Early English Meals and Manners Part 52

Cap. xxvij.

[Sidenote: Dolphin or Mermaid.]

++Delphin{us} is a mo{n}ster of the see, & it hath no voyce, but it singheth lyke a man / and towarde a tempest it playeth vpon the water.

Some say whan they be taken that they wepe. The delphin hath none cares for to here / nor no nose for to smelle / yet it smelleth very well & sharpe. And it slepeth vpon the water very hartely, that thei be hard ronke a farre of / and thei leue C.xl. yere. & they here gladly play{n}ge on instrumentes, as lutes / harpes / tabours / and pypes. They loue their yonges very well, and they fede them lo{n}ge with the mylke of their pappes / & they haue many yonges, & amonge the{m} all be .ij.

olde ones, that yf it fortuned one of {th}e yonges to dye, tha{n} these olde ones wyll burye them depe in the gorwnd [_sic_] of the see / because othere fisshes sholde nat ete thys dede delphyn; so well they loue theyr yonges. There was ones a kinge {tha}t had take{n} a delphin / whyche he caused to be bounde w{i}t{h} chaynes fast at a hauen where as the shippes come in at / & there was alway the pyteoust wepynge / and lamentynge, that the kinge coude nat for pyte / but let hym go agayne.

Cap. x.x.xi.

[Sidenote: Echeola, a Muscle.]

++Echeola is a muskle / in whose fysshe is a precious stone / & be night they flete to the water syde / and there they receyue the heuenly dewe, where throughe there groweth in the{m} a costly margaret or orient perle / & they flete a great many togeder / & he {tha}t knoweth {th}e water best / gothe before & ledeth the other / & whan he is taken, all the other scater a brode, and geteth them away.

Cap. x.x.xvi.

[Sidenote: Echinus.]

++Echyn{us} is a lytell fysshe of half a fote longe / & hath sharpe prykcles vnder his bely in stede of fete.

Cap. x.x.xvii.

[Sidenote: Esox.]

++Ezox is a very grete fisshe in that water danowe be the londe of hu{n}garye / he is of suche bygnes that a carte with .iiij. horses can nat cary hym awaye / and he hath nat many bones, but his hede is full / and he hath swete fisshe lyke a porke, and whan this fysshe is taken, tha{n}ne geue hym mylke to drynke, and ye may carye hym many a myle, and kepe hym longe quicke.

x.x.xviii.

[Sidenote: Phocas. Kills his wife and gets another.]

++Focas is a see bulle, & is very stro{n}ge & dangerous / and he feghteth euer with his wyf tyll she be dede / and whan he hath kylled her, than he casteth her out of his place, & seketh another, and leueth with her very well tyl he dye / or tyll his wyfe ouercome him and kylle hy{m} / he bydeth alway in one place / he and his yonges leue be suche as they can

[Sidenote: Halata. Takes her young out of her womb to look at 'em.]

gete. -- Halata is a beste that dothe on-naturall dedys / for wha{n} she feleth her yo{n}ges quycke, or stere in her body / tha{n} she draweth the{m} out & loketh vpon the{m} / yf she se they be to yo{n}ge, tha{n} she putteth the{m} in agayne, & lateth them grow tyll they be bygger.

Cap. xl.

[Sidenote: Sword-Fish.]

++Gladi{us} is a fisshe so named because he is mouthed after the fascyo{n} of a sworde poynt / and ther-fore often tymes he perseth {th}e shyppes thorough, & so causeth them to

[Sidenote: Gastarios.]

be drowned. Aristotiles. Gastarios is a fisshe lyke the scorpion / and is but lytell greter than a spyder / & it styngeth many fisshes w{i}t{h} her poyson so that they ca{n} nat endure nowhere / and he styngeth the dolphin on the hede {tha}t

[Sidenote: Glaucus.]

it entreth in-to {th}e brayne. -- Isidorus. Glaucus is a whyte fissh that is but selden sene except in darke rayne weder / and is nat in season but in the howndes dayes.

Cap. xli.

[Sidenote: _Gudgeon._]

++Gobio is a smale longe fissh with a rou{n}de body / full of scales and litell blacke spottys / and some saye they leue of drou{n}de caryo{n} / & the fisshers say contrarye, {tha}t they leue in clere watere in sandye graueil / and it is a holsom

[Sidenote: Gravus.]

mete. -- Grauus is a fisshe that hath an iye aboue on hys hede, and therw{i}t{h} he loketh vp, and saueth hym from the{m} that wyll eat hym.

liii.

[Sidenote: _Pike:_ eats venomous beasts; is begotten by a West Wind.]

++Lucius is a pike / a fisshe of {th}e riuer w{i}t{h} a wyde mouthe & sharpe teth: whan {th}e perche spieth him / he turneth his tayle towardes him / & than {th}e pike dare nat byte him because of his finnes, or he can nat swalowe him because he is so sharpe / he eteth venimo{us} bestes, as todes, frogges, & suche like; yet it is sayde {tha}t he is very holsom for seke peple. He eteth fisshes almost as moche as himselfe / wha{n} they be to bigge, tha{n} he byteth the{m} in ij. peces, & swaloweth the one halfe first, & tha{n} the other / he is engendered w{i}t{h} a westerne wynde.

Cap. lvii.

[Sidenote: Sea-Mouse Musculus is the c.o.c.k of Balena.]

++Mus marin{us}, the see mouse, gothe out of the water, & there she laith her egges in a hole of the erthe, & couereth the eges, & goth her way & bydeth frome them x.x.x. dayes, and than commeth agayne and oncouereth them, & than there be yo{n}ges, and them she ledeth into {th}e water, & they be first al blynde. Muscul{us} is a fisshe {tha}t layth harde sh.e.l.lis, and of it the great monster balena receyueth her nature, & it is

[Sidenote: Sea-weazle.]

named to be the c.o.c.ke of balena. Mustela is the see wesyll / she casteth her yonges lyke other bestes / & whan she hath cast them, yf she perceiue that they shall be fou{n}de, she swaloweth them agayne into her body, and than seketh a place wher as they may be surer without dau{n}ger / & than she speweth them out agayne.

Cap. lix.

[Sidenote: _Lamprey._ Must be boiled in wine.]

++Murena is a lo{n}ge fisshe w{i}t{h} a weke skinne lyke a serpent / & it conceyueth of the serpe{n}t vipera / it liueth longest in the tayle, for wha{n} that is cut of, it dyeth inco{n}tinent / it must be soden in G.o.de wyne w{i}t{h} herbes & spices, or ellis it is very dau{n}gero{us} to be eten, for it hath many venymous humours, and it is euyll to disieste.

Cap. lxi.

[Sidenote: Mulus: has 2 beards.]

++Mulus is a see fysshe {tha}t is smale of body / & is only a mete for gentils: & there be many maners of these / but the best be those {tha}t haue ij. berdes vnd{er} the mouthe / & whan it is fayre weder, than they waxe fatte / whan he is dede than he is of many colours.