(Vol. iii., p. 301.)
A short time since, an eminent naturalist directed my attention to
Yarrell's _History of British Fishes_ (2 vols. 8vo. 1836, and
_Supplement_, 1839), with reference to this curious fish.
Mr. Yarrell does not attempt to identify the vendace with any foreign
species, nor to answer the question, who introduced them in Lochmaben?
However, his account of the other species of the genus _Coregonus_ in
Great Britain is well worth giving.
The species of the genus _Coregonus_ are numerous in Europe, and several
of them are so similar to each other that they are often confounded.
"Some writers have even considered the Vendisse of Lochmaben as
the same with the _Powan_ of [Loch Lomond] Perthshire, the
_Schelly_ of Cumberland, the _Gwyniad_ of Wales, and the _Pollan_
of Ireland. This is not the case, for the Pollan of Ireland is
distinct from the two species of _Coregonus_ found in Great
Britain."
"The _Gwyniad_ is very numerous in Ulswater and other large lakes
of Cumberland, where on account of its large scales it is called
the _Schelly_. The fish is not unlike a herring in appearance; the
Welsh term _Gwyniad_ has reference to their silvery white colour."
Izaak Walton notices it at the end of chap. xiii.:
"Nor would I have you ignorant of a rare fish called a _Guiniad_,"
&c.
The _Pollan_ is principally found in Loch Neagh, also in Loch Derg and
Loch Erne. Mr. Thompson, of Belfast, says:
"The habits of this fish do not, with the exception of having been
in some instances taken with the artificial fly, differ in any
marked respect from those of the Vendace of Scotland, or the
Gwyniad of Wales, and are in accordance with such species of
Continental Europe as are confined to inland waters, and of whose
history we have been so fully informed by Bloch."
In 1835, Mr. Thompson published some observations on this species. The
earliest notice of it that he has seen, occurs, he says, in Harris's
_History of County Down_, 1744.
"The Vendace or Vendis (_Coregonus Willughbii_); Vendace,
_Jardine_; Vangis and Juvangis, Penn, _Brit. Zool._, vol. iii. p.
420.; Vendace, Knox, _Trans. R.S.E._, vol. xii. p. 503.
"But little is known of this delicate fish," says Mr. Yarrell,
"beyond what has been published by Sir William Jardine, Bart., in
the 3rd volume of the _Edinb. Journal of Nat. and Geog. Science_,
and by Dr. Knox. The Vendace is only known in the lochs in the
neighbourhood of Lochmaben, in Dumfriesshire. Sir W. Jardine says,
'The story that it was introduced into these lochs by the
unfortunate Mary, Queen of Scots, is mentioned by Pennant in his
description of the Gwyniad, (and it is likely that his information
was derived from this vicinity,) and is still in circulation. That
the fish was introduced from some continental lake, I have little
doubt, but would rather attribute the circumstance to some of the
religious establishments which at one time prevailed in the
neighbourhood, and which were well known to pay considerable
attention both to the table and cellar. The introduction must have
taken place by means of spawn: the fish themselves could not be
transported alive even a few miles. They are not confined to the
castle loch, but are found in several others, some of which have
no communication with that where they are thought peculiar. In
general habits, the Vendace nearly resemble the Gwyniad, and
indeed most of the allied species of the genus."
Mr. Yarrell gives representations of two magnified specimens of their
food.