156
NOTES—ORIGINAL AND SELECTED.
The Colne Fishery.—Mr. J. Horace Round writes to the "Essex County
Standard" as follows : "The volume of 'Acts of the Privy Council,' lately pub-
lished, contains some references to the Colne Fishery in 1567, which are not found
in Morant's work.
" Early in that year some fishermen 'of the townes of Roughehedge, Dolyland,
and other townes thereaboutes' complained to the Lords of the Council that the
Bayliffs of Colchester had 'commanded that none of them should use their
acustomyd trade of trayling oisters and other fyshing in the water of Colne
without their lycense, and be also bounde in recognisaunce to bring all such fyshe
as they shall take to New Hythe at Colchester and there unlade the same, with
other condicions not heretofore used or to them knowen ; and for that they have
caused vii. of their botes to be taken on the water, affirminge that they will sell
the same for the breche of the said order.' Thereupon the Council, 'fearing lest
this quarrell may brede such hart burninge in the complainers that they will, for
revenge of that which hath ben offerid unto them, forbeare their accustomyd trade
of uttering such fyshe [as] they shall take at the towne of Colchester,'—instructed
Lord D'arcy, of St. Osyth's, to order the fishermen to continue supplying the
inhabitants of Colchester with fish, and the Bailiffs to let them continue fishing
pendente litt, and to restore their boats. Both parties were ordered to appear at
the next Assizes, 'and to ende the quarrell yf they so can,' and, failing this, to
come up to London for the hearing of the case. The. Council were desirous
'that such auntient pryviledges as have been granted to that towne should be
observid and kept.'"
"Culch," "Cultch," and "Cutch.''—The trial on June 19th last of five
Tollesbury fishermen for "Piracy" in preventing certain men from Burnham
from removing dead oyster-shells or "Culch" from the "common" or public
grounds at sea near the mouth of the Blackwater (which resulted in a triumphal
acquittal) led to some discussion as to the exact meaning and spelling of the
word. The substance is well known—the refuse oyster-shells, stones, etc., form
an admirable nidus for the reception of oyster-spat, and were it not for the
presence of the culch on the grounds the gathering and culture of the oyster
would be impossible. The several spellings given above are current, but some
correspondents attempt to draw a distinction between the "culch" and "cutch."
An "East Anglian Sailor" writes :—"I have always heard the word 'Culch
used with reference to refuse, etc. (to wit) : 'The mass of stones, old shells, and
other hard material of which an oyster-bed is formed.' Cutch is the spawn of
the oyster, and adheres to the Culch or Cultch. I believe the latter words to be
quite local, and might have had their origin from cultivate, which means 'to till,
to prepare for crops, to foster, to raise by cultivation, etc.' This is really what
the 'Culch' is so valuable for—to raise, foster, and cultivate the Cutch or
spawn, commonly called spat."
Dr. W. M. Young, of the Suffolk County Asylum, Melton, writes that the
correspondence thereon recalls "a little comedy (with its under-current of tragedy)
which was of daily occurrence in this asylum for many years. The principle
figure in the scene was the daughter of one of Nelson's 'sea-dogs,' who has only
recently died at an advanced age, after many years of mental aberration of a
particularly unique character. Her language, as befitted her descent, was as
'robust' as the most thoroughgoing believer in heredity could desire. She lived
entirely in the ways of the century's beginning ; the peculiarities of its end were
of no interest to her. "I do not wish to imply that this latter was part of her