In the twelfth century Fountains acquired fisheries and
fishing rights at Derwentwater and Malham Tarn, and along the rivers
Swale, Wiske and Derwent, Ouse and Ure.(120) The
community had two fishermen, two boats
and a net on the River Ure.(121) In the late
twelfth century Fountains acquired the right to make two fisheries
at Eston, near Guisborough.(122) This
was granted by the magnate, Stephen de Meinell on the understanding
that in return
for his generosity,
he might enter the community during his lifetime or be buried there
following his death. Should he not die as a monk of Fountains,
Stephen wished, nonetheless,
that his soul would be provided for as for a monk of the house.(123)
How was fish kept fresh
during transportation?
Before fish was transported it was packed in either wet grass or straw.
This kept it fresh for up to twelve hours. As an added precaution the fish
might also be dunked in freshwater en route.
[Bond, Monastic Landscapes, p. 207]
Fountains also had river fisheries at Balderby, on the
Wharfe, where salmon was fished and transported to the abbey. The ‘Bursar’s
Account Book’ records that in 1456, 22d was spent on transporting
two horse-loads of salmon from Balderby to the abbey.(124)
A grant of
fishing rights did not simply mean permission to fish in the area,
but might include free movement of passage for the
community’s
boats, the right to build a fishpond or to take stones and turf
for the upkeep and repair of the fisheries. It might also include
a house where
the lay-brothers could stay, and where fish could be stored, dried
and salted.(125)