed to produce the plague. The turbot, John-dory,
skate and sole, which were very dear, were reserved for the rich. The
fishermen fed on the sea-dragon. A great quantity of the small sea
crayfish were brought into market; and in certain countries these were
called _sante_, because the doctors recommended them to invalids or those
in consumption; on the other hand, freshwater crayfish were not much
esteemed in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, excepting for their
eggs, which were prepared with spice. It is well known that pond frogs
were a favourite food of the Gauls and Franks; they were never out of
fashion in the rural districts, and were served at the best tables,
dressed with green sauce; at the same period, and especially during Lent,
snails, which were served in pyramid-shaped dishes, were much appreciated;
so much so that nobles and bourgeois cultivated snail beds, somewhat
resembling our oyster beds of the present day.

The inhabitants of the coast at all periods ate various kinds of
shell-fish, which were called in Italy sea-fruit; but it was only towards
the twelfth century that the idea was entertained of bringing oysters to
Paris, and mussels were not known there until much l