Evening journal., 1904-03-04
THEHERRING ISKING
HE is THE MONARCH OF ALL THE
FISH IN THE SEA.

VI dA tAe hoh al tue ned ucliAuB
is king"
The herring as breakfast dish or as
hors deuvre or as savory is familiar
enough. In that capacity every one
knows him, every one welcomes him.
But the herring is kingl That is an
other matter altogether and needs
some accounting for. BY what right
one feels inclined to ask, Is that inslg-
niicant little fish king Of the flshy
community? Who crowned him and
why? Was 1t we northern nations, to
whom his advent brings such good. or
is there further warranty anywhere
for his kingshipi
Here for the curious are chapter and
verse for King Herring's claim. To
begin with, he is countenanced by no
less a person than Rare Ben JOnson,
who in act /, scene 3, Of EVERY Man
In His Humor" makes the facetious
Cob claim ancestry from Herring,
the king Of fish, And, to substantiate
Ben Jonson's assertion, comes that
other sixteenth century writer, Thom-
as Nash of Lowestoft, who wakes elo-
quent, not to say perfervid, on the sub
ject of the behring's kingship in live
~ and paradoxical work called Lent
en- Stuff or, The Praise of Red Her
ring" written, It is said, I'm gratitude
for money lent the author by the peo-
pie Of Yarmouth and by way of pay
ment Of the same. Here the herring's
claim to royal estate is duly set forth
in bombastic language suited to the
dignity of the theme and, truth to tell,
the satlrlcal mood Of the writer. Shorn
Of Nash's rhetorical extravagances,
this. briefly, IS the story of how the
herring came by his crown:
1t appears that once upon a time all
the fish of the sea had occasion to
choose a king to lead them to battle.
To do so. says Nash. "beshaekled
nightly their ashy wits" for their
claim was hedged round with limita-
tions. No ravening fish, for instance,
must they choose, lest, having destroy
ed their foe, he should eat them also
for change OF diet He must more
over, 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 20 tyran-
nize. Now, none met these require
ments save the herring; hence was he
proclaimed king of fishes by the unan-
imous vote Of all the fishy community
AL, that is, but the plaice and butt,
who. being jealous. made wry mouths
at Master Herring instead Of shouting
"God save the ldngw with the rest and
who have had as every one knows,
wry mouths for their moclzing ever
since In such fashion was the her
/ ring raised to the kingly throne, and
/ hence wears he to this day, says Nash.
a coronet TO mark his klngship; hence,
too. goes he forth always with an ar
my and, moreover. in true kingly fash
ion sends forth heralds 10 announce
I his royal progress through various wa
ters. These herring heralds, by the
way, when the willy fisherman catches
he swings sundry times round the
mainmast Of his lugger, bidding them
bring the boat a last Of herrings for
every swing Then, their ransom paid,
he fiings them back into the water,
/ hostages to fortune.
Nash's eulogies OF King Herring in
"Lenten Stuf' know no bounds. Not
content with proclaiming him king I'm
his natural state, he lauds him extrav-
agantly ly-cured-giving him such titles
as "Puissant Red Herring, Red Her.
ring of Herring Hall, Golden Hesperi-
/ des Red Herring" and various 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
4 assumption OF King Herring's puis-
sance. Never truly was there so auto
cratic a monarch, for wherever he puts
in an appearance he dominates every
thing 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 a greater au-
tocrat than ever he was living, for.
absorbing and enthralhhg as it is TO
catch him, it is even more 80 to cure
him and pickle him. Royal himself,
King Herring has always been a ha-
bitue Of courts, for the first red herring
that. ever was cured made his bow to
a brother monarch. He hailed, as ev-
cry one knows, from the future great
! Yarmouth when that town was little
more than n mere unimpOrtant 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 10 ply their
trade as Cerdic shore.
II is a twice told tale how IN those
ancient days a certain Yarmouth fish
erman, having caught more herrings
than lie twist what to do withal, hung
them in the sooty roof of his shed
a-drying" and straightway 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 as whalebOne
\ when he hung them up, became by de-
Z grees as red as Holsters" The good
man and his wife did not discover this
I fact for some days, and when at
length they spied the beautiful red fish
they fell down on their knees and
I crossed themselves and cried, "A mira
Gle, a miraclew And then posthaSte to
/ Burgh castle, three miles away from
Cerdic shore over the marshes, went
they, where Sigebert, king OF the East
4 Angles, lived in retirement in the mon
astery OF good st. Furseus. and pre-
sented their treasures to his majesty,
who also worshiped them and granted
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