glander who did not scorn the humble cod because it was cheap and
plentiful (you remember how these same cod "pestered" the ships of
Gosnold in 1602), but set to work with the quiet initiative which has
distinguished New Englanders ever since, first to catch, then to barter,
and finally to sell his wares to all the world. For cheap as all fish
was--twopence for a twelve-pound cod, salmon less than a penny a pound,
and shad, when it was finally considered fit to eat at all, at two fish
for a penny--yet, when all the world is ready to buy and the supply is
inexhaustible, tremendous profits are possible. The many fast days of
the Roman Catholic Church abroad opened an immense demand, and in a
short time quantities of various kinds of fish (Josselyn in 1672
enumerates over two hundred caught in New England waters) were dried and
salted and sent to England.

This constant and steadily increasing trade radically affected the whole
economic structure and history of New England for two centuries. Ships
and all the shipyard industries; the farm, on which fish was used not
only as a medium of exchange, but also as a valuable fertilizer; the
home, where the many operations of curing and salting were carried
on--all of those were developed directly by the growth of this
particular trade. Laws were made and continually revised regarding the
fisheries and safeguarding their rights in every conceivable fashion;
ship carpenters were exempt from military service, and many special
exemptions were extended to fishermen under the general statutes.

The oyster is now a dish for the epicure and the lobster for the
millionaire. But in the old days when oysters a foot long were not
uncommon, and lobsters sometimes grew to six feet, every one had all he
wanted, and sometimes more than he wanted, of these delicacies. The
stranger in New England may notice how certain customs still prevail,
such as the Friday night fish dinner and the Sunday morning fish-cakes;
and also that New Englanders as a whole have a rather fastidious taste
in regard to the preparation of both salt- and fresh-water products.
The food of any region is characteristic of that region, and to travel
along the Old Coast Road and not partake of one of the delicious fish
dinners, is as absurd as it would be to omit rice from a menu in China
or roast beef from an English dinner.

While the fishing trade was highly important in all the South Shore
towns, yet it was especially so i