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History and tradition- 'Fishes Royal'

The following is mostly extracted from Fraser F.C. (1977) section IV. De Praerogativa Regis - The Royal Prerogative

'Edward II came to the throne of England in 1307. "The Chronological Table and Index of Statutes" (51st edition) Vol.1, Chronoligical Table, p.16 states:

Praerogativa Regis (j)
C.13 [Crown Fisheries E]
Wreck of the Sea.
j = 17 E 2 st.1. Ruffhead.

The significant point of the foregoing shorthand is in the note "j" which interpreted means that the statute was enacted in the seventeenth year of the reign of Edward II: this makes its date 1324. It is noteworthy , in relation to this precise dating, that Halsbury (1932 [= Giffard, 1932] ) referring to the statute says "temp. incert. c. 11, 17 Edw 2 stat. 1, Ruff". The uncertainty about time suggests that the royal right antedated the statute of 1324 by a considerable span of years.'

Fraser then reports Blackstone (1770) '....Indeed our ancestors seem to have entertained a very high notion of the importance of their right, it being the prerogatives of the Kings of Denmark and the Duke of Normandy and from one of these it was probably derived to our princes.' Why the practice should be credited to a single source is not explained.

The formal Royal Prerogative in Scotland has less certain origins. One avenue described from Erskine (1890, The principles of the Law of Scotland), refers to Division of Rights and quotes '..whales thrown in or killed on our coasts belong neither to those who kill them nor to the proprietor of the grounds on which they are cast, but to the King; and are therefore called royal fishes'. The start of this claim is not revealed but from the report of Blackstone (1770) an early Danish influence in Scotland would appear apposite. Initially the span of Scotland did not include the Orkneys, Shetlands or the entire Outer Hebrides. These were conquered and held for several hundred years by the Danes (also known as the Vikings) '..the earliest Vikings, and a majority perhaps throughout, were Norwegians, for southern Norway was [still] ruled from Denmark and the chiefs of one race often led armies of the other'. The southern Hebrides, along with the Isle of Man it seems, remained Dane until 1266, following the defeat of Haco king of Norway at the battle of Largs in 1263 and his subsequent death at Kirkwall. The Orkneys and Shetlands were 'redeemed' in 1460 in lieu of dowry through the marriage of James III of Scotland to Margaret, a Danish princess, daughter of the king of Denmark Norway and Sweden (Churchill 1974, Feiling,1959).

The blanket claims of the English and Scottish kings have varied as local favour and Crown interests required, more so with the Scottish claim, although, it is not apparent whether these modifications were 'in perpetuity'. The two Kingdoms acquired a common ruler from 1603, and in 1707, a formal act of Union was passed in which a single Parliament represented all in the newly formed Great Britain. It was under the further amalgamation of the United Kingdom that the Crown rights were transferred to the Natural History Museum. When debated in the Parliamant of the United Kingdom in 1970, it was decided to retain the classifications of 'Fishes Royal' for the benefit of Science.

Fraser concludes his section on rights by saying 'There has been a long-standing co-operation between the British Museum (Natural History) and the Royal Scottish Museum in relation to cetacean strandings, with a mutual exchange of information and agreement about the disposal such specimens as may be secured whether they are Royal Fish or not. The Royal Scottish Museum has an arrangement with the coastal local authorities by which the latter keep Edinburgh informed'.

Undoubtedly, the reason for the interest in cetaceans would have been the value of the body, with, teeth, bone, baleen, oils and meat all having their logical uses. Of these, cetaceans as a foodstuff is perhaps the most alien of the uses today, and yet it has a clear track record of consumption in Britain over time 'not only by the simpler Anglo-Saxons but was highly appreciated by the more fastidious Normans'. Records exist for consumption at the tables of Henry III, Edward III, Henry V, Henry VII, Henry VIII, Elizabeth I. Latter day consumption in Britain is recorded as coincident with food shortages 'during and after World War 2' when 'whale meat was marketed, but from fish shops not butcher shops. The meat got an undeserved reputation for having a fishy taste and became unpopular, but it continues to be used as an important source of protein in several countries, particularly Norway and Japan'. Despite Fraser's additional protestations that '...blubber-free meat tastes no more oily and is quite as tender as a good beef steak' those interviewed on British radio and television in 1990 and 2000 on their memories of World War 2 and their experience of eating whale meat described the experience as 'very much like eating beef but with a very strong after taste of cod liver oil'. Overall, the impression given was that the meat was only eaten in circumstances approaching desparation. At post mortem examinations, it is not unusual to find oily fluids continuing to exude copiously from the muscle layers of the body, especially those of the larger cetaceans which tend to autolyse quickly after death.

References

Blackstone W. *

1770.

Commentaries on the Laws of England. 4th edition. Oxford.

Churchill W.S.

1974

Vol 1. A History of the English-Speaking Peoples: The Birth of Britain (BC55 - AD1485) pp388. Paperback edition. Casselll & Co London.

Erskine J. *

1895.

Principles of the Law of Scotland. 19th edition. In: Rankine J (ed). pages i-xix,
1-682, lxxii. Bell & Bradfute, Edinburgh.

Feiling K.

1959

A History of England. pages i-xxxiv,
1-1229. MacMillan & Co, London

Fraser F.C.

1977.

Fishes Royal: the importance of dolphins. p1-41. In: Harrison J. (ed) Functional Anatomy of Marine Mammals. pages i-x, 1-428. Academic Press.

Giffard H.S *

1932.

Halsbury's Laws of England. 2nd edition (Viscount Hailsham general editor) 37 vols (1931-42) Butterwort & Co, London.

* derived from Fraser F.C. 1977