Lamprey pie is a pastry dish made from
sea lamprey
The sea lamprey (''Petromyzon marinus'') is a parasitic lamprey native to the Northern Hemisphere. It is sometimes referred to as the "vampire fish".
Description
The sea lamprey has an eel-like body without paired fins. Its mouth is jawless, ro ...
s or
European river lamprey
The European river lamprey (''Lampetra fluviatilis''), also known as the river lamprey or lampern, is a species of freshwater lamprey.
Description
Adult river lampreys measure from for the sea-going forms and up to for the lake forms. The very ...
s. Lampreys were a delicacy for the wealthy in medieval England and were often given as gifts to royalty as a means of seeking favour. It became tradition for the city of
Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...
to give the monarch a lamprey pie each Christmas. In 1200 the city was fined 40 marks () for failing to provide the pie. The annual custom ended in 1836 but a pie is still presented on special occasions such as coronations and jubilees.
Background
Lampreys are parasitic carnivorous elongated
jawless fishes
Agnatha (, Ancient Greek 'without jaws') is an infraphylum of jawless fish in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, consisting of both present (cyclostomes) and extinct ( conodonts and ostracoderms) species. Among recent animals, cyclosto ...
present in saltwater and freshwater. In Europe the
sea lamprey
The sea lamprey (''Petromyzon marinus'') is a parasitic lamprey native to the Northern Hemisphere. It is sometimes referred to as the "vampire fish".
Description
The sea lamprey has an eel-like body without paired fins. Its mouth is jawless, ro ...
and
European river lamprey
The European river lamprey (''Lampetra fluviatilis''), also known as the river lamprey or lampern, is a species of freshwater lamprey.
Description
Adult river lampreys measure from for the sea-going forms and up to for the lake forms. The very ...
have a long history as a human foodstuff. They were eaten by the Romans since at least the 1st century AD and were considered a high-status food. In medieval Europe they attained particular popularity as a meaty-tasting fish that could be eaten on
fast days.
The food became associated with medieval Christmases, as Christmas Eve, the last day of
Advent
Advent is a Christian season of preparation for the Nativity of Christ at Christmas. It is the beginning of the liturgical year in Western Christianity.
The name was adopted from Latin "coming; arrival", translating Greek ''parousia''.
In ...
, was a fast day.
They were a popular foodstuff of royalty;
Henry I Henry I may refer to:
876–1366
* Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936)
* Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955)
* Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018)
* Henry I of France (1008–1060)
* Henry I the Long, Margrave of the No ...
(r. 1100–1135) died, according to the chronicler
Henry of Huntingdon
Henry of Huntingdon ( la, Henricus Huntindoniensis; 1088 – AD 1157), the son of a canon in the diocese of Lincoln, was a 12th-century English historian and the author of ''Historia Anglorum'' (Medieval Latin for "History of the English"), ...
, after eating too many ("a surfeit of lampreys") whilst on campaign in Northern France.
The
River Severn
, name_etymology =
, image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG
, image_size = 288
, image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle
, map = RiverSevernMap.jpg
, map_size = 288
, map_c ...
at Gloucester was a key source of lampreys for the English royalty, and the fish was often given by landowners to royals as a means of seeking favour.
[ The fish was an expensive luxury; the ]Earl of Chester
The Earldom of Chester was one of the most powerful earldoms in medieval England, extending principally over the counties of Cheshire and Flintshire. Since 1301 the title has generally been granted to heirs apparent to the English throne, and a ...
gave King John (r. 1199–1216) a single lamprey and received a palfrey
A palfrey is a type of horse that was highly valued as a riding horse in the Middle Ages. It was a lighter-weight horse, usually a smooth gaited one that could amble, suitable for riding over long distances. Palfreys were not a specific breed a ...
horse in return.[ John raised funds by issuing licences at two shillings a piece to entitle commoners to eat lampreys.] The peak lamprey season is March, April and May, so they were scarce around Christmas.
Pie
By 1200 it had become customary for the city of Gloucester to send the English monarch a pie each year, and King John fined the city 40 marks
Marks may refer to:
Business
* Mark's, a Canadian retail chain
* Marks & Spencer, a British retail chain
* Collective trade marks, trademarks owned by an organisation for the benefit of its members
* Marks & Co, the inspiration for the novel '' ...
or £26 13s 4d () for failing to send a pie at Christmas.[ By the reign of ]Edward III
Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...
(r. 1327–1377) lampreys had declined in price somewhat but remained expensive enough to restrict them to the wealthy. Maurice de Berkeley, 4th Baron Berkeley
Maurice de Berkeley, 4th Baron Berkeley (c. 1330 – 8 June 1368), ''The Valiant'', feudal baron of Berkeley, of Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire, was an English peer. His epithet, and that of each previous and subsequent head of his family, ...
(c. 1330–1368) sent Edward the first two lampreys of the year at the cost of £6 7s 2d ().[ The custom of Gloucester sending the monarch a lamprey pie, decorated with gilded ornaments, at Christmas ended in 1836 when it was considered too expensive.][
Lamprey pie remained a delicacy in England until the early 19th century; it was sometimes called Politicians' Pie.][ Margaret Taylor, writing in 1795, described a lamprey pie recipe: "clean, wash and season them with sweet seasoning; lay them in a coffin with citron and lemon sliced; butter and close the pie". Other recipes called for the lampreys to be baked in syrup in a high pie crust, after which the crust is opened and wine and spices are poured in. These are then spooned onto bread on a warmed dish, after which the lamprey is sliced thinly and laid on top.
]
Decline and legacy
The prevalence of lampreys in English rivers declined in the 19th century, possibly as a result of the increasing numbers of weir
A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...
s installed. The lamprey is said to have vanished from the upper reaches of the Severn by the middle of the century, with a further decline apparent from 1865.[ It is now rarely caught in the Severn or the ]Bristol Channel
The Bristol Channel ( cy, Môr Hafren, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Seve ...
and is a protected species. There is a single lamprey fishery surviving in Britain, on the River Ouse in Yorkshire, where it is primarily sold as fishing bait.[ Lampreys remain popular in Scandinavia, the Baltic States and the Atlantic coast of continental Europe, where the fish is eaten as a delicacy.][
A lamprey pie is still presented by Gloucester to the monarch of the United Kingdom on special occasions.][ A pie was presented at the 1953 ]Coronation of Elizabeth II
The coronation of Elizabeth II took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey in London. She acceded to the throne at the age of 25 upon the death of her father, George VI, on 6 February 1952, being proclaimed queen by her privy and executive ...
. Although the lampreys were supplied by a Gloucester-based company, they were sourced from Grimsby
Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of Linco ...
. A pie was also presented at the Silver Jubilee in 1977.[ By the time of the 2012 Diamond Jubilee no British lampreys could be sourced, and lampreys from the ]Great Lakes
The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...
in North America were used.[
]
References
Sources
*
{{British pies, state=collapsed
British pies
Savoury pies
Fish dishes
History of Gloucester
Petromyzontidae
Christmas food