Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-02-01
HERRING, KING OF FISH
YARMOUTH BLoATER CROWNED
MONARCH OF SEA.
Scepter Conferred on the Finny Favor.
lite by Authors Centuries
Ago.
From the London Globe

rioiu tue I<naou 1iopt
''Of all the fish in the sea. herring Is
king"
The herring as breakfast dish. or as hors
d oeuvre, or as savory, is familiar enough:
in that capacity every one knows him.
every one welcomes him. But the herring
as king. That is another matter altogether.
and needs some accounting for. BY what
right, one feels inclined to ask. is that I'M
significant little fish (now visiting East
Anglican shores in his millions) king of the
fshy community Who crowned him and
Why? Was 1t we northern nations. 10
whom his advent brings such good, or Is
there further warranty anywhere for his
kingship?
Here. for the curious is chapter and verse
for King Herring's claim. TO begin with.
he is countenanced by no less a person thaa
Rare Ben Jonson, who in act !, scene ,, OF
Every Man in His Humor,' makes the
facetous Cob claim ancestry from Her
ring. the King of Fish And, to substanti-
ate Ben Jonson's assertion. comes that
other sixteenth century writer Thomas
Nash of Lowestoft who wakes eloquent.
not to say perfervid. on the subject of the
herrings kingshp in a lively and paradox
ical work. called "Lenten Stuff; or. the
Praise of Red Herring''-written. it Is
said, in gratitude for money lent the
thor by che people of Yarmouth, and by
way of payment of the same. Here the
behring's claim to royal estate is duly set
forth in bombastic language suited to the
dignity of the theme. and. truth to tell, the
satirical mood of the writer. Shorn of
Nashs rhetorical extravagances. this brief
ly, is the story of how the herring came by
his crown:
Verdict of Fisher Folk
1t appears that once upon time all the
fish of the sea had occasion to choose
king to lead them to battle. To do SO. says
Nash, 'beshackled nightly their fshy
wits. for their claim hedged round
with limitations. No ravening fish. for in
stance, must they choose lest having de-
stroyed their foe, he should eat them also
for change of diet He must, moreover.
be one well known to them all by reason
of his wide sea wanderings: one too, whom
they could depoSe when they listed should
he begin to tyrannize. Now, none met these
requirements save the herring; hence was
he proclaimed king of fishes by the unani-
nous vote of all the fishy communicable.
that is. but the plaice and butt, who, being
Jealous, made wry mouths at Master Her
ring. instead of shouting God save the
king" with the rest and who have had. as
every one knows, wry mouths for their
mocking ever since. In such fashion was
the herring raised to the kingly throne and
hence wears he to this day. says Nash, a
eoronet to mark his kingship. Hence. TOO.
goes he forth always with an army, and.
moreover. in true kingly fashion, sends
forth heralds to announce his royal prog
ress through various waters. These her
ring-heralds, by the way. when the willy
fisherman catches he swings sundry times
round the mainmast of his lugger bidding
them bring the boat last of behring's for
every swing. Then their ransom paid, he
filings them back into the water-hostages
to fortune.
The Puissant Herring.
Nash's eulogies of King Herring in Len
ten Stuff knows no bounds. Not content
with proclaiming him king in his natural
state. he lauds him ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
giving him such titles as ''Puissant Red
Herring, Red Herring of Herring Hall.
Golden Hesperides Red Herring and va
rious other panegyrics. All of this is as
absurd as Nash meant it to be. Yet in
spite of his nonsense. there is much truth
in his assumption of King Herring's puts
sance. Never truly was there so autocratic
a monarch. for wherever he puts in an APP
pearance he dominates everything and
everybody. Fishing towns at herring time
bow before him. They are at his beck and
call morning, noon and night, and dead he
is greater autocrat than ever he was liv-
ing, for absorbing and enthralling as it is
to catch him. it is even more to cure
him and pickle him. Royal himself. King
Herring has always been habitue of
courts. for the first red herring that ever
was cured made his bow to a brother mon
arch. He hailed. as every one knows. from
the future Great Yarmouth when that town
sand bank. forcing its way ever higher and
higher above the waters of the North sea,
and known to the fishermen who came
there every autumn to ply their trade as
Cerdic shore.
1t is twice-told tale how, in those an
cient days. a certain Yarmouth fisherman,
having caught more herring than he twist
what to do withal, hung them in the sooty
roof of his shed a-drying." and straight
away forgot all about them: how he built
up his fire, the weather being cold. and
what with his smoking and firing. the her
rings. which were white whalebone when
he hung them up, became by degrees red
as Holsters" The good man and his wife
did not discover this fact for some days,
and when at length they spied the beauti-
full red fish they fell down on their knees
and crossed themselves, and cried. "a mir
acle, miracle!" And then post haste to
Burgh Castle, three miles away from Ger
die shore over the marshes went they.
where Sigebert, King of the East Angles,
lived in retirement in the monastery Of
good st. Furseus, and presented their
treasures to his ma jesty, who also Worship
ed them. and granted the fisherman and his
wife license to hawk them up and down
the country as strange monsters" Nor
did the matter end there, for Sigebert we
are told. bestowed many privileges on the
place where this miracle was worked, and
thus. from the very first, Red Herring
brought prosperity to Yarmouth.
Food for Kings.
for kings. "A white pickle herring" says
Nash. is meat for prince" And SO one
English monarch seemed to think, for Ed
ward l. in 1856. bound Yarmouth by charter
to send annually to court twenty-four her.
ring pies or pasties, containing one hundred
behring's. and forty lasts of red herring
were in 1900 ordered from the same place
for the kings use. In the same reign the
''puissant' fish served as honeymoon fare
for a royal couple, too. when Margaret
daughter of Edward I, married the Duke of
Brabant. 1862 behring's were provided for
the victualing of the ship which conveyed
the bride and bridegroom to the continent
So much for the behring's association with
royalty, so much for his claim to be royal
himself-a claim as strong now as it was
when Nash wrote SO grandiloquently of it.
For never was there a monarch whose rule
was more firmly esta blished whose power
more steadily. Just now for in
stance. he holds court at Great Yarmouth.
and II is no exaggeration to say that every
member of the vast fishing community now