150 A WHALE AT MERSEY IN 1299.
occurring sometimes in the same sentence. For example,
the fisherman who describes himself as accustomed to fish from
a boat with nets as well as with a hook (hamus, A.S. angil) after
enumerating the different kinds of fishes taken by him in fresh-
water, is asked why he does not fish in the sea. He replies that
he does so sometimes, but that it necessitates having a larger
boat. To the enquiry whether he cares to catch a whale (cetum)
he answers, "No, because it is too dangerous. He is safer on
the river in his own little boat than going off with a fleet of
larger vessels whaling." "Quia periculosa res est capere cetum.
Tutius est mihi ire ad amnem cum nave mea, quam ire cum
multis navibus in venationem balaencae"; adding that it is
preferable to catch a fish that he can kill, than to pursue one
that might kill him or sink him, and his companions too. This
fisherman was wise in his generation.
Apart from its bearing on the present question, the dialogue
quoted is of interest as showing that the Anglo-Saxons were not
unacquainted with the whale-trade, of which fact, moreover,
there is other evidence.
If we turn to the supplement to Archbishop Alfric's Vocabulary
—the oldest document of the kind in the English language—
printed in Wright's Vocabularies, vol. i., 1857, we find
under "Nomina Piscium" hwael, balena, vel cete, vel cetus, vel
pistrix.1 While in another Anglo-Saxon Vocabulary of the 11th
century, printed in the same volume, only "cetus" (whence the
modern cetacean) is given, as if the more preferable word.
In a semi-Saxon Vocabulary of the 12th century, however,
this word is glossed maere-swin (Germ. meer-schwein, Fr. marsouin),
that is sea-hog, or porpoise (deriv. porc-pisce), though in the
Supplement to Abp. Alfric's Vocabulary, above mentioned, the
maere-swin is identified with the Dolphin.
In a Pictorial Vocabulary of the 15th century, stated by
Wright to be preserved in a MS. in possession of Lord
Londesborough, we find Haec balena, anglice "a porpeyse."
From these examples, then, it will be seen that both before
and after the date of the entry in the Wardrobe Accounts of
Edw. I. the word "balena" was used with so uncertain a
signification as to render it very doubtful whether the animal
captured on the Essex coast in 1299 was of a species to which
1 Pistrix used for any sea monster, whale, shark, or saw-fish, the last named being that
to which the modern form pristis is exclusively applied.