PEARL FISHERIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES
And Britain's ancient shores great pearls produce.
Marbodus (circa 1070).
T
HE occurrence of
pearls in the British Isles was known two thousand years ago, and
frequent references to them were made in Roman writings of the first
and second centuries of the Christian era.
In
his "Lives of the Caesars," the biographer Suetonius, after speaking
of the admiration which Julius Caesar had for pearls, states that their
occurrence in Britain was an important factor in inducing the first
Roman invasion of that country in 55 b.c.1 If
this be true, the English-speaking people owe a vast debt of gratitude
to these pearls in bringing their Briton ancestors in contact with
Roman civilization; and the influence which they have thus exercised on
the world's history has been greater than that of the pearls from all
other regions or, we might add, than all other jewels.
The
naturalist Pliny (23-79) stated: "In Brittaine it is certain that some
do grow; but they bee small, dim of colour, and nothing orient. For
Julius Caesar (late Emperor of famous memorie) doth not dissimble, that
the cuirace or breast-plate which he dedicated to Venus mother within
her temple was made of English pearles."2
This decoration of pearls was a very proper offering to the goddess who arose from the sea.
The historian Tacitus noted in "Vita Agricolae" that the pearls from Britain were dusky or brownish (subfusca ac liventia).3 In
his commentaries on the Gospel of Matthew, Origen (185-253), one of the
Greek fathers of the church, described the British pearls as next in
value to the Indian. Their surface, he stated, was of a golden color,
but they were cloudy and less transparent than those from India.
