England's Interest OR A Brief Discourse OF THE Royal Fishery IN A Letter to a Friend The Second Edition LONDON Printed by J. Southby at the Harrow in Cornhill 1696. ENGLAND's Interest OR A Brief Discourse OF The Royal Fishery c. SIR I Was honour'd with Yours in Answer The Coasts of Great Britain do yield a Continual Sea-harvest of Gain and Benefit to such as Diligently apply themselves to the Fishing Trade The Summer-fishing for Herrings beginneth about Midsummer and lasteth some part of August The Winter-fishing for Herrings lasteth from September to the middle of November Both which extend in place from Boughones in Scotland to the Thames Mouth The Fishing for Cod at Alamby Whirlington and Whitehaven near the Coast of Lancashire from Easter until Whitsuntide The Fishing for Hake at Aberdine Fiscard and other places between Wales and Ireland from Whitsuntide to St. James-tide The Fishing for Cod and Ling about Padstow within the Land and of Severn from Christmas to Mid-lent The Fishing of Cod on the West part of Ireland frequented by those of Biscay Galicia and Portugal from the beginning of April until the end of June The Fishing for Cod and Ling on the North and North-east of Ireland from Christmas until Michaelmas The Fishing for Pilchers on the West Coast of England from St. James-tide until Michaelmas The Fishing for Cod and Ling upon the North east of England from Easter until Midsummer The Fishing of Great Staple-Ling and many other sorts of Fish lying about the Islands of Scotland and in the several parts of the British Seas all the Year long Out of these infinite Swarms and Shoals of Fish in His Majesty's Seas the Herring Cod and Ling taken by the Dutch were by the most experienc'd Authors even when they had not half their present number of Busses valued communibus annis at no less than Ten Millions of Pounds Sterling Nor will the aforegoing Estimate seem strange to such as consider That in Anno 1669 by the Account Taken in Holland of the Number of the Subjects of the States-General they appear'd Two millions Four hundred thousand Souls of whom besides those employ'd in their Inland Fishing Four hundred and Fifty thousand were then maintain'd by Fishing at Sea and the Traffick that depends thereon Now the Dutch transporting Fish to foreign Parts Returns for it are made them as followeth viz. From France Spain and Portugal in Bullion Coyn Honey Oils Prunes Wines Wool c. From the Streights in Allom Currans and other Grocery-Wares Money Oils Sattins Silks Velvets c. From the East Countries in Clap-board Copper Corn Deal-boards Dollers Flax Hemp Hungary-Guilders Iron Pitch Soap-Ashes Steel Tar Timber Wainscot Wax c. From Germany in Barratees and many other Frankfort Commodities Button-Plate for Armour with other Munition Fustins Glass Iron Milstones Rashes Rhenish-wines Rix-Dollars in abundance Steel Silks Velvets c. From Brabant in Hul-shop Lace Ready-Money Tapesteries c. Thus Holland whose Product is only a few Hops Madder Butter and Cheese is render'd the mighty Storehouse of all Foreign Products and Manufactures from whose infinite Miscellany of Goods their Merchants are furnish'd with such sartible Commodities as enables them to Trade from Port to Port without danger of glutting any Markets to the great encrease of their Riches and Navigation If Holland which is but One hundred and Eighty Miles in circuit reap so much Advantage and such a number of the Dutch can subsist by Fishing on our Coasts how vast a Trade and Commerce would a full Fishery in England beget The very Herrings usually taken by Five hundred Busses would yearly afford His Majesty for Custom on Commodities return'd for them several Score thousand Pound And the Produce of such Herrings taken without the Expence of any Foreign Commodities being added to that of the usual exported Products and Manufactures of these Kingdoms will Yearly much exceed the Amount of all our Annual necessary Imports and cause such an overbalance of Trade as will turn the Scale in our Favour stop the Export of our Monies and oblige our foreign Chapmen to send us BULLION to make good the Difference The Want of Seamen enough in time of War at once to Man our Navy and Navigate our Merchantmen and Colliers is detrimental to England more than the Charge of the War Now the Men of War and Merchantmen require many Seamen and breed few The Collier indeed brings up several Apprentices but generally spends near as many as he makes The great Nursery of Seamen is the Fishery where each Buss brings up it may be six eight or ten NEW MEN every Year Nor is their Value inferiour to their Numbers many brave Officers have been train'd up in that School and the Fishermens Bâ—siness lying where our Danger lies makes them know how the Sands shift and where the Rocks and Shelves are and consequently most Able Coasters and Admirable Pilots King CHARLES the Second well knowing the many Advantages would Accrew to England from a Regular and Well-order'd Fishery and that a Ioint Stock and Company was absolutely necessary and requisite to carry on the same was pleased by his Letters Patents under the Great Seal of England bearing date the Twenty-fifth Day of September in the 29th Year of his Reign to constitute several Persons of Honour and others therein nam'd and such others as thereafter from time to time should be admitted into their Company and Society to be Traders and Adventurers with them to be one BODY-POLITICK and CORPORATE in Deed and in Name by the Name of The Company of the Royal Fishery of England to have perpetual Succession thereby also giving and granting unto the said Company and their Successors divers Beneficial Clauses Powers Privileges and Immunities in order to the better Government of the said Company and Management of their Affairs as by the said Charter appears Whereupon about Ten thousand pounds being subscrib'd the Company sell to work and in a Three Weeks Voyage One of their Doggers brought them in Thirty thousand Cod and their Small Craft took in proportion But the Dutch and Spaniards being engag'd in a War with France the French seiz'd the Vessels and Goods of the Company as Dutch being some or most of them Dutch built and mann'd which Loss by reason the Company 's Stock was far too small for so great an Undertaking at that time put a stop to their further Proceedings In which Misfortune the Truth of that old Maxim in Trade and Manufactory was evident That where there are but few employ'd they will be found too many And where there are numbers they may be thought too few However Merchants must not give over all Trade because some Ships have been lost Bought Wit is best The bringing of the New-River-water to London that now turns to such prodigious Advantage was not Atchiev'd upon the first Attempt The Company having throughly weigh'd and consider'd all former Inconveniencies and Impediments and how to avoid them will now
Naval Stores No in case either of Exaction or Rupture we can be supply'd by our Plantations in America where all sorts of them are to be had in abundance and at so easie Rates that Merchants already build Ships there above a fourth part cheaper than in England Pitch is now made at Reasonable Rates of a Stone abounding in Shropshire which after Two Years Tryal is found of such an excellent nature that Heat only causeth it to penetrate deeper into Plank and Cold cannot make it crackle off In Building for Strength Stowage and Sailing English Shiprights know no Master Now as to the Dutch Sailing cheaper because with less Hands none envies them that Happiness they lose more in proportion at Sea than we do occasion'd by their Vndermanning their Ships or else what should hinder the Company from having their Ships and Vessels built rigged and mann'd after the Flemish Fashion Yet the Objection holds only in Merchants Ships to carry their Fish to Market their Busses and Fisher-boats carry more Men to catch Fish than are needful to sail their Vessels And in the Greenland-Voyages each Ship to Man their Shalloops when a fishing must have five times the Crew that can Navigate her So that their Sailing cheaper than us is either of no force against the Fishery or it is also of force against our Merchant men and Colliers and to discourage our Fishing upon this Consideration is all one as to bid us quit all Navigation whatsoever and abandon our selves to the Mercy of all Comers Provisions we have of our own growth Meat and Drink in Ireland and in many parts of England are as cheap again as in Holland which produceth no other than Butter and Cheese and those too are cheaper with us than with them And 't is observ'd that what the Dutch Fishermen save by Eating of Grout they Drinâ— more than ours in Brandy Salt the Dutch are oblig'd to fetch from France and Portugal Holland yielding them none for their Fishery But in England enough to supply all Europe can bâ— made and is now offer'd to the Company for their Fishery at Twelve-pence peâ— Bushel deliver'd on board And this oâ—â— Salt is of so noble a quality that it wilâ— remove all those Mischiefs which at present in the Fishery have relation to Salt We have many Convenient Tide-Haven-Ports as at Hull and Harwich to the Northward and Dover Rye Portsmouth Southampton Cowes Weymouth Dartmouth Catt-water Hamos Fowey Falmouth Hilford Scilly and Milford Westward where at low-water all of them are either a small Chingle or hard Sand so that our Ships and Vessels may easily haul ashore and Wash and Tallow at pleasure Creeks and commodious places are not wanting to lodge our Busses safe when not employ'd so as to prevent Wear of Cables Charge of Watching Danger of Fire c. and several of the said Subscribers having been concern'd in the Dutch Fishery will be able to manage ours with all possible Foresight Frugality Good Husbandry and frame such a Body of Instructions for well Curing true Packing c. as may bring our Fish into râ—pute and be sufficient to give Light to each other Particular that can rationally be suppos'd to be of moment for the Safety and better managing the Fishing Trade Besides the Dutch have above a Hundred Leagues to sail before they come to their Fishery and there they lye at the Mercy of the Winds for want of a Port to Friend and in case of unloading they have as far back again which takes up a great deal of Time hinders their Business and endangers the loss of their Markets It is true they have their Yagers or Dogger-Boats many times to take off their Fish at Sea and refurnish them with Cask and other Necessaries But if it happens to be a rowling Sea they must lye still and wait for a Calm Whereas we have this so Valuable a Treasure at our Feet the Fish upon our own Coasts so near our Shoars that in Case of Storm unloading taking in of Provisions or the like it is seldom above four or five hours Work and most commonly not so much to recover a Harbour and without loss of Time to put to Sea again the Work of Vnloading Repacking and sending our Fish away to the next Market still going on in all Weathers and from some parts of His Majesty's Dominions before the Dutch can arrive in Holland we may be at our Markets in France Spain or Italy and so anticipate our Neighbours Heretofore the Hamburgers used also to Fish for Herrings with Busses but being Yearly frozen up one month longer than the Dutch by that one twelfth Disadvantage were beaten out of the Trade Now the Shoars of England are bold the Coasts High Land and easily discover'd several of our Cape-Lands opposite to France and Holland make Eddy Bays whose depth of Water is mean as 6 8 10 or 12 fathom the Tydes on our Coast are small and Anchor hold generally stiff Clay Chalk or hard Gravel so that we need not dread Winter Storms besides the Advantage of lying in a moderate Climate and in the very Center of the Trade of Europe affords us Opportunity of sending to foreign parts from divers of our Ports at all Seasons of the Year But the Coast of Holland lies extream low and consequently is most subject to be hazey and foggy hath many Shoals and Sands some of which lay so far off at Sea that many times Ships are stranded before they see Land Their Ports likewise are oft choaked up with Quick-sands which makes it dangerous for all great Ships to approach them Their Havens also are commonly frozen up some months together and a North-west Wind generally blowing the greatest part of the Year makes Holland a Lee and England a Weather-Shore So that many times whilst they lye Wind-bound or frozen up at home we can supply the Markets abroad The Dutch you note are already setl'd in the Fishery I Answer Not many Years since we imported Silk-Stockings from the Levant yet now the Stream is turn'd and we send them thither Trade often shifts from one place to another The King of Portugal in Anno 1500 having discover'd the Passage to the East Indies by the Cape of Good Hope and by it diverted the Course of Trade driven by the Venetians from Alexandria and the Red-Sea to his Port of Lixbon kept Factors in Antwerp to vend there his Indian Commodities which drew several Merchants from divers Parts to reside there and made the Trade of that pleasant-seated City great and eminent But when about Anno 1602 the Dutch began to Rival Portugal in that Trade the Merchants of Antwerp immediately foreseeing that they should be Out-done resolving not to loose the Advantage of the Skill they had acquir'd in Indian Commodities remov'd to Amsterdam by which means they Improved their own Estates and left Antwerp bare England being as much happier than Holland in its Scituation Ports and Havens as superior
to it in the Native Growth and Production of its Soil and Seas for Commerce affording us Trade as it were without Art or Labour whilst our Neighbours are oblig'd to force theirs by Assiduity in both A Royal Fishery if Establish'd here where besides all other Advantages no Duty is paid upon the Fish we Export must needs bear away the Bell from those who pay ten per Cent. Custom and Where Trade goes Merchants follow You alledge The Dutch are more painful hardy and better able to fish than the English I answer Our Men run daily more Hazard and suffer greater Hardships in other Voyages than in Fishing And for hard Labour certainly the working of a Mine is incomparably beyond that of a Buss And as to the Genius of our People it is remarkable that such Boys and Country Fellows as at Yarmouth Scarborough c. are once hired into the Fishing and come to feed on the Fish they catch which for Variety and Delicacy being fresh taken is a Treat beyond what is to be had on Shore It improves them at such a rate that of pitiful Weaklings at Land they come to be hearty stout and healthful persons and upon tryal find it so much to their liking that not One in Twenty but take to the Sea for good and all You say Irish Cattel were prohibited to keep up Rents and making Fish cheap in England will hinder the sale and consumption of Flesh and thereby make Rents fall I ans The Profits of Land do not wholly consist in Breeding The Fishery will cause a vast Expence of Butter and make Farmers run much upon Dairies the Business whereof tho' perform'd by the fair Sex turns to as great Advantage as the hardest Labour the Husbandman can spend his Time in Now tho' in Breeding all the Labour Hazards of Rearing hard Winters c. are the Farmer 's the greatest Advantage arising from Cattel still accrews to the Grazier Drover and Butcher But in a Dairie all the care and pains is taken by the Good Housewise and at her return from Market the Farmer receives all the Profit to himself and so with Ease can Pay his Landlord The Royal Fishery as is shown will also occasion Imployment for many Thousands of both Sexes who tho' now thro' Poverty live only upon Bread Water Pulse-Roots and the like when once they have the Rewards of their Labours in their Hands will not Punish their Carcasses to spare their Purses but drink Strong Beer and eat Roast Beef c. But supposing for Argument sake Victuals should not remain at a very excessive rate yet where a greater Consumption causeth a quick Market tho' at a midling Price if the Proverb be true Light Gains will make a heavy Purse Besides in England many Acres are now set for Five or Ten Shillings an Acre and the Tenants scarce able to pay that which under Corn might yield the Farmer three or four pounds now abate in grazing and plough up more Pasture and Flesh will hold its price If to this you Answer We often see Corn so cheap that the Farmers are broke by it and what would they do with greater quantities It 's reply'd The Reason why Farmers sometimes want Vent for their Grain is because we have not always Store and therefore Merchants make no Provision for the Trade But if we yearly sow such quantities of Corn beyond the Expence of the Nation as Merchants may be no less certain of a constant Supply here than they are in the SOUND where the Country depends as much on their Harvest as France does on its Vintage Plenty will soon create a Trade the Advantage of ENGLANDS lying so much nearer than DANTZIG to the places where Foreign Corn is expended together with the Allowance granted by the 25 Car. II. upon the Exporting thereof will sufficiently encourage Merchants to deal therein Besides most of our Ships are sent light to Bilboa and Lisbon now what loads our Ships helps our Navigation and our Exports to Lisbon not answering our Imports from thence the more we send them in Corn the less their Wines will cost the Nation in READY MONY or BILLS of EXCHANGE which is all one But if you alledge Sowing Quantities will make Corn cheap and that will also make Rents fall I Answer Yearly catching Quantities of Fish and sowing much Corn will morally speaking render England less subject to a Famine which as Sir Walter Rawleigh truly observes never happens here but it enriches Holland for Seven Years after they having in a Dearth for the Corn they sold us in a Year and a half according to that great man's estimate carried away no less than Two Millions of Pounds Sterling to the Impoverishment of the People Discredit of the Merchants and Dishonour of the Land Besides Are Provisions cheaper There needs less Taxes in time of War a less Rate will maintain the Poor House-keeping will be less chargeable the Labourer will require less Hire and the Artisan afford his Work cheaper which must fall the Price of all our Products and Manufactures and consequently enlarge their Exports and Expence at home Now if according to the Proverb a Penny sav'd be a Penny got where 's thâ— Hurt the Fishery will do the Landed-Man But â—upposing there were only Five hundred pounds Sterling in England an Ox could hardly be worth a Penny nor the Mony Rent of all England be Five hundred pounds per annum Now Gold or Silver-Mines England hath none and in time of Peace we have no way to get BULLION from other Countries but by foreign Trade to which nothing can more conduce than cheap Fishing and the cheap working our Native Commodities as Copper Lead Iron Tin Allom Copperice Coals Wool c. and cheap making the Manufactures that compose the Exports of the Kingdom and that is not to be effected except Labour be cheap which it can never be where Provisions are dear Now the more the Nation abounds with Fish Corn c. still the greater will its Exports be and when the Wheel is set a going Trade will beget Trade as Fire begets Fire and still the more it encreaseth the more will Industrious People from all Parts flock to us and Crowds will not only force cheap Labour but improve our Londs encrease our Manufactories and enlarge our Product far beyond the whole Expence of our Nation and thereby in proportion add to its Wealth and Treasure for Merchants exporting the Surplus will in Returns bring back Gold Silver and other Valuable Commodities which in England that hath Property by succession of Contracts will diffuse amongst its Inhabitants whose number will still encrease with our foreign Trade and as they augment will more and more improve our Lands by encreasing the Vent of our Product and Manufactures even in the very Expence of them that are added one man that works having perhaps five or six that only eat and wear And much Vent will cause many Workmen And thus as the