AGR1C 
 
 THE LffiRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 RIVERSIDE 
 
 Ex Libris 
 C. K. OGDEN '
 
 FISHING AND FISHERS
 
 I
 
 Fishing and Fishers 
 
 By J. PAUL TAYLOR 
 
 FIRST HON. SEC. FLY-FISHERS' CLUB 
 
 WITH INTRODUCTION BY "RED 
 SPINNER" (W. SENIOR) 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 LONDON 
 
 WARD, LOCK AND CO LIMITED 
 
 WARWICK HOUSE, SALISBURY SQUARE, E.C 
 NEW YORK AND MELBOURNE
 
 Contents 
 
 PAGE 
 
 INTRODUCTION . . 7 
 
 PREFATORY CHAPTER 17 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 I. WHY WE FISH . . . . . . .21 
 
 II. MID APRIL SHOWERS 27 
 
 III. THE MAY-FLY 35 
 
 IV. IN SUMMER EVENINGS 40 
 
 V. AMONG THE FALLING LEAVES .... 44 
 
 VI. METHOD AND METHODS 49 
 
 VII. WITHIN A DAY FROM LONDON TOWN . . 55 
 
 VIII. ON HOUGHTON WATER 62 
 
 IX. IN EAST ANGLIA 66 
 
 X. OVER THE BORDER 72 
 
 XL HERE AND THERE 83 
 
 XII. FLY-TAKING FISH AND THEIR HAUNTS . . 93 
 
 XIII. OTHER FLY- TAKING FISH 117 
 
 XIV. GROUND-FEEDING FISH 129 
 
 XV. SOME SPORTING SEA-FISH . . . .134 
 
 XVI. IZAAK WALTON AND THE "COMPLETE ANGLER " 137 
 
 XVII. OTHER EARLY WRITERS 148 
 
 5
 
 6 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 XVIII. MODERN FISHING BOOKS 158 
 
 XIX. CURRENT FISHING LITERATURE . . .169 
 
 XX. ON ANGLING RHYMES, WITH QUOTATIONS . 182 
 
 XXI. THE LESSONS OF A DIARY . . . .194 
 
 XXII. THE FLY-FISHERS' CLUB . . . .207 
 
 XXIII. THE SORROWS OF THE ANGLER'S WIFE. . 211 
 
 XXIV. HINTS AND MAXIMS 215 
 
 XXV. ANGLING DANGERS 219 
 
 XXVI. A FISHLESS FISH TALE 223 
 
 XXVII. OUR TRAVELLER'S TALE. 230
 
 Introduction 
 
 MY good friend, the author of this book, asked 
 me to write an Introduction for it. Why 
 should I ? Why should I not ? These questions 
 he answered so satisfactorily, to himself if not to 
 me, that I most heartily consented, but on the 
 understanding that the few words I wrote should 
 not be required to be praise or blame, approval or 
 disapproval, agreement or disagreement; nor were 
 they to be regarded as a sort of certificate of 
 the author's high morals, physical health, mental 
 superiority, or worldly solvency. The chapters of 
 a book should, and of course always do, speak 
 for themselves ; and in these days your readers 
 will, exceeding soon, form opinions on their own 
 account. Under these circumstances to set out 
 on the path of eulogy of the author, to dilate upon 
 the length of our friendship and its depth, would 
 be an impertinence. But we fishing men anglers, 
 Waltonians, contemplative recreationists, prac- 
 titioners of the Gentle Art, or by whatever name 
 we are known are in truth a very friendly and
 
 8 INTRODUCTION 
 
 amiable set of folks, always excepting on those 
 occasions when one has been more successful 
 at the waterside than another. Brotherly love 
 may then be discontinued for a brief space, 
 though the rule of life is, without question, com- 
 mendably harmonious. 
 
 It comes therefore to this : my good friend, the 
 author of this book, asked me to write an Intro- 
 duction for it, and I plead no other apology for 
 poaching on his preserves. Further, if the readers 
 enjoy his published pages as much as I have 
 enjoyed a perusal of the proof sheets, it will not 
 be a bad thing for him or his publishers. 
 
 There is one reason why I send up a hearty 
 cheer at the launch of this venture; it is that he 
 has, to a great extent, built on my own lines. 
 Very like egotism is this I know. But again, 
 why not? We are told on excellent authority 
 that we may be angry and sin not ; and I assume 
 an equal toleration for egotism, which is not neces- 
 sarily vanity, nor self-conceit, nor brag, nor bounce. 
 
 Without therefore pretending for a moment 
 that it has been my good (or ill) fortune to found 
 a school of angling literature, I can modestly 
 vouch that I have restored, if not established, a 
 tolerably sound form, by making popular a type 
 of fishing book intended to interest the class which 
 may be termed non-anglerscalculated to attract 
 to our sport, or at least to enlist the interest of,
 
 INTRODUCTION 9 
 
 readers who cared nought, and knew nothing, 
 about rods, lines, reels, hooks, baits, or methods. 
 
 The desire to do this became a possibility away 
 back in the early Seventies, when I was invited 
 by Mr. Richard Gowing, then editor of the Gentle- 
 mans Magazine, to contribute a set of articles to 
 that venerable serial. He listened with kindly open 
 ears to the suggestion of fishing papers that should 
 be without technicalities, but whose matter should 
 contain instruction and advice respecting the art 
 of angling, so innocently mixed with morsels of 
 natural history, archaeology, communion with 
 nature at large, and all the humanities, that the 
 whole might be swallowed by anybody without 
 a wry face. Hence the "Red Spinner" series 
 of essays which were republished in Waterside 
 Sketches and other volumes. 
 
 Angling books written in that way are common 
 enough now, but they were not in those days. 
 Francis Francis, a master hand with both rod and 
 pen, once told me, in reply to my expressed ad- 
 miration of certain passages of beautiful de- 
 scription by him of Hampshire meadows as they 
 flaunt their hawthorns and marsh marigolds in 
 early summer, that he w T as always afraid to " let 
 himself go" in that course. He held that what 
 his angling readers expected of him was to be 
 told how to dress flies, how to tie new knots, how 
 to become learned in new dodges and wrinkles,
 
 [O INTRODUCTION 
 
 how to kill two trout where one was killed before. 
 We have had no better authority on the practical 
 details of angling than he, nor an author who 
 could express the fulness of knowledge with so 
 much raciness or vigour. Yet it is evident, in 
 all his books, that he considered it his main duty 
 to keep close to the track of practicality ; and if 
 he did stray aside it was mostly when allured 
 by some humorous incident which he must tell, 
 and did tell most admirably. 
 
 Of Francis, however, it may be said, as of so 
 many who were his predecessors and contem- 
 poraries, that with him everything must be sub- 
 servient to the didactic aspect of his subject. 
 Early in the century there were many writers 
 who were probably not competent to expound the 
 mysteries in full, but who left us delightful works 
 in which a little fishing was made the peg upon 
 which to hang tales of adventure, typographical 
 descriptions of localities or countries, or learned 
 disquisitions on philosophy or science. Some of 
 them, it is true, were too sparing in their statements 
 as to fishing, so that their treatises somewhat 
 resembled the sermon of which it was said that 
 it did not contain enough gospel to save a tomtit. 
 
 More than half a century has passed since two 
 of the best sporting books ever written were given 
 us from Scotland. How many of us must there 
 be who have not yet forgotten the joy of the first
 
 INTRODUCTION II 
 
 reading of Colquhoun's Moor and the Loch, first 
 published by Black wood in 1840, and Scrope's Days 
 and Nights of Salmon Fishing, which appeared 
 three years later with lithographs and engravings 
 from Wilkie and the Landseers? Then came St. 
 John's Wild Sport and Natural History of the High- 
 lands, and the Rev. H. Newland with his Erne 
 and its Legends, and Forest Scenes in Norway and 
 Sweden. These are amongst the classics, but they 
 belong to general rather than to angling literature. 
 
 In the same category of eminence must be placed 
 Sir Humphrey Davy's Salmonia ; or, Days of Fly- 
 Fishing in a Series of Conversations. Even this 
 was not generally accepted as a genuine angling 
 work by such bibliographers as the late Thomas 
 Satchell ; and it is certainly not so by comparison 
 with books that have of recent years been the vogue. 
 
 The works of Sir Humphrey's brother, John 
 The Angler in the Lake District, and The Angler and 
 His Friend, published in 1855 and 1857 respec- 
 tively, should be much more to the taste of the 
 angler; yet they have never been so popular as 
 the book written by his more eminent big brother 
 as a means of amusement (as he tells us) during 
 months of illness. Dr. John's dialogues are lighter 
 than the conversations between Halieus, Poietes, 
 Physicus, and Ornither, and the references to ang- 
 ling are always sound. 
 
 Very largely the good angling books of the first
 
 12 INTRODUCTION 
 
 half of the century concerned the grander branches 
 of the sport, and a worth} 7 - type of them was (tak- 
 ing it as it occurs to me at the moment) Con- 
 way's Forays among Salmon and Deer. The smaller 
 game received attention as it happened to come 
 in the way of nobler sport, but the rod was gener- 
 ally a minor implement in the estimation of the 
 traveller or naturalist. 
 
 The bottom-fisher was meanwhile well looked 
 after in literature by men acquainted with the 
 Thames and Lea. T. F. Salter, gent., for example, 
 published his Anglers' Guide in 1808, and announced 
 in decidedly comprehensive terms that it covered 
 the whole art of angling as practised in the rivers 
 Thames and Lea and other waters twenty miles 
 round London. It was founded on forty years' 
 " practice and observation," and in prosaic fashion 
 dealt with "trolling, bottom-fishing, fly-fishing, 
 and trimmer angling." The less said about his 
 fly-fishing perhaps the better. It was not till 
 1836 that a treatise on this subject worthy of the 
 name was published, and to this day Ronalds'.F/j'- 
 Fishers 1 Entomology is a standard reference for 
 fly-dressers and fly-fishers, and an object of desire 
 to all, should it possess the original copper plates 
 representing the principal natural and artificial 
 trout flies in juxtaposition. 
 
 A very typical demonstrator of the all-round 
 school was the worthy Hofiand, whose British
 
 IN TROD UC TION 1 3 
 
 Angler's Manual was published in 1839 with dedi- 
 cation to Sir Francis Chantrey, R.A., who was 
 an accomplished fly-fisher. Perhaps, take it all 
 in all, Hofland should stand first on the list of 
 angling authors at that period, his range being 
 wider than that of his contemporaries. Fishing 
 for thirty years on "the principal rivers, lakes, 
 and trout streams of Great Britain" filled him 
 with knowledge at first-hand, and the book is 
 written in dignified style, with wonderfully minute 
 directions for the making and keeping of tackle. 
 There are three writers of a later period to 
 whom anglers of the present are deeply indebted, 
 and in truth who are in no danger of being for- 
 gotten yet awhile. They are Edward Fitzgibbon, 
 better known as " Ephemera " of Bell's Life in 
 its palmy days; Francis Francis, the voluminous 
 author, and for many years angling editor of the 
 Field ; and Mr. Cholmondeley Pennell, who seems 
 not yet to have thought about getting old, though 
 his first work was published six-and- thirty years 
 ago. It is a little curious that a young poet should 
 make practicality the strong feature of his angling 
 books. Spinning Tackle; what it is and what it 
 ought to be, with a few words on Fine Fishing 
 was the title of his first volume, and then followed 
 The Angler Naturalist, an incomparably useful 
 work, and The Book of the Pike all in the early 
 Sixties. These treatises were the beginning of a
 
 14 INTRODUCTION 
 
 valuable output of avowedly practical works which 
 led us to the forward stage of progress which is 
 exemplified by such books as Halford's Floating 
 Flies, The Management of Fisheries, and Dry Fly 
 Entomology \ Bickerdyke's All Round Angler quar- 
 tette ; and the Badminton volumes, not to mention 
 many others. 
 
 Amongst the monographic publications one may 
 mention The Book of the Roach, by Greville Fen- 
 nell, The Book of the Pike, mentioned on the previous 
 page, and books on the grayling by the late Mr. 
 Pritt and Mr. F. M. Walbran, who is to-day the 
 foremost exponent of fishing in the Yorkshire 
 streams. 
 
 One might have supposed that there was nothing 
 more left to say, or be said or sung, about Fish 
 and Fishing. But so far as I know, no one has 
 been heard to cry " Hold, enough ! " and angling 
 books are issuing forth in many directions. 
 
 To the accepted instructors above-mentioned 
 there have succeeded a procession of writers bent 
 apparently upon entertaining rather than lecturing 
 and teaching. They sketch and plead rather than 
 expound and argue; they lay more stress upon 
 the incidental charms of angling than upon the 
 technicalities of either its sport or the manifold 
 mechanical preparations of tackle. They seem to 
 take it for granted that the reader is well grounded 
 in all the rudiments, and need not be bothered
 
 INTRODUCTION 15 
 
 with the essential but matter-of-fact information 
 that may be found elsewhere. 
 
 I hope the author of Fishing and Fishers will 
 not be offended if I invite him to place himself 
 in this category, content to know that the giving 
 of pleasure is not less praiseworthy than the im- 
 parting of knowledge ; and that, while there are 
 those who will accept none but the expert as their 
 Gamaliel, there are others who prefer the guide 
 that will lead them gently into pleasant places, 
 and lightly discourse upon a thousand matters that 
 demand no study and leave the poor brain un- 
 racked. 
 
 RED SPINNER.
 
 Prefatory Chapter 
 
 AS the experiences of fifty years are here con- 
 densed, comparative brevity may fairly be 
 claimed, even if these jottings extend themselves 
 over some two hundred pages. Doubtless it is 
 possible to be both brief and tedious ; and whether 
 this undesired end has been attained, the reader 
 alone can judge. 
 
 Knowing well the preface-skipping habits so 
 common among us, I will include a few explana- 
 tory remarks in this chapter, and thus avoid the 
 necessity for a preface. 
 
 So far from supposing the fishing public to feel 
 any curiosity as to my personal experiences as 
 such, my chief idea is that the thread of narrative 
 interwoven in the following sketches may prove 
 interesting as reminding many a reader of similar 
 little adventures which may have happened to 
 himself. 
 
 Being now in my " anecdotage, 1 ' or near it, I 
 feel tempted to recount various trivial incidents of 
 childhood, but will not yield to the weakness
 
 iS PREFATORY CHAPTER 
 
 further than to confess that my earliest recollec- 
 tion of anything is that of my first fish-hook, and 
 of the horny hand of the old gardener, as he bent 
 the pin to make it, my own fingers being then 
 much too small. 
 
 As the volumes which have appeared lately, 
 dealing with the strictly practical side of the sub- 
 ject, are so many and so good, I have touched but 
 lightly upon it, and little formal description of 
 either fish or tackle is attempted. This omission 
 may be considered the less remarkable as a little 
 book on practical fishing (consisting of articles I 
 have contributed to TJie Boy's Own Paper) will 
 shortly be issued by the Editor of that serial. 
 
 With regard to the chapter on Izaak Walton, 
 much as I admire the character of that venerable 
 poet-angler, I should not have ventured on the 
 well-worn theme had I not enjoyed the advantage 
 of dwelling for twenty years in the very district 
 he most frequented, and of fishing, with some 
 success, the rivers made classic by his pen. 
 
 Again, with respect to fishing literature, I claim 
 no special skill as critic; but, having for the 
 last fourteen years been in the constant habit of 
 making full use of the library of the Fly-fishers' 
 Club, and also of other collections of fish-books, I 
 have been enabled to form a fair acquaintance 
 with a great variety of works on the subject, and 
 am glad to be able to give others, less favoured by
 
 PREFATORY CHAPTER 19 
 
 opportunity, some hints as to the books best worth 
 buying or borrowing. 
 
 With regard to the accounts of various fishing 
 resorts, and of the wild and romantic scenery by 
 which many of these are surrounded, everything 
 alluded to (with the most trivial exceptions) is 
 sketched from personal experience. 
 
 It is this very circumstance that Avill explain, 
 and partly excuse, a certain want of "up-to-date- 
 ness" which will be noticed by the bran-new fisher 
 in many parts of the book. Pleading guilty to this 
 charge, I can only urge, in stay of judgment, that 
 the energy of youth cannot be united to the ex- 
 perience of age. 
 
 As to the tales at the fag end, they are added for 
 the sake of those who like something avowedly 
 fictitious even in a fishing book. 
 
 I have only to add an expression of the grati- 
 tude I feel to all those friends who have helped, 
 either with advice or encouragement. Also to 
 those veterans in fishing literature, Mr. Senior 
 (Red Spinner) and Mr. C. H. Cook (John Bicker- 
 dyke), who have given such solid assistance, and 
 especially to the former, whose generous intro- 
 duction is, disclaimers notwithstanding, such a 
 valuable certificate of a certain moderate degree of 
 fitness on my part to undertake a work which 
 had for years seemed to me too ambitious for my 
 modest powers.
 
 CHAPTER I 
 Why We Fish 
 
 DOUBTLESS we do " take our pleasures 
 sadly " in this our well-named island of 
 "Angle-land," and the ordinary angler, as seen 
 in a Thames punt, or on the margin of the Lea, 
 would seem to justify the Parisian's taunt. We 
 might reply with a in qiioque, for are not the 
 banks of Seine lined all day with patient gudgeon 
 fishers ? 
 
 Instead of depending on any such retort, let us 
 rather answer Such anglers are by no means 
 typical of the race, although, from being so 
 constantly on view, they have come to represent 
 to the public the angling ideal. 
 
 How far they fall short of fairly doing so is 
 clear enough ; for an ideal angler should be an 
 athlete, good at swimming, running, and jumping, 
 either of which he may need any day in order 
 to save his own life or that of a companion. He 
 should also have sharp eyes and ears; and if he 
 is to make the most of his opportunities, the
 
 22 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 power of appreciating fully each natural beauty, 
 as it unfolds itself before him in his spring 
 rambles on the banks of running streams. 
 
 Some degree of love for the chase, in one form 
 or another, seems the natural heritage of almost 
 every member of the Anglo-Saxon race. Many 
 there may be in whom it is but little developed, 
 and who would repudiate with indignation the 
 charge that after breakfast they are naturally 
 impelled to "go out and kill something." 
 
 A faculty that has lain dormant for generations 
 will, no doubt, become weakened, and a city 
 man, born and bred, is necessarily ignorant of 
 the streams and fields. Yet when a London 
 merchant, like Punch's immortal "Mr. Briggs," 
 decides to retire and lead a country life, he may 
 often find that the hunter's instinct will awake 
 and assert its vitality. 
 
 Who can fail to be charmed with Leech's sketch 
 of that worthy man, so typical though fictitious, 
 as he clasps the gigantic salmon to his manly 
 bosom. Briggs, if not elegant, is a true sports- 
 man, and sticks closely to his captive, through 
 all its frantic rushes up and down the rock-strewn 
 river; and when at last, wearied and panting, 
 he claims the victory, there are some who will 
 see in the dripping hero a touch of pathos, in 
 spite of his ludicrous absurdity. 
 
 He has conquered a worthy antagonist in fair
 
 WHY WE FISH 23 
 
 fight, and on a field of battle to which he himself 
 was wholly unaccustomed; and if his face and 
 figure do not suggest the idea of a trained angler, 
 yet we feel at once that his love for the sport is 
 sincere, and if his dress looks incongruous 
 enough, it is not of that he thinks, being evi- 
 dently never meant, in any sense, for a tailor's 
 dummy. 
 
 Angling has many charms, and not the least 
 of them is that it takes us from our dusty city 
 streets into the fresh air, among sweet country 
 scenes, and gives us healthy exercise, both for 
 body and for mind. That it is occasionally pro- 
 ductive of something to supply the larder is but 
 a small consideration, perhaps, to city folks, 
 with shops all around. The mistress of a country 
 house, expected to find varied and ample fare 
 for many hungry visitors, will better know the 
 value of a dish of dainty trout. 
 
 From an aesthetic point of view our sport has 
 claims still stronger. Taking its votaries among 
 the stern solitudes of nature, in silence and 
 alone, what pursuit could favour more the 
 growth of a poetic taste ? Not that anglers write 
 much verse it is rather that they learn to love 
 the things of which the poets write, whether 
 in prose or rhyme; and sometimes, no doubt, the 
 thoughts they thus absorb may come out in 
 song.
 
 24 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 Would Kings! ey have produced Prose Idylls 
 had he not been an angler to the core ; and did 
 not Walton's wanderings by the streams preserve 
 from dryness all his learned works, while they 
 gave to the Complete Angler its wondrous 
 charm? 
 
 We can hardly glance along the shelves of any 
 library without coming across many an angler's 
 handiwork, though in it may sometimes be but 
 little reference to his favourite pursuit. Are 
 not Wilson's (Christopher North's) Recreations, 
 Davy's Salmonia and Peard's Year of Liberty 
 standard works, to say nothing of angling books 
 by living authors? 
 
 Works on fishing alone would fill a large book- 
 case, and a special library would be wanted to 
 hold all the charming books (on all sorts of 
 subjects) that owe their existence to an angler's 
 brain. Old books on angling, too, seem always 
 in demand, and fetch high prices. 
 
 As a means of gaining food, the art of angling 
 is as ancient as the hills and streams ; and of 
 late years it has taken its place as a popular 
 amusement among all sorts and conditions of 
 Britons, from the Prince and Princess to the 
 sweep and the cobbler ; and the last mentioned is 
 often among the best performers with the rod 
 and line. 
 
 Master of his time, and pretty independent
 
 WHY WE FISH 25 
 
 with his customers, he will throw aside boots 
 and proverbs ("ne sutor ultra crepidam" and all) 
 and go a long way beyond his last, in chase of 
 a chance salmon, in a sudden spate. 
 
 Perhaps the three learned professions contribute 
 most disciples to our ranks; but the great army 
 of anglers gains many a recruit from military 
 circles; the Colonel and the Major being often as 
 keen fishers as the parson, the doctor, or the 
 lawyer. Perhaps the clerics have the best chance 
 of all ; and it is an occupation well suited to the 
 cloth. 
 
 The conscientious scruples which so many 
 clergy feel respecting hunting, or even shooting, 
 are often absent when fishing is in question; and 
 on many a fine May morning the parson who 
 chances to be free from pressing parochial duties 
 says, with St. Peter, "I go a fishing " ; and does 
 it, too, with results most advantageous to his 
 more needy parishioners. What, indeed, can be 
 more tempting to an invalid whose appetite is 
 poor than a well-fried trout ? 
 
 Often the Vicar will have access to the most 
 strictly preserved waters ; and usually he is not 
 deficient in ability to make the most of his oppor- 
 tunities. Many an ancient parson, bordering on 
 fourscore, could hold his own with the most 
 active of us all, if we came to try conclusions 
 on the Vicarage pool ; for in no outdoor pursuit
 
 26 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 is a man so little handicapped by age as in 
 this. 
 
 The experience years bring with them nearly 
 balances the advantage of youthful activity 
 and strength ; and though inclement weather 
 may sometimes keep an old angler prisoner, 
 while his sons brave the storm, he has at least 
 store of sweet memories which are always with 
 him, though tempered with that touch of sadness 
 so inseparable from an old man's retrospect. 
 
 Even the remembrance of blank days and lost 
 fish becomes amusing, rather than painful, as it 
 recedes into the dim and distant past; and what 
 angler will not delight to tell you how he was 
 nearly wrecked on a jutting rock, when crossing 
 a wind-swept loch, or all but drowned while 
 fording a swollen stream? 
 
 When you call to mind that day you went in 
 after a weeded fish (only to find that he had 
 wriggled from your hook), and on returning to 
 the bank beheld a bovine monster mounting guard 
 above your clothes, the recollection lacks the 
 irritating power the real occurrence had; and 
 you can freely laugh at your sorry plight, and 
 feel almost as much amused as any chance spec- 
 tator might have been.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 Mid April Showers 
 
 SO widely is the taste diffused for this, the re- 
 creation of the contemplative man, that now 
 its votaries may be numbered by hundreds of 
 thousands, and even the most difficult and artistic 
 form of the art, fly-fishing, is continually attract- 
 ing fresh neophytes to learn its mysteries. 
 
 After all, sufficient skill to secure some small 
 success in spring may quickly be acquired by any 
 one who has the natural instinct of the hunter 
 fairly well developed. 
 
 By " fly-fishing " is meant the art of using the 
 artificial fly ; and the fly-fisher has one distinct 
 advantage at the outset. There is no wriggling 
 worm, or other wretched living bait, to torture ; 
 and not only this, when the fish is hooked the 
 hold is always in the gristle of the lip, in which 
 no pain is felt, so that your fish is taken with the 
 least possible suffering. Far less than when en- 
 tangled for hours in the meshes of a cruel net.
 
 28 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 Fly-fishers, therefore, may be, and often are, 
 the most merciful of men ; and we know that even 
 the bait-fisher is sometimes most refined and 
 amiable in character, for did not Izaak Walton 
 win the love of all the best of his compatriots? 
 
 Just now it is the fisher with the fly we have 
 in mind. A man of quiet and retiring mood will 
 best appreciate the sport, but his senses should be 
 keen and wide awake, for sudden unforeseen con- 
 tingencies will oft occur. It must be presumed 
 he has some occupation, for even fishing might 
 weary a man who did nothing else. Perhaps the 
 routine of a master at a school would go as well 
 with an angler's life as any. I do not mean a 
 drudge, but one whose duties are light and well 
 defined. 
 
 Such a man, if past his prime for cricket and 
 football, may with advantage use the rod and 
 spoil the stream. If he has the good fortune to 
 live near a grayling district, he can obtain some 
 sport in open weather nearly all the year. In 
 early spring he takes an hour or two at mid-day, 
 and vigorously flogs the stream for early trout. 
 The sport is easy then ; and though but one trout 
 in three is fit to keep, the fun is often fast and 
 lively. 
 
 As April showers come on the sport improves, 
 and as the evenings lengthen he will often find 
 his basket heavy. At Easter or Whitsuntide he
 
 MID APRIL SHOWERS 29 
 
 will perhaps take a turn on waters more remote, 
 where fish are less accustomed to the wiles of 
 man. Such a trip is neither troublesome nor 
 costly ; and if he wields the brush or even owns 
 a kodak, he is sure of some resource if fish are 
 dour or scarce. 
 
 Let us follow in his footsteps for a day. He 
 makes a start betimes, for the best pools are all 
 far up the glen. The air in early May is fresh 
 and keen, and on the further hills the snow still 
 glistens in the morning sun. All this is in his 
 favour, for a tramp of half a dozen miles of moor 
 and heather is no joke on sultry days. The creel, 
 of which lunch is now the chief contents, feels 
 light as air, and the little rod a baby's plaything. 
 
 Wading boots or stockings, useful as they often 
 are, would not be worth their carriage here, so he 
 steps out manfully all unencumbered, and com- 
 pletes his uphill walk with all the day before him. 
 And what a day it is ! Those who seldom get 
 beyond the smell of London till the heats of 
 August drive them out, can know but little of the 
 glorious freshness of the moors in spring or early 
 summer. All the air seems charged with health 
 and vigour; and although song birds, as we 
 climb, seem scarcer, the whaup and ousel still 
 are our companions. 
 
 As our friend draws near the pool that he knows 
 of old it fs best to start with, some rings appear
 
 30 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 upon its shining surface. Too old a hand to hurry, 
 he yet prepares without delay ; and soon, as if by 
 magic, from his little ten-foot rod shoots out a 
 slender line, and a pair of flies, with deadly pointed 
 tails, have joined their living prototypes in the 
 giddy dance upon that swirling pool. 
 
 As they touch the surface comes a double splash, 
 and one trout at least has felt the steel. " A small 
 fish," thinks our friend, and tries to jerk him out, 
 and not disturb the rest, but soon repents; for a 
 larger fish had seized the other fly, and hooked 
 himself. Snap goes the little greenheart rod, and 
 half the top runs down the line, so clean the frac- 
 ture ! Had the trout been really large, the line 
 would now have suffered; but these mountain 
 fish are seldom big, and the two would not have 
 weighed a pound. 
 
 A little gentle management, and both are safety 
 stranded on the sloping shore. Then taking from 
 his fly-book some wax-end, and cutting in each 
 broken piece of top an even splice, our angler 
 mends his tackle easily enough, and starts again 
 upon a higher pool, from which an ousel flits, to 
 show his snowy waistcoat and flirt his tail a little 
 farther on. 
 
 Noting here and there a nest, and seeing per- 
 haps a pair of grouse on family affairs intent, 
 our angler makes his way still higher up the 
 shoulders of the everlasting hills, until the burn
 
 MID APRIL SHOWERS 31 
 
 becomes too small for fly, and his heavy creel 
 begins to gall his back. 
 
 Rest is sweet, and on the heather he will care- 
 less cast his weary limbs and eat his frugal lunch, 
 and count his spoil. And they take some count- 
 ing. It is by the dozen these little mountain trout 
 are reckoned, half a gross being perhaps a fair 
 day's sport. 
 
 After lunch the angler who is wise will in 
 bright weather take a quiet rest, and if a smoker 
 puff the fragrant weed. 
 
 It is when the sun declining nearly hides behind 
 the shoulders of the higher hills that sport begins 
 again. On his homeward way our hero may pick 
 up more little victims, if the river should be full 
 and rough ; but on a smooth and shallow stream 
 the downward journey is a poor affair ; the sharp- 
 eyed little beauties spy you from afar, lying as 
 they do with heads towards you. It is only in 
 the deeper turns and twists, or where boulders 
 break the stream into a dozen eddies, that fish will 
 seize your fly, and send that thrill from rod top 
 up to shoulder which only anglers know. 
 
 Just as the sin is setting, perhaps the fisher 
 reaches tl:at point (too near the village) at which 
 the fishing ceases to be good, except in spates ; but 
 as the walk is open, and no streets will have to 
 be paraded, the little rod can still be carried as 
 it stands, although a prudent man removes his
 
 32 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 flies, unless he likes the notion of playing, perhaps 
 a cat, or perhaps a wondering fowl, foul-hooked 
 upon them. For that has happened. 
 
 After a hearty meal, such as few but sports- 
 men can digest, the fisher puts his lines out to dry 
 sorts his flies, and sees that all is ready for the 
 morning sun, and then perchance a village ex- 
 pert will appear, with local flies with which to 
 tempt the stranger. Also much advice, often 
 good, though to be taken Avith a grain of salt, will 
 pass. If, as may often happen, you have fish 
 to spare, he will know which of the poor around 
 have best claim to such addition to their scanty 
 meals. 
 
 In olden times the local men would catch their 
 fish with coarse and heavy tackle that would 
 shock the modern sportsman, and send a trout of 
 these times back to sulk for hours at such an 
 insult. Now the village fisher, except in most 
 remote localities, possesses flies and lines almost 
 as delicate as those we use ourselves, and with 
 his local knowledge is often still ahead. 
 
 Although the next day may be quite different 
 in its details, it need not be described, the charm 
 is much the same ; and if bad weather sometimes 
 keep the angler idle, as it will the cricketers 
 and others, at the first glint of sunshine he is 
 out again, not fearing that his sport is spoilt, un- 
 less the rain has been of most unusual violence.
 
 MID APRIL SHOWERS 33 
 
 I have described an angler's solitary day, be- 
 cause it is a sport that can be thus enjoyed, in 
 which it holds advantage; but with a friend of 
 like enthusiasm it is better far, and in such a 
 case it loses its one drawback, and no sport can 
 better it. 
 
 Holidays over, work begins; but evenings now 
 are long indeed, and as May advances how the 
 alder-fly (of which Kingsley wrote so charming 
 a prose poem) swarms upon the overlapping 
 boughs and sedges, and tumbles in the stream! 
 It is now that sometimes even anglers are con- 
 tented, and cry hold! At least I hear so; but to 
 him whose evenings only are his own, repletion 
 seldom comes. From five o'clock to eight in these 
 May evenings sport is at its best and man's heart 
 is light, and he feels, although he seems to heed 
 it not, the wondrous beauty of the landscape 
 decked with freshest green and "looks through 
 Nature up to Nature's God." 
 
 All the groves that line the river's bank are 
 vocal; for the birds love running water, and in 
 sandy shallows may be seen dipping and pad- 
 dling. Not alone the ousels and the wagtails; 
 all the birds haunt moist and shady places, when 
 the heat grows strong. 
 
 Just as May has gone comes the belated May- 
 fly, sometimes even waiting till mid- June before 
 he will appear in numbers. What a feast he 
 
 c
 
 34 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 makes for birds and fishes! How the swallows 
 skim the very surface of the sun-lit shallows, and 
 snatch the dainty morsels as they flutter feebly 
 forth, escaping from the jaws of hungry fishes only 
 to exchange a Scylla for Charybdis! Here our 
 title warns us to conclude. "Spring" has gone 
 and summer is upon us.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 The May-Fly 
 
 "'THHE FLY is up ! " So runs the telegram 
 
 A the Vicar has received while seated at his 
 breakfast. In half an hour the trap is ready, 
 fishing things are in, and off the parson goes, while 
 wife and daughters \vatch him from the porch. 
 
 " Tis very strange," says old Mrs. Lidless as 
 he passes her cottage, " but now our Vicar's gone 
 in just the same mad haste that the doctor and 
 the lawyer seemed to feel as they went off 
 together ! And I know they all had telegrams ! 
 What can it be? I hope the undertaker won't 
 go next." 
 
 Never mind, old lady, be content ; you will guess 
 when pleasantly reminded by a brace of handsome 
 trout. 
 
 In early June the anglers all go mad, like 
 hares in March. Lawyers forsake their clients, 
 doctors their patients, and the parson even leaves 
 his flock till Sunday, while he plies that calling 
 which his predecessors left of old. When the
 
 36 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 trio reach the river-side, they find another angler 
 waiting to begin. 
 
 To this smooth water and these giant trout he 
 is perhaps unaccustomed. So the parson, whose 
 perpetual leave and frequent leisure give him 
 wondrous skill, takes our friend in hand while 
 the other pair walk off together farther up the 
 stream. 
 
 Stolid, but watchful, with a landing-net of 
 abnormal dimensions on his shoulder, stands the 
 keeper. 
 
 Orders for fishing are produced, and as they 
 start he follows, silent. Being questioned, he 
 admits the fly is on, and "mortial powerful," 
 but, "lor," he says, "they fish won't take it 
 yet." 
 
 At that very moment, as they watch the gor- 
 geous insects fluttering on the stream, up comes 
 a trout and gives the man the lie. 
 
 "What a splendid fish!" bursts out our novice. 
 "A pretty trout," replies the cleric, "but under- 
 sized, at least in May-fly time." 
 
 The eager angler had already cast his fly within 
 the ring just made, and with a rush and flounce 
 the trout had gobbled it. The fight was furious, 
 for the lively fish seemed a trained acrobat, and 
 flashed and leapt and dived and leapt again, till 
 his captor trembled for the tackle ! There was no 
 occasion. May-fly tackle is in no danger from
 
 THE MAY-FLY 37 
 
 the antics of a trout like that. Coolly Velveteens, 
 with a face as long as ever, scoops out the still 
 unconquered beauty, and as coolly frees her from 
 the hook, and puts her back again! 
 
 Our friend is wisely silent. Had he spoken then, 
 the parson had been shocked. After a moment, 
 gulping down the word that nearly passed his 
 lips, he asked, with forced coolness, " What the 
 D ickens that was for?" 
 
 The keeper held his peace, as usual, but the 
 other said, " I fear the man is right. Fifteen 
 inches is the limit now." 
 
 The pool seemed much disturbed ; but as the 
 three were moving on, quite suddenly the rise 
 began in earnest. 
 
 From behind each waving weed the bulky forms 
 of ancient trout appear, and boldly dash at every 
 May-fly as it drifts along. 
 
 The surface of the pool is all in waves, as 
 giant fish (which grub along the bottom in the 
 spring) seem to forget their caution and pursue 
 their prey without regarding man. 
 
 Once more the artificial flies are on the surface, 
 and again the novice has a fish; but this time 
 it is a fish indeed, and at last the stolid face of 
 that old keeper shows a light. Not that he smiles 
 or speaks. His frown is less severe ; and as he 
 watches for the time to use his net, one eye is 
 seen to twinkle.
 
 38 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 Alas! this wild excess of joy is premature. 
 The frantic plunges of the heavy fish have torn 
 the slight hold which the hook had taken, and 
 back the line comes in our hero's face ! 
 
 Meanwhile the parson is not idle. A goodly fish 
 is trying all it knows to wind his line around a 
 bunch of weeds, or hang it on a snag. Vain are 
 all its struggles, vain its leaps; for as it falls 
 across the line (as doubtless it intended), the 
 parson dips his rod, and the fish's ruse is fruit- 
 less. 
 
 " Don't hurry, John," he says ; " the hold is 
 good. Your help is wanted yonder." 
 
 And so it was, for the other man had once 
 again formed an attachment with a lovely fish, 
 and didn't mean to be again divorced. Calmly 
 the keeper scoops her out, and saying " Sizable " 
 returns to help his other master. 
 
 By this time the heavy fish was quite exhausted, 
 and floating on his golden side showed all his 
 grand proportions. Carefully the keeper stoops 
 and very gently puts the net beneath that four- 
 pound trout, and with a sigh that conies as near 
 a chuckle as he ever gets, observes "A tidy 
 fish." 
 
 The flies still swarm, and many a splashing 
 rise is heard and seen, but very few are felt, for 
 the trout are rising " short," and all the after- 
 noon there are but three or four who make
 
 THE MAY-FLY 39 
 
 mistakes and take the fly they only meant to 
 play with. 
 
 But three brace of trout like these ought to 
 satisfy the keenest angler, and the parson never 
 wishes to distress the river, though he gladly 
 carries home his share of trout to line the larder 
 and astonish his curious neighbour, Mrs. Lid- 
 less. 
 
 The lawyer and the doctor, both old hands 
 have done still better, bringing home four brace, 
 the best a six-pound cannibal (" better out than 
 in "), besides returning a lot of " little two-pound 
 fish," as they are pleased to call them. So ends 
 that May-fly day. But better days are coming, for 
 now and then the fish take really well ; and indeed 
 the legend runs that on one day in June, after 
 the tenth five-pounder had been landed, the keeper 
 fairly smiled. 
 
 Till quite mid-June the rise will often linger, 
 and all the "duffers' fortnight" is a sort of fes- 
 tival, to keep which all duties, not of strict 
 necessity, are ruthlessly postponed.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 In Summer Evenings 
 
 AFTER the May-fly carnival the trout observe 
 a fast, and are hard to tempt even with 
 daintiest morsels of fur and feather ; and most 
 anglers take a rest, unless they have to work still 
 harder than of old to overtake arrears. 
 
 In about a week the fish begin to find their 
 appetites again, and now the skilful angler, with 
 delicate tackle and tiny flies, will succeed once 
 more. But such success is only given to the man 
 who has at least some little knowledge of the 
 "dry-fly" system. 
 
 To explain this method fully is beyond our 
 scope ; but a few words will describe it perhaps 
 as far as the outer world will care to under- 
 stand it. 
 
 As its name implies, the fly presented to the 
 fish is kept from getting water-logged, and there- 
 fore floats, or should float, with cocked wings, 
 just as any man may see a natural insect drifting 
 down the stream. Until lately the fly had to be
 
 IN SUMMER EVENINGS 41 
 
 kept dry by continual flicking six false casts 
 to one in earnest. Now most anglers anoint their 
 flies with vaseline or paraffin, and save some 
 labour. Much more is required than merely 
 keeping flies floating, if success is to be secured. 
 The fly must alight gently just above the feed- 
 ing fish, and must not drag. 
 
 Many dry-fly men make a rule of never casting 
 at random, and wait always for a rise; but this 
 is a course which involves sometimes inaction 
 nearly all day, and even at the time of year we 
 now have come to such long inaction is somewhat 
 wearisome. Perhaps it is better to try every fish 
 that hovers near the surface, or even, on occasion, 
 to cast in certain spots on the chance, though but 
 slender, of tempting trout from under weeds or 
 banks. In any case in sultry weather the angler 
 who is wise will save his strength for evening. 
 Often after a long day of failure will the last 
 hour of daylight fill his basket. 
 
 Those old trout which have so carefully in- 
 spected and contemptuously refused the choicest 
 little olives and most delicate hare's-ears in his 
 fly case, will now begin gently to suck in the 
 sedges as they flit about the growths on the 
 margin of the pools. The light is failing, and 
 you will find it not an easy task to drop your 
 sedge just on the spot where that little ring 
 appeared a moment, looking like a minnow's rise.
 
 42 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 But it is worth the trouble. The dimple is re- 
 peated, and a gentle turn given to your wrist 
 causes a mighty plunge and fierce and desperate 
 resistance. 
 
 If you have thought to put on stout tackle for 
 this evening work, the trout, in spite of all, is soon 
 a captive, and there is yet time to secure his 
 brother, and make up a basket ere the light has 
 gone. It is not always that there is an evening 
 rise, alas! But then there are days, even in 
 full summer, when fish will feed in sunshine ; and 
 the little olive dun or Wickham, tied on finest 
 tackle and deftly used, will bring many a goodly 
 trout to grief. And if not, for a fairly lazy man 
 it is hard to find a nicer occupation than to 
 wander round at pleasure under the willows and 
 beside the mill, watching the sulky trout and 
 lively minnows, while the voles run timidly from 
 one cover to another on the grassy bank. 
 
 If you are very still, these graceful little creatures 
 will forget your presence, or seem to do so, as they 
 crop the tender shoots of the young grass, or swim 
 with a leaf of willow to help may be to line their 
 nests. If your eyes are sharp, you may descry a 
 mole appearing from a sandy little mound and 
 buried again in a moment ; but this sight is 
 rarer. On many streams the azure flash of 
 halcyon is quite a common vision. All the day 
 the swallows skim and dip, and in the meadows
 
 IN SUMMER EVENINGS 43 
 
 round the peewits flap their heavy piebald wings 
 and constantly emit their petulant and peevish 
 cry well rendered in their name. 
 
 The larks are seldom silent, and the rooks as 
 seldom absent; and an occasional seagull lightly 
 floats about, or joins the rooks, grub-hunting at the 
 plough-tail. A heron is a rarer visitant, except in 
 early morning, when he takes his toll of minnows 
 or of trout, if he can get them, from off the sandy 
 shallows. Thus, even if the angler has no human 
 comrades, one can hardly say that he is " solitary " 
 while such hosts of interesting creatures keep him 
 company. 
 
 As evening shadows deepen the moths come 
 out, pursued by bats, which sometimes take your 
 fly and cause embarrassment. Be careful how 
 you handle them, for even the tiny " flittermouse " 
 has his teeth, and the larger bat can bite you 
 pretty sharply. Owls flit silent by, and all 
 nature tells you it is time for slumber. On 
 these southern rivers anglers do not toil all night 
 like the Scotch fishers, of whom more anon. As 
 July comes in, the angler may relax something 
 of his keenness, knowing that now the long 
 vacation is at hand and he can fly to Scottish 
 lochs and streams and feel the weeks are all his 
 own till autumn.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 Among the Falling Leaves 
 
 QOOTHING, with a touch of sadness, is the after- 
 O noon of a genial autumn day. The air has lost 
 the crispness which distinguished it in early morn- 
 ing, and the mellow warmth gives no hint of the 
 touch of frost which comes with sunset. The only 
 thing that tends to try the temper of the patient 
 angler is the shower of leaves that now and then 
 the light breeze scatters on the stream. 
 
 These, indeed, will aggravate him sorely if he 
 casts a fly; but most autumn anglers seek their 
 sport down in the depths, and it is only the gray- 
 ling and the salmon that are whipped and cast 
 for now. 
 
 To the bottom fishers floating leaves give little 
 inconvenience, and the breeze which ruffles all 
 the surface is a welcome friend to those who fish 
 for pike or perch, while the gentle " roacher " need 
 only seek a sheltered swim, where he can clearly 
 see the tiny tip of his well-balanced float. 
 
 Every sort of fish is now in season except the
 
 AMONG THE FALLING LEAVES 45 
 
 trout, which has just turned its thoughts towards 
 the domestic arrangements of the coming winter, 
 and is therefore left in peace by anglers worthy 
 of the name, even in Scotland where no law pro- 
 tects it. 
 
 What a perfect picture is a perch in late October ! 
 How his golden black-barred sides shine with 
 lustre, contrasting so finely with the bright 
 vermilion fins. As he nears the net, with what 
 defiant action is that grand back-fin erected! 
 
 Even a loggerheaded chub looks handsome now, 
 and roach are fat as pigs and bright as silver. 
 
 The broad bream becomes less slimy, but he 
 does not feed so well as in the early autumn or 
 late summer, and we seldom see him now. His 
 friend the barbel, always an imposing-looking 
 fish, becomes almost handsome as his sides grow 
 golden, and his back a deeper bronze. 
 
 In one thing the autumn days are sadly lack- 
 ing, for the birds are dumb. Not literally mute, 
 for short bursts of song surprise us now and 
 then, more perhaps in autumn than in the heats 
 of August ; but as many of our song birds have 
 already fled the coming winter, it is to the robin 
 that we mainly owe our music. To all this the 
 anglers form an audience. How the birds would 
 miss us if, at some far-distant day, the anti-sport 
 fanatics pass a law forbidding any such "cruel" 
 amusements. Perhaps the robin does not really
 
 46 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 sing to us, but to his mate alone, yet it is a 
 pleasing delusion to believe so ; and in the autumn 
 bird love-calls are surely out of date. 
 
 It is usual to assert that bottom fishers are more 
 contemplative even than the votaries of fly, and 
 perhaps it is so ; yet as one throws the light 
 line in almost careless fashion for the gamesome 
 grayling, so capricious in their ways, there is 
 ample opportunity for thought and for observing 
 Nature in her innermost recesses. Certainly the 
 man who puts a live bait in a pool, and waits 
 with patience till a pike or perch absorbs it, must 
 have often too much time to spare, and could 
 learn a language in a single season if he only put 
 a grammar in his creel. I fancy Walton must 
 have carefully composed, and even perhaps actu- 
 ally written, much of his admirable prose while 
 waiting " under honeysuckle hedges " and by river 
 banks for perch or pike to take his shining bait. 
 
 With the angler for the nibbling roach con- 
 ditions are quite different. He may listen to the 
 birds if he will ; but to watch them is impossible, 
 if he means to fill his creel, for his usual way of 
 fishing demands unwinking watchfulness. He sits 
 quietly in one spot holding his long cane rod 
 steadily over the tip of his light quill float, and the 
 moment the slightest dip occurs he must nick his 
 fish that is, if he can. 
 
 Other methods there are which demand less
 
 AMONG THE FALLING LEAVES 47 
 
 unremitting care, and these, under special con- 
 ditions, are as good or even better. For instance, 
 in this very autumn season, if the heavy rains 
 have swollen and coloured the river, it is actually 
 better to use comparatively heavy tackle and let 
 a lobworm lie upon the bottom while you hold the 
 rod and feel for bites. This "legering" system 
 is far less trying to the eyes and nerves than the 
 tight-line plan, and as you can use running tackle 
 with it you have the great advantage of the 
 chance of killing heavy chub or barbel, which 
 nearly always break away from the tight-line 
 angler. 
 
 Then you may even rest your rod upon a forked 
 stick, and fold your arms and think philosophy, and 
 haply go to sleep, and find, on waking, that your 
 rod is in the water, your line broken, and your 
 fish, or rather a fish, gone ! 
 
 To my taste spinning for perch or pike is, next 
 to fly-fishing, the best sport for autumn. When 
 the weather is chilly the exercise is just enough 
 to keep you warm, and the skill required to cast 
 your bait well out and work it safely home gives 
 a flavour to the sport, even if fish are wanting. 
 
 When a good perch strikes the fun is capital, 
 for such a fish will run your line out and fight 
 bravely to the last, and must never be considered 
 caught till in the net. With jack (or with chub, 
 which sometimes run at a minnow, though fish
 
 48 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 is not its proper food) it is different. A mighty 
 rush there is, and you must yield or break ; but 
 after that, in most cases (not in all), the great fish 
 comes in tamely, and is your own with scarce 
 another struggle.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 Method and Methods 
 
 SKILL in throwing the fly, necessary as it is up 
 to a certain point, is no more the whole of the 
 fly-fisher's art than is the proper management of 
 his sword the whole duty of a soldier. 
 
 This part of your lesson can be learnt, as far as 
 is at first necessary, on a lawn, especially if a 
 veteran will give you half a dozen lessons. But 
 in case this plan, which is much the best, is im- 
 practicable, I advise that you take a greenheart 
 rod of ten feet in length, with a winch of forty 
 yards of tapered and dressed line. Be careful that 
 the winch is of a suitable weight. Some of the 
 vulcanite or other light winches do not answer 
 well, because they spoil the balance of the rod; 
 therefore, never buy a winch without seeing that 
 it suits your rod. This you can only ascertain 
 properly by trying it, after running some line 
 through the rings. 
 
 In your first attempts at casting, do not attach 
 any fly to your line, but fix a tiny bit of white rag 
 or leather, of about the size of a large fly, instead. 
 
 49 D
 
 50 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 This you will find easy to see when it alights, 
 and it will also be more comfortable in your 
 friend's eye when you hit him with it. Try to 
 learn first the simple overhead cast, and begin 
 with a line about twice the length of your rod; 
 one much shorter than that is harder to cast. 
 
 Remember that the line must have time to ex- 
 tend itself behind you before you urge it forward, 
 or it will crack like a whip, and if a fly were on 
 it would be broken off. After a few hours' prac- 
 tice, you will find it easy to put eight or ten yards 
 with some degree of accuracy in a straight line 
 on the lawn, and you can then begin to learn the 
 more difficult sorts of casting the horizontal cast, 
 either from right or left, and the " Spey " cast, so 
 called from its frequent necessity on that river, 
 owing to steep banks rising behind the angler. 
 
 To achieve this, you have to acquire the knack 
 of sending your line nearly straight upwards, in- 
 stead of behind you, in the backward action, pre- 
 liminary to the actual cast. With some elemen- 
 tary idea of these three methods you are fairly ready 
 for the fray ; but before expecting success on a well- 
 fished stream you will have very much to learn 
 which can best be acquired by actual practice. 
 
 Let us suppose you have a rod (not a split cane 
 at first) and tackle which some experienced friend 
 has procured for you. Do not be above taking his 
 advice in everything, even to the matter of dress.
 
 METHOD AND METHODS 51 
 
 On most rivers, I fancy, a heather-mixture suit, with 
 a cap of similar colour, is the best equipment, with 
 knickerbockers and stout boots, using waders 
 only when the advantage of doing so is quite clear. 
 For instance, when a stream is heavily bushed on 
 both sides, or when you are fishing a broad and 
 shallow river. 
 
 It is quite true that on some streams in which 
 wading is not thus rendered almost necessary it 
 has its advantages, for if you wade very cautiously 
 upstream you are less conspicuous, and perhaps 
 less likely to disturb the trout immediately above 
 you, than if you were on an open bank. 
 
 To set against this is the fact that you are spoil- 
 ing any sport which might have been enjoyed by 
 an angler coming after you, and you are some- 
 times less able to cope with a big fish if it runs 
 down directly at you. It will occasionally be found 
 difficult to prevent it from swimming between your 
 legs, and thus breaking away. The risk of injury 
 to health from wading has also to be thought of, 
 and in cold weather it may be considerable. 
 
 You will find it well to put your tackle together, 
 and even to attach your fly (provided you know 
 what is on the water), before approaching the 
 river; and if not very inconvenient, it is best to 
 start fishing at the lowest point possible, and al- 
 ways work upwards.
 
 52 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 Although it is useless to fly-fish, as a rule, very 
 early in the morning (that is, at dawn or earlier, 
 like a bream fisher), you will find in real summer 
 weather that the trout begin to rise, (and very often 
 leave off again) long before most anglers can per- 
 suade themselves to do so. I do not mean that 
 the rise for the day is over by ten o'clock, but that 
 the trout have by that time taken their breakfasts, 
 and often leave off feeding for awhile. 
 
 They soon come on again, and usually continue 
 till one or two o'clock, unless the weather is very 
 hot ; but after this there is little rise till quite late 
 in the afternoon. All these rules are subject to 
 frequent variations, depending on weather, etc. ; but 
 an angler who makes it his custom to begin by six 
 or seven o'clock, and to leave off for two or three 
 hours in the early afternoon, will generally have 
 the best basket. 
 
 Supposing, then, you have reached the bank of a 
 fair trout stream at about seven on a May morning. 
 If you are in Devon, put on a blue dun as end 
 fly, and a red palmer as the dropper. If the stream 
 is smooth, look carefully for a rise, and then, 
 taking your rod in the right hand and the fly in 
 your left, and having about seven or eight yards 
 of line out, endeavour to throw your flies lightly 
 just above the rise, taking care to approach from 
 a point ten yards or so lower down the stream, 
 and in a crouching position, and taking advantage
 
 METHOD AND METHODS 53 
 
 also of any cover that the bank may afford, if it 
 is only a bunch of nettles or a fine thistle. 
 
 As you can at present only throw with the right 
 hand, you will find it convenient to be on the left- 
 hand side of the stream (looking upwards), so that 
 you can conveniently throw close in towards the 
 bank a few yards above you. It is there that you 
 are likely to find the best fish, and, as Kingsley 
 would tell you, " not in skipjack broad." 
 
 Supposing by any strange chance you should 
 induce some silly trout to take your fly, a quick 
 yet gentle jerk should be given with the wrist to 
 fix the hook. Then shorten line as quickly as 
 possible, unless your fish is large (which is most 
 improbable), and see that there is no slack line, or 
 the hook may drop out. If the fish tries to run 
 into weeds, keep its head up so that it cannot 
 burrow, and by the same means prevent it from 
 taking your line round a boulder. 
 
 If your fish is of a fair size, say a quarter of a 
 pound, which is good for Devon, use your landing- 
 net, not to avoid breakage, but the risk of the hold 
 giving way. Of course the little two-ounce fish 
 may be swung out promptly, and should be re- 
 turned, though in Devon this is not often done, I 
 fear. 
 
 If you find that your skill will not avail to tempt 
 any fish from the smooth glides in which the best 
 trout generally lie, you must even be content to
 
 54 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 copy the natives, and fish the "stickles," or rough 
 runs, and it will then be sometimes necessary to 
 fish down. You will find this easy work, but the 
 proportion of fish risen and missed, or pricked and 
 lost, is very great. 
 
 Still, by the end of the day, even allowing you 
 two hours' rest for lunch, there ought to be nearly 
 a couple of dozen decent trout in your basket, if 
 the day is a good one, especially if you stay till 
 just after sunset, and use a coachman or other 
 white-winged fly for the last few minutes. 
 
 Your back will not be greatly burdened by your 
 fish, for they will not average quite a quarter of 
 a pound; and your walk home is likely to be 
 pleasant enough, lighted may be with innumer- 
 able glow-worms on the grass, to correspond with 
 the stars above you. And if you have but a mile 
 or so to walk to reach your inn, the fatigue in- 
 duced by such a day will be no more than enough 
 to prepare you to consume a capital Devonshire 
 dinner in the evening.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 Within a Day from London Town 
 
 SOME men there are to whom all Saturdays are 
 free, and these, of course, have some advan- 
 tage in a whole day's leisure. For them more 
 distant waters, such as Test and Itchen, are happy 
 hunting grounds, and a good long day may be en- 
 joyed by early risers. One great advantage is 
 their chance for grayling, for they thus secure 
 some winter fishing, when the trout are busy 
 spawning. 
 
 In both Test and Itchen sport goes on from April 
 to December, and a man can well afford to pay a 
 heavy fee to spend so many Saturdays with such 
 variety of fish and fishing. 
 
 Of course, these rivers are most carefully looked 
 after, and the price demanded for each rod on 
 Itchen, Test, or Anton, is perhaps more than 
 on the Wandle, while the journey is a source of 
 much additional expense and trouble. Yet the 
 ardent angler, if his means and time permit, will 
 gladly take a rod on any length that has a good
 
 56 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 repute; and perhaps of all fly-fishers there are 
 none that can compare for skill and perseverance 
 with a Hampshire man. 
 
 Hampshire is the home of English trout, and the 
 natives of this country will ever rank as leaders 
 in the sport, and the Stockbridge and Houghton 
 Clubs will always be remembered, not alone for the 
 unrivalled skill its members there acquired, but for 
 the literature it has produced through Francis, 
 Penn, and Halford. 
 
 For the man who is contented with the class of 
 fishing christened " coarse," the neighbourhood of 
 London will afford an ample choice of sport. If 
 his means and time are scanty, he must be con- 
 tented with such fish as Tottenham or [Hendon 
 afford, and these, though shy, are not by any means 
 all small. 
 
 A visit in the spawning time to the Ferry-boat 
 fishery will convince the most sceptical that big 
 fish are there. To catch them is quite another 
 matter ; yet the skilful angler, if well used to the 
 water, does now and then secure some splendid 
 bream, such as those you may see in hot weather 
 basking in the pool below the bridge. 
 
 The stranger, however skilful, is not likely to do 
 more than make a fair basket of small roach ; and 
 for even moderate success, conditions must be 
 favourable. A good many small jack are often 
 showing, and sometimes the little dace rise well,
 
 WITHIN A DAY FROM LONDON TOWN 57 
 
 with now and then a tidy chub; and best of all, 
 on quite red-letter days, a handsome trout! 
 
 Many small trout have been caught from this 
 fishery during the last few years, and this is the 
 result of judicious stocking. The drawback may 
 be stated in one word " pike." These will always 
 keep the trout from becoming numerous. 
 
 At very little additional cost the angler may 
 visit some of the more distant fisheries on the Lea, 
 such as Ponder's End, Waltham, or Broxbourne. 
 The cost of a day ticket is the same at each of 
 these stations, and certainly a shilling does not 
 seem exorbitant for a day on preserved waters, 
 even if fish are shy ! On the ferry-boat an even- 
 ing was to be had for half-price, but this is not the 
 case elsewhere. 
 
 All along the Lea, an angler who reveres his 
 " Father Walton" will find plenty of mementoes to 
 interest him. From Tottenham Cross (one of those 
 put up to commemorate the halting of the bearers 
 of the body of Queen Eleanor) right down to Ware 
 is connected with his memory. Of all the stations 
 accessible to the public I fancy Broxbourne is now 
 the best, though in former years I have had very 
 good sport among the roach and chub, both with 
 fly and bait, on many stations much nearer town ; 
 sometimes, indeed, doing very well even in Totten- 
 ham itself. All round London there is more or 
 less fishing to be had.
 
 58 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 I forbear to particularise the spots on Thames 
 which are thought to yield best sport, because they 
 are both over-fished and constantly described in the 
 columns of our sporting papers. 
 
 During the summer the traffic is so great on the 
 lower Thames that the patient angler has but a 
 poor time of it, and is apt to wish himself on some 
 spot on Lea or Colne, where the launches cease 
 from rushing and the water is at rest. There 
 are backwaters, however, by Hampton and near 
 Windsor, where I can remember some quiet hours 
 in a boat, with now and then good sport as well. 
 Near Sunbury the fly-fisher may sometimes have 
 fair sport ; but nearly all the trout he gets will have 
 to be returned, for the limit is two pounds. 
 
 The Mole, if followed some miles from its junc- 
 tion with the Thames by Hampton Court, will yield 
 fair fishing, chiefly for bream and chub. It con- 
 tains many good trout in its higher reaches, but is 
 there very strictly preserved. The water is thick, 
 which to my mind renders the river less interesting. 
 
 The Colne, which flows in on the opposite bank, 
 is quite a contrast. Coming through the Bucking- 
 ham chalk, it flows in a clear full stream, some- 
 times slow and deep, and then rushing over 
 gravelly shallows till it approaches its junction 
 with the Thames, near to which it is more canal- 
 like and not quite so clear. All through its 
 course it contains fish of various kinds; trout
 
 WITHIN A DAY FROM LONDON TOWN 59 
 
 and dace delighting in its shallows, and roach 
 and chub haunting its slower reaches and deeper 
 pools, in which also the pike find harbour. These 
 are numerous, but not often large. The roach 
 and dace are very fine in its lower waters, while 
 good trout are often taken by spinning in suit- 
 able localities. 
 
 To the fly-fisher the dace give better sport than 
 the trout; these latter seldom rising well, though 
 numbers of them may be seen between Uxbridge 
 and West Drayton, and, indeed, are to be found, 
 more or less, all along the river. On some portions 
 of the water only fly is allowed, and here a few 
 good trout are taken with that lure, but it is un- 
 certain work. 
 
 A Club has been formed at West Drayton to fish 
 "Godfrey's" water, and its members have very 
 good sport sometimes, both with jack and roach. 
 Many fine dace are also taken with the fly, and 
 now and then a good trout. 1'he roach are par- 
 ticularly large (as they were in Godfrey's time), of 
 which I have before me in a case ocular proof 
 nearly two pounds he was, and taken on single 
 hair. 
 
 Among London lakes the Kingsbury reservoir at 
 Hendon reigns pre-eminent for size, and is some- 
 times well worth fishing, especially if a man likes 
 to fish with little trouble. The water is so thick 
 sometimes that the angler need take no precau-
 
 60 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 tions to keep out of sight, and may use fairly 
 strong tackle. The lake contains jack, which feed 
 voraciously at times, and then for many hours 
 will hardly touch a bait. 
 
 The other inhabitants of the lake are bream, 
 perch, tench, and roach ; some of the first are fine 
 fish, while the perch and roach run small. Young 
 bream (bream flats they call them) are taken in 
 great numbers near the edges, and patient anglers 
 sometimes get the big fish by legering near the 
 middle. 
 
 Next in size to this sheet of water is Dagenham 
 breach, which was formed many years ago by an 
 overflow of the Thames near Barking. The water 
 here is even less pure than at Hendon, and the 
 banks are flat and muddy, so that it is not so attrac- 
 tive a place for the lover of the picturesque as the 
 Kingsbury reservoir. Yet many anglers frequent 
 it from the East End of London, and large bags of 
 evil-smelling bream are sometimes made. 
 
 In the ornamental water in Wimbledon Park 
 some fair fishing is to be had for a small annual 
 fee, and here the surroundings are pretty, and the 
 water fairly clear. Pike, perch, carp, and bream 
 are the best fish, and there are lots of roach, and 
 some dace and chub. Barbel have also been intro- 
 duced, but they seldom thrive in still water. A 
 little further afield are the small lakes at Elstree, 
 beyond Hendon, and at Ruislip, near Pinner.
 
 WITHIN A DAY FROM LONDON TOWN 6 1 
 
 The Medway, near Tonbridge, may be considered 
 within reach for a day's fishing from town ; and 
 here the skilled angler will sometimes have really 
 good sport among the bream and roach, if he can 
 find a friendly native to give him a few hints. 
 Without this he may often fail, as the ways of 
 Medway fish are peculiar, and the water (like their 
 tricks) is dark. 
 
 Many Londoners travel as far as the Arun , near 
 Arundel, and bring home good bags of bream 
 sometimes ; and it is quite possible to make of the 
 Norfolk broads London lakes ; indeed, I have done 
 so, but it involves very early starts and late re- 
 turns, and makes a toil of a pleasure, so we will 
 not go further afield in our sketch of " London 
 Fisheries."
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 On Houghton Water 
 
 ALTHOUGH it is rather startling to be awa- 
 kened by the first strokes of a water-mill, 
 instead of an alarum, the noise, when you begin 
 to recognise it as a familiar friend, is rather 
 soothing than otherwise ; and had I slept many 
 more nights in the old mill-house at Houghton, 
 perhaps the sound of the wheel might merely have 
 served as a pleasant reminder that there was no 
 train to catch. 
 
 Most men on the first morning of their sojourn 
 become suddenly virtuous, as far as early rising 
 is concerned, and find themselves, long before 
 breakfast is ready, strolling up or down the river, 
 with an eye for "rises." 
 
 The downward excursion could be only for a 
 few yards, as the water belonging to the Houghton 
 Club extended but a short distance in that direction, 
 and its main point of interest was the mill-tail and 
 pool. In these were lots of good grayling and a 
 
 few trout, and the very few "duffers" the club 
 
 62
 
 ON HOUGH TON WATER 63 
 
 contained are rumoured to have taken most of their 
 fish from these troubled waters. My friend did 
 not suggest that I should try this spot ; and this 
 was, I suppose, a compliment, though ill deserved 
 and unwished for. 
 
 It was near here a celebrated North-Country gray- 
 ling fisher took his record bag of giant grayling 
 with worm, by special permission. 
 
 It was not till after a leisurely breakfast and 
 a quiet walk of a quarter of a mile up the river 
 that any fishing was so much as thought of. Nor 
 would a fly have been cast perhaps till afternoon 
 had it not chanced to be an early-rising day, so 
 that feeding fish were soon visible, and could be 
 attacked in true orthodox fashion. From the first 
 to which I was formally introduced I failed to get 
 a rise. Indeed, I u put him down " so much was 
 he scandalized at my style of casting. Perhaps 
 the next had received a less finished education, 
 for he took my delusive snare most sweetly, 
 and after some exciting play was fairly under 
 control and nearly in the net, when the hold gave, 
 and he was free ! 
 
 After this I tried to admire the scenery for a- 
 while, and watch my companion, who, contrary to 
 his usual habits, was actually fishing in a steady 
 and persistent manner, and curiously enough 
 without much ultimate success, though I saw him 
 hook three good trout in a few minutes.
 
 64 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 This was on a wide shallow, and the fish were 
 rising all around and often taking, when properly 
 covered. Yet only one fish came to bank all day, 
 and that fell to my companion's rod, and weighed 
 about a pound and a half ; not large for this grand 
 water. We had some undersized fish also which 
 were not counted. I remember that towards even- 
 ing we met the late Mr. Marryat, and afterwards 
 " The Major," and the last had taken some nice 
 grayling, which he showed us ; but I saw no other 
 trout. 
 
 Next day was very sunny, and we fished but 
 little ; and once more I had to be content to return 
 my fish, for all were small. The show of fish 
 in the bright sunshine was most tantalizing. All 
 along the river, by sedgy deep, bright rapid or 
 spreading shallow, trout, and big trout, were lying 
 plainly visible, but not in rising mood ; and to 
 throw over them, even when they seemed to touch 
 the surface, is not orthodox. 
 
 In other circumstances I am not by any means a 
 purist, but in these I naturally conformed to the 
 very virtuous sentiments expressed by my re- 
 spected host as to the injury done to trout streams 
 by those reckless men who will insist on casting 
 over sulky fish and making them still sulkier. 
 
 The worst of it is that I fear my host is partly 
 right ; and that the best way for a man always on 
 the spot to secure a good proportion of big fish in a
 
 ON HOUGH TON WATER 65 
 
 season is to cast only over rises. It is far other- 
 wise with a visitor. Yet it is only right that he 
 should conform to the same rule, and take his 
 chance. 
 
 In the Hampshire fisheries comfort reigns 
 supreme ; and in the wettest weather (of which, 
 indeed, we had a little) we could keep dry clothes 
 by means of the charming little huts dotted about 
 at many a noted spot upon the banks. I don't 
 remember one at the famed " leg of mutton swim," 
 where such heavy grayling have often been secured 
 by many a noted angler, from " Red Spinner " 
 downwards. 
 
 Trying this corner, I kept rising dace, and, per- 
 haps unwisely, soon abandoned it. Big roach are 
 also taken sometimes here, and pike, alas ! are only 
 too abundant, though well looked after, both with 
 wire and bait. It is seldom they are left to reach a 
 heavy weight, and while very small they do com- 
 paratively little harm. Big trout are far worse 
 than little jack. When a trout outgrows his proper 
 four Ib. weight he soon becomes a cannibal, and if 
 such fish were taken out no river would be equal 
 to the crystal Test. 
 
 E
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 In East Anglia 
 
 MARKED, indeed, is the contrast between a 
 day on a mountain trout-stream and a 
 morning devoted to the slimy bream. Surround- 
 ings and methods, tackle and temper, will all be of 
 a different description, the one virtue of patience 
 (thought by some ignorant outsiders to be the 
 angler's only good quality) being required in both 
 branches of the art. 
 
 Without disguising my strong preference for 
 the lively trout, let me try to indicate the few 
 points in which the bream-fisher has the advan- 
 tage. He may enjoy his sport within a very short 
 distance of some popular seaside resort, such as 
 Lowestoft, Yarmouth, or Cromer. Then he must 
 be an early riser, for the bream breakfasts at 
 dawn, and this ensures the additional advantage 
 of having the whole day before him when his 
 sport is over. Of course he will be too sleepy 
 to do anything, which is just the sort of mood 
 required for thoroughly enjoying a sojourn by 
 the sea. 
 
 66
 
 IN EAST ANGLIA 67 
 
 The best way to secure some sport is to engage 
 a boatman at some angling resort close to the 
 river or broad, and to come down over-night and 
 sleep at the inn, having first seen your "swim" 
 properly baited. About the middle of the night, as 
 it seems to you, a terrific knocking makes you jump 
 out of bed and wonder where the fire has broken 
 out ; and then you remember (and regret) your 
 order to be called at 3 a.m. Sulkily you dress, and 
 look out gloomily at the fading stars, wishing at 
 first that it were raining and you might get into 
 bed again ; but by the time you meet your com- 
 panion in the chilly morning air all bad temper has 
 vanished, and you are ready to greet him in the 
 cordial manner natural to the angler even in early 
 morning. 
 
 The broad-beamed boat is ready, and the boat- 
 man has been waiting half an hour, as he will 
 remind you later on if sport should be indif- 
 ferent. By the time the tackle, etc., have been 
 settled in the boat and you are under way, the light 
 will be just enough to show you what a different 
 country it is from any that the trout frequent. 
 
 All the fields seem lower in their levels than 
 the rivers and canals; and instead of trees are 
 windmills everywhere. These are not for grinding 
 anything, but to pump the water up from the dykes 
 around into the river above. 
 
 This topsy-turvy arrangement is rendered
 
 68 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 necessary, of course, by the levels of field and 
 river being reversed, a state of things originating 
 in the fact that most of the land has, in ancient 
 times, been reclaimed from sea or marsh. 
 
 Arrived at the chosen spot, the boat is quietly 
 fastened to the reeds, or to a pair of rypecks 
 which had been fixed in readiness overnight, and 
 you lose no time in putting before the bream 
 their tempting breakfast. The lob-worms we are 
 using rest on the bottom, and at first our floats 
 remain motionless, and our enthusiasm begins to 
 cool. A blank seems only too probable, and we 
 are reduced to admiring the scenery (which in- 
 deed has its own peculiar charm as dawn begins 
 to light it up with misty brightness), when sud- 
 denly a float begins to move. First it shifts from 
 its upright position and lies flat, a certain sign 
 of bream, and then slowly moves away. 
 
 At this point our boatman, whose float is the 
 one affected, snatches up his rod and hauls in 
 unceremoniously a broad-sided, wobbling fish, then 
 rebaits and flops in his line once more without 
 a word. By this time we both have fish on ; and 
 as our tackle is not the whipcord which the boat- 
 man uses, some care and skill is necessary to avoid 
 disaster. Soon both bream are duly netted, and 
 five minutes' work has resulted in six pounds of 
 fish on board. 
 
 This goes on for half an hour, all doing
 
 IN EAST ANGLIA 69 
 
 equally well, and then a change begins, for the 
 light waxes strong and the bream get shy of the 
 boatman's whipcord, and all the best fish, in- 
 cluding some of four pounds or so, are taken by 
 the fine tackle. 
 
 By the time the sun is fairly up we are 
 thoroughly tired of playing these big bream. We 
 are also covered with slime from hand to elbow, 
 and can well understand the use of those aprons 
 we had almost refused to wear. As little roach 
 now began to take the place of bream we pack 
 up and count the spoil, which almost cover the 
 bottom of the boat. 
 
 Going home a different way we cross the sunlit, 
 sparkling broad, and the scene is almost lively, 
 as the moor-fowl scuttle away at our approach, 
 and here and there the white sail of a yacht 
 shows in the distance, or a grimy wherry, shaving 
 us closely in its course as is their merry wont, 
 makes our boat (heavy as it is) rock again as 
 we cross her wake. 
 
 The glimpse we soon descry of our inn is not 
 unwelcome, nor is the hot breakfast, with its 
 incomparable bloaters, which we are soon enjoy- 
 ing. We are back at Lowestoft by midday, and 
 vote the trip a great success and worth perhaps re- 
 peating at some distant day when we have quite 
 recovered the effects of early rising. 
 
 Similar fishing may be sometimes enjoyed on
 
 70 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 the Yare and other Norfolk rivers without such 
 early hours. 
 
 The chief difference in the proceedings is caused 
 by the powerful tide which is often encountered' 
 and which renders it necessary to secure your 
 boat with the greatest care by means of long and 
 heavily shod poles, for the river is fifteen feet 
 deep in some of the best bream swims. All this 
 makes it hard and exciting work, for in spite of 
 all your exertions a pole will sometimes be dragged 
 out by the ebbing tide, causing the boat to swing 
 round and threaten to pull out the other pole. 
 If this happens it is a serious disaster, for you 
 will be a quarter of a mile away before your oars 
 can be shipped and the row back begun. 
 
 Altogether a day on the Yare without a boat- 
 man is a very different thing from Thames fishing 
 in a punt, and will test your strength and nerve 
 as much as any ordinary rowing trip. 
 
 There is another type of fishing also to be 
 had on Norfolk broads, as it is also on Devon 
 leys and on the Irish loughs the pursuit of the 
 gamesome rudd. By far the most agreeable way 
 to take these fish is by fly; and in bright and 
 sunny weather the sport is often fast and furious, 
 though not among the very biggest rudd, which 
 are rather shy of flies and take a bait more freely. 
 I have seen these fish taken, by bait, near the sur- 
 face up to nearly three pounds in weight ; but it is
 
 IN EAST ANGLIA 71 
 
 amusing enough to play the smaller fish on fine 
 fly-tackle ; and as you have to cast far off from 
 your boat in any case, this method is actually 
 easier than bait-fishing. 
 
 If rudd arc not showing, it is best to throw 
 some bread-crusts in, so that the wind drifts 
 them past the boat. The rudd will find them out 
 and nibble at them, and whilst this is going on 
 you throw your fly. Two or three flies are used 
 at once, the most successful being tiny black gnats, 
 which may be allowed to sink a little, and then 
 drawn gently through the water. Some knack 
 is required in hooking your fish, for they do not 
 take boldly, but follow the fly and make snatches 
 at it. 
 
 If they get shy, it is well to put on a little 
 sedge or wickham, and cast it dry and let it float. 
 This will tempt shy rudd or roach, but it is not 
 often necessary to take so much trouble over 
 them. They will sometimes come at your flies 
 two or three at a time; and if you chance to 
 get two rudd of a pound apiece at once, there is 
 a fine disturbance until they are netted.
 
 CHAPTER X 
 Over the Border 
 
 WHEN an English angler crosses the Tweed 
 for the first time, his nerves can hardly 
 fail to thrill with a certain feeling of entering the 
 land of romance. 
 
 If, instead of crossing Tweed, you reach the 
 Caledonian shores by way of Carlisle and Gretna, 
 the touch of ancient mystery is scarce diminished. 
 Not so many years ago that historic blacksmith 
 who welded so many matrimonial chains was still 
 plying his romantic trade, and the roads resounded 
 with the hoofs of horses, pursuing and pursued. 
 
 Those who expect high mountains to rise before 
 them, towering into the sky, as soon as the border is 
 passed, will be much deceived; for the country, 
 though open and undulating, has no claim to rugged 
 beauty till we are well past famous Ecclefechan 
 and are nearing the moors round Moffat. 
 
 Here the Annan valley becomes somewhat more 
 romantic, and the angler who is keen on mountain 
 fishing in the burns will pause awhile and carefully 
 explore their innermost recesses, No doubt he will
 
 OVER THE BORDER 73 
 
 feel much tempted by convenience of train service 
 to run straight on to Edinburgh ; but if it is the 
 fishing he puts first, he certainly will find him- 
 self worse off so near a busy town, full of keen 
 fishers. 
 
 Even to stay at Moffat, rather than find rough 
 shelter in remoter corners, will be found to cause 
 some loss of time and much expense ; but the 
 lovely drives, to some men, will atone for that. 
 
 Perhaps the wisest for a stranger with some little 
 time to spare is to make this pretty town his first 
 head-quarters, and after trying all the streams 
 within his reach (and they are many), to select the 
 one that suits him best. 
 
 As to times and seasons, he will find it well to 
 carefully remember that for trout May is best, while 
 April and June are nearly as good. Later on her- 
 ling, and now and then sea trout, begin to run ; but 
 for these he must go some miles down the Annan. 
 The grilse and salmon arrive later still, and the last 
 are seldom met with till October, and not often 
 caught even then. 
 
 All through the summer pretty sport is had with 
 little trout upon Loch Skene, a fine, secluded sheet 
 of water far up the hills, towards St. Mary's 
 Loch. In this latter, also, many trout are caught by 
 those who know their ways. To the stranger they 
 are very shy. On Skene the fish are sometimes 
 fairly bold; but it is even there uncertain work,
 
 74 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 and I prefer the burns, which nearly always yield 
 their trout by dozens. Yet pay Loch Skene a 
 visit, if only to admire the lofty precipice which 
 rises so abruptly at its head, and the wild peat- 
 hag-ridden country which for countless miles sur- 
 rounds it on all sides. 
 
 If time allows, a run through Edinburgh to 
 Glasgow, and back south through Galloway, will 
 round off a month of very pleasant travel ; and an 
 active angler, who can penetrate on foot the wilds 
 of Galloway, and find her dark sequestered lochs, 
 will have some pretty sport among the trout. 
 
 Let him be prepared, however, to catch chiefly 
 smallish fish, for even in the rivers trout often 
 barely average the quarter-pound, while on the 
 burns they run but half that size. Even in the 
 lochs (except perhaps Skerrow), trout are either 
 rather small (say half-pound or so) or very scarce. 
 In the late summer and the autumn this defect is 
 partly remedied in rivers and sea burns, such as 
 Skyre, by the occasional presence of the silvery 
 herling, or scarce sea trout, not to speak of grilse 
 or salmon, both of which are quite within your 
 reach on rare occasions. 
 
 Of the scenery I need not add a word to all the 
 vivid pictures of this charming district coming from 
 the pen of Barrie, of Crockett, or McLaren. 
 
 All around Dumfries the country seems to cry 
 aloud the name of Robert Burns, and on his statue
 
 OVER THE BORDER 75 
 
 in the market place of that somewhat grimy town 
 there is no name. It is simply dedicated to " Scot- 
 land's National Poet," and this is perhaps sufficient 
 to indicate the Scotch opinion of his merits; but 
 I think some of the " Englishry " would be inclined 
 to say the statue ought to represent Sir Walter 
 Scott ! 
 
 For even tolerable fishing one must go some 
 distance from the town, and then, at certain seasons, 
 when water serves, the Nith will yield you sport. 
 Yet the burns are more productive, if you are 
 satisfied with little fish. 
 
 Half-way to New Abbey I found a pretty bit of 
 fishing, but I cannot warrant it is really free, 
 though there was nothing to indicate otherwise. 
 
 As an instance of the curious bits of sport we 
 sometimes meet with on these rivers, I will quote 
 from a letter just sent me by a Scotch friend: 
 
 " In that deep pool you know so well I had been 
 whipping with two tiny flies and drawn gut cast. 
 A small trout took a fly, and jumped on feeling the 
 hook. Dropping the point of the rod, I let him dive, 
 and when I put on the strain once more there was a 
 strong resistance, and I made sure a kelt was hooked. 
 After long play I found he was a trout, looking 
 9 Ibs. in weight, evidently not hooked, but holding 
 to his prey with desperation ! 
 
 "Only as I had got him nearly out did he open 
 his mouth and lose his meal.
 
 76 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 "Next day you may guess I spun that pool in 
 style. Not a touch ! 
 
 " Before leaving I threw the fly again to get a dish 
 of trout. The first cast secured a little samlet. 
 The thought crossed my mind, ( Will that trout come 
 again in the same way ? ' It seemed absurd to 
 expect it ; but he did come, and was hooked ! 
 
 "Before I got him nearly beaten all the village 
 had turned out to watch, and give inconsistent 
 orders to me. But a net was brought, and with it, 
 at last, after a most exciting struggle of half an 
 hour, I brought to bank a 4-lb. trout, hooked with the 
 end fly when he ran at the samlet on the dropper. 
 A curious part of the fun was the dance that poor 
 samlet was led, through air and water, before 
 shaken off." 
 
 The river alluded to here is the Annan, where the 
 trout-fishing is free and there is no close time, and 
 where, therefore, the trout are very shy, and 
 perhaps rather scarce. There are a lot of fine fish 
 in some of the deeper and less accessible pools ; 
 there is one long pool, overhung with tall trees 
 throughout its length, and too deep to wade easily. 
 It is impossible to fly-fish the place properly, and 
 the only chance to see the fish, though the water 
 may be crystal clear, is to climb one of the over- 
 hanging trees and look down from that point of 
 vantage. 
 
 Then, indeed, you will be repaid for your labour,
 
 OVER THE BORDER 77 
 
 for lying near the bottom are trout of all sizes up 
 to 3 or 4 Ibs., and sometimes, in autumn, a grilse 
 or salmon. The iish are hard to tempt, but a small 
 red worm on fine tackle, placed carefully, and 
 patiently waited upon, does sometimes secure a 
 good fish, and probably a live minnow would do 
 even better. I saw a nice sea trout killed the last 
 time I was there, but that was by an old hand, 
 accustomed to very deep wading, and very skilful 
 at spinning the minnow. He has also taken 
 salmon from the same pool. 
 
 The plan adopted for getting a sight of fish in 
 such pools is one well worth trying whenever the 
 trees are climbable, for the certainty that there are 
 good fish in a pool makes all the difference in the 
 pains that it is worth while to take to get at it. 
 
 For the benefit of Scotch tourists who want to 
 do some fishing on the rivers, and who yet cannot 
 go north, except at the conventional holiday time 
 during the late summer, when the trout-fishing is 
 at its worst of all the season, a few hints will be 
 useful as to how to make the best of a barren 
 time. I am presupposing that the weather is 
 sultry, for if it is a wet, or even a dull and windy 
 season, some trout can be had in the ordinary way. 
 
 In a normal summer you have a choice of three 
 alternatives. To fish with very fine tackle and a 
 tiny red worm up stream, and with the greatest 
 caution. (This plan is very difficult, and not often
 
 78 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 successful, except in the hands of a native.) Or to 
 use the natural fly in suitable pools, calm and 
 overhung with trees or bushes. (This is some- 
 times productive of good fish, though not of many, 
 and it is always interesting, as you can watch 
 your fish.) But better than either is it to leave 
 your fishing till night. When light begins to 
 fade a little, take your rod, with a well-tried cast, 
 and two flies at most upon it, and stroll down to 
 the river, with a friend who knows the pools as 
 well by night as day. 
 
 The " locals " you will often see sitting and 
 chatting on the banks till nearly dark before be- 
 ginning, but you will be using finer tackle, and 
 will find it worth while to start while daylight 
 yet lingers in the open glades ; and you may thus 
 secure a fish or two ere the natives throw a fly. 
 
 As the light fades out the scene assumes a weird 
 and ghostly character, and the corncrake's cry, 
 harsh as it is, seems softened by surroundings. 
 Moths are about and on the water, though you 
 cannot see them ; for a little splash ever and anon 
 announces one has just fulfilled his destiny, and 
 helped to line the stomach of a hungry trout. 
 
 Cast where you see the ring, for all the night 
 it is light enough for good eyes to do that, after 
 your ears have told you whereabouts to look. If 
 the trout sees your fly he makes no bones of 
 taking it, and with the short line you will be
 
 OVER THE BORDER 79 
 
 using you can quickly land him. Waste no time, 
 as the fish go off for hours sometimes after the first 
 meal, which they take as soon as dusk has fairly 
 settled down. 
 
 Many anglers then lie down on the warm 
 shingle, and take a rest for [an hour or two, till 
 roused by splashes to renewed activity. 
 
 This involves returning home at a rather un- 
 canny hour, and on the whole it is as well to 
 make a start when the first rise is over, which 
 is perhaps eleven o'clock or so, contented to forego 
 the chance of a sea trout or salmon, which some- 
 times occurs in early morning, ere the dawn 
 appears. 
 
 Besides the trout and sea trout you may often 
 hook numbers of herling, which are young sea 
 trout, and give fine sport, their rushes being fast 
 and furious and their leaps most lively. 
 
 If you are near a loch, not too frequented, it 
 will be worth while to take a day or two, and 
 the style" of fishing you there will find makes a 
 pleasant variety. Most mountain lochs are rocky, 
 and many are shallow near the edges, and indented 
 with little bays and inlets ; and all round these the 
 trout are playing near the weeds and sedges. Cast 
 your flies (of which there should be three) as near 
 the rises as you can, and keep them moving, with- 
 out attempting any floating dodges, unless the loch 
 is very calm and sunny, when a fly patiently floated
 
 So FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 will sometimes tempt big trout, deaf and blind to 
 other methods. In ordinary breezy weather you 
 may meet with lots of little trout by casting in 
 the ripples; and if you have a boat the work is 
 livelier still, and gives you more excitement, for 
 on the larger lochs a sudden squall will raise 
 quite a rough sea in almost no time, and some 
 care and coolness is required to keep your boat 
 from shipwreck on the jagged rocks. 
 
 Often the trout rise best in the surf, as the little 
 waves break on the shore, and then it is best to 
 land and cast with a short line against the wind ; 
 not throwing from above, but cutting with your 
 rod under the wind, choosing moments of tem- 
 porary lulling. Adepts with the fly on southern 
 streams are apt to think loch-fishing hardly worthy 
 their attention. Let them try it. 
 
 With a nice breeze just rippling the surface 
 and a good boatman " keeping her just right," of 
 course the task is easy. Any one can cast out a 
 few yards with the wind, and keep his line fairly 
 straight. Fish hook themselves, and the tackle 
 being strong are no trouble to manage. The tyro 
 even under these conditions may count his fish 
 by dozens, but these should be credited to the 
 boatman and the weather. Now this latter is, we 
 know, generally far from being in that medium 
 state which constitutes perfection. In a dead 
 calm, not so very uncommon on lowland lochs,
 
 OVER THE BORDER 81 
 
 the trout rival in shyness those of Test or Itchen, 
 and, alas ! are very different in size. 
 
 A long and light cast with floating fly may 
 indeed secure the fish which made that dimple; 
 but, after all, what is he ? Just a half-pound 
 trout perhaps, at best. To fill a basket with 
 such fish, and smaller, stalked in careful fashion, 
 takes much time and labour, and no one un- 
 skilled in delicate casting will succeed at all. 
 Perhaps the opposite conditions are more common. 
 In a violent gale fishing is dangerous from boats 
 and almost impossible from the shore. 
 
 In moderately windy weather it takes a clever 
 boatman to keep her head right, and a skilful fly- 
 fisher to keep his line on the water, and yet 
 fairly straight. Also a quick eye and hand to 
 see, and take advantage of, the rises. Many fish 
 will hook themselves, no doubt ; and in a wind, 
 though high, most anglers will secure a tolerable 
 basket. 
 
 On the whole the fishing is the pleasanter that 
 can be enjoyed without the aid of boats ; and in 
 lochs with rocky edges sport is often good, in 
 breezy weather, from the bank, or better still by 
 wading. Trout are nearly always to be found near 
 jutting headlands or by beds of weeds, or still more 
 certainly at the mouth of each little stream which 
 feeds the loch. 
 
 Next to the magic charm experienced in ex- 
 
 F
 
 82 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 ploring a mountain burn is that of wandering 
 round a loch but little fished and casting for its 
 unsophisticated trout, whose size you know not, 
 though I must confess these mystic trout are often 
 rather small. 
 
 Turning to the rivers once again, the tourist 
 complains sometimes he cannot find the larger 
 trout in Scottish rivers, and catches small fry 
 only. I fear the difficulty is that all the larger fish, 
 including salmon, grilse, and sea trout, often lie 
 nearly dormant in daytime near the bottom of 
 the deeper pools. 
 
 In some of these success may be occasionally 
 obtained by the plan already described, that is if 
 the trees are handy ; but it is chiefly in very early 
 morning or late at night that the largest fish come 
 out to feed, and it is at such times that nearly 
 all the big trout and grilse which fall to the rods 
 of Scotch anglers in free rivers are taken.
 
 HOW many pleasant memories I have of 
 angling here and there, and almost every- 
 where ! Clearest of all, because most constantly 
 repeated, shine the scenes on Kentish streams ; and 
 of all these the Darenth. 
 
 The angler's expectations here should be kept 
 in narrow limits, for the trout are not like those 
 of Hampshire, large and lusty; nor will they 
 jump into your basket by the dozen, as from a 
 mountain burn. Midway between the two ex- 
 tremes they rank ; and while in size they fall 
 far short of the Test fish, they want almost as 
 careful casting, as the least mistake will put 
 them down. 
 
 I am speaking now of the full-sized fish, a 
 pound apiece, or nearly. The smaller trout can 
 sometimes be had with little trouble on the 
 shallow ripples ; and some of these will reach 
 the limit of ten inches, at which they may be 
 kept. 
 
 83
 
 84 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 On some few reaches, where the water breaks 
 and curls while stones impede its course, the wet, 
 fly fishers may do very well in spring, but must 
 be prepared to put back many fish. It is on the 
 smooth glides that the typical summer fishing is 
 chiefly to be had; and of all forms of angling 
 this " the dry fly " is perhaps the highest. 
 
 To see a master of the art lay careful siege to 
 a rising fish is a treat indeed. Kneeling or crouch- 
 ing behind a bunch of rushes, if no better cover 
 be at hand, he takes up his position some dozen 
 yards or so below the feeding fish. He then, by 
 making false casts in the air, or perhaps along 
 the grass, will get his distance. Waiting after 
 this till the fish has risen twice in one spot, he 
 sends his fly with a gentle steady cast, alighting 
 with cocked wings, six inches perhaps above the 
 spot on which the rise occurred. 
 
 The delicate quill-gnat, well oiled, floats naturally 
 down, and as it passes by the spot another tiny 
 dimple may be seen, the angler's wrist will give 
 a gentle turn, and the battle has begun. 
 
 A fish thus fairly hooked will seldom break 
 his hold, and as on Darenth weeds are weak and 
 fish not very large, the angler often wins the 
 victory by patience and by skill. 
 
 It is the practice of the strictest sect of the 
 dry-flyers always to wait for a rise before making 
 a single cast. This may often be best in the
 
 HERE AND THERE 85 
 
 end, for water is often disturbed by premature 
 casting, yet I find most anglers agree with me 
 in thinking that a tentative cast, say over a patch 
 of gravel between two beds of weeds, will often 
 secure a hovering fish that had not been seen 
 to rise at all. 
 
 I fancy that mortal anglers, with limited time, 
 will always be tempted, in spite of the protests 
 of the "inner brethren," to try all really likely 
 spots, even if no fish are just then rising there. 
 The dry-fly purist should have lived among the 
 patriarchs; his leisurely ways require a longer 
 life than that we now enjoy. His example is in 
 one thing very good. Quiet greys and drabs are 
 rigidly adhered to in his dress; and his head-gear 
 is but a cap of modest tweed. 
 
 To approach the shy, well-educated trout in 
 these clear and smoothly flowing waters, such 
 dress is quite essential; and I think even rough 
 mountain sport is sometimes rendered better by 
 a sober dress. 
 
 Somehow the subject of costume brings the 
 ladies to one's thoughts ; and many are the fair 
 forms and faces that now haunt the river-side, 
 till one begins to think Undine and other water 
 sprites have donned tweed suits, and openly made 
 war upon their friends the fishes. 
 
 To judge by what \ve see in Field and other 
 papers, of the mighty salmon and the lively grilse
 
 86 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 taken by the Honourable Miss and Lady , 
 
 the fair sex is just as skilful in this sort of 
 fishing as in others. And of all kinds of angling, 
 saving that of which the ball-room is the scene, 
 surely casting the light fly for trout should be 
 the lady's favourite sport. 
 
 Is not almost every detail such as suits the 
 sensitive feminine touch better than the rough 
 hand of man ? Ladies make already many of our 
 most dainty flies, and when they take to using 
 them in earnest, they will whip their clumsy 
 male competitors off the stream. We shall have 
 perhaps a Ladies' Fly-Fishers' Club, with its 
 feminine form of dinner or tea; and strapped to 
 the cycle on which each fair maiden now takes 
 the road, will often be a fairy trouting rod. 
 
 How the owners of choice waters will be 
 distracted by dainty envelopes containing touch- 
 ing appeals for permission to take out those 
 highly valued trout that cost so many guineas 
 to rear up! 
 
 And am I wronging the innocent creatures by 
 hinting that sometimes they will poach? When 
 a lady receives a ticket to fish " with fly only," 
 will it not be hard to persuade her that this 
 excludes the natural insect? Few keepers will 
 be found to bind a lady down to certain bound- 
 aries, or even to induce her to return the
 
 HERE AND THERE 87 
 
 smallest of small captives. Yet, in spite of all 
 welcome are the ladies to the angler's craft! 
 
 In July and August fish are often almost un- 
 approachable by day. Anglers then must start 
 as night begins to fall, and using sometimes a 
 grey moth, or bustard (a purely local name in 
 the North of England) and sometimes merely 
 ordinary flies, fish, with short line, the more open 
 portions of a familiar stream. For once or twice 
 it is a fascinating change, and a weird experience 
 it always is. If you chance on a dark still night, 
 when fish are feeding well, the result is often 
 good. The fly is seized with a bold dash, and 
 a good trout, or may be a herling, is all over 
 the place (and perhaps round your legs, if 
 wading) in a moment. Though you may lose 
 many, you will by midnight often bring a dozen 
 decent fish to basket. 
 
 Even on bad feeding nights (too light, perhaps, 
 or windy), the frequent gentle twitches at your 
 fly keep your attention up, and if sharply responded 
 to, result now and then in the capture of a little 
 trout. 
 
 The chances also for sea trout and grilse are 
 often greater by night than day; and even when 
 sport fails, the novel circumstances have a sort 
 of charm. 
 
 What a contrast to all this it is to cast one's 
 gaudy flics, in bright sunshine, on the wind-
 
 88 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 llecked surface of a moorland loch ! Those I have 
 fished exacted a steep climb before their rocky 
 margins could be reached, and then have yielded 
 but uncertain sport. Few of the larger fish would 
 rise at all, and there were times when all the silvery 
 surface of the loch had not a ring upon it. 
 
 When they did come on, the sturdy fish, though 
 barely half a pound apiece, fought like tigers; 
 and sometimes the fun was fast and furious. 
 The wind seemed our friend in making the fish 
 bold; and yet I had some of my best trout in 
 perfect calms. 
 
 Even when sport is poor, the scenery on a 
 remote Scotch loch is compensation enough for 
 the hardships endured in reaching it ; and then 
 there is, to the young, a delicious sense of danger 
 as the waves rise high. Dwellers among the fat 
 and lazy meads of Southern England can hardly 
 realize that such scenes as these exist, unless 
 they journey thither. 
 
 Let all southern anglers then devote at least 
 one early summer holiday to the lochs of Scotland, 
 and if they do complain, as is likely enough, of 
 light baskets and wet jackets, they will at least 
 bring back, stored in their memories, such a 
 series of magnificent pictures as will reconcile 
 them even to the extortions of a Scotch hotel. 
 
 Not that all Scotch inns are quite alike. Some 
 I found whose keepers owned a conscience ; and
 
 HERE AND THERE 89 
 
 in the spring the place is not much crowded. The 
 sport is also tending to improve ; and this is cer- 
 tainly attributable partly to the introduction of 
 fresh blood into many of the streams and lochs. 
 
 Fish culture is indeed essential now, if trout- 
 fishing is to be worth having ; and Scotland is not 
 behindhand in the matter, having two or three 
 capital fish-cultural establishments within its 
 borders. One of these being in my line of travel 
 when in Galloway, I devoted a few hours to 
 exploring its wonders; and well I was repaid. 
 This is not the place to describe it fully, but I 
 came away convinced of the immense advantage 
 anglers must be reaping from such undertakings. 
 
 Incidentally I have had to admit that trout-fishing 
 is not a sociable amusement. Let me qualify 
 this a little. When on duty, as it were, the 
 genuine fly-fisher shuns his kind, no doubt. If 
 you think this a proof of misanthropy, a chat 
 with the same man, after fishing is over for the 
 day, will soon undeceive you. Indeed, I fancy that 
 anglers, debarred as they are from sociability 
 when fishing, will often be found ready to make 
 up for it at night. 
 
 It must not be taken for granted either that 
 fishermen's talk is all of fish and fishing. 
 However intent an angler may be on success in 
 his craft, he can hardly fail to have his interest 
 awakened by the romantic legends attached to
 
 90 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 many of the scenes through which his wander- 
 ings will lead him. For instance, when exploring 
 the wild moorland country from Dumfries to New- 
 ton Stewart and Creetown, in quest of salmon 
 or trout, he can scarcely go ten miles in any di- 
 rection without passing through the scenes of such 
 legends as that of young Lochinvar and his bride, 
 or such events as the slaughter at Glen Trool. 
 
 The Stewartry indeed is full, from end to end, 
 of these associations. Here was buried Helen 
 Walker (the original of Jeannie Deans), and 
 there Robert Paterson, who was " Old Mortality." 
 
 As we tramp along the lovely coast road 
 between Gatehouse and Creetown, we feel that 
 we are in the midst of a land made famous by 
 the Wizard of the North. Nor is this all, for 
 many a remote and secluded moor, such as those 
 around Loch Grannoch, have lately become 
 familiar to many of us by means of that new 
 school of Scottish fiction that has just arisen, 
 and of which "Jim" Barrie and S. R. Crockett 
 are the chief exponents. On both sides of Kirk- 
 cudbright are counties just as famous; for in 
 them flourished the Ayrshire ploughman and the 
 Ecclefechan philosopher. On a lower platform 
 perhaps, but still unrivalled in their separate 
 ways, we have the Ettrick shepherd and the 
 genial "North." The whole district is indeed 
 exceptionally rich in literary ore; and though
 
 HERE AND THERE 91 
 
 the angler all around our isles will meet with 
 many a memento of the mighty dead, in few 
 places will they be so thickly strewn as here. 
 
 Perhaps Cornwall, with its little river Camel, 
 running near Tintagel ruins, will awake an 
 interest almost as keen ; for here King Arthur 
 fought and met his death, though buried far 
 away in Wales. 
 
 This land as well, the home of stream and 
 mountain, and the theme of many a harper's 
 song, is haunted by the angler in the spring. 
 Few now read Macpherson's Ossian ; and of 
 those who do I verily believe the greater part 
 are anglers who have heard the waves " resound- 
 ing" on those sandy shores. 
 
 It was near a river that Beth-Gelert died ; and 
 and if his dying yell is ever heard, still sounding, 
 it is by an angler's ear. 
 
 The lovely lakes of Wales, familiar as they 
 are to every tourist, are far better known to 
 those who carry rod and creel. 
 
 Of our English lakes the same is true, and of 
 the streams that water all the land. In quiet 
 southern districts perhaps we miss the mighty 
 mountains, and the streams flow smoothly. 
 
 No sudden spates, with but a " Skyreburn warn- 
 ing," such as we expect in Galloway, ruffle the 
 calm bosom of the Hampshire Test. The Itchen 
 still pursues its placid course in storm or shine,
 
 92 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 while studious lads from Winchester's old school- 
 house throw the fly, and try to tempt its fat 
 and wily trout. 
 
 And how full is Winchester of ancient memories! 
 Is not its old Cathedral a study for a year, and 
 has it not within its time-worn walls King 
 Arthur's table, and many a relic of the ancient 
 times when it was capital of all our land? 
 
 As the angler works his cautious way along 
 the river banks, St. Cross appears, and claims 
 attention, with its hospitable doors. 
 
 Throughout the length and breadth of all the 
 island, it is the same; the systematic traveller 
 may see more perhaps; but many a rambling 
 angler will see much. 
 
 And here I would acknowledge that we owe 
 a debt to those old monks who always took good 
 care to plant their buildings near a running 
 stream. We know it was in part because of fast 
 days and for fish to feed on ; yet these godly men 
 had perhaps an eye to picturesque surroundings. 
 
 This at least is certain, that where rivers run 
 there beauty will be found, unless the hand of 
 man has marred it ; and the angler, as he rambles 
 through these varied scenes, if not too keen on 
 sport, will note them all, and carry to his home 
 far more enduring memories, of sylvan scenes 
 at least, than can be retained by tourists hurry- 
 ing through.
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 Fly-taking Fish and their Haunts 
 
 SALMONID^E (SALMON, TROUT, AND GRAYLING) 
 
 SALMON (Salmo salar) 
 
 IT is doubtful whether salmon ought to head this 
 list, for many anglers are of opinion that this 
 fish never takes the angler's lure for a fly at all ; 
 and it is certain that most salmon flies have very 
 little resemblance to any known insect. 
 
 It has lately been stated, however, by more than 
 one authority that salmon have been seen to rise 
 regularly and take the natural flies ; and this being 
 so, the point is proved, as far as these particular 
 salmon are concerned ; but it must be admitted 
 that trout take flies much more regularly, and, 
 in fact, during summer, live chiefly upon insects. 
 
 I do not pretend to be much of an authority 
 on salmon-fishing; but from the statements made 
 by anglers quite independently of one another, 
 
 93
 
 94 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 it seems highly probable that the salmon generally 
 takes a fly fancying that it resembles a living- 
 shrimp, that being a dainty morsel on which it 
 has in many cases been recently feeding. 
 
 A live shrimp (as will be admitted by those who 
 have watched them in the little rocky pools, or 
 have held them to the light, as I have) is a very 
 different creature from the dull, flesh-coloured 
 opaque object it appears as seen on a fishmonger's 
 stall. 
 
 Iridescent colours illuminate its darting form, and 
 it really is not much unlike a dancing "Jock 
 Scott," as seen from below. This is merely a 
 theory on the subject, and not original either, 
 and can only take rank as one of the many formed 
 on this much-disputed point. 
 
 With regard to the salmon itself, no one will 
 deny that it is one of the most beautiful fishes 
 ever created. If he lacks the crimson spots and 
 golden sides of his kinsmen, the trout, he has a 
 magnificent silvery sheen, hardly to be equalled 
 by any other fish, and a symmetry of form as 
 perfect as can be imagined. Then for strength 
 and fleetness he is hard to beat. His lines seem 
 formed for rapid motion, and how it is that the 
 apparently unwieldy porpoise can catch, and even 
 think it worth while to pursue, the flashing salmon 
 is to me an unsolved problem. 
 
 Indeed, I would not have believed that they at-
 
 FLY- TAKING FISH AND THEIR HAUNTS 95 
 
 tempted it, except from the evidence of my eyes, 
 as I watched a school of porpoises chasing the 
 salmon on the top of the water at the mouth of 
 the Dart. 
 
 The salmon is the king of fish, and will, I think, 
 remain so ; for though the tarpon, that gigantic 
 herring, affords even more magnificent sport when 
 being played, it is far inferior to the salmon in 
 some respects, notably in the methods which 
 must be adopted in its capture. In fact, there is 
 no large fish, except a salmon, that will rise freely 
 to the fly. 
 
 From February to November, in one river or 
 another in the British Isles, the salmon is to be 
 had; and he seems to care but little what the 
 weather is, if only the water is about the height 
 that suits him. 
 
 To see the salmon-fishers starting off in a snow 
 storm to tempt fish with gaudy flies, fit only to 
 flit upon the surface of a sunlit stream, seems 
 truly absurd ; yet the practice is justified by its 
 results, and often the early spring and late autumn 
 fishing is the best. 
 
 Other methods besides fly have often to be 
 adopted, for the salmon will sometimes refuse to 
 come to the surface, and he must then be caught, 
 if at all, either by spinning a minnow (the next 
 best way to the fly) or by worm or prawn. In 
 some rivers, such as the Trent, salmon will very
 
 96 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 seldom touch a fly, under the most favourable 
 conditions, and in these streams they are patiently 
 angled for at the bottom, often by artisans and 
 others of quite a different class from that to which 
 salmon-fishers usually belong. For, as may be 
 imagined, fly-fishing for salmon is in very great 
 demand, and high rents are gladly paid for rivers 
 affording any chance of success with this lordly 
 fish. 
 
 In fact, the cost of salmon-fishing is so enormous 
 as to place the sport beyond the reach of the middle- 
 class angler, unless he has a friend of wealth and 
 position willing to give him the necessary opportu- 
 nity. This refers chiefly to the spring fishing ; for 
 in the autumn, when most of the richer sportsmen 
 have turned their attention to grouse and part- 
 ridges, and when the salmon are somewhat inferior 
 to the brilliant silver-clad beauties that ascend the 
 rivers in the spring, the sport is less extravagant 
 in price, and may sometimes be obtained even by 
 humble anglers, quite unable to afford a hundred 
 pounds for perhaps a month's amusement. 
 
 It must also be remembered that many anglers 
 who fish only for trout will hook the nobler game, 
 and on occasion land it. This is sometimes done 
 by trout-fishers at times when low water has 
 robbed the regular salmon men of all chance of 
 sport with their stout tackle ; and now and then, 
 acting on the hint, they change their casts for
 
 FLY-TAKING FISH AND THEIR HAUNTS 97 
 
 finer with advantage, though a fine cast used with 
 a salmon rod is apt to cause disaster unless a very 
 gentle hand is wielding it. 
 
 TROUT (Salmo fario) 
 
 The fly-fisher could, I think, better spare all 
 other fish that swim than this. 
 
 From the tiny burn trout, seldom reaching a 
 quarter of a pound, to the mighty leviathan of 
 the Thames or of the Irish lakes, weighing 15 or 
 20 Ibs., or even to the grand specimens met with 
 in transatlantic waters, which reach double that 
 weight, the fish is always game, a foeman worthy 
 of one's steely hook. 
 
 From March till mid-October every clear and 
 unpolluted river, if also fairly rapid, ought to yield 
 its quota of these gamesome fish. 
 
 In parts of our midland and eastern counties 
 they seem absent, even from fairly suitable streams; 
 but in nearly every other part of the British Isles 
 the trout is to be found. 
 
 A few years ago he was in some danger of 
 extinction, so great was the growth of angling, 
 and so little care was taken to protect him; but 
 of late years fish-culture has kept pace with fish- 
 ing; and though it is harder to catch trout than 
 formerly, this is owing, not to decrease in numbers, 
 but to increase in education, and also partly to 
 
 G
 
 98 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 the very sensible conditions now usual on most 
 English trout-fisheries, providing that fish shall be 
 taken by fly alone, and small fish returned. 
 
 In waters where the fish are much above the 
 usual size this clause is not so common, as it has 
 been found that fish of over 4 Ibs. will very sel- 
 dom take a fly at all. Spinning with artificial 
 bait is then the method adopted, and this on the 
 Thames and other big-trout waters is sometimes 
 successful, even with the largest fish. 
 
 To be methodical it will be best to divide trout 
 into several classes: 
 
 First. The moorland trout, in which may be 
 included all fish under half a pound. 
 
 Second. The river trout, or fish which average 
 about three-quarters of a lb., and sometimes reach 
 3 or 4 Ibs. in weight. 
 
 Third. Lake trout and other monsters belonging 
 chiefly to the genus Ferox, and weighing from 
 2 Ibs. to 20 Ibs. 
 
 Fourth. Thames trout, which in size resemble 
 the last mentioned, but in form are more like the 
 others. 
 
 Fifth. Sea trout and herling, which are be- 
 lieved to be a race of brown trout which has 
 taken up with sea-going habits, and has, been 
 modified in appearance in consequence ; till now, 
 when fresh from sea, it is almost as silvery as a 
 salmon and as slender in form, while it lacks the
 
 FLY-TAKING FISH AND THEIR HAUNTS 99 
 
 crimson spots by which its home-staying kinsmen 
 are ornamented. 
 
 There is so little radical difference between these 
 varieties of trout that a general description, of a 
 non-scientific character, can be given which will 
 apply roughly to them all. 
 
 It is a fish of graceful, though very powerful 
 build, with small scales so closely set as to be 
 barely visible, with a large though not ugly mouth, 
 lined with sharp teeth which extend into the throat. 
 Its fins are strong and of ample size, but none of 
 them have the abnormal character presented by 
 the dorsal fin of the grayling or perch. 
 
 The little fin next to the tail is always stunted, 
 and consists of fatty matter ; hence its name, the 
 " adipose " fin. 
 
 This is the distinctive mark of the salmon tribe, 
 and never varies materially, except in colour, being 
 generally orange in the samlet and pink in the 
 trout. 
 
 Trout are always spotted more or less, and in 
 an ordinary river trout many of the spots are of a 
 bright crimson, and this colouring, combined with 
 the golden sheen on its sides and its silvery belly > 
 gives it a most brilliant appearance. 
 
 On some lakes, and even in some rivers, the 
 spots and marks on the trout are all of a dark 
 colour, and in these cases the general tint of the 
 fish is rather silvery than golden, so that its ap-
 
 100 
 
 pearance approaches nearly to that of the salmon, 
 and still more to the sea trout, which never has 
 pink spots, and when fresh from the sea is almost 
 as silvery as a salmon. In shape it also tends to 
 resemble Salmo salar, but its mouth seems a little 
 larger in proportion. 
 
 In describing the habits of trout, it will be neces- 
 sary to distinguish more carefully ; for the Hamp- 
 shire trout, of the upper Test for instance, though 
 averaging quite as large as the sea trout, has totally 
 different manners and customs. 
 
 As soon as breakfast-time arrives, he poises 
 himself close to the surface in his favourite eddy 
 over his particular little parlour, the floor of which 
 is sanded with clean gravel ; and remaining motion- 
 less, except for his quivering fins, waits for the 
 little duns to float over him. If another trout of 
 a size smaller approaches, it is promptly driven 
 away, for the fish each appropriate a certain 
 spot, and the biggest is apt to take the best. If 
 caught, his place will be permanently filled by 
 the next in size within a few hours, so that the 
 angler always knows where to look for good trout. 
 
 Those fish, often large, though not always fat, 
 which inhabit mill-heads or other still pools, form 
 different habits, for they find it necessary to roam 
 about in search of their food ; and the angler has 
 to watch very carefully, and throw very promptly, 
 to get a chance.
 
 FLY- TAKING FISH AND THEIR HAUNTS 101 
 
 The ways of sea trout and of lake fish are quite 
 different, as they seem very capricious in their 
 feeding, but when they are rising are much less 
 shy than the well-educated fish of the inland rivers. 
 This is natural in the case of sea trout, as they 
 have been far from the haunts of men for many 
 months, if fresh run ; but lake trout, which do not 
 go to sea, are also rather capricious, and are only 
 shy Avhen the surface is very calm. 
 
 The moorland fish vary very much in their ways, 
 according to the nature of the pools they frequent ; 
 and it may be taken for granted that in gently 
 flowing and deep parts of the moorland streams 
 the fish will acquire some of the characteristics 
 of their larger brethren, and get shy as they be- 
 come fat. 
 
 Even in the smaller streams each little trout 
 will generally have his special haunt, even if it 
 is only an eddy a foot across; and if you see a 
 lot of erratic rises in some thin shallow, you may 
 put them down as due to samlets. If there is a 
 big hatch of flies, the trout will sometimes rise 
 wildly all over the place; but this is not to be 
 counted on. 
 
 In the larger rivers trout do not always con- 
 tinue feeding during the whole hatch of fly, if it 
 is very long, as they seem to be sated; but this 
 seldom happens to the less fortunate fish of the 
 upper streams, where food is far less abundant. 
 AGRICULTURAL LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 CENTER AND 
 
 AGRICULTURAI 
 
 OTA -ri/-i
 
 102 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 The moorland trout is a fish even more widely 
 distributed in the British Isles than even the roach 
 or the dace. From John o'Groats to Land's End, 
 and from the west of Ireland to the east of York- 
 shire, there is scarce a county that does not yield 
 its trout, though sometimes the race is very stunted 
 and almost extinct, owing either to pollution or 
 to poaching. 
 
 From the rocky ridge which forms the backbone 
 of the Devon-Cornwall district flows down, north 
 or south, many a rippling stream, to become in 
 some cases ere it reaches the sea a majestic river, 
 like the Dart or Teign. 
 
 In the tail of this peninsula the fish are very 
 small, and a Cornish trout of 2 oz. is a decent 
 fish, the average being often under that modest 
 weight. To make up for this the trout are numer- 
 ous and lively, and not so very shy; and from 
 a Cornish moor an active angler will secure his 
 dozens in a day. Sometimes many dozen of these 
 brunettes, with their deep golden sides, will grace 
 his basket, especially if he should be there in fern- 
 web season, and know how to use that deadly 
 lure. 
 
 I advise that " coch' y' bondu " should be used, 
 and the stream whipped with that, for it imitates 
 the fern-web fairly well. 
 
 Yet if weather should be sultry, as in July and 
 August it often is even in Cornwall, let the angler
 
 FLY-TAKING FISH AND THEIR HAUNTS 103 
 
 search the fern-fronds most exposed to sunlight, 
 and collect a few shining greenish beetles, which 
 are easily caught. 
 
 Then kill one, and after carefully opening its 
 double wings, attach it to a tiny hook, and drop 
 it near your own bank in any likely places. Trout, 
 if there, and not alarmed, will take it at once, 
 and should be allowed half a second and then 
 jerked out promptly. Any fancy playing disturbs 
 other fish, and is mostly unnecessary. Fishing 
 thus you may put two or three dozen trout in 
 your basket in an hour or two, while the web is 
 about ; and when evening comes on, it will ba easy 
 to add a few more with artificial fly. 
 
 The coachman I have found the most seductive 
 to these Cornish fish, but blue duns and red and 
 black palmers are sure to have their turn. 
 
 As we approach the east of Cornwall, near the 
 Devon boundary, fish tend to run a little larger, 
 but a quarter-pound fish is still comparatively rare, 
 and all around Plymouth the streams are most 
 industriously fished by experts, so that a basket 
 of two dozen is a fair day's sport. 
 
 If the angler penetrates into the remoter recesses 
 of Dartmoor, on entering Devon, he will find his 
 fishing very similar, the fish of upper Dart and 
 its tributaries being just like Cornish fish. The 
 flies are similar, with the difference that here the 
 blue dun, or rather blue upright, heads the list.
 
 104 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 Of course when fishing these rough and broken 
 waters fine tackle is not a real necessity, yet 
 there are many pools in which a coarse cast scares 
 away all the best trout; and therefore it is well 
 to use fine gut, though not drawn, for the last 
 few links. 
 
 The natives often have four or five flies attached, 
 but I think two or three will be found enough. 
 vSome men, accustomed to delicate south-country 
 work, persist in using only one, but the bob-fly 
 often can be worked to great effect in tiny stickles 
 where you could not see your fly at all if only 
 one were on. 
 
 In the northern part of Devon the rivers are 
 mostly rapid and broken till within a short dis- 
 tance of the sea, the fall being great and the dis- 
 tance short, but on the southern side some rivers, 
 such as Avon, Dart, and Teign, become more tran- 
 quil as they near their mouths, and require different 
 methods of fishing to command success. Between 
 Totnes and Staverton, for instance, on the Dart, 
 are deep and sullen pools, shaded with mighty trees. 
 Here lurk gigantic trout, at least for Devon, and 
 here in hot summer days the artificial fly is nearly 
 useless ; and the angler Avho means to catch them 
 must resort to natural insects, and, crawling to 
 the bank, must dap them gently on the stillest 
 pools. These fish, perhaps, sometimes are over- 
 large to rank as moorland trout; but after all,
 
 FLY- TAKING FISH AND THEIR HAUNTS 105 
 
 even in this sort of fishing, most of your fish are 
 barely half a pound. 
 
 In the Teign the same change of character takes 
 place as one travels down ; but the fish, I think, 
 are hardly equal to the trout of Dart. 
 
 Two more Devon rivers still remain, though 
 both are very near the Dorset border; and both 
 these streams contain good store of trout and of 
 an average size, decidedly above any we yet have 
 met with. 
 
 The Otter, which comes first, is a fine stream 
 to fish in spring, and yields a lot of pretty half- 
 pound trout, with now and then a bigger fish. It 
 is somewhat strictly preserved in most parts, but 
 leave can often be had, by payment or by favour. 
 Its upper part, above Honiton, is exceptionally 
 pretty, and is full of fish, running a little smaller 
 than their brothers lower down. 
 
 On the Axe the sport is similar, but not so easy, 
 cover being very scarce and fish extremely shy; 
 Avhile in places dace are apt to take your fly and 
 cause a disappointment. The weeds are also very 
 troublesome, especially towards the end of August. 
 Indeed, these rivers are much batter fishing in 
 April than any other time. The Axe is partly a 
 Dorset river, and this county has also other 
 streams in which sport may be had. 
 
 As we pass through Wiltshire we must stop 
 at Salisbury, if only to enjoy the sight of the
 
 106 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 lovely cathedral? Oh, no! the beautiful spotted 
 trout, always visible in sunny weather from the 
 bridge over the crystal Avon. These fish do not 
 come under our present heading, being akin to 
 the great trout of Hants. 
 
 We will pass quickly through the Midland and 
 " home " counties, as the Londoners call them, and 
 go north, touching the skirts of Wales, before we 
 plunge into the moors of Yorkshire and the fells 
 of Cumberland. In North Wales the fish resemble 
 much their cousins of the Cornish streams, and 
 take the " coch' y' bondu " just the same ; and in 
 the lakes the fish are very little bigger, and far 
 from plentiful. 
 
 After this detour we entei Yorkshire, and in 
 Wharfe and Swale find swarms of trout, about 
 the next size bigger half a pound, or perhaps a 
 little less, may be the average ; and here the fish 
 are well accustomed to the sight of man, and 
 know full well his wiles. 
 
 The cost of fishing also is much heavier than 
 in wilder districts; near Bolton Abbey, on the 
 Wharfe, for instance, the charge is five shillings 
 a day to anglers. 
 
 Going farther north we pass the Ribble (good 
 after strong freshets, but very bright and shal- 
 low as a rule), and strike the Eden at Appleby, 
 and find ourselves in a sort of angling centre, with 
 a good, and not too dear, hotel at which to stop;
 
 FLY- TAKING FISH AND THEIR HAUNTS 107 
 
 but most of the fishing near the town is rather 
 strictly preserved, and one must take a little jour- 
 ney every day to reach the best available. 
 
 Even here the fish are far from large; but the 
 Eden is a lovely river, and has a name in story, 
 for it is on its banks that is laid the plot of Long- 
 fellow's " Luck of Edenhall," and the crystal glass 
 which represents it is still preserved by the family 
 which resides at Edenhall. 
 
 All around the Lake District sport is similar ; 
 and St. John's valley has a pretty stream right 
 under the shadow of Skiddaw. 
 
 As we now go northward we must once again 
 pause, on Eden's bank, at old Carlisle familiar 
 sound to all northern travellers, and also to the 
 lover of poetry, as being the last word of Macau- 
 lay's "fragment," "The Armada." Here the river 
 is large, and not very good for trout-fishing; and 
 most anglers, with burn-trout in view, push on 
 at least to Lockerbie or Ecclefechan, home of 
 Scotland's pride, the great Carlyle. 
 
 On the Annan, near this classic spot, is fair 
 fishing for trout ; but better when the herling have 
 run up. The charge made in Mr. Brooke's private 
 grounds here is high, and there are lots of chub 
 about, which mar one's chance ; so that it is better 
 to go right on to Wamphray or to Moffat the 
 former for fish and the latter for comfort. 
 
 In fishing burns first accept the fact that no
 
 io8 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 fish of over 6 oz. is likely to be found, and that 
 the average will be about 2 oz., and then be 
 assured that, from April to June at least, few 
 days will cause you discontent ; for any average 
 north-country angler will get his four or five 
 dozen little trout on any reasonable day, and 
 sometimes many more. Good-sized broAvn flies are 
 best, and three at once; for often you may thus 
 secure a brace of fish, and sometimes three. 
 
 Of the burns in Galloway, farther west, the best 
 I tried was Skyre burn, which joins the sea near 
 Gatehouse of Fleet, and yields, besides its numerous 
 and lively little trout, a lot of herling, and the 
 larger sea trout also on occasion. 
 
 In the lowland lochs the same-sized trout are 
 common, and there are also many bigger fish ; 
 but on those I have fished (Loch Skene, Loch Whin- 
 yeon, etc.) the trout are mostly under half a 
 pound. 
 
 We have now traced trout from south to north, 
 and found him ever lively, gamesome, and cunning, 
 but generally small; and I think that this must 
 be accepted once for all as a condition of this 
 sort of fishing, free, or practically free, as it usually 
 is, for the licences seldom exceed in any district 
 i os. 6d. a year, or 55. a week ; and in Scotland there 
 is mostly nothing to pay to catch burn-trout, or 
 even to try, generally in vain, to make a basket 
 from the larger streams.
 
 FLY- TAKING FISH AND THEIR HAUNTS 109 
 
 We may go farther north to John o' Groats, or 
 even to the Orkneys, and shall then find, doubt- 
 less, less sophisticated fish, and perhaps sometimes 
 a few of better size, especially in lochs far up the 
 hills, and only to be reached by active walkers. 
 
 In some sea- washed districts sea trout abound ; 
 but as a rule the owners of the streams that flow 
 direct to sea are jealous of their salmon-fishing 
 rights, and do not care to let the stranger cast 
 his line, knowing too well that few among the 
 " honestest " of anglers, to whom old Walton 
 makes allusion, are of such angelic honesty as 
 to put back a salmon, should one chance to take 
 their fly. 
 
 The second in the list, the river trout, includes 
 within its ranks all the fish the skilled fly-fisher, 
 having means and leisure, chiefly seeks. From 
 the Kentish Stour and Darenth in the south up to 
 Driffield in the north, these fish are found and 
 carefully preserved. 
 
 In the Kentish Darenth the wandering angler 
 can fish by daily payment of 2s. 6d. at the 
 "Plough" at Eynsford, and of 55. at the "Lion" 
 at Farningham, and if skilful will have fair sport 
 with fish of moderate size one pound and under. 
 To fish the Stour he must join a club, and the 
 trout here are somewhat larger, but the stream 
 is rather sluggish. 
 
 Passing by the Wandle, which is most carefully
 
 1 10 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 reserved for " members only," we may in June 
 try the Lambourn, on the pretty Berkshire town 
 of Newbury. Here, in May-fly season, for about 
 55. one can try for the shy trout, and sometimes 
 get perhaps a fish or two about a pound apiece. 
 At Hungerford, on the Kennet, the fishing is some- 
 what similar; but it is in Wilts and Hampshire 
 that we find the finest trout of all. 
 
 At Winchester the Itchen is a lovely crystal 
 stream, and, as it flows through the town, is as 
 public a river as could be chosen on which to 
 exhibit one's incapacity to catch its large and 
 wily trout. Perhaps this is the reason so few 
 anglers fish the free water, which is full of trout, 
 and prefer to pay 2s. 6d. or 55. for preserved parts, 
 in which the fishing is almost as difficult. 
 
 For the skilled dry-fly man this city is indeed 
 a most congenial abode. Not only is the Itchen 
 at his doors, he has also within easy reach the 
 Anton and the Test, and in this latter river may 
 be had, by those with means to join a rather costly 
 club (and skill to take advantage of the privilege), 
 the finest fishing in the British Isles! 
 
 As it is fully treated in another chapter, further 
 mention here is needless ; but for the Peri wishing 
 to peep in at Paradise, and finding no club with 
 any vacancy, I may say that at Chilbolton, near 
 Fullerton, leave for moderate payment may some- 
 times be had.
 
 FLY-TAKING FISH AND THEIR HAUNTS ill 
 
 At many points the Test runs close to public 
 paths, and the angler, even if unable to get leave 
 to fish, may much enjoy watching these magni- 
 ficent Test trout as they lie, each on his patch of 
 gravel, at the tail of weeds, and rise in a leisurely 
 way at passing duns. 
 
 In Derbyshire the fishing on the Dove resembles 
 more that on the Darenth ; but the water is 
 more rapid, and the fish, if anything, more difficult 
 to tempt. Passing farther north we find but 
 moorland trout until in Yorkshire the Driffield 
 Beck is reached ; and here the dry-fly system is 
 in vogue once more, and skill is quite essential. 
 Here fish will average a pound or so, a weight no 
 other river in this neighbourhood can reach. In 
 some parts of lowland Scotland there are places 
 in the larger rivers where the skilled angler in 
 spring will get some fair-sized trout ; but this is 
 seldom, and, roughly speaking, the northern limit 
 for good fly-fishing for large trout is Driffield 
 Beck. 
 
 Of the ferox and other monster fish we need 
 not speak at large. The angler seldom meets 
 with them, and when he does can treat them just 
 as he would pike, the tackle used being similar, 
 except that gut may do instead of gimp, and the 
 methods much the same. 
 
 The Thames trout is also chiefly caught by 
 spinning and by live-bait, and is perhaps the
 
 112 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 handsomest fish our rivers can produce. It is 
 (alas!) also about the scarcest, and none but men 
 of wealth and leisure should set their hearts on 
 such a costly prize. If you decide to do so, put 
 yourself (regardless of the cost), without reserve, 
 in the hands of a first-rate professional of Windsor, 
 or of Maidenhead or Henley, and in time, and after 
 many guineas have changed hands, you may at 
 last secure a glorious lo-lb. fish to grace your 
 sanctum. 
 
 THE GRAYLING (Thymalhis or Umbra] 
 
 Next to the gallant trout the shadowy, graceful 
 grayling wins the heart of almost every man who 
 throws a fly. In her suit of silver grey she glides, 
 a very phantom of the waters, lurking at the 
 tail of weeds, by gravelly shallows, always on 
 the watch for flies, yet never poised in deadly 
 earnest like a feeding trout. 
 
 It is her modest habit to lie deep in shade, and 
 springing sudden from her cool retreat to snatch 
 a fly, or miss it. Her mighty dorsal fin is clearly 
 meant to aid her in this frolicsome behaviour. 
 No other river fish possesses such a means of 
 sudden locomotion, for the perch's fin, though 
 perhaps as large, appears to act chiefly in defence 
 from pikes' assaults, and the darting pike cannot 
 dart quickly upwards. 
 
 Although classed with trout and salmon, the
 
 FLY- TAKING FISH AND THEIR HAUNTS 113 
 
 grayling is in one important point a different 
 sort of fish, for she spawns in spring instead of 
 autumn, and thus affords the angler sport just as 
 trout go out ; so that a man with trout and gray- 
 ling in his stream need seldom let his rod be idle 
 long. 
 
 The enemies of grayling make a case against 
 her, it is true, when they note that while the trout 
 is spawning she, being in full condition, will 
 sometimes watch below the spawning beds and 
 gobble up the loose ova floating down. 
 
 Many trout preservers, therefore, wage fierce 
 \var on grayling, and they may be right, if their 
 only aim is just to rear the finest head of trout 
 the stream will bear ; for even if the grayling do 
 not eat much ova, they must of course consume 
 some food which trout might otherwise have 
 thriven on ; and therefore, if the stock is large of 
 both, grayling must injure trout to some extent, 
 and if a man is busy shooting all the autumn, as 
 river owners often are, it is but natural that he 
 should disapprove of grayling. 
 
 Though the methods which are best for grayling 
 differ much from those in vogue for trout in the 
 same streams (such as Test and Itchen), the tackle 
 may be just the same, except perhaps the fly. 
 A red-quill will take both, and in the end of 
 August and up to mid-September you may use it 
 with success for each ; but a calm and sunny day, 
 
 H
 
 114 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 in which few trout will rise at any fly, is just the 
 time for grayling; and though it is not orthodox 
 on Test or Itchen, I think it quite as well to use 
 two flies, say a Wickham and a red-tag, for gray- 
 ling rise in such a careless fashion that they really 
 seem sometimes to aim at one fly and take the 
 other, and among the smaller fish you may also 
 have a rise at both flies at once, and very often 
 both will be missed. Another gentle cast in the 
 same spot may then succeed, for a grayling is 
 sometimes like Bruce's spider, and will keep on 
 trying till she hits the mark. 
 
 How different is the sport from the careful, 
 crafty way in which one stalks a giant trout! 
 Wading gently into a broad shallow, you cast your 
 two flies near some tell-tale rings and strike on 
 any indication of a rise or pluck. This }'ou may 
 do a dozen times before you hook a fish, and when 
 you have her fast the play is not like trout. 
 
 A grayling will, if large, try tackle very much, 
 for she will rush down stream if possible and then 
 let herself drift, jerking all the while from side 
 to side. These tactics often loosen from her tender 
 lip the delicate hold, and she is free once more. 
 Smaller fish are better fun, as they play dace 
 fashion, and dash about the stream like bars of 
 silver. If gently handled they are seldom lost, 
 for their little mouths, though tender, will bear 
 a moderate strain ; while a big fish, if hooked in
 
 FLY- TAKING FISH AND THEIR HAUNTS 115 
 
 outer gristle, may tear out the hold by her own 
 weight, unless the greatest care is taken. 
 
 These fish are caught in great numbers in York- 
 shire by worm and maggot fishing and by the 
 natural or artificial grasshopper, which is not 
 allowed in Hants and Wilts, where the Test and 
 Avon harbour the largest fish. On the Teme, the 
 Arrow, and the Lugg the grayling give good sport, 
 and are chiefly taken with the fly ; but the usual 
 size is far smaller than in Test or Avon, or indeed 
 in Itchen. 
 
 Fish of half a pound are, in Yorkshire or Here- 
 fordshire, considered quite respectable, and a 2-lb. 
 fish a prize indeed. On the Test that size is 
 fairly common, and pound fish abound, and on 
 the Avon it is much the same, while the Itchen 
 is not very far behind. Yet a day with grayling 
 on the Lugg or Teme or Arrow, or on Yorkshire 
 Swale, has its special charms, for on these streams 
 the scenery is more wild and more romantic. 
 
 The Itchen, Test, and Avon wind through gently 
 sloping plains, and their crystal waters seldom 
 break in ripples, and never rush through foaming 
 gorges, as the Yorkshire streams will sometimes do. 
 
 It is not in such parts of the waters that the 
 grayling has her haunt, for she loves a gently 
 flowing, even current, and might grow perhaps 
 far bigger in the northern streams if she found 
 a little more tranquillity within them.
 
 Ii6 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 Farewell, Lady of the Stream ! many a peaceful 
 happy day have I enjoyed in thy society, now 
 basketing and now losing a silvery fish, but never 
 torn by that anxiety the keen pursuit of lordly 
 trout has oft occasioned me.
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 Other Fly-taking Fish 
 
 PIKE, CHUB, PERCH, RUDD, DACE, ROACH, 
 AND BLEAK 
 
 ALTHOUGH bream, carp, and even eels have 
 been caught by fly, the above is a fairly 
 complete list of the fish that can be included in 
 the fly-fisher's list of victims (besides, of course, 
 the Salmonidse treated in the last chapter). 
 
 Small pike are often taken by means of an 
 arrangement of feathers and tin that is by courtesy 
 called a fly. The chief requirements for this lure 
 are plenty of glitter and a brilliant red-tag. The 
 " fly " may be three or four inches long with 
 advantage, though the ordinary Jock Scott or the 
 Alexandra will often succeed in shallow clear 
 water. 
 
 I think, also, that the wonderful creation named 
 after its inventor, " General Roome," would be 
 quite as effective with pike as with trout. 
 
 The advantage of using flies (even if they are 
 large) instead of fish for bait is that the trout-
 
 Ii8 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 fisher, seeing pike basking in the sun on his trout 
 stream, can throw one over the fish without having 
 occasion to bring out a heavy rod for that express 
 purpose. Also a fish of only 2 or 3 Ibs. will give 
 fair sport on trout tackle. To set against this is 
 the undoubted fact that a little fish is a better bait 
 for a pike than is any fly. 
 
 Perch take a fly still better in the summer, and 
 do not require it to resemble a fish. The coach- 
 man and the soldier-palmer have proved, in my 
 experience, the most successful flies for perch; 
 but I must admit that most of the fish taken have 
 been small. Large perch do not seem to swim 
 so near the surface as the younger fish ; and I do 
 not think that perch, any more than pike, feed 
 habitually on flies. 
 
 It is far otherwise with the soft-mouthed vege- 
 tarians which come next on the list. As a fly- 
 taker of size and strength the chub must rank at 
 the head of these. Though in some respects in- 
 ferior to his lesser brethren, dace, roach, and 
 rudd, in size he leaves them far behind, growing 
 as he will sometimes to 7 or 8 Ibs. It is fashion- 
 able to abuse the chub as a coarse, cowardly, 
 silly brute ; but my experience of him, which ex- 
 tends over more than forty years, does not war- 
 rant these hard words. "Coarse" he is, as far 
 as his value for the table is concerned; and I 
 have not a good word for him in that capacity,
 
 OTHER FLY-TAKING FISH 119 
 
 except to say that many a poor old man or 
 woman is very thankful to have a fat chub to 
 eat instead of nothing ; but I cannot advise any 
 one with an educated palate to attempt to eat a 
 chub. 
 
 We are perhaps getting on too fast ; for the 
 average chub is not by any means " silly " enough 
 to give you easily a chance to eat him. Let us 
 then consider his "silliness" first. It is true that 
 if you manage to present a basking chub with 
 a nice fat grasshopper in a quiet, unassuming 
 manner, so that the fish sees nothing but the insect 
 and a little bit of gut, he will generally take it 
 without much delay ; but all your difficulties have 
 to be overcome before you reach this point. 
 
 My experience has generally been that the task 
 is far from easy. You see from afar two or three 
 good chub basking, betwixt shade and sunshine, 
 close to the overhanging boughs of a chestnut. 
 
 You manage by stooping, or even crawling, to 
 reach the trunk of that tree, and keeping as care- 
 fully on the farther side of it as a squirrel would 
 do if he saw any one approaching, you gradually 
 extend your rod, with a short line and a natural fly 
 at the end, till you can drop the bait within sight of 
 the biggest chub. To do this is almost as hard as 
 to crawl within casting distance of a big trout. 
 
 Then you lower your fly, without the slightest 
 jerk, till it touches the water; and this being
 
 120 
 
 neatly done, at last you hook your chub. Then 
 you find out he is not the cowardly brute some 
 anglers who cannot catch him are fond of assert- 
 ing. His first rush is sometimes quite as violent 
 as that of a trout of the same size, and as you are 
 perhaps using a tight line there is great danger 
 that Byron's " Waterloo ball " words should come 
 in for " then come sudden partings " only too 
 often, and you are left lamenting, with a broken 
 line instead of a three-pound chub ! Should the 
 tackle stand this first mad burst, it is quite true 
 that, with care, the fish is yours, for he will not 
 make another like it. 
 
 Still he fights fairly for a few minutes, and does 
 his best to weed you, and carefully avoids the 
 landing-net as long as he can. His strength has 
 been taxed severely by his violence, and he must 
 now give way. 
 
 It seems to me that his tactics are as good as 
 the wisest fish could have invented. His only 
 chance of breaking good tackle is that first rush. 
 Even if you have running gear (which is very 
 awkward to manage among thick trees) the advan- 
 tage is not often great, for the chub, if given line, 
 always makes for tangled roots, and must at any 
 cost be kept out of them. 
 
 The best possible tackle for fishing among bushes 
 in this way is a long bamboo, hollowed out 
 thoroughly, so that the line can pass from the butt
 
 OTHER FLY-TAKING FISH 121 
 
 to near the tip inside the rod. You thus avoid 
 fouling the branches, and have the advantage of 
 running tackle without its drawbacks. 
 
 Any sort of fly or insect can be used for bait for 
 chub, and the domestic cockroach is one of the 
 best ; and there is some advantage connected with 
 its use, for however many you may abstract from 
 their native haunts (in the pantry or store-cup- 
 board), the wrath of the housewife will not fall 
 upon you, as it would if you used but one spoon (as 
 Dr. Peard did) for a lure for pike or trout. 
 
 Perhaps this method of chub-fishing is best 
 adapted for boys, who can crawl freely through 
 all sorts of thorny bushes ; and indeed my own 
 memories of fat two-pound chub are mostly con- 
 nected with my round jacket days. 
 
 But the chub is almost as good a fish for artificial 
 fly as the trout in some waters, and is far less care- 
 fully preserved. In fact, to take chub or dace from 
 a trout stream is considered a virtue only inferior 
 to the capture of the predatory pike. 
 
 It is chiefly, however, in rivers of a slow and 
 quiet course that chub are found in large numbers 
 and of great size. The style of fly-fishing that is 
 most successful in such localities is not quite the 
 same as that adapted for trout, or even for dace. 
 
 A light sea-trout rod is most suitable, and tackle 
 to match ; but the flies used are not sea-trout flies. 
 A buzzy palmer, either red or black, and a big
 
 122 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 governor (almost as large as the wild bumble-bee 
 these flies represent) are best suited for full-sized 
 chub. If you are careful to make no other dis- 
 turbance, your fly may fall with a good flop, 
 especially if close under boughs ; and it may thus 
 attract chub which might not have noticed a less 
 obtrusive insect. 
 
 Under the bushes on the opposite side is best 
 for this sort of fishing, and the fish must be 
 dragged into the open at once on being hooked, and 
 will then give but little trouble. The smaller fish, 
 of from half a pound to a pound, are very lively, 
 and much more fun than the grave and reverend 
 seniors with their white heads and light-coloured 
 lips, opening and closing in such a solemn and 
 leisurely manner on your fraudulent fly. 
 
 If you find that dace, roach, or rudd are about, 
 and chub are scarce, change your fly for a pair of 
 small ones, say a black gnat and a wickham, on a 
 fine cast, and you may do much better than by 
 sticking to chub. 
 
 Next to chub certainly, if indeed it should not 
 rank before the loggerheaded monster, comes the 
 silvery dace. Loving clear and shallow streams, 
 this fish makes his daily meals off flies in summer, 
 and the man who casts a fly with decent accuracy 
 should have often better sport with dace than any 
 bottom-fisher can expect in sunny weather. 
 
 On the broad, but sometimes muddy shallows
 
 OTHER FLY-TAKING FISH 123 
 
 of the Thames, the dace is often caught in numbers 
 with the fly, and though their size is small the fun 
 is sometimes lively. Almost every river in the 
 midland or the eastern counties has its dace, and 
 in many they are vastly bigger than the fish of 
 Thames. All along the Lea the dace is found in 
 stretches suited to it. 
 
 In the upper waters, by St. Margaret's and Ware, 
 the fish attains splendid proportions, if compared 
 with ordinary dace. Occasionally they approach a 
 pound in weight, and specimens exceeding that 
 have once or twice been taken. 
 
 In the Lark, near famed Newmarket, many 
 goodly fish are had by fly, but here three-quarters 
 of a pound is about the usual limit. In the Nor- 
 folk waters, such as Wensum, fine dace are found ; 
 but in Yare and other larger rivers they are 
 scarce. 
 
 In the Cam perhaps the largest average is 
 attained, the bottom-fishers often getting dace of 
 near a pound; while one skilful angler once 
 secured a brace that scaled 2\ Ibs. together, a 
 feat probably never equalled yet. It must be con- 
 fessed that here the fly is not so good as bait, 
 and indeed that the very largest dace are not free 
 risers at the fly at all. 
 
 Among the many hundreds I have had with 
 fly not one has reached a pound, and very few 
 approached three-quarters ; but the sport they give
 
 124 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 if over half a pound is quite enough to try one's 
 skill on tackle fairly fine, especially if, as often 
 happens, two at once are hooked. 
 
 On the Hampshire Avon are many lovely spots 
 for dace, both with fly and bait; and the Stour, 
 which runs out into Christchurch Bay close by, 
 is also full of splendid roach and dace. 
 
 The roach of these two rivers will seldom take 
 the artificial fly, though the natural is most effec- 
 tive. If they would only feed on flies, as do the 
 roach of the Welland, sport would indeed be lively; 
 for the shoals of roach abounding in the clear, 
 deep pools of Stour and Avon are something 
 wonderful in numbers and in weight. 
 
 But to find roach that take the fly in earnest 
 one must travel north, and, halting a few miles 
 beyond Peterborough, fish the Welland, as it 
 passes through the string of villages known as 
 "Deepings." 
 
 Here the roach have learnt to take the fly 
 in style, and feed like dace, darting bravely at 
 the coachman, the wickham, or the gnat. The 
 river, unlike most of those which drain the fens, 
 is clear and shallow, with a gravelly bottom. In 
 the sunny days of July and August roach and 
 dace in myriads bask and rise at flies all along 
 the river, and afford fine sport to anglers who 
 can cast a fly. Here the dry-fly man would 
 seem hardly in his place, but many of the fishers
 
 OTHER FLY- TAKING FISH 125 
 
 adopt this method, using one dry fly, and say it 
 answers best 
 
 Here is sport for all, and the baskets of roach 
 and dace made each calm and sunny day would 
 astonish any London angler. The roach thus 
 taken are not large, nor are they often small, 
 running very even as to size, and averaging 
 nearly half a pound. 
 
 In the deeper reaches of the river may be 
 seen large shoals of bigger fish, up to 2 Ibs. 
 apiece, and a few jack, often smaller than the 
 biggest roach. These are taken now and then 
 by bottom-fishing. In some reaches of the river 
 a few chub are found, and dace run large ; but 
 as a rule roach are the chief fish that even the 
 fly-fisher seeks. 
 
 One more important fish remains that takes 
 the fly the red-eyed rudd. In many a Norfolk 
 broad this fish abounds, perhaps most of all at 
 Hickling, and in all a fly will take him ; though, 
 like roach and dace, when very large he much 
 prefers a bait. 
 
 In the Devon leys, as Torcross and Slapton, 
 he is also found, and caught by fly, and on the 
 Irish loughs he swarms and grows gigantic. A 
 wickham or a coachman will tempt him best, 
 and when fish run small two flies are very useful, 
 for these little rudd are seldom shy. 
 
 The large fish, of 2 Ibs. or over, give good
 
 126 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 play, better, I think, than roach, and keep the 
 fight up well, never knowing they are beaten 
 till quite in the net. The perch in these Devon 
 leys will take a fly well sometimes ; but they 
 are often stunted things, from being so abundant. 
 
 Of the silvery flashing bleak we need not dis- 
 course at any length; its size is too diminutive 
 to warrant much attention. Yet it is a pretty 
 fish, and takes a fly intended for its betters some- 
 times in Lea or Medway as one whips for chub. 
 
 For the budding angler with a hazel wand 
 and line of twisted hair, the bleak seems well 
 adapted, and no doubt many a past master with 
 the fly has taken his first lessons on a stream 
 among the lively bleak. 
 
 As an angler starting off to fish an eastern 
 counties stream with fly will not be able, or indeed 
 willing, to confine himself to one sort of fish, a 
 few hints will be useful as to where to look for 
 the different fish in various parts of the river, 
 as he works his way along. 
 
 We will presume that trout are not found in 
 the river, but that fly- taking fish of other sorts 
 are plentiful. 
 
 Perhaps you first approach an open shallow with 
 but little stream. Here you will see probably 
 some bleak playing about, and nothing else, and 
 it is well to cast for them to get your hand in. 
 Put on a tiny black gnat with white tip, and
 
 OTHER FLY- TAKING FISH 127 
 
 cast among a shoal. Plenty of rises, but no fish ! 
 A few more casts and you probably succeed, 
 but feel inclined to look with pity on your tiny 
 victim. Put it back, unless perhaps you see a 
 jack-fisher near who may like to accept the 
 shining fish as bait. 
 
 The practice you have now had will give you 
 a better chance under those alders which line the 
 opposite bank. But do not use that little fly, for 
 the quiet rises you see are not from bleak. Put 
 on a big governor, and cast right under the boughs. 
 What a flounce ! It might have been a pike, only 
 the rush was heavier and less sudden. If your 
 line holds while you keep your chub from the 
 roots, he is yours with time and patience. Yes, 
 but what will you do with him? Three pounds 
 extra in your basket is no joke. 
 
 Will that ancient man, stonebreaking hard by, 
 in those curious spectacles, care for chub? Try 
 him. Well, that fish being disposed of, the next 
 cast (which is short of the alders) brings a pretty 
 dace to bank. But then you fish in vain for a 
 while, though dace rise all around. Change your 
 fly ; it was a wonder he took a governor at all. 
 A black gnat and a wickham will make a good 
 pair. 
 
 A fish on each? Yes, but they pull against 
 one another and the dry gut parts, and the tail 
 fish has gone! Plenty more come on, and before
 
 128 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 an hour has passed your creel is half full of half- 
 pound dace, well worth keeping. 
 
 Now the rapids are past, and you come to a 
 stretch of calm, weedy water of fair depth. 
 Here the shoals of roach are basking in the 
 sunshine, and must be approached with care. 
 
 A fly thrown among them gently causes some 
 commotion, and many of the shoal seem frightened 
 Often one or two seem curious, or hungry, and 
 follow up your fly as you slowly move it. 
 Watch carefully and don't jerk it out, for a 
 roach will often delay to take till just as it 
 seems to be escaping, and then make up his mind. 
 If you have plenty of dace return your roach, 
 for they are poor eating, and if a little jack 
 should take your fly put him back also; but if 
 a perch should seize your coachman, when you 
 try that fry, keep him for supper, and do your 
 best to capture his companions, for they approach 
 a trout in flavour, if only crisply fried.
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 Ground-feeding Fish 
 
 I 
 
 CARP AND TENCH 
 
 THESE fish seem to swim together in one's 
 mind, and they often do so in the stagnant 
 ponds they both can tolerate. 
 
 To say they love foul water is a libel. Both 
 these fish are far superior, in appearance and 
 in taste for table, whea taken out of clean and 
 wholesome rivers ; and in olden times, when fresh 
 fish formed the general diet in some seasons, it 
 was customary to place all fish taken from muddy 
 ponds in clear cisterns for cleansing purposes. 
 
 The elaborate recipes given for cooking such a 
 fish as carp show that the old monks thought 
 it at least worth while to try to make it palat- 
 able a feat we should despair of. 
 
 As to tench, the fish is a most toothsome morsel, 
 if in good condition, its chief fault being a ten- 
 dency to over-richness, like an eel. 
 
 In Germany the carp is sold alive, and carried 
 129 j
 
 130 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 long journeys in damp moss without injury to 
 its health, and forms a staple food. It is a fish 
 of somewhat better breed than ours, and slightly 
 different in appearance, some having very large 
 scales, sparsely distributed, while one sort seems 
 to have none at all. 
 
 To catch tench, when he is in biting humour, 
 is easy; and in the early mornings of hot days 
 he is generally that way inclined, and will suck 
 in gently a red worm, discreetly presented to his 
 notice, as he gropes along the bottom. 
 
 The carp has a taste of more catholic character, 
 and besides the dainty worm will sometimes ap- 
 prove of paste or gentles, or of cherries, cater- 
 pillars, or of tiny new potatoes. To make up 
 for this occasional fine all-round taste he will 
 very seldom touch any sort of bait and requires 
 a lengthy siege, besides the early hours on which 
 the tench also usually insists. 
 
 For little carp and tench in dirty ponds these 
 rules do not apply, as they can sometimes be 
 taken as easily in the daytime as roach, or even 
 perch. Even in these ponds the angler will do 
 wisely to use running tackle, for big carp are 
 always possible, and are desperate fighters, having 
 perhaps more broken tackle hanging to their 
 leathery jaws than any other fish that swims. 
 
 All kinds of tales are told about the size and 
 age that carp attain, and doubtless these are
 
 GROUND-FEEDING FISH 131 
 
 partly true. That they reach a length of three 
 feet or more my eyes have told me, and these fish 
 must weigh 8 or 10 Ibs. each at least. That 
 there are many much larger, I do not doubt; 
 indeed, they may be seen in cases in every ex- 
 hibition ; and they certainly are cunning enough 
 to have reached at least ages of discretion, and 
 perhaps the one hundred years they are accused 
 of. 
 
 The gold-fish which are such hardy pets when 
 kept in globes or tanks, are carp, differing little, 
 except in colour, from the ordinary sort, though 
 there is a gold-coloured fish, of which I saw 
 specimens in the Exhibition alive, which is called 
 the "ide," and is more like a dace. 
 
 Gold-fish will live in almost any sort of water, 
 and, unlike trout, are at least tolerant of con- 
 siderable heat, some of the tanks of waste warm 
 water from the cotton mills in Manchester and 
 elsewhere containing healthy-looking carp, some 
 of which, I was told on inquiry, had been there 
 for many years. 
 
 Pike do not feed much on carp or tench, so 
 that the roach get thinned out from park ponds, 
 where pike abound, much sooner than the carp, 
 which thus are left to grow till they rival even 
 pike in size, and these last are sometimes choked, 
 when driven by starvation to try to swallow a 
 lo-lb. carp.
 
 132 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 II 
 
 BREAM AND BARBEL 
 
 Though these fish have many points of differ- 
 ence, they have perhaps even more in common. 
 Both grow large, the barbel often reaching 8 or 
 10 Ibs., while fish much larger have been taken 
 from the Thames or Trent. Bream seldom exceed 
 5 or 6 Ibs., though one of 1 1 Ibs. is recorded from 
 Norfolk. 
 
 Both these fish keep, as a rule, to a diet of 
 worms, and feed on the bottom. Naturally they 
 require powerful tackle to ensure their capture, 
 and this makes it difficult to avoid scaring them 
 by the stoutness of your line. This is especially 
 the case with the barbel, a shy and cunning 
 fish, requiring much attention and plentiful ground- 
 baiting by Thames professionals before he will 
 come on, if he ever does. 
 
 I saw the following nursery rhyme on the 
 walls of the Exhibition near a case of barbel : 
 
 " Sing a song of Shepperton, 
 
 A bucketful of worms ! 
 Four-and-tvventy barbel 
 
 Wouldn't come to terms ! 
 When the punt was fastened, 
 
 The barbel swam away. 
 Wasn't that a nice return 
 
 For three half-crowns a day ? " 
 
 This is the refrain of the barbel-fisher. With
 
 GROUND-FEEDING FISH 133 
 
 bream it is different, and in the early morning, 
 just between dawn and daybreak, the big brutes 
 will sometimes feed with reckless greediness, and 
 you can half fill your boat in an hour or two. 
 
 One of the peculiarities of the barbel is that 
 in the spring, when out of season, he is very 
 fond of running at the spinning baits designed 
 for trout, and often the long-suffering, seldom 
 rewarded Thames trout-fisher will have his heart 
 sent thumping by a sudden run from a big 
 barbel! For some minutes, if inexperienced, he 
 may take it for a trout (for a well-mended barbel 
 is a powerful and a lively fish), and his dis- 
 appointment is the greater on bringing to the 
 surface an ugly, worthless brute, which, even if 
 not so repulsive, he could not keep, because of 
 bye-laws. 
 
 Both bream and barbel are very tantalising fish, 
 for they are often visible in shoals in sunny 
 weather, and will take no notice of the daintiest 
 worm then dropped among them. Now and then 
 a fish may be had by using a single gentle on 
 very fine gut, but the odds are all in favour 
 of the fish, unless the angler is a skilled old 
 hand at using delicate tackle.
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 Some Sporting Sea Fish 
 
 AMONG these the bass is king, as far as 
 English fishers are concerned. Plentiful 
 enough in certain seasons, in certain spots, and 
 on certain tides, he is yet a rare fish to most 
 sea-fishers. Haunting rocky ledges by the estu- 
 aries of clear rivers, and only appearing at some 
 states of tides, he may be near you often and 
 never caught, or even seen, except when chasing 
 " brit." Yet you will get a bass now and then 
 by chance on your rag-worm, with its baby 
 spinner, as you trail it for the pollock. 
 
 If bass appear, put on either a spinning spoon 
 or a big white fly, and then what sport you 
 may by chance obtain. For he is a splendid 
 fighter for his size, and that is not a small one, 
 for he runs to 10 or 15 Ibs. When beaten, he 
 comes in reluctantly with spread fins and back 
 spines erected like a gallant perch, and tries your 
 mettle well before you gaff him. 
 
 Next to this grand foeman comes the plucky 
 134
 
 SOME SPORTING SEA FISH 135 
 
 pollock, but in tactics he differs from the bass, 
 to suit his quarters. Being deep down among 
 the thick strong seaweed, though not actually on 
 the bottom, he makes a desperate bolt at once 
 for this, his stronghold, and you must hold him 
 out of it, for a 5-lb. pollock takes some holding, 
 and will often break your gut. 
 
 He, too, is handsome, when fresh out of water. 
 In shape like mackerel, but much larger, and of 
 more even and less brilliant colouring. 
 
 Mackerel are fun when your little yacht is 
 running before a fair breeze and your lines trip 
 along the surface in your wake. Sometimes you 
 pull in several fish at a haul, and they are lively 
 fighters. 
 
 In the dark, calm, warm nights, the slimy 
 coiling conger give what some call sport ! I 
 don't. It is like hooking serpents in the dark, 
 and very savage snakes they are, biting like their 
 land brothers, though not deadly. Far rather 
 would I fish for those delicious smelts that haunt 
 the piles of little piers at tiny fishing hamlets 
 here and there. You can take them with trout 
 tackle and little white flies. Between a gudgeon 
 and a bleak they seem, and but a little larger. 
 To eat they equal trout, and are much prized by 
 London fishmongers. 
 
 The gurnard is a hideous, big-headed brute, 
 which hugs the bottom like a dab or flounder,
 
 136 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 though his shape is different, but when hooked 
 he fights fairly well. The red sort are scarcer 
 as are red mullet. The grey mullet is a hand- 
 some, chub-like fish, that swims quite near the 
 surface ; and if you catch one you may well be 
 proud, for of all sea fish he is the cunningest, 
 and requires the finest tackle and the most 
 cautious strategy.
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 Izaak Walton and the " Complete 
 Angler " 
 
 TO do justice to the merits of sifch a work as 
 Izaak Walton's Complete Angler is beyond my 
 powers. 
 
 I can only repeat, with variations, the notes 
 (always of admiration) which so many dis- 
 tinguished literary men have made upon it. The 
 unprecedented number of editions which have been 
 sold is one of the most eloquent signs of its con- 
 tinued popularity, especially as we see the names 
 of such well-known scholars as James Russell 
 Lowell, Andrew Lang, and R. B. Marston on the 
 title pages, as editors. 
 
 When we consider that this book was written in 
 the seventeenth century, and must therefore be in 
 some respects not quite up to date, it is the more 
 wonderful that these new editions should, even up 
 to this present time, be continually coming out. 
 One reason, I think, may be that it is read by 
 many who care little for angling, but admire the 
 
 137
 
 138 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 elegant turns of expression and the quiet, and 
 never vulgar, humour with which it abounds. 
 
 The edition I happen to have before me is nearly 
 the smallest ever issued. It is one of Pickering's, 
 and I see from a date that it has been in my 
 possession about forty years, so that it must have 
 been one of the first books I ever read. A similar 
 circumstance is recorded in the preface to Mr. 
 Marston's Walton and Other Early Writers. 
 
 The Complete Angler is so well known that I do 
 not propose to go into much detail as to its con- 
 tents, but I can testify from personal experience to 
 the charm it has for the young, especially to those 
 who happen to be acquainted with the localities 
 Walton describes so vividly. Yet it is not mainly 
 a book for the young, and is indeed much appre- 
 ciated by grave and reverend seigneurs, such as 
 those with whom the learned Izaak habitually con- 
 sorted. That a book on such a subject should have 
 gone through over one hundred editions, and should 
 still be thoroughly popular after the lapse of 305 
 years from the writer's birth, is surely a proof that 
 Izaak Walton possessed, not only talent, but genius. 
 
 I know that one of the most celebrated of his 
 editors (James Russell Lowell) disputes this; but on 
 such a subject Mr. Marston, who besides being the 
 editor of the sumptuous " Lea and Dove " edition, 
 is one of the first authorities in the fishing world, 
 has a higher claim to attention than even the
 
 THE " COMPLETE ANGLER" 139 
 
 eminent American, and he distinctly decides in 
 favour of the presence of absolute genius. 
 
 One distinctive quality Walton shares with 
 another evergreen author, John Bunyan. He is 
 always comprehensible, even to the most un- 
 learned, and yet has beauties which can only be 
 thoroughly appreciated by cultivated minds. 
 
 Perhaps we should add also, by hearts not too 
 much hardened by the world ; for it is, I fear, a 
 fact that so true a poet as Byron was quite unable 
 to see the poetry latent in Walton's works, or he 
 would not have called him a " quaint and cruel 
 coxcomb." 
 
 It is rather curious that Dr. Johnson, one of the 
 reputed revilers of the gentle craft, advised one of 
 his friends to write a life of Izaak Walton. 
 
 Short biographies have been prefixed to many of 
 the editions of Walton; and the public is pretty 
 well aware that the gentle Izaak, though engaged 
 in 'trade in London, was for many years on the 
 most friendly terms with some of the highest 
 dignitaries of the Church. By his second mar- 
 riage he became brother-in-law to Dr. Ken, after 
 wards Bishop of Bath and Wells. 
 
 After his retirement from business (his wife 
 being dead) he resided partly on a small estate he 
 had bought near Stafford, but chiefly spent his 
 time in visiting either at the houses of the clergy, 
 by whom he was much beloved, or with his friend
 
 140 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 Charles Cotton, on the banks of the Dove, in 
 Derbyshire. 
 
 Cotton was a man of fashion, and in many 
 respects very different from Walton; and the 
 reverence with which the younger man treated his 
 " Father," as he loved to call him, is a proof that 
 Walton's religion did not make his manners 
 austere, or sour his temper. In fact, the more we 
 read of Walton the more convinced we become that 
 he was one of the most lovable of men. 
 
 If further proof is needed, the fact that he lived 
 to the age of ninety, in the most troublous of 
 times, without having an enemy, may be adduced. 
 He died in Winchester in 1683, and was buried 
 in the Cathedral, where a monument was erected to 
 his memory, and also, in 1885, a statue ; this latter 
 by some members of the Fly-fishers' Club. 
 
 At the sooth anniversary of his birth an in- 
 scription, dedicated to his memory, was also placed 
 in St. Dunstan's Church (Fleet Street, London), of 
 which he was at one time a sidesman. 
 
 By a curious coincidence I have become ac- 
 quainted, since the foregoing was written, with 
 some of the descendants of the venerable Walton, 
 and I find that one of them is still an enthusiastic 
 angler. Also that one (whose Christian name is 
 Izaak) stayed awhile not long ago at the " Izaak 
 Walton," in Dovedale. 
 
 Turning from the man himself to his most
 
 THE " COMPLETE ANGLER" 141 
 
 celebrated work, which it must be remembered was 
 only one among many (for he wrote a beautiful life 
 of Dr. Donne and various other biographies), let us 
 try to analyse its subtle charm. 
 
 From the very first page it is apparent that this 
 is no mere fishing handbook. Its semi-dramatic 
 form is, in Walton's hands, well adapted for the 
 purpose of making the book attractive to all, and 
 not to anglers only. This is still further carried 
 out by the plentiful admixture of other, though 
 kindred, subjects in the conversations which follow. 
 
 As Walton was thoroughly familiar with the 
 Lea, from Tottenham to Ware, he is enabled to 
 give local colour to perfection; and though we 
 know that now Tottenham, and even Waltham 
 and Ware, are very different from the charming 
 country villages therein described, still those of 
 us who were familiar with these districts only 
 fifty years ago can testify to the truth with which 
 the word-pictures have been drawn. 
 
 It is characteristic of Walton, and partly of the 
 age, that, before we get many pages on, fishing 
 seems almost forgotten, and we find him describing, 
 in a leisurely manner, the freaks of Montaigne 
 and his cat, which was "as much amused with his 
 master," apparently, "as he with her." This 
 seems to have no connection with fish, though, 
 indeed, the cat is an affectionate friend of the 
 successful angler.
 
 142 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 The first edition, published by Harriot in 1653, 
 was quickly sold out, and four more were called 
 for during the author's life, although he was in 
 his sixtieth year when the first appeared. Since 
 his death one hundred or more in all have been 
 published, chiefly in London, Edinburgh, Boston, 
 and New York. It would therefore be tedious to 
 enumerate them all. The most magnificent edition 
 is one of the latest. It is edited by R. B. Marston, 
 and was evidently a labour of love. No pains or 
 expense have been spared in producing it, and the 
 large paper edition, of which only 250 copies were 
 printed, is indeed a sumptuous work. It is in two 
 volumes, and contains a large number of full-page 
 plates representing chiefly scenes on the Lea and 
 the Dove, besides an admirable picture of Walton's 
 statue. Many of these are of great excellence, 
 and the type and paper are of the best. The 
 fullest details procurable, corrected up to date, 
 are given as to Walton's life ; and the dates and 
 particulars of all the other editions are printed, as 
 a supplement, by permission of Mr. Westwood. 
 
 Nearly every writer on fishing since Walton's 
 time has made some allusion to the Complete Angler, 
 and many have quoted very largely from his pages, 
 while not a few have also borne willing testimony 
 to the high character of the author for instance, 
 the Rev. J. J. Manley, in his Notes on Fish and 
 Fishing, expresses the general opinion when he
 
 THE "COMPLETE ANGLER" 143 
 
 says, "As a man, a Christian, and a gentleman, 
 his character shines forth as a bright star in 
 the troublous times in which he lived ; and as 
 an author he produced a book which will ever live 
 as one of the immortal classics of the English 
 language." 
 
 He has been appreciated almost as much in 
 other countries as in his native land, and besides 
 the editions of his book in Boston and New York 
 already alluded to, he has been the subject of 
 various articles in magazines both here and in 
 America. One of these, which has been reprinted 
 by Scribner's, to form part of a book on angling, 
 I have now before me, and in it Mr. Alexander 
 Cargill speaks in the same enthusiastic manner 
 on the subject. 
 
 He even compares him with Shakspere, and 
 comments on the similarity of the names of 
 the respective birthplaces of these celebrated 
 men " Stratford and Stafford." Perhaps this 
 comparison is carrying hero-worship to an 
 extreme, especially when we remember the 
 great reverence shown' by our transatlantic 
 brethren for the bard of Avon, to whose shrine 
 they make more pilgrimages than we do. But 
 when Mr. Cargill remarks that " it has been said 
 he possessed all the virtues of a typical squire, 
 unblemished even by the shadow of a vice," he is 
 not far wrong. One of the tributes which ex-
 
 144 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 cellence often exacts parody has been paid to 
 Walton in two imitations, one called The Incom- 
 plete Angler, and another, by Andrew Lang, 
 entitled The Complete Bungler, both good in their 
 way. 
 
 To the fifth edition of The Complete Angler (the 
 last published during Walton's life) was added a 
 second part, by Charles Cotton, which made it 
 "complete" indeed; for, accomplished angler as 
 Walton was, he had had very little opportunity 
 during his earlier years to practise fly-fishing ; and 
 though he had evidently made the most of his Dove- 
 dale experiences by the fishing house which Cotton 
 built for him, and gives very sensible directions 
 on this branch of the subject, he did not pretend 
 to the proficiency in the art possessed by his 
 adopted son. 
 
 Cotton carries on the book in a similar form to 
 that in which it was originally conceived; and 
 though his continuation falls a little short of the 
 original in freshness and charm, it is, on the whole, 
 quite worthy to be printed with it, and this is high 
 praise indeed. 
 
 The river Dove runs through property in Derby- 
 shire then owned by Cotton, and the second part 
 of the book gives an account of Walton's first visit 
 to this " uncivilized country," and of the lessons 
 in the art of " Angling with fly for trout or gray- 
 ling in a clear stream" which the master so
 
 THE "COMPLETE ANGLER" 145 
 
 gracefully accepted from the younger, but more 
 skilful, fly-fisher. The idea was a very happy 
 one, and by the aid of Walton it was most suc- 
 cessfully carried out. 
 
 The instructions given in this book are of con- 
 siderable use to the young fly-fisher, even to the 
 present day, being mainly founded on the valuable 
 and immortal maxim " Fish fine and far off," 
 which was such a favourite with Francis. 
 
 A very remarkable compliment was paid to 
 Walton by Sir Walter Scott when he said, speak- 
 ing of Franck, his own countryman, who had, 
 written a book on salmon-fishing: "I wish that 
 Walton had made the journey and written the 
 book instead." This was on account of the style 
 and spirit of the work, for as to the matter Franck 
 was acknowledged to understand his subject well, 
 or Sir Walter would not have written a preface 
 for him! 
 
 It was a fortunate thing for fly-fishers that 
 Walton made Cotton's acquaintance just in time, 
 or the coarse-fishing fraternity would have had 
 him almost to themselves ; and, indeed, the sub- 
 title of his work, " The Contemplative Man's Re- 
 creation," is even better adapted to the quiet 
 stationary angler of the Lea than to the roving 
 fly-fisher of the moorland streams. 
 
 One of the most useful editions is that published 
 in 1889 by Bell & Sons, and edited by E. Jesse, 
 
 K
 
 146 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 author of An Angler's Rambles, etc. This, besides 
 Walton and Cotton, contains some comparatively 
 modern information as to fishing stations, and a 
 good index. The notes are copious and in most 
 cases very good, and some of the illustrations are 
 of most remarkable excellence. 
 
 Those of fish, for instance, by A. Cooper, en- 
 graved by J. W. Archer, are most faithful, while 
 the series of plates representing angling scenes, 
 painted by Absolon and engraved by Gilmore, are 
 of well-known beauty. Perhaps the one called 
 " Landing the Trout " is the most charming, as 
 the companion picture, " Landing the Grayling," 
 is marred, to the eye of a modern angler, by the 
 fact that the fisherman has been obliged, from the 
 absence of running tackle and his hampered posi- 
 tion, to take hold of the line. There are a number 
 of other steel engravings from well-known painters, 
 such as Creswick and Lely, including good por- 
 traits of Walton and Cotton. 
 
 For the ordinary angler, only wishing to possess 
 one copy of Walton and not caring to indulge in 
 the luxury of a " Marston " edition, this would 
 seem to be about the best; but they follow one 
 another so fast now that perhaps before these lines 
 are in the reader's hands an edition better than 
 any of its predecessors will have appeared. 
 
 Just as this goes to press the prediction is partly 
 verified, for the "Bodley Head" has just been
 
 THE "COMPLETE ANGLER" 147 
 
 delivered of the long-expected edition by Le 
 Gallienne, and a very handsome production it is 
 in every respect, though I think the editor errs 
 in saying that Walton's methods are now so nearly 
 useless. But as he " has never cast a line," his 
 opinion on that subject is not of supreme value. 
 In other respects the edition is admirable. It is 
 the I26th.
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 Other Early Writers 
 
 ALTHOUGH many authors had alluded to fish- 
 ing with hook in remote ages, it is believed 
 that Oppian was the first to write systematically 
 on the subject ; and I have the high authority of 
 the Rev. J. J. Manley for stating that five books 
 written by Oppian in Greek during the second 
 century are "by no means bad reading." 
 
 The first English angling book was that by 
 Dame Juliana Berners, Prioress of Sopwell, near 
 St. Alban's. It is bound up with several other 
 treatises on hunting, hawking, etc. 
 
 The reason for publishing it thus, instead of 
 separately, is rather quaint, and though it has 
 often been quoted will bear repeating. It was 
 "That this present treatyse sholde not come to 
 the hondes of eche ydle persone whyche wolde 
 desire it yf it were emprynted allone by itself; 
 therfore I haue compylyd it in a greter volume 
 of dyuerse bokys concernynge to gentyll and noble 
 men. To the intent that the forsayd ydle persones
 
 OTHER EARLY WRITERS 149 
 
 whyche scholde haue but lytyll mesure in the sayd 
 dysporte of fysshyng sholde not by this meane 
 vtterly dystroye it." 
 
 This sentiment seems, in my humble opinion, 
 hardly complimentary to mere anglers. Never- 
 theless, Dame Berners wrote a good practical 
 treatise, which was doubtless of the greatest use 
 to anglers in her time, and which contains advice 
 that should be carefully noted even by fishermen 
 of the present age. Farmers and owners of land 
 by rivers will also admire her sentiments when 
 she advises anglers to "break no man's hedges" 
 and to "open no man's gates but that ye shut 
 them again." 
 
 The conclusion of the book is also quite in 
 accordance with the most advanced ideas in these 
 fish-cultural days, for she distinctly advocates 
 "nourishing the game" and "destroying all such 
 things as be devourers of it." 
 
 Leonard Mascall, in 1590, carries this idea still 
 further, and gives instructions for the preservation 
 of fish in ponds. 
 
 In 1613 an angling book of a very remarkable 
 character, called The Secrets of Angling, appeared, 
 and has since caused much controversy. For 
 many years its authorship was almost as much 
 an open question in the angling world as that 
 of the Letters of Jimiiis in the political. It was 
 published under the initials "J. D.," and as the
 
 150 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 volume contains verses signed " Jo. Daues," the 
 public concluded that John Davies was the author, 
 though by some it was attributed to Donne. 
 
 We have R. B. Marston's authority for stating 
 that the question was finally decided by an entry 
 found in the books of the Stationers 1 Company, 
 where " the work is entered as being by John 
 Dennys, Esq." 
 
 As the book in question claims, with some justice, 
 to be regarded as a poem, the point was one of 
 importance, for it was certainly the first English 
 poem on the subject, and seems to have been one 
 of the best, though excelled by Thomson, and 
 possibly by Gay. 
 
 He begins in the Virgilic vein, " Of angling and 
 the art thereof I sing," and in the second verse, 
 which Marston quotes, Dennys very prettily calls 
 upon the Nymphs that preside over the waters and 
 fountains, Sabrina and others, to inspire his song ; 
 an invocation to \vhich they seem to have responded, 
 for the work (so far from being the collection of 
 fishing lore strung together into doggerel which 
 one naturally expected in a rhymed fishing book) 
 is as poetical in its verse as even Isaak Walton in 
 his "prose," which is saying much. 
 
 The difficulty of making practical instructions 
 poetical has been partly overcome, especially when 
 he describes the way in which the angler must 
 practise humility by lying low.
 
 OTHER EARLY WRITERS 151 
 
 That part of the history of angling which Marston 
 quotes is most elegantly written, and indeed it 
 seems clear that John Dennys was a poet of no 
 mean order, besides being a good practical angler. 
 It seems strange that he has not taken rank 
 among our minor poets, for certainly many of them, 
 to make an Irish bull, are much more. "minor" 
 than he. Possibly he did write some other poems, 
 the authorship of which was successfully concealed, 
 or attributed to other writers. 
 
 Among other angling books of about this period, 
 Marston mentions Gervase Markham's Art of 
 Angling, and some notes on John Denny, by 
 William Lawson, a north-country fisherman, of 
 whom Marston says, " To Lawson belongs the credit 
 of the best description of fly-fishing for trout 
 previous to Barker, Walton and Cotton." 
 
 The next work of note upon the subject was 
 Barker's book, which in one edition is called the 
 Art of Angling, and in another Barker's Delight. 
 Under the latter name it is often passed over by 
 the angling-book hunter, as Marston observes ; 
 and certainly any one publishing a book on 
 fishing should make its subject clear on the title- 
 page. 
 
 It is evident that Barker was a genuine angler, 
 and a genial man ; and his book is of value, and 
 has been lately reprinted. Walton speaks of it 
 himself with approval, though he seems to have
 
 152 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 forgotten it when writing the dedication of his own 
 book, as he there regrets the absence of any work 
 on the subject " worthy the perusal of the unlearned 
 angler." 
 
 Colonel Robert Venables seems to have published 
 his Experienced Angler within a few months of 
 the date of the first edition of Walton. Though 
 inferior to The Complete Angler, it is a work 
 which would have shone brightly in a dimmer 
 age. It has been through several editions, in spite 
 of its partial eclipse. 
 
 The next work of note was not published till 
 1694. This was Northern Memoirs, by Richard 
 Franck, and is remembered chiefly because Sir 
 Walter Scott wrote a preface to it, when re-issued 
 at a later date. Franck was a thorough salmon- 
 fisher, and describes that sport well, but seems 
 to have been unable to treat other parts of the 
 subject with anything like corresponding excellence. 
 
 In 1714, The Whole Art of Fishing was produced ; 
 but Mr. Manley (from whose book some of the fore- 
 going information is obtained) warns us that it 
 does not justify its title. 
 
 Seven years later a curious work appeared, which 
 is now before me. Its title is England's Interest, or 
 the Gentleman and Farmer's Friend. It is written 
 by Sir F. Moore, and printed "for A. Bettesworth, at 
 the Red Lion, in Paternoster Row, 1721." 
 
 After treating of the " Improvement of land," the
 
 OTHER EARLY WRITERS 153 
 
 making of cyder, and growing of trees, he gives 
 instructions in brewing and in horse-breeding. Then 
 he touches on bees and bee-keeping, and next comes 
 "The Angler's Guide," beginning with advice about 
 fish-ponds, and going on to give very sensible 
 directions " How to angle for trout," from which I 
 must quote a few lines. You are to " beat a bush " 
 (beating about " the " bush being then useful) " that 
 hangs over the river, and when the living flies drop 
 into the water, take up one of them, and observe 
 the colour of its wings and body, which you must 
 match as near as you can with an artificial fly. 
 Being thus prepared, cast your line, but let as little 
 of it as possible touch the water, lest you frighten 
 the fish from it ; then draw it gently towards you, 
 having a strict eye on your hook, and as soon as a 
 trout rises strike tenderly, lest you break your line. 
 
 " If you perceive you have him fast, humour him, 
 and let him run which way he will, still keeping 
 him under the bending of your rod, otherwise if he 
 throws himself out of the water, as a large trout 
 will frequently do, it is ten to one but he break 
 your line." 
 
 These instructions could hardly be bettered now, 
 except as regards dry-fly fishing, then quite un- 
 necessary. After advising black and red as the best 
 colours for the flies, the author goes on to speak of 
 " the May fly, which you will find on the bodies of 
 trees in that month, and also in June," and says it
 
 154 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 " is a killing bait for trout, but then you must be 
 equipt with a short line, and a bare hook," as this 
 fly was used an naturel. Although the time of 
 year corresponds exactly to that in which our May 
 fly appears, the fly alluded to was probably the 
 oak-fly, or " up and down," as this is nearly always 
 found " on the bodies of trees " as described. It is 
 a large fly and particularly effective as a natural 
 bait. 
 
 It frequents oak trees chiefly, and usually sits 
 with its nose pointing directly downwards. Hence 
 its name. I see that the artificial oak-fly is described 
 at the end of the book. The habits of the true May 
 fly, which is born in the water, are so different that 
 it could not be the insect intended, though it also 
 was much used impaled on the hook as a bait, till 
 lately in England ; and is now, on the Irish lakes. 
 
 Sir F. Moore continues his instructions by de- 
 scribing live-baiting very clearly ; and without 
 that undue amplitude so common in books of the 
 period. Further on he mentions caddis and " gen- 
 tills," and advises that the latter be kept in bran or 
 sand, as we do now, and goes on to remark that 
 " Carp is not so easy to be managed as other fish." 
 He does not enlarge on the shyness of these fish, 
 like most writers, but, on the contrary, speaks 
 of them as " striving which of them should be most 
 eager in taking the bait." Few of us in this de- 
 generate age have met with this sort of carp.
 
 OTHER EARLY WRITERS 155 
 
 It should be added that this carp-orgie took place 
 after the swim had been well baited ; but it would 
 take a lot of baiting to bring any modern carp into 
 the state described. 
 
 Directions are given for drying the line after 
 use. Then follow instructions for barbel-fishing, 
 and advice as to cooking this fish, which, if well 
 cooked, it seems may be mistaken for carp, as 
 may chub also. To our taste these three fish are 
 about equally nasty ; but it must be remembered 
 that carp were then, as they now are in Ger- 
 many, a regular article of food, and were kept 
 in clear water for days before being killed. 
 
 "Pike and jacks" are next treated, and we are 
 told how to " snare, trowl, or snap " them. The 
 first method is excellently described ; the wire he 
 says " must be drawn over its head," which indeed 
 is the best way, though one would not think so. 
 The other ways " to catch jacks " are also clearly 
 explained. 
 
 On salmon-fishing Moore is weak; but he men- 
 tions the use of the artificial fly for roach and dace, 
 advising black flies, which are now used with most 
 success. He also gives lists of flies, with their 
 times and seasons, and much very good miscel- 
 laneous advice. 
 
 After full instructions for dressing fish, from 
 bream to oysters, with a recipe among them refer- 
 ring to a " mallard," he winds up his book by a
 
 156 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 short medical treatise, beginning with an account 
 of " The Plague now raging in France," and ending 
 with directions for curing coughs, etc. For a book 
 of 188 pages this is surely variety enough! 
 
 Just as the century closed, a rather ambitious 
 work, professing to treat of " Angling in all 
 its branches," was written by Samuel Taylor, and 
 published by Longmans. The claims made by the 
 author in his preface are so wide and deep that 
 one turns to the body of the work, with much 
 curiosity, to see how they can be sustained. 
 
 The first part (which contains a fairly compre- 
 hensive account of the rivers of Britain and Ire- 
 land), though not equal to the promises, seems to 
 give a lot of information which must at that time 
 have been valuable to anglers wishing to roam. 
 
 It is curiously incomplete, making no mention 
 of the grayling amongst the Hampshire fish, for 
 instance ; nor even hinting at the existence of 
 trout in the Darenth, or " Dart," as he calls it, 
 in Kent; though the Stour is duly credited with 
 its " fine trout." In the second part he gives the 
 methods for taking all sorts and conditions of fish, 
 from salmon to sticklebacks; but there seems 
 nothing very novel in these. 
 
 The third part is devoted to the fly, so the 
 preference shown for fly-fishing proves that the 
 author was an enthusiast in this form of the 
 sport. Directions are given for fly-making and
 
 OTHER EARLY WRITERS 157 
 
 hints as to the use of the natural insect; and the 
 book concludes with some weather wisdom, and 
 seems a fairly useful manual, though marred by 
 too much puffing in the preface. 
 
 Soon after this two books were published by two 
 Salters. Robert Salter's Modern Angler, and The 
 Angler's Guide, by T. F. Salter ; the latter of these 
 was popular in its day, and is not altogether 
 obsolete. 
 
 In 1816 Bainbridge's Fly-fisher's Guide appeared, 
 and being illustrated by good plates, is still valu- 
 able. 
 
 One or two minor books came out soon after ; 
 but we are now approaching the days of " Christo- 
 pher North" and Sir Humphrey Davy; and this 
 point is a convenient one at which to close the 
 somewhat dry and dusty list of ancients, and 
 turn to the more lively books of comparatively 
 modern writers.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 Modern Fishing Books 
 
 A S the chief purpose of this chapter is to give 
 ** the student of the art some idea as to the 
 modern books best worth reading, I will try to 
 select and arrange in order those which I have 
 found to be either pleasant reading or of practical 
 use. 
 
 Among these the works of Francis Francis claim 
 perhaps the first place, giving as they do the most 
 valuable practical information in a finished liter- 
 ary style. As Francis was for many years the 
 angling editor of The Field, he had the best op- 
 portunities of acquiring fishing lore, and his books 
 prove how well he profited by them. 
 
 A Book on Angling deals with the whole subject 
 in a comprehensive manner, and was in its time 
 quite the standard work upon it. To say that 
 some of its details require revision is not to criti- 
 cise the work, but only the date of its publica- 
 tion. 
 
 His other works on angling, such as By Lake and 
 158
 
 MODERN FISHING BOOKS 159 
 
 River, Hot-Pot , etc., have the same charm of style; 
 and all of them are well worth the attention of the 
 modern angler. 
 
 To those who are interested in the preservation 
 as well as the destruction of fish (and this should 
 include every angler), his Fish Culture will possess 
 a strong attraction. Details of this are given 
 among Fish-Culture Works. 
 
 Next to Frank Buckland, F. Francis was cer- 
 tainly the most powerful, popular advocate of fish- 
 culture, and his book still remains one of the 
 most useful works, although great strides have 
 been made in the science since his time. 
 
 Another writer of the same name (though no 
 relation, I believe) Mr H. R. Francis, has also 
 given us some charming fishing literature, among 
 which may be mentioned The Fly-fisher and his 
 Library. 
 
 As a practical work, a book by Robert Blakey, 
 How to Angle, and Where to Go, claims an honourable 
 place. The first part of it I remember finding very 
 useful many years ago, and though the second 
 must now have become somewhat obsolete, it was 
 at the time of publication a very handy guide. 
 
 Leaving the severely practical for a while, let 
 us turn to the works of George Rooper, In Flood. 
 Field and Forest, and The Autobiography of Salmo 
 salar. 
 
 The first of these is full of most graphic de-
 
 160 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 scriptions of sporting incidents, and the other is 
 a true poem in prose ; and a very amusing and 
 instructive one withal, tracing as it does the life 
 history of a salmon from the day it issued from the 
 egg (a helpless alevin) near the head of a salmon- 
 stream, through a visit to the sea and a trip to 
 the spawning grounds, till it is ultimately duly 
 caught, with fly, and placed on the railway seat, 
 opposite its captor, who dreams the whole poem. 
 
 Speaking of prose poems brings Charles Kings- 
 ley at once to mind. What can be finer than his 
 Chalk Stream Studies (published by Macmillan's in 
 a volume called Prose Idylls], and in particular his 
 address to the modest brown-cloaked alder fly, so 
 often quoted? 
 
 It is full both of beauty and of truth ; but the 
 angler must not suppose the alder to be always 
 so effective, though it doubtless was so in 
 Kingsley's hands, and on those branches of the 
 Wey which flow through the parish of which 
 he was incumbent. 
 
 As Kingsley's works are known throughout the 
 whole English-speaking world, it is not necessary 
 to quote from them, but it may be noted that 
 anglers familiar with either Hampshire or Devon- 
 shire trout-fishing will find in them a special 
 charm. 
 
 Another angling book worthy to be ranked as 
 a classic comes from the pen of a prominent man
 
 MODERN FISHING BOOKS 161 
 
 of science, Sir Humphrey Davy. His Salmom'a, 
 which is cast in a similar form to Walton's Com- 
 plete Angler, is almost as successful, and for the 
 fly-fisher possesses even greater charm. 
 
 The scene of the piscatorial drama is laid on the 
 banks of the Coin, and its tributary, the Misbourne 
 or Missenden, at Denham, near Uxbridge; and 
 many a specimen of the great trout therein de- 
 scribed is still to be seen, if not caught, in that 
 fishful neighbourhood. 
 
 For Hampshire anglers a little book by Richard 
 Penn, a descendant from the founder of Pennsyl- 
 vania, will have special interest. 
 
 It is called Maxims and Hints on Fishing and 
 the Miseries of Fishing, also Maxims and Hints 
 for a Chess Player. 
 
 As Richard Penn was one of the first members 
 of the celebrated Stockbridge Club, which had its 
 head-quarters near Stockbridge, in Hampshire, 
 he was well qualified, by practical experience, 
 to give hints on trout-fishing ; but the main 
 feature of the book is the quaint and comic 
 nature of the pithy sayings, interspersed among 
 sound practical maxims. 
 
 Some of the illustrations are also very amusing ; 
 one of them, depicting the way in which a page 
 (turned keeper) is attempting to land a trout 
 (by throwing away the net and snatching at 
 the line), is particularly effective.
 
 162 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 It should be added that in the portion devoted 
 to chess Penn is equally pointed. I have not 
 seen either of these two bound separately, though 
 two editions have been published. Perhaps the 
 connection between the two " contemplative man's 
 recreations " has been instinctively recognised ; 
 for the quiet and studious trout-fisher would 
 naturally turn to chess as his winter solace. In 
 fact, I know of many instances among my own 
 friends. 
 
 Some works on fishing have such ambiguous 
 titles that the angler in search of fish books is 
 apt to overlook them, and Dr. Peard's Year of 
 Liberty is thus handicapped. Yet it seems to 
 have suffered as little from this as a diamond of 
 the first water would, were it shown surrounded 
 by common pebbles. 
 
 Its worth has been so universally recognised 
 that it has taken its place as a standard, without 
 question. Its scene is laid entirely in Ireland, and 
 it deals with salmon and trout fishing from begin- 
 ning to end, both of the book and of the year's 
 holiday. 
 
 Dr. Peard seems to have taken his wife and 
 her maid with him, and charming though the 
 tour appears in his graphic and humorous 
 description, it would be interesting to know what 
 Mrs. Peard's opinion might have been, and also 
 that of her maid, especially on the occasion when
 
 MODERN FISHING BOOKS 163 
 
 the Doctor, running short of artificial baits, 
 borrows (and loses) an ancient and valued spoon 
 from his wife's small stock of silver. If Mrs. 
 Peard had favoured the public with an appendix, 
 giving her version, it would have proved in- 
 teresting. The book is still of some practical value, 
 though the fishing in Ireland has very much 
 deteriorated since the genial Doctor gave us his 
 charming reminiscences. 
 
 Another Irish book (by O'Gorman) was of 
 repute in its time, but is now almost obsolete. 
 
 Hofland's British Angler's Manual deals with 
 fly-fishing very fully, and contains many good 
 engravings of flies, etc. Writing under the 
 pseudonym of " Ephemera," Fitzgibbon (editor 
 for many years of the angling column in Bell's 
 Life) has enriched the literature of the art with 
 many graphic descriptions of angling resorts on 
 the Thames, some of which have been collected 
 in book form. 
 
 As intimately connected with fly-fishing the 
 standard work on Entomology, by Ronalds, 
 should be studied even by the -modern fly-fisher, 
 though he must be careful to supplement the 
 information thus gained by reading carefully 
 the more recent and exhaustive writings of Mr. 
 F. M. Halford, which will be referred to in their 
 place. 
 
 Belonging still to the same period is a hand-
 
 1 64 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 some illustrated volume by Chitty " Theophilus 
 South," a pseudonym adopted, perhaps in imitation 
 of Christopher North, by a southern writer. This 
 deals at length with salmon, trout, and grayling ; 
 and contains twenty-two full page engravings. 
 
 Allusion must be made to Pulman's works, 
 The Vade Mecum and The Book of the Axe ; 
 because, though they are of interest chiefly to 
 Devonshire men, they deserve to be studied by 
 all anglers who purpose visiting that delightful 
 country, where, as Mr. Senior says, " you are sure 
 to be all right." 
 
 Before going quite into Scotland in search of 
 angling literature, we must glance, on our way, 
 at a sumptuous volume called the Angler's Gar- 
 land, published at "canny" Newcastle for north- 
 country anglers. This consists chiefly of poems 
 and songs relating to the fishing in Yorkshire and 
 the border counties, and is handsomely got up 
 and quaintly illustrated. 
 
 Considering the remarkable way in which the 
 climate and conformation of Scotland are adapted 
 to the practice of salmon and trout fishing, it is 
 not wonderful that we find a great wealth of 
 books relating to the capture of these fish among 
 the Edinburgh publishers. 
 
 First in the list of Scotch writers on the subject 
 is placed, by common consent, that giant in mind
 
 MODERN FISHING BOOKS 165 
 
 and in bodily strength, the wonderful " Christopher 
 North." 
 
 Professor Wilson for this was his proper title 
 was for many years the chief editor of Black- 
 wood's celebrated magazine (Ebony, as he loved 
 to style it) ; and this position brought him into 
 contact with most of the finest Scotch writers, 
 and with many notable English ones. Great natural 
 powers, aided by such a favourable atmosphere, 
 enabled North to form a style which for vivid- 
 ness and force is unsurpassed in the English, or 
 shall we say in the Scotch, language. 
 
 The work for which anglers will always cherish 
 his memory is called Christopher North's Recre- 
 ations, and consists mainly of narratives of 
 fishing, and other incidents drawn from his own 
 experiences. Very remarkable as some of these 
 adventures appear, we must not refuse to believe 
 them, even when he is represented as walking 
 into a loch while fishing, till actually over his 
 head in the water, and obliged to swim ; and 
 still calmly continuing his gentle sport. 
 
 His wonderful bodily powers were notorious 
 at the time, and therefore the incident comes 
 within the bounds of possibility ; and if it were 
 embellished a little by his skilful pen, can we 
 fairly complain of an exaggeration which affords 
 us such keen enjoyment? Scattered among his 
 works are many valuable practical hints; but he
 
 1 66 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 did not claim to give these details excepting inci- 
 dentally. 
 
 For this branch of the subject we must turn 
 to W. C. Stewart, who treats very fully all 
 branches of salmon and trout fishing in Scotland. 
 
 In the Practical Angler, he gives remarkably 
 clear instructions in the art, and his theories as 
 to worm-fishing in clear water have since been 
 adopted, not only in Scotland, but in many other 
 parts of our country with the greatest success. 
 His advice to use the finest of tackle, with two 
 hooks, and to fish up stream is now almost uni- 
 versally accepted by the clear-water worm-fisher. 
 
 The Angler's Companion, by T. T. Stoddart, is 
 almost equally valuable, being a systematic 
 account of the results of the angler's own ex- 
 perience, which is just what an angler's manual 
 should be. 
 
 A very interesting book, entitled / go a-Fislring, 
 chiefly dealing w T ith American fishing, and written 
 by W. C. Prime, was published by Sampson, Low, 
 Marston and Co., in 1873. It is not a manual of 
 fishing, but a series of eloquent descriptions of 
 sport in the American forests, chiefly about angling; 
 and contains also some exciting tales by the same 
 author. 
 
 Although not actually angling books, all works 
 on fish-culture should interest a fisherman. One 
 or two of these have been mentioned when speak-
 
 MODERN FISHING BOOKS 167 
 
 ing of old books, and among the more modern 
 writings bearing on the subject are the articles 
 by Frank Buckland in Land and Water ; and Fish 
 Culture, by Francis Francis, already mentioned, 
 published by Routledge in 1865. Mr. Francis was 
 then one of the directors of the Acclimatisation 
 Society, and he afterwards was an active member 
 of the National Fish-Culture Association. 
 
 In this book he advocates very forcibly the 
 theory that farmers and others owning streams 
 may greatly benefit themselves and their neigh- 
 bours by a very moderate outlay on fish culture. 
 To some extent this is now done, but it is 
 surprising how slow the British farmer has been 
 to move in this direction. Our Continental neigh- 
 bours are much less apathetic, and have many 
 of them been very successful. 
 
 Francis begins in very early times with Chinese 
 fish-culture (chiefly of carp), and traces the 
 science through the middle ages, in which the 
 monks were naturally its greatest exponents, to 
 the present time ; and his book, though small, 
 is very full of useful matter. 
 
 Since his time fish-culture has made great 
 progress, the late Mr. Thomas Andrews having 
 been successful in making a remunerative busi- 
 ness of his fish-farm, near Guilclford, from which 
 many millions of ova have been sent all over 
 the world.
 
 1 68 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 In the pages of the Fishing Gazette he has 
 given a clear account of the way in which this 
 farm is carried on, and the size (12 or 14 Ibs.) 
 to which he has succeeded in growing his trout. 
 
 Perhaps the most complete book on the subject 
 is that by a well-known fish-culturist, Mr. J. J- 
 Armistead, whose Angler's Paradise is an elaborate 
 account of twenty or thirty years spent in fish- 
 culture ; and tells how, after rearing trout in the 
 Lake District, Mr. Armistead ultimately established 
 himself at New Abbey, near Dumfries, where he 
 has been as successful amid his cold Scotch 
 surroundings as was Mr. Andrews in the sunny 
 south, except that he cannot grow individual 
 trout to such an enormous size, 5 or 6 Ibs. being 
 about the limit he has usually been able to reach. 
 He has also written some very interesting articles 
 on the subject, which have been published in 
 various periodicals. 
 
 The History of Howietown, by Sir J. R. G. 
 Maitland, forms a very handsome contribution 
 to the literature of fish-culture, giving as it does 
 an elaborate account of successful operations at 
 Howietown. Some of the illustrations are very 
 clear and good, and the whole work is most 
 carefully executed.
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 Current Fishing Literature 
 
 SELECTIONS having now been given from the 
 angling works published from the times of 
 Juliana Berners till the middle of the present cen- 
 tury, and also from various fish-cultural works 
 of all dates, it only remains to mention the more 
 important of the fishing books that have appeared 
 during our own times. Among these, the works of 
 Mr. W. Senior (" Red Spinner ") certainly require 
 a prominent position. 
 
 Waterside Sketches is perhaps the most popular 
 of all, and has sufficient literary charm to have 
 made the name of any ordinary writer, quite in- 
 dependently of its spscial interest to the angling 
 fraternity. 
 
 The following will give a good idea of that small 
 part of the book which is in verse. 
 
 "Lo! here by this spot where the merry trout gambol 
 At noon lies the only protection from heat. 
 
 At evening perforce I hitherward ramble. 
 
 Is not the quick flash of the water-wheel sweet ? 
 
 Hush ! the maid of the mill walks forth by the stream. 
 
 Shall I follow, or still idly angle and dream?" 
 169
 
 170 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 The two concluding lines answer this question 
 sufficiently. 
 
 "And I live at the mill, whipping trout from the stream. 
 I followed, was hooked, and need never more dream." 
 
 Of equal interest are Near and Far and Travel 
 and Trout in the Antipodes, while his numer- 
 ous and powerful articles in the Field, of which 
 he has for many years been angling editor, testify 
 to his skill both with rod and pen. 
 
 Among his other works, By Stream and Sea and 
 A Mixed Bag are the most notable, the latter being 
 a particularly charming collection of " storiettes," 
 as he calls them. The first of these, " The Man 
 with the Bag," carries with it the sympathy of the 
 angler from beginning to end, while several of the 
 others, and notably the " Legendary Grayling," 
 appear to me almost flawless. I cannot quite be- 
 lieve in the remorse said to be felt by the man who 
 ultimately captured that fish (especially as it was 
 in a perfectly sportsmanlike manner), but the ac- 
 count of his sorrow finishes up the tale very neatly. 
 That the Derbyshire paople were annoyed at 
 having their only big grayling caught, and found 
 lo weigh but two pounds, is natural enough. 
 
 The latter part of the book, consisting of a 
 chapter devoted to each month, except December, 
 is equally charming, and of even more practical 
 use.
 
 CURRENT FISHING LITERATURE 171 
 
 While alluding to the editor of the angling 
 column of the Field, I must testify to the valuable 
 nature of that portion of the paper. In it appear 
 every week articles by the leading writers on the 
 subject, and to that, and to the Fishing Gazette, 
 conducted by Mr. R. B. Marston, anglers have owed 
 a debt of gratitude for many years. Only a man 
 who has acted as editor in some capacity knows 
 what hard work the post involves. When we 
 consider that the editors of such columns have 
 continually to select, and also to curtail or re- 
 model articles, it is evident that the labour and 
 responsibility is very great, and that it requires 
 a thoroughly capable man to undertake the task 
 with success. 
 
 Another veteran who has done good service in 
 the angling world is Captain Dunne, a thorough- 
 bred Irishman, who, under the pseudonym of " Hi 
 Regan," produced, some years ago, a most valuable 
 handbook called How and Where to Fish in Ireland. 
 It is most conveniently arranged, and has a capital 
 index ; and if another edition, brought up to date, 
 were published, it would, no doubt, be again very 
 popular, especially as Captain Dunne is now even 
 better known as the author of Here and There 
 Memories, published by Fisher Unwin, and so 
 favourably reviewed in many influential quarters. 
 
 Turning to books dealing with special sections 
 of the art, there are none to surpass, either in the
 
 172 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 clear definiteness of their technical instructions or 
 the sumptuousness of their binding and illustration, 
 the works of that prince of dry-fliers, Mr. F. M. 
 Halford. 
 
 His first important book, Floating Flies and How 
 to Dress Them, was a great success, and fully war- 
 ranted the production of a second and still more 
 elaborate one, Dry-Fly Fishing, which seems to me 
 to approach as near to perfection as is given to 
 mortal man. The illustrations are equally admir- 
 able, and combine in an uncommon manner the 
 merits of clearness and beauty, though they are 
 evidently intended rather to aid the reader to 
 thoroughly understand the methods of casting de- 
 scribed in the text than as mere ornaments to the 
 book. 
 
 The representations of flies in his first book are 
 also exquisitely finished, and these two will remain 
 for many years, I venture to think, the standard 
 works on the subject in every respect. 
 
 His third production, Making a Fishery, has a 
 very special interest for those anglers who have 
 means and inclination to enable them to create, or 
 greatly improve, a trout fishery on a small river. 
 I remember reading the book with eagerness at the 
 time of its publication, and was exceedingly pleased 
 with it. 
 
 I have heard since that difficulties arise Avhen 
 you want your large trout, which have been pro-
 
 CURRENT FISHING LITERATURE 173 
 
 duced successfully enough, to feed on surface food. 
 Many of the biggest (of two or three pounds each), 
 it seems, persist in grubbing on the bottom, which 
 is very ungrateful, after all that has been done to 
 persuade them to rise in life. I fancy if Mr. Hal- 
 ford would only be contented with the free-rising 
 trout of about a pound each he could be happy. 
 
 Another book of his, on Dry-Fly Entomology, 
 has lately been issued by Vinton. The plates, 
 which I have seen, are particularly clear. 
 
 Turning to books which avowedly confine them- 
 selves to practical matters, precedence must be 
 given to Mr. C. H. Cook (John Bickerdyke) in his 
 All-Round Angler ; for although J. H. Keene pro- 
 duced, through the same publisher (Upcott Gill), a 
 work which professes to be equally practical (in- 
 deed, it is called The Practical Fisherman}, the 
 scarcity of illustrations in its too closely printed 
 pages, and the want of system in its form, have 
 put it out of court. 
 
 " Bickerdyke," in his Preface, promises (though 
 with evident reluctance) to confine himself entirely 
 to practical matters. And this he does all through, 
 with the result that, for completeness and thorough- 
 ness, combined with reasonable brevity, the work 
 holds the field, and will long continue to do so. 
 For such a comprehensive volume, covering as it 
 does all kinds of fresh-water fishing, from worm- 
 fishing for gudgeon to fly-fishing for salmon, and
 
 174 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 also including a treatise on sea-fishing, its price 
 (55. 6d.} is so reasonable as to require special 
 mention. 
 
 It must be noted that there are over 150 en- 
 gravings, all of which assist the reader to under- 
 stand the careful and clear directions for arranging 
 tackle, dressing flies, etc., which are given in the 
 text. With many of the methods of fishing therein 
 described I am familiar, and in all these cases my 
 own experience agrees with Mr. Cook's. I am, 
 therefore, willing to believe that in the other in- 
 stances he is equally correct. 
 
 Of Mr. Cook's other works, Sea Fishing comes 
 first, from an angler's point of view, as it is of the 
 same practical character as the last, and treats 
 very fully of the use of the rod in sea-water. It 
 forms one of the celebrated " Badminton " series, 
 and, like the rest, is beautifully got up, and brought 
 well up to date. 
 
 Of a somewhat different type, and to the general 
 reader of a more attractive character, are two other 
 books by the same author, entitled Days in Thule 
 and Days of My Life. Both these are written in 
 a bright and lively style, and show that the writer 
 is not by any means a mere practical handbook 
 maker, but is first a literary man and afterwards 
 an angler. 
 
 Another good point is the excellence of their 
 illustrations, the frontispiece of Days of My Life,
 
 CURRENT FISHING LITERATURE 175 
 
 representing "The Little Skipper," being an ex- 
 quisite piece of work, while many of the photo- 
 graphs are most effective, " The Mountain-sur- 
 rounded Lake " particularly so. The picture of the 
 reluctantly laughing Highlander in Days in Thule 
 is most amusing ! Mr. Cook has written successful 
 novels and other books of a general character, but 
 these do not come within our scope. 
 
 Mr. Cholmondeley Pennell, to whom we are in- 
 debted for some of the contents of the "Badminton" 
 fishing volume, and also for other works on the 
 same subject, is always well worth reading, and 
 is familiar with all forms of the sport, and perhaps, 
 most of all, with the pursuit of the noble salmon. 
 Some of the illustrations in the " Badminton," 
 representing, if I mistake not, Mr. Pennell con- 
 tending either with salmon or trout, are most 
 charming, worthy, indeed, of the book itself, 
 which is saying much. 
 
 Among other recent works of a more or less 
 practical description is a treatise entitled Fly 
 Fishing: Salmon, Trout, and Greyling, by Dr. Hamil- 
 ton, published by Sampson Low & Co. in 1884. This 
 refers only to game fish, and is a most scholarly 
 production, worthy of a place in every gentleman's 
 library. It is beautifully illustrated and well got 
 up in every respect. 
 
 The Book of the Grayling, by T. E. Pritt, deals 
 chiefly with the north-country grayling, and is
 
 176 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 quite the standard work on that particular subject. 
 Mr. Pritt was a Leeds man, and took a prominent 
 part in the management of northern trout and 
 grayling rivers. He was also a keen angler, and 
 most attentive and liberal to strangers wishing to 
 try the northern streams. His grayling book 
 contains very clear and practical directions for 
 "swimming the worm," a method much in vogue 
 among Yorkshire grayling fishers ; and also equally 
 careful information as to what flies to use in the 
 northern counties for that capricious fish. The 
 illustrations of these flies are very delicate and 
 beautiful. 
 
 Since Mr. Pritt' s death, which left such a blank 
 in the " North Countrie," another work of his has 
 been published, entitled The Anglers Basket. 
 
 This consists mainly of articles originally pub- 
 lished in the Yorkshire Weekly Post, and very witty 
 many of them are. That they are not all con- 
 nected with angling can hardly be reckoned a 
 fault, for the tales are at least told by a true fisher- 
 man, and the brief epigrams, such as " There is no 
 pocket in a shroud," have, most of them, plenty 
 of point. 
 
 The book was published by subscription for the 
 benefit of the widow, but can be had, I think, 
 from Heywood's, of Manchester, at a reasonable 
 price. 
 
 The mention of Manchester reminds me that a
 
 CURRENT FISHING LITERATURE IJ7 
 
 series of articles, entitled Anglers 1 Evenings, has 
 lately been published there (Hey woods). These are 
 mostly written by north-country anglers, and are 
 nearly all of a most interesting character. 
 
 Speaking from memory, I fancy the sketch called 
 "The Wye and the Wherefore," by Mr. Sumner, 
 is one of the most amusing. It consists of an 
 account of a tutor's fishing tour with his four 
 pupils " the coach and four," as Mr. Sumner calls 
 them. 
 
 This tutor's fishing must have been somewhat 
 disturbed by his lively charges, who persist in 
 "rescuing" fair damsels (who are merely cross- 
 ing the stream in their usual way) and perform- 
 ing other unnecessary and embarrassing feats of 
 valour. 
 
 A Letter from an Angler's Wife is perhaps the 
 gem of this whole collection of three volumes, and 
 has given as much amusement to the ladies as to 
 anglers themselves. 
 
 Her sojourn in a Highland hut, during wet 
 weather, is most graphically described, and the 
 coming home to " hot roast slippers " of wet fishers, 
 much less "clean" than the salmon they catch, 
 is feelingly alluded to, as is also the state of the 
 breakfast-room as they left it when going out. 
 
 Theakston's British Angling Flies, revised by Mr. 
 Walbran, is also a credit to north country literature. 
 
 Angling Sketches, by Andrew Lang, are charm- 
 
 M
 
 178 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 ing throughout, and we suspect Mr. Lang of being 
 almost as good an angler as author, in spite of 
 disclaimers. 
 
 One of the most attractive of angling books that 
 have ever appeared is Walton and other Early 
 Writers, by R. B. Marston. It is elegantly got up 
 in the old style, by Elliot Stock, and the type is 
 particularly clear and fresh. 
 
 One of the objects of the book is to correct the 
 impression that the works of Walton and the other 
 old writers, such as Juliana Berners and Mascal, are 
 useless as practical treatises. Mr. Marston quotes 
 extracts from these works which clearly prove their 
 practical value, even at the present time. 
 
 Perhaps the most charming part of this book is 
 the preface, which gives us a glimpse of Mr. 
 Marston's school days, and incidentally drops a 
 very timely warning as to the overmastering 
 nature of the habit of collecting old fish-books. 
 There are also interesting references to the author's 
 father, "The Amateur Angler," who wrote Days 
 in Dovedale, etc., which have charmed all by their 
 scholarly style and frank acknowledgment of inex- 
 perience. 
 
 Another very elegant volume is Lyra Piscaloria, 
 by "Cotswold Isis" (the Rev. Richard Glover), 
 alluded to more particularly later on. Some of 
 the poems in this collection are of a very high 
 character, both as to technical construction and
 
 CURRENT FISHING LITERATURE 179 
 
 beauty of idea, and would warrant Mr. Glover in 
 aspiring to flights of a more ambitious character. 
 The same author also wrote a little handbook on 
 the Dry-fly, the instructions in which are admirable 
 in their brevity and clearness. 
 
 Moss from a Rolling Stone, by Sarcelle (Mr 
 Pay ton), so well known to Field readers, is an 
 interesting collection of sketches, chiefly relating 
 to fishing in foreign waters. As consul at Mogador, 
 etc., Mr. Pay ton has had ample experience of the 
 scenes he describes so well. 
 
 A scholarly work by the late Rev. J. J. Manley, 
 entitled Notes on Fish and Fishing, was published 
 in 1877. It treats the whole subject ; but special 
 attention is given to fly-fishing, as Mr. Manley 
 was an enthusiast at that form of the sport. 
 
 Among modern American fishing works, perhaps 
 Norris' American Angler is one of the best. The 
 engravings of common American fish, such as the 
 "weakfish," etc., which we in England often read 
 of, but never see, are of especial interest ; while 
 his chatty accounts of days on rivers, entitled 
 "Noonings," are pleasant reading. Dr. Henshall 
 on Black Bass is also well worth study, for he is 
 the authority on the subject. 
 
 Two other American publications have recently 
 come under my notice, Hopkiris Pond, by R. T. 
 Morris, and Angling, a collection of articles from 
 Scribne/s.
 
 I So FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 The first of these shows Mr. Morris to be a 
 true prose poet. Some of his sketches (as, for 
 instance, the account of the baby grouse search- 
 ing in vain for their mother) rise into pathos, while 
 others are equally attractive from their delightful 
 humour, which, though distinctively American, is 
 never vulgar. 
 
 The "pondy" smelling Hopkin's Pond is one of 
 the best, and the parts of the book relating to 
 fishing seem particularly true to nature. 
 
 The collection published by Scribner's is also fresh 
 and crisp (especially the accounts of contests with 
 the tireless land-locked salmon), though the details 
 as to Walton are not all to be depended on, " Ware- 
 ham" not being one of his haunts. Would that 
 we had such fish in England as the " winanishe," 
 which Creighton describes. Many of the engrav- 
 ings are also very effective. 
 
 The Salmon Fly, by G. Kelson, is an important 
 treatise on the subject, and as the author is a 
 well-known expert, it deserves attention from every 
 salmon-fisher. 
 
 By Hook and by Crook, from the pen of Mr. Eraser 
 Sandeman, so well known from his interesting 
 articles on salmon-fishing in the Field, is a charm- 
 ing work, with capital illustrations, representing 
 incidents in the writer's experience. 
 
 Mr. Sandeman does not confine himself to 
 generalities, and leave one in doubt as to whether
 
 CURRENT FISHING LITERATURE 181 
 
 anything worth having was caught at all, but 
 goes into most interesting details as to weights, 
 etc., of the salmon he takes ; and this, to most 
 anglers, is a most attractive feature in any angling 
 book. Another book by the same author, entitled 
 Travels in Norway, is equally good. 
 
 The same may be said of My Life as an Angler , 
 by Mr. Henderson, a celebrated Tweed salmon- 
 fisher, since deceased. It is an account of the 
 incidents of a long life, devoted, as far as the sport- 
 ing part was concerned, to the pursuit, and as 
 such has a special interest for anglers. Let us 
 hope that many of our best-known fishers will 
 follow so good an example. 
 
 One of the most recent presents to the Fly 
 Fishers' Club is La Tntite, by G. Albert Petit, 
 (Paris, C. H. Delagrave), and having just finished 
 it, I can record the impression produced while still 
 fresh : it is one of unmixed satisfaction. The author 
 is clearly a genuine lover of the fly fisher's craft, 
 and has also the gift of imparting his knowledge 
 with clearness, and withal in a scholarly manner, 
 not devoid of humour, and with becoming modesty. 
 All success to such a book. Its get up is also ad- 
 mirable, and the illustrations very good.
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 On Angling Rhymes, with Quotations 
 
 ONLY a short time ago, in a leading article 
 in a daily paper, the question was actually 
 propounded, " Can a sportsman be a poet ? " 
 the writer continuing by saying, "Can black be 
 white?" and so on. 
 
 It is therefore evident that some people consider 
 sport an enemy to poetry. 
 
 Passing lightly over the fact that Shakespeare, 
 to whom no one denies the rank of poet, was 
 certainly a sportsman, of a kind, when he chased 
 Sir Thomas Lucy's deer, we may remark that 
 hunting and other active, and perhaps noisy, 
 sports have certainly inspired some very capital 
 verse, chiefly in the shape of songs written by 
 enthusiasts in some form of the chase. 
 
 With regard to fishing, it appears to me that 
 this "contemplative man's recreation" is about 
 as suitable an occupation for a poet as can well 
 
 be conceived. 
 
 182
 
 ON ANGLING RHYMES 183 
 
 If I were not an angler, and wanted to be a 
 poet (which I don't), I would take up the sport, 
 for the sake of the freedom to roam the fields 
 and river banks unquestioned. For truly a 
 trout-rod is a magic wand to drive away too 
 curious intruders on one's solitude human beings 
 as well as cattle. 
 
 Familiar then with the most romantic and 
 sequestered nooks among the streams and moun- 
 tains, the angler, with a soul, ought to develop 
 at least some little aptitude for appreciating 
 poetry ; and if his temperament serve, he will 
 often acquire a knack of making verses, which, 
 if wise, he burns, and if particularly foolish, he 
 calls " poetry." 
 
 I am speaking now of the rank and file of 
 anglers; but among them all there will be now 
 and then one with a real gift for metrical com- 
 position ; and the leisure and solitude which trout 
 fishing gives will enable him to cultivate it to 
 advantage. 
 
 As a matter of fact it has done so in many 
 cases, as for instance in those of Burns, Charles 
 Kingsley, etc. But before we reach these com- 
 paratively modern poets, there are two or three 
 earlier writers to refer to. 
 
 Among these John Denny is the first of any 
 note, and he is a very favourable specimen of 
 the angler-poet.
 
 1 84 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 "The lofty woods, the forests wide and long, 
 Adorned with leaves and branches fresh and greene, 
 In whose coole bowers the birds, with chaunting song, 
 Doe welcome with their quire the summer's Queene. 
 The meadowes faire where Flora's guifts among 
 The silver skaldd fish that softlie swimme 
 Within the brookes and cristall wat'ry brimme. 
 All these and many more, of His creation 
 That made the heavens, the angler oft doth see, 
 And takes therein no little delectation 
 To think how strange and wonderful they be ; 
 Framing thereof an inward contemplation 
 To set his thoughts from other fancies free. 
 And whiles he lookes on these with joyfull eye, 
 His minde is rapt above the starry skye." 
 
 In this we have a fair specimen of the style 
 of the author of The Secrets of Angling. 
 
 Both Walton and Cotton were poets ; the 
 former seems to me more happy when he keeps 
 free from the shackles of rhyme and metre, and 
 writes what Kingsley afterwards christened, Prose 
 Idylls. 
 
 Cotton dances prettily in the fetters, and one of 
 the irregular stanzas in his " Retirement " (which 
 was dedicated to Walton) at least is worth 
 quoting : 
 
 "Dear solitude, the soul's best friend, 
 That man acquainted with himself dost make, 
 And all his Maker's wonders to entend, 
 
 With thee I here converse at will, 
 
 And would be glad to do so still ; 
 For it is thou alone that keep'st the soul awake."
 
 ON ANGLING RHYMES 185 
 
 Perhaps the most elegant of stanzas relating to 
 angling is in Thomson's " Spring." 
 
 It is as admirable for the truth of its descrip- 
 tions as for the beauty of its blank verse; and 
 though long for a quotation, should not be cur- 
 tailed as it usually is. 
 
 " Now when the first foul torrent of the brooks 
 Swell'd with the vernal rains is ebbed away, 
 And whit'ning down their mossy-tinctured stream 
 Descends the billowy foam : now is the time, 
 While yet the dark brown water aids the guile, 
 To tempt the trout. The well dissembled fly, 
 The rod fine-tap'ring with elastic spring : 
 Snatched from the hoary steed the floating line, 
 And all thy slender wat'ry stores prepare. 
 But let not on thy hook the tortur'd worm 
 Convulsive twist in agonizing folds, 
 Which by rapacious hunger swallowed deep 
 Gives, as you tear it from the bleeding breast, 
 Harsh pain, and horror to the tender hand. 
 
 When with his lively ray the potent sun 
 Has pierced the stream and roused the finny race, 
 Then issuing cheerful to thy sport repair. 
 Chief should the western breezes curling play 
 And light o'er ether bear the shadowy clouds. 
 High to their fount this day amid the hills 
 And woodlands warbling round, trace up the brooks. 
 The next pursue their rocky channeled maze 
 Down to the river in whose ample wave 
 Their little naiads love to sport at large. 
 Just in the dubious point where with the pool 
 Is mixed the trembling stream or where it boils 
 Around the stone, or from the hallow'd bank 
 Reverted plays in undulating flow,
 
 1 86 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 There throw, nice judging, the delusive fly, 
 And as you lead it round in artful curve, 
 With eye attentive mark the springing game, 
 Straight as above the surface of the flood 
 They wanton rise, or urged by hunger leap. 
 Then fix with gentle twitch the barbed hook, 
 Some lightly tossing to the grassy bank, 
 And to the shelving shore slow dragging some, 
 With various hand proportioned to their force. 
 
 If yet too young and easily deceiv'd 
 A worthless prey scarce bends your pliant rod, 
 Him, piteous of his youth, and the short space 
 He has enjoy'd the vital light of heav'n, 
 Soft disengage, and back into the stream 
 The speckled captive throw. But should you lure 
 From his dark haunt beneath the tangled roots 
 Of pendant trees the monarch of the brook, 
 Behoves you then to ply your finest art. 
 Long time he, following cautious, scans the fly, 
 And oft attempts to seize it ; but as oft 
 The dimpled water speaks his jealous fear. 
 
 At last, while haply o'er the shaded sun 
 Passes a cloud, he desp'rate takes the death 
 With sullen plunge. At once he darts along 
 Deep struck, and runs out all the lengthen'd line, 
 Then seeks the furthest ooze, the shelt'ring weed, 
 The cavern'd bank, his old secure abode, 
 And flies aloft and flounces round the pool, 
 Indignant of the guile ! With yielding hand 
 That feels him still, yet to his furious course 
 Gives way, you, now retiring, following now, 
 Across the stream, exhaust his idle rage, 
 Till floating broad upon his breathless side, 
 And to his fate abandoned, to the shore 
 You gaily drag your unresisting prize."
 
 ON ANGLING RHYMES 187 
 
 Among modern angling verses I have seen none 
 to surpass those contained in a little work pub- 
 lished by Horace Cox, and called Lyra Piscaloria. 
 The author writes under the name of " Cots wold 
 Isis," but it is an open secret that these poems 
 are by the Rev. Richard Glover ; and he certainly 
 has no need to blush for the book. 
 
 Perhaps the finest poem in it is one on a sub- 
 ject dear to all anglers Isaac Walton. It was 
 read at a dinner given in honour of his ter- 
 centenary at Broxbourne, and breathes throughout 
 the very spirit of that tranquil angler. 
 
 It is too long to quote in full. This is the first 
 stanza, 
 
 " A hush, a solemn hush ; one moment now, 
 Arnid these festive rites so glad and gay, 
 While we to Walton's name uncovered bow, 
 And to his memory reverent homage pay. 
 And where more fitly could such ritual be 
 Than on the banks of his beloved Lea ? " 
 
 This proves that Mr. Glover has the true poetic 
 vein, and moreover that he takes the trouble to 
 see that the mould in which he casts his liquid 
 ideas is elegantly formed and highly polished. 
 
 One other stanza must be quoted at risk of 
 giving an inadequate impression of the whole 
 poem, which is entitled "The Anglers' Concert," 
 and is as melodious almost as the songs of the 
 birds which it describes. After alluding to these,
 
 1 88 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 and also to the flash of the kingfisher, and the 
 music of the waterfall, he concludes with, 
 
 " Now flush the waters in the afterglow 
 
 That eastward reddens from the crimson west, 
 
 Awhile the rooks with weary wing and slow 
 
 Flap homeward to their fledglings in their nest : 
 
 And on my listening ear, so far below, 
 Their cawings sound a lullaby of rest, 
 
 Nor harsh the tones, but full of sweet repose ; 
 
 Nor fitter music could the concert close." 
 
 This reminds one a little of Grey's u Elegy," 
 and yet is not an imitation in any sense. 
 
 In some of the shorter poems the style is more 
 airy, and in some cases very bright, as in the 
 second, called "The Trout," 
 
 "Curved like an Indian bow, 
 
 Bow and arrow in one, 
 Spotted with crimson, with gold aglow 
 
 And bright as a summer sun ; 
 With fins like a lady's fan, 
 
 Yet strong as a canvas sail, 
 Cleaving the stream as a cutter can 
 
 The sea in a Biscay gale." 
 
 But the whole book is worth reading by any 
 lover of poetry, and also by any lover of angling ; 
 and for those who like both it is a treat indeed. 
 Two of the best of these poems are included in a 
 little volume recently published by Walter Scott, 
 and called Songs and Ballads of Sport. 
 
 This collection also contains some good old
 
 ON ANGLING RHYMES 189 
 
 songs on fishing by Walton, Stoddart, Double- 
 day and others, and concludes with some stanzas 
 in praise of salmon spearing, which prove I think 
 the editor was not an angler, or at least had not 
 the true angler's hatred of killing fish, out of 
 season, with a spear ! As it happens the verses 
 are very effective, which only makes one regret 
 the more that their author (A. B. Street) did not 
 choose some less repulsive subject. 
 
 Perhaps the best of these poems is the well- 
 known " Taking of the Salmon." Its rhyme and 
 rhythm are as charming as is the truth of the 
 description, and the last four lines live in the 
 memory, 
 
 " Hark to the music of the reel ! 
 
 We listen with devotion ; 
 There's something in that circling wheel 
 That stirs the heart's emotion ! " 
 
 A very fine collection of old angling songs is 
 contained in The Newcastle Angler's Garland. The 
 chief authors of these are Joseph Crawhall (the 
 editor), and Robert Roxby and Thomas Double- 
 day. 
 
 There are some good verses also by Wm. 
 Andrew Chatto, of which the last must be quoted. 
 It is from "The Fisher's Call," 1837. 
 
 " In the pools deep and still where the yellow trout lie 
 Like the fall of a rose leaf we'll throw the light fly.
 
 190 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 Where the waters flow gently, or rapidly foam, 
 We'll load well our creels and hie merrily home. 
 
 Then up, fishers up, to the waters away ! 
 
 Where the bright trout is leaping in search of his 
 prey." 
 
 One of the best of the joint productions of 
 Robert Roxby and Thomas Doubleday is set to 
 "Auld Lang Syne." It is too long to quote in 
 full, and is also in rather broad lowland Scotch. 
 
 ''Though Cheviot's top be frosty still 
 
 He's green below the knee, 
 Sae don your plaid and tak your gad 
 An' gang awa' wi' me ! " 
 
 The verse lately quoted from W. A. Chatto's 
 poem is contained, I see, among others, in a book 
 which has since come into my hands. 
 
 It is the last volume of the Badminton series, 
 and entitled, The Poetry of Sport. 
 
 Like the rest of the set, it is beautifully got 
 up, and has some most effective illustrations, 
 both new and old ; but the part of it dealing 
 with angling hardly comes up to the high 
 expectations naturally formed. 
 
 Most of the best verses are from The Fisher's 
 Garland. Among the others are examples from 
 Kingsley, from Mrs. Hemans, and from Bunyan 
 (the last as to trout- tickling). 
 
 The verses by Kingsley are capital, but not 
 "poetry," and he would certainly not have
 
 ON ANGLING RHYMES 191 
 
 claimed that they were! They are on the 
 "south-west wind," and the first verse runs, 
 
 " O blessed drums of Aldershot ! 
 O blessed south-west train ! 
 O blessed, blessed speaker's clock, 
 All prophesying rain ! " 
 
 Mrs. Hemans entitles her poem " The Angler," 
 and that is all the angling it contains. She 
 evidently thinks a dragon-fly is a May-fly ; but 
 what else could be expected? 
 
 There is one really curious reprint. It is a 
 copy of Walton's " Angler's Song," with the music, 
 and half of it is printed upside down, to enable 
 the bass and tenor to read from the same copy, 
 when the book lay between them. 
 
 In Waterside Sketches, already referred to, is a 
 capital song, written for the author of the book 
 by Mr. G. Manville Fenn, the refrain of which 
 lingers in the memory. 
 
 "And my rod light and limber, my line true and fine, 
 My creel on my back, and a scrap when I'd dine, 
 Sweet nature around me, the world's troubles far, 
 Believe me we fishers philosophers are." 
 
 Not that it is desirable to dine on "scraps," 
 but that is just the way you feel when the fish 
 are rising and some one comes out to tell you 
 that "dinner is waiting." 
 
 It is among the minor poets mainly that we
 
 192 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 find poems on fishing; but references to the 
 sport are not wanting in the highest quarters ; 
 and in Tennyson's " Miller's Daughter " is a pretty 
 word picture of a young (and not very enthusi- 
 astic) angler who 
 
 "Angled in the higher pool." 
 
 after which it continues, 
 
 "Then leapt a trout. In lazy mood 
 I watched the little circles die ; 
 They past into the level flood, 
 And there a vision caught my eye ; 
 The reflex of a beauteous form, 
 A glowing arm, a gleaming neck." 
 
 Would it be irreverent to imagine that this 
 was drawn from some of the poet's Lincolnshire 
 experiences, and that possibly the maid in 
 question was not unaware of the reflective 
 powers of the "sleepy pool above the dam?" 
 Some girls know them. 
 
 A dainty volume by John Buchan, entitled Musa 
 Piscatrix, has lately been published by J. Lane. 
 It consists of a selection of verse, relating, more 
 or less, to angling, by various writers, from 
 Shakespeare to Andrew Lang, and concludes 
 with some musical stanzas by the compiler, 
 addressed to the shade of Isaak Walton; and the 
 last verse runs thus:
 
 ON ANGLING RHYMES 193 
 
 "For there the waters fall and flow 
 By fragrant banks, and still below 
 The great three pounders rise and take 
 The palmer, alder, dun or drake. 
 Now by that stream, if there you be, 
 I prithee keep a place for me ! " 
 
 One more quotation and this chapter on angling 
 rhymes, which is to me a labour of love, must 
 conclude. This time it is from a paper published 
 in New York, and called "Shooting and Fishing." 
 The writer, who is too shy to give his name, 
 though he need not have been so, says in the 
 first verse of his song, 
 
 " Ah ! my heart is sick with wishing 
 
 For my old fly-rod ! 
 Wishing for the next vacation, 
 Health and rest and recreation 
 
 Do you think it odd 
 How I long to go a-fishing 
 
 With my old fly-rod?" 
 
 This has a lilt which reminds one of some of 
 the plaintive negro songs. No doubt many of us 
 would decidedly prefer a new fly-rod; but that 
 is "another story," and would require quite a 
 different style of versification.
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 The Lessons of a Diary 
 
 HOWEVER inapt may be the pupil, it is diffi- 
 cult to avoid learning something in turning 
 the pages of a faithful record of the results of a 
 quarter of a century of fishing. 
 
 To the stranger, no doubt the crude and bald 
 statements it contains must be very dry reading, 
 only made tolerable by the possibility of learning a 
 few wrinkles from the experience of another. 
 
 The effect in the mind of the angler who wrote 
 the brief memoranda he now refers to is quite 
 different. 
 
 All the dry bones come to life, and around the 
 nucleus of fact afforded by such words as " Test, 
 ii . 10 Ib. 5 oz.," and " Darenth . 20 . 10 Ibs. 3 oz.," 
 or, as a contrast, " Annan, etc., . 68 . 8 Ibs. 8 oz.," 
 how the covering of circumstance and surround- 
 ings will gather, and detail follow detail, till a 
 perfect and nearly accurate picture is formed in 
 the mind of each of those long past days of pure 
 enjoyment. 
 
 *94
 
 THE LESSONS OF A DIARY 195 
 
 There are others of a very different nature, when 
 snowstorms, torrents of rain, too brilliant sunshine, 
 or even the flashes of extra stupidity which visit 
 us occasionally, have marked the page with ducks' 
 eggs, such as " Test . o . o . o . (lost 5)," or " Avon, 
 i . i oz. (retd.)." Between the two extremes come 
 the many average days when a pair of anglers 
 sally forth, hopeful as ever, each morning for a 
 week or two, and fish in waters until then unknown 
 to them. Gradually gaining the requisite famili- 
 arity with the ways and manners of its inhabitants, 
 they bring home each evening a somewhat heavier 
 bag. The improvement may not be regular, 
 as weather is such an important factor. Also 
 anglers and fish will sometimes have their silly 
 days, with results on the bag of opposite charac- 
 ters. 
 
 The average weight of trout caught each day on 
 different rivers is a much disputed point ; and whilst 
 it is the custom to return all fish under a fixed 
 standard, it must remain very uncertain. Of 
 course, the average of those retained can be 
 easily found, if anglers will weigh their fish 
 properly ; but to estimate accurately each fish that 
 you have put back is far from easy. Yet it ought 
 to be done, especially in such rivers as the Test 
 and Kentish Stour, where the limit is 13 inches or 
 over. 
 
 Some high authorities, such as F. M. Halford,
 
 196 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 are beginning to think that the returning of fish is 
 overdone, and results in leaving the rivers full of 
 trout so shy as to be practically useless ; the 
 better plan, according to this theory, being to keep 
 out all fish excepting very tiny ones, and to make 
 up for the depletion of the rivers by more liberal 
 stocking. 
 
 However this may be, it is certain that the 
 average of trout taken is very different in Scotch 
 and Devon streams from that in Hampshire, or 
 even in Kent and Hertfordshire. In the Scotch 
 burns it is under 2 oz., while in the Test it is over 
 a pound, and in the Itchen not much less, about 
 f Ib. perhaps. The Darenth yields something 
 under Ib., so that many have to be returned. I 
 must have put back about one hundred last season 
 alone. The stream at Wycombe gives about the 
 same result, and the limit being higher, most of 
 the fish go back. In Yorkshire and Cumberland 
 the average is nearer J Ib. than | Ib., and in Devon- 
 shire it is nearer 2 oz. than \ Ib., but here it is 
 customary to keep everything over 2 oz. 
 
 In Cornwall it is much the same, while, curiously 
 enough, some streams (tributaries of the Wey) 
 which run through the northern corner of Hamp- 
 shire contain trout averaging but little larger than 
 the Devon fish, two days' fishing giving forty-nine 
 fish weighing but little over 10 Ibs. There is one 
 river in Devon, the Otter, on which the average is
 
 THE LESSONS OF A DIARY 197 
 
 certainly well above this, for in the portions of the 
 Otter I have fished trout of 6 oz. to Ib. are 
 more numerous than those of \ Ib. or less, the 
 average being about 6 oz. 
 
 I think the Axe is similar in character ; but my 
 record is so meagre that no fair average could be 
 struck. Certainly fish of Ib. are not uncommon, 
 though very hard to circumvent. In Wales I 
 found the average the smallest of all, but this was 
 in autumn, and among brown trout only. 
 
 One habit in which too many anglers indulge, 
 that of weighing their basket literally with the fish, 
 and forgetting to deduct its weight, must either 
 be stopped or allowed for, or it will vitiate all cal- 
 culations. It may be unimportant if the basket, 
 weighing say i Ib., is crammed with fish, and scales 
 10 Ibs. or more ; but if (as generally happens) its 
 contents vary from i Ib. to 5 Ibs., the unfairness of 
 the practice is evident. 
 
 It is in this way that anglers in Scotland and 
 Devon persuade themselves, and sometimes others, 
 that their fish average about \ Ib., while the fact is, 
 that 2 oz. would be nearer the mark. 
 
 Another feature of a diary should be the record 
 of unusual incidents. 
 
 I note, for instance, that when wading a broad 
 shallow on the Darenth I trod upon a large eel, 
 and happened to fix it so firmly that, with the help 
 of my rod-spear and my companion's net, it was
 
 198 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 duly secured, and the lives of lots of little trout 
 consequently saved. 
 
 Several times I find records of swallows or swifts 
 taking my flies and being brought to hand and 
 released, and once of the same thing happening to 
 an unlucky bat, and also to a vole. One of the 
 swifts took the fly while the line was fully ex- 
 tended at the back, and the sensation of apparently 
 hooking an angel above the shores of Test was 
 very curious ! 
 
 Swans, ducks, and geese will often take your 
 flies if you are not careful, on trout tackle they 
 are very troublesome, and the best way is to break 
 promptly. 
 
 On several occasions I have hooked large trout 
 while standing among the branches of trees near 
 the top, and have sometimes been successful with 
 them in spite of the difficulties. I am often ad- 
 vised, before casting for a big fish, to consider the 
 possibility of landing him; but I sometimes cast 
 first, and consider afterwards, if necessary. It 
 seldom is. Very often a large trout in a difficult 
 position has had little experience, and when he is 
 hooked acts in some unexpectedly foolish way, 
 and enables you to overcome difficulties which 
 seemed insuperable. 
 
 The landing of two fish at a time is not uncom- 
 mon, and I have never had much difficulty with 
 them, as those that have served me thus have not
 
 THE LESSONS OF A DIARY 199 
 
 been large. On one occasion I noted that the second 
 fish took the fly while the first was being played. 
 
 Once I remember the cast broke, and the two 
 fish went off down the stream looking very much 
 astonished and reminding me of the Siamese twins. 
 Once I had two " rainbows " at one cast ; but this 
 was in a pond connected with a fish farm, and the 
 next fish I caught there was a " zebra " (a hybrid) 
 of about 2 Ibs. All were, of course, returned un- 
 injured. Trout will sometimes follow a hooked 
 comrade, and have been taken out with the landing 
 net when so doing. With perch and chub I have 
 seen this occur, and they were not little things, 
 but the portly perch of the Hampshire Avon. 
 
 Perhaps these are the finest fish of their kind in 
 England ; my biggest were not taken there, but in 
 a little lake in Suffolk, and my companion had to 
 hug them in his arms to get them out, as we had 
 no net. The best of these is staring at me now 
 from his glass case, and has paid a visit to South 
 Kensington to exhibit himself at the "Fisheries." 
 He was just under 4 Ibs., but not being a fat fish, 
 looked larger. 
 
 The diary to which I am referring goes back 
 without a break for a quarter of a century, and 
 contains memoranda extending to about forty years 
 in all. 
 
 Occasionally mention is made of the sport ob-
 
 200 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 tained by other anglers, besides the one who keeps 
 the record. 
 
 I find, for instance, that one wet evening at Hil- 
 gay Fen (a most unsuitable name, for it is neither 
 hilly nor gay) he saw a friend take six perch, 
 weighing nearly 10 Ibs., while he could not get 
 a touch. In the same river there is a record of 
 taking a bream of 2 Ibs. on single hair, and a pike 
 of 5 Ibs. on fine gut. 
 
 At Waltham, in the same year, two chub of 2 Ibs. 
 each fell a victim to the red palmer within a few 
 minutes, and several smaller were taken, the total 
 being seven fish weighing just 7 Ibs. The capture 
 of a | Ib. trout in a small Cornish stream is also 
 recorded. 
 
 For heavy takes nothing seems to approach the 
 Norfolk waters, though the best total recorded 
 (forty-five fish: 48 Ibs.) is not nearly equal to the 
 weight I have since seen credited to one rod in one 
 day. Close to the entry referring to the Suffolk 
 perch mentioned some pages back is a pitiful ac- 
 count of small fry caught in the New River close 
 to London. The Docks at Rotherhithe are alluded 
 to, but seem to have yielded chiefly small fish. 
 
 Much the same results seem to have been ob- 
 tained from the Thames, though one day near 
 Windsor the roach ran comparatively large. The 
 dace, chiefly taken with fly, were decidedly under 
 the average of either Colne or Hampshire Avon.
 
 THE LESSONS OF A DIARY 201 
 
 In the Lea, while spinning for perch in a mill- 
 tail, a good barbel was hooked and landed, with 
 an umbrella for landing-net. The same weapon 
 came into use on Hickling Broad, where a friend 
 had hooked a rudd of 2 Ibs. 10 oz. ; and my wife 
 once landed a good trout for me in the same way. 
 This rudd is now reposing in its case to amuse 
 the patients in the doctor's waiting-room. Other 
 rudd, of 2 Ibs. or so each, were taken that day by 
 worm, close to the surface, in a high wind. 
 
 Then comes a record of some flounders taken 
 from near the stone coping of Ramsgate Harbour 
 with impromptu tackle. A similar experience is 
 recorded at Torquay ; but the fish were not 
 flounders, and the tackle in this case was that 
 used for trout, with bits of white leather on the 
 flies. 
 
 This plan also succeeded well at Salcombe among 
 the atherine or smelts, many dozens being taken 
 after one had been cut up for bait. On the Ouse, 
 at Bedford, a curious take is noted with single 
 hair. It was a roach of about a pound, with frag- 
 ments of gut tackle still attached. 
 
 Accounts of sport at Hendon, Dagenham, and 
 many other London resorts contain little to in- 
 terest, though the numbers of fish taken seem large 
 sometimes. From the upper Lea I see a record 
 of a s-lb. trout with fly, and also of another, but 
 little smaller.
 
 202 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 From Broxbourne a trout is also recorded 
 amongst a lot of coarse fish, while the " Olde 
 Ferric boat" at Tottenham, which Walton has 
 made immortal, is often mentioned, chiefly for its 
 regular supply of roach taken with hair and paste ; 
 but now and then appear more interesting items 
 relating to success in that historic spot with fly, 
 natural and artificial. 
 
 Other stations on the Lea have their regular 
 records, especially Wicks' Water and Chingford 
 Mill, the spoil from which must have numbered 
 thousands in all. 
 
 The roach were never very large, though two 
 were hooked on one evening which would have 
 weighed about 3 Ibs. together if secured. One broke 
 the single hair on an attempt being made to land 
 it without net. The other was hooked within five 
 minutes, also on hair, and a net was then procured 
 by a wayfarer, and the fish, which weighed i Ib. 
 6 oz., is now in its case in one of the inns close by. 
 
 Many a good barbel broke the hair in those old 
 times, though only two were landed, and these on 
 stronger tackle. Yet good barbel have been taken 
 on single hair when circumstances were favourable 
 and nets were handy. 
 
 The grasshopper used to be a most effective bait 
 on this river, both for chub and roach. The chub 
 were from i Ib. to 2\ Ibs., and the roach some- 
 times large. Perch could be had near Chingford
 
 THE LESSONS OF A DIARY 203 
 
 Mill in these good old times with the common (or 
 garden) worm, and did not need humouring with 
 minnow. Fish of a pound a piece were often taken 
 thus. 
 
 In the mill-tail, or a few yards below more often, 
 good dace would take the black-gnat freely. They 
 were not the size of Avon fish, but ran much larger 
 than those of Thames. They lay like chub, close 
 under the shadow of the trees, and required some 
 care before you could extract them from their 
 lairs in the rapid run. This dace-fishing gave the 
 practice required for trout, and after about 1876 
 the diary becomes a record chiefly of success, or 
 sometimes failure, with the trout and grayling. 
 
 It was in 1877 that a week among the Devon 
 trout is recorded ; the chief previous mention of 
 that lovely fish being many years earlier, and 
 relating to the Cornish streams. In this Devon 
 visit several dozen good trout were secured, some 
 being over half a pound a-piece, while one was 
 certainly nearer the pound, but this was landed 
 for a friend. 
 
 Many of the best of the fish took the natural 
 oak-fly in the still, deep reaches under the stately 
 trees just above Totnes weir; but a good propor- 
 tion were caught in orthodox fashion with the 
 artificial farther up the river. 
 
 Soon after this date begins the regular record 
 of Darenth fishing, and the first entry shows that
 
 204 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 a brace of good trout rewarded the angler's earliest 
 attempt on that since so familiar stream. The 
 Lion at Farningham was the classic spot, and since 
 that date its name is constantly appearing, though 
 still better sport is often jotted down as being 
 secured on other parts of Darenth. 
 
 Most of the red-letter days are records of sport 
 on private water on this lovely stream. Here and 
 there are entries of big trout which mostly owed 
 their death to putting trust in feathery golden- 
 sedges, though I see that the best of all, a hand- 
 some fish of 2 Ibs. 3 oz., took an August dun. Well 
 I remember the delighted look on the face of the 
 lad (my companion's son) as he skilfully scooped 
 out the glittering prize for me. 
 
 Near the same spot I afterwards secured another 
 fish (with coachman), which was just as long, but 
 barely half the weight, so thin and lank was he. 
 Also in this part of Darenth we took some fon- 
 tinalis, which we carefully returned; splendid fish 
 they look, with their red bellies and rich colour- 
 ing. 
 
 On another page of this old diary I find a re- 
 cord of some very different sport on Scottish 
 Annan. 
 
 Here my host (a well-known salmon-fisher) took 
 me out for the late evening fishing. We each got 
 a few small trout or herling, but the prize of the 
 evening was a grilse, hooked by my companion
 
 THE LESSONS OF A DIARY 205 
 
 on a little fly. How I rushed through the shal- 
 lows across the river (not without risk, as holes 
 abound) to land that y-lb. beauty in my arms! 
 
 More tranquil are the scenes recorded in the 
 long-continued series of memoranda as we near 
 the present date. On the Wycombe fishing in 
 Bucks some sport seemed always to attend us, 
 and on one occasion I remember seeing freshly 
 taken a fish of 5 Ibs. 10 oz., much larger than 
 any we could ever capture, though once I rose one 
 something similar. The greatest number recorded 
 for one day on this pretty stream is thirty-six, 
 but these were small. 
 
 In Darenth twenty, some of them a pound a- 
 piece, is the highest figure in a day, and ten in 
 one evening, this latter being on the water of 
 the Plough at Eynsford; but the usual evening's 
 sport was but a brace of half a pound or less a- 
 piece, while blanks are not unknown. 
 
 Intermixed with quiet records such as these are 
 brief accounts of struggles with stormy weather 
 on Scotch lochs, and long tramps over moor and 
 heather in search of scarce sea-trout. Also now 
 and then small space is occupied with grim ac- 
 counts of slaughter in some fenland river, where 
 the roach and bream are reckoned by the stone. 
 
 Sea-fishing has its turn in Cornwall and in 
 Devon, and the weights brought home put all the 
 rest in shade; yet my favourite trout and
 
 206 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 favourite means the fly still hold my heart, and 
 less and less of space is now devoted to the coarser 
 race, while every detail of the capture of a goodly 
 trout is lovingly recorded. 
 
 Particulars I note of wind and weather here set 
 down tend to upset the old tradition of the bad 
 effect of breezes from the east. Condition of the 
 water is often noted, and also the flies thereon, 
 their times and seasons. It is partly this that 
 gives its value to a diary, and makes it easy to 
 extract many useful lessons from these dry details 
 of a past which might have been almost forgotten, 
 and its teachings lost, but for this modest record
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 The Fly-fishers' Club 
 
 AS we are only in the fourteenth year of our 
 existence, our chronicles are, as yet, some- 
 what scanty. 
 
 Turning to a letter which I received on Decem- 
 ber i6th, 1884, from Mr. R. B. Marston, I find that 
 to him is undoubtedly due the credit of calling the 
 meeting at the Caledonian Hotel, Adelphi, which 
 led to the formation of the Club. 
 
 The names of Messrs. W. Senior, H. Ffennell and 
 Cholmondeley Pennell are mentioned in this letter, 
 as having been already consulted, and as approv- 
 ing the idea. 
 
 As a matter of fact Mr. Senior has ever been 
 (next to Mr. Marston) the most active organizer of 
 the Club ; and although I was Hon. Secretary for 
 the first year, I am unable to claim any consider- 
 able share in its progress, especially as I was 
 compelled by ill-health to retire before we were 
 thoroughly established. 
 
 As Hon. Treasurer, Mr. Marston continued to 
 
 207
 
 208 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 enlist members in a most active manner, and Mr. 
 Senior and Mr. Ffennell and many other members 
 of our committee were also indefatigable in the 
 cause. 
 
 Mr. Burnett gave his valuable services as Hon. 
 Secretary for some time, and was succeeded by 
 Mr. D. Wilson, who (assisted most ably by Mr. 
 Booker) held till lately that arduous post. It is 
 now occupied by Mr. Bowater Vernon. 
 
 The Club differs essentially from most fishing 
 clubs in that it is established for purely social 
 purposes, and has nothing to do with competitions 
 of any sort, and does not even endeavour to pro- 
 vide its members with a fishery. Opinions have 
 been expressed that it should undertake this latter 
 duty; but on the whole it has been considered 
 best to keep to its original programme as a social 
 Club only. 
 
 Its gatherings on Thursdays and Saturdays are 
 often well attended, and indeed some members are 
 there nearly every day, and find it a most con- 
 venient centre. 
 
 The Library, under the care of Mr. Norris, has 
 grown quite extensive, and includes some very 
 valuable books, both ancient and modern, besides 
 some hundreds of ordinary angling works. Many 
 papers and magazines are to be found on the 
 Club tables, and every convenience is afforded 
 to members wishing to use the Club as a place
 
 THE FLY- FISHERS' CLUB 209 
 
 in which to conduct their correspondence or to 
 meet their friends. 
 
 Round the walls are arranged a fine collection of 
 trout and grayling ; and on one of the tables is 
 a cast of the monster trout from Loch Stennes, 
 which weighed twenty-nine pounds. The room is 
 also decorated by pictures of fish and cases of 
 tackle ; and is, in fact, an enlarged "Angler's Den." 
 Every year a dinner is given, at which some 
 hundreds of members and guests usually sit down, 
 and at which speeches are made in praise (some- 
 times mixed with a little gentle ridicule) of our 
 favourite sport. 
 
 Within this Club are found every variety of 
 the genus fly-fisher, from the ancient veteran who 
 looks down upon us all with tolerant superi- 
 ority, to the callow youth who, in his raw enthu- 
 siasm, would pull the whole affair about our ears 
 to model it afresh. 
 
 Every sort of fly-fishing has its representative 
 advocate, from the head centre of the inner 
 brethren, who thinks it almost profane to speak 
 disrespectfully of the dry-fly, to the reckless advo- 
 cate of crude whipping with three formless insects 
 on the tumbling waters of a Devon stream. 
 
 Many of us take great interest in the gentle 
 art of fly-making, and the fur and feather book 
 is quite an institution. There is also a query 
 and suggestion book, in which the more experienced 
 
 o
 
 210 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 or more travelled angler can answer queries placed 
 therein by neophytes. 
 
 Letters containing particulars of trout and 
 salmon fishings to be let in a private manner are 
 fastened on a green-baize board with other 
 notices. 
 
 The room has ample space still left in which to 
 try a rod upon occasion, and is indeed often used for 
 that very purpose. 
 
 It must not be supposed that the conversation at 
 the Club consists entirely of fish talk. Men who 
 meet there have often other hobbies in common, 
 besides fishing. Some of these, such as entomology 
 and fish-culture, have a close connection with the 
 object of the Club, and as such are frequently 
 discussed in full conclave; but the conversation 
 often flows into channels far removed from any 
 fishy streams, and the chess-board which adorns 
 one of the tables is even sometimes brought into 
 requisition. 
 
 I suppose it is possible that we have among us 
 men who never fish ; and who, if asked why they 
 spend their evenings there, give the stereotyped and 
 sufficient reply, "I'm a married man."
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 The Sorrows of the Angler's Wife 
 
 " T T 7~HATEVER you do, Mary, never marry an 
 VV angler, or you'll wish you'd never been 
 born." This I quote from memory out of a most 
 amusing " letter" in Anglers 1 Evenings. 
 
 The letter is written with true feminine vehem- 
 ence, and the picture of her miseries is so over- 
 drawn and caricatured by the writer that we feel 
 instinctively it is not intended as a really " bitter 
 cry." 
 
 Nevertheless, I fear the angler's wife may some- 
 times feel inclined to wish, not that she could have 
 remained unborn, but merely unmarried, or that 
 she had chosen a partner with drier amusements, 
 a collector of stamps or beetles, for instance. 
 
 These might indeed be bores, as dry as their 
 pursuits. Let them. An angler, she may make 
 reply, is worse than any ordinary bore, for over 
 and above his exactions in the way of lie-believing, 
 he will stay out half the night and come in looking 
 radiant with a 2-ounce trout.
 
 212 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 And his clothes! Although he wears what he 
 calls waterproofs, their main use seems to be to 
 prevent the water which has soaked through them 
 from running out again as freely as it should. 
 Sometimes, when new, they really do keep water 
 out ; and, oh, the consequences to the underclothes ! 
 
 Of one thing you can never convince an angler : 
 no one ever admitted that he could catch cold 
 when fishing. No ; it was going out to church 
 that drizzling evening, or it was when he took you 
 to that little dance, and had to wear dress clothes 
 and paper shoes. Or at the Club dinner, when 
 he did the same, you say ; but no, it couldn't have 
 been that, for then they talked fish rot. 
 
 Then the holidays ! In olden times, before he 
 was so smitten with this horrid mania, he would 
 go to Brighton, Broadstairs, anywhere, and lie 
 about contentedly and smoke or try to read while 
 all the children made sand castles round his head. 
 But now, how different ! It may be true that as 
 " the children " nearly all are married they couldn't 
 well be castle-building round his prostrate form; 
 but their children could; and what were grand- 
 fathers made for but to play with them? 
 
 Now is it not absurd for a man of his age (he's 
 nearly fifty) and dignity to go off with Tom, who 
 unluckily inherits the family failing, and remain 
 away for days together (fishing, they say they are) 
 in all sorts of queer, outlandish places where no
 
 SORROWS OF THE ANGLER'S WIFE 213 
 
 trains can go and postmen are seldom seen, or so 
 they say, when I wonder that I get no letters? 
 
 I must admit that, for an old man, Jack's health 
 is good, in spite of fishing-colds ; and that Tom is 
 not so bad as some young fellows are, although 
 he does go fishing 
 
 On rare occasions, too, they bring home fish 
 which, if they buy them, must have cost a mint 
 of money, for I saw trout marked 2s. 6d. a pound 
 at our fishmonger's only yesterday. But, after 
 all the sums they squander on rods and lines 
 and the little barrel-organ things they wind them 
 on, something ought to be brought home. Then the 
 bills for millinery (artificial flies, I mean) each year. 
 The money to pay one of these would keep me well 
 supplied with gloves for months ! 
 
 You will hardly believe it, but I've known Jack 
 pay even for leave to fish, as if anybody cared 
 whether you took a little trout or two out of their 
 water. I wouldn't even ask leave. The trout 
 grow there just the same as the birds in the air. 
 You don't have to ask leave to shoot swallows. 
 Not that I hold with killing these pretty little things, 
 unless their wings get fashionable for your hats. 
 
 If Tom and Jack would be content to go together 
 and come back quietly in time to dine at six, like 
 reasonable beings, we could forgive them, if they 
 bring some trout; but when they will meet 
 "friends" upon the river, and bring home, long
 
 214 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 after dinner time, a brace (I think it is a brace, 
 or braces, that they call them) of noisy smoking 
 men, my patience, which you know is great, will 
 get exhausted; and after locking up the whisky 
 I retire. 
 
 Now Jack calls this inhospitable, and asks me 
 whether I'd prefer that he should take them to 
 the Club and make a night of it, Of course I 
 have to give in ; and in the morning how the 
 curtains smell of smoke, and if I hadn't "lost" 
 that key worse might have happened ! 
 
 Many a time has my dear mother said, " I cannot 
 understand your patience with that man! The 
 smell of him and of his creel is enough for me, 
 and sends me off to bed." Poor mother! so it 
 does ; and yet he doesn't seem to mind a bit, 
 but talks away about the monster fish he didn't 
 catch just as if he hadn't noticed how she sniffed. 
 
 Ah, well! There is no cure, I fear, for such 
 complaints, and I'm really almost fancying they 
 must be catching. Only yesterday, the first of 
 April, of all fitting days, I caught myself balancing 
 that little rod he bought for Amy, and wondering 
 whether, at some future date, before I was quite 
 hopelessly decrepit, it would be worth my while 
 to try it. Amy managed it ; and should a British 
 matron let her daughter always take the lead?
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 Hints and Maxims 
 
 WHEN you hook two good trout at once, if 
 you try to dip out the upper one with your 
 net before attending to the other, a scene of excite- 
 ment will ensue which (when attended by the loss 
 of your fish) will act as a wholesome warning to 
 try the other way next time. It need hardly be 
 added that it may be years before you have another 
 chance. 
 
 When you are wading during a high wind, take 
 the opportunity to change all your flies. You will 
 find it capital exercise to chase your floating fly- 
 book down the stream when the wind blows it 
 out of your hand ; but the complications ensuing, 
 on seeing your hat (and best gut cast) following 
 your book, are apt to be trying, even to the " con- 
 templative man." It is in such circumstances that 
 " silence is golden," speech being apt to be too 
 emphatic. 
 
 Another advantage of wading is that it affords 
 the trout more variety in choosing his method of
 
 216 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 escaping. He may, and often does, elect to rush 
 wildly between your legs, leaving your cast (minus 
 one fly and one fish) sticking in your waders. If 
 any spectators, male or female, are present, your 
 attitude at this juncture is apt to appear undig- 
 nified. 
 
 If you are in the habit of using a thumping great 
 fly when trying, after dark, for the monsters then 
 on the prowl, do not trouble to change your fine 
 cast. No doubt you will get broken now and then ; 
 and the fish (which you will of course have de- 
 scribed as a 4-lb. trout, hooked on a tiny midge) 
 may be afterwards taken by a " friend," and be 
 found to be a 2-lb. chub with a Dusty Miller in 
 his lip. A touchy man might be vexed at this ; but 
 think of the joy it occasions to your "friend," 
 and all the other members of the fishing club. 
 
 When you have to strip and dive after a fish 
 that has fouled your flies in a deep hole, put your 
 clothes under the guardianship of your friend's dog. 
 He will guard them most faithfully till (and when} 
 you return. If your friend has a " Kodak " handy, 
 this is better fun still. 
 
 Keep your fly-book in your creel (not in your 
 pocket). This plan gives the trout a better chance ; 
 for if you leave your creel on the bank when 
 wading a pool, you have to wade out and in again 
 whenever you want a fly, and this reminds them 
 that there are " strangers present."
 
 HINTS AND MAXIMS 217 
 
 Have your rod brilliantly varnished ; it looks 
 very slovenly to carry soiled tools; and if the 
 flasjh, as you wave it, does drive away all the 
 trout in the country, it may at least attract the 
 admiration of any ladies you may chance to meet. 
 
 Some fussy anglers make a point of attaching 
 the reel-line firmly to the barrel of the winch 
 before winding it on. This could only be of use 
 in the event of a fish having strength and energy 
 to run it all off. Surely such a trout would deserve 
 his freedom. He would also afford amusement for 
 some time to his companions, for it might be an 
 hour or two before he could rid himself of his 
 40-yard tail. 
 
 You will also be advised to let your flies drop 
 lightly. If you do, it will be very difficult to tell 
 where they do fall, to look on the spot you in- 
 tended to place them being of course useless. 
 Now, if you use three flies, say two Alexandras 
 and a large Jock Scott, there will be no such diffi- 
 culty, and of course the fish will also know where to 
 look for them. If you can't see or hear your flies 
 yourself, how can you expect the trout to do so ? 
 
 When you do hook a fish, remember that your 
 object is to place him on the bank. Unless he is 
 very large, your strength will enable you to do 
 this promptly provided, of course, that your tackle 
 holds. If not, get stronger next time. 
 
 A lot of nonsense is talked about "treading
 
 218 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 softly," as if you were a burglar. If the fish are 
 afraid of a manly footstep on the bank, they must 
 be a poor timid lot of things not worth catching. 
 
 To be certain of sport it is best to see the fish- 
 monger in the morning. Don't trust to finding 
 trout on the slab on your return. There will be 
 nothing but kippered herring and crabs ; and even 
 your wife cannot pretend to believe that you caught 
 these with a fly. 
 
 A really good angler always fishes with a boat- 
 man or other skilled attendant, for otherwise he is 
 liable to lose his reputation if he chances to be a 
 little out of sorts, or gets sleepy after lunch. 
 A good boatman needs no detailed instructions 
 under these circumstances, and, when you wake, 
 the fish you have caught will astonish you. If 
 you should notice the wet state of the casting 
 net, remember that undue curiosity is a vice un- 
 worthy of the male sex.
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 
 Angling Dangers 
 
 TEMPTED as we are for the sake of our anxious 
 wives and mothers (to say nothing of our 
 cousins and our aunts) to ignore the risks that 
 fishers run, it would be better possibly to be more 
 frank. 
 
 Compared with the scenes of carnage on the foot- 
 ball field, no doubt the angler's life is one of peace 
 and safety ; yet the sport has its risks, and though 
 not frequent they are sometimes grave. 
 
 Take, first, those incident to boating. You may 
 be the image of prudence, always calmly seated 
 and doing your level best to keep the shifting 
 thing in trim; but what is to prevent your com- 
 panion from standing up and waving his rod, with 
 a fish on the end of the line, wildly round his head, 
 as he shouts off the effects of his application to the 
 stone bottle ? 
 
 This I have seen done (in another boat) on the 
 Norfolk broads ; and it may result, when boats are 
 
 ricketty, in very sudden and complete disaster. 
 
 219
 
 220 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 On some lakes, storms are not uncommon, and 
 the risk then run by anglers is very real. The 
 best advice upon the subject is briefly, Learn to 
 swim well, and then do not rely entirely even on 
 that; but take all reasonable care as well. 
 
 Next to boating comes the use of waders, much 
 to be avoided when that is possible, but often quite 
 essential to good sport. Opinions on the wisest 
 way to wade are much divided, some advocating 
 heavy boots and some light. 
 
 Without pretending to decide, it seems to me 
 likely that fairly heavy brogues will keep the 
 wearer steadier than light shoes, and will protect 
 the stocking better. They would also tend to 
 keep one's feet downwards, if washed away, and 
 thus, in moderate depths of 5 feet or so, give one 
 a better chance. Yet they must hamper a swim- 
 mer, if he has to go some distance. Again the 
 remedy is special caution. If you must wade 
 deep, let the handle of your net be strong, and 
 shod with iron ; and always feel your way. 
 
 For ordinary wading, about to the knee, this is 
 not necessary ; but the wader will sometimes want 
 to cross the river, and it is then some little danger 
 may come in. You can see the bottom plainly, 
 and it is under 3 feet. In this you may be right 
 (though water is very deceptive), but have you 
 allowed for the current, which will, if great, not 
 only tend to upset you altogether, but will raise
 
 ANGLING DANGERS 221 
 
 a wave 2 or 3 inches high upon your legs, on 
 the upper side. This difference may be just 
 enough to swamp your waders, which, if not 
 dangerous, is at least most unpleasant. 
 
 When not wading, a man has many a chance to 
 get a ducking, if his flies are caught on bushes ; 
 and sometimes in scrambling along the rocky sides 
 of rushing rivers, with a lively fish; and cases 
 have been known in which the salmon has been 
 only too truly victor, and has killed the man. 
 
 Of land dangers we may speak safely in a lighter 
 vein, though, if a man really does meet a savage 
 bull, and has only a cold river for retreat, he 
 doesn't see the comedy. Bulls are scarce, out of 
 tales ; and I have never even met an angler who 
 has been attacked by one. 
 
 Cattle will often threaten you, and are best 
 avoided; yet a little judicious waving of your 
 lissome rod will soon remind them of the drover's 
 whip, and make them keep their distance. 
 
 Of bull-dogs, kept by jealous farmers, I cannot 
 speak from any personal experience ; though 
 when met with they must be even worse than 
 bulls. 
 
 A raw recruit, just at your elbow, learning to 
 throw a fly, is perhaps as dangerous an animal as 
 you well can meet ; and salmon-fishers have a 
 wholesome fear of fishing near one. 
 
 There are some nervous people who assure you
 
 222 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 they would on no account go fishing, for fear of 
 getting wet. Without denying that wet feet are 
 bad and a wet back is worse, we may say that 
 the health gained by ninety-nine excursions on 
 the river banks, in which we can keep dry, does 
 more than balance a bad cold, caught on the one 
 exceptional day. Take waterproofs by all means ; 
 but do not expect to keep bone-dry in stormy 
 weather. When you do get wet, keep moving; 
 and but little harm will reach you. 
 
 That all this alarm about wet feet, etc., is absurd, 
 is shown by the large number of doctors whose 
 main delight is fishing ; and who advise their 
 patients (not with any sinister intent) to follow, 
 though in moderation, in their moist and muddy 
 footprints.
 
 CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 A Fishless Fish Tale 
 
 THE strangely sceptical spirit too often shown 
 by the uninitiated when listening, or not 
 listening, to a fisherman's simple narrative is most 
 painful to the feelings of a man who knows how 
 carefully the slightest exaggeration is avoided by 
 every angler. Advantage is meanly taken of the 
 necessity which compels us to dispense with 
 witnesses as a rule when catching, or losing, our 
 biggest trout, and instead of being generously 
 trusted we are cross-examined unmercifully, and, 
 if discrepancies should be detected, are even blamed 
 as if we could help one of our fish growing a few 
 ounces after he was caught. They will do so. 
 Then, again, when a man is openly romancing, 
 why take him seriously? 
 
 If he tells you some " ancient and fish-like " 
 tale about the size of that pike which was not 
 weighed, but which lowered the level of the lake 
 
 four (or 400) feet when taken out, it is hardly 
 
 223
 
 224 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 neighbourly to go home and complain that the 
 men at that Club try to deceive you. 
 
 Some of the most curious tales I have heard from 
 anglers, beginning as usual, " That reminds me," 
 have no fishing in them. Are these innocent 
 narratives to be doubted merely because they are 
 told by anglers? 
 
 Some day we shall have the cross-examining 
 barrister asking in his severest tones of a witness 
 he wants to discredit, " Now, on your oath, sir, 
 have you ever been an angler ? " and, on receiving 
 a negative reply, continuing, "But perhaps you 
 once knew one ? " This being most indiscreetly 
 admitted, the prompt "That is quite sufficient, 
 sir," will then direct the jury to put no faith in 
 that witness ! 
 
 After this introduction you may perhaps expect 
 some tales of extra height; but I fancy they are 
 pretty well played out, even in their natural 
 home the States, and the one that chances now 
 to cross my mind is devoid of wild sensation, and 
 scarcely mentions fish. 
 
 Arriving rather early at Dr. Vincent's, we had 
 some few minutes to wait before dinner. It was 
 rather a special occasion, as the doctor had lately 
 brought home his bride. 
 
 " The ladies won't be down just yet," said he, as 
 we settled ourselves for a chat, " and we have just
 
 A FISHLESS FISH TALE 225 
 
 time, I think, for a little tale I've long meant to 
 tell you. 
 
 " You know my ways, and how I have to pay 
 old Adams a regular visit every week, though he 
 is out of my proper round. You know also that in 
 the summer I always take a black bag of ( instru- 
 ments ' and how I bring him several fishy corpses 
 as a rule (and very good eating they are). This 
 innocent deception you can forgive in a struggling 
 doctor, who has to keep up appearances and always 
 to wear a thoroughly professional hat and coat. 
 
 " Well, one morning, before you came into this 
 county, I had started, as usual, by the 9.40 on my 
 little railway run to Axton. 
 
 "My old cap and coat, with the little short-jointed 
 trout rod, were safely hidden in the black bag by 
 my side. Just as we were starting, a lady got in 
 and seated herself opposite, facing the engine. Her 
 handkerchief was held to her face, and she either 
 wished to avoid recognition or was suffering from 
 neuralgia. Charitably presuming the latter, I 
 offered to close the window. She motioned me to 
 desist. Leaving it open, therefore, I suggested 
 changing seats, that she might be out of the 
 draught. To this she assented, and while the ex- 
 change was being made I caught a clearer sight 
 of her face, and must say that if it was swollen, 
 then swelling is remarkably becoming to some 
 faces. 
 
 p
 
 226 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 " Somehow we got to Axton more quickly than 
 I expected, and I gathered up my traps and jumped 
 out rather hurriedly, though not without catching 
 her eye and receiving a fairly gracious bow of 
 farewell. 
 
 " Having paid my formal visit to poor old Adams, 
 I was off, like a schoolboy let loose, to the little inn 
 at which I change my things before beginning 
 fishing. I went upstairs three steps at a time, and 
 opening the bag beheld ah, what? An ivory 
 brush and comb, a pair of tiny slippers, and un- 
 derneath a pair well, well, I mustn't profane the 
 mysteries of a lady's toilet any further ! Imagine 
 my consternation, for of course you guess what 
 had happened the change of seats had led me 
 to take up her bag in jumping out. 
 
 "My plight was bad enough, for my rod was 
 gone, and with it all chance of fishing ; but hers 
 of course might be far worse, for my old cap and 
 coat would hardly suit her style of beauty. 
 
 " I hurried back to the station only to find that 
 no train would run that way for hours. " I wired 
 an account of the mistake to various stations, but 
 got no reply. While still wondering how to re- 
 store the stolen property, a train from the opposite 
 direction bustled in, and out stepped a man I 
 knew well. Watkins had once acted for me as 
 locum tenens, and I had good reason to remember 
 him. Among his other misdoings he had passed
 
 A FISHLESS FISH TALE 227 
 
 as a bachelor, though I had afterwards found out 
 he was a married man. 
 
 " He did not see me, and I heard him express 
 great annoyance in the strongest of language at 
 his train not having stopped, as he had been told 
 it would, at the previous station of Atbridge. 
 The station-master expressed the usual official 
 regret, and suggested that a fly could be hired 
 close by, and would get him back in an hour. 
 Watkins assented so promptly that I, knowing him 
 to be as mean as he was deceitful, at once con- 
 cluded his business must be important. 
 
 " As he hurried off to the railway inn for the fly, 
 I noted that he was got up in a most brilliant 
 manner, and could not help fancying he might be 
 meditating matrimony, or rather villainy, for I 
 knew his wife was still alive. 
 
 " Remembering that the station-master happened 
 to keep a horse, I asked, as a special favour, for the 
 loan of it, and then, though not attired for riding, 
 started off by a short cut for Atbridge. I arrived 
 long before the fly could get there, and took up 
 my position in the inn parlour near the village 
 church. 
 
 " Soon a fly drove past, but not his fly. It 
 stopped opposite the church, and I came out to- 
 wards it. At the porch alighted my lady of the 
 train, looking very flurried, chiefly I believe from 
 having lost her ' things.' " His fly was now ap-
 
 228 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 preaching, and I could also see within the church 
 the vicar standing by the altar, and everything 
 in readiness for the 'sacrifice.' 
 
 " Before the second fly had quite come up, I 
 walked into the church, and the old vicar, seeing 
 much was wrong, led me into the vestry, where I 
 told my tale. 
 
 " He knew me well, and did not hesitate to be- 
 lieve it, though told by an angler. ' I had my 
 doubts,' he said, ' of that man ; but everything 
 seemed regular, and the lady is of age.' 
 
 " If any uncertainty had remained, Watkins soon 
 removed it ; for on catching sight of my face, before 
 a word was said he turned tail and, jumping into 
 the fly again, was driven to the station. We 
 avoided a scene for the sake of the lady ; but the 
 man richly deserved to be prosecuted for attempt- 
 ing bigamy. I can only hope he had to pay 
 heavily for that fly and any other arrangements 
 he had made. 
 
 " The lady's feelings were mixed indeed ; but 
 she had the sense to see that she had narrowly 
 escaped from a thorough scoundrel. The old 
 servant who was with her had been equally 
 deceived, and seemed by far the more indignant 
 of the two ; and we decided to trust her to go home 
 with her mistress, unaccompanied by me. 
 
 " We took care afterwards to make sure that no 
 further harm had come to them. So quickly had
 
 A FISHLESS FISH TALE 229 
 
 it all happened that it occasioned comparatively 
 little excitement in the village; and to this day 
 I'm not sure that the old blind aunt with whom 
 our lady lived has ever heard the tale." 
 
 Just then the ladies made their appearance, and 
 dinner was announced. As the doctor introduced 
 me to his bride he said, " This is the lady of whom 
 we have just been speaking."
 
 ON AN UNDERGROUND LAKE 
 
 ONE of the members of our Fishing Club has 
 been all over the world, and often tells us 
 tales, more or less true, about his adventures, but 
 never by any chance mentions angling, and we all 
 wondered why he joined. 
 
 One evening, after much fish had been talked, 
 while he sat silent, he suddenly exclaimed, "If 
 there is anything I do detest, it is fishing, and some 
 day I'll tell you fellows why." We knew his ways, 
 and were not annoyed, but one said, "Why not 
 now ? " 
 
 " The traveller " roused himself, and said, " Very 
 well, then ; you will see I have my reasons." 
 
 It was a wild and rocky district full of gullies 
 
 and deep clefts, masked by a sparse growth of 
 
 230
 
 OUR TRAVELLER'S TALE 231 
 
 bushes. I was trying to guide my mare safely 
 through the pitfalls all around, when suddenly she 
 fell forward without the slightest warning, and 
 pitched me clean over her head, right into the jaws 
 of a yawning chasm. 
 
 I caught at the bushes on its brink, but missing 
 them, went straight down, expecting death. The 
 fall ended in a splash, and not much hurt, I struck 
 out instinctively, and found I was swimming in an 
 underground lake, on the surface of which floated 
 a thick scum of petroleum. As I looked anxiously 
 around a light became visible, which I found be- 
 longed to a boat, rowed by two atrocious-looking 
 ruffians, more brute than human. 
 
 They hauled me into the boat, showing much sur- 
 prise by their gestures, and soon we reached their 
 cave. Here was another loathsome brute, engaged 
 in cooking lumps of coarse meat, just cut off the 
 carcase of a hideous fish, which was hanging from 
 an iron hook. 
 
 It seemed to be a kind of Silurus, somewhat like 
 a very ugly sturgeon, and was about the size you 
 sometimes see these creatures, stretching the whole 
 length of a fishmonger's shop. Among its other 
 deformities I noted that where its eyes should have 
 been were only little dents. 
 
 I was destined to know more of these uncanny- 
 looking animals. 
 
 Hungry as I was, but little of that oily food could
 
 232 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 be induced to stay inside me, and I soon lay down 
 in a corner, and curled up to try to sleep. 
 
 Dreams of slipping down the greasy floor into 
 the black lake haunted my stony pillow ; and when 
 a few struggling rays from the upper air penetrated 
 into the dismal den, I woke with a violent start, 
 and very nearly realized my visions. 
 
 My companions were eyeing me grimly, and 
 muttering strange gutturals to one another. A big 
 knife had flashed ominously once ; but he who held 
 it was pacified by one of the others, and they only 
 motioned me to make haste with breakfast. I 
 swallowed a few more morsels of the stinking fish, 
 and then, obeying further signals, got into the boat 
 once more. 
 
 Here I found two lines were ready, and as soon 
 as we reached the neighbourhood of the opening 
 through which I had fallen (a favourite spot of 
 theirs), one of these lines was put into my hands. 
 
 For hours we waited, with never a bite, and my 
 companions were looking savagely disappointed, 
 and apparently using the strongest language at 
 their disposal, when at last I felt the welcome tug. 
 My line was nearly jerked from my grasp, and 
 when I gripped it tighter, the violent fish would 
 certainly have pulled me overboard had not my 
 legs been held from behind. As it was I got a 
 mouthful of that vile petroleum ! My blood was up 
 now ! Recovering my position and setting one foot
 
 OUR TRAVELLER'S TALE 233 
 
 on the thwarts, I put my back into the struggle, 
 and only let my fish have line by inches. Ghastly 
 smiles lit up my companions' faces as they recog- 
 nised my gameness, and soon I was rewarded by 
 finding that the fish was getting under control, and 
 coming near the boat. No time was wasted in 
 fancy playing, and before long the rough iron hook 
 they used as a gaff was in his ugly side, and the 
 vast brute lay all along the bottom of the boat. I 
 felt a thrill of triumph, but the pair of ruffians ex- 
 changed discontented glances, as if to say, " What 
 a little one!" 
 
 The next excitement came even before I had been 
 able to replace the lump of fish we used as bait for 
 these vile cannibals. The chief had hooked a fish, 
 and now I was to see what a really big Silurian 
 could do! Coil after coil of stout line had to be 
 given out, and all the while the brawny muscles on 
 that chief's massive arms were kept well stretched. 
 This lasted long, for hours it seemed to me, and 
 all this time the heavy boat was being towed in the 
 wake of the savage monster, inferior to a tarpon 
 only in lacking jumping power. 
 
 Round and round that lake we went, but the 
 steady strain began in time to tell, and line was 
 gradually recovered, till at last the surface of the 
 oil began to swirl, as the brute came up. Then a 
 broad tail splashed the oil in fountains as he dived 
 again.
 
 234 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 When at last, half dead, he floated alongside, 
 stretching far beyond the boat at either end, 'twas 
 plain the gaff would be quite useless. Seeing this 
 the knife came into use, and the brute's throat was 
 deftly cut. In his death throes he flounced and 
 tossed in such a violent manner that we narrowly 
 escaped capsize, but we conquered, and the gaff 
 now came in handy. While held with this a rope 
 was put through his gills, and he was towed 
 ignominiously in our wake, and at last deposited, 
 half a ton of slimy fish, hideous enough for St. 
 George's Dragon, safely in our cave. 
 
 We made a meal off a steak from my little one, 
 which was about eight or ten feet long, and then 
 my companions stretched themselves along the 
 floor to sleep, and I was left in peace to ponder 
 means of ultimate escape. Perhaps I wasn't then 
 very anxious about this, for I really did enjoy that 
 sport at first ; but another day of such company, 
 such food, and such fatiguing fishing sickened me, 
 and I devised a plan, wild indeed and reckless, 
 but just barely possible. 
 
 We carried a little roughly made lamp always 
 alight, as it was mostly very dark in this dismal 
 lake. On this my hopes were fixed. We had 
 anchored next day, as usual, just under the best 
 light, and while my companions fished my lot was 
 to look to the boat. As luck would have it, both 
 hooked fish at once, and now my chance had come !
 
 OUR TRAVELLER'S TALE 235 
 
 They were both in the stern, and I was about mid- 
 ships. Snatching the lamp, I leant over the side 
 and set on fire the oil that coated the lake, and 
 what a blaze there was ! 
 
 Thinking it an accident, both the ruffians jumped 
 wildly out, beyond the ring of flame, and swam for 
 shore, abandoning their fish. Now was my time 
 for action. The boat was beginning to burn, of 
 course, but would last a few minutes. I had a spare 
 line, with its weighted hook at hand, ready coiled. 
 This I threw, like a leaded lasso, upward at the 
 opening through which I had first fallen. Twice 
 I missed; and my boots had already taken fire, 
 when at last the huge hook caught firmly on a 
 bough. I hauled myself hand over hand up the 
 strong line, while my foiled captors pelted me with 
 stones here is the mark of one. 
 
 It was a mercy no slip occurred, for a fall into 
 that blazing lake must have been inevitably fatal. 
 When at last I reached the upper air, I fell for- 
 ward fainting, and slept long. I was at length 
 awakened by a cold nose investigating the back of 
 my neck. My faithful mare had been grazing 
 around the spot on which her master disappeared, 
 and had found water and enough coarse grass to 
 keep her going for the two or three days she had 
 to wait. 
 
 You know the rest. I indiscreetly told the tale 
 when at last I found the chums that I had lost;
 
 236 FISHING AND FISHERS 
 
 and I do assure you solemnly that not one of them 
 would believe a word of it ! 
 
 "I believe that]' said I, and the meeting was 
 adjourned. 
 
 Eatler & Tanner, The Selwood Printing Works, Frome, and London.
 
 7/ARWICK HOUSE, SALISBURY SQUAR&, 
 LONDON, E.G. 
 
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 " We can honestly say it is years since we re.ad a story so original, so striking, 
 or so absorbing." Manchester Courier. 
 
 FRANCIS HINDES GROOME. 
 
 Kriegspiel: The War Game. By FRANCIS HINDES 
 GROOME. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt. (is. 
 
 " Seemingly at one bound Mr. Groome has taken rank amongst the most 
 promising novelists of the day, so full is ' Kriegspiel ' of interest, of stirring 
 Incident, and of vivid and varied sketches of men and manners from con- 
 temporary English life." Illustrated London News. 
 
 SHAN F. BULLOCK. 
 
 By Thrasna River: The Story of a Townland. 
 Given by one John Farmer, and Edited by his Friend, 
 SHAN F. BOLLOCK. With Full-page Illustrations by 
 ST. CLAIR SIMMONS. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 6s. 
 
 " This is a charming book, and affords quite the best picture of Irish rural 
 life that we have ever come across." The Athenieum. 
 
 'It is an Irish 'Thrums,' in which the character is drawn as straight from 
 lite as in Mr. Barrie's delightful annals of Kirriemuir." The Sketch. 
 
 FRANCIS PREVOST. 
 
 False Dawn. By FRANCIS PREVOST. Crown 8vo, 
 canvas, full gilt, 6s. 
 
 " There is a mingled delicacy and power . . . Intensely Interesting. . . The 
 book is one to be read and remembered." Speaker. 
 
 " Beautifully written, with real and rare powers both of psychology and of 
 word painting." A cademy. 
 
 Rust of Gold. By FRANCIS PREVOST. Crown 8vo, 
 art canvas, 5s. 
 
 " A series of nine fin de siicle stories of great power and picturesqueness. 
 ... A more appalling tale than 'A Ghost of the Sea' has not been recounted 
 for many years past, nor have the tragical potentialities of modern life, as 
 lived by people of culture and refinement, been more graphically illus- 
 trated than in 'Grass upon the Housetops," 'The Skirts of Chance," and 
 'False Equivalents." As word-pictures they are simply masterpieces." 
 
 Daily Telegraph. 
 
 On The Verge. By FRANCIS PREVOST. Crown 8vo, 
 
 art canvas, 5s. 
 "' Rust of Gold' was good, but ' On the Verge" Is better." Star. 
 
 WARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED.
 
 BY POPULAR AUTHORS. 
 
 3IAX PEMBERTON. 
 Jewel Mysteries I Have Known. By MAX 
 
 PEMBERTON, Author of " The Iron Pirate," &c. With 
 about Fifty Illustrations by R. CATON WOODVILLE and 
 FRED. BARNARD. Demy 8vo, cloth gilt, bevelled boards, 
 gilt edges, 5s. 
 
 "The most interesting and entrancing mystery stories that have appeared 
 since the publication of the doings of Sherlock Holmes." 
 
 The Literary World. 
 
 " Mr. Pemberton has attempted a great deal more than to give mere plots 
 and police cases, and he has succeeded in capturing our attention, and never 
 letting it go, from the first story to the last." The Bookman. 
 
 BERTRAM MITFORD. 
 
 The Curse oi Clement Waynflete : A Story of 
 Two Wars. By BERTRAM MITFORD, Author of " The 
 King's Assegai," "The Gun Runner," &c. With Four 
 Full-page Illustrations by STANLEY L. WOOD. Crown 
 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. Gd. 
 
 "Telling us wonderful incidents of inter-racial warfare, of ambuscades, 
 sieges, surprises, and assaults almost without number. ... A thoroughly 
 exciting story, full of bright descriptions and stirring episodes." 
 
 The Daily Telegraph 
 
 A Veldt Official : A Novel of Circumstance. By 
 BERTRAM MITFORD, Author of "The Gun Runner," 
 "The Curse of Clement Waynflete," &c. With Two 
 Full-page Illustrations by STANLEY L. WOOD. Crown 
 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. (id. 
 
 " We have seldom come across a more thrilling narrative. From start to 
 finish Mr. Mitford secures unflagging attention." Leeds Mercury. 
 
 The Expiation of Wynne Palliser. By BERTRAM 
 MITFORD, Author of "The King's Assegai," &c. With 
 Tivo Full-page Illustrations by STANLEY L. WOOD. 
 Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d. 
 " The best of this author's many excellent romances." The Globe. 
 
 Fordham's Feud. By BERTRAM MITFORD, Author 
 
 of "A Veldt Official," "The Curse of Clement Wayn- 
 flete," "The Expiation of Wynne Palliser," &c. Crown 
 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d. With Four Full-page Illustra- 
 tions by STANLEY L. WOOD. 
 
 " A story of much merit and startling denouement. Per wealth of character, 
 pleasant descriptive matter, romantic incident, and powerful plot, there aro 
 few books that will eclipse ' Fordham's Feud.' " Manchester Courier. 
 
 WARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED. 
 
 Q
 
 COPYRIGHT NOVELS 
 
 COULSON KERNAHAN. 
 
 Captain Shannon. By COULSON KERNAHAN, 
 Author of " God and the Ant." Illustrated by F. S. 
 WILSON. 
 
 "It contains plenty of daring, Imaginative flights, and not one tit833me or 
 commonplace episode." The Globe. 
 
 " The perils which Rissler has to undergo before he finally ri:ns the victim 
 to earth or rather to water are so terrible that they might well be warranted 
 to turn the hair of any man white. '" The Speaker. 
 
 EDITH JOHNSTONS. 
 
 A Sunless Heart. By EDITH JOHNSTONE. Third 
 Edition. Crown 8vo, cloth, 3s. 6d. 
 
 "Mr. W. T. Stead, in his article on 'Women Novelists,' writes of 'Its 
 Intrinsic merit, its originality and its pathos, its distinctively woman's outlook 
 on life and the singular glow and genius of its author. . . . Lotus is a distinct 
 creation vivid, life-like, and original." The Review of Reviews. 
 
 CAPTAIN CHARLES KING. 
 
 Fort Frayne. A Story of Army Life in the North- 
 west. With Portrait of the Author. Crown 8vo, cloth 
 gilt, 3s. 6d. 
 
 " A rattling good story. . . . Keeps one interested and amused from first 
 to last." Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
 'A story of border warfare, so Interesting that It Is hard to lay it down. . . . 
 A very well-written story, full of keen interest and fine character." Guardian. 
 
 ADA CAMBRIDGE. 
 
 A Humble Enterprise. By ADA CAMBRIDGE, 
 Author of "The Three Miss Kings," " Fidelis," "A 
 Marked Man," &c. With Four Full-page Illustrations 
 by ST. CLAIR SIMMONS. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d. 
 
 " It is a delightful story, refreshingly original, singularly well told and 
 absorbingly interesting from beginning to end." Daily Mail. 
 
 " A pretty, graceful story, and one to leave, so to speak, a clean taste in 
 one's mouth ; such dishes are rarely served to the public." Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
 At Midnight. By ADA CAMBRIDGE, Author of 
 "A Humble Enterprise," &c. Fully Illustrated. Crown 
 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. Gd. 
 
 " This latest production from the pen of Miss Ada Cambridge is sure to be 
 a great success." 
 
 WARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED.
 
 BY POPULAR AUTHORS. 
 
 NORA VTNNE. 
 Honey of Aloes, and other Stories. By NORA 
 
 VYNNE, Author of " The Blind Artist's Pictures," " A 
 Comedy of Honour," &c. Crown 8vo, cloth, 3s. Gd. 
 
 "These tales are in every respect worthy of conservation, and we cordially 
 congratulate the reading public, as well as their author, upon their repro- 
 duction in book form. Not only do they abound in literary merit, but in 
 thrilling interest, and there is not one of them that is not instinct with intense 
 and veracious humanity. . . . ' Their Reason,' ' A Dilemma, 1 ' Greek and 
 Greek,' and ' Lost Kisses,' deserve special and unqualified laudation." 
 
 Daily Telegraph, 
 
 WILLIAM LE QUEUX. 
 
 A Secret Service: Being Strange Tales of a 
 Nihilist. By WILLIAM LE QUEUX, Author of " The 
 Great War," " Zoraida," &c. With Frontispiece by 
 HAROLD PIFFARD. Crown 8vo, cloth, 3s. Gd. 
 
 " Apart altogether from its political Interest, ' A Secret Service will be read 
 and appreciated for its brightly written stories of mystery and sensation and 
 romance which are threaded together in the narrative of Anton Pr^hzner." 
 
 Daily Mail 
 
 CONAN DOYLE. 
 
 The First Book about Sherlock Holmes. 
 A Study in Scarlet. By A. CONAN DOYLE, 
 
 Author of " Micah Clarke," " The Adventures of Sherlock 
 Holmes," &c. With Forty Illustrations by GEORGB 
 HUTCHINSON. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top, 3s. Gd. 
 
 " Everything that prince of amateur detectives, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, says is 
 worth hearing, and the dramatic surprises contained in his amiable and 
 artistic fooling of the two brother detectives are capitally conceived." 
 
 Black and White. 
 
 " Few things have been so good of late as Mr. Conan Doyle's ' Study in 
 Scarlet.'" MR. ANDREW LANG, in Longman's Magazine. 
 
 ANNIE E. HOLDSWORTH. 
 
 Spindles and Oars. By ANNIE E. HOLDSWORTH, 
 Author of "The Years that the Locust hath Eaten." 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, with Special Title-page, 3s. Gd. 
 
 " We do not exaggerate when we say that there are very few books of living 
 writers which we would not gladly exchange for such a work as she has now 
 given us." Manchester Courier. 
 
 WARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED.
 
 COPYRIGHT NOVELS 
 
 JOSEPH HOCKING. 
 Fields of Fair Renown. With Frontispiece and 
 
 Vignette by J. BARNARD DAVIS. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 
 3s. 6d. 
 
 " Mr. Joseph Booking's ' Fields of Fair Renown ' Is a novel with a purpose, 
 and the theme is worked out with a good deal of force and effective power 
 ... it is both interesting and powerful." Scotsman. 
 
 " Mr. Hocking has produced a work which his readers of all classes will 
 appreciate. . . . There are exhibited some of the most beautiful aspects of 
 disposition." Dundee A dverii$er. 
 
 All Men are Liars. By JOSEPH HOCKING. With 
 Frontispiece and Vignette by GORDON BROWNE. Second 
 Edition. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d. 
 
 " This Is a notable book. Thoughtful people will be fascinated by its 
 tctuality, its fearlessness, and the insight it gives into the influence of modern 
 thought and literature upon the mind and morals of our most promising man- 
 hood." Christian World. 
 
 "A striking book. ... It is strong and earnest and vigorous; It 
 knowledge of the lower class, and impatience and contempt of sham 
 
 n**r> ' '/*/* C / /I /J /*/? 
 
 shows 
 
 - . hams of all 
 
 sorts." The Standard. 
 
 Ishmael Pengelly : An Outcast. By JOSEPH 
 HOCKING. With Frontispiece and Vignette by W. S. 
 STACEY. Third Edition. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d. 
 
 " As a story this book is a splendid piece of writing ; every detail is interest- 
 Ing, and the situations it creates are novel and striking." The Record. 
 
 " A remarkable novel. . . . The plot of the story is ingenious, the manner 
 of its telling essentially dramatic, the character-drawing excellent and con- 
 sistent." Christian World. 
 
 The Story of Andrew Fairfax. By JOSEPH 
 HOCKING. With Frontispiece and Vignette by GEORGE 
 HUTCHINSON. Fourth Edition. Crown Svo, cloth gilt, 
 3s. 6d. 
 
 " Rustic scenes and characters are drawn with free, broad touches, without 
 Mr. Buchanan's artificiality, and, if we may venture to say it, with more 
 realism than in Mr. Hardy's country pictures." Manchester Examiner. 
 
 Jabez Easterbrook. By JOSEPH HOCKING. Fourth 
 Edition. With Frontispiece and Vignette by W. S. 
 STACEY. Crown Svo, cloth, 3s. 6d. 
 
 " Real strength Is shown In the sketches, of which that of Brother Bowman 
 Is most prominent. In its way it is delightful." Rock, 
 
 WARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED.
 
 BY POPULAR AUTHORS. 
 
 JOSEPH 
 
 The Monk of Mar Saba. By JOSEPH HOCKING. 
 Second Edition. With Frontispiece and Vignette by 
 WALTER S. STAGEY. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3*. Gd. 
 
 " Great power and thrilling Interest. . . . The scenery of the Holy Land 
 las rarely been so vividly described as in this charming book of Mr. 
 Hocking's." Star. 
 
 ".The author has turned his visit to Palestine to good account. . . . His de- 
 scriptions of the wild scenery of different parts of the Holy Land are both 
 vigorous and graphic, and the stories themselves are interesting." 
 
 Manchester Guardian. 
 
 Ziilah. With Frontispiece by POWELL CHASE. 
 Third Edition. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d. 
 
 " Writing purely from the Christian standpoint, he enters into all the details 
 of Spiritualism and Theosophy. . . . Christianity conquers triumphantly in 
 the end. . . . The story is written with considerable vigour." 
 
 Manchester Guardian, 
 
 HEADON HILL. 
 
 Beacon Fires ; or, War Stories of the Coast. By 
 HEADON HILL, Author of "The Queen of Night," &c., 
 &c. With Full-page Illustrations by STANLEY L. WOOD. 
 Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d. 
 
 " This work, we think, can be called Mr. Hill's masterpiece. Tho book la 
 bright, and very cleverly written." 
 
 The Divinations of Kala Persad. With Two 
 Full-page Illustrations by STANLEY L. WOOD. Crown 
 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. Gd. 
 
 " Distinctly worth having. The Divinations cf Kala Persad, so far as tho 
 book relates to that remarkable man, have a novelty that is refreshing." 
 
 The Spectator. 
 
 The Queen of Night. By HEADON HILL, Author 
 of "Zambra, the Detective," &c. With Frontispiece by 
 H. PIFFARD. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s, Gd. 
 
 " A story of rare merit, in which knowledge of the world and of mankind is 
 admirably utilised." Scotsman. 
 
 " A most thrilling . . . exciting story, which is designed with boldness and 
 developed with considerable literary skill." Manchester Courier. 
 
 WARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED.
 
 COPYRIGHT NOVELS 
 
 J. E. MUD&OCK, 
 
 Stormlight; or, The Nihilist's Doom: A Story of 
 Switzerland and Russia. By ]. E. MUDDOCK, F.R.G.S., 
 Author of "For God and the Czar," &c. With Two 
 Full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. Crown 
 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top, 3s. Gd. 
 
 " A strong plot, exciting situations . . . full of interest." The Scotsman. 
 " Interest is sustained all through so exciting a plot, and the story may be 
 recommended." Lloyd's Newspaper. 
 
 S. G. FIELDING. 
 
 The Southern Light. By S. G. FIELDING. Illus- 
 trated by WARWICK GOBLE. Crown Svo, cloth gilt, 
 Ss. Gd. 
 
 " It is all faultlessly told." Academy. 
 
 MAGGIE SWAN. 
 
 A Neglected Privilege : A Story of a Modern 
 Woman. By the Author of "A Late Awakening," &c. 
 With Two Full-page Illustrations by STEPHEN REID. 
 Crown Svo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6(1. 
 
 " The story is finely and, in many places, most pathetically written." 
 
 Lloyd's News. 
 
 "Miss Swan tells the story in such a way as to fix the attention of ths 
 reader right to the end." Scotsman. 
 
 FERGUS HUME. 
 The Crime of the 'Liza Jane. By FERGUS 
 
 HUME, Author of " The Mystery of a Hansom Cab," 
 &c. With Two Full-page Illustrations by GEORGE 
 HUTCIIINSON. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6(1. 
 
 The Dwarf's Chamber, and other Stories. With 
 about Fifty Illustrations by PERCY SPENCE, JAMES 
 GREIG and others. Crown Svo, cloth, 3s. 6(1. 
 
 Tliis new novel has all the sustained interest of "The Mystery of a Hansom 
 Cab," the novel by which Mr. Fergus Hume made his name, and is, more- 
 over, a more skilfully constructed and better told story. 
 
 V/ARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED.
 
 BY POPULAR AUTHORS. u 
 
 HERMAN. 
 
 Woman, the Mystery : A Story of Three Revolu- 
 tions. By HENRY HERMAN, Author of " His Angel," 
 "Eagle Joe," &c., and part Author of "One Traveller 
 Returns," "The Bishop's Bible," &c. With Four Full- 
 page Illustrations by GEORGE HUTCHINSON. Crown 
 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top, 3s. 6d. 
 
 " A tale so chock-full of sensation and thrilling episodes and hair-breadth 
 escapes that the reader's breath is fairly taken away before the end of it." 
 
 Manchester Guardian. 
 
 " Gives full scope to the author's remarkable descriptive powers. . . . The 
 story abounds in dramatic incident and exciting situations." 
 
 The Literary World. 
 
 His Angel: A Romance of the Far West. By 
 HENRY HERMAN, Author of the famous play "The 
 Silver King." With Four Full-page Illustrations by 
 GEORGE HUTCHINSON. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top, 
 3s. Gd. 
 
 " The book is excellent reading from first to last." Saturday Review. 
 
 " ' His Angel ' is well, even brilliantly, written." Black and White. 
 
 " The story is a good one. Written with plenty of dash and go." Standard. 
 
 The Crime of a Christmas Toy. By HENRY 
 HERMAN, Author of " His Angel," &c. With about 
 Forty Illustrations by GEORGE HUTCHINSON. Crown 
 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top, 3s. 6d. 
 
 The late Mr. Henry Herman's stories have achieved a wide popularity 
 among the reading public of England, America, and Australia. The dramatic 
 power which made the play " The Silver King," of which he was part author, 
 so signal a success, is very noticeable in the present work ; and this, in con- 
 junction with a striking and original plot, has resulted in a story of breathless 
 and fascinating interest. 
 
 Lady Turpin. By HENRY HERMAN. Profusely 
 Illustrated by STANLEY L. WOOD. 
 
 " Ingeniously constructed and throbbing with excitement." 
 
 Sheffield Telegraph. 
 " A breathlessly exciting tale." The Bookman. 
 
 WARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED.
 
 12 COPYRIGHT NOVELS 
 
 "GRAHAM IRVING." 
 
 Temptation. By " GRAHAM IRVING." Crown Svo, 
 cloth gilt, 8s. Gd. 
 
 "A downright cunning and ingenious romance. I can't remember having 
 read anything like it." Morning Leader. 
 
 RICHARD MARSH. 
 
 The Crime and the Criminal. By RICHARD 
 MARSH, Author of "Mrs. Musgrave's Husband," &c., &c. 
 
 "Well written, admirably planned, exciting, dramatic, and effective. It is 
 one of the cleverest that has appeared for some time." The Scotsman. 
 
 CHARLES EGBERT CRADDOCK. 
 
 In the Clouds. By CHARLES EGBERT CRADDOCK, 
 
 Author of " The Prophet of the Great Smoky Mountains." 
 With Frontispiece by D. H. FRISTON. Crown Svo, cloth, 
 gilt top, 3s. (id. 
 
 "It is full of strong personal human interest, and it has in addition a vein of 
 tragedy which is none the less striking because of the general humour of the 
 piece. It is a capital story." The Scotsman. 
 
 THOMAS HENEY. 
 
 The Girl at BirrelPs. By THOMAS HENEY. With 
 Frontispiece by T. S. C. CROWTHER. Crown 8vo, cloth 
 gilt, 3s. Gd. 
 
 A singularly realistic picture of Australian Bush Life. It may be questioned 
 whether any such faithful picture of what " roughing it in the bush " means has 
 been published for years. 
 
 MAY KENDALL. 
 
 White Poppies. By MAY KENDALL, Author of 
 "Dreams to Sell," "From a Garret," &c. With Full- 
 page Illustrations by R. ANNING BELL. Crown Svo, 
 cloth gilt, 3s. Gd. 
 
 " A charming, interesting novel ; remarkable not in the least degree for the 
 delightful complication of its love affairs." Yorkshire Post. 
 
 MARY TENNYSON. 
 
 The Fool of Fate. By MARY H. TENNYSON, 
 Author of " Friend Perditus," &c. Crown Svo, cloth, 
 3s. Gd. 
 
 ' Although sad in tone, this book is exceedingly clever and well written. 
 . . . The book is not loaded with psychological analysis, but the incidents are 
 mainly allowed to speak for themselves, and the work is a clever, clear, and 
 consistent character study." Bristol Mercury. 
 
 WARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED.
 
 BY POPULAR AUTHORS. 13 
 
 ENTIRELY NEW EDITION OF 
 
 HENRY KINGSLEY'S NOVELS. 
 
 Newly composed from type specially cast, and handsomely 
 printed on good paper. 
 
 Edited by CLEMENT K. SHORTER. 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth, per Vol., 3s Gd. (Complete in 12 Vols.). 
 
 With Frontispieces by well-known Artists, including WALTER 
 
 PAGET, LANCELOT SPEED, HERBERT RAILTON, A. FORESTIER, 
 
 and others. 
 
 1 The Recollections of Geoffry Hamlyn. 
 
 2 Ravenshoe. 
 
 3 The Hillyars and the Burtons. 
 
 4 Silcote of Silcotes. 
 
 5 Stretton. 
 
 6 Austin Elliot, and the Harveys. 
 
 7 Mdlle. Mathilde. 
 
 8 Old Margaret, and other Stories. 
 
 9 Valentin, and Number Seventeen. 
 
 10 Oakshott Castle, and The Grange Garden. 
 
 11 Reginald Hetherege, and Leighton Court. 
 
 12 The Boy in Grey, and other Stories. 
 
 " Henry Kingsley was born to wear the purple of romance. . . . TTJiere 
 will anyone ii'ho is ordinary and sane find better comrade- 
 ship ? Scarcely outside the novels of Walter Scott. . . . Messrs. 
 Ward, Lock & Co.'s edition of this despotic and satisfying romancer is cheap, 
 and well printed, and comfortable to hold. Those who love Kingsley will love 
 him again and better for this edition, and those who have not loved hare a joy 
 in store that we envy them." The National Observer. 
 
 " To Mr. Clement Shorter and to the publishers th unreserved thanks of 
 the public are warmly due ; there can be no finer mission from the 
 tvorld of fiction to the world of fact than, the putting forth of 
 these ennobling novels afresh and in a fitting form." 
 
 The Daily Chronicle. 
 
 WARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED.
 
 14 COPYRIGHT NOVELS 
 
 THE NAUTILUS SERIES 
 
 Elegantly produced, sq. fcap. 8vo, cloth, 
 2s. Gd. each. 
 
 The aim of the Publishers has been to produce a library which shall 
 
 combine daintiness of appearance, beauty, and taste/illness of design, 
 
 and high literary merits. The designs for cover, end-papers, etc., are 
 
 by Prof. R. ANNING BELL. 
 
 1 The Story of a Baby. By ETHEL TURNER, 
 
 Author of "Seven Little Australians," &c. With Two 
 Full-page Illustrations by ST. CLAIR SIMMONS. 
 " ' The Story of a Baby ' is charmingly written." Scotsman. 
 
 2 A Comedy of Honour. By NORA VYNNE, 
 
 Author of "The Blind Artist's Pictures," "Honey of 
 Aloes," &c. With Two Full-page Illustrations by 
 BERTHA NEWCOMBE. 
 
 " The story is as clever and as witty as previous works by Miss Vynne." 
 
 Scotsman, 
 
 3 A Late Awakening. By MAGGIE SWAN. With 
 
 Two Full-page Illustrations by ST. CLAIR SIMMONS. 
 
 ' The strongest story which this clever young romancer has written." 
 
 Dundee Advertiser. 
 
 4 The Rajah's Sapphire. By M. P. SHIEL. (The 
 
 Plot given him viva voce by W. T. Stead). With Two 
 Illustrations by J. GREIG. 
 " Exciting from start to finish." Manchester Courier. 
 
 5 The Little Duchess. By ETHEL TURNER. With 
 
 Two Illustrations by ST. CLAIR SIMMONS. 
 
 6 Benjamin's Sack. By META C. SCOTT. With 
 
 Two Illustrations by T. BARNARD DAVIS. 
 
 WARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED.
 
 BY POPULAR AUTHORS. 15 
 
 "SEVEN SEAS" SERIES. 
 
 A new library, in producing which the Publishers have aimed at 
 combining lowness of price anA handiness of form with the highest 
 possible excellence of paper, print, and binding. As for the contents, 
 the names of the authors speak for themselves, and in point of 
 mere number of words the series will compare favourably with mzr.y 
 modern six-shilling novels. 
 
 Cloth gilt, gilt edges, 2s. ; leatherette gilt, Is, 6d. 
 
 Ring o' Rushes. By SHAN F. BULLOCK, Author 
 of "By Thrasna River," &c. Illustrated by HAROLD 
 COPPING. 
 
 " Equal to the most vaunted productions of the Kailyard School. . . . Show- 
 ing a fine command of human pathos." Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
 " Incomparably good. . . . Every thought Is true and tender, and deeply 
 human." Daily Mail. 
 
 The Circle of the Earth. By GEORGE KNIGHT, 
 Author of "Dust in the Balance," &c. Illustrated by 
 S. H. VEDDER. 
 
 "Contains elements of originality and subtlety that will commend it to 
 many. A strong bit of creative fiction ; the story and the style are alike out of 
 the common rut." Scotsman. 
 
 " The whole book shows unusual power, which sometimes comes within 
 sight of genius." British Weekly. 
 
 The Craftsman. By ROWLAND GREY. Illustrated 
 
 by MONTAGUE BARSTOW. 
 
 " A clever, well-written story. It is the study of the man of success and the 
 man of failure." Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
 "Of special literary excellence. ... Its human interest Is particularly 
 strong." Dundee Conner. 
 
 WARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED.
 
 16 NINETEENTH CENTURY CLASSICS. 
 
 The Nineteenth Century Classics. 
 
 Edited by CLEMENT K. SHORTER. 
 
 Throughout the whole history of English literature there is no period 
 which impresses one with its variety and helpfulness in any way 
 comparable to the first half of the nineteenth century. No period 
 certainly has produced so many books which it is essential for our 
 own age to read. From the publication of the Lyrical Ballads of 
 Wordsworth, in 1798, through De Quincey, Carlyle, and Landor, 
 the period gave us countless books in. prose and poetry, which, it 
 may be safely affirmed, future ages will not willingly let die. 
 With a view to placing these permanent treasures of the century 
 before the public in an attractive and serviceable form, we are 
 publishing a series entitled " THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 
 CLASSICS." Each volume is beautifully printed, tastefully bound, 
 and contains a photogravure frontispiece, making an ideal possession 
 for every library. 
 
 Crown 8vo, art canvas gilt, 2s. 6d. 
 
 Sartor Resartus. By THOMAS CARLYLE. With 
 an Introduction by EDWARD DOWDEN, LL.D. 
 
 Alaric at Rome, and other Poems. By MATTHEW 
 ARNOLD. With an Introduction by RICHARD GARNETT, 
 C.B., LL.D. 
 
 Heroes and Hero-Worship. By THOMAS 
 CARLYLE. With an Introduction by EDMUND GOSSE. 
 
 Prometheus Bound, and other Poems. By 
 ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING. With an Introduction 
 by ALICE MEYNELL. 
 
 Bells and Pomegranates, and other Poems. By 
 ROBERT BROWNING. With an Introduction by THOS. J. 
 WISE. 
 
 Past and Present. By THOMAS CARLYLE. With 
 an Introduction by FREDERIC HARRISON. 
 
 Bells and Pomegranates. Second Series. By 
 ROBERT BROWNING. 
 
 The Opium Eater. By THOMAS DE QUINCEY. 
 With an Introduction by RICHARD LE GALLIENNE. 
 
 Cranford. By Mrs. GASKELL. With an Intro- 
 duction by W. ROBERTSON NICOLL, LL.D. 
 
 To be followed by others. 
 WARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED.
 
 A 000 421 841 
 
 AGRICULTURAL LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 CITRUS RESEARCH CENTER AND 
 
 AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION 
 
 RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA