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 THE 
 
 ANGLER 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2007 with funding from 
 
 IVIicrosoft Corporation 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/anglerpoemintencOOIathrich 
 
THE 
 
 ANGLER; 
 
 ^ ^oem, 
 
 IN TEN CANTOS; 
 
 COMPRISING 
 
 PROPER INSTRUCTIONS IN THE ART, 
 
 WITH RULES TO CHOOSE 
 
 FISHING RODS, LINES, HOOKS, FLOATS, BAITS, 
 AND TO MAKE ARTIFICIAL FLIES; 
 
 3Kecei})tg for l^astes, &c. ^c 
 
 Embellished with upwards of Twenty beautiful Wood Cuts, 
 
 By it^fi 
 
 ^P. LATHY, Esq, 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED FOR SHERWOOD, NEELY, AND JONES, 
 
 PATERNOSTER-BOW. 
 
 1822. 
 

 
 PREFATORY ADDRESS 
 
 LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OF GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 Nature maintains so unvarying a course 
 in all her operations, that no man of sound 
 judgment will expect any thing very new in 
 a Treatise on the Art of Angling, especially 
 if he have been lucky enough to have pos- 
 sessed himself of the works of Mr. Isaac Wal« 
 ton, and Charles Cotton, Esq. the fathers of the 
 art, who have treated so profoundly, and so 
 judiciously on it, as to leave little more to 
 those who follow in the same track, than to 
 
Vl PREFACE. 
 
 improve upon their (now) antiquated language. 
 (3f the former, particularly, it has been ob- 
 served, that " he seems an original and model 
 " to all who have come after, as Virgil ap- 
 " pears among the writers (ever since) of Geor- 
 " gics and Pastoral." Another author has 
 observed, " this art seems to have arrived at its 
 " highest perfection, almost at once, and to 
 " have been the same in Mr. Walton, as that 
 '* of Poetry was in Homer. The improve- 
 " ments that are made by the generality of 
 " late wn'iters are indeed so few, and for the 
 " most part so trivial, rather adding to and per- 
 " plexing his words, like the commentators on 
 "' the Greek Poet, than either clearing up or 
 " enlarging his sense, that one cannot but w^on- 
 " der at seeing so much done, to so little pur- 
 " pose."* 
 
 * See " The Compleat Angler, or Coutemplative Man's 
 " Recreation," in two parts, by the ing-enious and celebrated 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 There are so many other, and so highly 
 respectable writers in favour of this pleasing 
 recreation — this friend to contemplation, — 
 that the bare recapitulation of their names will 
 be its sufficient eulogium. The learned Dr. 
 Perkins, Dr. Whitaker,* Dr. Nowell,t Sir 
 Henry Wotton, R. Nobbes,t Col. Venables, 
 
 Mr. Isaac Walton and Charles Cotton, Esq. published 
 by Moses Browne, author of Piscatory Eclogues, &c. 
 First Edition, London, 1750. Mr. Walton wrote his part 
 of the Compleat Angler, so long back as 1653. He pub- 
 lished five Editions during his life-time : all the editions 
 are now very scarce. 
 
 * Queen's Professor in Cambridge in the reign of Queen 
 Elizabeth. 
 
 t Dean of St. Paul's, London, whose portrait has been 
 preserved in Brazen-nose College, (to which he was a 
 liberal benefactor,) in which he is drawn leaning on a desk 
 with his Bible before him, and under one hand are lines, 
 hooks, and other fishing tackle, and above him angling rods 
 of several sorts, to denote his attachment to the art. 
 
 J Mr. Nobbes published a treatise entitled, « The Com- 
 ^* pleat Troller," in 1682, now very scarce. 
 
Vm PREFACE. 
 
 Mr. Leonard Mascal,^ &c. &c. all evinced 
 their love for the art in theory as well as prac- 
 tice : and Sir Henry Wotton describes it as an 
 " employment for his idle time, which was 
 " not then idly spent ; — for angling was, after 
 " tedious study, a rest to his mind, a cheerer 
 " of his spirits, a diverter of sadness, a calmer 
 " of unquiet thoughts, a moderator of passions, 
 ^'* a procurer of contentedness, and that it 
 " begat habits of peace and patience in those 
 " who professed, and practised it." So numer- 
 ous, too, have been the recent writers in its 
 favour, that it would be absurd to offer any 
 thing in its defence — unnecessary to say a syl- 
 lable more in its praise. 
 
 All that remains, therefore, to an amateur 
 and practitioner of the present day, is to invite 
 
 * Mr. Mascal wrote a Treatise on Fishing in the reig^n 
 of Henry the Eighth, Anno 1524. 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 attention to the art, by setting it out in its 
 most alluring colours to both sexes, as being 
 no less conducive to contemplative innocence, 
 and the study of the perfection of nature, than 
 to exercise, and its concomitants, — health, 
 cheerfulness, and peace of mind. 
 
 The performance of such a work can 
 deserve no higher appellation than that of a 
 compilation arrayed in a new, that is to say, a 
 poetical form; under cover of which all the 
 requisites of the art may be collected in an 
 elegant and portable shape, without any mys- 
 tery or technical jargon ; so as to form at once 
 A Pocket Companion, and Guide to the An- 
 gler, who follows the sport in solitude ; and to 
 those more social parties, where the sexes may 
 prefer to take the diversion together. 
 
 It is to this point, particularly, (the 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 union of the sexes in this delightful art) that I 
 would draw attention ; — a point which has 
 been too much neglected by preceding authors. 
 Females, of the highest rank, now eagerly join 
 in the boisterous, rude, and dangerous sports 
 of the hunter, defying hedge, ditch, gate, river, 
 and every other obstacle, and braving all 
 risk of broken limbs, and indelicate exposure : 
 let not then the more gentle and more congenial 
 pursuits of the Angler be deprived of the 
 countenance and company of the loveliest half 
 of the creation, whose presence gives a zest 
 (as Col. Thornton happily expresses it) to all 
 our parties of pleasure. 
 
 " Le Donne son venule in cxoellen^a, 
 
 " Di ciascune arte ove hanno posto cura." 
 
 Ariosto. 
 Females excel in ev'ry art, 
 
 In which their judgment takes a part. 
 
 To effect so desirable a purpose, all that 
 could be collected from the preceding and 
 
PREFACE. XI 
 
 best works, as well as the result of many 
 years practical experience, have been thrown 
 into the form of a Poem ; and those technical 
 terms and phrases, as well as instructions and 
 directions in the art, which could not well be 
 brought into the smoothness of rhyme, have 
 been added in the form of Notes, Appendix, &c. 
 
 To offer a poem of this kind to the Pub- 
 lic, has been the sole aim of the Author, Edi- 
 tor, or Compiler (or whatever other appella- 
 tion critical judgment shall be pleased to be- 
 stow on him ;) and if his work shall be allowed 
 the further merit of being deemed worthy of 
 a humble place in the library, he will have 
 attained all, and even more, than he ever dared 
 to hope for, as a pretender to poetry. 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 Trout Holly 
 Hd December, 1818. 
 
( xiii ) 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 The Angler's Song xix 
 
 CANTO I. 
 
 Introduction, — Eulogy on the Pastime of Angling, and 
 
 its beneficial Effects to the Body and Mind 1 
 
 E7nhellisJiments. 
 
 Head Piece : Appropriate Scenery, Fishing Tackle, 
 &c. — Tail Piece : Representation of the Peacock 
 Salmon-fly. 
 
 CANTO II. 
 
 Welcome to April. — Instructions to young Anglers. — 
 Description of Fishing-Rods, Lines, Hooks, Floats, 
 Baits, &c. — Artificial Flies, how made — Proper Sea- 
 sons for Angling. — An April Day and Scenery. ..... 13 
 
 Embellishments. 
 
 Head Piece : Appropriate Scenery, Fishing Tackle, 
 &c. — Tail Piece : the Silver-Pheasant Salmon-fly. 
 
xiv CONTENTS. 
 
 CANTO III. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Angling for Trout. — Fickleness of the Seasons in Bri- 
 tain. — Season for Trout Fishing. — Rules for the Art 
 of Artificial Fly Fishing. — A living Loach good Bait 
 for Trout. — Rules for Bream, Cheven, Barbel and 
 Tench Fishing. — Boyish Sports. — Learning to swim 
 and angle. — Groping for Trout. — How performed. — 
 Nature's Kindness and Bounty — Approach of Night, 35 
 Embellishments. 
 
 Head Piece : Angler's Game Basket, a Brace of Trout. 
 —Tail Piece : The Jay Salmon-fly. 
 
 CANTO IV. 
 
 Salmon Fishing. — Time, Middle of May. — Spring 
 Scenery. — Love ; a Warning against illicit. — 
 Fly-fishing for Salmon Peal. — Angling for Salmon 
 with the Ledger-bait. — Directions for the prac- 
 tical Angler. — Every part of England abounding in 
 Rivers fit for the Angler's Sport. — Descriptions of 
 some of the most famous. — Know when you have 
 enough, and be grateful to the Giver of all Things. . 57 
 Embellishments. 
 
 Head Piece : The Fishiug-house of Charles Cotton, Esq. 
 on the river Dove ; taken from a Drawing made on 
 the spot.— Tail Piece : The Brown Moth-fly. 
 
CONTENTS. XV 
 
 CANTO V, 
 
 Page. 
 
 Angling forPearch. — ^Time, First of June. — Rural Em- 
 ployments and Scenery. — Rustic Happiness. — Rules 
 for angling for Pearch. — North Wind unfavourable 
 to it. — Cruelty of Laws relating to Fisheries. — South 
 Wind favourable. — Sporting Anecdote. — Moral Re- 
 flections and Pi-ecepts drawn from Angling.—Approach 
 
 of Night. — lynis Fatuus 75 
 
 Embellishments. 
 
 Head Piece : a Heron watching for Prey. — Tail Piece : 
 The Caddis-fly. 
 
 CANTO VI. 
 
 Angling for Carp. — Time, Day -break in the beginning 
 of July. — Rural Occupations. — Carp, how to be kept. 
 — And Hints for stocking Ponds with the Roes dried 
 and preserved. — Music, its charms to dispel Care and 
 lighten Toil. — Poets extinct in the present Age. — The 
 Mode and Season of Angling for Carp. — Their Sub- 
 tilty. — Their Fate, that which Rogues of every De- 
 scription richly deserve. — Man's Invention overcomes 
 all Obstacles. — Whale-hunting in the North. — On 
 the proper Employment of Time and Preparation for 
 
 Eternity 95 
 
 Embellishments. 
 
 Head Piece : a Seine Dipping net. Pannier, Rod, Fish. 
 —Tail Piece : The White Moth-fly. 
 
Xvi CONTENTS. 
 
 CANTO VII. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Mixed Angling. — Time, August. — Rural Scenery. — A 
 Storm succeeded by a Calm. — Description of Ulting's 
 Vale. — Anecdote of Mr. Cunningham, the Poet, on 
 the Propriety of allowing the Labouring Classes in- 
 nocent Amusements after Divine Service on the Sab- 
 bath-day. —The Eneinies of the finny Tribes nume- 
 rous. — The Otter peculiarly destructive — An Otter 
 Hunt. — Death of the Tyrant of the Flood.— The truly 
 
 hospitable Cottager li: 
 
 Embellishments . 
 
 Head Piece: An Angler Bank-fishiug. —Tailpiece: 
 The Palmer Fly. 
 
 CANTO VIII. 
 
 Trolling for Pike. — Time, October. — Rural Scenery 
 and Employments. — Description of the Pike, and 
 Mode of feeding it. — Proper Baits and Rules for the 
 Sport. — A Recipe for cooking it. — Quaere as to the 
 Origin of the Angler's Art. — ^The Seasons improper 
 for Angling, when the Fish are breeding. — Hope 
 delusive. — Reflections on Nature's Works. — The 
 Soldier-Crab. — Polypus, &c. — On the Organ of Hear- 
 ing in Fish. — The Bounty of Providence ought to 
 
 press us with Gratitude. — Return Home 137 
 
 EmhelUslimenis. 
 
 Head Piece : An Angler Trolling. — Tail Piece : The Red 
 Spinner-fly. 
 
CONTENTS. XVll 
 
 CANTO IX. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Angling for Pike with Lay-hooks. — ^Time, February. — 
 Aspect of the Country. — Directions for the Sport. — 
 The Heron. — Noted Rivers and Lakes for Angling. — 
 The Decoy-ponds. — Angling on the Lakes. — Descrip- 
 tion of the Trimmer, another Instrument for catch- 
 ing Pike. — Colonel Thornton. — His mode of Fishing 
 with Fox-hounds. — Praise due to him for making La- 
 dies partakers of the Angler's Sports. — Invitation to 
 the Fair Sex. — A Storm. — Salmon Fishing. — Invitation 
 
 to Sportsmen , » 161 
 
 Embellishments. 
 
 Head Piece : Two Anglers Punt-fishing. — Tail Piece : 
 The Ant-fly and two Sorts of Gnat Flies, 
 
 CANTO X. 
 
 Conclusion 185 
 
 Embellishnents. 
 Head Piece : Angler Stream-fishing. — Tail Piece -. 
 Jolly Anglers regaling after a Day's Sport. 
 
 Trout Hall, a Song 193 
 
 Epitome of the Art of Angling 195 
 
XVill CONTENTS. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Pag-e. 
 Containing useful Matters, and g-eneral Instructions in 
 the Art of Angling, which could not be comprised 
 in the Notes, without rendering them of too great 
 
 length, and breaking the connection of the Text 195 
 
 Choice of Fishing-tackle, and Instructions to make Rods, 
 
 Lines, &c 197 
 
 Baits : Pastes, Unguents, &c. and Directions for using 
 
 them 201 
 
 Night Angling for Trout 228 
 
 General Directions 230 
 
 Other Baits 232 
 
 Weather ib. 
 
( xix ) 
 
 THE ANGLER'S SONG. 
 
 By the Author. 
 
 See ! at the earliest dawn of day 
 
 The jolly Angler bend his way 
 
 To streams, where far from care and strife, 
 
 From smoky house and scolding wife, 
 
 He snares the finny race : 
 A southern g-ale propitious blows, 
 His rod prepared — his line he throws, 
 With well made fly he fishes fine, 
 A bite! he strikes 1 Now hold fast, line ! 
 
 He's caug-ht ! A full grown Dace. 
 
 (Jhorusy 
 The jolly Angler's is the life. 
 Devoid of care, devoid of strife. 
 
XX THE ANGLERS SONG. 
 
 Now chang'd the tackle and the bait ; 
 For larg-er prey he lies in wait, 
 Tries up the stream, nor vainly tries, 
 The line runs off — a noble prize ! 
 
 Give time to pouch — Now strike ! 
 
 Now seeks his haunt the wounded prey, 
 And then begins the Angler's play ; 
 He lengthens out — now shortens line, 
 Till struggles past — a welcome sign ! 
 
 He lands a glorious Pike , 
 
 Choi'us, 
 The Jolly Angler's is the life, 
 Devoid of care, devoid ojr strife. 
 
 Bream, barbel, carp, tench, roach and eel, 
 All yield alike to his barb'd steel. 
 And e'en the salmon's rapid course. 
 Arrested by superior force. 
 
 Yields to the Angler's skill. 
 
 He tries the deep, the shoal, the stream, 
 Where'er of prey hope gives a gleam, 
 No hole escapes the Angler's search 
 Where lurk the nations of the pearch — 
 
 His joy — the diving quill. 
 
 Chorus f 
 The Jolly Angler's is the life. 
 Devoid of care, devoid of strife. 
 
THE ANGLER'S SONG. xxi 
 
 Now stor'd his pannier, as eve draws near, 
 Homewards his weary course he'll steer. 
 Or to some well known inn resort, 
 T' enjoy the fruits of his day's sport. 
 
 By skilful cook-maid drestj 
 
 There takes his pipe, his jug- of ale, 
 Sups, smokes and sips, and tells his tale. 
 Or sings before a blazing fire. 
 Till nature bids him to retire, 
 
 Then happy sinks to rest. 
 Chorus, 
 The Jolly Angler's is the life. 
 Devoid of care, devoid of strife. 
 
THE 
 
 ANGLER. 
 
THE ANGLER. 
 
 CxVNTO I. 
 
 Introduction,— Eulogy on the Pastime of Angling, and its 
 beneficial Effects to the Body and Mind. 
 
CANTO I. 
 
 W^H AT though no Muses my wrapt soul inspire, 
 Or bid a poet touch the sacred lyre ? 
 Yet shall my pen attempt a humble strain, 
 (Nor on so fair a theme attempt in vain)— 
 Be others' song of war, of love, of wine, 
 Nor Venus, Mars, nor Bacchus shall be mine ; 
 B 2 
 
4 THE ANGLER. 
 
 I sing of meadows, vallies, purling streams — 
 These, and the angler's skill, compose my 
 themes. 
 
 To dift'rent modes of pleasure all resort — 
 I envy none, so IVe my favourite sport : 
 Some men, ambitious to obtain a name. 
 Are slaves for life to gain posthumous fame ; 
 The miser, brooding o'er his golden heap. 
 Can no enjoyment from possession reap ; 
 But always thirsting to increase his store, 
 In plenty pines, ridiculously poor : 
 The youthful statesman, by ambition fir'd, 
 Burns with impatience for the point desir'd ; 
 But ere the wish'd for prospect is in view^. 
 He longs — he pants — another to pursue : 
 Prompted by avarice, and love of gain. 
 The merchant braves the rough tempestuous main ; 
 To distant regions sails with heart elate. 
 And brings home wealth enough to live — in state ; 
 
THE ANGLER, 
 
 But yet he has not found, by change of air, 
 That richest prize — an antidote to care : 
 The man of fashion, tir'd of town delights — 
 Days spent in folly, and luxurious nights, — 
 Flies to the country, there expects to meet 
 Ease for the mind, and happiness complete ; 
 But still past pleasures are impress'd so strong, 
 No rural scenes can entertain him Ions: : 
 Thus discontent seems woven in our frame, 
 And perfect bliss is nothing but a name ; 
 Yet, if we strove, with diligence severe, 
 To keep our breasts from cank'ring envy clear. 
 Much of this peevish humour would subside. 
 If man would only keep himself employ'd. 
 For me the country has unnumber'd joys, 
 I hate the city's bustle, throng and noise. 
 There will I pass the ev'ning of my days. 
 And drink the cup of innocence and peace : 
 Nor e'er the want of entertainment know. 
 While Ihrough the vallies gliding rivers flow. 
 
6 THE ANGLER. 
 
 Some men delight, when winds autumnal bring, 
 From climes unknown, the Woodcock's vagrant wing. 
 To seek the stranger, where the gurgling rill. 
 Beneath the sylvan bank, invites his bill I 
 They mark his rising, and his crooked flight, 
 And hurl the thunder when he darts outright. 
 Others, a hardy and intrepid race, 
 Dare the bold pleasures of the boist'roUS chace. 
 Such with the beagle rise, at dusky morn, 
 Mount the swift courser, at the sound of horn ; 
 Rouse up the Hare close squatted in the bush. 
 Strain up the mountains, down the mountains rush. 
 Plunge in the rapid flood, overleap the mound, 
 And shout their conquest bleeding on the ground. 
 Each, as his genius prompts, or nerves can strain, 
 Varies his sport ; I no man's joy arraign. 
 Me — lonely vales and winding currents please, 
 And arts of fishing entertain ray ease. 
 But mine is not the glory to unfurl 
 The spacious net, and o'er the stream to hurl ; 
 
THE ANGLER. 
 
 Nor, wading to the neck in mud obscene, 
 Tug the cork-buoyant mesh whole streams to clean : 
 The decent Angle's mine ; my pride would slay 
 Her thousands, but in Doctor (a) Purgon's way, 
 A lordly Pike, or a low Gudgeon kill, 
 Secundum artem^ with a learned pill. 
 Nor fear that Virtue frown upon my play. 
 If through the verdant meads I fish and stray. 
 Virtue, severe, on no enjoyment smiles. 
 Which idle hours debase, or vice defiles ; 
 The w^ise to life's momentous work attend ; 
 And think and act still pointing to their end ! 
 As yon clear streams one constant tenor keep, 
 Rolling their liquid homage to the deep. 
 But books or bus'ness with unceasing care. 
 What force of body or of mind can bear ? 
 The steed, unharness'd from the plough awhile. 
 Returns with spirit to his daily toil. 
 
 (a) A character in the Malade Imaginaire of Moliere. 
 
8 THE i\NGLER. 
 
 Sports (like parentheses) may part the line 
 
 Of labour, without breaking the design. 
 
 But, as in verse, parentheses (if long 
 
 And crowded) mar tlie beauty of the song : 
 
 So pastimes, which engross too large a space, 
 
 Disturb life's system, and its work deface. 
 
 If Wisdom give her nod, and sports may claim 
 
 A safe asylum in her awful name. 
 
 Let Wisdom rule the choice ; in those engage 
 
 Which merit sanction from the Coan (6) sage ; 
 
 Which rouze, not waste, the spirits, and are good 
 
 To push along the tube the loit'ring blood. 
 
 Pure air and exercise to health conduce, 
 
 If ta'en in season, else they ills produce. 
 
 Rash Anglers rue late hours, more cautious I 
 
 From night's dark wing and ev'ning vapours fly ; 
 
 Warn'd by the sinking sun, and deep'ning shades, 
 
 When the brown horror woods and streams invades ; 
 
 (6) Hippocrates, the father of physic. 
 
THE ANGLER. 9 
 
 WarnM by the screech-owl, and frog-croaking race, 
 I close the rod, and homeward urge my pace. 
 When- from the pail I see the lowing herd 
 Return to pasture on the sav'ry sw^erd ; 
 I haste away, ere damp, blue steams arise, 
 And seek dry shelter from the noisome skies ; 
 For Winter's breath still mingles with our Spring, 
 And the chill eve bears ague on her wing. 
 
 Yet some may ask — what exercise to stand 
 Hours on one spot, and grasp an idle wand? 
 
 To such I answer, that the Angler's art 
 Changes the scene and variegates his part. 
 Oft, with the never-resting trowl, he roves 
 From mead to mead, still casting as he moves, 
 In deeps, in shoals, the roach suspending hook. 
 To lure the stream's fell tyrant from his nook: 
 Sloth will not dare these labours, which demand 
 The strenuous vigour of no feeble hand. 
 B 5 
 
10 THE ANGLER. 
 
 From these, returning with a sharpened gust^ 
 
 Rich is the feast of evening's homely crust : 
 
 The soundest sleep soon seals my wearied eyes. 
 
 And, light and brisk, I from my slumber rise. 
 
 Then, turning o'er the classic page, my thought 
 
 Quick apprehends what ancient wisdom taught ; 
 
 Or fancy, flowing with recruited vein, 
 
 Pours out her pleasures in this rhyming strain. 
 
 Therefore do not despise, with cynic mood, 
 
 Our pastime, honour'd by the wise and good : 
 
 By harmless (c)Nowell, (c?)Wotton's cheerful age, 
 
 (e) Cotton's clear wit, and Walton's rural page ; 
 
 With rapture these beheld the peopl'd flood, 
 
 The checquer'd meadow, and the waving wood : — 
 
 (c) NowELL, the good old Deau of St. Paul's in Queen 
 Elizabeth's reig-n, 
 
 (d) WoTTON, the famous Sir Henry. 
 
 (e) Cotton and WaltoxV, authors of a work in two 
 parts, entitled, the Complete Angler. 
 
THE ANGLER. 11 
 
 Here found in solitude, emollient rest 
 From rugged cares, and tumults of the breast : — 
 Here virtues learn'd (ill taught by formal rules) 
 Unknown to courts — unknown to wrangling 
 
 schools. 
 Patience and peace, and gentleness of mind, 
 Contempt of wealth, and love of human kind. 
 
 These are the Angler's benefits and joys — 
 Thus, undisturbed, his leisure he employs : 
 Yet prudence bids, not let them interfere 
 With any more important worldly care ; 
 When business calls, be ready at your cue. 
 And this just maxim ever keep in view — 
 '• All pastimes, that engross too large a space, 
 " Disturb life's system, and its works deface." 
 
 Such humble lays may be traduced by spite — 
 The subject trifling deem'd — the verses light ;— 
 
13 THE ANGLER. 
 
 " What, all this stuff about the Angler's sport V 
 The critic cries, *• and not a word of court ? — 
 " Of camps and soldiers brave ; the din of war, 
 " And groaning captives at the victor's car ? 
 " Of such should be the vig'rous poet's lays, 
 " Who'd be adjudg'd by Us the laureat bays," 
 
 In spheres, like these, let busy mortals shine, 
 A humbler fate, and conscience clear, be mine. 
 I'll trace the meadows while young morning spreads 
 Her mild effulgence o'er the hills and meads ; 
 Where on the mountain's sides the green woods grow, 
 Where lilies bloom, and dew-dipp'd roses blow ; 
 Where all the charms, which beauteous Nature gave, 
 Smile on the bosom of the azure wave. 
 When, in the soft ambrosial breath of morn 
 Heahh. rosy health, floats o'er the purple lawn •, 
 And all is melody — I'll rove the plains 
 While gratitude distends the thrilling veins ! 
 
THE ANGLER. 
 
 13 
 
 My eyes exulting o'er the glorious scene. 
 Will swell with rapture on the blue serene ; 
 Till boundless love impels the rising soul, 
 To praise the Pow'r who bids the seasons roll. 
 
CANTO II. 
 
 Welcome to April. — Instructions to young Anglers.— De- 
 scription of Fishing-Rods, Lines, Hooks, Floats, Baits, 
 &c. — Artificial Flies, how made — Proper Seasons for 
 Angling. — An April Day and Scenery. 
 
CANTO II. 
 
 Hail, blooming month ! prolific April hail ! 
 O, come attended by the genial gale, 
 That breathes its influence liberally round, 
 And decks with verdure the new tufted ground ; 
 Gives recent vigour : makes the springing soil 
 Smile o'er the landscape, and the landscapes 
 smile 5 
 
18 THE ANGLER. 
 
 The fresh'ning air with vernal mildness fills. 
 From the low vallies to the tow'ring hills : 
 Then come attended by the genial gale, 
 And let not blighting Eurus now prevail ; 
 Nor let the ruddy morn those winds attend, 
 That tender herbs, and infant blossoms rend; 
 Nor let old Boreas dare resume his breeze. 
 To check th' expansion of the budding trees. 
 Let not the atmosphere betray its cold. 
 While Nature does her ev'ry charm unfold ; 
 And big with love, benevolently gay. 
 With April beauties crown the April day ; 
 While birds, soft passioned, artless sonnets sing. 
 In praise and honour of the growing spring. 
 The soaring lark loud trills her matin song, 
 And warbling linnets various notes prolong : 
 The love-born nightingale explores the spray, 
 Once more she sings her sweetly plaintive lay: 
 The mellow thrush soft chaunts her charming strain, 
 And merry wood-larks tuneful make the plain : 
 
THE ANGLER. 19 
 
 The feathered songsters all in concert join. 
 And shake the copse with music half divine ; 
 The groves re-echo with their spotless love. 
 And hide in leafage the love-cooing dove, 
 Who, there conceal'd, or cheers its faithful mate, 
 Or plaining, mourns its sad untimely fate. 
 The kids and fawns, and firstling lambs advance, 
 And course the meadows in a frisky dance. 
 The shepherds pipe and shepherdesses sing. 
 And fragrant odours drop from zephyr's wing. 
 The op'ning bloom the promis'd fruit displays, 
 Which in its purple fold securely lays ; 
 How smile the woodlands o*er the flushing year ! 
 How sweet the briar's smell^how fresh appear ! 
 In verdant liv'ry deck'd is ev'ry tree, 
 And all is love, and joy, and melody. 
 The south, distent with gently falling showers. 
 To life and vigour wakes the rural pow'rs ; 
 And lo ! at once from tubes prolific rise 
 Millions of Nature's gifts to greet the eyes ; 
 
20 THE ANGLEH. 
 
 And from earth's womb the vegetables rush, 
 
 And spread the gromid with deep and deeper blush^ 
 
 The stream soft flows in gentle, winding, maze, 
 
 And on its banks the histy steerlings graze ; 
 
 The pools and ponds are crown'd with various flaw'rs. 
 
 Whose covert swarms of diflf'rent fish embow'rs. 
 
 Now sweetly mornings smile — the skies look fair ; 
 Few boist'rous gusts disturb the placid air. 
 The finny tribes now feel the warming ray, 
 Rise from the deeps, and yield an easy prey. 
 His tackle now the Angler should prepare, 
 The choice of which demands his utmost care; 
 To young beginners, brief, I'll state the rules 
 Rever'd by Anglers — doctrine of their schools. 
 First, with discerning eyes your («) Engine view. 
 Of yielding hazel, or of tough bamboo ; 
 
 (a) Engine — a Fishing-rod. A long" taperiuj^ rod to 
 which the line is fastened. Of these there are sev^eral sorts : 
 as — 1st, A Trailer, which has a ring at the end for the line 
 
THE ANGLER. 21 
 
 With nice proportion in their bulk and length, 
 Its joints be shaped, for beauty and for strength : 
 Tough, taper, flexible, well form'd to strike 
 The pigmy Minnow, or gigantic Pike: 
 Springy, elastic, be it in the hand. 
 To throw the line, or strike with, at command. 
 Your (J))Lin€^ or by the spinning-worm supplied, 
 Or by the high-born courser's hairy pride ; 
 
 to go through, when it runs off a reel. — 2d, A Whipper, a 
 top-rod, that is weak in the middle and top heavy, but 
 slender and fine.— 3d, A Dropper, which is a strong rod, 
 but very light. — 4th, A Snapper, which is a strong pole, 
 peculiarly used for pike. — 5th, A Bottom-rod, being the 
 same as the dropper, but more pliable. — 6th, A Sniggling, 
 or Procking-stick, a forked stick, having a short strong 
 line, with a needle, baited with a lob worm : this is only 
 suitable for eels in their holes. 
 
 (6) Fishing-line is either made of hair twisted, or silk; 
 or of the Indian grass. The best colours are the sorrel, 
 white and grey ; the two last for clear waters, the first for 
 muddy ones. The pale watery green is given artificially 
 by steeping the hair in a liquor made of alum, soot, and 
 the juice of walnut leaves, boiled together. 
 
22 THE ANGLER. 
 
 Of gross, or subtile texture, must obey 
 
 The might, or weakness of your destined prey : 
 
 Furnish'd with sliding Flout{c) your line to keep 
 
 At proper depth, suspended in the deep ; 
 
 As also by its dipping to betray. 
 
 When struggling to get free, the wounded prey. 
 
 Be rich in steel, by dextrous Vulcan tam'd, 
 To barbed hooks(c?) for stubborn temper faniM ; 
 
 (c) Fishing-floats^ are little appendages to the line, 
 serving to keep the hook and bait suspended at the proper 
 depth, and to discover vs^hen the fish have hold of them. 
 Of these, there are many kinds; some made of quills, which 
 are the best for slow waters ; but for strong streams, sound 
 cork, without flaws, or holes, bored through with a hot 
 iron, into which is put a quill of suitable proportion, is 
 preferable : the cork should be shaped to a pyramidal form, 
 and made smooth. 
 
 (f/) Fishing-hooJiy a small instrument made of steel-wire, 
 of a proper form to catch and retain fish. The fishing-hook 
 in general, ought to be long in the shank, somewhat thick 
 in the cii'cumfercnce, the point even and straight ; the bend 
 should be in the shank : for setting the hook on, use strong 
 
THE ANGLER. 23 
 
 For if with roots of trees, or weeds entwin'd. 
 They're lost — then disappointment fills the mind : 
 But 'gainst all accidents, that may take place, 
 Old Anglers have a store, loss to replace. 
 
 Some authors have, with cumbersome parade, 
 Whole pages of inveigling baits display'd ; 
 But in six words the nice temptations lie — 
 Fciir Paste(e), bright TVorms{f\ and well dissembled 
 
 but small silk, laying the hair on the inside of the hook ; 
 for if it be on the outside, the silk will fret and cut it asunder: 
 Tliere are several sizes of these fishing-hooks, some big, 
 some little ; and of these, some have peculiar names, as — 1st, 
 Single hooks. — 2d, Double hooks ; which have two bend- 
 lug's, one contrary to the other. — 3d, Snappers, or Gorgers, 
 which are the hooks to whip the artificial flies upon or bait 
 with the natural fly. — 4th, Springers, or Spring-hooks, a 
 kind of double hook, with a spring-, which flies open upon 
 being- struck into any fish, and so keeps its mouth open. 
 
 (e) Paste. — 1. Take the blood of a sheep, and mix it 
 with honey and flour to a proper consistence. — 2d. Take 
 old cheese grated, a little butter suflicient to work it, and 
 
24 THE ANGLER. 
 
 But diff *rent baits at different times prevail, 
 And what will one month take, the next will fail 
 In this the Angler should be skilPd profound, 
 And judgment will with full success abound. 
 Fish, insects(Ji), also, have a tempting look, 
 That oft entices victims to the hook. 
 
 Thus arm*d with implements of death beware 
 Ill-omen'd seasons, and unfav'ring air ; 
 
 colour it with saffron 3 in winter use rusty bacon instead of 
 butter. — 3d, Crumbs of bread chewed, or worked with 
 honey or sugar, moistened with gum-water. 4th, Bread 
 chewed, and worked in the hand till it becomes stiff. 
 
 (/) Worms. — 1, The Earth-bob^ found in sandy ground 
 after ploughing : it is white with a red head j and bigger 
 than a gentle. Another is found in heathy ground, with a 
 blue head ; keep them in an earthen vessel well covered and 
 a sufficient quantity of the mould they harbour in : they 
 are excellent from April to November. — 2d, Gentles, to be 
 had from bullock's livery let them lie in wheat bran a few 
 days before used. — 3d, Flay-worms, found in the roots of 
 flags J they are of a pale yellow colour, longer and thinner 
 than a gentle, and must be scoured like them. — Cow-dung 
 
THE ANGLER. 25 
 
 When SiRius drinks; and the defrauded mill 
 Mourns empty springs, and all its wheels stand still ; 
 
 jBo&, or Clap-baii, found under cow-dung, from May to 
 Michaelmas: it is like a gentle, but larger; keep it in its 
 native soil like the earth-bob. — 5th, Cadis-worm or Cod-bait^ 
 found under loose stones in shallow rivers ; they are yellow* 
 bigger than a gentle, with a black or blue head, and are in 
 season from April to July : keep them in flannel bags. — 6th, 
 Lob-worm, found in gardens : it is very large, and has a 
 red-head, a streak down the back, and a broad tail. — 7th, 
 MarsJi-worms^ found in marshy ground : keep them in moss 
 ten days before you use them 5 their colour is a blueish red ; 
 they are a good bait from March to Michaelmas. — -SthjSraneZ- 
 ling Red-worms.^ or Blood-worms, found in rotten dung-hills 
 or tanner's bark ; they are small red worms, very good for 
 all small fish, have sometimes a yellow tail, and are called 
 Tufj-iails, 
 
 (y) Flies are either natural or artificial, 
 1. 'Natural flies are innumerable; but the most usual 
 for fishing purposes are : — lst,Stone-fly, found under hollow 
 stones at the sides of rivers, is of a brown colour, with yel- 
 low streaks on the back and belly, has large wings, and is 
 in season from April to July. — 2d, Green-drake, found 
 among stones by river sides, has a yellow body, ribbed 
 with green, is long and slender, with wings like a butter- 
 fly, his tail turns on his back, and from May to Midsummejr 
 
26 THE ANGLER. 
 
 When ether blazes, and the waf ry scene 
 Presents the picture of the blue serene ; 
 
 is very useful. — 3d, Oak-Jiy, found in the body of an old 
 oak or ash, with its head downwards, is of a brown colour, 
 and excellent from May to September. — 4th, Palmer-jiy, or 
 worm, found on leaves of plants, is commonly called a ca- 
 terpillar, and when it comes to a fly is excellent for trout. — 
 r)th, Ani-Jiy, found in ant-hills from June to September. — 
 6th, The May-fiy is io be found playing by the river-side 
 especially after rain. — 7th, The Blach-jiy is to be found upon 
 every hawthorn bush after the buds are fallen oft'. 
 
 2. The Artificial flies are seldom used but in blustering 
 weather, when the waters are so troubled by the winds, that 
 the natural fly cannot be seen, nor rest upon them. Of artificial 
 •flies there are reckoned no less than twelve sorts, of which 
 the following are the principal :~lst, For March, the Dun-fly, 
 made of dun- wool, and the feathers of the partridge's wing, 
 or the body made of black wool, and the feathers of a black 
 drake. — 2d, For April, the Sione-fiy : the body made of black 
 wool, dyed yellow under the wings and tail. — 3d, For the 
 beginning of May, the Ruddy-fly, made of red wool, and 
 bound about with black silk, with the feathers of a black 
 capon hanging dangling on his sides next the tail. — 4th, For 
 June, the Greenish-fly : the body made of black wool, with 
 a yellow list on either side, the wings taken off the wings 
 of a buzzard, bound with black, broken hemp. — 5th, The 
 
THE ANGLER. 2l 
 
 Or when fierce rains discoloured currents swell, 
 
 At home the fate of vent'rous fools foretell : 
 
 For then close - shelt'ring weeds, or creeks obscure, 
 
 Fearful or faint, the finny tribes allure ; 
 
 But show'ry clouds, and southern gales excite 
 
 To gamesome mood, and edge their appetite. 
 
 Moorish jiy : the body made of duskish wool 5 and the 
 wings of the blackish mail of a drake. — 6th, The Taivny- 
 fiVt ?ood till the middle of June : the body made of tawny 
 wool, the wings made contrary one against the other, of 
 the whitish mail of a white drake. — 7th, For July, the 
 Wasp-fly : the body made of black wool, cast about with 
 yellow silk, and the wings of drake's feathers. — 8th, The 
 Steel-fly, good in the middle of July : the body made with 
 greenish wool, cast about with the feathers of a peacock's 
 tail, and the wings made of those of the buzzard. — 9th, For 
 August, the Drake, the body made with black wool cast 
 about with black silk ; his wings of the mail of a black 
 drake, with a black head. 
 
 (h) Fishes and Insects. — 1st, Minnow. — 2d, Gudgeon.— 
 3d, Roach.— 4th, Dace.— 5th, Smelt.— 6th, Yellow Frogs.— 
 7th, Snail Slit. — 8th, Grasshopper. 
 
 c 2 
 
2S THE ANGLER. 
 
 Just as the peasant, when his tijnid eyes 
 Suspect each sign of weather he espies, 
 The seed, or sickle, from his field detains. 
 And, simply, of his desert barns complains ; 
 So superstitious Anglers watch the wind, 
 Now Boreas chills; now Eurus breathes unkind. 
 Blow Boreas, Eurus, but nor loud nor cold, 
 Angler go forth, with high assurance bold : 
 Believe a tepid season, and partake 
 Large booty from the river, pond or lake. 
 
 Yet trust not. Angler, to an April morn. 
 That oft entices, — often leaves forlorn ; 
 The sun, relinquishing his eastern bed, 
 In clouds successively involves his head ; 
 The face of Heav'n is variously inclin'd. 
 The true resemblance of a female mind! 
 Here darted beams with full refulgence glow. 
 There faintly streak the party-colourM bow ; 
 
THE ANGLER. 29 
 
 Soft showers fell, and gentle zephyrs play, 
 
 The field alternately, now sad, now gay : — 
 
 In numerous vicissitudes appears. 
 
 Now seems to smile — is now bedew^'d with tears. 
 
 Beneath their wat'ry weight now droop the 
 
 sprays, 
 Now suns on suns in verdant mirrors blaze ; 
 Where by reflection equally we trace 
 The lively blossom's imitated grace ; 
 In mingled order Heaven and Nature rear 
 The promised blessings of the fruitful year: 
 And thus by amicable strife constrain 
 The bud to swell, and prompt the lazy grain. 
 
 Hail, happy shades ! and hail, thou cheerful plain I 
 Where peace and pleasure unmolested reign ; 
 Where dewy buds their blushing bosoms show, 
 And the cool rivers murmur as they flow : 
 See yellow crow's-foot deck the gaudy hills, 
 While the faint primrose loves the purling rills ; 
 
m THE ANGLER. 
 
 Sagacious bees their labours now renew, 
 Hum round their blossoms, and extract their dew ; 
 In their new liv'ries the green woods appear. 
 And smiling Nature decks the infant year ; 
 See yon proud elm, that shines in borrowed charms, 
 While the curl'd woodbines deck her aged arms. 
 When the streak'd east receives a lighter ray, 
 And larks prepare to meet the early day ; 
 Through the glad bowers the shrill anthems run, 
 While the groves glitter to the rising sun : 
 Then Phillis hastens to her fav'rite cow, 
 Her shining tresses wanton on her brow ; 
 While to her cheek enliv'ning colours fly, 
 And health and pleasure sparkle in her eye. 
 Unspoird by riches, nor with knowledge vain, 
 Contented Cymon whistles o'er the plain ; 
 His flock dismisses from their nightly fold. 
 Observes their health, and sees their number told. 
 Pleas'd with its being, see the nimble fawn 
 Sports in the grove, or wantons o'er the lawn ; 
 
THE ANGLER. 31 
 
 While the pleasM coursers frolic out the day, 
 And the dull ox affects unwieldy play. 
 Hark I the shrill linnet charms the distant plain, 
 And Philomel replies in softer strain ; 
 See those bright lilies shine with milky hue, 
 And those fair cowslips drop with balmy dew! 
 Such scenes as these delight the Angler's eyes. 
 As through the meads towards the stream he hies ; 
 And whether fish will kindly bite or not, 
 Pleasure and health are from th' excursion got. 
 
 Where the dull river rolls its lazy stream, 
 And deepening shades seclude the noon-day beam, 
 Sequestered from the world, I fish and think — < 
 A conscience clear from self will never shrink. 
 
 Imagination now expands her wing, 
 To nobler heights the teeming fancy soars : 
 
 Unchain'd, unfettered, at th' approach of spring, 
 She once again her latent themes explores. 
 
32 THE ANGLER. 
 
 Here as along the river's bank I rove, 
 I sing the sweets, or fly the pangs of love ; 
 Hail the pure stream, in whose transparent wave, 
 In Summer's heats I've us'd my limbs to lave; 
 No torreHts foul obscure its limpid source — 
 No stubborn rocks impede its dimpling course ; 
 That softly rolls and w^arbles o'er its bed, 
 With variegated, polish'd, pebbles spread ; 
 While lightly pois'd, the glitt'ring, scaly brood 
 In myriads frisk, and cleave its crystal flood ; 
 The springing Trout in all its speckled pride, — 
 The darting Salmon, monarch of the tide, — 
 The ruthless tyrant Pike, intent on war. 
 The silver Eel, and curious mottled Par ;(?) 
 And as T look to Nature's Lord I sing. 
 Who forms such beauties, and who forms the spring;— 
 Who wakes the earth with gentle fost'ring show'rs, 
 And strews her lap with beauteous, blooming flow'rs 
 
 (0 The Par is a small fish, not unlike the Smelt, which 
 it rivals in delicacy aud flavor. 
 
THE ANGLER. 33 
 
 Around I see his all-creative Hand, 
 Extending through the water — through the land. 
 HaiJ, Power Supreme ! Great Cause of Causes hail ! 
 Whose vital power cheers the vernal gale. 
 From scenes below my Muse ascending moves, 
 And higher strains and loftier lays approves ; — 
 With zeal impelPd, would plume her feeble wing — 
 But how can mortal muse due honours bring ? 
 
 c3 
 
CANTO III. 
 
 Angling for Trout. — Fickleness of the Seasons in Britain. — 
 Season for Trout Fishing. — Rules for the Art of Artificial 
 Fly Fishing. — A living Loach good Bait for Trout. — Rules 
 for Bream, Cheven, Barbel and Tench Fishing. — Boyish 
 Sports. — Learning to Swim and Angle. — Groping for 
 Trout. — How performed. — Nature's Kindness and 
 Bounty. — Approach of Night. 
 
CANTO III. 
 
 The seasons, surely, in these northern climes. 
 Laugh at their image drawn by ancient rhymes ; 
 For Spring oft shivers in the British isle, 
 But warms, in British song, with Baiae^'s smile. 
 E'en now the hawthorn, on the birth of May, 
 Withholds her blossom, nor believes the day. 
 And much I doubt if the yet chilling breeze, 
 Crisping the lake, its spotted nation please 5 
 
38 THE ANGLER. 
 
 Thin, o*er the wave, the quiv'ring insects skim, 
 And faintly dip their pinions in its brim. 
 Winter its power has not yet resignM ; 
 And yet, I fear, the weather is unkind. 
 But there, an answer to that doubt receive — 
 A gallant Trout I — behold it, and believe. 
 
 The Trout, of delicate complexion, creeps, 
 Sickly, deform'd, and squalid in the deeps ; 
 Lean and unwholesome, while descending snows 
 Thicken the floods, and scourging Boreas blows : 
 But when the vernal energy prevails 
 O'er Winter's gelid breath — when western gales 
 Curl the pure shallows, and his strength restore, 
 His scales he brightens on the pebbly shore ; 
 His colours rise, and, in the rapid maze. 
 Gay as the Spring, the lively wanton plays. 
 
 Ye, Naiads, listen to the Fisher's strain, 
 While thus I hymn the glories of your reign ; 
 
THE ANGLER. 39 
 
 Nor let me, wand'ring on the mossy shore, 
 Behold your wat'ry pleasures, and deplore 
 That, partial, you to other hooks resign 
 The speckled triumphs you refuse to mine ! 
 
 What ails this mimic fly ? It springs no game — 
 'Tis not in season — there must lie the blame ; 
 Quick, change it, and diversify the while. 
 Though one bait fail, another may beguile. 
 It takes! and, lo, a captive ! bid your Wye, (a) 
 Latkin, or Dove, (b) with this vermilion vie. 
 
 (a) Wye is a small stream in Derbyshire. 
 
 (b) Latkin, or Dove.— -The former is also a small stream 
 in Derbyshire, of special note for the transparency of its 
 ■water, and plenty of Grayling-. The Dove divides the two 
 counties of Stafford and Derby, and runs into the Trent, 
 two miles below Buxton. It is also famous for the clear- 
 ness of its stream, and the excellence of its Trout and 
 Grayling-. 
 
40 THE .ANGLER. 
 
 Those, who, like Walton fam'd, can wheel the line, 
 Or glory, Cotton, in a hand like thine, 
 To lightly on the dimpling eddy fling 
 The hypocritic fly's unruffled wing, 
 Will find enameird' spoil their conquest grace, 
 While Hampshire meads with w^ary foot they trace. 
 Peace on the dead ! Some living hands I know, 
 No shame to Anglers, not unskill'd to throw ; 
 Who in their grindles fish w^ith much delight, — 
 Whom love of Trout, and bacon-chine excite. 
 
 Where'er you ply, your labour will be vain. 
 If you the rules(<7) of art do not attain : 
 
 (c)The best Rules for Artificial Fly-fishinij are— 1. To fish 
 in a river somewhat disturbed with rain 3 or in a cloudy 
 da^', when the waters are moved by a gentle breeze : the 
 south wind is best ; and if the w ind blow high, yet not so 
 but that you may conveniently guard your tackle, the fish 
 will rise in plain deeps 3 but if there be little wind, the best 
 
THE ANGLER. 41 
 
 What fish your stream affords, the weather's state, 
 The water, muddy, clear ; the proper bait ; 
 The wind and other things you must consult, 
 All needful to a fortunate result. 
 For diff 'rent waters diff'rent species yield, 
 TheAnHer's art commands the widest field: 
 
 angling is in swift streams. — 2. Keep as far from the water- 
 side as may be ; fish down the stream with the sun at your 
 back, and touch not the water with your line. — 3. Ever 
 angle in clear rivers, with a small fly and slender wings ; 
 but in muddy places use a larger. — 4. When, after rain, the 
 water becomes brownish, use an orange fly j in a clear day, 
 a light coloured fly 5 a dark fly for dark waters, &c. — 5. Let 
 the line be twice as long as the rod, unless the I'iver be 
 encumbered with trees. — 6, For every sort of fly, have 
 several of the same, different in colour, to suit with the 
 different complexions of several waters and weathers. — 7. 
 Have a nimble eye, an active hand, to strike presently with 
 the rising of the fish, or else he will be apt to throw out 
 the hook. — 8. Let the fly fall first into the water, and not 
 the line, which will scare the fish. — 9. In slow rivers, or still 
 places, cast the fly across the river, and let it sink a little 
 in the water, and draw it gently back with the current. 
 
42 THE ANGLER. 
 
 Descend the lime-stone precipice, and rove 
 Along the banks of silver-footed Dove ; 
 Her head-long current, amid Alpine hills, 
 Wash'd by the chrystal of unnumber'd rills, 
 Clear as the spotless mirror feasts our eyes 
 With pendant mountains, and the hanging skies. 
 In the clean bosom of the glassy wave 
 Trout(g?) of the richest stains their beauties lave ; 
 While the sviift Grayling, (e) back'd with azure 
 
 green, 
 Glides, like a shadow, through the lucid green, 
 
 {(f) The Trout varies its colours in dilFereut waters and 
 seasons. They ditfer also in size, some having- been known 
 to weigh four pounds, but the usual size is half a pound. 
 They are most voracious fish, and afford plenty of sport to 
 the Ang^ler. The passion for the sport of Angling- is so 
 great in the neighbourhood of Loudon, that the liberty of 
 fishing in some of the streams in the adjacent counties is 
 purchased at the rate of ten pounds a year. 
 
 (e) The Grayling seldom grows beyond eighteen inches. 
 It is in high esteem, rarely found but in the Derbyshire 
 streams, and in Devonshire ; and is in its perfection iu the 
 middle of winter. 
 
THE ANGLER. 43 
 
 But if with heads and heels less sure than mine, 
 
 Ye wish with less fatigue to fish and dine, 
 
 The Lea (/) presents a universal stream, 
 
 Boasts no inglorious Trout, but scorns the Bream ;(§•) 
 
 {f) The Lea rises in Bedfordshire, takes its course by 
 Hertford, Ware, Waltham, and Bow, parting IMiddlesex 
 from Essex, and falls into the Thames at Blackwall. 
 
 {g) The Bream. — Procure about a quart of large red 
 worms 5 put them into fresh moss well washed and dried, 
 every three or four days, feeding- them with fat mould and 
 chopped fennel, and they will be thoroughly scoured in 
 about three weeks. 
 
 Let your lines be silk and hair, but all silk is best j let 
 the floats be either swan-quills or goose-quills. Let your 
 plumb be a piece of lead in the shape of a pear, with a 
 small ring at the point of it : fasten it to the line, and the 
 line hook to the lead ; about ten or twelve inches space be- 
 tween lead and hook will be enough j and take care the 
 lead be heavy enough to sink the float. Having baited the 
 hook well with a strong worm, the worm will draw the hook 
 up and down in the bottom, which will provoke the Bream 
 to bite the more eagerly. Find the exact depth of the wa- 
 ter, if possible, that the float may swim on its surface di- 
 rectly over the lead j then provide the following ground 
 bait. Take about a peck of sweet gross-ground malt 5 and 
 
44 THE i\NGLER. 
 
 Huge Cheven(A) here, and sturdy Barbel (?") feel 
 Th' uneonquer'd temper of my bearded steel. 
 
 having boiled it a very little, strain it hard through a bag, 
 and throw the malt into the water by handfuls squeezed 
 hard together, that the stream may not separate it before it 
 reaches the bottom; and throw it in at least a yard above 
 the place where you intend the hook shall lie, or the stream 
 will carry it down too far. Do this about nine o'clock at 
 night, keeping some of the malt in the bag, and go to the 
 place about three the next morning ; but approach warily, 
 lest you be seen by the fish, for it is certain that they have 
 sentinels watching on the top of the waters, while the rest 
 are feeding below. Cast your hook in so that it may sink in 
 the midst of the ground bait ; let your rod rest on the bank, 
 with some stones to keep it down ; and then withdraw so 
 as to have your eye upon the float j when you see it carried 
 away do not be too hasty to rim in, but give time to the fish 
 to tire himself and then touch him gently. When the float 
 sinks, creep to the water-side, and give it as much line as 
 you can. If it is a Bream or Carp, he will run to the other 
 side J strike him gently, and hold your rod at a bend a 
 little while ; but do not pull, or you will spoil all ; you 
 must tire them before they can be lauded, for they are very 
 shy. If there be any Carp in the river, it is likely you will 
 take them J but if there are any Pike or Perch, they will be 
 sure to visit the ground-bait, though they will not touch it, 
 
THE ANGLER- 46 
 
 TheTENCH(/:) are strangers ; and the Grayling's kind, 
 AH else rich pasture in these waters find. 
 
 being drawn thither by the great resort of small fish j and, 
 until you remove them, it is vain to think of taking Carp or 
 Bream. In this case, bait one of your hooks with a small 
 Bleak, Roach, or Gudgeon, about two feet deep from your 
 float, with a little red worm at the point of your hook, and 
 if a Pike be there, he will be sure to snap at it. This sport is 
 good till nine o'clock in the morning 5 and, in a gloomy 
 day, till night ; but do not frequent the place too much, 
 lest the fish grow shy. 
 
 (h) Cheveu. — In angling for Cheven, Roach, or Dace, 
 move not your natural fly swiftly, when you see the fish 
 make at it ; but rather let it glide freely towards him with 
 the stream : but if it be in a still and slow water, draw the 
 fly slowly sidewise by him, which will make him eagerly 
 pursue it. 
 
 (i) Barbel, though a coarse fish, gives considerable 
 exercise to the Angler's ingenuity. They swim together in 
 great shoals, and are at their worst in April, when they 
 spawn, but come soon in season. The places they resort 
 are such as are weedy and gi-avelly, where it roots with its 
 nose like a swine. In summer, he frequents the strongest 
 and swiftest currents of water, and settles among piles, 
 moss, Aveeds, &c. w^hei-e he remains immoveable ; but in 
 Avinter he retires to deep places, He is a very curious, and 
 cunning fish 3 for if his baits be not fregh, clean, well^ 
 
46 THE ANGLER. 
 
 Oft, in my youthful days, those days of joy ! 
 When e'er a holiday rejoie'd each boy, 
 
 scoured, and kept in sweet moss, he will not bite ; but if 
 they are, he will bite eagerly. The best bait is the spawn 
 of a Salmon, Trout, or any other fish ; and, if you would 
 have good sport, bait the place with it a night or two before, 
 or with large worms cut in pieces ; and the earlier in the 
 morning, or later in the evening you fish, the better. Your 
 rod and line must be both long and strong, with a running 
 plummet on the line ; and let a little bit of lead be placed 
 a foot or more above the hook, to keep the bullet from fall- 
 ing on it ; so the worm will be at the bottom, where they 
 always bite ; and when the fish takes the bait, your plummet 
 v/ill lie and not choke him. By the bending of your rod, 
 you may know when he bites, as also with your hand, you 
 will feel a strong snatch ; then strike, and you will rarely 
 fail if you play him well ; but if you manage him not dex- 
 terously, he will break your line. Tlie best time for the 
 sport is about nine in the morning ; and the best season is 
 the latter end of May, June, July, and the beginning of 
 August. 
 
 (h) The Tench is coarse like the Barbel ; but with the 
 addition of rich sauces reckoned delicious in this country. 
 It seldom exceeds four or five pounds weight, though 
 known to reach ten or even twenty. They love still waters, 
 and are rarely found in rivers : they are foolish and easily 
 caught. 
 
THE ANGLER. 47 
 
 With heart, devoid of ev*ry earthly care, 
 
 Through Devon's vales, I'd to the Exe (/) repair : 
 
 There first I, fearful, tried the treach'rous wave. 
 
 In summer's heat content my limbs to lave ; 
 
 In mirthful mood dash'd o'er each playful mate 
 
 The show'r which he return'd ; whilst both elate 
 
 With hope of victory, the contest held, 
 
 Till one, thro' loss of breath, gave up the field. 
 
 By use grown bold, and by example more, 
 
 I deeper wade, then plunge toward the shore ; 
 
 I splash, and struggle hard, and float and sink, 
 
 Half suffocated ere I reach the brink. 
 
 This oft repeated, and more buoyant grown. 
 
 Proud as a monarch seated on his throne, 
 
 I sail around, triumphant, and as vain 
 
 As conqu'ror of a new subdu'd domain. 
 
 (I) The Exe, a river of Devonshire, rising in Exmoor, 
 running nearly north and south, and falling into the sea at 
 Exmouth, a most delightful watering-place. 
 
48 THE ANGLER. 
 
 Ne'er will my heart forget the honest pride, 
 Which fiird it, when I thus the deep could ride. 
 
 Thus man advent'rous on the stream of life, 
 Timid at first — afraid of jars and strife, 
 Kicks — struggles — plunges — still more daring grows, 
 And reaps experience e'en from fortune's blows ; 
 Till rising gradually 'bove frowns of fate. 
 He sails life's course towards a future state. 
 
 In this fine stream, my yet unpractis'd hand 
 First learn'd to wield the rod, and, at command, 
 To throw the line, well arm'd with treach'rous fly, 
 And deal destruction to the finny fry. 
 Nor standing deeps, nor (m) Stick le's rapid wave, 
 Could from my art the wary victim save ; 
 
 (m) Stickles. — So in Devonshire they term the rapid 
 course of the water on a shallow bed of pebbles, or brokeji 
 ground, in a descent of the river. 
 
THE ANGLER. 49 
 
 Sometimes the speckled Trout, the Grayling fair, 
 I led in triumph with my well wove hair : 
 Till, wearied out, and turning on its side. 
 It yielded, and was dragged from native tide. 
 
 Nor this alone the mode the Trout to gain, 
 As woman ticklish, and as woman vain ! 
 Oft, in the deeps, beneath the roots it feeds. 
 In currents too, it lurks beneath the weeds ; 
 'Midst piles and stakes^ in fancied safety lies, 
 Or faint wath heat, or satiate with flies : 
 Here groping, (n) if you feel him with your hand. 
 Tickling he loves, just like the female band : 
 
 (n) The mode of Groping for Trout, is curious, and is 
 performed as follows: You feel, in deeps, under the roots 
 of trees, or the piles and stakes of weirs and banks ; in 
 currents, under the weeds. If you feel him, tickle him 
 gently with the tips of the fingers of the right hand till you 
 bring it just behind the gills. The fish appears to stifi'en, 
 and floats like a log. Then apply your left hand towards 
 the tail, tickling in like manner, till you grasp the fish 
 firmly with both hands, and all his struggles to get free 
 
50 THE ANGLER. 
 
 'Till, firmly grasp'd (his struggles all in vain !) 
 
 You bear or fling him, gasping to the plain. 
 
 The Dace,(o) unvYorthy of the Angler's pains, 
 
 We oft intoxicate with pois'nous grains ; 
 
 It flies the deep, and on the surface wheels, 
 
 Till the approaching hand of death it feels. 
 
 " Heav'n from all creatures hides the book of fate, 
 
 " All but the page prescribed, their present state : 
 
 " From brutes what men, from men what spirits know : 
 
 " Or who could suffer being here below ? 
 
 " The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed to-day, 
 
 " Had he thy reason, would he skip and play? 
 
 ^vill be in vain. You then bring him to land j or, if you be 
 near enoug-h, fling' him on shore. 
 
 (o) The mode of intoxicating Dace is as follows : pound 
 Juniper berries and coculus ludicus : knead them up with 
 paste, and over night throw the composition into any places 
 they frequent, and which may be baited also with brewer's 
 grains. Early in the morning, the fish will be seen swim- 
 ming in circles on the surface, where they may be easily 
 taken by the hand. Other fish either will not take the com- 
 position, or are not aifected by it 3 so that there is no dan- 
 ger of destroying them. 
 
THE ANGLER. 61 
 
 " Pleas'd to the last, he crops the flowVy food, 
 
 " And licks the hand just rais'd to shed his blood. 
 
 " O blindness to the future ! kindly giv'n, 
 
 " That each may fill the circle mark'd by Heav'n." 
 
 How bounteous is the charter of our meat ! 
 Which loud proclaims — " Rise, mortal, kill and 
 
 eat, 
 " Of evVy wing, the savage and the tame. 
 •* Of every beast of salutary name ; 
 " Of ev'ry finny tribe, in fresh or brine, 
 " Which health will licence — mortal, all is thine.'' 
 The Pow'r who formed the palate with degrees 
 Of quick discernment, each degree to please. 
 In varying food a varying gust has placM, 
 The Pike's dry flesh, and Grayling's flav'rous taste, 
 For tho' he yields no fame ; too easy prey 
 He turns his side of gold bespangled grey ; 
 Game for young talents unabash'd he'll dare, 
 Baulk'd e'er so oft, the disappointing snare ; 
 D 2 
 
62 THE ANGLER. 
 
 Simple and bold, like blockheads of the pen. 
 Who write, are hiss'd, and stare, and write again. 
 In the cold month, whose holy feast presides 
 O'er Time's great aeras, and his annals guides, 
 With you, ye northern Anglers, let me ply 
 Latkin, pellucid brook, or Buxton's Wye : 
 With yours my false wing's witch'ry shall excite 
 The Gr^^yling's hunger in his season's height : 
 For then a deeper sable veils his head, 
 A deeper sable o'er -his back is spread : 
 His sound, firm, flesh before the knife will Hake, 
 And rival honors with the Trout partake. 
 
 Too long I run on in this idle style. 
 Up and alert, diversify the while ; 
 Suspend a living LoACH,(p) now ground the wand. 
 Trust it to fish, at distance take your stand : 
 
 (p) The Loach is a small fish, with the eyes in the upper 
 part of the head. There are five species ; three of which 
 
THE ANGLER. 63 
 
 Perish that Moor-hen ! her unlucky flight 
 Turn'd a large Trout just springing to the bite. 
 Ne'er mind — the plot succeeds — at length I've won 
 As fine a Trout as glitter'd in the sun. 
 Thus ever-varying sport attends our toils, 
 And conquest spreads the face with pleasant smiles, 
 'Till down the steep of Heav'n the wheels of Day 
 To western waves precipitate the ray. 
 
 The glorious setting sun displays a scene, 
 Not glaring, but delightfully serene ; 
 The moon begins to give its lambent light — 
 The vacillating stars their twinkling^ bright. 
 The soul, in contemplation, pleasure finds, 
 From that which strikes with horror guilty minds ; 
 From yon old tree, by ivy clasp'd, a drear 
 And dismal note assails the list'ning ear! 
 
 are found in Europe. They keep at the bottom and under 
 the stones ; and on that account are called in some places, the 
 groundlings. They are easily caught, even by hand. 
 
54 THE ANGLER. 
 
 The owl prepares to take its gloomy flight. 
 Rejoicing that the day gives place to night : 
 But as these screams unpleasant die away. 
 How sweetly Philomela tunes her lay ! 
 Her plaintive notes re-echo through the grove — 
 She calls her mate, and chaunts her tale of love. 
 How difTrent from the boding bird's shrill throaty 
 The varying warbler tunes her melting note ! 
 In these umbrageous scenes the pensive Muse 
 Soars 'bove the world to more than mortal views* 
 Longer I'd roam, but dews now rise apace — 
 See ! o'er the lawn my footsteps leave a trace. 
 
 How weak man's reason — his resolves how 
 weak ! 
 He gives advice, which he's the first to break ; 
 Reader, I caution'd thee t' avoid the dew — 
 Shun thou the pattern, but th' advice pursue. 
 Before the sun, declining to make way 
 For night's approach, has ting'd the western ray. 
 
THE ANGLER. 
 
 55 
 
 And skirted round each vapour's edge with gold, 
 
 The beasts, thro' instinct, seek the shelt'ring fold : 
 
 Nor scorn th' example — seek the snug fire-side, 
 
 The cheerful meal, the ale's enliv'ning tide, 
 
 In both let moderation be your guide : 
 
 Then raise your thoughts to Heaven, ere you rest — 
 
 To all earth's joys Religion adds a zest. 
 
CANTO IV. 
 
 SALMON FISHING. 
 
 Time, middle of May. — Spring Scenery .—Love ; a warning 
 against illicit. — Fly-fishing for Salmon-peal. — Angling for 
 Salmon with the Ledger-hait. — Directions for the prac- 
 tical Angler. — Every part of England abounding in Rivers 
 fit for Angler's Sports. — Descriptions of some of the most 
 famous. — Know when you have enough, and be grateful 
 to the Giver of all Things. 
 
 D5 
 
CANTO IV 
 
 SALMON FISHING.(a) 
 
 Hail, welcome Spring I much lov'd, auspicious guest! 
 Whose blooming presence fires my grateful breast. 
 
 (a) The Salmon is also too well known to need a particular 
 description. One has been known to weigh upwards of 
 seventy pounds weight. They leave the fresh waters and 
 retire into the sea at the approach of winter, and return 
 
60 THE ANGLER. 
 
 Ambrosial dews and soft descending shovvVs, 
 
 Refresh the earth, and rouse the new-born fiow'rs ; 
 
 The grazing herds through verdant pastures range. 
 
 Delighted at the renovating change ; 
 
 Inspired by influence of Nature's reign. 
 
 They range the wood, or wanton o'er the plain: 
 
 a^ain about the beginning of April ; but some rivers, con- 
 trary to all others, as the Usk and Wye, in Monmouthshire, 
 and the Exe in Devonshire, have them in season all the six 
 winter months. 
 
 The best are found in the Thames, Tamar and Exe, but they 
 are in no great abundance, as they prefer the cold northern 
 rivers: they are, therefore, larger and much more numerous 
 in the Tweed and Tyne. Their haunts are the clearest wa- 
 ters, nearest the spring-heads in summer, the deepest parts 
 of a rapid stream, in the middle, and near the ground ; on 
 pebble, chalk, or gravelly bottoms. 
 
 Salmon-peal are found in the rivers of Devon, Dorset and 
 Yorkshire. They do not exceed sixteen inches. Tlieselast 
 chuse deep holes near the brooks, or under the i-oot of a 
 tree. Salmon do not g-et fat till they have been some time 
 in the rivers, and the nearer the spring-head the better. The 
 best season to commence angling is about the middle of 
 Mav. 
 
THE ANGLER. 61 
 
 The bleating sheep on sunny hillocks lie, 
 Or seek the brakes t' escape the teasing fly. 
 Herds low their passion; flocks bleat out their loves, 
 Contentment reigns throughout the fields and groves. 
 A blooming verdure richly clothes each spray, 
 And birds with songs salute each new-born day ; 
 The thrush, the linnet, and lark mounting high, 
 In emulation with each other vie : 
 At intervals the cuckoo joins the song. 
 Although the strangers visit be not long. 
 Th' industrious bee, to liberty restored. 
 Extracts the juice which liquid blooms aflbrd ; 
 Amalgamates the whole, — a compound sweet ! 
 Then flies, impatient, to its straw-retreat. 
 Each morning gives the blushing roses birth, 
 And crowns with beauties the new-teeming earth ; 
 On rudest spots most beauteous flowers grow, 
 And e'en on hedges most luxuriant blow ; 
 To taste each sweet, or to enjoy the sun, 
 From flow'r to flow'r yon butterfly see run ; 
 
62 THE ANGLER. 
 
 By nature so bedeck'd in ev'ry part, 
 Blush, human artist, blush, nor boast your art! 
 The hills with pride unfold their leafy tops, 
 And wanton zephyrs fan the fragrant crops. 
 Now swains of love the language soft employ. 
 And rustic nymphs affect not to be coy ; 
 The glowing lip yields no reluctant kiss. 
 But kind indulgence crowns the lover's bliss. 
 For this soft season does each passion move. 
 And, inward working, tunes the heart to love. 
 The am'rous pair through lawns and w^oodlands stray, 
 To gather flow'rs, and taste the sweets of May ; 
 Linked arm in arm, enamour'd stroll along, 
 While birds in unison, chaunt their love-song. 
 The ardent youth, his ready love to show, 
 Searches each bank where purple violets grovv^ ; 
 And robs gay Flora of her blooming store. 
 To add new sweets to what was sweet before. 
 Thus blessM like Eden's happy pair, they rove. 
 And think the world was made for them and love. 
 
THE ANGLER. 63 
 
 But of this dang'rous season, oh ! beware, 
 Ye female sex, more weak as ye 're more fair ; 
 Disdain th' insidious tale that would betray 
 To lawless love, and leave to grief a prey : 
 And curst be he, who would advantage take 
 Of your credulity, and then forsake ! 
 But blest, for ever blest, the happy pair, 
 Who, 'till their hands are join'd, their loves for- 
 bear .' 
 
 Now to OUR sport! No country upon earth 
 To rivers more for Anglers' sports give birth ; 
 The Thames with royal Tiber may compare 
 For palaces and mansions, stately — fair ; 
 For picturesqueness Severn's shore is prais'd ; 
 By Shakspeare's birth is Avon's fame uprais'd ; 
 Trent's crystal stream for fish is far renown'd. 
 And Tamar with o'er-hanging woods embrown'd ; 
 Chester, old Chester, vaunts her holy Dee, 
 The Peak her Dove, translucid as the sea ; 
 
64 THE ANGLER. 
 
 York many wonders of her OusE can tell, 
 
 Essex will say her Lea does all excel ; 
 
 Our northern counties boast the Tweed's fair flood, 
 
 And Tyne for Salmon fam'd in swarms, and good; 
 
 Devon her Tamar, Otter, Exe may boast, 
 
 Which breed of various fish a countless host ; 
 
 Bristol her Severn, second scarce to none, 
 
 And Kent her Med way with great pride may own ; 
 
 So that where'er the Angler's fate be cast. 
 
 He need but fish to feast, and never fast. 
 
 Except on Essex, Sussex, Suffolk coasts, 
 
 There's scarcely one, but what of Salmon boasts. 
 
 Now, with the sun's invigorating rays, 
 The Salmons, renovate, desert the seas ; 
 And, oh! of Providence the wondrous ways ! 
 Flock to those streams ^vhich nurs^d(h)t\\iim first to Ui\\ 
 As if with gratitude their hearts were rife. 
 
 (6) This most curious circumstance has been partiulhj, 
 if not generally ascertained, by lying a ribbon, tape, or 
 
THE ANGLER. 65 
 
 Emaciate they leave the boundless main, 
 And seek their native shores new strength to gain ; 
 Prompted by instinct — substitute of Heav'n 
 For reason, which to Man alone is giv'n. 
 
 Almighty Power ! all-productive mind ! 
 On all thy works thus stamp'd Thyself we find ; 
 How diflTrent all — how difF'rently endued, 
 Not one alike, and yet alike all good ; 
 How perfect Thou, who, by one act divine, 
 Conceiv'd and executed the design ; 
 Nor does the earth alone thy gifts enjoy ; 
 Confin'd to none, the whole thy care employ ; 
 The countless nations, in the deep below. 
 Thy pow*r, wisdom, and thy goodness show : 
 
 thread on the tails of young- salmon which have been taken 
 in weirs or mill-tails as they were migrating towards the sea , 
 throwing them back into the river, and retaking part of 
 them again with the known mark, on their return from the 
 sea, which is usually about six months after. 
 
66 THE ANGLER. 
 
 To all thou open'st thine exhaustless store, 
 Till all are satisfied, and need no more. 
 
 The Salmon's praises to my verse belong — 
 King of the streams, and glory of our song; 
 He claims the rivers, and he claims the seas. 
 Those for his summer joys — his winter these. 
 Now, in the storm, he stems the mountain-waves, 
 And now the thund'ring cataract he braves, 
 Tivy or Wear ; when remeant from the deep, 
 Renew'd in vigour, he essays to leap ; 
 Then, springing with a bound, surmounts the 
 
 height. 
 Dashes the foam, and glories in the feat ; 
 Or, if he fail at first, the leap renews, 
 'Till full success crowns his aspiring views. 
 Strong Salmon tribes ! Ye know my stronger 
 
 hand — 
 Ye know subjection to the hair's command : 
 
THE ANGLER. 67 
 
 Whether inLoNE(c) your merry wakes ye hold, 
 Or Deva,(c?) haunt of wizard druids old. 
 O, waft me back, kind Fortune, to the side 
 Of the swift TE£s(e) — ungovernable tide ! 
 And TwEED,(/) begot on Caledonian hills. 
 Whose far-famM waves the Salmon nation fills. 
 
 (c) The Lone or Lune issues out of Luue Fox-est in 
 Westmoreland, runs by Lancaster, and falls into the sea 
 about a mile below Middleton. 
 
 (d) Deva or Dee is a Cheshire river, though rising in 
 Wales. By its course it parts Cheshire from Flintshire. It 
 falls into the Irish Sea below West Chester. Milton, in his 
 Lycidas, called this river Deva's wizard stream, on account 
 of its neighbourhood to the Isle of Anglesea, the principal 
 seat of the Druids. 
 
 (e) Tees is the northern boundary of Yorkshire. It rises 
 in Teesdale Forest, near the confines of Durham, Cumber- 
 land, and Westmoreland. It is so rapid a stream, that no 
 other fish but salmon can live in it. 
 
 (/) The Tweed rises in Tweedale, in Scotland, parts 
 Scotland from Northumberland, and falls into the sea at 
 Tweedmouth near Berwick. 
 
68 THE ANGLER. 
 
 Or beckon, Naiads, to the southern vales, 
 Where his long liquid train the Severn(^) trails ; 
 And where the might of more majestic Thames, 
 O'er finny nations, of unnumbered names, 
 Rolls his broad wave, and boasts, within his 
 
 bound, 
 High flavoured Salmon through the world re- 
 
 nown'd. 
 
 Propitious wind ! It blows (A) against the stream — 
 I hope for sport : may hope not prove a dream ! 
 
 {(f) The Severn is the second river in England. It rises 
 near Plinlimmon-hill in Montgomeryshire, runs fifty miles 
 in that county, and receives above thirty rivers into its 
 channel from the mountains of Wales, before it enters into 
 Shropshire. It falls into the Severn Sea, or Bristol Chan- 
 nel, along with the Avon. 
 
 Qi) The Salmon bites from the middle of April to the end 
 of August, about nine in the morning and three in the after- 
 noon, in a sunshiny day, that is rough and windy, especi- 
 ally if it blows against the stream. 
 
THE ANGLER. 69 
 
 In yon deep current may a Salmon lurk — 
 Tackle (i) hold strong, and Fly {k) do well thy 
 work I 
 
 (i) The Tackle should be at least five times as stout as 
 that for a Trout. 
 
 (k) Fly. — ^The Salmon will not often bite at a fly, nor at 
 a minnow, but likes a worm, and in general takes all that 
 a Trout does. He loves a large bait, especially a large lob- 
 worm, or two, exceedingly well scoured in moss, sixteen, 
 twenty days, or longer, and rubbed over with oil of spike, 
 or ivy berries, assafcetida, or turpentine, just before using. 
 Of flies the natural ones succeed best, two or three on a 
 hook. The artificial ones must be large and of the most 
 flaring, gaudy colours ; the bodies made with gold and sil- 
 ver threads, and with four, or better with six wings, stand- 
 ing one before the other, and both these and the tails must 
 be long. A raw cockle or muscle taken out of the shell, or 
 a prawn are recommended. The way to angle with these 
 last is to drop your line with no shot on it, in a shallow, by 
 the edge of any deep hole, and let the stream carry it in. 
 They are very nice and whimsical in changing their baits. 
 For Salmon-peal the best bait is a well scoured brand- 
 ling bred in tanner's bark 3 but they will rise at any Trout 
 
 fly. 
 
70 THE ANGLER. 
 
 A Salmon may my supper-table grace — 
 Yonder a huge one leaps — mark well the place. 
 My fly-rod will not reach — what need I care ? 
 E'en let it rest — a (Z) Ledger-bait prepare. 
 Now trust it to the deep — the rod resume — 
 Success from one or t'other I'll presume. 
 Ha ! well done, fly ! a leap ! a Salmon-peal ! 
 Strike smart! he's hook'd! now gently w^ith him deaf. 
 Give him more length of line — ply well the reel ; 
 Now wind it in — he struggles still I feel — 
 Alternately thus play him, till he tire, 
 Nor fear your hook, if 'tis well arm'd with wire : 
 
 (J) Ledger-bait. — If a Salmon leap out of the water, 
 be sure there is a deep hole. If you cannot reach it with 
 your fly-rod, use the Ledger as near as you can to the 
 hole, and a larg^e cork float. Bait with a live minnow, loach, 
 gudgeon, or dace at midwater 5 and some prefer that depth, 
 or a little lower, with a worm 5 though it is common to fish 
 that way close to the ground, either with a float or running- 
 line. You may also trowl for him. Your hook must be large, 
 and armed with wire, or whipped on to two hog's brisi les. 
 
THE ANGLER. 71 
 
 Again 1 feel him, and his strength near spent, 
 To gentle force he yields constraint consent ; 
 And now resistance vain, he nears the shore — 
 Now quits that element he'll skim no more : 
 Full fourteen inches is his measur'd size, 
 For any Epicure a dainty prize. 
 
 More luck ! the cork, indicative, betrays 
 Some bulky fish the ledger-bait does seize ; 
 Now timely strike — was ever such a cast "? 
 A feast for twenty if I hold him fast : 
 Salmon or Pike, but hold fast hook and line. 
 To-morrow he shall a few choice friends dine : 
 But from the fable let me, wisdom taught, 
 Not sell the skin before the bear is caught. 
 A monster 'tis, and if he do his best. 
 My art and tackle will be put to test. 
 Now giving play — now using gentle force, 
 I sometimes follow his, and he my course ; 
 
72 THE ANGLER. 
 
 At times stand still ;— or he or I make play, 
 Uncertain whether his or mine the day ; 
 But, each succeeding trial, glad I find 
 His spirit tam'd ; or else his strength declined. 
 Two hours thus are passM in deep suspense, 
 He keeps the pool, nor may I draw him thence. 
 As he grows weak, more daring gets my hand. 
 Cautious, though bold, I pull towards the land ; 
 Elate with hope I see his scaly side, 
 A full grown Salmon, and the river's pride. 
 -But, ah ! he bursts away, and hope's delayM ; — 
 Again my utmost skill must be display'd. 
 
 Repeated trials foilM, he yields at length, 
 And in the landing-net spends his last strength ; 
 Beauteous his spots, as now on land he lies. 
 Which growing fainter, vanish as he dies. 
 
THE ANGLER. 73 
 
 And now, of sport sufficient for the day. 
 For use, not waste, Man is allowM to slay ; v 
 Nor will I, like the miser, wish for more, 
 Having already a superfluous store : 
 But tir'd of luck, and wearied out with toil, 
 Trudge toward home deep-laden with my spoil; 
 And heart no less with gratitude replete, 
 To Him. Avho o-avo the charter — *'* kill and eat," 
 
CANTO V. 
 
 ANGLING FOR PEARCH. 
 
 Time, First of June. — Rural Employments and Scenery.— 
 Rustic Happiness. — Rules for angling- for Pearch. — North 
 Wind unfavourable to it. — Cruelty of Laws relating to 
 Fisheries. — South Wind favourable. — Sporting Anecdote. 
 — Moral Reflections and Precepts dra-wn from Angling. — 
 Approach of Night. — Ignis Fafuus. 
 
 E 2 
 
CANTO y. 
 
 ANGLING FOR PEARCH. 
 
 What pleasure now to wander through the mead, 
 
 O'er dewy, fragrant-scented fields to tread ; 
 
 In the calm coolness while the morning spreads 
 
 Her mild effulgence through the trembling shades : 
 
 When in the soft ambrosial breath of dawn, 
 
 The goddess Health floats o'er th' empurpled lawn. 
 
78 THE ANGLER. 
 
 Aurora, blushing, opes the gate of day, 
 Before her, lo ! the misty clouds give way ; 
 With dazzling splendor Phoebus' beams arise, 
 And rays diffusive gild the eastern skies. 
 To hail the morn a thousand warblers wake, — 
 As nature dictates joy, their concerts make ; 
 The woods, the groves, with harmony rebound, 
 And swell the tuneful choruses around. 
 The earthy-tenant lark now leaves her nest — 
 Flits through the air — expands her dewy breast ; 
 And soaring upwards thrills melodious lays 
 To Heav'n ; and cheerful sings her Maker's praise. 
 The ruddy milk-maid early tends her charge — 
 Sings as she goes ; — the cattle graze at large. 
 Freed from the close, and careless driv'n along 
 By Hodge, who chaunts aloud his love-sick song. 
 Defying danger, 'midst the leafy grove, 
 To seek the new built nests the youngsters rove ; 
 Rushing through briars, and th' obstructing thorn. 
 And string the eggs their cottage to adorn. 
 
THE ANGLER. 79 
 
 The aged matrons with an eager care, 
 TottVing with baskets, to the fields repair : 
 Leaving their elbow-chairs, and chimney seats. 
 To cull the health-dispensing simple's sweets. 
 Now bloom the gardens in their rich array! 
 Darting through air unnumber'd insects play ; 
 Re-animated by the sun-beam's force, 
 They skim the wave, or upwards dart their course. 
 
 But, lo ! before my eyes what prospects sail ! 
 The variegated beauties of the vale ! 
 Slow through the mist, and gilt by the sun's beams. 
 The various lesser currents mix their streams ; 
 And, confluent, to a copious river swell, 
 Rolling majestic through the fatten'd dell, 
 Rejoicing in the plenty it bestows, 
 And which its banks luxuriantly disclose : 
 Fields, with thick interwoven herbage crown'd, 
 Regale the herds, that crop and frisk and bound. 
 
80 THE ANGLER. 
 
 The glowing stallion snuffs the air and snorts, 
 
 Inviting distant mare to join his sports ; 
 
 Here roving wild, unconscious of the rein, 
 
 He revels boundless o'er the wide champain ; 
 
 Imbibes the silver stream, with heat opprest, 
 
 To cool the fervour of his panting breast. 
 
 Whilst the love-madden'd bull, with bellowing strains, 
 
 Pursues some fav'rite cow to ease his pains: 
 
 Impeird by Nature's power, all comply 
 
 With the command—" increase and multiply." 
 
 Those peasants, whom in yonder vale I see, 
 Who cut a craggy rock, or lop a tree ; 
 Who turn the course of streams ; who with a spade 
 The entrails of the fertile earth invade. 
 Nor care nor discontent do ever know — 
 Far happier theirs than any state below ! 
 Strength, health, sound sleep, the mind's serene repose 
 To poverty and toil the lab'rer owes. 
 
THE ANGLER, 81 
 
 Happy the man o'er whom content presides — 
 Who follows nature wheresoever she guides ; 
 Who limits all his wishes to his means, 
 And what he has enjoys, and ne'er complains ! 
 What though, when hous'd the team and penn'd the 
 
 fold, 
 Homeward he hastens, shiv'ring, wet and cold ? 
 Yet oh ! w^hat joy, all other joys excelling. 
 He feels when he beholds his humble dwelling ! 
 When he beholds the wood-fire's cheerful rays 
 Bright'ning each happy face on which it plays ! 
 When round him flock his dame and urchin 
 
 race. 
 And his heart glows within at their embrace I 
 Far, far more happy he than any king ! 
 He tastes life's pleasures, never feels its sting. 
 
 What means it that our toil's so ill re- 
 paid? 
 Nor will the sun befriend us, nor the shade ; 
 F 6 
 
S2 THE ANGLER. 
 
 The open waters, and the covert yield 
 No game ; where sleep the sluggard Pearch («) 
 conceard. 
 
 (a) The Pearch affords good sport for the Angler. The 
 best time for their biting- is when the spring is over, and 
 before the heats of summer come on. At this time they are 
 very greedy, and the Angler, with good management, may 
 take at one standing all that are in the hole. The proper 
 baits are, a minnow, or young frog ; but the worm called 
 the brandling, well scoured, is excellent at all times of the 
 year. When the Pearch bites, he should always have a long 
 time allowed hira to swallow the bait. The Pearch will 
 bite all day long, if the weather be cloudy j but the best 
 time is from eight to ten in the morning-, and from three to 
 six in the afternoon. He is very abstemious in Avinter, and 
 will seldom bite in this season of the year : if he does at all, 
 it is in the middle of the day ; at which time, indeed, all 
 fish bite best at that season. If the bait be a minnow, which 
 affords most diversion to the Angler, it must be fastened to 
 the hook alive, by putting the hook through the upper lip 
 or back fin ; it must be kept at about mid-water, and the 
 float must be a quill and a cork, that the minnow alone may 
 not be able to sink it. The line must be of silk and strong ; 
 and the hook armed with a small and fine wire, that if a 
 Pike should seize the bait, as is not imiVequoutly the case, 
 
THE ANGLER. 83 
 
 That pool was fruitful, and this willows' shore 
 Ne'er fail'd its promise to my line before. 
 Perchance, in council met, the Pearch debate 
 On high affairs — what weather fits the state : 
 Some oracle of med'cine gives his voice — 
 •' Pearch, the north blows, warm shelter be your 
 choice ; 
 
 he may be taken. The way to carry the minnows or small 
 g'udg-eons alive for bait is this : a tin pot is to be provided, 
 with holes in the lid, and filled with water ; and the fish 
 being- put in this, the water is to be changed once in a quar- 
 ter of an hour by the holes, without taking off the lid at 
 any time, except when the bait is to be taken out. — A small 
 casting-net, made for these little fish, should be taken out 
 with the Pearch tackle ; and one or two casts of this will 
 take baits enough for the day without any further trouble. 
 When the bait is a frog, the hook is to be fastened to the 
 upper part of the leg. The best place for fishing is in the 
 turn of the water near some gravelly scour. A place of 
 this kind being pitched upon, it should be baited over night 
 with lob- worms chopped to pieces ; and in the morning the 
 depth is to be regularly plumbed, and the hook being baited, 
 as it drags along, the Pearch will soon seize it. 
 
84 THE ANGLER. 
 
 " Though summer treads upon the spring beware, 
 " Your fasts be frequent, and your diet spare," 
 
 Let winners laugh, but, in my humble tliought. 
 The river is absolvM, our art in fault. 
 His fav'rite point whoever means to hit. 
 Must fain occasion to his wishes fit. 
 When the sly miller to increase his toll. 
 Mows the stiffweeds,o'er which the choak'd streams roll. 
 The green sedge, by the current borne away. 
 Thick and more thick, within a W'inding bay 
 Rests arbour'd ; and beneath the covert warm. 
 The prickly fins disport — a num'rous swarm; 
 With tackle strong, there perforate away. 
 And satiate your rejoicing house with prey. 
 
 This season pleases not, nor likes mine eye 
 The surly owner of the stream so nigh. 
 On yonder hill his haughty mansion sec, 
 And here the sordid thatch of poverty ; 
 
THE ANGLER. 85 
 
 Where liv'd — contented liv'd — a simple swain, 
 Who trimm'd the hedge-row, and who turn'd the 
 
 plain. 
 Sometimes, by hunger prompted, he would creep 
 Down to the waters in the hour of sleep ; 
 The booty by laborious watching gain'd, 
 His needy household for a day sustain'd. 
 Stern Harpex heard, the trembling wretch he 
 
 seiz'd, 
 Touch'd with no pity, by no suit appeas'd. 
 The pregnant wife her hands distracted wrung, 
 Six weeping babes around the father clung — 
 In vain : — the felon(6) to the camp was doom'd. 
 And nakedness and want his race consumed. 
 
 (b) Would that this were a tale of fiction, or a solitary 
 case ! — Abstract of the act, for the more effectual preserva- 
 tion of fish in fish-ponds, &c. — It is enacted, " that from and 
 after the 1st day of June, 1765, any person or persons 
 indicted within six months, of stealing-, taking, killing or 
 destroying any fish out of any river, stream, pond, pool, 
 
86 THE ANGLER. 
 
 Such monsters will be judg'd by righteous Heav'n — 
 ** Much is requir' d from him, to whom much giv\i.^^ 
 
 Ha I the wind veers to south ! auspicious sign ! 
 Now watch the dancing cork, and jerking line. — 
 Down, down it dives ; heroic was the bite, 
 He struggles strong — he flounces now in sight ; 
 On Tkrra Firma now he bangs his tail, 
 Welcome thou dusky coat of yellow mail, 
 And mountain back, arm'd w^ith a bristly spine ! 
 Twelve inches scarce thy measurM length define. 
 
 What's that? — a spawnling worth no better style — 
 O, had you seen in Ely's meery isle, 
 
 moat, stew, or any other water, by any ways, means or de- 
 vice whatsoever, without the consent of the owner or owners 
 thereof, or shall be aiding- or assisting therein, or knowing-ly 
 receiving or buying: "^uch fish, shall be transported for seven 
 years." By this act, no person can angle, or even receive, 
 pr buy the fish without incurring the penalty of it. 
 
THE ANGLER. 87 
 
 His bulky brother, which a Cyclops strook 
 With hempen cable and rough hammer' d hook ! 
 Long tugg'd the brawny blacksmith at the game, 
 At last incumbered with huge load it came, 
 Half buried in a Pike's(c) enormous maw. 
 Its finny spears fast wedg'd into his jaw ; 
 Almost eight(c?) pounds, if Justice self had hung 
 Her balance forth, that giant Pearch had swung. 
 
 Again, and yet again! the soften'd gale 
 Bids my glad cork on happy voyage sail. 
 Now fleecy clouds, and gently warming beams. 
 Alternate, overshade and gild the streams. 
 
 (c) It is a common notion, that the Pike will not attack 
 this fish, on account of the spiny fins which the Pearch erects 
 on its approach ; but it is well known, that there is no better 
 bait for Pike than a Pearch. 
 
 (d) This story will not seem so very surprising, when it 
 is considered that Mr. Pennant mentions a Pearch to have 
 weighed nine pounds 3 but this he allows to be very un- 
 t'ommon. 
 
88 THE ANGLER. 
 
 Rest there, my pipe ; tobacco charms no more, 
 My net grows ponderous with its scaly store. 
 Pearch, like the Tartar clans, in troops remove, 
 And urg'd by famine, or by pleasure, rove : 
 But if one prisoner, as in war, you seize, 
 You'll prosper, master of the camp with ease : 
 For, like the wicked, unalarm'd they view 
 Their fellows perish, and their path pursue. 
 Fish have their various characters, defin'd 
 Not more by form or colour, than by mind ; 
 The wary Trout but few temptations hit, 
 The Pearch an idiot, and the Carp a wit. 
 
 But now the sun shines forth ! On marsh-born 
 wing, 
 The swarming gnats malignant buz and sting ; 
 Faint are all reptile baits, to gain the end — 
 ril try if Minnows better luck attend. 
 Rapine's vile meals the wide-mouth'd Pearch sustain, 
 And blood of infant fish his jaws distain : 
 
THE ANGLER. 89 
 
 Justice decrees th' assassin shall atone 
 For blood he spills, by forfeit of his own : 
 Die then, ye murd'rers ! by your crime ensnar'd, 
 When by these hands the deadly bait prepared : 
 Where that brown alder shades the wat'ry way, 
 A dappled Minnow on my hook shall play. 
 Hal what a baulk ! The Minnows are forgot! 
 And disappointment's ever mortal's lot. 
 But stay I its MiMic(e) in deluding dress 
 (Art's manufacture) with as sure success. 
 Thro' yon deep verging whirlpool frisk'd along, 
 Shall to their bane invite the witless throng. 
 
 We cheat the finny fools, ourselves as blind. 
 Fools, in our turn, are cheated by our kind! 
 Th' empyric cheats us with his pills and lies, 
 The fawner cheats us in a friend's diso-uise : 
 
 (e) Artificial fish as \»ell as flies, for baits, are prepared 
 and sold in most fishing-tackle shops. 
 
yO THE ANGLER. 
 
 The statesman with a patriot's tongue, the saint 
 Oft cheats us with a villain's face in paint : 
 To heighten the odd farce, ourselves we cheat, 
 And our own passions form the fair deceit. 
 From all we see we may experience reap, 
 E'en solitary Anglers from the deep ; 
 And thus I prove it : — lend a patient ear, 
 And for instruction, gentle caution hear ; 
 Nor let thy breast be fill'd with scornful pride ; 
 If more experienc'd age thy footsteps guide : 
 
 Believe a father, and believe a friend, 
 On giddy youth a thousand snares attend ; 
 A thousand secret dangers 'scape his eyes. 
 Oft, who shuns Scylla, on Charybdis dies. 
 Avoid excesses — in the golden mean 
 Health shall secure, and keep thy mind serene; 
 With studious care preserve the middle way, 
 Or devious error leads thy feet astray ; 
 
THE ANGLER. 91 
 
 Too often vice beneath the specious guise 
 
 Of sacred virtue unsuspected lies ; 
 
 And sleeping embers nurse a hidden lire, 
 
 That by degrees will into flames aspire. 
 
 But seldom pay thy homage at the shrine 
 
 Of Bacchus, ivy-circled god of wine ; 
 
 Flee sensual pleasures ; they unman the soul. 
 
 And poison lurks within Circean bowl : 
 
 Whene'er gay wanton youths thy threshold tread. 
 
 Their arts and soft insinuations dread ; 
 
 Tremble to follow, even in their rear, 
 
 Bar ev'ry door, and stop the list'ning ear : 
 
 Too easy candour, and a modest fear. 
 
 The source of ruin in the end appear. 
 
 Do thou, undaunted, meet the tempting foe, 
 
 Brave ev'ry danger, and with courage glow ; 
 
 Nor let the gilded bait of empty joy. 
 
 Or dang'rous friends, thy steady mind annoy : 
 
 These may seduce thy soul from virtue's road — 
 
 The road that leads to happiness and God ! 
 
92 THE ANGLER. 
 
 Let useful studies and ingenious art 
 Polish thy morals, and enrich thy heart ; 
 And thy companions (a selected few) 
 Be fond of letters, as they're fond of you. 
 Or, if thy courage will not bear thee out. 
 Fly from the foe thou canst not hope to rout ; 
 Haste to retirement, solitude dread not. 
 The world forgetting, by the world forgot ; 
 Enough employment thou'lt be sure to find. 
 Both for the health of body and of mind ; 
 Thus shall ye, like the wary fish, beware, 
 Whilst heedless ones rush headlong to the snare. 
 
 Enough of precept — now my pannier's storM, 
 I'll hie me homewards to my humble board; 
 For, lo ! my monitor — the gadding light 
 Swift gliding on the marsh at edge of night ; — 
 From fen to fen, from field to field it roves. 
 The pilgrim straggles where the meteor moves ; 
 
THE ANGLER. 
 
 93 
 
 Some village lamp he deems th' illusive fire, 
 And stumbles in the glebe, or wades through mire. 
 I've still two tedious miles to labour o'er. 
 Ere watchful Susan ope the welcome door. 
 
CANTO VI. 
 
 ANGLING FOR CARP. 
 
 Time, Day-break iu the beginning of July. — Rural Occupa- 
 tions. — Carp, how to be kept. — And Hints for stocking 
 Ponds with the Roes dried and preserved. — Music, its 
 Charms to dispel Care and lighten Toil. — Poets extinct in 
 the present Age. — ^The Mode and Season of Angling for 
 Carp.— Their Subtilty.— Their Fate, that which Rogues of 
 every Description richly deserve. — Man's Invention over- 
 comes all Obstacles.— Whale-hunting in the North.— On 
 the proper Employment of Tijie and Preparation for 
 Eternity. 
 
CANTO VI. 
 
 ANGLING FOR CARP.(a) 
 
 Now Summer deeper dyes the various scene, 
 And man delights to wander thro' the green, 
 
 (a) The Carp is the most valuable of all kinds of fish 
 for stocking ponds. It is quick in growth, and spawns 
 three times a year, so that its increase is great. The female 
 does not breed till eight or nine years of age ; so that in 
 breeding ponds a supply must be kept of that age. In 
 
98 THE ANGLER. 
 
 (Where sweet content sits smiling in disguise) 
 And trace out Nature's beauties as they rise. 
 
 stockiug ponds oae male should be allowed to three females. 
 They grow two or three inches in a year ; but when they 
 receive the fattening of a common sewer they have been 
 known to grow from five to eighteen inches in one year. A 
 pond of one acre in extent will feed three hundred Garp 
 of three years, and four hundred of one year, old. They 
 delight in ponds that have marly sides; clay-ponds shel- 
 tered from winds, and bearing weeds and long grass about 
 the edges, on which they feed in the hot months. Carp 
 and Tench thrive very fast in ponds and rivers near the 
 sea, where the water is a little brackish : but they are not 
 so well tasted as the fresh water ones. Grains, blood, 
 chickens' entrails, and the like, thrown into the ponds will 
 help to fatten them, and the growth of grass under water 
 should be by all means encouraged. For this purpose, as 
 the water decreases in summer, the sides of the pond left 
 naked and dry, should be well raked with an iron rake to 
 destroy weeds, and cut up the surface of the earth, and hay- 
 seed should be plentifully sown. By these means there will 
 be a fine and large crop of young grass along the sides of 
 the pond to the water's edge, and when the rains fill up 
 the pond again, this will be all buried under the water, and 
 make a feeding place for the fish, where they will resort 
 early in the morning, and thrive greatly. 
 
THE ANGLER. 99 
 
 With languid heat the sun pursues his race, 
 His coursers hasting through the circled space ; 
 He beams, prolific, here on all below. 
 And meets stern Leo with his sultry brow ; 
 To seek the nectar of the flow'ry lawns, 
 The peopled hives send out their busy swarms ; 
 
 It has been known, in regard to the polypus, that it has 
 appeared again in places which hare Iain dry for some time. 
 Whence, it may be conjectured with great probability, that 
 the spawn of fishes are preserved in the same manner at the 
 bottom of ponds dried up, which they re-people when the 
 ponds are filled again with water. This has been observed 
 with surprize in a pond laid dry, and found stocked again 
 with the same fish, none being able to discover whence they 
 came. Some fancied that Storks having carried off in their 
 bills some of these fishes, had let them fall by chance into 
 the pond. It may rather be attributed to the spawn that had 
 been preserved sound in the bed of the pond. It would be 
 a curious experiment to dry the roes of different species of 
 fish, and scatter them in a pond at a proper season. By 
 this very simple method it might be ascertained, if they 
 could serve for perpetuating their species. Nature has not 
 been subjected to an extreme exactness 5 there is, in her 
 way of operating, a latitude which the naturalist ought to 
 study and trace by experience to the fountain-head. 
 
 F 2 
 
100 THE ANGLER. 
 
 The sweets of evVy blossom to explore— 
 Sagacious instinct ! providential store ! 
 From field to field th' industrious legions rove, 
 To range the plain, the garden, and the grove. 
 All are employed throughout the numerous train, 
 Till tinkling noises call them back again : 
 The iTuitful herbage now invites the scythe- 
 In eager contest strive the swains all blythe, 
 Who works the fastest, cr who cuts most deep, — 
 The waving sward yields to the mower's sweep. 
 RousM by the early herald of the day, 
 Quickly array'd, refresh'd by sleep and gay, 
 The lads and lasses all prepare for work, 
 Some take refreshment, some the rake or fork. 
 In artless talk they gain the distant fields, 
 Where the ripe verdure of the meadows yields 
 A plenteous crop in even rows laid down — 
 Off goes the jacket — oiF the homespun gown : 
 Each one following in a single file, 
 Some turn the herbage, some the hay-cocks pile ; 
 
THE ANGLER. 101 
 
 Till faint beneath the shade a timely rest, 
 And healthy meal, renew for work the zest ; 
 Nor mem'ry e'er can touch a livelier strain, 
 Than that which rustics carrol o'er the plain. 
 Music the soul with harmony inspires. 
 The heart of man with true ambition fires ; 
 Refines the passions as the concords flow, 
 And makes the lover's heart more fervent glow ; 
 Charms grief, and all the cares of fate defies. 
 And brightens up the tear-bedew'd, dull eyes ; 
 Makes toil a sport, and renovates old age, 
 Unwilling yet of life to quit the stage. 
 On smarting want it pours a healing balm — 
 Blunts misVy's sting, and suff'ring renders calm. 
 
 But morning dawns, prevent the chiding day, 
 Shake off the drowsy fit, and haste away ; 
 The toil of yesterday was somewhat strong, 
 Sleep's pow'rful spell has bound my eyes too 
 long. 
 
102 THE ANGLER. 
 
 Shame on the sluggard drone, who sleeps supine, 
 When dazzling sun-beams thro' his curtains shine ! 
 The stars are fainting in th' ethereal plain, 
 And the pale moon begins to doubt her reign ; 
 Night hurries to her western goal, while dawn 
 Opes her grey eye-lids on the wood and lawn : 
 Hark ! the sweet poets of the fields upraise, 
 In choral song, the mighty Maker's praise. 
 Upbraiding man, among the reas'ning throng, 
 A subject that too rarely tunes the tongue. 
 Who sings uorality in these iron times. 
 Sings to the winds — few ears delight such rhymes ; 
 But fame and wealth reward the glorious toil, 
 Scrawl but a novel, or write notes on Hoyle.(6) 
 The heav'n'v fire once warm'd a Milton's tongue. 
 And of Heav'n's wonders rapt'rously he sung ; 
 
 (6) HOYLE, the author of a most elaborate treatise on the 
 game of whist. It is said that he sold the copy-right for 
 six or seven hundred pounds! 
 
THE ANGLER, 103 
 
 It also firM the soul of Addison, 
 
 In Pope it sparkled, and in Dryden shone; 
 
 Jn Watts and Young, it play'd with cheerful blaze, 
 
 Extinct, alas I in our Boeotian days ; 
 
 Except a spark beneath the ashes rest, 
 
 In soul of Bloomfield, or in Byron's breast ; 
 
 And ffatt'ry vile, and glazing verse and bust. 
 
 Will ne'er pretend t' immortalize their dust. 
 
 Now hunger keen and shade of morning cool 
 Fill with sparkling Carp the marly pool, 
 As to the sportful stream your steps decline, 
 Articulate your rod, apply your line ; 
 There watchful, and (c) every effort try 
 To cheat the subtle CARp's(rf) suspicious eye. 
 
 (c) No patience, no pastime.— A gentleman, who was 
 allowed to be one of the greatest and most philosophic an- 
 glers of the age, passing from Islington to London, as was 
 his daily custom, frequently saw a brother sportsman planted 
 on a particular spot of the New River. Being jealous to 
 
104 THE ANGLER. 
 
 The milky gentle, or vermilionM paste, 
 Or the pea's glossy green with liq'rish taste, 
 
 think he should engross the spot, he prepared his rod and 
 line, and the rest of his angling apparatus, repaired to the 
 spot, and remained uninterrupted for a considerable time, 
 but without success. At length the original occupier of this 
 envied spot appeared : when the gentleman exclaimed, 
 " Egad, sir, I know not how you manage it, but I have 
 been angling here these three hours, and have caught no- 
 thing." " Oh, sir," replied the other ; « what's that com- 
 pared with me? Why, I have been angling here these 
 three years, and never caught a fish yet !" 
 
 (d) Carp. — A person who angles for Carp, must arm him- 
 self with abundance of patience, because of their extraordi- 
 nary subtilty and shyness. They always choose to lie in 
 the deepest places, either of ponds or rivers, where there 
 is but a small running stream. They will seldom bite in 
 cold weather, and you cannot be too early or too late at the 
 sport in hot weather : yet, if he bite, you need not fear his 
 hold J for he is one of those leather-mouthed fish that have 
 their teeth in their throat. Neither must you forget, in 
 angling for him, to have a strong rod and line ; and since 
 he is so very wary, it will be proper to entice him by baiting 
 the ground with a coarse paste. He seldom refuses the 
 red worm in March, the caddis in June, nor the grasshopper 
 in July, April and September. He not only delights in 
 
THE ANGLER. 105 
 
 His coyness may o'ercome. Delightful wile, 
 The cunning fish, deep-lurking, to beguile. 
 
 worms, but also in sweet paste, of whicli there is a great 
 variety : the best is made of honey and sugar, mixed up 
 with flower, some veal minced fine, and a little cotton or 
 white wool, to make it adhere to the hook. It ought to be 
 thrown into the water some hours before you begin to angle ; 
 neither will small pellets, thrown into the water two or three 
 days before, be worse for this purpose, especially if chickens' 
 entrails, garbage or blood, mixed with bran and cow-dung, 
 be also thrown in. If you fish with gentles, anoint them 
 with honey, and put them on your hook, with a deep scarlet 
 dipped in the line, which is a good way to deceive the fish. 
 Honey and crumbs of wheat-bread, mixed together, make 
 also a very good paste, with or without blood, or other red 
 colouring matter. In taking a Carp, either in a pond or 
 river, if the Angler intends to add profit to his pleasure, he 
 should take a peck of ale-grains, and a good quantity of 
 blood to mix with the grains, baiting the ground with it 
 where he intends to angle. This food will wonderfully 
 attract the scale fish, as Carp, Tench, Roach, Dace and 
 Bream ; let him go out in a morning, plumbing his ground, 
 and angling for Carp with a strong line. The bait may be 
 either the gentle, a green pea, paste, or the knotted red- 
 worm, and he will be sure to find sport enough. 
 
 f5 
 
106 THE ANGLER. 
 
 But, from my soul, the artful wretch I hate, 
 Whose smiles are snares, whose friendship is a bait; — 
 Who hides rank malice in a look serene, 
 And cool and sudden vents his hidden spleen. 
 
 I hate the fox that ever skulks and steals 
 And crams his craving cubs with pilfer'd meals : 
 Him, too, that burrows in his neighbour's ground, 
 And half consumes it, ere the fraud is found, 
 On those vile slaves be Heav'n's dire thunder hurl'd. 
 Who, chain'd themselves, would gladly chain the world ! 
 
 Nor boots it now to fish so near the place. 
 Devastated by this voracious race ; 
 Up stream let's trace our steps a mile or two, 
 And there again our pleasing game pursue ; 
 Nor need you entertain a doubt of sport, 
 Otters to well-stock'd streams do e'er resort. 
 
 At that old tree, the river makes a bend, 
 The over-hanging bank may suit our end ; 
 
THE ANGLER. i07 
 
 There (e) dib away—a grass-hopper the bait, 
 Will yield the Angler soon some kind of treat : 
 And see ! already I have hookM a prize. 
 And, by his play, one of a portly size : 
 The landing net shall make our game secure, 
 A Chub ! poor relish for an Epicure. 
 Let's quit this place— expect no better sport. 
 For the Trout hovers not, where (/) Chubs resort. 
 For less inglorious prey yon stream let's ply, 
 The Trout or Grayling there may take the fly. 
 Keep well at top, and play both fine and strong. 
 If fish there be, he'll rise ere it be long ; 
 Draw, as the wind permits, up stream or down. 
 Try ev'ry art, if you your hopes would crown. 
 A bite I now strike with fine, but ready hand. 
 Humour him well — now draw towards the landi 
 
 (e) Dib. — To angle with a live fly, grasshopper, &c. 
 
 (/) Where Chubs resort. Where you find many Minnows 
 or Chubs, expect few or no Trouts : for the Chubs will drive 
 them out and keep possession. 
 
108 THE ANGLER. 
 
 He turns his spotted sides — a glorious prize ! 
 As fine a Trout as ever feasted eyes. 
 
 A good beginning ; let us try once more, 
 This stream bids fair t' increase our supper store. 
 See there I another Trout! now guide the fly. 
 So that it glide just o'er, and catch his eye ; 
 Exert your utmost skill to imitate 
 The airy manners of the living bait ; 
 Keep close behind this bush! how dead he lies — 
 Plav well the fly, or else he'll never rise ; 
 Look sharply out — he springs — strike smart and 
 
 fine — 
 He's hookM — he struggles hard— give out more 
 
 line ; — 
 Run him down stream, you'll soon the conquest gain — 
 The landing-net- — he gasps upon the plain. 
 
 Now let us change the scene — for sameness tires ; 
 Variety the soul anew inspires. 
 
THE ANGLER. 109 
 
 Courage! my float wheels off — Ill-natur'd 
 
 weed ! 
 There from my hook a gallant fish was freed. 
 Not so this Tench escapes — a dainty prize, 
 Welland'sC^') fam'd stream ne'er fed a bulkier 
 
 size. 
 Again I seek the Carp; but lo! the light 
 Colours the mountain top, avoid his sight ; 
 Lest your betraying shade before you run, 
 Turn, like the Persian,(A) to the rising sun. 
 
 (g) TheWELLAND is a river of Northamptonshire. It 
 rises near Honthorp, runs by Harborough, Stamford, Spal- 
 ding-, parts that county from Leicester and Rutlandshires, 
 and falls into the Wash at Wickham. It is famed for breed- 
 ing Tench of a very large size. 
 
 (h) The Persians worshipped the sun, and at its rising 
 prostrated themselves towards the east. It is not recom- 
 mended to imitate their idolatry, but only that we should 
 turn towards the sun in angling for Carp ; the consequence 
 of which position will be, that the shadow of your body will 
 fall behind you, and not on the surface of the river to 
 frighten that suspicious inhabitant of the deep. 
 
110 THE ANGLER. 
 
 Ha I Fortune smiles : he's hooked — a daring bite ! 
 Keep now a bended rod, and hold him tight ; 
 He wheels amain ; he plunges to the mud, 
 He floats — my net transports him from the flood. 
 Full sizM, fair, plump, all goodly to behold. 
 His scales bright glist'ning with bedropping gold ! 
 Thus man's imperious race exerts his reign, 
 Over all life, which wat'ry worlds sustain ; 
 Invention the defect of force supplies, 
 And art subdues whatever his nerves defies. 
 In winter's realm, beneath the polar bear. 
 In frozen seas and blood congealing air, 
 'Midst rocks of ragged ice, horrific heap ! 
 Which float and glitter o'er the boundless deep ; 
 Th' undaunted whaler cuts his desp'rate way. 
 In ardent quest of his enormous prey. 
 The w^atchful harpooneer, in act to throw 
 Death's barbed terror, eyes the wide stretch' d foe. 
 Full on the monster's bulk he hurls from far 
 His three-prong'd jav'lin with unerring war. 
 
THE ANGLER. Ill 
 
 The furious fish, in anguish of his wound, 
 
 Blows through his double spout, with roaring 
 
 sound, 
 High streaming rivers, loud as tempests roar, 
 Or angry waves that lash the craggy shore. 
 Headlong he plunges, through the foam and blood— 
 Wheels the vast vortex of the closing flood: 
 Now like a mounting isle, which earthquake rears. 
 From Neptune's dark abode, his bulk appears. 
 His foes, more fierce, assault his ev'ry part. 
 With lances gor'd, faint beats his ebbing heart ; 
 The breath to kindred air disdainful flies, 
 A buoyant mass, the monstrous carcase lies ; 
 Insulting mariners his vast back tread. 
 Cleaving his sides, or straggling in his head ; 
 Of flaking bone his mouth's deep cavern spoil. 
 And freight the vessel with his wealth of oil. 
 
 By arts like these, shall Britain's glory grow, 
 With busy life her crowded havens glow *, 
 
112 THE ANGLER. 
 
 Her villages shall smile, her towns rejoice, 
 
 And not a sigh untune the public voice ; 
 
 Her poor shall sing, — sloth's execrable band 
 
 Of theits and murders fly this happy land ; 
 
 And round her coasts, round ocean's utmost shore, 
 
 Tlie thunder of her sov'reign fieet shall roar. 
 
 The arts in peace employ each Briton's soul. 
 
 And urge him with brave Ross(0 ^o seek the Pole. 
 
 Now to our bus'ness let us once more bend. 
 Truce to all cares — our pleasing work attend ; 
 I see the angle dip — he strains the line — 
 A Carp!(^) the laurel of the dav is mine. 
 
 (/) The commander of the expedition lately sailed to 
 explore a'passag-e at the Northern Pole, the utility of which, 
 if practicable, is, however, doubted by many scientific cha- 
 racters. 
 
 (A) How to dress a Carp. Rub him clean with water and 
 salt, but do not scale him j open him, and put him with the 
 blood and liver into a small kettle j then take sweet marjo- 
 ram, thyme, and parsley, of each a handful : a sprif^ of 
 
THE ANGLER. 113 
 
 Content I quit, for now the July beam 
 Mounts to its fervid noon and boils the stream ; 
 Enough to pastime ; the remaining hours 
 Demand the vigour of our nobler pow'rs. 
 Retir'd awhile, I con the studious page 
 Of wisdom, cuird from men of every age! 
 But chief the scriptures, from whose sacred store 
 I drink abundance, and yet thirst for more, 
 Think and reflect, how in our destin'd span, 
 One inch will bound the active life of man. 
 Deduct the blank of sleep, the void between 
 Our birth and youth's preparatory scene ; 
 
 rosemary, and another of savory, bind them in bundles and 
 put them to the Carp, with four or five whole onions, twenty 
 pickled oysters, and three anchovies. Then pour upon your 
 fish as much claret as will cover him, seasoned with salt, 
 cloves, mace, and the rinds of oranges and lemons 5 cover 
 your pot, and set it on a quick fire, until it be sufficiently 
 boiled, then take out the Carp, and lay it with the liquor 
 into the dish, and pour on it a quarter of a pound of melted 
 butter, beaten with half a dozen spoonfuls of the broth, 
 the yolks of two or three eggs, and some of the herbs 
 shred. Garnish with lemons. 
 
i 14 THE ANGLER. 
 
 What sickness wastes from manhood take away, 
 
 And the new childhood of our last decay, — 
 
 What is the pittance left? That pittance prize, 
 
 And crowd il full with business good and wise : 
 
 Peruse the sacred writ, and from it know, 
 
 What blessings from a well-spent life will flow : 
 
 Let virtue teach thee steadily to steer 
 
 Thy course through life, so that thou seldom err ; 
 
 Teach thee t' elude the fascinating wiles, 
 
 Of Syren vice^ who, with delusive smiles, 
 
 The poor, unthinking voyager beguiles ; 
 
 And if thy vessel should serenely glide 
 
 Adown of smooth prosperity the tide, — 
 
 If gentle gales ambrosial odours bring', 
 
 And pleasure's giddy throng around thee sing. 
 
 Let not thy heart (with present bliss elate) 
 
 Forget her precepts, till it be too late. 
 
 If dire adversity should thee assail 
 
 With woes unnumber'd in a furious gale. 
 
 And a whole deluge of disasters pour. 
 
 And all thy hopes and flatt'ring schemes devour ; 
 
THE ANGLER. 115 
 
 II" sun-shine friends, to whom thou 'st provM so kind. 
 Desert, like rats, the walls theyVe undermin'd ; 
 Virtue will give thee fortitude of soul 
 To stem the current, and its rage contrcful ; * 
 Should from its place the world be torn away, 
 The virtuous (/) man feels not the least dismay : 
 And, though this globe to atoms should be hurl'd. 
 He trusts another, and a better world ! 
 
 (Z) Justum et teuacem propositi virum, 
 Non civium ardor prava jubentium 
 Non vultus instantis tyranni, 
 
 Mente quatit solida 
 Si fractus illabatur orbis, 
 Impavidum feriunt ruinae. 
 
CANTO VII. 
 
 :\11XED ANGLING. 
 
 Time, August. — Rural Scenery. — A Storm succeeded by a 
 Calm. — Description of Ulting's Vale. — Anecdote of Mr 
 Cuuniugham, the Poet, on the Propriety of allowing- the 
 Labouring Classes innocent Amusements after Divine 
 Service on the Sabbath-day. — The Enemies of the tinny 
 Tribes numerous. — The Otter peculiarly destructive. — An 
 Otter Hunt.— Death of the Tyrant of the Flood.— The 
 truly hospitable Cottag-er 
 
CANTO VII. 
 
 MIXED ANGLING. 
 
 Now past each gentle zephyr, summer gale, 
 The raging heats of Sirius prevail : 
 No more the air refreshing breezes yields, 
 Whose balmy breathings scent the mantled fields 
 Fair Flora now to Ceres leaves the plain, 
 Diffusing plenty o'er her wide domain : 
 
120 THE AXGLER. 
 
 She opes her stores, and strews them throU2:h the mead. 
 
 And golden harvests all the sm-face spread. 
 
 The fruitful grain delights the farmer's eyes. 
 
 From dale to hill, till bounded by the skies ; 
 
 The peaceful smiling prospect, but behold — 
 
 A ripenM crop — a scene of waving gold ! 
 
 Full in the zenith Phoebus beams, so bright. 
 
 The cooling shade the swelt'ring swain's delight; 
 
 His silent flocks around him grazing cool, 
 
 Or gasping, panting, seek the stream, or pool. 
 
 Now silence reigns throughout the leafy grove. 
 
 Broke only, as the airy insects rove 
 
 Through noon-day's sultry heat with humming noise, — 
 
 The rest of nature deep repose enjoys 
 
 Not long — advancing from the western sky. 
 
 By Eurus driv'n, see gloomy tempests fly ; 
 
 Dark clouds arise to hide the smiling scenes. 
 
 And rolling thunder from afar begins. 
 
 The sun's obscured! the storm now louder grown. 
 
 The thunder burst, the lightning flashes down ; 
 
THE ANGLER. 121 
 
 A deluge falls of prone descending rain, 
 And threats destruction to the rip'ning grain. 
 All's lost, but Heav'n in mercy interferes — 
 The tempest's rage subsides — th' horizon clears; 
 Again the sun darts out his glorious beams, 
 And the parch'd earth absorbs refreshing streams. 
 
 This lonesome dale,(a) these shaggy hills which lean 
 O'er CHELMER's(i) solemn stream with shadowing 
 
 screen, 
 Charm like an opiate's dream, and thought infuse 
 Of fair-y haunts and visions of the muse. 
 Here oft I wander o'er th' historic page, 
 And view the changing scenes of ev'ry age ; 
 
 (a) The vale of Ulting-, near the church-yard, by the 
 side of the river Chelmer. 
 
 (6) The Chelmer is an Essex river, rising above Thack- 
 stead in that county, and running by Chelmsford into 
 Blackwater at Maiden. 
 
122 THE ANGLER. 
 
 Or, grave inclined, the latent paths explore 
 
 Of deep philosophy's extensive shore ; 
 
 Or down reelining in the sylvan bow'r. 
 
 With tuneful bards enjoy the blissful hour : 
 
 Shakspeare, who speaks the language of the soul. 
 
 And Milton soaring far beyond earth's pole ; 
 
 Descriptive Thomson, and satiric Young ; 
 
 Pope, Swift, and Gay, and all the sons of song. 
 
 To these imbow'ring shades, thus free from care. 
 
 I oft for salutary ease repair : 
 
 Of books grown weary, with (he Angler's cane 
 
 I fill my leisure — trifle not in vain : 
 
 Hard study genVates atramental bile, 
 
 And thoughts misshapen as the brood of Nile, 
 
 These August fervors, which inflame the sky. 
 
 Conspire to drain the nervous fluid dry : 
 
 Rest must perform the cure; — to rest be join'd 
 
 Some gentle action to amuse the mind. 
 
 Whafs this ? A Pearch I a med'cine for the stone. 
 
 The pebble in this hsji's head full grown: 
 
THE ANGLER. 123 
 
 This ilook too, were he not so very lean, 
 Is just as good a nostrum for the spleen ; 
 An Eel ! Thy fat is sanative for blows, — 
 Its drops will soon th' obstructed ear unclose ; 
 And see a Carp ! A supper for the night, — 
 Specific rare for dimness of the sight! 
 At least so ancient sages have set down. 
 Once of great fame, but now of small renown. 
 
 Although obscure this river steals its way 
 By those mean walls where Ulting's((?) rustics pray; 
 Not long obscure, by MaldenX^?) ancient town. 
 He glows in bloody story with renown. 
 
 (c) A small village and church, a little way from Maiden, 
 westward. The church-yard is washed by the Chelmer, 
 which runs close by. 
 
 (d) Malden was the ancient Camalodonum, and the first 
 Roman colony planted in Britain, in the days of the Empe- 
 ror Claudius. Queen Boadicea utterly destroyed that colony. 
 She reigned over the Iceni, who were the people of Nor- 
 folk, Suffolk, Cambridg-eshire, and part of Huntingdonshire. 
 
 G 2 
 
124 THE ANGLER. 
 
 'Twas tiicrc, uplifting from his oozy bed, 
 Tho rushy honours of hi? sca-i^roon licad. 
 He saw the British heroine, in her car, 
 Cleave, like a thunderbolt, tli' opposing uar : 
 He saw the rout, vyhen slaui^hter drench'd his fields 
 With Roman gore, and heap'd with Roman 
 shields. 
 
 (3ur step be light, on eharncl ground we tread ; 
 Here labour rests, here sleej) the peaceful dead : — 
 Sleep under nameless turf, or rugged stone. 
 That coarsely tells the owner of the bone ; 
 The lying marble and the flatt'ring bust, 
 Are honours sacred to the rich man's dust. 
 May no vile flattVer, or with verse or bust. 
 Striving to eulogize, belie my dust; 
 No partial friend strew praises o'er my nauie. 
 Where little was to praise, but much to blame ; 
 No marble tomb eVr roar its stately head, 
 As m «-ontempt of the more lowly dead : 
 
THE ANGLER. 125 
 
 Bui raix'd with poor the grateful tribute pay, 
 Of dust and ashes, with my native clay I 
 'Till, summonM by the trump of God away, 
 I mount to live in everlasting day : 
 So may I sojourn humbly in his sight. 
 That then my day may not be turnM to night ! 
 
 This alder mark, which o'er the stream depends. 
 Deep and more deep the pooly stream descends ; 
 Here, on the HOLY DAY,(e) at hour of pray'r, 
 The truant peasant lays his artful snare ; 
 
 (c) As Mr. Cunning-ham, the pastoral poet, was fishing 
 on a Sunday, near Durham, the Reverend and corpulent 3Ir. 
 B chanced to pass that wayj and, knowing Mr. Cun- 
 ningham, austerely reproached him for breaking the Sab- 
 bath, observing that he was doubly reprehensible, as his 
 good sense should have taught him better. The poet tamed 
 round and coolly replied, " Your external appearance, re- 
 verend sir, says, that if your dinner were at the bottom of 
 the river along with mine, you would angle for it, though it 
 were a fast-day, and your Saviour stood by to rebuke you," 
 
126 THE ANGLER. 
 
 While brethren of the plough confess their sin-^. 
 He, more profane, large finny lucre wins. 
 But yet more oft he prowls, like beast of night. 
 And plunders by the moon's perverted light, 
 Law-guarded streams: hence righteous Anglers 
 
 pine. 
 And lords of fish at fish-less tables dine. 
 Nor wonder — where the laws are too severe. 
 The feeling mind will e'er incline to spare. 
 But we no interdicted joys partake — 
 No laws we trample, and no Sabrath hrkak ;(/) 
 
 (/) Sabbath-breaking. It may be doubted whether 
 the severe prohibitions of harmless sports ou the Sabbath- 
 day, are not productive of many more and greater evils 
 than it prevents. In the most rii^-id Catholic countries, they 
 are allowed and even encoura^'cd, at the intervals of divine 
 service; and their morals are never the worse. But Eng-- 
 lishmen, pent up all the rest of the week in close confined 
 workshops, require exercise and amusement ; and being: 
 deprived of it ou a Sunday, spend it in ale-houses, jjfcttinir 
 drunk, and entailinc^ wretchedness on their families for the 
 
THE ANGLER. 127 
 
 Unprick'd by conscience, we pursue our toil, 
 
 Rewarded with a load of honest spoil. 
 
 Dire ills the kingdom of the fin await. 
 
 And other foes than man consume their state : 
 
 The Coot, the Dab-chick, and the spotted Snake, 
 
 The Fowl of forage, and the household Drake, 
 
 The Hern's long beak, the Swan's high favour'd 
 
 breed, 
 And Bittern's trump, hoarse sounding in the reed. 
 Fierce discord, too, insatiate fury reigns. 
 Amid the carnage of the wat'ry plains : 
 Trout on the race of Loach renew their meal, 
 While teeming spawn gluts the devouring Eel ; 
 
 remainder of the week. Another consequence of so impo- 
 litic a constraint is, that Saint Monday, Holy Tuesday, and 
 oftentimes more days that should be devoted to v/ork, are 
 wasted in the skittle-ground ; and ebriety, indolence, po- 
 verty, wretchedness, and disease, are thereby occasioned. 
 To attend the divine service should be more rigorously en- 
 forced than it is j but a proper enjoyment after it should 
 be allowed. 
 
12S THE ANGLER. 
 
 PcarcJi, over warring, wastes the Minnowv fry. 
 And trembling Roach before the Piek'rel fly ; 
 On these sweet banks, one vernal morn, my foot 
 Struck, near an aged willow's warty root, 
 A Pike's drum-ratlling head, his spiked jaw. 
 Had ill secured him from an Otter'sC^'") paw. 
 
 {[/) Tlie Otter. The description of tliisauiinal, aud the 
 modes of destroying it, are mentioned on account of its be- 
 ing so inveterate a foe to the Angler's amusement j for the 
 Otter is as destructive in a pond, as a pole-cat in a hen- 
 house. It seems to form a link between terrestrial aud 
 aquatic auimals, resembling the former in shape, aud the 
 latter in being able to continue a considerable time uuder 
 water, and in being web-footed, whereby it swims so fast 
 as to overtake fish in their own element ; but he is not, 
 strictly speaking, amphibious; for if he g"ts entangled in 
 a net, and cannot free himself by cutting the meshes with 
 his teeth, he is drowned. The usual length of the Otter, 
 from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail, is twenty- 
 three inches; and the tail itself is rathi-r more than half the 
 length of the body ; the weight of the male from eighteen 
 to twenty-six, of the female, from thirteen to twenty-two 
 pounds. One in October, 170J, was simred iu the river Lea, 
 weighing above forty pounds. The head and nose are 
 
THE ANGLER. 129 
 
 That WATER-WOLF of species undefin'd, 
 Or fish, or quadruped, or both conjoin'd ; — 
 
 broad and fiat ; the eyes brilliant though small, nearer the 
 nose than are usual in quadrupeds, and placed so as to ob- 
 serve every thing above, like the eel: which position gives 
 it a singular advantage when lurking at the bottom of rivers 
 for prey, as the fish cannot observe an object under them, 
 and the Otter seizing them from beneath by the middle, 
 takes them with little exertion j the ears are extremely 
 short, the orifice narrow 5 the opening of the mouth is 
 smallj the lips are capable of being brought close together, 
 are very muscular, and designed to close the mouth firmly 
 while in the action of diving, and the nose and corners of 
 the mouth are furnished with very long whiskers. It has 
 thirty-six teeth, six cutting and two canine above and be- 
 low ; of the former the middlemost are the least, and it has 
 besides five grinders on each side in both jaws. The legs 
 are very short, but remarkably broad and muscular 3 the 
 joints articulated so loosely, that the Otter can turn them 
 quite back, and bring them on a line with its body, and use 
 them as fins : each foot has five toes connected by strong 
 webs, like those of water-fowl. The Otter has no heel, 
 but a round ball under the sole of the foot, by which its 
 track in the mud is easily distinguished, and is termed the 
 seal. Its colour is a deep brown, except two small spots of 
 
 G 5 
 
130 THE ANGLER. 
 
 The honest Angler's hate, the huntsman's joy, 
 Let spears tranfix him, and let clogs destroy. 
 
 white on each side the nose, and one under the chin, and is 
 more valuable if the animal be killed in Avinter than summer. 
 The Otter shows great sag-acity in forming its abode, bur- 
 rowing under ground on the banks of some river or lake, 
 and always making the entrance hole under water, working 
 upwards to the surface of the earth, and forming several 
 lodges, that in cases of flood, it may have a retreat (tor no 
 animal is more careful to repose in a dry place,) and there 
 making a minute orifice for the admission of air; and even 
 this aperture is often formed in the middle of some thick 
 bush for concealment. The Otter destroys large quantities 
 offish, for he will eat none but what he takes himself, and 
 of those only particular parts, so that he wastes much more 
 than he eats. In rivers he swims against the stream to meet 
 his prey, and it is said that two Otters will hunt in concert 
 that active fish the Salmon : one stations himself above and 
 the other below where the fish lies, and being thus chased 
 incessantly, the wearied Salmon becomes their prey. They 
 take to the sea, and are seen about the Orkneys, w here their 
 food is Cod and Conger, In very hard weather, when the 
 natural sort of food fails, the Otter will kill lambs, suck- 
 ing pigs and poultry •, and one was caught in a warren, whi- 
 ther it had come to prey upon rabbits. He will often veu- 
 
THE ANGLER. 181 
 
 Nor pity shew the tyrant of the lake, 
 
 Who slaughters all, with blind and ruthless hate : 
 
 ture far upon land, where the dogs will spontaneously attack 
 him J but he will in his defence, bite the dogs most cruelly, 
 sometimes with such force as to break their leg-bones, and 
 never quits his hold but with life. In the water he will 
 draw the dog under and suffocate him. The Otter is capa- 
 ble of being tamed : he will follow his master like a dog ; 
 and even fish for him, and return with his prey, more than 
 sufficient for the use of a family. 
 
 The hunting of the Otter was formerly considered as ex- 
 cellent sport, and hounds were kept solely for that purpose : 
 the sportsmen went on each side of the river, beating the 
 banks and sedges with the dogs, poles, &c. ; if thei'e v»^as 
 an Otter in that quarter, his seal was soon traced upon the 
 mud, as the water, wherever it would admit of it, was 
 lowered as much as possible to expose hollow banks, reed- 
 beds, and stubs, that might otherwise shelter him 3 each 
 hunter had a spear to attack the Otter when he vented, or 
 came to the surface to breathe. If he was not found by the 
 river side, it was supposed that he had gone to couch inland, 
 and was sought for accordingly. If the dogs found, the 
 hunters viewed his trace to discover which way he had 
 taken. The spears were used in aid of the dogs. When an 
 Otter is wounded, he takes to land, where he makes an 
 
132 THE ANGLER. 
 
 In vaia the Salmon, Carp, elude his search — 
 Vain all the bristly fins of thornbaek Pcarch — 
 The Eel in vain for safety hides in mud — 
 The Pike's iron jaws — the terror of the flood — 
 The crafty Otter springs from underneath, 
 Then hastens to his lodge to least and breathe : 
 There, dainty, wastes much more than he devours, 
 And, renovate, again destruction pours. 
 In vain the owner mourns the ravag'd pond, 
 Deprived of dainties, of ^Yhich he's most fond; — 
 
 obstinate defeuce ; an old Otter will never g'ive up whilst 
 he has life, and the male never utters any cry when seized 
 by the dogs, or even transfixed by a spear ; but the females 
 with young- emit a very shrill squeak. The chace of the 
 Otter has still its very staunch admirers, though the breed 
 be much dimiuishcd. lu 171)0, near Bridgenorth, on the 
 river Worse, four Otters were killed: one stood three, ano- 
 ther four hours before the dogs, and was scarcely a minute 
 out of sight. The hearts were eaten by many respectable 
 people, who attended the hunt, and ullowod to be delicious; 
 the other parts were also eaten by the men employed, and 
 found to be excellent. 
 
THE ANGLER. 133 
 
 In vain the Angler tries the common stream, 
 
 He finds nor Carp, Tench, Barbel, Pearch nor Bream ; 
 
 All arm t' oppose the tyrant's hateful reign, 
 
 The sounding horn calls out the hunters' train. 
 
 Lo ! at the sound the hunters gay appear, 
 Each bearing in his hand the sharpen'd spear ; 
 Eager for sport, by well-known sounds inspired, 
 The dogs range round with equal ardour fir'd ; 
 They try the hollow banks, the lofty sedge. 
 The alder's roots, and scent the muddy edge. 
 Plunge fearless in the stream, whilst with the roar. 
 They make rebellow each resounding shore. 
 At length behold the leavings of his feast, 
 And on the oozy mud his seal imprest ! 
 He's ta'en the water, thither tends his track. 
 Haste, huntsman, quick lay on the furious pack. 
 Now eager all t' enjoy the scene of blood, 
 Dogs, men and horses, rush into the flood. 
 See, there he vents ! A lucky jav'lin, thrown 
 With strenuous arm, infixes in the bone : 
 
134 THE ANGLER. 
 
 He (lives, he vents again, one hardy hound, 
 Tenacious, plunges with him to the ground. 
 All disappear — all re-ascend afar, 
 Redoubled clamours urge the wat'ry war. 
 EscapM he seeks yon willow's root, his Ibrt. 
 The dogs close follow, mad with rage and sport ; 
 No longer can the tyrant keep at Lay, 
 See, there he dives! the bubbles mark his way. 
 Once more compellM, he rises to take vent. 
 Shakes his short ears, and seems now almost spent, 
 Half drownM he ilies to land, but 'tis too late, 
 The yelping pack proclaim the tyrant's fate : 
 Now fainting, panting, close pursued by death, 
 To the whole worrying pack he yields his breath. 
 
 But hark ! I hear the shepherd's voice — behold 
 His bleating flocks he hastens to the fold. 
 My spirits flag, and aching limbs advise 
 Rest, and the fare which wasted strength supplies 
 The norves, which by excess of toil we strain, 
 Should be to vig'rous toil brac'd up again. 
 
THE ANGLER, IS5 
 
 So shall they last with care a good old age, 
 'Till nature gives the cue to quit the stage. 
 
 Yon smoking cot, beat by the mountain wind. 
 Harbours a good and hospitable mind ; 
 Reg'lar his rent, and annual tythes he pays, 
 His friend he welcomes, and on Sunday prays ; 
 Nor turns the way-worn stranger from his door, 
 Receives the rich — but welcomes in the poor. 
 There on good beef the ev'ning I'll regale, 
 And crown the sober cup with nut-brown ale. 
 
 mmA 
 
CANTO VIII. 
 
 TROLLING FOR PIKE. 
 
 Time, October. — Rural Scenery andEmployments. — Descrip- 
 tion of the Pike, and mode of Feeding it. — Proper Baits 
 and Rules for the Sport. — A Recipe for Cooking- it. — 
 Quaere as to the Origin of the Angler's Art. — The Sea- 
 sons improper for Angling, when the Fish are Breeding. — 
 Hope delusive. — Reflections on Nature's Works. — The 
 Soldier-Crab. — Polypus, &c. — On the Organ of Hearing 
 in Fish. — The Bounty of Providence ought to impress us 
 with Gratitude. — Return Home. 
 
CANTO VIII. 
 
 TROLLING FOR PIKE, (a) 
 
 Now to a close draws on the short-liv'd year, 
 The fields despoilM a dusky colour wear ; 
 
 (a) The Pike has a flat head, the upper jaw broad, and 
 shorter than the lower : the under jaw turns up a little at 
 the end, and is marked with minute punctures. The teeth 
 
140 THE ANGLER. 
 
 A fading green o*er-spreads the with'ring mead, 
 And all the smiling summer scenes are fled : 
 
 are very sharp, disposed ouly in the front of the upper jaw, 
 but in both sides of the lower, in the roof of the mouth and 
 often in the tong-ue. The mouth is very wide, the eyes 
 small. It is found in most of the lakes of Europe ; the 
 largest of the kind caught in England weighed thirty-five 
 pounds. It lives to a vast age, some say ninety, others 
 above two hundred and fifty years. They spawn in rNIarch 
 or April, according to the state of the weather. When in 
 high season, their colours are very fine, being green spotted 
 with bright yellow j the gills are of a most vivid and full 
 red. When out of season, the green changes to a grey, and 
 the yellow spots become of a pale hue. The Pike never swims 
 in shoals, but always lies alone, aud is so ravenous that it 
 will seize on auy thing less than itself. Fishes betray the 
 same detestation and dread of this tyrant, as birds do at the 
 sight of a hawk, ^^^len it lies dormant near the surface, 
 as it often does, the lesser fishes swim round it in great num- 
 bers and anxiety : aud they are then often noosed with a hal- 
 ter. As instances of its voracity, it has been known to 
 destroy young swans, and swallow them feathers and all. 
 A watch, with a black ribband and two steel seals has been 
 taken out of the stomach ; and one was taken in the river 
 Avon, near Stanley Abbey, weighing sixteen pounds, which 
 disgorged another weighing four pounds and u half, and 
 
THE ANGLER. 141 
 
 Denuded branches of the grove no more 
 Afford a shade to those who faint explore, 
 In search of shelter from the noon- day heat, 
 The brushy underwood with weary feet. 
 Stript of their mantle by the northern breeze ; 
 And shaken to and fro, the aged trees 
 Bend to th' autumnal winds their waving tops — 
 And, disengaged, the yellow foliage drops. 
 The sportsman see ! The pointers make a stand ! 
 Bereft of shelter, in the stubble land, 
 
 measuring- two feet, two inches and a half. Colonel Thorn- 
 ton killed one measuring- five feet four inches from eye to 
 fork. The art of Feeding- Pike, so as to make them very- 
 fat, is by g-iving- them eels, and without this it is not to be done 
 under a long time; otherwise Pearch, while small, and 
 their prickly fins tender, are the best food for them. Bream 
 put into a Pike pond are very proper food ; they w ill breed 
 freely, and their young- ones make excellent food for the 
 Pike, who will take care they shall not increase overmuch. 
 The numerous shoJils of Roaches and Ruds, which are con- 
 tinually changing place, and often in floods get into the 
 Pike's quarter?, are food for them a long time. 
 
142 THE ANGLER. 
 
 The tinvrous covey dread the fatal snare, 
 
 And mount \vith new-fledj^'d ^Yings an untried air : 
 
 In vain ihcy fly, the sportsman's murd'rous aim 
 
 O'ertakes and strews them lifeless on the plain. 
 
 Their golden loads the orchards scarcely bear, 
 
 The busy swains the cyder-press prepare ; 
 
 And fill their vessels with the mellow juice 
 
 With economic care set by for use; 
 
 Or from the groaning gran'ry's well-filTd stores. 
 
 The hind into the vat the barley pours, 
 
 And by the well-known process draws from thence 
 
 The sparkling ale — that oft deprives of sense. 
 
 But see, high noon invites to sit and eat. 
 Hunger's the sweetest sauce, though coarse tlie 
 
 meat. 
 The season smiles, this mild October day. 
 Cheers like the setting of a summer's ray; 
 We ask no bow'r, sweet is the open sky. 
 The turf our board, and Heav'n our canop\. 
 
THE ANGLER. 143 
 
 The meads of Witham wear a fainter green, 
 Mid Autumn here paints no unpleasant scene ; 
 Rest, rest, my rod, on troubled Froshwell's (//) 
 
 brink — 
 Boy, bring the flask, the Angler's health we'll drink! 
 Froshwell, thou deep, dark river, slow of pace, 
 Chelmer impatient waits for thine embrace ; 
 How-num'rous are the nations of the stream ! 
 The mud-enamour'd Tench, the watchful Bream ; 
 Y A re's ((?) luscious Ruff, (o?) and Pike-enticing 
 
 Roach, — 
 The grov'ling Gudgeon, and the rill-born Loach ; — 
 
 (b) Froshwell, otherwise Pant, is Witham river. It 
 rises near Radwinter, in the north-west angle of Essex, 
 passes by Witham, meets the Chelmer a little above Mai- 
 den, and a little below that to^\^l falls with the Chelmer 
 into the sea. 
 
 (c) Yare is a Norfolk river. Its spring is near King-ham 
 in that county. Having joined Windser a little below Nor- 
 wich and Waveney, above Burgh Castle, it falls into the 
 sea at Yarmouth. 
 
 (o') The Rvff differs little from the Pearch except in size, 
 
1 1 \ THE ANGLER. 
 
 The Cheven gross, the shapely BarbeFs might,— 
 
 And the fierce river Shark's tremendous bite : 
 
 And painted Trout, \vhieh, half the rounding year, 
 
 Springs at the fly in currents brisk and clear. 
 
 The Pike's my joy, of all the scaly shoal ; 
 
 And of ail FiSHiNG-i\STRUME\TS,(e) the Troll.(/) 
 
 which seldom exceeds six inches : so that it is appropriately 
 uamed perca JiuviatiJis minor. It is second to none for 
 delicacy of taste. 
 
 (e) Fishermen have two principal ways of catchint; Pike ; 
 hyWie ledger 2iiiAhY i\\e walking-hait. The ledt^er-bait is 
 fixed iu one certain place, and may continue while the An- 
 gler is absent. This must be a live bait, a fish or a frog : 
 and araonfj- fish, the dace, roach and ^udg-eon are the best : 
 of frogs choose the larg-est and yellowest. If the bait be 
 a fish, the hook is to be struck through the upper lip, and 
 the line must be fourteen yards at least in leng:th : the other 
 end of this to be tied to a tree, or to a stick driven into the 
 ground ncarthe Pike's haunt, and all the line wound round 
 about a forked stick, except about half a yard. The bait 
 will by this means keep playin": so much under water, and 
 the Pike will soon lay hold of it. If the bait be a frog-, then 
 the arming- wire of the hook should be put in at the mouth. 
 
THE ANGLER. 145 
 
 My bounding heart against my bosom beats, 
 Now while my tongue the glorious strife repeats. 
 
 and out at the side ; and with a needle and some strong* silk 
 the hinder leg" of one side is to be fastened by one stitch to 
 the wire arming of the hook. The Pike will soon seize this, 
 and must have line enough to give him leave to get to his 
 haunt, and poach the bait. 
 
 (/) Tlie Trolling for Pike is also a pleasant method of tak- 
 ing them. The trolUng-rod has several small rings, fixed 
 on every one of its joints j upon the but-joint is fitted a 
 reel with its winch. On the reel are wound twenty, thirty, 
 or forty yards of silk line, which passes through the rings 
 on the rod, and is then fastened to the gimp with which the 
 hook is armed. The hook itself is a compound of two small 
 Pearch-hooks put back to back. Between the hooks hangeth 
 a little chain, and at the end of the chain a small plummet. 
 The plummet is to be sewn into the mouth of a dead fish, 
 Roach or Gudgeon, the hooks being left without ex- 
 posed to sight. The bait, thus fastened, is to be kept in 
 constant motion in the water, sometimes suffered to sink, 
 then gradually raised, now drawn with the stream, and now 
 against it, the better to counterfeit life. If the Pike be at 
 hand, he mistakes it for a living fish, seizes it and runs off 
 to his lurking place, and in ten or twelve minutes gorges 
 it. You then give a sudden jerk, play him till he is tired, 
 draw him towards the bank, and with a landing-uet, bring 
 him on terra firma. 
 
 H 
 
146 THE ANGLER. 
 
 O, when he feels my jerking hook, with powV 
 
 And rage he bounces from his reedy bow'r ; 
 
 He traverses the stream with strong career, 
 
 With straitened line his furious course I steer : 
 
 He springs above the wave, at length overcome, 
 
 This evening he shall feast my cheerful home. 
 
 While I look round to find some honourM guest. 
 
 To my house-keeper I entrust the rest — 
 
 Serina, knowing in all household art, 
 
 Graces, in ev'ry scene, each changing part. 
 
 My table she improves, her curious care 
 
 Bestows the savour delicate and rare. 
 
 To nic no hand, like her's, can cook a fisli, 
 
 Tho' diff'rent palates like a diflTrent dish. 
 
 'Twas where the Stour, with his broad humid train. 
 
 Severs the hills from Stratford's lowly plain, 
 
 My fishing a^ra w ith a Pike began, 
 
 And once in water, once in wine it swam. 
 
 With df-xt'rous knife she stript his silver mail. 
 
 And bath'd the body in her cleanly pail ; 
 
THE ANGLER. 147 
 
 Then like embalmer of the Memphian race, 
 With critic eye she mark'd incision's place, 
 Just under the late breathing gills, and drew 
 The still warm entrails reeking from the stew. 
 In the disboweird void, she, next, convey'd 
 Sweet-scented marj'ram, and the spicy blade, 
 Fragrance of thyme, aquatic savVy's spoil, 
 And the churn's golden lumps of clodded oil ; 
 The pickled oyster in due order pass'd, 
 All seas'ning salt, and rich anchovy last. 
 With lathes and fillet on his axle bound 
 By culinary laws he wheels his round. 
 His liquor'd sides emit luxuriant steam 
 Of claret, anchovy, and new made cream. 
 Now, smoking in the dish, he swims once more 
 In a hot bath (the pan's un wasted store,) 
 With juice from Seville's piquant orange prest — 
 Such supper thee, Apicius,(^) would have blest. 
 
 (g) Apicius, a noted Roman glutton in the days of the 
 Emperor Tiberius. 
 
 H 2 
 
148 THE ANGLER. 
 
 Most arts, 'tis said, can boast in story'd fame, 
 Their birth, progression, and tlie founder's name : 
 Ours, by what genius are its honours sung ? 
 Growth of what clime? From whose invention 
 
 sprung ? 
 Say, man of letters, can thy reading shew, 
 Through this blind labyrinth, a leading clue ? 
 Walton, our great forefather, and our pride. 
 The curious search with happy labour tried ; 
 He found our wand in wild Arabia nurs'd, 
 And patient Job, great fisherman the first : 
 But brains of scholars are inventive things — 
 Read Monmouth's GeofFry, read Buchanan's kings : 
 Yet if the Muse's wreath bestows renown. 
 Is not our name immortaliz'd by Browne ?(A) 
 
 Nature, my friend, whose certain signs ordain 
 Tlie time to scatter and to reap the grain, 
 
 (/() INIoscs Browne, author of nine piscatory cclotiuos. 
 
THE ANGLER. 149 
 
 Governs our art ; your idle rods suspend, 
 
 In love's nice season, till in May it end. 
 
 For when the Ram (0 salutes the remeant sun, 
 
 And while his mounting wheels through Taurus run, 
 
 The pregnant females of the streams expel 
 
 Their oval sperm, in some selected cell : 
 
 Th' attending mate, auxiliar of his wife, 
 
 Pours over all the principle of life. 
 
 Faint lassitude succeeds and hate of food — " 
 
 Wait till one moon renew the hungry mood. 
 
 But Cancer's heat, or Leo's hotter pow'r. 
 
 Brings the Tench forward to her painful hour ; 
 
 And, strange to tell! Now while chill Autumn blows, 
 
 The Trout, prolific, feels a mother's throes ; 
 
 Yet stranger still, if fame our faith obtains, 
 
 The Carp six labours in the year sustains. 
 
 (t) Ram ; the Sun enters into Aries in March, Taurus in 
 April, and Cancer in June. 
 
150 THE ANGLER. 
 
 Arise, admonishM by the seamy day, 
 Our wands upbraid us w ith this lonii; delay. 
 Help I Quick advance the landing-net — he's 
 
 mine I 
 I ieel him — now he pulls the stretching line ; 
 A Pike — I've lost him ; he has burst the snare ; 
 And must my hopes this disappointment bear ? 
 Vexation is in vain — fret e'er so long, 
 Fortune but smiles, when accident goes wrong : 
 Shorten your hopes, nor yet the shortest trust. 
 But to whatever befals, your mind adjust. 
 And yet to action what impels the heart ? 
 In suiTring what upholds, if hope depart? 
 Hope is the lover's balm, the soldier's mail, 
 The courtier's pension, and the merchant's gale : 
 Hope lends her crutches to low stooping grief. 
 And bids tiie I'uture rise to our relief; 
 Again, and yet again, she may deceive — 
 We love th' illusion, and we still believe. 
 
THE ANGLER. 151 
 
 Lo, a fresh prey ! Now to the bank-side draw — 
 Ko STATUTE(A:) fish — ah, tremble at the law! 
 
 And lo ! another wljirling axle see I 
 Your wateh examine — on the stroke of three. 
 Spare him some minutes, till he gorge his meal — 
 To expedite his fate, now spin your reel. 
 Hail, scaly terror ! Hail ! Salute from shore 
 Thy liquid realm, ne'er to salute it more. 
 Bless me ! A size for sacerdotal taste — 
 The rector's cook his thirsty hide shall baste. 
 
 Suffic'd with game, my thoughts I'll entertain 
 With nature's wonders in her wat'ry reign. 
 Tell how the prudent Barbel roots below, 
 Treasures her spawn, and mocks th' insidious foe ; 
 
 (k) By the Statute, Pike must not be taken under ten 
 inches : the forfeiture is twenty shillings, the fish, and the 
 eng-ine it is taken with. 
 
152 THE ANGLER. 
 
 What to the spawnless Eel a race supplies. 
 Why at the thunder's awful sound she flies ; 
 What periods bound the finny lives, and where 
 To funVal grots their lifeless kin they bear. 
 RapturM I see the Soldier-crab(/) explore 
 His change of armour on the tide-wash'd shore ; 
 
 (I) The Soldier, or Hermit-Crab, inhabits the empty cavi- 
 ties of turbinated shells, chan^in^ its habitation according 
 to its increase from a small to a larger one. Nothing can 
 be more diverting than to observe this animal when want- 
 ing to exchange its shell. The little Soldier is seen busily 
 parading the shore along that line of pebbles and shells 
 which is formed by the exti'emest wave, still however drag- 
 ging its old incommodious habitation behind it, unwilling 
 to part with one shell, even though a troublesome appen- 
 dage, till it can find another more suitable. It is seen stop- 
 ping at one shell, turning it and passing it by; going on 
 to another, contemplating that for awhile, and then slip- 
 ping its tail from its old habitation to try on the new : this 
 is also found to be inconvenient, and it quickly returns to 
 its old shell again. In this manner it frequently changes, 
 till at last it finds one light, roomy and commodious ; to 
 this it adheres, though the shell be sometimes so large as to 
 hide the body of the animal, claws and all. Yet it is not 
 
THE ANGLER. 153 
 
 EnlargM in bulk, uneasy in their case, 
 Down the steep cliff their annual march they trace : 
 They rove the beach, the shelly sl-oughs they try, 
 Sagacious this reject, and that apply. 
 Two rivals now for the fair prize contend, 
 Fierce is the fray, much rival strength they spend. 
 The victor all at once leaps forth to view 
 From his old mail, and stalks into the new. 
 
 till after many trials and many combats also, that the Sol- 
 dier is thus completely equipped j for there is often a con- 
 test between two of them for some well-looking- favourite 
 shell for which they are rivals. They both endeavour to 
 take possession ; they strike with their claws ; they bite 
 each other, till the weakest is obliged to yield by g-iving up 
 the object of dispute. It is then that the victor immediately 
 takes possession, and parades in his new conquest back- 
 ward and forward upon the strand before his envious anta- 
 gonist. When this animal is taken, it sends forth a feeble 
 cry, endeavouring to seize the enemy with its nippers, 
 which, if it succeeds, it will rather die than forego. When 
 roasted in the shell they are esteemed delicate. 
 
 H 6 
 
154 THE ANGLER. 
 
 Thai varieg^ating fish, whose ruling name 
 Is borrow' d from a star, her form the same. 
 Conibunds the sage: she mocks the wounding tteel. 
 Her o\Mi balsamic juice the wound will heal. 
 Lop off her limbs, the \'ital nave will fling 
 New radii forth, another limb will spring : 
 So the ditch pol^^pe with the sheers divide. 
 Transverse, oblique, in head, or tail, or side. 
 Lives in each part : each part instinct with soul, 
 Repullulates, and forms a perfect whole. 
 Have fish the (m) hearing organ ? — *Tis denied ; 
 But Bacon's name adorns th' affirming side. 
 
 (w) With respect to the hearing' of fishes, it is urged, 
 that wheu kept iu a pond, they may be made to answer at 
 the call of a whistle, or the ringfingof a bell ; and that they 
 will even be terrified at any sudden and violent noise, such 
 AS thunder, the firing- of ^ns, &c, and sink to the bottom 
 of the water. If they hare these organs, it may be doubted 
 whether there be an external passage to them, and that 
 only a certain tremulous motion is conveyed to them, from 
 sounds issuing from without. 
 
THE ANGLER. 155 
 
 Learn what long since my wand'ring eyes beheld, 
 Near the ^een marijin of the war-fam'd Scheldt. 
 Not far remov'd from where proud Antwerp 
 
 bends 
 Her stretching crescent, and to Heav'n ascends. 
 A palace-abbey stands ; commanding round 
 A rich extent of sacerdotal ground ; 
 There holy Bernard's white-gown'd sons, retir'd 
 From the lewd world, with burgundy inspir'd. 
 H}Tna the bright Virgin, or with sacred glee 
 Smg requiems to the dead for ghostly fee ; (n) 
 Good, round paunch'd, lazy monks, as e'er you'd 
 
 see: 
 "Mongst them much fasting there did not appear, 
 Nor the least signs of any worldly care ; 
 Save how to keep out sorrow from their souls. 
 Or drown it. if it enter'd. with full bowls. 
 
 {nj At least did so before the late French revolution. 
 
166 THE ANGLER. 
 
 For these with luscious fruits the garden glovv'd — 
 For these the moat round the slop'd terrace flow'd, 
 StockM with enormous Carp ; I saw them roll, 
 Caird by a practisM brother of the cowl ; 
 His well known whistle they obey'd ; tiiey sped 
 In wallowing heaps, to seize the promised bread : 
 Carp (o) should'ring carp th' injected morsel snap, 
 As monks push monks in scuffle for a cap. 
 
 (o) Pike, when used to be fed by hand, will come up to 
 the very shore, and take the food that is g-iven them out of 
 the feeder's hand. It is wonderful to see with what cou- 
 rag-e they will do this, after awhile practising ; and it is a 
 very diverting sight, when there are several of them nearly 
 of the same size, to see what striving and fighting there 
 will be for the best bits when they are thrown in. The 
 most convenient place is near the mouth of the pond, and 
 where there is about half a yard depth of water : for by that 
 means, the offal of the feedings will all lie in one place, 
 and the deep water will serve for a place to retire to, and 
 be always clean and in order. 
 
 Carp will be fed in the same manner as Pike; and though 
 by nature as shy and timorous as the Pike, is bold and 
 fearless, yet by custom they will come and take their food 
 
THE ANGLER. ]57 
 
 Look where you will, through Nature's varying 
 
 scenes. 
 The whole with objects of our w^onder teems. 
 How much we see I yet infinitely more 
 Is hidden from our eyes in Nature's store. 
 The sea's vast space a thousand tribes contains, 
 Which never may reward man's active pains ; 
 Yet all we see, by an all-bounteous Heav'n 
 Has for the use of man, ingrate, been giv'n. 
 Oh ! would but he from this great instance learn 
 God's providential goodness to discern ! 
 Why does the earth her precious gifts produce, 
 But for unthinking man's support and use ? 
 For him the corn in fertile vallies shoots, 
 For him the orchard yields its golden fruits ; 
 
 out of the person's hand ; and will, like the Pike, quarrel 
 with one another for the nicest bits. But the question of 
 their hearing is not yet sufficiently solved. 
 
158 THE ANGLER. 
 
 For him kind Nature clothes the verdant m?ads, 
 
 For him the oak its lofty branches spreads : 
 
 Oh I let us then adore the Cause supreme, 
 
 And make our debt to Him our daily theme I 
 
 Let inward pleasure glow in ev'ry breast, 
 
 And let's with rapture own how much we're blest. 
 
 But now', my friend, the lengthening; shadows view, 
 "Tis time our homeward journey to pursue, 
 The rising dew, and moisten'd atmospliere 
 Counsel retreat — haste, other joys we'll share : 
 We'll brim the bowl, the blazing hearth we'll heap, — 
 An early supper breeds unruffled sleep. 
 Sleep, soothing powT I what balm dost thou dispense. 
 To raise our spirits, and revive our sense I 
 Great nurse of Nature, tJiy pacific sway, 
 Both prince and peasant readily obey. 
 Refreshed by thee our pleasures we renew, 
 Or else with vigour, daily toils pursue ; 
 
THE ANGLER. 
 
 159 
 
 A ruddy glow thou giv'st to blooming health, 
 Without thee valueless are powV and wealth : 
 To princely couch thou oft deny'st thy balm, 
 While peasants find repose serene and calm. 
 
CANTO IX. 
 
 ANGLING FOR PIKE WITH LAY-HOOKS. 
 
 Time, February. — Aspect of the Country. — Directions for 
 the Sport. — ^The Heron. — Noted Rivers and Lakes for 
 Angling. — The Decoy Ponds. — Angling on the Lakes.— 
 Description of* the Trimmer, another Instrument for 
 catching Pike. — Colonel Thornton. — His mode of Fishing 
 with Fox-hounds. — Praise due to him for making Ladies 
 Partakers of the Angler's Sports. — Invitation to the Fair 
 Sex. — A Storm — Salmon Fishing. -Invitation to Sportsmen. 
 
CANTO IX. 
 ANGLING FOR PIKE WITH LAY-HOOKS.(a) 
 
 Now, at the last of Winter's dreary reign, 
 More early morn bedecks the east again ; 
 
 (a) Lay-hook fishing differs little if auy thing from that 
 described as ledger-bait in the note, page 144, of the last 
 canto. But as it is rather differently described and practised, 
 
164 THE ANGLER. 
 
 And onco more cheers our icy spell-bound vale : 
 Hail, silver-bearded February, hail! 
 In furrow'd tracts beneath the frozen plain, 
 NursM by the snow, bursts forth the hidden grain ; 
 And vegetation spreads throughout the meads, 
 O'er which the rustic peasant cheerful treads : 
 
 I shall give another direction. — At the taper end of an hazel 
 stick, thirteen or fourteen feet long, a small crotch or reel 
 is fastened by a piece of cord. About the crotch you wind 
 fifteen or twenty yards of strong packthread, leaving about 
 a yard thereof to hang loose. This loose yard of line is 
 tied to the armed wire of the hook, after having drawn the 
 armed wire betwixt the skin and ribs of a living roach. The 
 bait being thus put on the hook, and the hook tied to the 
 line, and the line gently inserted in a slit in one of the legs 
 of the crotch, the hazel stick is fixed into the bank of the 
 river, so that the bait may play at liberty half a yard or 
 more under water. When a pike seizes it, he jerks the 
 string out of the slit, and all the line drops from the reel 
 or crotch, and gives him freedom to make for his den. In 
 about a quarter of an hour, he swallows the fish, and is 
 then, by proper management, easily drawn ashore. 
 
THE ANGLER. 165 
 
 Sheltered beneath the shed, the lowing herds, 
 And in the roofs close thatch, the nestling birds 
 Together crowd to keep each other warm, 
 And there defy the rude inclement storm. 
 Descending snow now covers all the meads. 
 O'er trees and bushes its white mantle spreads; 
 The rustic youth in sport each other course, 
 And hurl the snow-ball with a dextrous force ; 
 Beneath the shelter of a little thatch, 
 The old ones jest and laugh and troll the catch ; 
 Each passes round the jug of humming ale, 
 The gossips tell some legendary tale : 
 With renovated warmth their old hearts burn, 
 And gladly w^elcome in the spring's return. 
 The sun, now wheeling through the Fisher's sign, 
 Favours my vows, his beams well omenM shine ; 
 Orwell (6) imbibes the ray, the frost of night 
 Dissolves, and Pike with rabid rage will bite. 
 
 (6) Oriiell is a Suffolk river, rising near Rattlesden, 
 below Wellpit in that county. It receives the Gippingsoon 
 
166 THE ANGLER. 
 
 Each river, which the Suffolk springs supply, 
 Shrinks to a rill before a northern eye ; 
 Such stately streams their teeming vales o'erspread, 
 So wide their channel, and so deep their bed. 
 — Y'et iVom his fertile urn the Orwell yields, 
 Waters as sweet, and bathes as lovely fields ; 
 His deeps, his shoals, his weedy and his clear, 
 With game are peopled through the changeful year. 
 How oft, exulting, from these banks I've come. 
 Weary and laden to my lowly home I 
 E'en winter pleases here ; when winter binds 
 The clods like iron, with its freezing winds. 
 Here, in defiance of the blast, I troll 
 Eor the strong Pike deep harbour"d in his hole. 
 This dreaded dragon of the streams I bring, 
 A gentle thrall, fast in my slender string : 
 
 after it has passed Stowmavkct. From thence it Hows to 
 Necdhani, IJraniford, SpioutAhton, Ipswich, and enters the 
 sea by Harwich. 
 
THE ANGLER. 167 
 
 My whirling reel's the omen of his fate, 
 
 Whene'er his rav'nous gorge devours the bait : 
 
 Else arm'd with stouter war, my sturdy hand 
 
 Tugs, and high whirls him glitt'ring on the strand ; 
 
 But Orwell listens not, although I sing — 
 
 Orwell is surely wander'd from his spring ; 
 
 My lay, else, sounding through his watTy court. 
 
 Instant had rais'd him to assist my sport. 
 
 But no, he hears ! mark, mark, this empty reel, 
 
 A certain sign! a weighty lish I feel : 
 
 I poise him with my hand — his flesh, I guess. 
 
 Six lusty feeders very well may mess. — 
 
 Another's run — and yet another line — 
 
 This booty might a princely table dine : 
 
 That hook's abortive, but the deep gash'd bait 
 
 Shews some huge jaw reserv'd for future fate. — 
 
 Ha! whence that flutt'ring sound ? A heron's wing ! 
 
 Arch-felon, art thou caught ? Hold, stubborn string ! 
 
 The hazel he has launch'd — he mounts in air. 
 
 The wood's too pond'rous for his flight to bear. 
 
168 THE ANGLER. 
 
 He drops I plunge. Jowler, gripe the wearied prey, 
 Thejudgment dealing knife the thief shall slay : 
 Thy skin, for terror to the ravening race, 
 Expanded wide, some spacious wall shall grace. 
 
 Mild is the winter, merry is the game, 
 My tongue no more shall Suffolk's streams defame. 
 Full in the middle of the (c) bounding line. 
 Which these to Norfolk's open pastures join, 
 Two neighbour founts with adverse currents run. 
 That seeks the setting, this the rising sun : 
 Thence OusE, the less, his humble stores obtains, 
 And Waveney (d) hence his nobler waters gains ; 
 Harlstone's fam'd kine by limpid Waveney graze, 
 And Bungay from her height his stream surveys : 
 Between them Wortwell, near the public way, 
 Extends her straw-thatch 'd huts and walls of clav. 
 
 (r) Lophum Ford. 
 
 (d) Waveney is the county river which divides Norfolk 
 from Suffolk. 
 
THE ANGLER. 169 
 
 Her croaking fen the Angler's hopes will bless, 
 Come and with me rich Waveney's wealth possess ; 
 Roach, Gudgeon, Dace, our playful art shall 
 
 feel— 
 Our serious skill huge Pike and pondVous (e)Eel; 
 
 («) The Eel may be taken by angling with a ledger-bait, 
 or by sni(j(jliny, a.nd bobbinf/ . The best baits are powdered 
 beef, lob or garden worm, minnow, gut of fowl, or of any 
 fish, for he is very greedy, and a small lamprey. Eels sel- 
 dom stir in the day-time, and are caught in greatest quanti- 
 ties by night-lines. Sniggling is thus performed : Take an 
 ordinary sized needle j whip it only about the middle part, 
 to three inches of the strongest fine twine, waxed, and 
 fastened to several yards of whip-cord or pack-thread. 
 Thrust the end of your needle into the head end of a large 
 lob-worm, and draw him on, till you have got it to the mid- 
 dle of the worm; then in the end of a small long stick, 
 which you may fix into one joint or more of your rod, let 
 there be stuck another needle, fastened well from slipping 
 out, with about half an inch of the point appearing. Put 
 this also into the head of the baited worm, and holding the 
 whole length of the cord in your hand, together with the 
 stick, thrust your bait between the cleft of any clods or 
 piles in shallow water, till you have lost sight of it j then 
 
 I 
 
no THE ANGLER. 
 
 Bright Carp the drag — Tench shall the bonnet 
 
 fill, 
 And Pearcii in plenty teize the diving quill. 
 
 softly draw your stick away, layiug it aside, keeping the 
 line still in your hand, till you perceive it to draw, and 
 after some time strike ; but you must tire him well, before 
 you attempt to land him. The needle, which before this 
 lay buried in the worm, will by the stroke be pulled quite 
 across the throat of the Eel, and hold him fast. When he 
 is landed, you may, by squeezing' one of the points through 
 the skin, draw that and the whole line after it, w ithout 
 the trouble attending dislodging a hook. Bobbing is per- 
 formed by stringing a large number of worms with a ueedlt 
 on a fine but strong packthread, running them from liead 
 to tail, till you have strung about a pound ; then wrapping 
 them about a dozen times round your hand, tie them fast 
 with the two ends of the thread, that they may hang in 
 hanks or links; fasten these to a strong cord about two 
 yards long; and about eight inches above the worms tie a 
 knot ; upon this let a plummet of lead rest, being bored 
 through, that it juay easily slip to and fro ; tie this cord to 
 a strong taper pole about three yards long, and angle uitli 
 this in a muddy water, in the deeper sides of streams. 
 The Eels will tug at it eagerly; then draw u[) worms uud 
 
THE ANGLER. 171 
 
 Along the stream, in the sweet summer eve, 
 Our little Gondola her path shall cleave. 
 While we at ease the sloping hill admire, 
 By Ceres drest in plenty's rich attire. 
 The cultur'd hills a range of gardens seem, 
 Behind their tops sinks the day's golden beam ; 
 And Red'nhall's awful tower looking o'er 
 The river views, and alder-shaded shore. 
 
 Or, if you'd rather northern landscapes share, 
 The mountains climb and breathe a purer air ; 
 Seas, rivers, rocks, and vales in prospect lie 
 In the vast circle of the bounding sky. 
 There, in perfection, angling joys partake, 
 And steer by compass o'er the sea broad lake. 
 
 Eels, uot with a jerk, but a steady, swift and even hand ; 
 and giving it a smart twitch, shake them suddenly off on 
 land, or into your boat, or which is best, into a floating 
 box, with a handle to direct so as to lie most convenient for 
 your purpose. You may take this way, three or four at a 
 time. Snig-gling and Bobbing' are only used for Eel-fxshing. 
 
 I 2 
 
172 THE ANGLER. 
 
 On (/) Winder's banks a solar journey 'stray. 
 There wallow Trout no Suffolk line can weigh ; 
 There Pcarch gigantic cut the foaming wave, 
 Whose force thepow'r of all your lines will brave. 
 There too, desirM by nations from afar, 
 Swims the bright beauty of the luscious Charr. 
 Those meres surpass in size — yet less ones claim 
 A no mean share of piscatory fame : 
 Do not despise those ponds whose waters sleep 
 Sweet o'er the golden cruso, and the heap 
 Of fattening bream, while the Carp's radiant scale. 
 And sleeker Tench their oozy nymphs regale. 
 From Ipswich eastward, whore, for annual gold, 
 Fleet coursers thunder o'er (lie dusty mould. 
 Three reservoirs will tliere refresh your eye — 
 Broad in tlic warren's swampy dale tiioy lie: 
 
 (/) Winder-more in Westmoreland, so called by the 
 people residing there ; but properly Wiuaudcr-mere. 
 
THE ANGLER. 173 
 
 There tutor'd fowl (g) their fellow fowl betray, 
 Wheedled from starving climes by promis'd prey. 
 Sly , from behind his art-wove skreen of reed, 
 The master casts the grain, the scholars feed; 
 The foreign guests steal on, and unaware. 
 Flutter and perish in his ambush'd snare. — 
 — Those waters, stor'd from many a secret sluice, 
 Patrician and plebeian fins produce. 
 The Pike, an emperor, maintains his state, 
 Roach die by thousands, for his mouth is fate ; 
 If Roach you scorn, the nobler Bream shall grace, 
 Your haughty triumph with his captiv'd race : 
 
 (g) The Decoy-ducks fly abroad, as some conjecture into 
 Holland and Germany, and perhaps farther, where they 
 meet with others of their own kind, and consorting with 
 them, they, by some ait, draw tog-ether a vast number of 
 fowls, and kidnap them from their own country; for being 
 once brought out of their knowledge, they followthe decoys 
 as a dog follows a sportsman, and these subtle creatures 
 return with a vast flight of fowls in their company, after 
 having been absent for several weeks together. 
 
174 THE ANGLER. 
 
 Or if, perchance, war's cv'ry art should fail. 
 
 And heartless, homeward your tir'd steps you trail. 
 
 Some beauteous landscape may relieve your pain, 
 
 The pride of summer in her ev'ning's reign. 
 
 For the road rises to a gentle hill, 
 
 Where the chaste painter's eye might draw its fill. 
 
 Hence pleasing Ipswich, on the right we hail — 
 
 Her roofs and temples clustered in the vale : 
 
 Her river, on the left, expands its tide, 
 
 And, moor'd afar, diminished vessels ride. 
 
 But these are deviations from the scheme 
 
 Of angling, which should be our proper theme ; 
 
 Some casual, some subject parts do play 
 
 In the sweet drama of an Angler's day. 
 
 Our point is pastime. Angling is the means, 
 
 Ponds, lakes and rivers form the shifting scenes : 
 
 Captures of fish the sly intrigue employ, 
 
 And changing place diversifies the joy. 
 
 Such sports you'll find, if you in Suffolk's clime 
 
 Stay till the ruddy summer pass its prime. 
 
THE ANGLER. 175 
 
 From Ipswich seaward, there the moory land 
 Sinks in a bason, scoop'd by Nature's hand, 
 With many a bay and many a winding creek, 
 Whose pools with pleasing exhalations reek : 
 King'sfleet the name, which vulgar clowns impose, 
 The lake Elysian, what the Muse bestow^s. 
 When the staunch hound his perplex'd quart'rings 
 
 tries, 
 And vvhirring pheasants from the stubble rise, 
 There have I often dipp'd my annual quill, 
 And oft with pleasure view'd the bordering hill. 
 There the new bow-net's double concave sweeps 
 The slimy Tench, fam'd Celsus(A) of the deeps ; — 
 There flounce the wanton Roach, our play begins. 
 We throng our floating well w^'th crimson fins. 
 
 (h) Celsus was a famous Roman physician in tlie reigu 
 of the Emperoi' Tiberius ; and a certain unctuous slime, 
 peculiar to the Tench, has been supposed to be medicinal to 
 the other fish. See Camden's Britan. p. 322. 
 
176 THE ANGLER. 
 
 Now Ch.\ron(0 plies the splashing oar, and now 
 The level of a long canal we plough : 
 In even row. on citl'.cr side is seen 
 The tall rush waving in his coat of green. 
 To Deben's(A') banks the watVy visto tends, 
 And Baudsey's towV the length'ning prospect ends. 
 Our Roach we spit, the rolling trimmers(/) cast, 
 Commend them to the breeze, and break our fast. 
 
 (/) Charon, the boatman, in Heathen mytholog-y. 
 
 (A) Deben, Woodbi-icl;^c river in Suffolk. It rises near 
 Meudlcsham, runs by Dcbeuham and Woodbridgc, and falls 
 into the sea at Baudsey haven. 
 
 (J) Trimmers. — Another mode of fishing for Pike, as fol- 
 lows : a Trimmer is a small cylinder of wood 3 about the 
 middle, which is tunned to a less diameter, is wound a 
 quantity of g-ood strong- pack-thread, twelve or fifteen 
 yards or thereabouts. A yard thereof is let to hang down, 
 and is tied to the armed wire of a jack-hook, after a living 
 roach hath been put on the said hook iu the manner before 
 described in lay-hook fishing. The trimmer, thus furnished, 
 is cast upon the water to seek its fortune. If a Pike take 
 the bait he runs the line otf the trimmer, and carries both 
 away with him to the reeds near the shore. Tliese live baits 
 
THE ANGLER. 177 
 
 We raven down our homely wholesome meal — 
 (No joys, like these, high-pamper'd gluttons feel) 
 Beneath a lowly roof our skiffs retreat 
 From wet Orion and the Dog-star's heat. 
 
 O Thornton, (w) w^ho has taught us how to join, 
 In these, our sports, the fair sex near divine — 
 
 may be attached to the body of a goose or duck, and 
 driven across a pond ; or to bladders, boughs, bundles of 
 straw, hay or flags, to swim down a river, whilst the Angler 
 walks at ease along the shore, watching the event. 
 
 (m) Colonel Thornton, the well known Author of the 
 Sporting Tour to Scotland, and other works of like nature. 
 The Colonel's nev: mode of Fishing with fox-hounds, as he 
 terms it, is very little more than the old scheme of the 
 Trimmer revived, and embellished : but he well deserves 
 the eulogies of all Anglers, for having contrived to make 
 these hitherto solitary sports agreeable to the fair sex, and 
 to render aquatic excursions the most pleasing amusements 
 imaginable. His description of it is as follows : " In order 
 to describe this mode of fishing it may be necessary to 
 observe, that I make use of pieces of cork of a conical form, 
 all differently painted, and named after fovourite hounds 5 
 and trifling wagers are made on their success, which add 
 
 I 5 
 
178 THE ANGLER. 
 
 (Who add a zect to ev'ry joy ^ve taste, 
 
 And ^Yould an Eden make of barren waste) 
 
 To thee, keen sportsm.an, utmost praise is due ! 
 
 No SOLITARY pastimes we pursue, 
 
 Sinee females grace and ornament the view. 
 
 O, Woman! soother of our eartldy care! 
 What bliss awaits, when you our pleasures share ! 
 
 rather to the spirit of the sport." — " The mode of baitin-jj 
 tliem is by placing a live bait Avhich han^s at the end of a 
 line of one yard and a half long-, fastened only. so slightly 
 that on the Pike's striking-, tvo or throe yards more may 
 run off to enable him to gorge his bait. If more line is nsed 
 it will prevent the sport that attends his diving and carrying 
 under water the hound ; which being thus pursued in a 
 boat down the wind (the course they always take) affords 
 very excellent amusement ; and where Pike, or large Pcaroh 
 or even Trout, are in plenty, before the hunters, (if I may 
 so term these fishers) have run down the first Pike, others 
 are seen coming towards them, with a velocity propor- 
 tionable to the fish that is at them."" — 
 
 " In a fine summer's evening, with a pleasant party, I 
 have had excellent diversion; and it is, in fact, the ynost 
 adapted of any for ladies, whose company gives a gusto 
 to all parties.'^ 
 
THE ANGLER. 179 
 
 With buoyant heart, Man soars beyond his sphere, 
 When his reward — th' applauses of the fair ; 
 No scenes more suited are to themes of love. 
 Than whilst on rivers' banks you fish and rove ; 
 T' instruct the fair the happy lover tries, 
 And grateful she rewards him with her eyes. 
 No longer then our Angling sports disdain. 
 Since (n) Venus sprung from Ocean poets feign. 
 Rising all beauteous from the briny main : 
 As, of our grief, do thou partake our pleasure — 
 Our life, our heart, our soul, our earthly treasure ! 
 
 But now, the rising cloud a tempest breeds — 
 The w^est wind w^histles in the rustling reeds, 
 And ruffles into foam the darkening lake. 
 Full on its face the pond'rous vapours break— 
 
 {n) Venus, in the Heathen mythology. 
 
180 THE ANGLER. 
 
 Down pours the clatt'ring rain, and lar and nigh 
 Smokes the black landscape, and the hazy sky. 
 
 .* * * 
 
 * * * * 
 
 Tir liorizon brightens, from the dripping sprays 
 Sweet mellow notes salute th' emerging rays ; 
 Our moorings we unloose, we ply the main, 
 Like jolly mariners we cruise — for gain : 
 Alert with hope, each eagle-eye explores 
 The middle water, and the reedy shores. 
 Numbering our scattered buoys ; with busy hands. 
 And shouts that echo from the distant lands ; 
 We haul our lines, our little smack we freight 
 With Pike \vhich match w ith any Salmon's weight. 
 
 With sport well satisfied, we fish no more — 
 We hoist the sail, or else we ply the oar: 
 
THE ANGLER. 181 
 
 And as our little bark swift glides along, 
 
 Some Angler cries, — " Come, Ladies, sing a 
 
 song!" 
 " Bravo !'' resounds from every moiitli — all hands 
 Applaud the motion, and each heart expands. 
 Some Syren's voice, as sweet as that of yore, 
 Which drew Ulysses to the Circean shore, 
 Now warbles out a strain that melts the heart, 
 Each feels that pleasure, which each would im- 
 part. 
 With voice more rough— a tenor, pleasing strong. 
 Some gentleman trolls out The Angler's Song : 
 Each sex successively its skill displays. 
 And each grows louder in the other's praise ; 
 At intervals, th' enliv'ning glass goes round. 
 And the day's sport with ev'ning's mirth is crown'd. 
 
 This scene with those, the town affords, compare, 
 And say which ye prefer, ye thinking fair ! 
 
182 THE ANGLER. 
 
 C'an midnight revels, and wax-taper gloom, 
 
 A suffocating throng, and heated room. 
 
 Insipid masks, and more insipid faces, 
 
 Furrow'd by dissipation's plough-like traces ; 
 
 Can cards and dice, and health-destroying hours, 
 
 Delight like Angling-scenes, Iake>.\ streams and 
 bow'rs ? 
 
 Consult your reason — nay, consult your glass, 
 
 Alike they'll tell you rural scenes surpass. 
 
 For whilst complaints of fashion ihey renu.ve. 
 
 Vour nn'nd, your health, your beauty they"!! im- 
 prove. 
 
 1 love the man who angles and who rhymes — 
 Whose heart witli mine in pleasing humour chimes ; 
 Let him my roof, my frugal viands share. 
 And leave to avarice all worldly care. 
 Now let's have done — the woodman, tir'd, gives o'er, 
 His sounding steel the echo mocks no more, 
 
THE ANGLER. 
 
 183 
 
 The sharp clear sky, and stifPning clod foreshew 
 Another stmging night ; dear stream adieu I 
 Ere long our sporting visit we'll renew. 
 
CANTO X. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
CANTO X. 
 
 Though rude itself, March does its welcome bring, 
 We gladly hail the harbinger of Spring. 
 Though chill north winds confine us within doors, 
 And buried deep in snow lie fields, heaths, moors, 
 Yet after winter's dearth, we hope to see 
 All nature from her ice-bound chains set free. 
 Imagination paints Spring's cheering reign. 
 Though oft delay'd by frost, snow, sleet and rain. 
 
188 THE ANGLER. 
 
 Which blight the tree, and cut the tender plant, 
 And hope of plenty change to fear of want. 
 For, lo ! where late the healthy bud bid fair. 
 To prove fore-runner of a plenteous year ; 
 Wither 'd and black, the gard'ner rues the change, 
 Which his late sanguine prospect does derange : 
 So sees some mother her lov'd infant play, 
 This instant well — the next — a lifeless clay ; 
 Bemoans the fate, her care could not prevent. 
 And, though resigned, continues to lament. 
 
 Yet Patience is a virtue,— rare 1 grant, 
 And what experience shows the wisest want. 
 Some men will boast in courage they excel — 
 The greatest courage lies in suffering well: 
 They only death in their own persons brave, 
 And hope to lose their sorrows in the grave; 
 The deepest of all sorrows man can {)rove. 
 Death of all deaths ! is tliat of those we love. 
 But still there's hope — a hope beyond despair. — 
 I'hat we shall all to one blest scene repair. 
 
THE ANGLER. 189 
 
 Then let us feel for others as we would 
 
 Feel for ourselves, if we in their place stood ; 
 
 But, in both cases, feel as should a man — 
 
 'Tis God ordains, — submit we to his plan. 
 
 Each worldly pleasure's balanced by some pain, 
 
 Yet hope is giv'n us of — Eternal Gain ; 
 
 Impartial justice holds the scale of fate, 
 
 To check our pride, and make us know our state. 
 
 Though storms and tempests now deface the 
 scene. 
 Yet may they usher in a Spring serene ; 
 The vernal verdure soon will re-appear, 
 The vivid green each heart — each eye — will cheer, 
 And we shall brood no more o'er prospects drear ; 
 Reluctant Winter will her sway resign, 
 No more with icy-bonds the earth confine ; 
 The husbandman will re-assume his toil, 
 The Angler forward look to finny spoil ; — 
 Again the fishing-tackle will prepare. 
 Laid by in winter with the utmost care; 
 
190 THE ANGLER. 
 
 The rod, the line, the reel, the float, the lead. 
 The hook, the mimic fly, — before him spread. 
 Will pass review — for who would gain his end, 
 Should the minutiae of his craft attend. 
 Of verdant plains again will be his dreams, 
 His waking visions — rivers — purling streams; 
 Former delights will pass him in review. 
 Which he will be impatient to renew. 
 
 Three seasons, thus, of the revolving year — 
 Spring, Summer, Autumn, all but Winter drear, 
 In flow'ry meadows let me ever live, 
 And taste the joys, which crystal streams can give; 
 In unison to whose harmonious sound, 
 My joyous heart and dancing float rebound! 
 Stretched at my ease, thus let me view the dove 
 Court his chaste mate, and tempt the scenes ol" love ! 
 Or rove, all harmless on some river's brink, 
 Where I may see my cork disportive sink, 
 With eager bite of Pearch, or Trout, or Dace, 
 Or Salmon, pride of all the finny race ; 
 
THE ANGLER. 
 
 191 
 
 Or those which in the flood's fair bosom swim, 
 Deep lodgM, or wanton on the crystal brim ! 
 Thus, with a fair one, with a friend or book, 
 Let me e'er ^Yander near some murmVing brook ! 
 Or, when keen hunger prompts me, take a seat. 
 And take, with appetite, my homely meat ; — 
 See the beginning and the end of day. 
 And pass in contemplation time away ; 
 There angle quietly on, and passage crave 
 To an expected — and a welcome grave ! 
 
( 193 ) 
 
 TROUT HALL; 
 
 A Sony^ 
 
 Bright blazed the fire of crackling wood, 
 
 And threw around a cheerful gleam 5 
 In front a vast oak table stood— 
 
 A bacon-rack hung from the beam : 
 Pipes, mugs, the chimney-piece well gracM, — 
 
 In rows the fishing-rods hung o'er •, 
 On each side Otter-skins were placed. — 
 
 Rap ! Rap ! Cries Dame — " Who's at the door ?" 
 
 Chorus. Some jolly Anglers loud they bawl, 
 
 T' enjoy the pastime of Trout-Hall. 
 
 Bright as her fire glow'd Dame's plump face 
 
 As her old friends she welcom'd kind 5 
 " Here ! Joan and Dolly, clear the place, 
 
 " And tap the humming ale, d'ye mind? 
 " First fetch my bottle of right Nantz, 
 
 " The ev'ning air is keen and raw ; 
 " My friends of cold shall run no chance — 
 
 " You'll pledge me, gentlemen, I know." 
 
 Chorus. Come jolly Anglei's, one and all, 
 
 You're kindly welcome to Trout-Hall. 
 K 
 
194 TROUT HALL. 
 
 Their stomachs fortified, around 
 
 The sparkling fire the Aug-lers spread ; 
 Fill pipes; crack jokes; the walls resound 
 
 "With laughter that nii<fht rouse the dead ; 
 The supper ou tlie table smokes ! 
 
 Round the oak board they take their seats; 
 Now din of knives, forks, plates! — no jokes — 
 
 Right earnest aldermanic feats. 
 
 Chorus. Much good niay't do each honest soul — 
 Each true bred brothcrof Troi t-Hall 
 
 Tlie supper o'er, well filled each guest, 
 
 Dame with her private flask appears; 
 Hopes they are pleasM — " She's done her best — " 
 
 They greet th' old worthy with three cheers : 
 Again fill tankard, pipe, and bowl, — 
 
 Joke, tale, and toast, and song go round ; 
 Begoyie, dull Care ! shouts ev'ry soul. 
 
 To thee this is forbidden ground — 
 
 Chorus. Begone ! Tliou never canst enthral, 
 
 The Jolly Anglers at Trout Hall. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Containing useful Matters, and General Instructions in the 
 Art of Angling, which could not be comprised in the 
 Notes, without rendering them of too great length, and 
 breaking the connection of the Text. 
 
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APPENDIX. 
 
 <Ef)oitt of d?t^5ittg ^acftle, 
 
 AND 
 
 Instructions to make Rods, Lines, Sfc. 
 
 The choice of fishing-tackle muat necessarily 
 depend on experience; therefore a beginner, if he 
 be possessed of common prudence. ayiH consult some 
 experienced angling friend, or some fishing-tackle 
 maker of repute. The rod should be light and taper, 
 diminishing gradually to the point, and above all 
 not top' heavy, which will occasion it to dip, when 
 the angler strikes, and loosen, or totally disengage 
 the hook from the mouth of the fish. The cane rods 
 are allowed to be the best, because they are the 
 
198 APPENDIX. 
 
 lightest, and may be had al all the fishing-tackle 
 shops. But as most country places are without this 
 advantage, the next and best succedaneum is the 
 hazel-rod. I never used any other in my youth; 
 and in more experienced hands, I have seen as much 
 execution done, as with any of more fashionable 
 construction. In short, I should give it the prefer- 
 ence, and it abounds every where ; and when pro- 
 perly seasoned, the difference between its weight, 
 and that of a cane rod, is scarcely perceptible, espe- 
 cially if the bottom part be made of dry deal. The 
 best way of preparing it is as follows : — Procure 
 three wands of hazel, of a size gradually diminishing, 
 dry them during the winter by putting them up a 
 chimney, or over the cap of an oven. Slope off the 
 end of each piece for two inches, so that they may 
 form perfect joints with each other, and fasten them 
 with shoemaker's waxed thread. The whalebone 
 top may be reduced as fine as required, by scraping 
 it with the sharp edges of broken glass. As there 
 are but two joints with waxed thread, it requires 
 only a few minutes to put it together, or disjoin, and 
 it will be as portable as any other rod, and nearly 
 as light, if, as mentioned before, the bottom piece 
 be made of dry deal, and painted. 
 
APPENDIX. IW 
 
 FisHiNG-LiNES. See note (6) page 21. But as 
 they are not to be bought in many country places, I 
 have often made them myself, as follows : —get a 
 quantity of the longest horse-hair, and twist three of 
 them together through your fingers; for the part 
 next the rod, again twist three of these together ; 
 join as many of these links as you may think neces- 
 sary, according to the length you intend your line 
 to be, and then decrease gradually, ending with two 
 hairs, one or two links from the hook. You may 
 make it wholly of white hair ; of white and gray 
 mixed together, or dye it, as directed in note (b) 
 page 21. 
 
 Fishing-Floats, may be easily made from a pat- 
 tern, or even from the description in note (c) page 22. 
 
 Fishing-Hooks must be procured, it requiring 
 long practice, and a very ingenious hand to make 
 them. 
 
 Natural Flies; see note (g) pages 25, 26, and 
 throughout the work. 
 
 Artificial Flies : Little more can be added on 
 this head to what is contained in the second part of 
 note (^) pages 26, 27. Some writers have given 
 directions for making them, although they candidly 
 acknowledge that one single trial will speak more 
 
200 APPENDIX. 
 
 (fiaii a volume. A beginner, therefore, should see 
 one made by an experienced person, or get a well 
 made one as a pattern. Having by repeated trials 
 artained to imitate one successfully, he will find little 
 or no trouble with any of the rest. 
 
 In the choice of flies to be used at different seasons 
 the best and the natural guide is to beat the hedges, 
 bushes, &c. and observe what species are then in 
 season, and he will be sure never to miss. An in- 
 dustrious and thorough-bred Angler will grudge no 
 pains — no labour — to contribute towardsthe improve- 
 ment of his favorite arf. 
 
APPENDIX. 201 
 
 Maim 
 
 Pastes, Unguents^ Sj-c. and Directions for using them. 
 
 In addition to the baits mentioned in the notes, p. 23, 
 and following, old experienced Anglers have made 
 trial of various other compounds, as incentives to 
 decoy the different kinds of fishes, which they pretend 
 to be very successful. It seems, indeed, to be a fact, 
 that, either from the insipidity of the element in 
 which they exist, or of their usual food, fishes are 
 fond of baits pleasing to the eye, strong in the scent, 
 and savoury to the palate. The following unguents 
 have therefore been recommended, either to anoint 
 the baits, or to enter into the composition itself, 
 which latter seems by far the best mode, as less liable 
 to be washed oiF by the water. 
 
 Oil of Ivy-berries, obtained either by expression 
 or infusion ; balsam of Ivy, procured by incision 
 into the trunk or lower branches of the Ivy tree; assa- 
 K 5 
 
202 APPENDIX. 
 
 foetida; camphor; turpentine ; spirits of vitriol ; oils 
 of lavender, anise, amber, rosemary, spike, myrrh, 
 pennyroyal, comfrey, &c. &c. 
 
 Some Anglers recommend to anoint the baits with 
 cither of the above articles, or with a mixture of 
 two or more of them ; — others to anoint only a foot 
 or two of the line next the bait : and others only to 
 put a few drops into the box along with the baits, 
 which by remaining there an hour before using, im- 
 bibe the scent sufficiently. The fact is, the first 
 mode appears to be best with pastes ; the second for 
 flies; and the last for gentles, worms, &c. 
 
 Various matters are made use of in the composition 
 of different pastes ; such as, the boiled flesh of rab- 
 bit, fowl, turkey, veal, or any other white meat ; 
 shoeps suet and blood, old cheese, virgin-wax, ren- 
 net, white bread, dough, saffron, rusty bacon, Arc. 
 formed into a proper consistence, with honey, trea- 
 cle, tar, or any other glutinous substance. No two 
 Anglers, however, agree in specifying exactly the 
 same articles in any of the numerous receipts handed 
 down to us. Thoy appear to use them indifferently, 
 and eacii individual to bi- pariiul to tiuit which he 
 finds to succeed the best. Indeed, when it is consi- 
 dered that the same baits will not take in dillereni 
 
APPENDIX. 20S 
 
 rivers, nor even in the same river at different seasons 
 and changes of weather, it must be concluded that 
 practice can be the only guide, and a change of bait, 
 the best, and surest road to success. But for the 
 more ready instruction of the unpractised learner, 
 we give the following detail as the most approved 
 compositions used by experienced Anglers for the 
 different species of fishes. 
 
 BARBEL. 
 
 The lob-worm (well scoured) ; gentles (not so 
 much scoured as to deprive them of their green 
 colour); cheese, wrapped in a wet cloth to make it 
 white and tough, and rubbed with honey, an hour or 
 two before using; sheep's tallow and soft cheese 
 beaten into a paste ; a bit of rusty bacon. Fish at 
 ground. See note (i) pp. 45 and 46, for general 
 directions. 
 
 BREAM. 
 
 A paste made of brown bread and honey ; gentles, 
 dock worms : a large red worm, well scoured for 
 three weeks or a month ; green flies and butterflies ; 
 
204 APPENDIX. 
 
 grasshoppers, deprived ol legs : slieep's blood, har- 
 dened before the fire. Fish near the bottom; and 
 keep as still and much out of sight as possible. See 
 note (^) pp. 13, 41, 15, for general directions. 
 
 CARP. 
 
 This species delights in sweet baits : wherefore, 
 whether you use gentles, worms, or paste, the two 
 former should be rubbed with honey, and the latter 
 never fail to have honey, or su2;ar, in their composi- 
 tion. The best kind of paste is made of the whitest 
 boiled meat shred very line, the finest flour (bean 
 flour is the best) beaten together with honey or sugai", 
 to render it tough enough to hang on the hook : or 
 for better security, mix a little white or yellow wool 
 (according to the colour of the paste) a precaution 
 that should be observed in all pastes to prevent their 
 being washed oflf the hooks. See note (d) pages 
 101-5, for o-oneral directions. 
 
 cnUB OR CHEVEN. 
 
 The brsi bails for this fish are a grasshopper, a 
 beetle, or any large lly. In March and April, it may 
 
APPENDIX. 205 
 
 be caught with a large red-worm; in June and July 
 with flies, snails and cherries ; in August and Sep- 
 tember, the proper bait is good cheese worked up 
 with a little butter ; some add rusty bacon, and 
 others say the bacon alone will do. He prefers a 
 large bait, and tw^o or three kinds at once on the 
 hook. Minnows, roach, and eels, cut small, ox brains, 
 and the pith of the back, are also recommended in 
 proper seasons. The Chub bites in summer from 
 sun-rise till nine in the morning ; and from three in 
 the afternoon till sun-set. The following are the best 
 directions:* for Chub-fishing fish at top, and mid 
 water in warm w^eather, and at bottom in cold wea- 
 ther. Your rod must be very strong, and your 
 tackle the same ; drop the bait near where you see 
 the fish or suppose it to lie, and if he do not see the 
 angler he very seldom fails to bite ; he is so strong a 
 fish that he must be played sometime after he is struck, 
 or the tackle will be in danger, and it will be prudent 
 to use a landing net. The Chub usually lies in holes 
 
 * Where directions are not contained in the notes for 
 angling- for any particular fish, lest they might be rendered 
 too bulky for the text, they ^vill be added in the Appendix, 
 to render this work as general and useful as possible. 
 
206 APPENDIX. 
 
 overshaded by willows, or other trees; sometimes 
 numbers are seen together, floating near the surface 
 in hot weather. Keep out of siglit, and they will bite 
 as fast as you throw in. Having once found a hole 
 to which Chub resort, you may always look for sport 
 there. 
 
 DACE. 
 
 The Dace will bite at any fly, but he is most par- 
 tial to the stone-caddis, or May fly, which may be 
 gathered in great quantities, at the latter end of 
 April, and the whole of the month of May among 
 the reeds of sedges by the water-side, and on the haw- 
 thorn bushes near the waters. These are a large and 
 handsome bait, but as they are in season only a small 
 part of the year, the succedaneum is the ant-fly. Of 
 these the black ones found in large mole-hills or ant- 
 hills are the best. These may be kept alive a long 
 time in a bottle, with a little of the earth of the hill, 
 and some roots of grass. They are good in April and 
 May ; tliey are in season throughout the months of 
 June, July, August and September ; but best of all 
 when they swarm, Avhii-h is in the ciid of July, or 
 beginning of August, and may be kept longer in a 
 
APPENDIX. 207 
 
 vessel washed out with a solution of honey and wa- 
 ter, than with the earth and grass-roots in a phial, 
 though that is the best method with a small quantity 
 taken for one day's sport. 
 
 Directions^ for fishing, — In warm weather Dace 
 seldom refuse the flesh-fly, or small house-fly at top 
 water ; but at other times the bait must be sunk to 
 within three inches of the bottom. In the winter 
 months a very different bait is required ; this is a 
 white maggot with a reddish head, which is the pro- 
 duce of the eggs of the beetle, and turned up with 
 the plough in abundance. Have a quick eye and 
 strike the instant they bite. If you fish with three 
 or four hooks, you may take two or more dace at a 
 time. Notwithstanding the flesh of Dace is in little 
 repute, yet when fresh taken and broiled, it is better 
 than either a herring, or even a pilchard, as the 
 author has often experienced. For the method of 
 intoxicating them, see note (o) page 50. 
 
 EEL. 
 
 Eels will bite greedily at several sorts of baits, 
 such as lob and garden-worms, hen's-guts, fish gar- 
 
 * See note , p. 205. 
 
208 APPENDIX. 
 
 bage, small frogs, minnows, gudgeons, and particu- 
 larly powdered beef. They bite best in a shower, 
 after a thunder-storm, in windy, gloomy weather. 
 
 Directions : — In a dry hot season when the streams 
 are low, practice sniggling or bobbing. 
 
 Sniggling is chiefly used in the day-time, when the 
 eels are fond of hiding themselves near weirs, mills, 
 or floodgates. It is performed thus: take a strong 
 line and hook, baited with a garden worm, and, ob- 
 serving or guessing at the holes where the eels lie hid, 
 thrust your bait into them by the help of a stick ; and 
 if there be any, you are sure to have a bite, and, if 
 I he tackling hold, g^i the largest eels. For another 
 mode of sniggling, as likewise of bobbing, see note 
 (f) pages 169, 170, 171. But the most proper 
 lime for taking eels is in the night, fastening your 
 line to the bank-side, with your laying hook in the 
 water; or a line with a number of hooks may be 
 thrown across the river, baited and plumbed, and 
 iastened to both sides, with a float to discover where 
 rhe line lip«. (hat it may be taken up in the morning. 
 
 FLOUNDER. 
 
 ■rin- most proper baits ar^^ all sorts of v.orms. 
 >va-])>-, arui <!;omles. 
 
APPENDIX. 209 
 
 Directions ;*-— Flounders may be fished for all day 
 long, either in a swift stream, or in the still deep wa- 
 ter ; but best in the stream in the months of April, 
 May, June, and July. They also lie on the sides 
 of sand banks, or on gravel, where there is a steep 
 declivity ; the tail of mill streams, or the end of a 
 stream in a deep still place. They never lie on a 
 muddy bottom. 
 
 The usual mode of angling for them, is to sink 
 the line by a small running bullet near the bottom of 
 the line, but so far from it that about a foot and a 
 half from the hook may play in the water ; and be- 
 sides flounders, pike, pearch and eels are often taken 
 thus. If a float be used, let it lie flat on the surface, 
 and, when it moves along slowly, and presently 
 stands upright, then strike, but give time, for he 
 is some time in sucking in the bait. 
 
 GRAYLING. 
 
 This fish takes all the baits which a trout does ; 
 and I have caught them on the same day and with 
 the same flies. Under water he takes the ash grub, 
 
 * See note, p. 205. 
 
210 APPENDIX. 
 
 dock Nvorrn, wheat or malt boiled, or a small red- 
 worm. 
 
 The jag-tail, which is a worm of a pale flesh co- 
 lour, with a yellow tag on its tail, is an excellent bait 
 in March and April. But the best of all, perhaps, is a 
 large grasshopper, (with the uppermost wing pulled 
 off) and a cad-bait fastened on the point of the hook 
 so as to be in continual play. 
 
 Directions:* — Under water, fish six or nine inches 
 from the bottom ; keep out of sigiit, for he is timid, 
 and strike gently, or he is so tender mouthed he will 
 break from his hold; yet so simple that he will re- 
 turn to the bait. 
 
 GUDGEON. 
 
 The best bait for gudgeons is a small red-worm, 
 fishing very near the ground ; and being very lea- 
 ther-mouthed, they will not easily get off when 
 struck. Wasps, gentles, and cad-baits are also 
 tolerable baits, but they slight flies either above or 
 below water. They bite all day from March to 
 October. They may be fished for with a float, the 
 
 ♦ Sec note, p. '20o. 
 
APPENDIX. 211 
 
 hook being on the ground ; or by hand with a run- 
 ning line on the ground, without cork or float. Let 
 your hook and baits be small, and do not strike quick, 
 for they nibble the bait before they swallow it, but 
 will be sure to take it. Some fish for gudgeons with 
 two or three hooks at once, and find pleasant sport 
 where they rise any thing large. In angling for 
 them, it is necessary to stir up the sand or gravel 
 with a pole or rake ; this will make them gather 
 round that place and bite the more eagerly. It is 
 immaterial whether they see the angler or no, for 
 they are undaunted. 
 
 MULLET. 
 
 The baits for this fish are red-worms of all sorts, 
 gentles, wasps, at or very near the bottom; a lob or 
 marsh-w^orm within two feet of the bottom ; at top 
 all the flies that the Trout takes, but the artificial 
 ones should be of a rather larger size. His haunts 
 are the same as those of the flounder; he comes and 
 returns with the tide, bites freely, and is in season 
 from May to September. 
 
212 APPENDIX. 
 
 PEARCH. 
 
 This fish will take almost any bait except a fly ; 
 roach or dace cut in pieces ; bobs, gentles, pastes ; 
 minnows, small froji^s, lob or red worms well scoured. 
 Angle at bottom with the red-worm in March; the 
 oak-worm, a young frog, or a red-mail in April ; 
 dock or worms that breed on osier, oak, or hawthorn 
 leaves in May ; the red-worm with the head nipped 
 off and a caddis put on before it, in June ; a large 
 grasshopper or earth-grub in July ; and red-worms 
 or brandlings in August and afterwards. 
 
 See note (rt) pages 82, 83. 
 
 PIKE. 
 
 Any bait but a fly. Large gudgeons, young roach 
 or dace; minnows, loaches, bull-heads, bleak, 
 gregs ; pieces of eel, a pigeon's craw, scoured, a 
 bit of fat bacon ; in July, the yellowest frogs. 
 
 This fish breeds but once a year, in March. It 
 is found in almost all fresh waters ; but is very dif- 
 ferent in goodness, according to the nature of the 
 places where it lives. The finest Pike are those 
 which feed in clear rivers; those in ponds or meres 
 
APPENDIX. 213 
 
 are inferior ; and the worst of all are those of the 
 fen ditches. They are very plentiful in those last 
 places, where the water is foul and coloured ; and their 
 food, such as frogs and the like, very plentiful, but 
 very coarse ; so that they grow large, but are yellow- 
 ish and high-bellied, and differ greatly from those 
 which live in the clearer waters. They avoid brack- 
 ish waters, and parts near the sea. They may be 
 fished for, from the latter end of April, all through 
 the year. Their best biting-time is early and late 
 from April to July ; three in the afternoon from July 
 to September; and, in the winter-months, all day 
 long, but seldom in the night at any season. The 
 best sport is in clear water, and in a high wind, on 
 a dark cloudy day ; and (in muddy rivers only) after 
 a flood, when the w^ater is growing clear. In hot 
 bright, sultry w^eather, when he lies basking at the 
 top, he will not bite, nor in dark, rainy weather ; 
 nor in water discoloured (or of a milky tinge) by 
 land-floods. 
 
 For full directions for the different modes of ang- 
 ling for Pike, see note (e) pages 144 — 5; note («) 
 163—4 ; note (/) 176—7—8. 
 
214 APPENDIX. 
 
 POPE OR RUFF. 
 
 These fish will take almost any bail, greedily, and 
 a minnow almost as big as themselves ; gentles, 
 caddis, and a brandling or red-worm ; the latter has 
 the preference. 
 
 They resort to a deep gentle stream shaded by 
 trees, where there is sand or gravel ; they always 
 flock in shoals together, so that if you catch one, you 
 may take all there are in a hole. Fish from top to 
 bottom, as they will seize the bait any where. 
 
 ROACH. 
 
 They will bite at all the baits that the dace and 
 chub take ; but when flies are used, they must be 
 under water. Angle with pastes in winter ; in April 
 with worms or caddis; in very hot months, witli 
 very little white snails, perriwinklcs, shrimps, flies, 
 and a red-worm in windy weather. In the hoi 
 months also roach may be taken thus : take a May or 
 an ant-fly, sink him with a little lead to the bottom 
 near the piles of a bridge or weir, in deep places ; 
 pull up your fly leisurely, and the roach will follow 
 
APPENDIX. 215 
 
 to the top, gaze on it there, and run and seize it, 
 lest it should escape him. 
 
 His haunts are gentle shallow streams, with sandy 
 or gravelly bottom ; or against the mouth of a small 
 stream, falling into a larger one. 
 
 Directions : — The tackle must be strong, the float 
 large and heavy leaded, to sink the quicker : the 
 hook must rest ten or twelve inches, at most, from 
 the bottom. The best times are from half ebb-tide 
 to within two hours of high water. 
 
 SALMON. 
 
 They are very nice and whimsical in the choice of 
 their baits, and in changing it. They take all that the 
 trout and dace do, but they must be of a larger size. 
 If you angle with worms, you will find your account 
 in anointing them with the unguents mentioned before. 
 They are not so fond of a minnow, nor of a fly as 
 the trout is ; but of flies, the living one is the best, 
 several on one hook. For more particular directions, 
 see note (A) page 69 ; and note (/) page 70. For 
 hours of angling, see note (A) page 68. 
 
 Their haunts are the clearest waters, nearest the 
 spring-heads in summer ; the deepest part of a rapid 
 
216 APPENDIX. 
 
 stream in the middle, and near the ground ; on pebbly, 
 chalky, or gravelly bottoms. Salmon-Peal chuse 
 deep holes, near the bank, under the root of a tree. 
 
 SMELT. 
 
 The baits are gentles, white paste, or a bit of its 
 own species. 
 
 They are to be caught only twice a year, in 
 March and August. 
 
 TENCH. 
 
 They will bite at a paste made of brown bread 
 and honey with a little tar, of which latter article 
 they are very fond ; marsh-lob, or red-worms, 
 anointed with tar, or the following unguent: — mix 
 the clotted black blood, found in a sheep's heart, 
 with fine flour and honey, into the consistence of an 
 unguent, and anoint your worms with it. He will 
 take also wasps, gentles, caddis. 
 
 The best seasons for angling are early and late, as 
 for the carp, in a still, smooth water, and best in a 
 cloudy, drizzling, or rainy morning, when it is 
 warm, and with the wind to south or west. They 
 
APPENDIX. 217 
 
 arc best from the beginning of September to the end 
 of May. They are out of season during the hot 
 months, yet then they bite most freely, even all 
 night long. 
 
 They are chiefly a pond fish, and their haunts are 
 the same as those of the carp, only they love the 
 foulest and muddiest bottoms, among weeds. 
 
 Directions: — Fish strong, and near the bottom ; or 
 if you. bait with a marsh or flag-worm, nearer the 
 middle ; allow him a great deal of time to bite and 
 swallow. He is no shy fish. 
 
 TROUT. 
 
 The Trout takes all kinds of flies, natural or arti- 
 ficial ; see note (g) pp. 25, 26, 27 : but, to save the 
 Angler trouble, it may be as well to state the opinion 
 of the most experienced men, that the stone-fly and 
 green-drake fly, will answer all purposes for all sea- 
 sons of the year. He will seize all sorts of w^orms. 
 See note (f) pp. 24, 25, but prefers a lob- worm and 
 brandling ; the larger sort in thick water, and smal- 
 ler in a clear stream. The caddis is an excellent 
 bait at bottom, and will answer during the greatest 
 part of the year. Small minnows, loaches, bull 
 L 
 
218 APPENDIX. 
 
 heads, or any other small fish, are good at a foot or 
 so under water, or a grasshopper in dipping, as for 
 chub. 
 
 Trout (as also grayling) may be fished for at top, 
 in mid-water, and at bottom. 
 
 Of Angling at top with a Jly, alive or artificial. 
 
 1. The Natural-fiy. Of these two sorts only arc 
 in general use, the green-drake and stone-fly, and 
 those in the months of May and June only. 
 
 The mode of fisliing witli these is called dipping, 
 and is thus performed. Use a short line, half the 
 length of your rod, if there be no wind stirring ; or 
 if there be sufficient to carry it away from you, the 
 whole length of your rod. Keep your line flying 
 before you, up or down the river, according as the 
 wind blows, and angle as near the bank of the river 
 on wliich you stand as you can, and, when you see 
 a fish rise, guide your fly quickly over him. If you 
 arc pretty well concealed, by kneeling or the inter- 
 vention of a tree or bush, you may be tolerably cer- 
 tain to take him if you be quick, otherwise, he will 
 be gone, as he is always roving about in search of 
 prey. Your line ought to have three hairs next the 
 
APPENDIX. 219 
 
 hook, not only because you may expect the largest 
 fish in this mode of angling, but also, as having no 
 length of line to play him with, you must tug with 
 him for the superiority, and land him as it were by 
 main force. No part of your line must touch the 
 water. 
 
 2. Artificial-fly fishing. For full directions for 
 this mode of angling, see note (c) pp. 40, 41. 
 
 Of Angling at mid-water with a small minnow or 
 other fish ; or with a worm, grub, or caddis. 
 
 1. With a minnow, or other small fish. Of minnows 
 the middle-sized and whitest are the best. It must 
 be put so on the hook as to turn about when it is drawn 
 against the stream; and to enable it to perform this 
 evolution the better, put it on rather a large sized 
 hook. The follow^ing is the direction generally given 
 for doing this : put the hook in at the mouth and 
 draw it out at the gill, and three or four inches be- 
 yond it ; draw it again through the mouth, and the 
 point to its tail ; then tie the hook and tail together 
 very neatly with white thread, which will make it 
 iurn more readily and quick in the water. Then pull 
 back the slack of your line, left w^hen you put the 
 L 2 
 
220 APPENDIX. 
 
 hook into the minnow the second time, so that the body 
 shall be almost straight on the hook. Then try how 
 it will turn by drawing it across the water, or against 
 the stream; if it do not turn nimbly, move the tail a 
 little to the right or left, and try again till you find it 
 turn quickly. A loach, which is by many preferred 
 to a minnow, or a stickle-back, or any other small 
 iish, may be served in the same manner, and will 
 answer the purpose as well. However, as this mode 
 requires practice, and a great deal of nicety, the 
 young angler will do better to put the hook in at the 
 mouth, and through the under jaw, with the point 
 downwards, which is easily performed, saves trouble, 
 and is equally as good a way. 
 
 2. Angling with a worm, grub, or caddis. The 
 best baits in this mode of fishing are the lob-worm 
 and the brandling ; the first for a large, and the 
 second for a smaller trout. In muddy, or disco- 
 loured water, also, the lob-worm is best, and a brand- 
 ling in clear water. You must use a cork float and 
 the finest tackle. 
 
APPENDIX. 221 
 
 Of Angling at bottom with a ground-bait. 
 
 Angling at bottom is performed either by hand, or 
 with a cork, or other float. 
 
 Angling by hand is performed in three ways, 
 
 1. With a line about half the length of the rod, 
 three hairs next the hook, and a heavy lead, which 
 is called a running-line, baited with one large brand- 
 ling, or a moderate sized dew-worm; or two small 
 ones of the first, or of any other species of worm, 
 for a Trout will refuse none. If you fish with two 
 worms, bait your hook thus: run the point of your 
 hook in at the head of the first worm, and so through 
 the body, till it be past the knot, and then let it out, 
 and draw the worm above the arming, that you may 
 not bruise it with your finger, in drawing on the 
 other worm. Run the point of the hook in below 
 the knot of this and upwards through his body 
 towards the head, till it be just covered by the lead : 
 this done, draw the first worm down over the arming 
 again, till the knots of both worms come in contact. 
 As this is the natural position of worms at certain 
 seasons of the year, the fish will be easily deceived. 
 
 2. The second way of angling by hand with a 
 
 L 3 
 
222 APPENDIX. 
 
 running line, is with a longer line, and tackle made 
 in the following manner : at the utmost extremity of 
 the line, where the hook is always placed in all other 
 modes of fishing, fix a pistol bullet, by cutting it 
 through nearly to the centre, inserting the line in the 
 slit, and fastening it there with a peg, or by biting 
 it together till it closes over the line. Six inches 
 above the bullet, on a link of line of about six inches 
 length, with a hook baited with a worm or two worms 
 as in the preceding article ; and half a foot above 
 that fix another link of line, armed and baited in tbe 
 same manner, but with a different species of worm, 
 but without any lead : by so doing, the Angler will 
 be sure to find the exact depth, which with leads 
 above the hook can never be done without dragging 
 the hooks whilst he is sounding. Both these modes 
 are best in dark, muddy water, where neither the 
 shadow of the Angler nor of his tackle will spoil his 
 sport. 
 
 3. The third way of Angling by hand with a 
 ground-bait, and deemed by far the best, is with a 
 line, longer still, and with no more than one hair 
 next the hook, and for two or three lengths above it, 
 and one small shot for a plumb ; the hook little, the 
 worms of tlic smaller brandling, very well scoured. 
 
APPENDIX. 225 
 
 and only one upon the hook at a time, which is to be 
 put on thus : put the point of the hook in at the very 
 tag of the tail, and run it up the body quite over all 
 the arming, and an inch or more above it upon the 
 line, the head hanging downwards. Thus prepared, 
 angle always in streams, clear in preference to trou- 
 bled, and up the river ; cast your worm out before 
 you with a light rod, as in fly-fishing, and it will be 
 taken, sometimes at top, or within a very little dis- 
 tance from the surface, and almost always before sp 
 light a plumb can sink it to the bottom, both by rea- 
 son of the stream, and because you must always keep 
 the worm in motion, by drawing it towards you, as 
 if you were angling with a fly. This mode is sup- 
 posed to be preferable to all others in fishing with a 
 worm, in clear water especially, not only for a 
 trout but a grayling. If the Angler will wade into 
 the tail of a shallow stream, by keeping off the bank 
 he will be much more likely to meet with success. 
 
 This last mode is commended by some authors, 
 particularly by Colonel Venables, (Exper. Angler, 
 p. 33) for night fishing for Trout ; but with this differ- 
 ence, that the bait is to be two great lob or garden 
 worms, baited to hang at even lengths as possible, 
 
224 APPENDIX. 
 
 for which directions will be given hereafter, under 
 the article Night-Fishing for Trout. 
 
 Angling at bottom with a coik or other float is 
 jjractised in two ways : 
 
 1 . W ith a worm ; 
 
 2. With a grub or caddis. 
 
 1. With a worm, let your line be nearly as long 
 as your rod, with two or three hairs next the hook 
 in dark water, but only one hair for several lengths 
 above the hook in clear w^ater, and what worm you 
 may think best for a bait : the plumb must be suited 
 to the float, and the float to the swiftness or slo\vness 
 of the stream, and both in very clear water as fine as 
 possible ; bait with one of the lesser sort of brand- 
 lings, or, if they are very small, with two, as before 
 directed. Angle as near the bottom as you can 
 without letting the bait drao; the <rround for a trout ; 
 but for a grayling, nearer the middle, as he is a fish 
 more liable to rise than descend, even to a ground 
 bait. 
 
 2. With a grub or caddis, make use of a line as 
 long as your rod, with only one hair for two or three 
 
APPENDIX. 226 
 
 lengths above the hook, with the smallest float and 
 lightest plumb possible, so as the stream will but just 
 admit it to sink : the surest way to attain this point 
 will be to fish in the return of a stream, or in the 
 eddy between two streams, which are the likeliest 
 places to find fish either at top or bottom. Of grubs, 
 the ash-grub, which is plump, milk-white, bent round 
 from head to tail, and exceedingly tender, with a 
 red head; or the dock-worm, a grub of a pale 
 yellow, longer and tougher than the other, with rows 
 of feet all down the belly, and a red head, are the 
 best for a grayling ; for though a trout will take both 
 these (the ash-grub especially) yet he does it not so 
 freely ; but if he bites, he is generally a large one. 
 These baits should be kept in bran, which renders the 
 ash-grub tougher and better able to stand baiting ; for 
 he is so tender, that it is necessary to fasten it to the 
 hook with a hair, letting the end to stand up at the 
 head of the hook, so as to keep the bait from slipping 
 entirely off the hook, or down to the point, so as to 
 leave the arming quite bare. To remedy this, it 
 will be best, in this mode of angling, to arm the 
 hook with the whitest horse-hair, which will re- 
 semble and shine like the bait itself. Grubs are to 
 
2-^6 APPENDIX. 
 
 be baited thus : put the hook in beneath the head, and 
 «;uide it down the middle of the body, without suffer- 
 inf^ it to come out at the sides (for then the inside 
 will flow out and nothing but the skin remain,) till 
 the point of the hook come so low tliat the head of 
 the bait may rest and stick upon the hair that is to 
 hold it, by which means it can neither slip off of 
 itself, nor will the force of the stream wash it off. 
 
 The caddis or cad-bait (which is the most sure 
 killing bait of any) may be put on the hook, two or 
 three together, and is sometimes, with very good 
 effect, joined to a worm, and to an artihcial-fly, so 
 as just to cover the point of tlie hook. The finest 
 tackle must be used with it, and it is a never-failing 
 bait, for trout and grayling, at all seasons of the 
 year. 
 
 Another, and the best way of angling with the 
 caddis, is at the top as with a fly. Draw it on the 
 shank of the hook, as the artificial fly (above the 
 bend of the hook, and keeping the blue gut in, or the 
 fish will not take it) and it will prove excellent for 
 Trout. Where the stream is very swift, put a very 
 slender lead on the shank of ihc hook, and dra\v the 
 t;addis over it, raising it often from the bottom, and 
 
APPENDIX. 227 
 
 letting it sink again. The caddis may be easily and 
 well imitated by framing the head of black silk, and 
 the body of yellow wax, or yellow shamois leather. 
 The trout will not take the caddis in muddy waters ; 
 therefore it must be used only in clean ones. 
 
(, 228 ) 
 
 Kigftt Slnglitts for 'Evout 
 
 It is known only to the oxperieneed (I cannot add 
 fair) angler, that the best trouts come out of their 
 haunts in the night ; and the manner of taking them 
 at that time is by fishing on the top of the water in a 
 still place, (for in streams the bait will not be so well 
 seen) with a great lob, or garden-worm, (or better 
 with two worms, put on as before directed) baited in 
 the following manner : If it be a single large lob- 
 worm, put the hook in somewhat above, and out 
 again a little below the middle : then draw it above 
 the arming of the hook. At the entering of the hook, 
 it must not be at the head of the worm, but at the 
 tail end of it, that the point of the hook may 
 come out toward the head end ; and having drawn 
 him above the arming of the hook, put the point of 
 the hook again into the very head of the worm, until 
 it come near the place where the })oint of the hook 
 first came out, then draw back that part of the worm 
 
APPENDIX. 229 
 
 that was above the shank or arming of the hook, and 
 so fish with it ; and if you would rather angle with 
 two worms, put the second on before you turn back 
 the hook's head of the first worm. Having thus 
 baited, draw the bait over the top of the water for- 
 ward and backward ; and if there be a large trout 
 in the liole, he will take it, especially if the night be 
 dark, for then he is bold and lies near the top of the 
 water, watching the motion of any frog or other prey 
 swimming above him ; for it is to be observed that the 
 old trout is both timid and subtle, lies close during 
 the day, as the timorous hare does in her form, and 
 scarcely ever feeds in the day, but at night is very bold. 
 
 Jn night-angling for trout, you must use a strong line 
 and rather large hook, and let him have time to gorge 
 the bait, for he will seldom forsake it at night, as is 
 often the case in day-fishing ; and, if the night be 
 not dark, fish with an artificial-fly of a light colour'; 
 for he is so greedy that he will sometimes rise at a 
 dead mouse, a piece of cloth, or any thing that 
 swims across the water, or is in motion. 
 
 Another mode of night-angling is by carrying a 
 lighted torch, or candle, and lanthorn, which will 
 attract the fish in great quantities and near the top 
 
 M 
 
230 APPENDIX. 
 
 of the water, where they are struck with a trout 
 spear, or caught in a net. 
 
 GENERAL DIRECTIONS. 
 
 Ground bait the night before you mean to an- 
 gle, with a handful or two of lob-worms ; but it 
 should be observed that wliere there arc many min- 
 nows or chubs, the Angler must expect few or no 
 trouts, for the trouts destroy the minnows, and the 
 chubs will drive out the trouts, and keep possession. 
 Observe also, that you need make but three or four 
 throws in a stand, for if a trout docs not take the 
 bait then, there is none there, or he will not take it 
 at all. Fish strong and fine, and take as much pre- 
 caution as possible to keep out of sight. In muddy 
 or discoloured water, you may be more bold, fish 
 with coarser tackle, and stand nearer : a worm is 
 better then than a fly ; but in clear water a brandling 
 is the best of all baits. If you angle with a float or 
 ledger-bait, lie as close to the bottom as you can 
 without dragging. When you use a fly, keep it 
 
APPENDIX. 231 
 
 always playing upon the water, drawing it up and 
 down the stream as the wind will permit. When 
 your natural flies are dead on the hook, an excellent 
 method is to cut off their wings, and put on a shot to 
 sink them to mid-water. After a shower of rain, 
 trouts will rise greedily at gnats ; in the evening of 
 a hot day, dib with a grasshopper on a short line, as 
 before directed for chub. 
 
 M 2 
 
( 232 ) 
 
 (VrHER BAITS. 
 
 Fishes and Insects. See note (h) p. 27. 
 Worms. See note (/) pp. 24, 25. 
 
 WEATHER. 
 
 This is a principal consideration for the Angler, 
 for it will be labour in vain for him to try when the 
 fisli will not bite. The proper seasons are, in calm 
 clear weather ; in a brisk south or west breeze, no 
 matter how high it be ; in the hottest months when it is 
 (;ool and cloudy; after floods, when the mud subsides, 
 and the water is rather wiiitish ; after a hasty violent 
 showv^r has somewliat discoloured and swelled the cur- 
 rent, especially for ground- fishing. When a river is very 
 mucli bwollcn, and the current swift, in any still pit 
 
APPENDIX. 233 
 
 by Its sides, the mouth of any creek emptying itself 
 into itj and the ends of bridges, where the water is 
 calm and quiet, if not too deep, there is excellent 
 sport. When the flashes are let down, or mill dams 
 let loose, following the current. The improper sea- 
 sons are, in a strong eastern, or cold northerly wind 
 after a long drought ; in the middle of days that are 
 excessively hot, especially in muddy, or clear shallow 
 rivers ; when there has been a white frost in the 
 morning ; in high windy days ; just after fishes have 
 spawned ; upon rising of any sudden clouds that 
 prove the fore-runners of heavy ram : the days fol- 
 lowing dark, cloudy, or windy nights ; when rivers, 
 especially small ones, are dammed up by fiood-gatcs, 
 or mills, and run low. 
 
 Having now given the best and most approved 
 directions that could be gleaned from preceding 
 writers on the Art of Angling, and most of which 
 have been stamped by practical experience, in as 
 ample and plain a manner as a Work will admit of, 
 that professes only to be a Compendium, nothing 
 remains but for the author to express his ardent hopes 
 
234 APPENDIX. 
 
 that tlie reader may experience as miieli pleasure in 
 the perusing, as lie has in the writing them from 
 Old Recollections, and to wish 
 
 HEALTH AND SUCCESS 
 
 TO 
 
 ALL BROTHER ANGLERS, 
 
 W. Shackell, Printer, 1 1, JohnsonVcourt, Flee(-»treet, London. 
 
m 
 
m.-. 
 
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