Of hare, leveret, or rabbit.
HARE will be whitish and stiff, if new and clean killed; if stale, the flesh blackish in most parts and the body limber; if the cleft in her lips spread very much, and her claws wide and ragged, she is old, and the contrary young; if the hare be young, the ears will tear like a piece of brown paper; if old, dry and tough. To know a true leveret, feel on the fore-leg near the foot, and if there be a small bone or knob it is right, if not, it is a hare: for the rest observe as in a hare. A rabbit, if stale, will be limber and slimy; if new, white and stiff; if old, her claws are very long and rough, the wool mottled with grey hairs; if young, the claws and wool smooth.
FISH in season.
Candlemas quarter.
LOBSTERS, crabs, craw-fish, river craw-fish, guard-fish, mackrel, bream, barbel, roach, shad or alloc, lamprey or lamper-eels, dace, bleak, prawns, and horse-mackrel.
The eels that are taken in running water, are better than pond eels; of these the silver ones are most esteemed.
Midsummer quarter.
TURBUTS and trouts, soals, grigs, and shafflins and glout, tenes, salmon, dolphin, flying-fish, sheep-head, tollis, both land and sea, sturgeon, seale, chubb, lobsters, and crabs.
Sturgeon is a fish commonly found in the northern seas; but now and then we find them in our great rivers, the Thames, the Severn, and the Tyne. This fish is of a very large size, and will sometimes measure eighteen feet in length. They are much esteemed when fresh, cut in pieces, and roasted on bake, or pickled for cold treats. The cavier is esteemed a dainty, which is the spawn of this fish. The latter end of this quarter comes smelts.
Michelmas quarter.
COD and haddock, coal-fish white and pouting hake, lyng, tuske and mulet, red and grey, weaver, gurnet, rocket, herring, sprats, soals, and flounders, plaise, dabs and smearde dabs, eels, chars, scate, thornback and homlyn, kinson, oysters and scollops, salmon, sea-perch and carp, pike, tench, and sea-tench.
Scate-maides are black, and thornback maides are white. Gray bass comes with the mullet.
