Lamprey Pie
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Lamprey pie is a pastry dish made from sea lampreys 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 in the marine forms and up to in the lake forms. The very elonga ...
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, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...
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 in 1893 it was revived when Gloucester mayor, John A. Matthews wished to send a pie to
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
during her Jubilee Year. The pie was made and sent annually by John A. Fisher and Sons, Ltd., Tudor House, Gloucester, until in 1917
King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. George was born during the reign of his pa ...
requested that the gifting be suspended until
World War One World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting took place mainly in Europe and th ...
had ended. It was never revived. John A. Fisher died at age 82 in 1929. A lamprey pie is still presented on special occasions such as coronations and jubilees.


Background

Lampreys are parasitic carnivorous elongated jawless fishes present in saltwater and freshwater. In Europe the sea lamprey 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 in the marine forms and up to in the lake forms. The very elonga ...
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 season observed in most Christian denominations as a time of waiting and preparation for both the celebration of Jesus's birth at Christmas and the return of Christ at the Second Coming. It begins on the fourth Sunday before Chri ...
, was a fast day. They were a popular foodstuff of royalty; Henry I (r. 1100–1135) died, according to the chronicler
Henry of Huntingdon Henry of Huntingdon (; 1088 – 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"), as "the most important Anglo- ...
, after eating too many ("a surfeit of lampreys") whilst on campaign in Northern France. The
River Severn The River Severn (, ), at long, is the longest river in Great Britain. It is also the river with the most voluminous flow of water by far in all of England and Wales, with an average flow rate of at Apperley, Gloucestershire. It rises in t ...
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, ...
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 Horses in the Middle Ages, riding horse in the Middle Ages. It was a lighter-weight horse, usually a smooth horse gait, gaited one that could ambling, amble, suitable for riding over long ...
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, making them 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 A collective trademark, collective trade mark, or collective mark is a trademark owned by an organization (such ...
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 from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after t ...
(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 (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 water 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 (, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales (from Pembrokeshire to the Vale of Glamorgan) and South West England (from Devon to North Somerset). It extends ...
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 The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...
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 the British monarch, coronation of Elizabeth II as queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey in London. Elizabeth acceded to the throne at the age of 25 upon th ...
. Although the lampreys were supplied by a Gloucester-based company, they were sourced from
Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town in Lincolnshire, England with a population of 86,138 (as of 2021). It is located near the mouth on the south bank of the Humber that flows to the North Sea. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes dir ...
. 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 spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...
in North America were used. For the
Coronation of Charles III and Camilla The Coronation of the British monarch, coronation of Charles III and his wife, Queen Camilla, Camilla, as Monarchy of the United Kingdom, king and List of British royal consorts, queen of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth re ...
in 2023 the traditional pie was made with pork and decorated with two pastry lampreys because of the dwindling number of actual lampreys in Britain.


References


Sources

* {{British pies, state=collapsed British pies Savoury pies Fish dishes History of Gloucester Petromyzontidae Christmas food