THE DUCK DECOYS OF ESSEX. 219
discarded and another dug in their place. The date of construc-
tion was unknown, but the decoy was said to be very ancient.
The numbers of fowl taken formerly are said to have been almost
fabulous, but no account was kept. Dr. J. H. Salter was the
tenant in 1890 when the decoy was still in use, but as the adjoining
marshes were used for grazing and so much disturbed Dr. Salter
preferred to shoot the fowl in the marshes. A few hundreds,
however, were sometimes taken in hard winters, and these were
chiefly Mallard and Teal, but also Pintails, Shovelers, Tufted
Ducks, Long-tailed Ducks, Pochards, Goldeneye, Mergansers,
and Divers. Very few Wigeon were said to have been taken.
Dr. Salter included among the birds not usually taken in decoys
an Owl, a Snipe, a Partridge and a Kingfisher.
21. Old Hall Decoy (No. 2) is placed one mile east from
No. 20 and in the same marshes. Christy, who inspected it in
June, 1888, with E. A. Fitch, describes it as a small square pond
with four pipes, which had formerly been used for taking Teal,
but it had not been in use for many years.
22. West Mersea Decoy is situated on Waldegraves Farm
on Mersea Island, one mile and a half east from West Mersea
Village. It had five pipes and was originally a Pochard Pond.
Arthur Young, secretary of the Board of Agriculture, in his General
View of the Agriculture of the County of Essex, 1807, vol. ii, p. 361,
states that he visited it in company with the owner and gives an
account of his experiences. It was one of the best in the county
and was rented with a small farm of about sixty acres by Mr.
Buxton of Layer-de-la-Haye. As he had never visited a decoy
in the taking season he was impressed by the precautions taken
to avoid disturbing the ducks, each person carrying a piece of
lighted turf on a table-fork. The expense included two atten-
dants receiving above £100 a year and repairs, nets, rent, etc.,
amounted to about £300. The price obtained for ducks was
sometimes as low as fourteen shillings a dozen.
Christy, writing in 1890, states that with a view to obtain
information regarding this decoy, Mr. E. A. Fitch interviewed
Charles Hipsey, formerly the captain of Col. Russell's yacht,
who was living at Maldon and who died on September 30th,
1889, aged 84. Hipsey related that it had been last used thirty or
forty years previously and was a great place for taking Dunbirds.
After a strong south wind immense numbers were taken, the
position of the decoy favouring their arrival with that wind.
Flight poles were used here before they were adopted at Gold-
hanger. They were described as being like the masts and top-
masts of a ship ; as soon as the gun was fired the trigger was
pulled and up went the poles ; the birds, striking the nets, fell