78 NOTES—ORIGINAL AND SELECTED.
development is first realised it is regarded as a revolutionary movement suddenly
sprung upon the world. A search into its history, however, might show that the
movement originated in much older times, but that, progress being slow in its
earlier stages, it passed unnoticed until, suddenly gaining force, the world
became aware of the wide changes involved.
" Most people would regard our modern municipal enterprises as modern
innovations, but there is one—the Colchester Oyster Fishery—which, there is
every reason to believe, dates back to the time of the ancient Briton. It is quite
certain that the "Colchester Native" enjoyed a wide reputation in the days of
ancient Rome, and it has even been humorously suggested that Julius Caesar first
visited Britain in order to obtain control of the supplies of this much-appreciated
dainty.
" The first existing documentary evidence of this ancient fishery takes us back
to the year 1189, when amongst the privileges confirmed to the municipality of
Colchester was the right to fish from 'North Bridge to West Ness.' Other
documents clearly indicate that this privilege had been enjoyed by the town from
a much earlier time, for the Colchester Red Paper Book contains a proclamation
made in Colne Waters in 1,256 by the Bailiffs of Colchester which referred to the
fishery rights as having been granted by 'many Noble Kings of England from
time out of memory.' There is little doubt that the fishery existed in Saxon
times, though probably then maintained by tradition and custom. The shells
of the Colchester Native have been found in many Roman stations, and
even in Rome itself, whilst at Gloucester the shells of the Essex native are said
to have been found near to the officers' quarters in the camp, the shells of a
common oyster having been found about the quarters of the rank and file. Hence
a considerable trade was done in these bivalves in the Roman period of our
history, and had not the fishery been under municipal control at that time
the fisheries would assuredly have been exhausted.
" There can be no doubt that Colchester was inhabited by an advanced
people at the time of the Roman Invasion, and that the fishery was under some
kind of control. Oyster-shells have been found amongst the refuse of the
earliest British settlements; to find the beginnings of this enterprise we should
possibly have to go back to the days of the "painted savage" who figured so
large in the histories of our school days.
" The later developments of the Colchester oyster industry can be clearly and
completely traced for over seven centuries in the written records of the borough.
The first document in which we find the fishery mentioned is the Charter of
Richard I., 1189. The fishery rights are confirmed in this and all succeeding
charters, but it is to the ancient Court Rolls to which we must turn to learn how
the industry grew to its present proportions."
A Stroll in Epping Forest Fifty Years Ago.—This
pleasantly written story of a ramble is quoted from Kidd's Own
Journal for 1853 (vol. iii.). There is reason for identifying the
writer with the late Mr. De la Chaumette, of Tottenham.
"Bombyx Atlas" was an enthusiastic collector of Continental
lepidoptera, and his stories of butterfly-hunting in Switzerland,
in the form of the auto-biography of his fine old dog "Fino," are