(that
is to say, diseases of the old mussels). There is a patent lately
granted to some gentleman and others for Pearl-fishing in this river;
but it is uncertain whether it will turn to any account." The person
here referred to was Sir John Hawkins, the famous circum-navigator of
the sixteenth century.
Hutchinson
in his "History of Cumberland," written in 1794, duly records the fact
that "Pearls are found in the river Irt, which discharges itself into
the ocean a few miles North of Ravenglas." But in a foot note, in
another part of the work, he adds "None have been seen for many years
past.'' He quotes, however, from Nicholson and Burn, who say " That Mr.
Thomas Patuckson, late of How, in this country, having employed divers
poor inhabitants to gather these Pearls, obtained such a quantity, as
he sold to the jewellers in London for above ,£800."
The
Pearls of Southern Britain are not confined to the rivers of North
Wales and Cumberland, but have occasionally been found in the streams
of less mountainous districts, such as Buckinghamshire. When Sir Hugh
Plat published in 1653, his curious "Jewel House of Art and Nature," he
introduced into his book an interesting account of various minerals,
which he entitled "A rare and excellent Discourse of Minerals, Stones,
Gems and Rosins,
