Eels are very plentiful in all the Gallegan rivers, and, above all, in the Miño; they are bred in the fresh water and go down to the sea when full grown. The monks of Sobrado had an artificial lake, the eels of which were greatly prized. Conger-eels are also abundant; the black ones are the most esteemed. A tradition says there are some so large that a man could not carry them on his shoulders, but would have to employ a cart. Cornide says that the largest ever found in Galicia did not weigh more than 100 lbs.
The common cod, merluza, which on the Mediterranean coast is called merlan, is one of the most voracious and destructive of fishes, and, as the Gallegans have discovered, it has a special predilection for sardines, which it devours greedily. A certain amount of cod is dried on this coast and taken into the interior; but the industry is anything but brisk. Soles, lenguado, which the French call sea-partridges, perdrix de mer, are very common, especially where the rias have a sandy bottom.
Salmon, salmo salar, are plentiful in the most northern rias, and found throughout Galicia; they are best in hot weather, at which time they are less prized in other parts. They were unknown to the Greeks, according to Cornide, so have no Greek name. These fish enter the rivers of Galicia from the month of January, lay their eggs in the sandy places, and return to the sea until the next season, when they repeat the journey. The Gallegans seldom catch more than can be disposed of while fresh, but now and again there is an unusually large supply, and then they are sold for next to nothing. Cornide tells of a priest who salted a hundred and fifty salmon in one season.
A red mullet, Lat. mullus barbatus, is plentiful in the rias, but it often tastes of the mud on which it feeds, and is not so choice as that found in the rivers. Pliny and other classic writers thought that people who ate too heartily of this fish injured their sight and nerves: Gallegans call it salmonete, and are very fond of it. I have several times seen it baked in pastry, like jam in an open tart. Trout, truchas, are, as we have seen, remarkably plentiful and cheap in spring; they abound in all the rivers, and would furnish plenty of sport for British anglers.
CHAPTER XVIII
PADRON
An emporium of Phœnician trade—From Padron to London—Iria Flavia—Landing of St. James—Drive from Santiago to Padron—A sacred mountain—La Virgen de la Esclavitud—Santa Maria de Iria—A Byzantine statue—The rock beneath the altar—Where St. James preached—The monastery of Herbon—Statue of St. Francis of Assisi—Cæsar’s bridge—The Ulla mentioned by Ptolemy—An interesting conversation—The house where Rosalia Castro died—Changing scenery—The towers of Augustus—A village festival
VERY few of the pilgrims who journeyed to Santiago de Compostela during the Middle Ages failed to include in their pilgrimage a visit to Padron. There is an ancient refrain which says—
“Quien va á Santiago
E non va al Padrón
O faz romeriá ó non.”
Padron, Iria Flavia, is a town with a long history. Not only can she boast of having been a flourishing Roman settlement in the days of Augustus, but she is believed by Spanish archæologists to have been the site of one of the great emporiums of Phœnician trade.[223] The town is situated on the right bank of the river Ulla and on the left bank of the river Sar, nineteen kilometres from Santiago and sixteen from the sea, with which it is connected by a ria (loch). In 1836, Borrow found it a flourishing little port, with rather an extensive commerce, “some of its tiny barks occasionally finding their way across the Bay of Biscay, and even as far as the Thames and London.” A story was in circulation that some twenty years before Borrow’s visit, certain Padron fishermen, who had found their way to England, had been converted to Protestantism during their stay there, and not only brought Bibles back with them, but actually began to speak with irreverence of the bones of St. James, with a result that a commission was despatched to punish them and burn their books. We often speak of separation caused by the sea, but in reality it has always been a far closer link than land.
The Roman name for Padron was Iria Flavia, and it belonged to the Convento Lucense; it was raised to the rank of a municipal town by the Emperor Vespasian in the year 69. Flavia was Vespasian’s family name; it occurs a number of times in Galicia. Iria is mentioned in the Itinerary of the Emperor Antoninus, and Ptolemy also speaks of it; there is also a reference to this town in the Ravenate, the anonymous manuscript of Ravenna. Pliny mentions a river and a town of the name of Iria in Italy.[224] Several interesting Roman inscriptions have been found in the neighbourhood of Padron; there is one which tells that a senator of Iria died at the age of fifty.[225] A stone with an inscription to the Emperor Gratian (375-379) has also been discovered, and another bearing the name of Sulpicius Severus.[226] Coins of the reigns of Augustus and Constantine have recently been turned up with the soil; it is more than probable that extremely interesting excavations might be made there.[227]