ancient family, of which John Ellis, Esq. late M.P. for Newry, is a descendant.

Argent, three eels embowed, in pale, sable, are the arms, and on an eel vert, an eagle displayed, is the crest, of the family of Eales. Argent, two eels hauriant confronts vert, between two etoiles gules, are the arms, and an eel naiant vert, is the crest, of the family of Arneel of Scotland.

Five arrows or, entwined by an eel, are borne as a crest by the family of Elwes of Stoke, near Clare, on the banks of the Stour in Suffolk, of which Sir Gervase Elwes was created baronet in 1660.

A hand gauntleted, grasping an eel, is the crest of the family of Elleis of Southside, in Scotland, and of that of Ellice of Clothall, in Hertfordshire. An arm embowed vested azure, turned up argent, holding in the hand an eel, is the crest of the family of Enghanes. One of the branches of the house of Bretel, in France, bears for arms, or, a chevron gules, between three mullets azure, on a chief of the last an eel argent; other branches bear on the chief a lamprey or a salmon.⁕

Azure, a saltier between four eels naiant or, are the arms of the family of Fleury, of Ireland; and, argent, three eels naiant in pale azure, are the arms of the family of Ducat, of Scotland. Or, a fess gules, between an eel naiant in chief azure, and a · lion's head erased in base gules, are borne by the Scottish family of Cuthbertson, a variation seemingly from the arms of Cuthbert, or, a fess gules, in chief a serpent azure, the serpent here being assumed as an emblem of the name of Cuthbert, which implies one famed for knowledge:

Quique gerit certum Cuthbert de luce vocamen.

A heron's head, with an eel in its bill, is the crest of the family

⁕ Palliot.

of Mercer of Aldie, in Perthshire, and, with their motto, "Grit Poul," is sculptured on the Castle of Aldie, erected in the sixteenth century. A demi-stork, wings expanded sable, the outside of the wings argent, holding in the bill an eel azure, was borne on a wreath argent and vert, by Sir John Styell in the reign of Henry VIII.*

Two storks, with wings elevated, and an eel in the bill of each, are borne as supporters to the arms of the Right Hon. J. Hobart Caradoc, Lord Howden of Grimston in Yorkshire.

In Boisseau's Heraldry† several French families are mentioned as bearing eels in their arms. Lauzon, azure, three eels in pale argent, Goulas, gules, three eels two and one argent, on a chief azure, a lion passant or; and Buzannal, or, a chevron gules, in chief two Cornish choughs, and on a chief argent, an eel naiant.

Anguillaria, an Italian family, noticed by Palliot, bears for arms, argent, two eels in saltier azure, within a border indented argent over gules.

Examples of eels in Spanish heraldry are found in the arms borne by the great Houses of Guzman, Pacheco, and De Lara. The grandees of Castile, in the earliest age of heraldry, assumed the Pendon y Caldera, the banner and caldron, as well-known military badges; the banner as the rallying ensign of command, showing ability to raise troops, and the caldron, or camp-kettle, denoting power to feed them: these charges are common in the oldest heraldry of Spain. The French heralds, in their blazoning, term the caldron chaudiere, and the contents serpents; but, as the chaudiere implies cooking-pot, it is presumed they are intended for eels. The olla or pipkin of Spain, in which the national and savoury stew is concocted, is equivalent to the caldron of the Rico Hombre, or rich man.

⁕Harl. MS. 4632.

+ Promptuaire Armorial, 1657.

Azure, two caldrons or, with eels issuing therefrom, within a border ermine, are the arms of the illustrious family of Guzman, and were so borne by Cardinal Enrique de Guzman de Haro in 1627.

Argent, two caldrons or, barry indented gules, with six eels issuing therefrom, three on either side, are the arms of the family of Pacheco; and, gules, two caldrons or, barry sable, with eight eels issuing therefrom, are the arms of De Lara.

The very singular arms, resembling eels, of the ancient Abbey of Whitby, at the mouth of the river Esk in Yorkshire, refer to antediluvian remains, which are supposed to belong to the order of molluscous animals, termed by geologists Cephalopoda, animals in a chambered cell, curved like a coiled eel, and better known as Ammonites, from a fancied resemblance to the horns of Jupiter. The arms are blazoned, azure, three snakes encircled or, as now borne by the town of Whitby.

A weir-basket filled with fish is depicted upon the seal, in the reign of Henry IV, of William Weare of Weare Gifford, on the river Torridge, in Devonshire. The punning motto of this family is "Sumus," we are.

Many eels are taken in weirs formed on the banks of rivers: in the Thames, the eel-pot or wicker basket is used in various parts; being opposed to the stream, the eels are thus intercepted in

their progress, and become a source of revenue to the lords of manors possessing the several fisheries.

An eel-pot, per pale argent and vert, the badge of Lord Williams of Thame, Lord Chamberlain to Queen Mary, is now borne by the Earl of Abingdon, the representative of Henry Lord Norris, who married Margaret, the daughter and heiress of Lord Williams.

A wivern, with wings endorsed gules, standing on a fishweir devouring a child, and pierced through the neck with an arrow, is the crest of the family of Venables, Barons of Kinderton in Cheshire, ancestors of the Lords Vernon of Kinderton.

Per bend azure and vert, a fishweel or willow-basket, in bend or, are the arms of the family of Wheler; and, argent, a chevron ermine, between three fishweels, their hoops upward vert, are the arms of the family of Wylley. Or, a chevron between three fishweels sable, are the arms of the ancient family of Foleborne.

The fishweels or weirs are exceedingly picturesque features of scenery; when the rivers are high, the overfalls of the water form a cascade, but at all times they afford a variety to the view, breaking the line of the river and producing some slight waterfall. Fishguard, a town at the mouth of the Gwain, in Pembrokeshire, derives its name from the fishgarth or weir in the river, which is famed for its trout and salmon, as well as eels. An allusion to the dam or weir is doubtless intended by the

fish in the arms of the family of Dame, sable, three fish naiant in pale or; and perhaps also in those of the family of Twicket, argent, a fess between three fish hauriant gules: the name having reference to the small passage or wicket, in the weir.

A fishweel or, is the crest of the family of Colland. Gules, an otter or, springing from a fishweel vert, are the arms of Jugerde de Beverlak.⁕

Sable, a chevron between three eel-spears argent, are the arms of the family of Stratele or Strateley.

Great numbers of eels are taken by means of these longhandled four-pronged spears, and nowhere is the practice of eelspearing more common than at Streatley, on the banks of the Thames, whence the family probably derived their name. A pheon or, handled argent, entwined with an eel, is the crest of the family of Ewer of Luton, in Bedfordshire; and an eel entwined round a shafted pheon is the crest of the family of Granell.

THE CONGER.

The Conger, or sea-eel, formerly esteemed for the table, is found in deep hollows of the rocks on various parts of the western coast of England: off the French coast are considerable conger banks, where prodigious quantities are still taken for maigre days. In the time of King Henry III. Rochelle was celebrated for its conger eels. The old town seal of Congleton, in Cheshire, bears a tun floating on waves between two congers respecting each other, and upon the tun a lion statant; a very indifferent play upon the name of the town.

⁕ Sibmacher.