The complete angler : or The contemplative man's recreation

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433

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Brigham Young University

IN MEMORY OF

George Fitzroy

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http://www.archive.org/details/completeangleror1800walt

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COMPLETE ANGLER

OR THE

Contemplative Man's Recreation

By IZAAK WALTON and CHARLES COTTON
Edited by JOHN MAJOR

i

ILLUSTRATED

A. L. BURT COMPANY, ^ ^ ^ ^
^ > ^ PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK

M

aCJTY

CONTENTS

PAGB

introductory essay ••••••••. 9

Author's Dedication to John Offley, Esq. • • • 35

Author's Address to his Readers • • • • • '37

PART L

THE FIRST DAY.

Chap. I, — A Conference betwixt an Angler, a HuNTER, and a

R*xconer, each commending his Recreation • « • 4I

THE second day.

Chap. II. — Observations of the Otter and Chub • • • : 73

THE third day.

Chap. III. — How to fish for, and to dress, the Chavender, or

Chub 8t

Chap. IV. — Observations of the Nature and Breeding of the

Trout, and how to fish for him. And the Milkmaid's Song Sj

THE third and FOURTH DAYS.

Chap. V. — More Directions how to fish for, and how to make for
the Trout an Artificial Minnow and Flies, with some
Merriment • .99

THE FOURTH DAY.

Chap. VL — Observations of the Umber or Grayling, and Direc-
tions how to fish for them .•••••« 134

6 CONTENTS.

PAOB

Chap. VII. — Observations of the Salmon, with Directions how to

fish for him ..•••••..• 137
Chap, VIII. — Observations of the Luce or Pike, with Directions

how to fish for him ........ 144

Chap. IX. — Observations of the Carp, with Directions how to fish

for him .•..•••••. 155

Chap. X. — Observations of the Bream, and Directions to catch

him ...••.••••• 163
Chap. XL — Observations of the Tench, and Advice how to angle

for him 170

Chap. XII. — Observations of the Pearch, and Directions how to

fish for him 173

Chap. XIII. — Observations of the Eel, and other Fish that want

scales, and how to fish for them . . • . • .178
Chap. XIV. — Observations of the Barbel, and Directions how to

fish for him 185

Chap. XV. — Observations of the Gudgeon, the Ruffe, and the

Bleak, and how to fish for them 190

Chap. XVI. — Is of nothing, or that which is nothing worth • . 193

THE FIFTH DAY.

Chap. XVII. — Of Roach and Dace, and how to fish for them ; and

of Cadis 200

Chap. XVIII.— Of the Minnow or Penk, of the Loach, and of

the Bull-Head, or Miller's Thumb 210

Chap. XIX. — Of several Rivers, and some Observations of Fish . 214
Chap. XX. — Of Fish-Ponds, and how to order them . . . 2x8
Chap. XXI. — Directions for making of a Line, and for the coloring

of both Rod and Line •••«•••• 221

PART XL

instructions how to angle for a trout or grayling

IN A clear stream.

The First Day 237

fHE Second Day • ^ . . 253

The Third Day 291

CONTENTS. 7

PAGE

LiNN^AN Arrangement OF THE Fish 306

Original AND Selected Notes * 3"

General Index 349

* In these notes, in addition to much biographical and historical informa-
tion, will be found the VARIOUS READINGS of the Editions published in the
lifetime of the Autkor.

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INTRODUCTORY ESSAY.

IF there were a single circumstance by which the fame ol
those ^* honorable men/' the effigies of whom now face the
reader, could possibly be enhanced, it was that of having for
their biographer one who, with the soundest judgment, pos-
sessed a sweetness of disposition ever inclining to the bright
side of things, a veracity not to be questioned, and a felicity
of expression peculiarly his own : thus gifted, like the skilful
artist, at once both flattering and faithful, he brought to the
task of delineation that delicacy due to family feeling, com-
bined with the justice demanded by strict impartiality : the
existence and the application, therefore, of such rare qualities
are equally the subject of exultation.

On the other hand, that Izaak Walton should have been
deemed by his contemporaries the fittest of all persons to per-
form so important a task, were sufficient, by reflection alone,
to insure to himself an imperishable name ; the pictorial allu-
sion, therefore, at the head of this Introductory Essay will
probably be deemed particularly appropriate : it contains the
portraits of Dr. John Donne, Mr. George Herbert, Bishop
Sanderson, Mr. Richard Hooker, and Sir Henry Wotton,
whose lives, at different times, were written by Walton.

The praise bestowed on the Life of Dr. Donne by Dr. King,
afterwards Bishop of Winchester, in a letter to Walton himself^

lO INTRODUCTORY ESSAY.

is equally applicable to the rest : — ''I am glad that the general
demonstration of his worth was so fairly preserved and repre-
sented to the world by your pen, in the history of his life ; in-
deed, so well, that, beside others, the best critic of our later
time, Mr. John Hales of Eaton, affirmed to me he had not
seen a life written with more advantage to the subject, or repu-
tation to the writer, than that of Dr. Donne.''

The posthumous fame of these hves so well accords with this
contemporary applause, that they are to be found in almost
every respectable library ; yet it w^ere unpardonable on the
occasion of this attempt * to give additional popularity to our
author's inimitable work of the Co?nplete Angler, not to re-
mind the reader that he has other claims to literary reputation
than those derived from this truly felicitous achievement.

In both instances he became an author by mere chance. Sir
Henry Wotton had undertaken to write the life of Dr. Donne,
and had requested Walton to assist him in collecting materials
for that purpose ; but Sir Henry dying before it was completed,
Walton undertook it himself, and succeeded so fully to the
satisfaction of the most learned men of his time, that it was to
be attributed to their importunity, rather than to his own am-
bition, that he performed the same office for his 'Mear friend
Sir Henry ' ' himself, and those other eminent men whose
names have just been enumerated.

Sir Henry Wotton tuo, as it appears from the Dedication of
the Complete Angler to John Offley,f Esq., had intended " to

*The attempt was so successful, as to leave me forever indebted to the
whole body of the public press. Dr. Southey also spoke of this humble
Essay in terms too flattering to be here adduced ; but I must crave pardon
for the necessary egotism of a few other notes. Twenty-one years having
now elapsed, and three editions become scarce, I have, in the endeavor yet
further to increase the popularity of this work, again the co-operation of a
host of talent and a world of kindness! — while the stanchest Waltonians have
looked on, free from jealousy, and anxious only to see their beloved author
made as attractive as possible to the rising gentratUn.

t This gentleman, whose ancestors have been settled at Madeley Manoc
as early as the year 1237, married the heiress of the Crewes, of Crewe Hall,

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. II

write a discourse of the Art and in praise of Angling, and/'
continues Walton, * doubtless he had done so, if death had
not prevented him ; the remembrance of which hath often
made me sorry : for if he had lived to do it, then the unlearned
angler had seen some better treatise of this art, a treatise that
might have proved worthy his perusal, which, though some
have undertaken, I could never yet see in EngHsh."

Here again our modest author finds an excuse for the under-
taking of a work, of which it seems almost too weak a praise to
say, that its parallel could scarcely have been hoped for, even
from the elegant mind of Sir Henry Wotton himself.

Our author, who was born at Stafford in 1593, but who
lived the greatest part of his time in London, published the
first edition of this celebrated work in 1653, and lived to see it
go through no less than five editions; the last of which, in
1676, was accompanied by a Second Part, written by his in-
timate friend and adopted son, Charles Cotton of Beresford
Hall, in the County of Stafford, Esq. This Second Part, in
which Mr. Cotton, from his local opportunities, was enabled
to treat more at large on Fly-fishing than Walton had proposed
to do, forms an important part of the work, in more than one
point of view ; but chiefly, as conveying the fullest evidence
of that reverence, and almost homage, which its accomplished
author entertained for the character of Walton.

The Fishing-house on the banks of the Dove seems to have
been built expressly to perpetuate the memory of their friend-
ship ; the motto over its door was '' Piscatoribus sacrum,'^
with the initials of Walton and Cotton interwoven in a cipher
upon the keystone of the building, and the same cipher was,
by Mr. Cotton's desire, placed in the title-page of the first
edition of his portion of the work, and has been continued in
all those since published.

This part of our history will be fully illustrated by the fol-

and was the progenitor of the present Lord Crewe. The family is connected
by marriages with the noble houses of Hastings, Powis, and Wilton.

12 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY.

lowing short epistles which passed on the occasion ; and the
opportunity is taken of giving the signatures in the genuine
autographs of the authors, — that of Walton being also intro-
duced, with a more enlarged specimen of his handwriting, in
another place.
To ray most worthy Father and Friettd, Mr. Izaak Walton, the Eldet

Sir,—
Being you were pleased, some years past, to grant me your free leave to
do what I have here attempted, and observing you never retract any
promise, when made in favor even of your meanest friends, I accordingly
expect to see these following particular directions for the taking of a trout
to wait upon your better and more general rules for all sorts of angling:
and, though mine be neither so perfect, so well digested, nor indeed so
handsomely couched, as they might have been, in so long a time as since
your leave was granted, yet I dare affirm them to be generally true ; and
they had appeared too in something a neater dress, but that I was sur-
prised with the sudden news of a sudden new edition of your Complete
Angler : so that, having but a little more than ten days* time to turn me
in, and rub up my memory, for, in truth, I have not, in all this long time,
though I have often thought on't, and almost as often resolved to go
presently about it, I was forced upon the instant to scribble what I here
present you ; which I have also endeavored to accommodate to your own
method. And, if mine be clear enough for the honest Brothers of the
Angle readily to understand, which is the only thing I aim at, then I have
my end, and shall need to make no further apology : a writing of this
kind not requiring, if I were master of any such thing, any eloquence to
set it off or recommend it ; so that if you, in your better judgment, or
kindness rather, can allow it passable, for a thing of this nature, you will
then do me honor, if the Cipher^ fixed and carved in the front of my little
fishing-house, may be here explained : and to permit me to attend you in
public, who, in private, have ever been, am, and ever resolve to be, sir.
Your most affectionate son and servant.

Beresford^
XOtk of March ^ ^^76-

/

To my most honored Friend^ Charles Cotton, Esq.
Sir,—
You now see I have returned you your very pleasant and useful discourse
of the Axt of Fly-fishing, printed just as it was sent me ; for I have oeeo

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. I3

so obedient to your desires, as to endure all the praises you have ventured
to fix upon me in it. And when I have thanked you for them, as the
effects of an undissembled love, then let me tell you, sir, that I will really
endeavor to live up to the character you have given of me ; if there were
no other reason, yet for this alone, that you, that love me so well, and
always think what you speak, may not, for my sake, suffer by a mistake in
your judgment.

And, sir, I have ventured to fill a part of your margin, by way of para-
phrase, for the reader's clearer understanding the situation, both of your
Fishing-house, and the pleasantness of that you dwell in. And I have
ventured also to give him a copy of verses that you were pleased to send
me, now some years past ; in which he may see a good picture of both ;
and so much of your own mind, too, as will make any reader that is blest
with a generous soul to love you the better. I confess, that for doing
this you may justly judge me too bold ; if you do, I will say so too ; and
so far commute for my offence, that, though I be more than a hundred
miles from you, and in the eighty-third year of my age, yet I will forget
both, and next month begin a pilgrimage to beg your pardon ; for I would
die in your favor ; and till then will live, sir.

Your most affectionate father and friend,

London^
April 2.^th^ 1676.

/h^'^ f\^ixMco\

With this enlarged edition also appeared, for the first time,
the following beautiful verses, exhibiting as favorable a speci-
men of Cotton's poetical powers as his whole works could
supply,

THE RETIREMENT.

IRREGULAR STANZAS,
ADDRESSED TO

MR. IZAAK WALTON.

I.

CAREWELL, thou busy world ! and may

We never meet again :
Here I can eat, and sleep, and pray,
And do more good in one short day,
^ Than he, who his whole age outwears

Upon the most conspicuous theatres,
Where naught but vanity and vice do reign.

14 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY.

II.

Good God ! how sweet are all things here J
How beautiful the fields appear !

How cleanly do we feed and lie !
Lord ! what good hours do we keep !
How quietly we sleep !

What peace ! what unanimity !
How innocent from the lewd fashion
Is all our business, all our recreation !

III.

O how happy here's our leisure !
O how innocent our pleasure !
O ye valleys ! O ye mountains !
O ye groves, and crystal fountains I
How I love at liberty.
By turns, to come and visit ye !

IV.

Dear Solitude, the souPs 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.

V.

How calm and quiet a delight

Is it alone
To read, and meditate, and write ;

By none offended, and offending none !
To walk, ride, sit, or sleep at one's own ease,
And, pleasing a man's self, none other to displease!

VI.

O my beloved Nymph ! fair Dove t
Princess of Rivers ! how I love

Upon thy flowery banks to lie.
And view thy silver stream,
When gilded by a summer's beam,

And in it all thy wanton fry

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 1$

Playing at liberty ;
And, with my angle upon them,
The all of treachery
I ever learned industriously to try.

VII.

Such streams, Rome's yellow Tiber cannot show.

The Iberian Tagus, or Ligurian Po ;

The Maese, the Danube, and the Rhine,

Are puddle-water all, compared with thine ;

And Loire's pure streams yet too polluted are

With thine much purer to compare ;

The rapid Garonne, and the winding Seine,

Are both too mean,

Beloved Dove, with thee

To vie priority ;

Nay, Thame and Isis when conjoined submit, '

And lay their trophies at thy silver feet,

VIII.

O my beloved rocks, that rise

To awe the earth and brave the skies !

From some aspiring mountain's crown,

How dearly do I love.
Giddy with pleasure, to look down,

And from the vales to view the noble heights above !
O my beloved caves ! from Dog-star's heat,
And all anxieties, my safe retreat ;
What safety, privacy, what true delight,
In th' artificial night
Your gloomy entrails make.
Have I taken, do I take !
How oft, when grief has made me fly
To hide me from society,
Ev'n of my dearest friends, have I

In your recesses' friendly shade

All my sorrows open laid, s

And my most secret woes intrusted to your priracy I

IX.

Lord ! would men let me alontj
What an over-happy one

iC INTRODUCTORY ESSAY.

Should I think myself to be,
Might I, in this desert place,
Which most men in discourse disgrace.

Live but undisturbed and free 1
Here, in this despised recess,

Would I, maugre Winter's cold,
And the Summer's worst excess.

Try to live out to sixty full years old I
And all the while,

Without an envious eye.
On any thriving under Fortune's smile

Contented live, and then — contented die.

c. c.

But, notwithstanding the purity of sentiment contained in
these verses, we are compelled to add that the virtuous aspira-
tions of the poet were rendered vain by a general want of
economy in his affairs : thus forming a striking contrast to those
of the practical moralist, whom we cannot help wishing he had
been able to imitate in a degree more consistent with his truly
creditable admiration. Nevertheless, their connection was
highly honorable to them both ; it is beautiful to fancy the
cheerful sage relaxing to accommodate himself to the compara-
tively dissipated man of fashion, who, on the other hand, seems
to have held himself as it were in a course of reformation, in
compliment to his indulgent friend : nothing can be finer than
his carrying this temper to the length of making his acceptable-
ness to Walton the test of his general worthiness. See Part II.
Chap. I. : '' My father Walton will be seen twice in no man's
company he does not like, and likes none but such as he believes
to be very honest men ; which is one of the best arguments, or
at least one of the best testimonies I have, that I either am, or
that he thinks me, one of those, seeing I have not yet found
him weary of me.'*

Yet here we cannot refrain from the remark, that Walton
triumphs over his coadjutor as much in the true aims of genius
as in moral worth ; having immortalized himself by a work
which he produced by mere accident ! — whilst Cotton, though

I

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 17^-'

almost an author by profession, having chosen disgusting topics
for many of his original compositions, now lives chiefly in
connection with the name of his venerable friend : — or, to say
the least, the benign influence of a virtuous association was never
more strikingly illustrated, since his devoted attachment to
Walton forms the best evidence we have of his naturally amiable
disposition, and a more honorable, if not a more certain im-
mortality, is, on his part, the issue of this ever-memorable
friendship ; and yet it has been recently and justly observed,
that a judicious selection of his poems would stamp him d&Jirst
rate with the present age ; though his capacity to vie with the
most licentious wits of his own times injured his performances,
taken as a whole — his Muse was truly **fond to inspire" if
sometimes *^ ashamed to avow'' — he flew to his pen upon all
occasions, and was so ready at it, that he could disclose all his
troubles, and his own noble, generous, jovial, and even thankful
temper in half a score lines, as in the following part of an
epistle to his friend Sir Chfford CUfton.

•* He^s good fellow enough to do every one right,
And never was first that asked what time of night ;
His delight is to toss the can merrily round,
And loves to be wet, but hates to be drowned ;
He fain would be just, but sometimes he cannot,
Which gives him the trouble that other men ha' not ;
He honors his friend, but he wants means to show it,
And loves to be rhyming, but is the worst poet.
Yet among all these vices, to give him his due,
He has virtue to be a true lover of you ;
But how much he loves you, he says you may guess it,
Since nor prose nor yet metre he swears can express it ! "

Right pithily, also, has honest Charles anticipated as full a
reply as will ever be necessary to all revilers of his favorite re-
creation : —

** We care not who says.
And intends it dispraise,
That an angler to a fool is next neighbor ;

|8 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY.

Let him prate ; what care we ;

We're as honest as he,
And so let him take that for his labor ! ** *
•• There are who think these pastimes scarce humane.
Yet m my mind (and not relentless I)
His life is pure that wears no fouler stains,**

But to return to Walton, who must have often lamented the
misfortunes of his adopted son.

The precise situation in life in which Walton was placed has
unfortunately never reached posterity ; and, with due deference
to his earliest biographers, we cannot help thinking it has been
fixed in too humble a sphere.

Sir John Hawkins speaks of a deed dated 1624, by which it
appears that his house in Fleet Street was in the joint occupa-
tion of Izaak Walton and John Mason, Hosier; ^^ whence,''
says Sir John, *^we may conclude, that half a shop was suf-
ficient for the business of Walton." Now to this deduction
we by no means agree ; but in unison with the tradition in his
family, that he was '^ a wholesale Linen-draper or Hamburgh
Merchant,''^ would much rather infer that Izaak Walton (it is
to be observed that his name is mentioned first in the said
deed) had let a part of his house to the said John Mason, his
own business not requiring the public exposure of his goods.

Be this as it might, we have the pleasure of presenting the
reader with a genuine view of the house rendered so truly in-
teresting as the dwelling of our author ; the curious in London
topography will recognize the corner house, in the print an-
nexed to this Essay, as the southwest end of Chancery Lane,
Fleet Street, as it appeared till within about the last sixteen
years. The third west from the corner is considered as the
identical house of Walton, whilst the view at the same time
contains a glance of the curious old houses up Chancery Lane,

* As for that morbid sensibility which rails at angling on the score of cru-
elty, let us rely on the defence of the invincibly reasoning Armstrong, — it
was neither made on behalf of Walton nor Cotton, but in justice to God and
for aH mankinds

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 19

hi one of which he also resided about ten years after the above
date. It is probably the only correct delineation extant, hav-
ing been drawn on the spot by the late Mr. Smith of the Brit-
ish Museum, whose superiority in topographical delineation is
particularly well known.

Again, we find some of our author's biographers full of
wonder at the extent and high respectabihty of his connections,
particularly among the superior clergy of his time ; — it is true
that this distinction is ascribed to the most honorable sources,
integrity of character, and amiableness of disposition ; we are
also apprised of the undoubted fact, that he was brother-in-law
to the amiable Bishop Ken, whilst his direct consanguinity with
Archbishop Cranmer himself is (although erroneously) insisted
on. By extraordinary ingenuity, therefore, mystery has been
created out of the very circumstances calculated to afford eluci-
dation ; for what is this but presenting Walton to us in the
midst of his own relations and family friends ? '^ proving him
to have been in a walk of life, whatever it exactly was, consist-
ent even with their alliance^ as well as countenance and protec-
tion ! To reason but a little further, (see only the Hst oi inti-
mates named in his will !) he appears to have known almost
everybody who was worth knowing ! — and were it not that
there seems to be no record of his intimacy with the congeni-
ally-minded Evelyn, we should apply to him what was said by
Johnson of Congreve : — ^^He lived only for himself and his
friends, and amongst his friends he was able to name almost
every man of his time whom wit or elegance had raised to
reputation ! *'

That he was bred to trade may be accounted for, either

* Even of John Offley, Esq. (see ante, p. lo), it is stated by Sir H. Nicolas,
•* He dedicated the work to John Offley of Madeley Manor in Staffordshire,
Esquire," his most honored friend, ^* who, there is ground for supposing, was
remotely relaUdio him." In another place, Sir Hams also observes : '*This
dedication is not the only evidence of a personal acquaintance between the
families of Walton and Offley : a John Offley proved the will of Agnes IVal^
ten of the parish of Madelev on the 22d of April, 1573."

20 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY.

from the circumstance of his father^s dying when he was only
two years old, or even from his own choice ; and that there
existed no necessary incompatibility between the character he
held and that of a gentleman^ surely he may be said to have
demonstrated, of whom that which is most certainly known
would do honor to any station whatever. His " only son
Isaac*' we find bred to the church, seemingly as a matter of
course; and that his only daughter was married to a dignified
clergyman, Dr. Hawkins of Winchester, strengthens all the
foregoing arguments.*

All these particulars we are enabled to collect, notwithstand-
ing that history and tradition are equally parsimonious respect-
ing this extraordinary man ; wherever conjecture, therefore,
supplies, of necessity, the place of fact, let us in the name of
goodness (v.^hich were but synonymous with saying in the name
of Izaak Walton^ regulate our decisions with one constant
view to his immortal honor ! There is, at least, one delight-
ful reflection to be drawn from the internal evidence of his
own work : — he did really and substantially enjoy, in his own
person, that true happiness which he would teach us all to ac-

* But I have now the pleasure of recording a very interesting new fact re-
lating to our author. So lately as June, 1844, a paper — by John Nicholl,
Esq., of Islington, F.S.A., and of the Worshipful Company of Ironmongers
-^was read by Sir Henry Ellis, disclosing as follows : " 1617-18, Isaac Wal-
ton was made one of the Ironmongers' Company, by Thomas Grinsell, Citizen
and Ironmonger." This may be relied on, whether he had been previously
apprenticed to Henry Walton or not, — " but it does not appear when he was
bound or turned over to Grinsell." This tempting " tte?n " was seized by our
keen antiquary, with the eye of a hawk and the avidity of a perch ; — and he
has declared to some of his friends, that he is more pleased with the discov-
ery than with any other result of his researches among the archives of his
ancient fraternity. Walton was then about twenty-four years of age, before
which, in those days, no one could take up his freedom. Here, then, we have
the very frst event of his manhood that can be confirmed by a date; — and I
still contend that he must have been surrounded by guardian friends, in
every part of his prosperous career. No further evidence is needed than
that of his wit/ to show that the family of Grinsell or Grinsells were rela^
tions ; — for amongst those to whom he leaves memorial rings there is this
item, — *• to mycosen Grinsells widow,'*

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 21

quire : with that genuine, philosophical spirit which is worthy
of universal imitation, he sought his beloved independence in
the limitation of his wants, rather than by aiming at the ac-
quirement of large possessions ; his book, as he himself tells us,
is a picture of his own mind, and had that book been called
^' The Divine Art of Contentment,'' or " The True Christian
Philosopher,'' its principal contents would have justified either
of those titles, equally with that in which his modesty dic-
tated its setting forth.

Thus has this delightful work, notwithstanding its unassum-
ing title, excited from the first a most commanding attention ;
and may be said to have risen in public estimation, even to
this very hour.

The selection of a few passages from his various editors and
disinterested eulogists will best prove the assertion ; a slight
glance, however, at the earliest English work on Anglings
seems to be first necessary, for the sake of those of our readers
who may have been, hitherto, totally unacquainted with Wal-
tonian lore. We allude to a tract, written by Dame Juhana
Barnes, Prioress of the Nunnery of Sopewell, near St. Alban's,
and entitled The Treaty se of Fysshinge with an Angle ^ being
part of a book " known to the curious in typographical antiq-
uities by the title of the Book of St, Alban's, Enprented at
Wesltmestre by Wynkyn de Worde, in 1496, in small Folio ; the
book consists of a treatise on Hawking, another on Hunting,
which is all in verse ; a book wherein is determined the Lyg-
nage of Cote Armures, the above-mentioned treatise of Fishing,
and the method of Blasynge of Armes."

The work is now of the most extreme rarity, yet it was
doubtless well known to Walton, some of whose descriptions
may be considered as paraphrastic of the following beautiful
passage, setting forth those incidental pleasures of the angler
which exist quite independently of his taking fish, — he having,
''Atte the leest his holsom walke, and mery at his ease, a
swete ayre of the swete savoure of the meede floures that

22 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY.

makyth him hungry; he hereth the melodyous armony o!
fowles; he seeth the yonge swannes, heerons, duckes, cotes,
and many other foules, wyth their brodes ; whyche me semyth
better than alle the noyse of houndys, the blastes of hornys, and
the cryes of fouUs, that hunters, fawkeners, and foulers can
make. And if the angler take fysshe, surely then is there noo
man merier than he is in his spyryte."

It is also probable that Walton might borrow from Barker's
*^ Art of Anghng/' first pubhshed in 1651, the idea of making
his work humorous and entertaining ; but how fine is the con-
trast between the chastised mirth of a gentleman, and that of
the mere droll ! — for poor Mr. Barker aspires to nothing
higher.

As for Walton's morality^ it is almost entirely his own ; we
cannot help noticing one remarkable instance of his propriety
and delicacy of feeling ; he is conscious that, for some very
ardent minds, he may have made his descriptions too seductive,
and consequently he takes especial care to furnish a hint which
may serve for a corrective : it occurs near the commencement
of Chapter V., where Peter says : ''I will promise you I will
sing another song in praise of angling to-morrow night, for we
will not part till then ; but fish to-morrow and sup together,
and the next day every man leave fishing, and fall to Jus busi*
ness r'

This minute piece of admonition is rendered the more del-
icate from its timely utterance, being evidently meant to re-
mind us that we should fix the requisite limits to our pleasures,
even before their commencement.

In resuming our purpose of pointing out the progressire
and still growing reputation of our author, it may be fairly
premised that what we now present is to be viewed as the grate*
ful feehng of posterity, in opposition to that contemporary
applause which might be supposed to flow from favor or affec-
tion. By far the greater part of those copies of verses, pre-
fixed, according to the custom of the time, to the earlier

INTRODUCTOKV ESSAY. 23

editions, by friends of the author, might be deemed liable to
this exception ; besides that they, in general, partake too much
of metaphysical conceit to continue their attendance on an
author whose mind was as unsophisticated as his language was
beautiful: — truly, indeed, may it be termed the "well-spring
of English, pure and undefiled. ' *

The Reverend Moses Browne is the first writer whose re-
marks are applicable to our present view of the subject ; he re-
vived the *' Complete Angler ' * after it had lain dormant for
upwards of eighty years ; and this task, be it never forgotten,
Vas performed at the instigation of Dr. Samuel Johnson ! Mr.
Browne, in his Preface, shows a laudable anxiety that the
work should be known as a literary p7^oduction, and not as a
mere book of fishing ; these are his words : — " Mr. Isaac Wal-
ton's Complete Angler, which (with the second part by Mr.
Cotton, of equal scarcity and value, I have the satisfaction of
restoring in the present manner to the public) has been always
had in the greatest reputation, by such as are acquainted with
books, and have any discerning in works of merit and nature.
Not only the lovers of this art, but all * others, who have no
inclinations in the least to the diversion of angling that it treats
of, have joined in giving it their mutual suffrage and commen-
dation.'*

In the year 1760 appeared the first of those editions edited
by Sir John Hawkins ; from whose Life of Walton prefixed, we
. xtract the following encomium.

** And let no man imagine, that a work on such a subject
must, necessarily, be unentertaining, or trifling, or even un-

* On the appearance of my first edition, in 1823, Mr. D'Israeli (who some-
where speaks of the "Doric sweetness of Izaak Walton ") observed to me,
•* One often sees a pretty book which is interesting to 2l particular class ; but
you have hit on a work that pleases everybody / " And Mr. Alexander Chal-
mers was pleased to say, that I had given quite a new tone to the subject, and
had •• Waltonized the land." For my own part, I can only say, that I had
<ong been asking myself, in the language of Abraham Cowley, ** What shall
I do to be forever known?" and my good genius whispered, "Give youl
days and nights to emblazon the worth of Izaak Walton."

24 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY.

instructive ; for the contrary will most evidently appear from
a perusal of this excellent piece, which, whether we consider
the elegant simplicity of the style, the ease and unaffected
humor of the dialogue, the lovely scenes which it delineates,
the enchanting pastoral poetry which it contains, or the line
morality it so sweetly inculcates, has hardly its fellow in any
of the modern languages.''

From Walton's latest* and most copious biographer, the
Rev. Dr. Thomas Zouch, an equally honorable testimony is
selected.

**In this volume of the Complete Angler, which will be
always read with avidity, even by those who entertain no
strong relish for the art which it professes to teach, we discover
a copious vein of innocent pleasantry and good-humor. The
dialogue is diversified with all the characteristic beauties of
colloquial composition. The songs and little poems which are
occasionally inserted will abundantly gratify the reader who
has a taste for the charms of pastoral poetry. And above all,
those lovely lessons of religious and moral instruction, which
are so repeatedly inculcated throughout the whole work, will
ever recommend this exquisitely pleasing performance."

Yet the enthusiastic admirer of Walton will be still more
delighted with the wonder-working effects of his book, as set
forth by that deservedly popular writer, Mr. Washington
Irving ; whose applause, being that of a man of acknowledged
taste and brilliant fancy, bespeaks its own peculiar value in
pointing out our author's claims upon the present and succeed-
ing ages.

From '^The Sketch Book" of this gentleman, pubhshed
under the assumed name of Geoffrey Crayon, we extract the
following.

* Sir Harris Nicolas's elaborate and circumstantial Life of our author— so
far as it was possible for the most industrious and skilful research to make it
so — has appeared since the above was written. Sir Harris has here contin-
ued for Walton all that has been done in the way of literary and personal
illustration for Shakespeare himself J

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 2$

'^ It is said that many an unlucky urchin is induced to run
away from his family, and betake himself to a seafaring life,
from reading the history of Robinson Crusoe ; and I suspect
that, in like manner, many of those worthy gentlemen, who
are given to haunt the sides of pastoral streams with angle-rods
in hand, may trace the origin of their passion to the seductive
pages of honest Izaak Walton. I recollect studying his ' Com-
plete Angler ' several years since, in company with a knot of
friends in America, and moreover that we were all completely
bitten with the angling mania. It was early in the year ; but
as soon as the weather was auspicious, and that the spring be-
gan to melt into the verge of summer, we took rod in hand
and sallied into the country, as stark mad as was ever Don
Quixote from reading books of chivalry.

'' One of our party had equalled the Don in the fulness of
his equipments, being attired cap-a-pie for the enterprise. He
wore a broad -skirted fustian coat, perplexed with half a hundred
pockets ; a pair of stout shoes, and leathern gaiters ; a basket
slung on one side for fish ; a patent rod ; a landing-net ; and a
score of other inconveniences, only to be found in the true
angler's armory. Thus harnessed for the field, he was as great
a matter of stare and wonderment among the country-folk, who
had never seen a regular angler, as was the steel-clad hero of
La Mancha among the goatherds of Sierra Morena.

'' Our first essay was along a mountain brook among the high-
lands of the Hudson : a most unfortunate place for the execu-
tion of those piscatory tactics which had been invented along
the velvet margins of quiet English rivulets.

^' For my part, I was always a bungler at all kinds of sport
that required either patience or adroitness, and had not angled
above half an hour before I had completely ' satisfied the senti-
ment,' and convinced myself of the truth of Izaak Walton's
opinion, that angling is something like poetry, — a man must
be born to it. I hooked myself instead of the fish ; tangled my
line in every tree ; lost my bait ; broke my rod ; until I gave up

26 INTRODUCTORY liJSSAY.

the attempt in despair, and passed the day under the trees, read
ing old Izaak ; satisfied that it was his fascinating vein of hon*
est simpHcity and rural feeUng that had bewitched me, and not
the passion for angHng. ...

**But above all, I recollect the * good, honest, wholesome,
hungry ' repast, which we made under a beech-tree, just by a
spring of pure sweet water that stole out of the side of a hill ;
and how, when it was over one of the party read old Izaak
Walton's scene with the milkmaid, while I lay on the grass and
built castles in a bright pile of clouds until I fell asleep/'

The remainder of this elegant essay Mr. Irving devotes to the
character of an old Cheshire angler ; he concludes: ** I could
not refrain from drawing the picture of this worthy ^ brother of
the angle,' who has made me more than ever in love with the
theory, though I fear I shall never be adroit in the practice of
his art.''

This is precisely the treatment of our author which agrees
with our own views ; it requires not so much the love of angHng,
as a relish for the general charms of nature, to render any per-
son of true taste delighted with his pages. We have spared
no effort to insure correct delineations of the FISH,* (f/ie
whole having been painted from nature expressly for this edi-
tion), which will add to the character of the work as connected
with a popular branch of natural history, and truly may it be
said (after allowing the painter, in each instance, due praise"\

that the ''gravers^' also

** had a strife.
With nature to outdo the life ! "

The important and classical addition of the specific and
generic characters will speak for itself to proceed from a most
competent quarter.

The notes, consistently with our view of the work, ^'in its
more important character of a British Classic," are devoted

* The list of engravings will show that some entirely new specimens of
fishes, by artists of the highest rank, are introduced in this edition.

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 27

chiefly to the illustration of its literary merits ; and though we
should deem it a sort of profanation to place them on the same
page * with the text, we have most zealously endeavored to
render them worthy of a distinct perusal.

The frequent occurrence of eminent names throughout the
work naturally leads us to reflect that the chief argument used
by Walton in recommending his art — the " love and practice'^
of it by persons of science and learning — is of the most per-
manent kind. The most ardent anglers of the present day will,
be found in the higher walks of genius and knowledge ; a host
in himself, as it regards our purpose, it were superfluous to covet
authorities in addition to that of the, now, in these enhghtened
days, illustrious President of the Royal Society If

Again, for the honor of our author, let us not forget that the
brilliant wit, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, is known to have de-
clared that he never desired a better companion for post-chaise
than this same Angler, or Contemplative Man's Recreation.

Far indeed from singular is any man who imagines himself
alone to have carried his enthusiasm for our author to exactly
the proper pitch ! It seems as if there must yet exist a " friendly
contention '' about the mode of expressing it, — as to who shall

* These notes having been much praised for their very comprphcnsive use-
fulness, considering the limited space, it is only due to the kind r.n 1 friendly
contributor (declining to be named) to acknowledge the careful t vision of
them, with valuable additions, on the present occasion ; and also to thank him
for a re-collation of the text itself, by which it has been improved throughout.
The bantling is, in truth, my own, but its sponsors are innumerable ; one kind
patron, a gentleman of fortune, used to say to his friends, " You must have
this edition^ for / have a share in it ! " and a total stranger once assure d me
that he had bestowed no less than six guinea:^ on the binding of the wor!;, as
a specimen of the skill of Charles Lewis.

t Sir Humphrey Davy, (alas for Chantrey also !) since de-
ceased. The annexed engraving is from a seal ring, which
this ardent angler, a short time before his death, caused to be
engraved "with a trout upon it," and left to his friend, W,
Haseldine Pepys, Esq., F. R.S., '"not as a mourning ring^*^
fcut to be worn ** in memory of the happy days they had passed together by
the river side / " This was quite in the true " love-my-memory *' spirit of our
Own Izaak himself.

28 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY.

be loudest in his praise, who honor him most in every possible
way ] thus he is daily more and more appreciated as an honor
to the English character, — whilst his increasing popularity is
doubtless an honor to the English people, who love him all the
more, because (though far from devoid of art) he drew — like
his own nightingale — ^all his graces " from beyond its reach."
In good truth, whoever drinks deep of the true spirit of our
glorious Izaak will be at a loss whether most to admire the
extreme clearness of his head or the extreme goodness of his
heart.

To a theme so pleasing, it requires much resolution to fix
the necessary bounds ; if space were allowed, we could greatly
swell our collection of laudatory extracts, even from popular
authors : but the reader must now be relieved by the perusal of
our author's Will, — a composition illustrating equally his own
benevolent character and the peculiar nature of his connec-
tions.

August the ninth, one thousand six hundred eighty-three.

Xn tt)e Xante of 6Jon. ^men. I, IZAAK WALTON the elder, of Win-
Chester^ being this present day in the ninetyeth year of my age, and in per-
fect memory, for which praised be God, but considering how suddainly I
may be deprived of both, do therefore make this my last Will and Tes-
tament as followeth : And first, I do declare my belief to be, that there is
only one God, who hath made the whole world, and me and all mankind,
to whom I shall give an account of all my actions, which are not to be
justified, but I hope pardoned, for the merits of my Saviour Jesus ; and
because the profession of Christianity does, at this time, seem to be sub-
divided into Papist and Protestante, I take it, at least, to be convenient to
declare my belief to be, in all points of faith, as the Church of England
now professeth : and this I do the rather, because of a very long and very
true friendship with some of the Roman church. And for my worldly Estate
(which I have neither got by falsehood, or flattery, or the extreme cruelty
of the law of this nation) I do hereby give and bequeath it as followeth :
First, I give my son-in-law. Doctor Hawkins, and to his wife, to them I
give all my title and right of, or in a part of, a house and shop in Pater*
noster-row^ in London, which I hold by lease from the Lord Bishop of
London for about fifty years to come. And I do also give to them all my
right and title of or to si house in Chancery- lane ^ London ^ wherein Mrs*

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 29

Greinwood now dwelleth, in which is now about sixteen years to come : I
^ive these two leases to them, they saving my executor from all damage
concerning the same. And I give to my son, Izaak^ all my right and title
to a lease of Norijigton Farme, which I hold from the Lord Bishop of
Winton ; and I do also give him all my right and title to a farm or land
near to Stafford^ which I bought of Mr. Walter Noell ; I say, I give it to
him and his heirs forever ; but upon the condition following, namely : if
iny son shall not marry before he shall be of the age of forty and one years,
or, being married, shall dye before the said age, and leave no son to in-
herit the said farme or land ; or if his son or sons shall not live to attain
the age of twenty and one years, to dispose otherways of it ; then I give
the said farme or land to the towne or corporation of Stafford^ in which I
was borne, for the good and benefit of some of the said towne, as I shall
direct, and as followeth : (but first note, that it is at this present time
rented for twenty-one pound ten shillings a year, and is like to hold the
said rent, if care be taken to keep the barn and housing in repair ;) and I
would have, and do give ten pound of the said rent, to bind out, yearly,
two boys, the sons of honest and poor parents, to be apprentices to some
tradesmen or handicraft-men, to the intent the said boys may the better
rfterward get their own living. And I do also give five pound yearly,
out of the said rent, to be given to some maid-servant, that hath attained
the age of twenty and one year, not less, and dwelt long in one service, or
to some honest poor man's daughter, that hath attained to that age, to be
paid her at or on the day of her marriage : and this being done, my will
is, that what rent shall remain of the said farme or land shall be disposed
of as followeth : first I do give twenty shillings yearly, to be spent by the
Major of Stafford^ and those that shall collect the said rent, and dispose
of it as I have, and shall hereafter direct ; and that what money or rent
shall remain undisposed of, shall be employed to buy coals for some poor
people, that shall most need them, in the said towne ; the said coals to be
delivered the first weeke in January^ or in every first weeke in Febru^
ary ; I say then, because I take that time to be the hardest and most
pinching times with poor people ; and God reward those that shall do this
without partialitie, and with honesty, and a good conscience. And if the
said Major and others of the said towne of Stafford, shall prove so negli-
gent, or dishonest, as not to imploy the rent by me given as intended and
exprest in this my will, which God forbid, then I give the said rents and
profits of the said farme or land to the towne and chief magistrates, or gov-
ernors of Ecleshall, to be disposed of by them in such a manner as I have
ordered the disposal of it by the towne of Stafford, the said farme or land
being near the towne of EcleshalL And I give to my son-in-law. Doctor
Hawkins, whom I love as my own son. ajad txx pa.v daughter, his wife, and

30 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY.

my son Izaak^ to each of them a ring, with these words or motto, *' Lovt
my memory^ /. W, obiit *' to

the Lord Bishop of Winton a ring, with this motto, ^^ A mite for a
million, I. W, obiit "

and to the friends hereafter named, I give to each of them a ring, with
this motto, ''^ A friend's farewell, /. W» obiit

" and my will is, the said rings be delivered
within forty days after my death : and that the price of value of all the
said rings shall be thirteen shillings and fourpence a-piece. I give to
Doctor Hawkins Doctor Donne's Sermons, which I have heard preached,
and read with much content. To my son Izaak, I give Doctor Sibbs his
Soul's Conflict ; and to my daughter his Bruised Reed, desiring them to
read them so as to be well acquainted with them. And I also give unto
her all my books at Winchester and Droxford, and whatever in those two
places are, or I can call mine, ex^cept a trunk of linnen, which I give to my
son Izaak ; but if he do not live to marry, or make use of it, then I give
the same to my grand-daughter, Ann Hawkins ; and I give my daughter.
Doctor HalVs Works, which be now at Farnham. To my son Izaak, I
give all my books, not yet given at Farnham Castell, and a deske of prints
and pictures ; also a cabinett near my bed's head ; in which are some
little things that he will value, though of no great worth. * And my will
and desire is, that he will be kind to his aunt Beachame, and his aunt Rose
Ken, by allowing the first about fifty shillings a year, in or for bacon and
cheese, not more, and paying four pounds a-year towards the boarding of
her son's dyet to Mr. John Whitehead : for his aunt Ke7i, I desire him to
be kind to her, according to her necessity and his own abilitie, and I com-
mend one of her children, to breed up as I have said I intend to do, if he
shall be able to do it, as I know he will ; for they be good folke. I give
to Mr. John Darby shire the Sermons of Mr. Anthony Farringdon, or of
Dr. Sanderson, which my executor thinks fit. To my servant, Thomas
Edgill, I give five pound in money, and all my clothes, linen and woollen,
except one suit of clothes : which I give to Mr. Holinshed, and forty shil-
lings, if the said Thomas be my servant at my death ; if not, my clothes
only. And I give my old friend, Mr. Richard Marriot, ten pounds in
money, to be paid him within three months after my death ; and I desire
my son to shew kindness to him if he shall neede, and my son can spare
it : and I do hereby will and declare my son Izaak to be my sole executor

* How many a " Grangerite '* must have felt his mouth water at this pas-
sage, in the rational idea that Walton's good taste had selected in this small
compass so many Faithornes, Elstr aches, Lombarts^ ^^c, as would now fetch
five hundred guineas under the hammer of Christie and Manson, or Lei^
Sotheby and Wilkinsoa

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 31

of this my last will and testament, and Dr. Hatvkins to see that he per-
forms it ; which I doubt not but he will. I desire my burial may be near
the place of my death, and free from any ostentation or charge, but
privately. This I make to be my last will, to which I shall only add the
codicil for rings, this sixteenth day of August, one thousand six hundred
eighty-three, Izaak Walton, Witness to this will.

The rings I give are as on the other side : to my brother John Ken, to
my sister his wife, to my brother, Doctor Ken, to my sister Pye, to Mr.
Francis Morley, to Mr. George Vernon, to his wife, to his three daughters,
to Mistris Nelson, to Mr. Richard Walton, to Mr. Palmer, to Mr. Pay lor,
to Mr. Phos. Garrard, to the Lord Bishop of Sarum^ to Mr. Rede his
servant, to my cozen Dorothy Kenrick, to my cousin Lewin, to Mr. Walter
Higgs, to Mr. Charles Cotton, to Mr. Richard Marryot : 22, to my
brother Beacham, to my sister his wife, to the Lady Anne How, to Mrs.
King, Doctor Phillifs wife, to Mr. Valentine Harecourt, to Mrs. Eliza
Johnson, to Mrs. Mary Rogers, to Mrs. Eliza Milward, to Mrs. Dorothy
Wollop, to Mr. WilL Milward, of Christ-Church Oxford, to Mr. John
Darbyshire, to Mr. Undevill, to Mrs. Rock, to Mr. Peter White, to Mr.
John Lloydcy to my cousin GreinselV s widow, Mrs. Dalbin must not be
forgotten : 1 6, Izaak Walton. Note, that several lines are blotted out of
this will, for they were twice repeated : and that this will is now signed
and sealed this twenty and fourth day of October, one thousand six hun-
dred eighty-three, in the presence of us: Witness, Abraham Markland, '¥<^^i
Jos, Pay lor, Phomas Crawley,

This will was composed by him but a few months before his
death, which took place on the 15th of December, 1683, at
the house of his son-in-law, Dr. Hawkins, a Prebendary of
Winchester, he having attained the great age of ninety years
and four months. In the Cathedral of the same place is a
gravestone to his memory, but with such ^'uncouth rhymes ''
and ^^ shapeless sculpture" as but coldly to invite either de-
lineation or transcription ; but in this respect we still hope to
see justice done him : certain we are that this wonderful man
is far from having ^^ gathered all his fame " ; — the bare hint
will be sufficient to those that love " virtue and angling.'* *

* Soon after the appearance of my first edition, I received the following
from Michael Bland, Esq., F.R.S.:— "The Walton and Cotton Club, to
which I am the Secretary, adopting the idea suggested in your Introductory
Essay, have resolved to institute an immediate inquiry into the condition of
the insufficient monument to the memory of Honest Izaak in Winchester

32 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY.

In the foregoing will, as in everything which he wrote, will
be found something characteristic of the man ; the subjoined
genuine little scrap, exhibiting a fac -simile of his handwriting,
will be new even to the Waltonian reader.

For Do^ C. Bewmount.

pray S"", Accept this pore presant, by the as meane hand thar
brings it from

Y^ aflfec. servant,

Izaak Walton.*

Were we required to give a designation to Walton's style of
ivriting, we should say that naivete is his perpetual character-
istic ; and that, whether he be humorous, instructive, or affect-
ing, we have to acknowledge a degree of elegance which it
were hopeless to attain and impossible not to admire.

Cathedral, with the view of taking some steps towards the erection of a me*
morial more worthy of the man, and more honorable to those who delight in
that recreation which he has so beautifully portrayed." Whatever may have
hitherto obstructed the above expressed intention, I still feel perfectly satis-
fied that it will be yet carried into effect. One gentleman, I was credibly in-
formed, offered to put down two hundred guineas to commence the work.
But let a one-guinea subscription be set on foot and the lovers of literature
and angling will carry it in a summer's day ! The Dean of Winchester I un-
derstood to have expressed himself delighted that an honor so justly due
should be paid to him as the " Historian of the Church "

* Some little inscription similar to the foregoing generally accompanied
those copies of his works which he gave to his friends ; when they have oc-
curred at sales, they have produced several guineas above the value of the
work itself. He also wrote his name in all his own reading books, and Sir H.
Nicolas has enumerated about twenty thus enriched, now preserved in the
Cathedral Library, Salisbury.

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 33

The commendatory verses prefixed to the earher editions of
the Complete Angler, by eminent persons, friends of the
author, were omitted for the first time by the Rev. M. Browne,
as not even then (1759) agreeing with '^the poetical taste of
the times/' The following lines, however, signed Rob. Floud,
seem, equally for their brevity and terseness, to deserve their
share of lasting popularity.

* To my dear Brother, Mr. Izaak Walton, on his Complete Angler.

** This book is so like you, and you like it,
For harmless mirth, expression, art, and wit,
That I protest, ingenuously, 't is true,
I love this mirth, art, wit, the book, and you."

Thus have we furnished a brief history of the effects pro-
duced by this matchless work upon the intelligent part of
mankind, from its first appearance to the present time ; and
when it is recollected that Walton himself was the first to set
the example of graphic embellishment, boasting from the first
of the ^* excellent picture of the Trout'' ; also that " Young
Master Izaak '' was so pleased with a certain portion of "Peak
Scenery'' ^*as to draw it'* (as Cotton tells us, Part II. Chap.
VI.) ''in landscape in black and white, in a blank book I
have at home, as he has done several prospects of my house
also, which I keep for a memorial of his favor, and will show
you when we come up to dinner,*' thus early indicating the
propriety of topographical illustration : recollecting all this,
(and oh ! what would we not give even for a sight of " Yoicng
Master Izaak's " genuine " Sketch Book" ?) surely no apology
need be offered for attempting, (as expressed in our original
prospectus,) " by the novelty and extent of the embellishments
introduced in this edition^ to heighten to the utmost the pleasure
of perusal ; to the Sportsman^ the Naturalist^ the lover of the
Fine Arts, and the general Reader, to Artists and lovers of
Art, Poets and lovers of Poetry."

In conclusion, we are proud to acknowledge the assistance

34 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY.

and approba^iion * received throughout the progress of the
work from numerous persons of high taste, who **deUght to
honor *' the memory of its venerable author by every demon-
stration of regard; saying constantly, that ^*it is impossible to
do too much for honest Izaak Walton/*

With honest exultation we refer to the List of EmbelHsh-
ments, which exhibits an extraordinary combination of taste
and talent : such patronage and such assistance we would fain
hope may constitute at once a shelter and a boast. It would
be unjust not to observe that the Printer, as well as every
other party concerned, has executed his task perfectly con
amore.

The work is, in truth, indebted throughout equally to pro-
fessional zeal and amateur co-operation ; and it is the chief
pride of my life to have pointed so successfully to that halo
which must ever surround **meek Walton's heavenly mem-
ory.'* f

May the Rod of the Critic be exchanged for that of the
Fisher ; and endless be the wilhng captives of Walton's im-
perishable Line !

JOHN MAJOR.
Charterhouse, August ist, 1844,

* Two remarkable instances of the latter from private letters, being very
short, I indulge (with many apologies) in quoting.

" Such publications are apples ol gold in pictures of silver." — From Wm.
Hamper, Esq.

** I feel quite an interest in whatever you are doing, you do everything so
well."—From the Ven. Archdeacon Wrangham.

t Wordsworth.

to

THE RIGHT WORSHIPFUL

JOHN OFFLEY, ESQ.

OF

MADELY MANOR, IN THE COUNTY OF STAFFORD.

Jkfy most Honored Friend.

Sir,—
1 HAVE made so ill use of your former favors, as by
^ them to be encouraged to intreat that they may be en-
larged to the Patronage and Protection of this Book : and I
have put on a modest confidence, that I shall not be denied,
because it is a Discourse of Fish and Fishing, which you know
so well, and both love and practise so much.

You are assured, though there be ignorant men of another
belief, that Angling is an Art ; and you know that Art better
than others: and that this truth is demonstrated by the fruits
of that pleasant labor which you enjoy when you purpose to
give rest to your mind, and divest yourself of your more seri-
ous business, and, which is often, dedicate a day or two to
this recreation.

At which time, if common Anglers should attend you, and
be eyewitnesses of the success, not of your fortune, but your
skill, it would doubtless beget in them an emulation to be like
you, and that emulation might beget an industrious diligence,
'o be so ; but I know it is not attainable by common capaci-
ties. And there be now many men of great wisdom, learning,
and experience, which love and practise this Art, that know I
speak the truth.

36 THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY.

Sir, — This pleasant curiosity of Fish and Fishing, of which
you are so great a master, has been thought worthy the pens
and practices of divers in other nations that have been reputed
men of great learning and wisdom ; and amongst those of this
nation, I remember Sir Henry Wotton, a dear lover of thi?
Art, has told me that his intentions were to write a Discourse
of the Art, and in praise of Angling. And doubtless he had
■done so, if death had not prevented him ; the remembrance of
which hath often made me sorry : for, if he had lived to do it,
then the unlearned Angler had seen some better Treatise of
this Art, a Treatise that might have proved worthy his perusal ;
which, though some have undertaken, I could never yet see in
English.

But mine may be thought as weak, and as unworthy of com-
mon view : and I do here freely confess that I should rather
excuse myself, than censure others, my own discourse being
liable to so many exceptions ; against which, you. Sir, might
make this one, — that it can contribute nothing to your knowl-
edge. And, lest a longer Epistle may diminish your pleasure,
I shall make this no longer than to add this following truth,
That I am really, Sir,

Your affectionate Friend,

And most humble Servant,

Iz. Wa.

TO ALL

READERS OF THIS DISCOURSE

BUT ESPECIALLY TO

THE HONEST ANGLER.

/

I THINK fit to tell thee these following truths,— that I did neither u»-
dertake, nor write, nor publish, and much less own, this Discourse
to please myself : and having been too easily drawn to do all to please
others, as I proposed not the gaining of credit by this undertaking, so I
would not willingly lose any part of that to which I had a just title before
I begun it ; and do therefore desire and hope, if I deserve not commenda-
tions, yet I may obtain pardon.

And though this Discourse may be liable to some exceptions, yet I can-
not doubt but that most Readers may receive so much pleasure or profit by
it, as may make it worthy the time of their perusal, if they be not too grave
or too busy men. And this is all the confidence that I can put on, con«
cerning the merit of what is here offered to their consideration and censure -,
and if the last prove too severe, as I have a liberty, so I am resolved to use
it and neglect all sour censures.

And I wish the Reader also to take notice, that in writing of it I have
made myself a recreation of a recreation. And that it might prove so to him,
and not read dull and tediously, I have in several places mixed, not any
scurrility, but some innocent, harmless mirth : of which, if thou be a se-
vere, sour-complexioned man, then I here disallow thee to be a competent
judge ; for divines say, There are offences given, and offences not giveft
but taken.

And I am the willinger to justify the pleasant part of it, because, though
it is known I can be serious at seasonable times, yet the whole Discourse
is, or rather was, a picture of my own disposition ; especially in such days
and times as I have laid aside business, and gone a-fishing with honest
Nat. and R. Roe : but they are gone, and with them most of my pleasant
hours, even as a shadow that passeth away and returns not.

And next let me add this, that he that likes not thp book should like the

38 WALTON TO THE READER.

excellent picture of the Trout, and some of the other nsh ; which I may
take a liberty to commend, because they concern not myself.

Next let me tell the Reader, that in that which is the more useful part
of this Discourse, that is to say, the observations of the nature, and breed-
ing, and seasons, and catching of fish, I am not so simple as not to know
that a captious Reader may find exceptions against something said of some
of these : and therefore I must entreat him to consider, that experience
teaches us to know that several countries alter the time, and I think almost
the manner, of fishes' breeding, but doubtless of their being in season : as
may appear by three rivers in Monmouthshire, namely, Severn, Wye, and
Usk; where Camden [Brit., fol. 633) observes, that in the river Wye,
Salmon are in season from September to April ; and we are certain that in
Thames, and Trent, and in most other rivers, they be in season the six
hotter months.

Now for the Art of Catching Fish, that is to say, how to make a man
that was none to be an Angler by a book ; he that undertakes it shall un-
dertake a harder task than Mr. Hales, a most valiant and excellent fencer,
who in a printed book, called *' A Private School of Defence," undertook
to teach that art or science, and was laughed at for his labor. Not but
that many useful things might be learned by that book, but he was laughed
at, because that art was not to be taught by words, but practice : and so
must Angling. And note also, that in this Discourse I do not undertake
to say all that is known, or may be said of it, but I undertake to acquaint
the Reader with many things that are not usually known to every Angler ;
and I shall leave gleanings and observations enough to be made out of the
experience of all that love and practise this recreation, to which I shall
encourage them. For Angling may be said to be so like the Mathematics
that it can never be fully learned ; at least not so fully but that there
will still be more new experiments left for the trial of other men that suc-
ceed us.

But I think all that love this game may here learn something that may

'oe worth their money, if they be not poor and needy men ; and in case

they be, I then wish them to forbear to buy it : for I write not to get

noney, but for pleasure, and this Discourse boasts of no more ; for I hate

to promise much and deceive the Reader.

And however it proves to him, yet I am sure I have found a high con-
tent in the search and conference of what is here offered to the Reader's
▼lew and censure ; I wish him as much in the perusal of it. And so I
might here take my leave ; but will stay a little and tell him, that whereas^
it is said by many, that, in fly-fishing for a Trout, the Angler must observe
his twelve several flies for the twelve months of the year ; I say, he that
follows that rule shall be as sure to catch fish, and be as wise, as he that

WALTON TO THE READER. 39

makes hay by the fair days in an almanac, and no surer ; for those very
flies that used to appear about and on the water in one month of the year,
may the following year come almost a month sooner or later, as the same
year proves colder or hotter : and yet in the following Discourse I have
set down the twelve flies that are in reputation with many Anglers, and
they may serve to give him some observations concerning them. And
he may note, that there are in Wales and other countries peculiar flies
proper to the particular place or country ; and doubtless, unless a man
makes a fly to counterfeit that very fly in that place, he is like to lose his
labor, or much of it : but for the generality, three or four flies neat and
rightly made, and not too big, serve for a Trout in most rivers all the sum-
mer. And for winter fly-fishing, it is as useful as an almanac out of date.
And of these, because as no man is born an artist, so no man is born an
Angler, I thought fit to give thee this notice.

When I have told the Reader, that in this fifth impression there are
many enlargements, gathered both by my own observations and the com-
munication with friends, I shall stay him no longer than to wish him a
rainy evening to read this following Discourse ; and that, if he be an honest
Angler, the east wind may never blow when he goes a-fishing.

L W.

THE FIRST DAY.

Chap. L — A Conference betwixt an Angler, a Hunter, and a
Falconer, each commending his Recreation. ,,a^ ^ I L

PISCATOR, VENATOR, AUCEPS.

PiSCATOR.

WOU are well overtaken, Gentlemen : a good morning to you
* both : I have stretched my legs up Tottenham Hill to
overtake you, hoping your business may occasion you towards
Ware, whither I am going this fine, fresh May morning.

Venator. Sir, I, for my part, shall almost answer your hopes ;
for my purpose is to drink my morning's draught at the
Thatched House in Hoddesden ; and I think not to rest till I"^/
come thither, where I have appointed a friend or two to meet
me : but for this gentleman that you see with me, I know not
how far he intends his journey ; he came so lately into my com*
pany, that I have scarce had time to ask him the question.

AucEPS. Sir, I shall, by your favor, bear you company as
far as Theobald's ; and there leave you, for then I turn up to a
friend's house who mews a hawk for me, which I now long to
see.

Ven. Sir, we are all so happy as to have a fine, fresh, cool
morning, and I hope we shall each be the happier in the others'
company. And, Gentlemen, that I may not lose yours, I shall
either abate or amend my pace to enjoy it ; knowing that, as
the Italians say, ^^ Good company in a journey makes the way
to seem the shorter. ' '

Aug. It may do so. Sir, with the help of good discourse,
which, methinks, we may promise from you that both look and
speak so cheerfully ; and, for my part, I promise you as an in-

;

42 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part t

vitation to it, that I will be as free and open-hearted as dis-
cretion will allow me to be with strangers.

Ven. And, Sir, I promise the Hke.

Pisc. I am right glad to hear your answers : and in conft
dence you speak the truth, I shall put on a boldness to ask you.
Sir, whether business or pleasure caused you to be so early up,
and walk so fast ; for this other gentleman hath declared he is
going to seek a hawk, that a friend mews for him.

Ven. Sir, mine is a mixture of both, a little business and
more pleasure : for I intend this day to do all ir.y business, and
^ then bestow another day or two in hunting the otter, which a
' ' ' friend, that I go to meet, tells me is much pleasanter than any
other chase whatsoever ; howsoever, I mean to try it ; for to-
morrow morning we shall meet a pack of otter-dogs of noble
' Mr. Sadler's, upon Amwell Hill, who will be there so early,
that they intend to prevent the sun rising.

Pisc. Sir, my fortune has answered my desires ; and my pur-,
pose is to bestow a day or two in helping to destroy some of
those villanous vermin ; for I hate them perfectly, because they
love fish so well, or rather, because they destroy so much ; in-
deed, so much, that, in my judgment, all men that keep otter-
dogs ought to have pensions from the King to encourage them
to destroy the very breed of those base otters, they do so much
mischief.

Ven. But what say you to the foxes of the nation ? Would
not you as willingly have them destroyed ? for doubtless they
do as much mischief as otters do.

Pisc. O Sir, if they do, it is not so much to me and my fra-
ternity as those base vermin the otters do.

Aug. Why, Sir, I pray, of what fraternity are you, that you

are so angry with the poor otters ?

11 Pisc. I am. Sir, a Brother of the Angle, and therefore an

enemy to the otter : for you are to note that we Anglers all love

one another, and therefore do I hate the otter, both for my own

|| and their sakes who are of my brotherhood.

Chap. L] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 43

Ven. And I am a lover of hounds ; I have followed many a
pack of dogs many a mile, and heard many merry huntsmen
make sport and scoff at Anglers.

Aug. And I profess myself a Falconer, and have heard many
grave, serious men pity them, 't is such a heavy, contemptiblet
dull recreation.

Pisc. You know, Gentlemen, 't is an ^;asy thing to scoff at
any art or recreation : a little wit, mixed with ill-nature, con-
fidence, and maHce, will do it; but though they often venture
boldly, yet they are often caught, even in their own trap, ac»
cording to that of Lucian, the father of the family of scoffers.^

** Lucian, well skilled in scoffing, this hath writ :
Friend, that's your folly which you think your wit t
This you vent oft, void both of wit and fear,
Meaning another, when yourself you jeer."

If to this you add what Solomon says of scoffers, that *^ they
are an abomination to mankind,'^ (Prov. xxiv. 9,) let him that
thinks fit scoff on, and be a scoffer still; but I account them
enemies to me, and to all that love virtue and Angling.

And for you that have heard many grave, serious men pity
Anglers, let me tell you, Sir, there be many men that are by
others taken to be serious and grave men, which we contemn^
and pity. Men that are taken to be grave, because nature hath
made them of a sour complexion, money-getting men, men that
spend all their time, first in getting, and next in anxious care
lo keep it ; men that are condemned to be rich, and then al-
ways busy or discontented : for these poor-rich-men, we Anglers
pity them perfectly, and stand in no need to borrow their
thoughts to think ourselves so happy. No, no, Sir, we enjoy a
contentedness above the reach of such dispositions, and as tie
learned and ingenious Montaigne says like himself freely,^
*^ When my cat and I entertain each other with mutual apisht
tricks, as playing with a garter, who knows but that I make my
cat more sport than she makes me ? Shall I conclude her to be

44 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. (Part C

simple, that has her time to begin or refuse to play as freely as
I myself have ? Nay, who knows but that it is a defect of my
tiot understanding her language (for doubtless cats talk and
reason with one another) that we agree no better ? And who
knows but that she pities me for being no wiser than to play
with her, and laughs and censures my folly for making sport for
her, when we two play together ? * *

Thus freely speaks Montaigne concerning cats^ and I hope I
may take as great a liberty to blame any man, and laugh at
him too, let him be never so grave, that hath not heard what
Anglers can say in the justification of their art and recreation ;
which I may again tell you is so full of pleasure, that we need
not borrow their thoughts to think ourselves happy.

Ven. Sir, you have almost amazed me : for though I am no
scoffer, yet I have, I pray let me speak it without offence,
always looked upon Anglers as more patient and more simple
men than I fear I shall find you to be.

Pisc. Sir, I hope you will not judge my earnestness to be
impatience : and for my simplicity, if by that you mean a
harmlessness, or that simplicity which was usually found in the
primitive Christians, who were, as most Anglers are, quiet
men and follow^ers of peace, — men that were so simply-wise as
not to sell their consciences to buy riches, and with them vex-
ation and a fear to die ; if you mean such simple men as lived
in those times when there were fewer lawyers, when men
might have had a lordship safely conveyed to them in a piece
of parchment no bigger than your hand, though several sheets
will not do it safely in this wiser age, — I say, Sir, if you take
us Anglers to be such simple men as I have spoken of, then
myself and those of my profession will be glad to be so under-
stood : but if by simplicity you meant to express a general
defect in those that profess and practise the excellent art of
^{:, Angling, I hope in time to disabuse you, and make the contrary
^ appear so evidently, that, if you will but have patience to hear
me, I shall remove all the anticipations that discourse, or time.

Chap. I.J THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 45

or prejudice, have possessed you with against that laudable and
ancient art ; for I know it is worthy the knowledge and prac-
tice of a wise man.

But, Gentlemen, though I be able to do this, I am not so
Unmannerly as to engross all the discourse to myself: and, there-
fore, you two having declared yourselves, the one to be a lover
of Hawks, the other of Hounds, I shall be most glad to hear
what you can say in the commendation of that recreation
which each of you love and practise ; and having heard what
you can say, I shall be glad to exercise your attention with
what I can say concerning my own recreation and art of An-
gling, and by this means we shall make the way to seem the
shorter : and if you Hke my motion, I would have Mr. Falconer
to begin.

Aug. Your motion is consented to with all my heart ; and,
to testify it, I will begin as you have desired me.

And first for the element that I use to trade in, which is the
Air, an element of more worth than weight, an element that
doubtless exceeds both the earth and water; for though I
sometimes deal in both, yet the air is most properly mine, — I
and my Hawks use that most, and it yields us most recreation.
It stops not the high soaring of my noble, generous Falcon : in
it she ascends to such an height, as the dull eyes of beasts and
fish are not able to reach to ; their bodies are too gross for such
high elevations : in the air my troops of Hawks soar up on
high, and when they are lost in the sight of men, then they
attend upon and converse with the Gods ; therefore I think my
Eagle is so justly styled Jove' s servant in ordinary : and that
very Falcon, that I am now going to see, deserves no meaner a
title, for she usually in her flight endangers herself, like the son
of Daedalus, to have her wings scorched by the sun's heat, she
flies so near it, but her mettle makes her careless of danger ;
for she then heeds nothing, but makes her nimble pinions cut
the fluid air, and so makes her high way over the steepest
mountains and deepest rivers, and in her glorious career looks

46 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part L

with contempt upon those high steeples and magnificent palaces
which we adore and wonder at ; from which height I can make
her to descend by a word from my mouth, which she both
knows and obeys, to accept of meat from my hand, to own me
for her master, to go home with me, and be wilHng the next
day to afford me the like recreation.

And more : this element of air which I profess to trade in,
the worth of it is such, and it is of such necessity, that no
creature whatsoever, not only those numerous creatures that
feed on the face of the earth, but those various creatures that
have their dwelHng within the waters, every creature that hath
life in its nostrils stands in need of my element. The waters
cannot preserve the fish without air, witness the not breaking
of ice in an extreme frost : the reason is, for that if the in-
spiring and expiring organ of any animal be stopped, it sud-
denly yields to nature, and dies. Thus necessary is air to the
existence both of fish and beasts, nay, even to man himself;
that air, or breath of life with which God at first inspired man-
kind, Gen. ii. 7, he, if he wants it, dies presently, becomes a
sad object to all that loved and beheld him, and in an instant
turns to putrefaction.

Nay, more, the very birds of the air, those that be not
Hawks, are both so many and so useful and pleasant to man-
kind, that I must not let them pass without some observations :
they both feed and refresh him ; feed him with their choice
bodies, and refresh him with their heavenly voices. I will not
undertake to mention the several kinds of fowl by which this is
done ; and his curious palate pleased by day, and which with
their very excrements afford him a soft lodging at night.
These I will pass by, but not those little nimble musicians of
the air, that warble forth their curious ditties, with which Nat-
ure hath furnished them to the shame of Art.

As first the Lark, when she means to rejoice, to cheer herself
and those that hear her, she then quits the earth and sings as
she ascends higher into the air ; and, having ended her heav-

Chap. 1] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 47

enly employment, grows then mute and sad to think she must
descend to the dull earth, which she would not touch but for
necessity.

How do the Blackbird and Thrassel with their melodious
voices bid welcome to the cheerful spring, and in their fixed
mouths warble forth such ditties as no art or instrument can
reach to !

Nay, the smaller birds also do the like in their particulal
seasons, as namely the Laverock, the Titlark, the little Linnet,
and the honest Robin, that loves mankind both alive and dead.

But the Nightingale, another of my airy creatures, breathes
such sweet loud music out of her little instrumental throat,
that it might make mankind to think miracles are not ceased.
He that at midnight, when the very laborer sleeps securely,
should hear, as I have very often, the clear airs, the sweet des*
cants, the natural rising and falling, the doubling and re-
doubling of her voice, might well be lifted above earth, and
say, ^'Lord, what music hast thou provided for the saints in
heaven, when thou affordest bad men such music on earth ! *'

And this makes me the less to wonder at the many aviaries in
Italy, or at the great charge of Varro his aviary, the ruins of^
which are yet to be seen in Rome, and is still so famous there, '
that it is reckoned for one of those notables which men of
foreign nations either record, or lay up in their memories when
they return from travel.

This for the birds of pleasure, of which very much more:^
might be said. My next shall be of birds of political use ; I ^
think *t is not to be doubted that Swallows have been taught
to carry letters between two armies. But 't is certain that,
when the Turks besieged Malta or Rhodes, I now remember
not which 't was. Pigeons are then related to carry and recarry
letters. And Mr. G. Sandys, in his Travels, relates it to be "^
done betwixt Aleppo and Babylon. But if that be disbelieved,
't is not to be doubted that the Dove was sent out of the ark
by Noah, to give him notice of land, when to him all appeared v

48^ THE COMPLETE ANGLER. (Part t

to be sea ; and the Dove proved a faithful and comfortable
messenger. And for the sacrifices of the. Law, a pair of Tur-
tie-doves or young Pigeons were as well accepted as costly
bulls and rams. And when God would feed the Prophet Elijah,
I Kings xvii. 4-6, after a kind of miraculous manner, he did
it by Ravens, who brought him meat morning and evening.
Lastly, the Holy Ghost, when he descended visibly upon our
Saviour, did it by assuming the shape of a Dove. And, to
conclude this part of my discourse, pray remember these
wonders were done by birds of the air, the element in which
they and I take so much pleasure.

There is also a little contemptible winged creature, an in-

-^ habitant of my aerial element, namely the laborious Bee, of

2-^ "^whose prudence, policy, and regular government of their own

commonwealth I might say much, as also of their several kinds,

and how useful their honey and wax are both for meat and

medicines to mankind ; but I will leave them to their sweet

labor, without the least disturbance, believing them to be all

very busy at this very time amongst the herbs and flowers tha*-

! ^ we see Nature puts forth this May morning.

Ji^7- A^^d now to return to my Hawks, from whom I have made

too long a disgression ; you are to note, that they are usually

distinguished into two kinds ; namely, the Long-winged and

the Short-winged Hawk ; of the first kind, there be chiefly ia

use amongst us in this nation.

The Gerfalcon and Jerkin,

The Falcon and Tassel-gentle,

The Laner and Laneret,

The Bockerel and Bockeret,

The Saker and Sacaret,

The Merlin and Jack Merlin,

The Hobby and Jack ;

There is the Stelletto of Spain,

The Blood-red Rook from Turkey.

The Waskite from Virginia.

1!

Chap. I.] THE COMPLETE ANGLEiU 43

And there is of Short-winged Hawks,
The Eagle and Iron,
The Goshawk and Tarcel,
The Sparhawk and Musket,
The French Pye of two sorts.

These are reckoned Hawks of note and worth, but we hav§

also of an inferior rank,

The Stanyel, the Ringtail,

The Raven, the Buzzard,

The Forked Kite, the Bald Buzzard,

The Hen-driver, and others that I forbear to name.

Gentlemen, if I should enlarge my discourse to the observa-
tion of the Eires, the Brancher, the Ramish Hawk, the Hag-
gard, and the two sorts of Lentners, and then treat of their
several ayries, their mewings, rare order of casting, and the
renovation of their feathers ; their reclaiming, dieting, and
then come to their rare stories of practice ; — I say, if I should
enter into these, and many other observations that I could make,
it would be much, very much pleasure to me : but lest I should
break the rules of civility with you, by taking up more than
the proportion of time allotted to me, I will here break off,
and entreat you, Mr. Venator, to say what you are able in the
commendation of Hunting, to which you are so much affected ;
and if time will serve, I will beg your favor for a further en-
largement of some of those several heads of which I have
spoken. But no more at present.

Ven. Well, Sir, and I will now take my turn, and will first
begin with a commendation of the Earth, as you have done
most excellently of the Air ; the earth being that element upon
which I drive my pleasant, wholesome, hungry trade. The
earth is a solid, settled element ; an element most universally
beneficial both to man and beast : to men who have their sev*
eral recreations upon it, as horse-races, hunting, sweet smells,
pleasant walks : the earth feeds man, and all those several beasts

50 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part I

that both feed him and afford him recreation. What pleasure
doth man take in hunting the stately Stag, the generous Buck,
the Wild-Boar, the cunning Otter, the crafty Fox, and the fear-
ful Hare ! And if I may descend to a lower game, what pleas-
ure is it sometimes with gins to betray the very vermin of the
•K' earth 1 as namely, the Fitchet, the Fuhmart, the Ferret, the
S^3 Polecat, the Mouldwarp, and the like creatures that live upon
the face and within the bowels of the earth ! How doth the
earth bring forth herbs, flowers, and fruits, both for physic and
the pleasure of mankind ! and above all, to me at least, the
fruitful vine, of which when I drink moderately it clears my
brain, cheers my heart, and sharpens m> wit. How could Cleo-
13a. •^ patra have feasted Mark Antony with eight wild-boars roasted
ir whole at one supper, and other meat suitable, if the earth had
not been a bountiful mother ? But to pass by the mighty Ele-
phant, which the earth breeds and nourisheth, and descend to
the least of creatures, how doth the earth afford us a doctrinal
example in the little Pismire, who in the summer provides and
lays up her winter provision, and teaches man to do the Lke 1
The earth feeds and carries those horses that carry us. If 1
would be prodigal of my time and your patience, what might
not I say in commendations of the earth ? that puts limits to the
|l proud and raging sea, and by that means preserves both man
and beast that it destroys them not, as we oee it daily doth those
I that venture upon the sea, and are there shipwrecked, drowned,
I and left to feed haddocks ; when we that are so wise as to keep
ourselves on earth, walk, and talk, and live, and eat, and drink,
and go a hunting : of which recreation I will say a little, and

I then leave Mr. Piscator to the commendation of Angling.
Hunting is a game for Princes and noble persons ; it hath
^^ been highly prized in all ages ; it was one of the qualifications
. ->, that Xenophon bestowed on his Cyrus, that he was a hunter of
wild beasts. Hunting trains up the younger nobility to the use
of manly exercises in their riper age. What more manly exer-
cise than hunting the Wild-Boar, the Stag, the Buck, the Fox«

Chap. I.J THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 5 1

or the Hare ! How doth it preserve health, and increase

strength and activity !

And for the dogs that we use, who can commend their ex-
cellency to that height which they deserve? How perfect is
the Hound at smelling, who never leaves or forsakes his first
©cent, but follows it through so many changes and varieties of
Other scents, even over and in the water, and into the earth !
What music doth a pack of dogs then make to any man, whose
heart and ears are so happy as to be set to the tune of such in-
struments ! How will a right Greyhound fix his eye on the
best Buck in a herd, single him out, and follow him, and him
inly, through a whole herd of rascal game, and still know and
then kill him ! For my Hounds, I know the language of them,
and they know the language and meaning of one another, as
perfectly as we know the voices of those with whom we discourse
daily.

I might enlarge myself in the commendation of Hunting, and
of the noble Hound especially, as also of the docibleness of dogs
in general ; and I might make many observations of land-creat-
ures, that for composition, order, figure, and constitution ap-
proach nearest to the completeness and understanding of man ;
especially of those creatures which Moses in the Law permitted
to the Jews, Lev. ix. 2-8, which have cloven hoofs and chew
the cud, which I shall forbear to name, because I will not be so
uncivil to Mr. Piscator as not to allow him a time for the com-
inendation of Angling, which he calls an Art; but doubtless 't
^ an easy one : and, Mr. Auceps, I doubt we shall hear a watery
discourse of it, but I hope 't will not be a long one.

Aug. And I hope so too, though I fear it will.

Pisc. Gentlemen, let not prejudice prepossess you. I con-
fess my discourse is like to prove suitable to my recreation, calm
and quiet; we seldom take the name of God into our mouths,
but it is either to praise him or pray to him : if others use it
vainly in the midst of their recreations, so vainly as if they
meant to conjure, I must tell you it is neither our fault nor ««t

52 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part t

custom ; we protest against it. But pray remember, I accuse no
body; for as I would not make ''a. watery discourse," so I
would not put too much vinegar into it ; nor would I raise the
reputation of my own art by the diminution or ruin of another's.
And so much for the prologue to w^hat I mean to say.

And now for the Water, the element that I trade in. The
Water is the eldest daughter of the creation, the element upon
which the Spirit of God did first move. Gen. i. 2, the element
which God commanded to bring forth living creatures abun-
dantly ; and without which, those that inhabit the land, even
all creatures that have breath in their nostrils, must suddenly
'•K return to putrefaction. Moses, the great lawgiver and chief
l'^'^^ philosopher, skilled in all the learning of the Egyptians, whojvvas
called the friend of God, and knew the mind of the Almighty,
names this element the first in the creation ; this is the element
upon which the Spirit of God did first move, and is the chief
ingredient in the creation : many philosophers have made it to
comprehend all the other elements, and most allow it the chiefest
in the mixtion of all living creatures.

There be that profess to believe that all bodies are made of
water, and may be reduced back again to water only ; they en-
deavor to demonstrate it thus : —

Take a willow, or any like speedy-growing plant, newly
rooted in a box or barrel full of earth, weigh them all together
exactly when the trees begin to grow, and then weigh all to-
gether after the tree is increased from its first rooting to weigh
an hundred pound weight more than when it was first rooted
and weighed ; and you shall find this augment of the tree to
be without the diminution of one drachm weight of the earth.
Hence they infer this increase of wood to be from water of
rain, or from dew, and not to be from any other element. And
they affirm, they can reduce this wood back again to water;
and they affirm, also, the same may be done in any animal or
vegetable. And this I take to be a fair testimony of the ex-
cellency of my element of Water.

Chaf. I.J the complete ANGLER. 5^

The Water is more productive than the earth. Nay, the
earth hath no fruitfulness without showers or dews ; for all the
herbs and flowers and fruits are produced and thrive by the
water ; and the very minerals are fed by streams that run un-
derground, whose natural course carries them to the tops of
many high mountains, as we see by several springs breaking
forth on the tops of the highest hills ; and this is also witnessed
by the daily trial and testimony of several miners.

Nay, the increase of those creatures that are bred and fed in
the water are not only more and more miraculous, but more ad-
vantageous to man, not only for the lengthening of his Hfe, but
for the preventing of sickness; for 'tis observed by the most
learned physicians, that the casting off of Lent and other fish
days, — which hath not only given the lie to so many learned,
pious, wise founders of colleges, for which we should be
ashamed,- —hath doubtless been the chief cause of those many
putrid, shaking, intermitting agues, unto which this nation of
ours is now more subject than those wiser countries that feed
on herbs, salads, and plenty of fish ; of which it is observed in
story, that the greatest part of the world now do. And it may
be fit to remember that Moses, Lev. xi. 9, Deut. xiv. 9, ap-
pointed fish to be the chief diet for the best commonwealth
that ever yet was.

And it is observable, not only that there are fish, — as
namely, the Whale, three times as big as the mighty Elephant,
that is so fierce in battle, — but that the mightiest feasts have
been of fish. The Romans in the height of their glory have
made fish the mistress of all their entertainments ; they have
had music to usher in their Sturgeons, Lampreys, and Mullets,
which they would purchase at rates rather to be wondered at
than believed. He that shall view the writings of Macrobius,'?^'
or Varro, may be confirmed and informed of this, and of th^ — V
incredible value of their fish and fish-ponds.

But, Gentlemen, I have almost lost myself, which I confess
I may easily do in this philosophical discourse ; I met with most

54 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Paut 1

of it very lately., and, I hope, happily, in a conference with a
most learned physician. Dr. Wharton, a dear friend, that loves
both me and my art of Angling. But however, I will wade no
deeper in these mysterious arguments, but pass to such obser-
vations as I can manage with more pleasure, and less fear of
running into error. But I must not yet forsake the waters, by
whose help we have so many known advantages.

And first, to pass by the miraculous cures of our knowi^
baths, how advantageous is the sea for our daily traffic, with-
out which we could not now subsist ? How does it not onljf
furnish us with food and physic for the bodies, but with such
observations for the mind as ingenious persons would not
want !

How ignorant had we been of the beauty of Florence, of the
monuments, urns, and rarities that yet remain in and near unto
old and new Rome, so many as it is said Wxll take up a year's
time to view, and aff'ord to each of them but a convenient con-
sideration ; and therefore it is not to be wondered at, that so
learned and devout a father as St. Jerome, after his wish to
have seen Christ in the flesh, and to have heard St. Paul
preach, makes his third wish to have seen Rome in her glory ;
and that glory is not yet all lost, for what pleasure is it to see
the monuments of Livy, the choicest of the historians; of
Tully, the best of orators ; and to see the bay*trees that now
grow out of the very tomb of Virgil ! These, to any that love
learning, must be pleasing. But what pleasure is it to a de-
vout Christian to see there the humble house in which St. Paul
was content to dwell, and to view the many rich statues that
are there made in honor of his memory ! Nay, to see the very
place in which St. Peter and he lie buried together ! These
are in and near to Rome. And how much more doth it please
the pious curiosity of a Christian, to see that place on which
the blessed Saviour of the world was pleased to humble himself,
and to take our nature upon him, and to converse with men,
—to see Mount Sion, Jerusalem, and the very Sepulchre o/

Chap. I.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 55

our Lord Jesus ! How may it beget and heighten the zeal of a
Christian, to see the devotions that are daily paid to him at
that place ! Gentlemen, lest I forget myself I will stop here,
and remember you, that, but for my element of Water, the in-
habitants of this poor island must remain ignorant that such
things ever were, or that any of them have yet a being.

Gentlemen, I might both enlarge and lose myself in such
like arguments ; I might tell you that Almighty God is said to
have spoken to a fish, but never to a beast ; that he hath made
a Whale a ship to carry and set his prophet Jonah safe on the
appointed shore. Of these I iiiight speak, but I must in man-
ners break off, for I see Theobald's house. I cry you mercy"^
for being so long, and thank you for your patience. 3^-^

Aug. Sir, my pardon is easily granted you ; I except against
nothing that you have said ; nevertheless, I must part with you
at this park-wall, for which I am very sorry ; but I assure you,
Mr. Piscator, I now part with you full of good thoughts, not
only of yourself, but your recreation. And so, Gentlemen,
God keep you both !

Pisc. Well, now, Mr. Venator, you shall neither want time
nor my attention to hear you enlarge your discourse concern-
ing Hunting.

Ven. Not I, Sir ; I remember you said that Angling itself
was of great antiquity, and a perfect art, and an art not easily
attained to ; and you have so won upon me in your former
discourse, that I am very desirous to hear what you can say
further concerning those particulars.

Pisc. Sir, I did say so, and I doubt not but if you and I did
converse together but a few hours, to leave you possessed with
the same high and happy thoughts that now possess me of it ;
not only of the antiquity of Angling, but that it deserves com-
mendations, and that it is an art, and an art worthy the knowl*
edge and practice of a wise man.

Ven. Pray, Sir, speak of them what you think fit, for we
have yet five miles to the Thatched House, during which walk

56 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part i.

I dare promise you my patience and diligent attention shall
not be wanting. And if you shall make that to appear which
you have undertaken ; first, that it is an art, and an art worth
the learning, I shall beg that I may attend you a day or two
a-fishing, and that I may become your scholar, and be in-
structed in the art itself which you so much magnify.

Pisc. O Sir, doubt not but that Angling is an art ; is it not
an art to deceive a Trout with an artificial fly ? — a Trout !
that is more sharp-sighted than any Hawk you have named^
and more watchful and timorous than your high-mettled Mer-
lin is bold ? and yet I doubt not to catch a brace or two to-
morrow, for a friend's breakfast : doubt not therefore. Sir, but
that Angling is an art, and an art worth your learning : the
question is rather, whether you be capable of learning it ? for
Angling is somewhat like Poetry, men are to be born so : I
mean with inclinations to it, though both may be heightened
by discourse and practice ; but he that hopes to be a good An-
gler must not only bring an inquiring, searching, observing
wit, but he must bring a large measure of hope and patience,
and a love and propensity to the art itself; but having once
got and practised it, then doubt not but Angling will prove
to be so pleasant, that it will prove to be like virtue, a reward
to itself.

Ven. Sir, I am now become so full of expectation, that 1
long much to have you proceed ; and in the order that yo^a
propose,
"^^^isc. Then first, for the antiquity of AngUng, of which I
shall not say much, but only this : some say it is as ancient as
Deucalion's flood ; others, that Belus, who was the first in-
ventor of godly and virtuous recreations, was the first inventor
of Angling ; and some others say, for former times have had
their disquisitions about the antiquity of it, that Seth, one oi
: the sons of Adam, taught it to his sons, and that by them it
was derived to posterity ; others say, that he left it engraven
on those pillars which he erected, and trusted to preserve ttic

Chap. I.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. ;;57

knowledge of the mathematics, music, and the rest of that pre-
cious knowledge, and those useful arts which by God's ap-
pointment or allowance and his noble industry were thereby
preserved from perishing in Noah's flood.

These, Sir, have been the opinions of several men, that have
possibly endeavored to make Angling more ancient than is
needful, or may well be warranted ; but for my part, I shall
content myself in telling you, that Angling is much more
ancient than the incarnation of our Saviour ; for in the Prophet ^ ;

Amos mention is made of fish-hooks : and in the Book of Job, ^^ I
— '- ^j? ■'

which was long before the days of Amos, for that book is said '

to be writ by Moses, mention is made also of fish-hooks, which

must imply Anglers in those times. ^

But, my worthy friend, as I would rather prove myself a I
gentleman by being learned and humble, valiant and inoffen-
sive, virtuous and communicable, than by any fond ostenta-
tion of riches, or, wanting those virtues myself, boast that these
were in my ancestors, — and yet I grant that where a noble and
ancient descent and such merits meet in any man, it is a double
dig:nification of that person : — ^so if this antiquity of Angling,
which for my part I have not forced, shall, hke an ancient
family, be either an honor or an ornament to this virtuous art
which I profess to love and practise, I shall be the gladder
that I made an accidental mention of the antiquity of it ; of
which I shall say no more, but proceed to that just commen-
lation which I think it deserves.

And for that I shall tell you, that in ancient times a debate^
hath risen, and it remains yet unresolved, whether the happi-^^^
ness of man in this world doth consist more in contemplation
or action.

Concerning which, some have endeavored to maintain their
opinion of the first, by saying, that the nearer we mortals come
to God by way of imitation, the more happy we are. And
they say, that God enjoys himself only by a contemplation of
his own Infiniteness, Eternity, Power, and Goodness, and the

jS THE COMPLETE ANGLER. (Part L

like. And upon this ground, many cloisteral men of grealt
learning and devotion prefer contemplation before action. And
many of the fathers seem to approve this opinion, as may ap-
pear in their commentaries upon the words of our Saviour to
Martha, Luke x. 41, 42.

And, on the contrary, there want not men of equal authority
and credit, that prefer action to be the more excellent: as
namely, experiments in physic, and the application of it, both
for the ease and prolongation of man's hfe; by which each
man is enabled to act and do good to others, either to serve hi?
country, or do good to particular persons : and they say also,
that action is doctrinal, and teaches both art and virtue, and
is a maintainer of humane society ; and for these, and other
like reasons, to be preferred before contemplation.

Concerning which two opinions I shall forbear to add a third
by declaring my own, and rest myself contented in telling you,
my very worthy friend, that both these meet together, and do
most properly belong to the most honest, ingenuous, quiet, and
harmless art of Angling.

And first, I shall tell you what some have observed, and I
have found it to be a real truth, that the very sitting by the
river's side is not only the quietest and fittest place for contem-
plation, but will invite an Angler to it ; and this seems to be
maintained by the learned Peter Du Moulin, who, in his dis-
course of the Fulfilling of Prophecies, observes, that when God
intended to reveal any future events or high notions to his
prophets, he then carried them either to the deserts or the sea-
shore, that having so separated them from amidst the press of
people and business, and the cares of the world, he might set-
tle their mind in a quiet repose, and there make them fit for
revelation.

And this seems also to be intimated by the children of Israel,
Psal. 137, who, having in a sad condition banished all mirth |
and music from their pensive hearts, and having hung up their
then mute harps upon the willow-trees growing by the rivers

Chap. I.J THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 59

of Babylon, sat down upon those banks bemoaning the ruins
of Sion, and contemplating their own sad condition. ^

And an ingenious Spaniard says, that *' rivers and the in- ^JJU?
habitants of the watery element were made for wise men to
contemplate, and fools to pass by without consideration. '* And
though I will not rank myself in the number of the first, yet
give me leave to free myself from the last, by offering to you a
short contemplation, first of rivers and then of fish ; concern-
ing which I doubt not but to give you many observations that
will appear very considerable : I am sure they have appeared
so to me, and made many an hour pass away more pleasantly,
as I have sat quietly on a flowery bank by a calm river, and
contemplated what I shall now relate to you.

And first concerning Rivers ; there be so many wonders re-
ported and written of them, and of the several creatures that be
bred and live in them, and those by authors of so good credit,
that we need not to deny them an historical faith.

As namely of a river in Epirus, that puts out any lighted
torch, and kindles any torch that was not lighted. Some
waters being drank cause madness, some drunkenness, and some
laughter to death. The river Selarus in a few hours turns a
rod or wand to stone ; and our Camden mentions the like in
England, and the like in Lochmere in Ireland. There is also a
river in Arabia, of which all the sheep that drink thereof have
their wool turned into a vermilion color. And one of no less o

■ — j>:? o

credit than Aristotle tells us of a merry river, the river Elusina,
that dances at the noise of music, for with music it bubbles,
dances, and grows sandy, and so continues till the music ceases,
but then it presently returns to its wonted calmness and clear-
ness. And Camden tells us of a well near to Kirby in West-
moreland, that ebbs and flows several times every day ] and he
tells us of a river in Surrey, it is called Mole, that after it has
run several miles, being opposed by hills, finds or makes itself
a way under ground, and breaks out again so far ofl*, that the
inhabitants thereabouts boast, as the Spaniards do of their

60 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part I

river Anus, that they feed divers flocks of sheep upon a bridge.
And lastly, for I would not tire your patience, one of no less
authority than Josephus, that learned Jew, tells us of a river in
Judaea that runs swiftly all the six days of the week, and stands
still and rests all their Sabbath.

But I will lay aside my discourse of rivers, and tell you some
things of the monsters, or fish, call them what you will, that
they breed and feed in them. PUny the philosopher says, in
the third chapter of his ninth book, that in the Indian Sea the
fish called the Balaena, or Whirlpool, is so long and broad as
to take up more in length and breadth than two acres of ground,
and of other fish of two hundred cubits long ; and that in the river
Ganges, there be Eels of thirty foot long. He says there, that
these monsters appear in that sea only when the tempestuous
winds oppose the torrents of waters falling from the rocks into
it, and so turning what lay at the bottom to be seen on the
water's top. And he says, that the people of Cadara, an island
near this place, make the timber for their houses of those fish-
bones. He there tells us, that there are sometimes a thousand
of these great Eels found wrapped or interwoven together. He
tells us there, that it appears that Dolphins love music, and will
come, when called for, by some men or boys, that know and
use to feed them, and that they can swim as swift as an arrow
can be shot out of a bow ; and much of this is spoken concern-
ing the Dolphin, and other fish, as may be found also in
learned Dr. Casaubon's discourse '' Of Credulity and Incredu-
lity," printed by him about the year 1670.

I know we islanders are averse to the belief of these wonders;
but there be so many strange creatures to be now seen, many
collected by John Tradescant, and others added by my friend
Elias Ashmole, Esq., who now keeps them carefully and me-
thodically at his house near to Lambeth near London, as may
get some belief of some of the other wonders I mentioned. I
will tell you some of the wonders that you may now see, and
not till then beheve, unless you think fit.

Chap. I.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 6l

You may there see the Hog-fish, the Dog-fish, the Dolphin,
the Coney-fish, the Parrot-fish, the Shark, the Poison-fish,
Sword-fish, and not only other incredible fish, but you may
there see the Salamander, several sorts of Barnacles, of Solan
geese, the Bird of Paradise, such sorts of Snakes, and such
birds' -nests, and of so various forms, and so wonderfully made,
as may beget wonder and amusement in any beholder : and so
many hundred of other rarities in that collection, as will make
the other wonders I spake of the less incredible ; for you may
note, that the waters are Nature's storehouse, in which she locks
up her wonders.

But, Sir, lest this discourse may seem tedious, I shall give it
a sweet conclusion out of that holy poet, Mr. George Herbert,
his divine " Contemplation on God's Providence." :^'

** Lord ! who hath praise enough ? Nay, who hath any?
None can express thy works but he that knows them ;
And none can know thy works they are so many
And so complete, but only he that owes them !

** We all acknowledge both thy power and love
To be exact, transcendent, and divine ;
Who dost so strongly and so sweetly move,
Whilst all things have their end, yet none but thine.

** Wherefore, most sacred Spirit, I here present
For me, and all my fellows, praise to thee ;
And just it is that I should pay the rent,
Because the benefit accrues to me."

And as concerning fish in that Psalm, Psal. 104, wherein for
height of poetry and wonders the prophet David seems even to
exceed himself, how doth he there express himself in choice
metaphors, even to the amazement of a contemplative reader,
concerning the sea, the rivers, and the fish therein contained !
And the great naturalist, Pliny, says, ^' That Nature's great
and wonderful power is more demonstrated in the sea than on
the land." And this may appear by the numerous and various

62 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part I

creatures inhabiting both in and about that element ; as to the
"^^ readers of Gesner, Rondeletius, Phny, Ausonius, Aristotle, and

others, may be demonstrated. But I will sweeten this discourse
M- also out of a contemplation in divine Du Bartas, who says :—

** God quickened in the sea and in the rivers
So many fishes of so many features,
That in the waters we may see all creatures,
Ev'n all that on the earth are to be found,
As if the world were in deep waters drowned.
For Seas, as well as Skies, have Sun, Moon, Stars ;
As well as Air — Swallows, Rooks, and Stares ;
As well as Earth — Vines, Roses, Nettles, Melons,
Mushrooms, Pinks, Gilliflowers, and many millions
Of other plants, more rare, more strange than these.
As very fishes living in the seas :
As also Rams, Calves, Horses, Hares, and Hogs,
Wolves, Urchins, Lions, Elephants, and Dogs ;
Yea, Men and Maids, and, which I most admire.
The mitred Bishop, and the cowled Friar :
Of which examples but a few years since
Were shown the Norway and Polonian Prince."

These seem to be wonders, but have had so many confirma-
tions from men of learning and credit, that you need not doubt
them : nor are the number nor the various shapes of fishes
more strange or more fit for contemplation, than their different
natures, inclinations, and actions ; concerning which I shall

^. beg your patient ear a little longer.

^ tr The Cuttle-fish will cast a long gut out of her throat, whichj
like as an Angler doth his line, she sendeth forth and pulletr
in again at her pleasure, according as she sees some little fish
come near to her ; and the Cuttle-fish, being then hid in the
gravel, lets the smaller fish nibble and bite the end of it, at
which time she by Httle and little draws the smaller fish so near
to her, that she may leap upon her, and then catches and de-
vours her : and for this reason some have called this fish the
Sea- Angler.

Chap. I.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 63

And there is a fish called a Hermit, that at a certain age gets
into a dead fish's shell, and like a hermit dwells there alone,,
Studying the wind and weather, and so turns her shell that she
makes it defend her firom the injuries that they would bring
upon her.

There is also a fish called, by ^lian, in his ninth Book of ^^^^
Living Creatures, Ch. 16, the Adonis, or Darhng of the Sea; -
so called because it is a loving and innocent fish, a fish that
hurts nothing that hath life, and is at peace with all the numer-
ous inhabitants of that vast watery element : and truly I think
most Anglers are so disposed to most of mankind.

And there are also lustful and chaste fishes, of which I shall
give you examples.

And first, what Du Bartas says of a fish called the Sargus : ^j
which because none can express it better than he does, I shall
give you in his own words ; supposing it shall not have the
less credit for being verse, for he hath gathered this and other
observations out of authors that have been great and industri-
ous searchers into the secrets of Nature.

** The adulterous Sargus doth not only change
Wives every day in the deep streams, but, strange !
As if the honey of sea-love delight
Could not suffice his raging appetite,
Goes courting she-goats on the grassy shore,
Horning their husbands that had horns before.*'

And the same author writes concerning the Cantharus, that
which you shall also hear in his own words : —

** But contrary, the constant Cantharus
Is ever constant to his faithful spouse ;
In nuptial duties spending his chaste life,
Never loves any but his own dear wife."

Sir, but a little longer, and I have done.
Ven. Sir, take what liberty you think fit, for your discourse
seems to be music, and charms me to an attention.

64 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part I

Pisc. Why then, Sir, I will take a little liberty to tell, or
rather to remember you, what is said of Turtle-Doves ; first,
that they silently pHght their troth and marry ; and that then
the survivor scorns, as the Thracian women are said to do, to
outlive his or her mate, and this is taken for a truth, and if the
survivor shall ever couple with another, then not only the living
but the dead, be it either the he or the she, is denied the name
and honor of a true Turtle-Dove.

And to parallel this land-rarity, and teach mankind moral
faithfulness, and to condemn those that talk of religion, and yet
come short of the moral faith of fish and fowl ; men that vio-
late the law affirmed by St. Paul, Rom. ii. 14, 15, 16, to be
writ in their hearts, and which, he says, shall at the last day
condemn and leave them without excuse ; — I pray hearken to
what Du Bartas sings, for the hearing of such conjugal faith-
fulness will be music to all chaste ears, and therefore I pray
hearken to what Du Bartas sings of the Mullet.

** But for chaste love the Mullet hath no peer ;
fv^ For, if the fisher hath surprised her pheer.
33 / As mad with woe, to shore she followeth,
^ Prest to consort him both in life and death."

n/ ^"^

On the contrary, what shall I say of the House-Cock, which
treads any hen ; and then, contrary to the Swan, the Partridge,
and Pigeon, takes no care to hatch, to feed, or to cherish his
own brood, but is senseless, though they perish.

And 't is considerable, that the Hen, which, because she also
takes any Cock, expects it not, who is sure the chickens be her
own, hath by a moral impression her care and affection to her
own brood more than doubled, even to such a height, that our
Saviour, in expressing his love to Jerusalem, Matt, xxiii. 37,
quotes her for an example of tender affection ; as his father had
done Job for a pattern of patience.

And to parallel this Cock, there be divers fishes that cast
their spawn on flags or stones, and then leave it uncovered.

Chap. I.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 65

and exposed to become a prey, and be devoured by vermiri, 6t
other fishes ; but other fishes, as namely the Barbel, take such
care for the preservation of their seed, that, unHke to the Cock
or the Cuckoo, they mutually labor, both the spawner and the
melter, to cover their spawn with sand, or watch it, or hide it
in some secret place, unfrequented by vermin or by any fish
but themselves.

Sir, these examples may, to you and others, seem strange ;
but they are testified, some by Aristotle, some by PHny, some
by Gesner, and by many others of credit, and are believed
and known by divers, both of wisdom and experience, to be
a truth ; and indeed are, as I said at the beginning, fit for the
contemplation of a most serious and a most pious man. And,
doubtless, this made the Prophet David say, Psal. cvii. 23,
24, *^They that occupy themselves in deep waters see the
wonderful works of God ' ' : indeed, such wonders and pleasures
too as the land affords not.

And that they be fit for the contemplation of the most pru-
dent, and pious, and peaceable men, seems to be testified by
the practice of so many devout and contemplative men, as the
Patriarchs and Prophets of old, and of the Apostles of our
Saviour in our latter times ; of which twelve, we are sure he
chose four that were simple Fishermen, whom he inspired and
sent to publish his blessed will to the Gentiles, and inspired
them also with a power to speak all languages, and by their
powerful eloquence to beget faith in the unbelieving Jews, and
themselves to suffer for that Saviour whom their forefathers and
they had crucified ; and, in their sufferings, to preach freedom
from the incumbrances of the law, and a new way to everlast-
ing life. This was the employment of these happy Fishermen,
concerning which choice some have made these observations.

First, that he never reproved these for their employment or
caUing, as he did scribes and the money-changers. And sec-
pndly, he found that the hearts of such men by nature were
fitted for contemplation and quietness ; men of mild, and sweet.

36 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. (Part t

and peaceable spirits, as indeed most Anglers are : these men,
our blessed Saviour, who is observed to love to plant grace in
good natures, though indeed nothing be too hard for him, yet
these men he chose to call from their irreprovable employment
of fishing, and gave them grace to be his disciples, and to follow
him and do wonders ; I say four of twelve.

And it is observable, that it was our Saviour's will, that
these our four Fishermen should have a priority of nomination
in the catalogue of his Twelve Apostles, Matt. x. 2-4, Acta i
13, as namely, first St. Peter, St. Andrew, St. James, and St,
John, and then the rest in their order.

And it is yet more observable, that when our blessed Saviour
went up into the mount, when he left the rest of his disci pi e{^
and chose only three to bear him company at his Transfigura-
tion, that those three were all Fishermen. And it is to be
believed, that all the other Apostles, after they betook them-
selves to follow Christ, betook themselves to be Fishermen too ;
for it is certain that the greater number of them were found
together fishing by Jesus after his Resurrection, as it is recorded
in the twenty-first chapter of St. John's Gospel, v. 3, 4.

And since I have your promise to hear me with patience, I
will take a liberty to look back upon an observation that hath
been made by an ingenious and learned man ; who observes,
that God hath been pleased to allow those whom he himself
hath appointed to write his holy will in Holy Writ, yet, to ex-
press his will in such metaphors as their former affections or
practice had inclined them to : and he brings Solomon for an
example, who before his conversion was remarkably carnally
amorous ; and after by God's appointment wrote that spiritual
dialogue or holy amorous love-song, the Canticles, betwixt
God and his Church ; in which he says his beloved had eyes
like the fish-pools of Heshbon.

And if this hold in reason, as I see none to the contrary,
then it may be probably concluded, that Moses, who, I told
you before, writ the Book of Job, and the Prophet Amos, who

Chap. 1.1 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 6?

was a shepherd, were both Anglers ; for you shall in all the
Old Testament find fish-hooks, I think, but twice mentioned;
namely, by meek Moses, the ft-iend of God, and by the humble
Prophet Amos.

Concerning which last, namely, the Prophet Amos, I shall
make but this observation, — that he that shall read the humble,
lowly, plain style of that prophet, and compare it with the
high, glorious, eloquent style of the Prophet Isaiah, though
they be both equally true, may easily believe Amos to be, not
only a shepherd, but a good-natured, plain fisherman. Which
I do the rather believe by comparing the affectionate, loving,
lowly, humble Epistles of St. Peter, St. James, and St. John,
whom we know were all Fishers, with the glorious language
and high metaphors of St. Paul, who we may believe was not.

And for the lawfulness of fishing, it may very well be main-
tained by our Saviour's bidding St. Peter cast his hook into
the water and catch a fish, for money to pay tribute to Caesar.
And let me tell you, that Angling is of high esteem, and of
much use in other nations. He that reads the Voyages of Fer- -
dinand Mendez Pinto shall find that there he declares to have '^^ I
found a king and several priests a-fishing.

And h^that reads Plutarch shall find that Angling was not ^
contemptible in the days of Mark Antony and Cleopatra, and "
that they in the midst of their wonderful glory used Angling as
a principal recreation. And let me tell you, that in the Script-
ure Angling is always taken in the best sense ; and that, though x,^
Hunting may be sometimes so taken, yet it is but seldom to be -3 J a-,
so understood. And let me add this more, — he that views the
ancient Ecclesiastical Canons shall find Hunting to be forbid- .
den to churchmen, as being a turbulent, toilsome, perplexing
recreation ; and shall find Angling allowed to clergymen, as
being a harmless recreation, a recreation that invites them to
contemplation and quietness.

I might here enlarge myself by telling you what commenda-
tions our learned Perkins bestows on Angling ; and how dear a "^

23>-

*1

68 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part t

lover and great a practiser of it our learned Doctor Whitaket
was, as indeed many others of great learning have been. But
I will content myself with two memorable men, that lived near
to our own time, whom I also take to have been ornaments to
the art of Angling.

'^.:>The first is Doctor Nowel, sometime Dean of the Cathedral
Church of St. Paul in London, where his monument stands yet
undefaced : a man that in the Reformation of Queen Elizabeth,
not that of Henry VIIL, was so noted for his meek spirit, deep
learning, prudence, and piety, that the then Parliament and
Convocation both chose, enjoined, and trusted him to be the
man to make a Catechism for public use, such a one as should
stand as a rule for faith and manners to their posterity. And
the good old man, though he was very learned, yet knowing
that God leads us not to heaven by many nor by hard questions,
iike an honest Angler, made that good, plain, unperplexed Cate-
chism which is printed with our good old Service-Book. I say,
this good man was a dear lover and constant practiser of An-
gling as any age can produce ; and his custom was to spend, be-
sides his fixed hours ot prayer, those hours which by command
of the Church were enjoined the clergy, ai\d voluntarily dedi-
cated to devotion by many primitive Christians, — I say, beside
those hours, this good man was observed to spend a tenth part
of his time in Angling ; and also, for I have conversed with
those which have conversed with him, to bestow a tenth part
of his revenue, and usually all his fish, amongst the poor that
inhabited near to those rivers in which it was caught ; saying
©ften, *' that Charity gave Hfe to Rehgion " : and at his return
to his house would praise God he had spent that day free from
worldly trouble ; both harmlessly, and in a recreation that be-
came a churchman. And this good man was weW content, H
not desirous, that posterity should know he was an Angler, as
may appear by his picture now to be seen, and carefully kept in
Brazen-nose College, to which he was a liberal benefactor ; in
which picture he is drawn leaning on a desk with his Bible be-

Chap. I.J THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 69

fore him, and on one hand of him his Hnes, hooks, and other
tackhng, lying in a round ; and on his other hand are his Angle-
rods of several sorts : and by them this is written, '' that he died
13 Feb. 1 60 1, being aged ninety-five years, forty-four of which
he had been Dean of St. Paul's Church ; and that his age had
neither impaired his hearing, nor dimmed his eyes, nor weakened
his memory, nor made any of the faculties of his mind weak 01
useless." 'T is said that Angling and temperance were great
causes of these blessings, and I wish the like to all that imitate
him and love the memory of so good a man.

My next and last example shall be that undervaluer of money, ^
the late Provost of Eton College, Sir Henry Wotton ; a man J^i
with whom I have often fished and conversed, a man whose
foreign employments in the service of this nation, and whose
experience, learning, wit, and cheerfulness made his company
to be esteemed one of the delights of mankind. This man,
whose very approbation of Angling were sufficient to convince
any modest censurer of it, this man was also a most dear lover,
and a frequent practiser, of the art of Angling ; of which he
would say, '^ 'T was an employment for his idle time, which
was then not idly spent '' : for Angling was, afte^ tedious study,
^^ a rest to his mind, a cheerer of his spirits, a diverter of sad-
ness, a calmer of unquiet thoughts, a moderator of passions, a
procurer of contentedness ' ' ; and ^' that it begat Labits of peace
and patience in those that professed and practised it. ' * Indeed,
my friend, you will find Angling to be like the virtue of humil-
ity, which has a calmness of spirit, and a world of other bless-
ings attending upon it.

Sir, this was the saying of that learned man, and I do easily
believe that peace, and patience, and a calm content, did co-
habit in the cheerful heart of Sir Henry Wotton, because I know
that, when he was beyond seventy years of age, he made this
description of a part of the present pleasure that possessed him,
as he sat quietly in a summer's evening on a bank a-fishing. It
is a description of the Spring, which because it glided as soft

70 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part L

and sweetly from his pen as that river does at this time, by
which it was then made, I shall repeat it unto you.

** This day Dame Nature seemed in love :

The lusty sap began to move ;

Fresh juice did stir th' embracing vines.

And birds had drawn their valentines.

The jealous Trout, that low did lie,

Rose at a well-dissembled fly :

There stood my friend, with patient skill,

Attending of his trembling quill.

Already were the eaves possest

With the swift Pilgrim's daubed nest :
The groves already did rejoice

In Philomel's triumphing voice :

The showers were short, the weather mild.

The morning fresh, the evening smiled.

Joan takes her neat rubbed pail, and now

She trips to milk the sand-red cow ;

Where, for some sturdy foot-ball swain,

Joan strokes a syllabub or twain.

The fields and gardens were beset

With tulips, crocus, violet :

And now, though late, the modest rose

Did more than half a blush disclose.

Thus all looks gay, and full of cheer,

To welcome the new-liveried year."

These were the thoughts that then possessed the undisturbed
mind of Sir Henry Wotton. Will you hear the wish of another
Angler, and the commendation of his happy Ufe, which he also
sings in verse? viz. Jo. Davors, Esq.: —

*' Let me live harmlessly, and near the brink

Of Trent or Avon have a dwelling-place ;
Where I may see my quill or cork down sink

With eager bite of Perch, or Bleak, or Dace ;
And on the world and my Creator think :

Whilst some men strive ill-gotten goods to embrace,
And others spend their time in base excess
Of wine, or, worse, in war and wantonness.

Chap. I.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 7l

** Let them that list these pastimes still pursue,

And on such pleasing fancies feed their fill,
So I the fields and meadows green may view,

And daily by fresh rivers walk at will,
Among the daisies and the violets blue,

Red hyacinth, and yellow daffodil,
Purple Narcissus like the morning rays.
Pale gander-grass, and azure culver keys.

** I count it higher pleasure to behold

The stately compass of the lofty sky.
And in the midst thereof, like burning gold.

The flaming chariot of the world's great eye ;
The watery clouds that in the air up-rolled

With sundry kinds of painted colors fly ;
And fair Aurora lifting up her head,
Still blushing, rise from old Tithonus' bed ;

** The hills and mountains raised from the plains,

The plains extended level with the ground.
The grounds divided into sundry veins,

The veins enclosed with rivers running round ;
These rivers making way through Nature's chains

With headlong course into the sea profound ;
The raging sea, beneath the valleys low,
Where lakes and rills and rivulets do flow ;

•* The lofty woods, the forests wide and long,

Adorned with leaves, and branches fresh and green,

In whose cool bowers the birds with many a song
Do welcome with their choir the Summer's Queen ;

The meadows fair where Flora's gifts among
Are intermixed, with verdant grass between ;

The silver scaled fish that softly swim

Within the sweet brook's crystal watery stream,

** All these, and many more of His creation

That made the heavens, the Angler oft doth see $

Taking therein no little delectation,

To think how strange, how wonderful, they be 1

Framing thereof an inward contemplation.
To set his heart from other fancies free ;

And whilst he looks on these with joyful eye,

His mind is rapt above the starry sky.'*

72 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. (Part l

Sir, I am glad my memory has not lost these last verses,
because they are somewhat more pleasant and more suitable
to May-day than my harsh discourse ; and I am glad your
patience hath held out so long as to hear them and me, for
both together have brought us within sight of the Thatched
House ; and I must be your debtor, if you think it worth your
attention, for the rest of my promised discourse, till some other
opportunity and a like time of leisure.

Ven. Sir, you have Angled me on with much pleasure to the
Thatched House ; and I now find your words true, that " good
company makes the way seem short" : for trust me. Sir, I
thought w^e had wanted three miles of this house till you
showed it to me ; but now we are at it, we Tl turn into it, and
refresh ourselves with a cup of drink and a little rest.

Pisc. Most gladly. Sir, and we Tl drink a civil cup to all the
Otter-hunters that are to meet you to-morrow.

Ven. That we will. Sir, and to all the lovers of Angling too,
of which number I am now willing to be one myself; for, by
the help of your good discourse and company, I have put on
new thoughts both of the art of Angling, and of all that pro-
fess it : and if you will but meet me to-morrow at the time and
place appointed, and bestow one day with me and my friends
in hunting the Otter, I will dedicate the next two days to wait
upon you, and we two will for that time do nothing but angle,
and talk of fish and fishing.

Pisc. 'T is a match. Sir ; I Tl not fail you, God wilHng, to b^
at Amwell Hill to-morrow morning before sun-rising.

THE SECOND DAY.

Chap. l\.— Observations of the Otter and CHUB,

Venator.

MY friend Piscator, you have kept time with my thoughts ;
for the sun is just rising, and I myself just now come to
this place, and the dogs have just now put down an Otter.
Look down at the bottom of the hill there in that meadow,
checkered with water-lilies and lady-smocks ; there you may
see what work they make. Look ! look ! you may see all busy,
men and dogs, dogs and men, all busy.

Pisc. Sir, I am right glad to meet you, and glad to have so
fair an entrance into this day's sport, and glad to see so many
dogs, and more men all in pursuit of the Otter. Let 's com-
pliment no longer, but join unto them. Come, honest Vena-
tor, let 's be gone, let us make haste ; I long to be doing : no
reasonable hedge or ditch shall hold me.

Ven. Gentleman Huntsman, where found you this Otter?

Hunt. Marry, Sir, we found her a mile from this placQ^
a-fishing : she has this morning eaten the greatest part of this
Trout ; she has only left thus much of it, as you see, and was
fishing for more. When we came, we found her just at it : but
we were here very early, we were here an hour before sunrise j
and have given her no rest since we came ; sure she will hardly
escape all these dogs and men. I am to have the skin if we
kill her.

Ven. Why, Sir, what 's the skin worth ?

Hunt. 'T is worth ten shillings to make gloves ; the gloves 7^
of an Otter are the best fortification for your hands that can be"^-^^
thought on against wet weather.

74 THE COMPLETE ANGLER, [Part i

Pisc. I pray, honest Huntsman, let me ask you a pleasant
question : Do you hunt a beast or a fish ?

Hunt. Sir, it is not in my power to resolve you. I leave it
to be resolved by the College of Carthusians, who have made
vows never to eat flesh. But I have heard the question hath
been debated among many great clerks, and they seem to differ
about it ; yet most agree that her tail is fish : and if her body
bfe fish too, then I may say that a fish will walk upon land, for
an Otter does so sometimes five, or six, or ten miles in a night,
to catch for her young ones, or to glut herself with fish, and I
can tell you that pigeons will fly forty miles for a breakfast ;
but. Sir, I am sure the Otter devours much fish, and kills and
spoils much more than he eats : and I can tell you that this
Dog-fisher, for so the I^atins call him, can smell a fish in the
water an hundred yards from him : Gesner says much farther,
and that his stones are good against the falling-sickness ; and
that there is an herb, Benione, which being hung in a linen-
cloth near a fish-pond, or any haunt that he uses, makes him
to avoid the place ; which proves he smells both by water and
land. And I can tell you there is brave hunting this water-
dog in Cornwall ; where there have been so many, that our
learned Camden says there is a river called Ottersey, which
was so named by reason of the abundance of Otters that bred
and fed in it.

And thus much for my knowledge of the Otter, which you
may now see above water at vent, and the dogs close with
him ; I now see he will not last long : follow, therefore, my
masters, follow, for Sweetlips was like to have him at this last
rent.

Ven. Oh me ! all the horse are got over the river. What
shall we do now ? shall we follow them over the water ?

Hunt. No, Sir, no, be not so eager : stay a Httle and follow
me, for both they and the dogs will be suddenly on this side
again, I warrant you ; and the Otter too, it may be. Now
have at him with Kilbuck, for he vents again.

Chap. II.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 75

Ven. Marry, so he does, for look, he vents in that corner.
Now, now Ringwood has him : now he 's gone again, and has
bit the poor dog. Now Sweethps has her ; hold her. Sweet
lips ! Now all the dogs have her, some above and some under
water ; but now, now she 's tired, and past losing : come, bring
her to me, Sweetlips. Look, 't is a Bitch-Otter, and she has
lately whelped : let 's go to the place where she was put down,
and not far from it you will find all her young ones, I dare
warrant you, and kill them all too.

Hunt. Come, Gentlemen ! come all ! let 's go to the place
where we put down the Otter. Look you, hereabout it was
that she kennelled ; look you, here it was indeed, for here 's
her young ones, no less than five: come, let's kill them
all.

Pisc. No, I pray. Sir, save me one, and I '11 try if I can make
her tame, as I know an ingenious gentleman in Leicestershire,
Mr. Nich. Seagrave, has done ; who hath not only made her
tame, but to catch fish, and do many other things of much
pleasure.

Hunt. Take one with all my heart, but let us kill the rest.
And now let 's go to an honest ale-house, where we may have a
cup of good barley-wine, and sing " Old Rose," and all of us
rejoice together.

Ven. Come, my friend Piscator, let me invite you along with
us. I '11 bear your charges this night, and you shall bear mine
to-morrow ; for my intention is to accompany you a day or two
in fishing.

Pisc. Sir, your request is granted, and I shall be right glad,
both to exchange such a courtesy, and also to enjoy your com-
pany.

Ven. Well, now let 's go to your sport of Angling.

Pisc. Let 's be going with all my heart. God keep you all.
Gentlemen, and send you meet this day with another Bitch-
Otter, and kill her merrily, and all her young ones too.

Ven. Now, Piscator, where will we begin to fish ?

>]e THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part L

Pisc. We are not yet come to a likely place : I must walk a
mile further yet, before I begin.

Ven. Well then, I pray, as we walk, tell me freely how do
you like your lodging, and mine host, and the company ? Is
not mine host a witty man ?

Pisc. Sir, I will tell you presently what I think of your
host; but first I will tell you, I am glad these Otters were
killed, and I am sorry that there are no more otter-killers : for
I know that the want of otter-killers, and the not keeping the
Fence-months for the preservation of fish, will in time prove
the destruction of all rivers ; and those very few that are left,
that make conscience of the laws of the nation, and of keeping
Pl ^^^"'days of abstinence, will be forced to eat flesh, or suffer more
inconveniences than are yet foreseen.

Ven. Why, Sir, what be those that you call the Fence-months?

Pisc. Sir, they be principally three, namely, March, April,
and May ; for these be the usual months that Salmon come out
of the sea to spawn in most fresh rivers, and their fry would
about a certain time return back to the salt water, if they were
not hindered by weirs and unlawful gins, which the greedy
fishermen set, and so destroy them by thousands ; as they
would, being so taught by Nature, change the fresh for salt
water. He that shall view the wise statutes made in the 13th
of Edward I., and the like in Richard IL, may see several pro-
visions made against the destruction of fish ; and though I
profess no knowledge of the law, yet I am sure the regulation
of these defects might be easily mended. But I remember
that a wise friend of mine did usually say, *'That which is
everybody's business is nobody's business '' \ if it were other-
wise, there could not be so many nets and fish that are under
the statute size sold daily amongst us, and of which the conser-
vators of the waters should be ashamed.

But above all, the taking fish in spawning-time may be said
to be against nature ; it is like the taking the dam on the nest
when she hatches her young ; a sin so against nature, that Al-

Chap. II.l THE COMPLETE ANGLER. ^^

mighty God hath in the Levitical law, Deuteron. xxii. 6, 7,
made a law against it.

But the poor fish have enemies enough beside such unnatural
Fishermen, as namely, the Otters that I spake of, the Cormo-
rant, the Bittern, the Osprey, the Sea-gull, the Heron, the
Kingfisher, the Gorara, the Puet, the Swan, Goose, Ducks, and
the Craber, which some call the Water-rat : against all which
any honest man may make a just quarrel, but I will not, I will
leave them to be quarelled with and killed by others ; for I am
not of a cruel nature, — I love to kill nothing but fish.

And now to your question concerning your host. To speak
truly, he is not to me a good companion : for most of his con-
ceits were either Scripture jests, or lascivious jests ; for which
I count no man witty, for the Devil will help a man that way
inclined, to' the first, and his own corrupt nature, which he
always carries with him, to the latter : but a companion that
feasts the company with wit and mirth, and leaves out the sin
which is usually mixed with them, he is the man ; and indeed
such a companion should have his charges borne, and to such
company I hope to bring you this night ; for at Trout Hall,
not far from this place, where I purpose to lodge to-night, there
is usually an Angler that proves good company. And let me
tell you, good company and good discourse are the very sinews
of virtue : but for such discourse as we heard last night, it in-
fects others, the very boys will learn to talk and swear as they
heard mine host, and another of the company that shall be
nameless ; I am sorry the other is a gentleman, for less religion
will not save their souls than a beggar's : I think more will be
required at the last great day. Well, you know what example
is able to do ; and I know what the poet says in the like case^
which is worthy to be noted by all parents and people of ci-
vility : —

** Many a one
Owes to his country his religion :
And in another would as strongly grow,
Had but his nurse or mother taught him so.'*

7? THE COMPLETE ANGLER, [Part L

This is reason put into verse, and worthy the consideration
of a wise man. But of this no more, for though I love civil-
ity, yet I hate severe censures : I '11 to my own art, and I doubt
not but at yonder tree I shall catch a Chub, and then we'll
turn to an honest cleanly hostess, that I know right well, rest
ourselves there, and dress it for our dinner.

Ven. O Sir ! a Chub is the worst fish that swims ; I hoped
for a Trout to my dinner.

Pisc. Trust me. Sir, there is not a likely place for a Trout
hereabout, and we stayed so long to take our leave of your
huntsmen this morning, that the sun has got so high, and shines
so clear, that I will not undertake the catching of a Trout till
evening. And though a Chub be by you and many others
reckoned the worst of fish, yet you shall see I '11 make it a good
fish by dressing it.

Ven. Why, how will you dress him ?

Pisc. I'll tell you by and by, when I have caught him.
Look you here. Sir, do you see? — but you must stand very
close, — there lie upon the top of the water in this very hole
twenty Chubs. I '11 catch only one, and that shall be the big-
gest of them all ; and that I will do so I '11 hold you twenty to
one, and you shall see it done.

Ven. Ay, marry. Sir ! now you talk like an artist ; and I '11
say you are one, when I shall see you perform what you say
you can do : but I yet doubt it.

Pisc. You shall not doubt it long, for you shall see me do it
presently. Look, the biggest of these Chubs has had some
bruise upon his tail, by a pike or some other accident, and that
looks Uke a white spot ; that very Chub I mean to put into
your hands presently ; sit you but down in the shade, and stay
but a Httle while, and I'll warrant you I'll bring him to
you.

Ven. I '11 sit down and hope well, because you seem to be
so confident.

Chap. II.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 79

Pisc. Look you, Sir, there is a trial of my skill ; there he

is:

'^^T--T--rif>ii'>'-"~~' ' — ^— — "• — > * •

k

that very Chub that I showed you with the white spot on his
tail ; and I '11 be as certain to make him a good dish of meat,
as I was to catch him. I '11 now lead you to an honest ale-
house, where we shall find a cleanly room, lavender in the
windows, and twenty ballads stuck about the wall : there my
hostess, which I may tell you is both cleanly, and handsome,
and civil, hath dressed many a one for me, and shall now dress
it after my fashion, and I warrant it good meat.

Ven. Come, Sir, with all my heart, for I begin to be hun-
gry, and long to be at it, and indeed to rest myself too ; for
though I have walked but four miles this morning, yet I begin
to be weary ; yesterday's hunting hangs still upon me.

Pisc. Well, Sir, and you shall quickly be at rest, for yonder
is the house I mean to bring you to.

Come, Hostess, how do you ? Will you first give us a cup
of your best drink, and then dress this Chub, as you dressed my
last, when I and my friend were here about eight or ten days
ago ? But you must do me one courtesy, it must be done in-
stantly.

Hostess. I will do it, Mr. Piscator, and with all the speed
I can.

Pisc. Now, Sir, has not my hostess made haste? and does
oot the fish look lovely ?

80 THE COMPi:ETE ANGLER. (Part i

Ven. Both, upon my word, Sir; and therefore let*s say
grace, and fall to eating of it.

Pisc. Well, Sir, how do you like it ?

Ven. Trust me, 't is as good meat as I ever tasted: but
ix)w let me thank you for it, drink to you, and beg a courtesy
of you ; but it must not be denied me.

Pisc. What is it, I pray. Sir ? You are so modest, that me*
thinks I may promise to grant it before it is asked.

Ven. Why, Sir, it is that from henceforth you would allow
me to call you Master, and that really I may be your scholar ;
for you are such a companion, and have so quickly caught and
so excellently cooked this fish, as makes me ambitious to be
your scholar.

Pisc. Give me your hand ; from this time forward I wil
be your master, and teacn you as much of this art as I am
able; and will, as you desire me, tell you somewhat of the
nature of most of the fish that we are to angle for ; and I am
Bure I both can and will tell you more than any common An-
gler yet knows.

THE THIRD DAY.

Chap. III. — How to fish for ^ and to dress y the Chavedner, cf

Chub.

• T

\

PiSCATOR.

HE Chub, though he eat well thus dressed, yet as he is
usually dressed he does not : he is objected against, not only
for being full of small forked bones, dispersed through all his
body, but that he eats waterish, and that the flesh of him is not
firm, but short and tasteless. The French esteem him so mean
as to call him un Vilain ; nevertheless he may be so dressed as
to make him very good meat : as, namely, if he be a large
Chub, then dress him thus : —

First scale him, and then wash him clean, and then take out
his guts ; and to that end make the hole as little and near to
his gills as you may conveniently, and especially make clean
nis throat from the grass and weeds that are usually in it, for if
that be not very clean, it will make him to taste very sour.
Having so done, put some sweet herbs into his belly ; and then
tie him with two or three splinters to a spit, and roast him,
basted often with vinegar, or rather verjuice and butter, with
good store of salt mixed with it.

Being thus dressed, you will find him a much better dish
of meat than you, or most folk, even than Anglers themselves,
do imagine ; for this dries up the fluid watery humor with
which all Chubs do abound.

But take this rule with you, that a Chub newly taken and
newly dressed is so much better than a Chub of a day's keep-
ing after he is dead, that I can compare him to nothing so fitly
as to cherries newly gathered from a tree, and others that have

82 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part I

been bruised and lain a day or two in water. But the Chub
being thus used and dressed presently, and not washed after he
is gutted, — for note, that, lying long in water, and washing
the blood out of any fish after they be gutted, abates much of
their sweetness, — you will find the Chub, being dressed in the
blood and quickly, to be such meat as will recompense your
labor, and disabuse your opinion.

Or you may dress the Chavender or Chub thus : —

When you have scaled him, and cut off his tail and fins, and
washed him very clean, then chine or slit him through the
middle, as a salt fish is usually cut ; then give him three or
four cuts or scotches on the back with your knife, and broil
him on charcoal, or wood-coal that is free from smoke ; and all
the time he is a-broiling, baste him with the best sweet butter,
and good store of salt mixed with it ; and to this add a little
thyme, cut exceeding small, or bruised into the butter. The
Cheven thus dressed hath the watery taste taken away, for
which so many except against him. Thus was the Cheven
dressed that you now liked so well, and commended so much.
But note again, that if this Chub that you ate of had been
kept till to-morrow, he had not been worth a rush. And re-
member that his throat be washed very clean, — I say very
clean, — and his body not washed after he is gutted, as indeed
no fish should be.

Well, Scholar, you see what pains I have taken to recover
the lost credit of the poor, despised Chub. And now I will
give you some rules how to catch him : and I am glad to enter
you into the art of Fishing by catching a Chub, for there is no
fish better to enter a young Angler, he is so easily caught ; but
then it must be this particular way.

Go to the same hole in which I caught my Chub, where in
most hot days you will find a dozen or twenty Chevens floating
near the top of the water. Get two or three grasshoppers as you
go over the meadow ; and get secretly behind the tree, and stand
as free from motion as is possible. Then put a grasshopper on

Chap. IILJ THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 83

your hook, and let your hook hang a quarter of a yard short

of the water, to which end you must rest your rod on some

bough of the tree. But it is Hkely the Chubs will sink down

towards the bottom of the water at the first shadow of your

rod, for a Chub is the fearfullest of fishes, and will do so if but

a bird flies over him, and makes the least shadow on the water ;

but they will presently rise up to the top again, and there lie

soaring till some shadow affrights them again. I say, when they

m lie upon the top of the water, look out the best Chub, which

■ you, setting yourself in a fit place, may very easily see, and

M move your rod as softly as a snail moves to that Chub you in-

Htend to catch : let your bait fall gently upon the water three or

^Bfour inches before him, and he will infallibly take the bait.

And you will be as sure to catch him ; for he is one of the

leather-mouthed fishes, of which a hook does scarcely ever lose

I its hold ; and, therefore, give him play enough before you offer
to take him out of the water. Go your way presently ; take
my rod, and do as I bid you, and I will sit down and mend
my tackling till you return back.
Ven. Truly, my loving Master, you have offered me as fair
as I could wish. I '11 go and observe your directions.

Look you, Master, what I have done ! that which joys my
heart, caught just such another Chub as yours was.

Pisc. Marry, and I am glad of it; I am like to have a
towardly scholar of you. I nov/ see that, with advice and
practice, you will make an Angler in a short time. Have but
a love to it, and I '11 warrant you.

Ven. But, Master, what if I could not have found a grass-
hopper ?

Pisc. Then I may tell you, that a black snail, with his belly
slit to show his white, or a piece of soft cheese, will usually do
as well. Nay, sometimes a worm, or any kind of fly, as the
Ant-fly, the Flesh-fly, or Wall-fly, or the Dor or Beetle, which
you may find under cow-dung, or a Bob, which you will
find in the same place, and in time will be a Beetle, — ^it is a

84 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part I.

short white worm, Hke to and bigger than a gentle, — or a Cod-
worm, or a Case-worm, — any of these will do very well to fish
in such a manner.

And after this manner you may catch a Trout in a hot even-
ing ; when, as you walk by a brook, and shall see or hear him
leap at flies, then if you get a grasshopper, put it on your
hook, with your line about two yards long, standing behind a
bush or tree where his hole is, and make your bait stir up and
down on the top of the water. You may, if you stand close,
be sure of a bite, but not sure to catch him, for he is not a
leather-mouthed fish : and after this manner you may fish for
him with almost any kind of live fly, but especially with a
grasshopper.

Ven. But before you go further, I pray, good Master, what
mean you by a leather-mouthed fish ?

Pisc. By a leather-mouthed fish I mean such as have their
teeth in their throat, as the Chub or Cheven ; and so the Bar-
bel, the Gudgeon, and Carp, and divers others have ; and the
hook, being stuck into the leather, or skin, of the mouth of such
fish, does very seldom or never lose its hold : but on the con-
trary, a Pike, a Perch, or Trout, and so some other fish, — which
have not their teeth in their throats, but in their mouths, which
you shall observe to be very full of bones, and the skin very
thin, and little of it ; — I say, of these fish the hook never
takes so sure hold but you often lose your fish, unless he have
gorged it.

Ven. I thank you, good Master, for this observation ; but
now what shall be done with my Chub or Cheven that I have
caught.

Pisc. Marry, Sir, it shall be given away to some poor body,
for I *11 warrant you I *11 give you a Trout for your supper:
and it is a good beginning of your art to ofler your first-fruits
to the poor, who will both thank God and you for it, which I
see by your silence you seem to consent to. And for your
wilUngness to part with it so charitably, I will also teach you

Chap. III.J THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 8$

more concerning Chub -fishing. You are to note that in March
and April he is usually taken with worms ; in May, June, and
July he will bite at any fly, or at cherries, or at beetles with
their legs and wings cut off, or at any kind of snail, or at the
black bee that breeds in clay- walls ; and he never refuses a
grasshopper on the top of a swift stream, nor, at the bottom,
the young humble-bee that breeds in long grass, and is ordi-
narily found by the mower of it. In August, and in the cooler
months, a yellow paste, made of the strongest cheese, and
pounded in a mortar with a little butter and saffron, so much
of it as being beaten small will turn it to a lemon color. And
some make a paste for the winter months, — at which time the
Chub is accounted best, for then it is observed that the forked
bones are lost or turned into a kind of gristle, especially if he
be baked, — -of cheese and turpentine. He will bite also at a
Minnow or Penk, as a Trout will ; of which I shall tell you
more hereafter, and of divers other baits. But take this for a
rule, that in hot weather he is to be fished for towards the mid-
water, or near the top ; and in colder weather nearer the bot-
tom. And if you fish for him on the top with a beetle or any
fly, then be sure to let your line be very long, and to keep out
of sight. And having told you that his spawn is excellent
meat, and that the head of a large Cheven, the throat being
well washed, is the best part of him, I will say no more of this
fish at the present, but wish you may catch the next you fish
for.

But lest you may judge me too nice in urging to have the
Chub dressed so presently after he is taken, I will commend to
your consideration how curious former times have been in the
like kind.

You shall read in Seneca his '^ Natural Questions,*' Lib. iii.
cap. 17, that the ancients were so curious in the newness of
their fish, that that seemed not new enough that was not put
alive into the guest^s hand ; and he says that to that end they did
usually keep them living in glass bottles in their dining-rooms ;

86 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. (Part I

and they did glory much, in their entertaining of friends, to have
that fish taken from under their table alive, that was instantly to
be fed upon. And he says they took great pleasure to see their
Mullets change to several colors, when they were dying. But
enough of this, for I doubt I have stayed too long from giving
you some observations of the Trout, and how to fish for him^
which shall take up the next of my spare time.

THE THIRD DAY,

Chap. IV, — Observations of the NATURE and Breeding oj int
Trout, and how tojishfor him. And the Milkmaid's Song,

PiSCATOR.

nPHE Trout is a fish highly valued both in this and foreign
* nations. He may be justly said, as the old poet said of
wine, and we English say of venison, to be a generous fish : ^
fish that is so like the buck that he also has his seasons ; for it
is observed, that he comes in and goes out of season with the
stag and buck. Gesner says his name is of a German offspring,
and says he is a fish that feeds clean and purely, in the swiftest
streams, and on the hardest gravel; and that he may justly
contend with all fresh-water fish, as the Mullet may with all
sea-fish, for precedency and daintiness of taste, and that, being
in right season, the most dainty palates have allowed prece-
dency to him.

And before I go further in my discourse, let me tell you that
you are to observe, that, as there be some barren does, that are
good in summer, so there be some barren Trouts that are good
in winter ; but there are not many that are so, for usually they
be in their perfection in the month of May, and decline with
ihe buck. Now you are to take notice, that in several coun-
tries, as in Germany and in other parts, compared to ours, fish
do differ much in their bigness, and shape, and other ways,
and so do Trouts. It is well known that in the Lake Leman,
the Lake of Geneva, there are Trouts taken of three cubits
long, as is affirmed by Gesner, a writer of good credit ; and
Mercator says, the Trouts that are taken in the Lake of Geneva
are a great part of the merchandise of that famous city. And

/^

88 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. £Part 1

you axe further to know, that there be certain waters that breed
Trouts remarkable both for their number and smallness. I
know a Httle brook in Kent that breeds them to a number in-
credible, and you may take them twenty or forty in an hour,
but none greater than about the size of a gudgeon. There are
also in divers rivers, especially that relate to, or be near to the
sea, as Winchester, or the Thames about Windsor, a little Trout
called a Samlet or Skegger-Trout, — ^in both which places I havd

caught twenty or forty at a standing, — that will bite as fast and
as freely as minnows ; these be by some taken to be young
Salmons, but in those waters they never grow to be bigger than
a herring.

There is also in Kent near to Canterbury a Trout called
there a Fordidge Trout, a Trout that bears the name of the
town where it is usually caught, that is accounted the rarest
of fish ; many of them near the bigness of a Salmon, but
known by their different color, and in their best season they
cut very white, and none of these have been known to be
caught with an angle, unless it were one that was caught by
- Sir George Hastings, an excellent Angler, and now with God ;
and he hath told me, he thought that Trout bit not for hunger
but wantonness ; and is the rather to be believed, because both
he then, and many others before him, have been curious to
search into their bellies, what the food was by which they
lived : and have found out nothing by which they might satisfy
their curiosity.

Chap. IV.| THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 89

Concerning which you are to take notice, that it is reported
by good authors, that grasshoppers, and some fish, have no
mouths, but are nourished and take breath by the porousness of
their gills, man knows not how ; and this may be believed, if
we consider that, when the Raven hath hatched her eggs, she
takes no further care, but leaves her young ones to the care of
Ae God of nature, who is said in the Psalms, (Psal. clxvii. 9,)
'^ to feed the young ravens that call upon him.'* And they be
kept ahve, and fed by a dew, or worms that breed in their nests,
or some other ways that we mortals know not ; and this may be
believed of the Fordidge Trout, which, as it is said of the Stork,
Jerem. viii. 7, that ^^he knows his season,'* so he knows his
times, I think almost his day of coming into that river out of
the sea ; where he lives, and, it is like, feeds, nine months of
the year, and fasts three in the river of Fordidge. And you are
to note that those townsmen are very punctual in observing the
time of beginning to fish for them ; and boast much that their
river affords a Trout that exceeds all others. And just so does
Sussex boast of several fish ; as namely, a Shelsey Cockle, a Chi-
chester Lobster, an Arundel Mullet, and an Amerly Trout.

And now for some confirmation of the Fordidge Trout : you
are to know that this Trout is thought to eat nothing in the fresh
water; and it may be the better believed, because it is well
known that swallows and bats and wagtails, which are called
half-year birds, and not seen to fly in England for six months
in the year, but about Michaelmas leave us for a hotter climate ;
yet some of them that have been left behind their fellows have
been found, many thousands at a time, in hollow trees, or clay
caves, where they have been observed to live and sleep out the
whole winter without meat. And so Albertus observes, that 33//
there is one kind of frog that hath her moxith naturally shut up
about the end of August, and that she lives so all the winter :
and though it be strange to some, yet it is known to too many
among us to be doubted.

And so much for these Fordidge Trouts, which never afford

90 VHE COMPLETE ANGLER. (Part I

an Angler sport, but either live their time of being in the fresh
water by their meat formerly gotten in the sea, not unlike the
swallow or frog, or by the virtue of the fresh water only ; or aa
the Bird of Paradise and the Chameleon are said to live, by the
sun and the air.

There is also in Northumberland a Trout called a Bull-Trout,
of a much greater length and bigness than any in these southern
parts : and there are in many rivers that relate to the sea Salmon-
Trouts, as much different from others, both in shape and in theii
spots, as we see sheep in some countries differ one from anothei
in their shape and bigness, and in the fineness of their wool ;
and certainly, as some pastures breed larger sheep, so do some
rivers, by reason of the ground over which they run, breed
larger Trouts.

Now the next thing that I will commend to your considera-
tion is, that the Trout is of a more sudden growth than other
fish : concerning which you are also to take notice, that he lives
not so long as the Perch and divers other fishes do, as Sir Francis
Bacon hath observed in his " History of Life and Death."

And next you are to take notice, that he is not like the Croc-
odile, which, if he lives never so long, yet always thrives till
his death : but *t is not so with the Trout ; for after he has come
to his full growth, he declines in his body, and keeps his big-
ness or thrives only in his head, till his death. And you are to
know, that he will about, especially before, the time of his
spawning, get almost miraculously through weirs and flood-gates
against the streams : even through such high and swift places a&
is almost incredible. Next, that the Trout usually spawns about
October or November, but in some rivers a little sooner or later :
which is the more observable, because most other fish spawn ii.
the spring or summer,»when the sun hath warmed both the eai'th
and water, and made it fit for generation. And you are to note,
that he continues many months out of season : for it may be ob-
served of the Trout, that he is like the Buck or the Ox, that
will not be fat in many months^ chough he go in the very same

Chap. IV.J THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 9I

pasture that horses do, which will be fat in one month ; and so
you may observe, that most other fishes recover strength, and
grow sooner fat and in season, than the Trout doth.

And next you are to note, that till the sun gets to such a
height as to warm the earth and the water, the Trout is sick,
and lean, and lousy, and unwholesome : for you shall in winter
find him to have a big head, and then to be lank, and thin, and
lean : at which time many of them have sticking on them Sugs,
or Trout-lice, which is a kind of a worm, in shape like a clove
or pin, with a big head, and sticks close to him and sucks his
moisture ; those, I think, the Trout breeds himself, and never
thrives till he free himself from them, which is when warm
weather comes ; and then, as he grows stronger, he gets from
the dead still water into the sharp streams and the gravel, and
there rubs off these worms or lice ; and then, as he grows stronger,
so he gets him into swifter and swifter streams, and there lies at
the watch for any fly or minnow that comes near to him : and
he especially loves the May-fly, which is bred of the Cod-worm,
or Cadis ; and these make the Trout bold and lusty, and he is
usually fatter and better meat at the end of that month than at
any time of the year.

Now you are to know, that it is observed that Uaually the
Best Trouts are either red or yellow ; though some, as the For-
didge Trout, be white and yet good ; but tEat is not usual :
and it is a note observable, ihat the Female Trout hath usually
a less head and a deeper body than the male Trout, and is
usually the better meat. And note, that a hog-back and a
little head, to either Trout, Salmon, or any other fish, is a sign
that that fish is in season.

But yet you are to note, that as you see some willows, or
palm-trees, bud and blossom sooner than others do, so some
Trouts be in rivers sooner in season : and as some hollies or
oaks are longer before they cast their leaves, so are some Trouts
in rivers longer before they go out of season.

And you are to note, that there are several kinds of Trouts ;

g2 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part I

but these several kinds are not considered but by very few men,
for they go under the general name of Trouts : just as Pigeons
do in most places; though it is certain there are tame anrf
wild Pigeons : and of the tame, there be Helmits and Runtc^
and Carriers and Cropers, and indeed too many to name.
'^ Nay, the Royal Society have found and published lately, that
there be thirty and three kinds of Spiders : and yet all, for
aught I know, go under that one general name of Spider.
And *t is so with many kinds of fish, and of Trouts especially,
which differ in their bigness, and shape, and spots, and color.
The great Kentish Hens may be an instance compared to other
hens ; and doubtless there is a kind of small Trout, which will
never thrive to be big, that breeds very many more than others
do that be of a larger size : which you may rather believe, if
you consider that the little Wren or Titmouse will have twenty
young ones at a time, when usually the noble Hawk, or the
musical Thrassel or Blackbird, exceed not four or five.

And now you shall see me try my skill to catch a Trout, and
at my next walking, either this evening or to-morrow morning,
I will give you direction how you yourself shall fish for him.

Ven. Trust me, Master, I see now it is a harder matter to
catch a Trout than a Chub : for I have put on patience, and
followed you these two hours, and not seen a fish stir, neither
at your minnow nor your worm.

Pisc. Well, Scholar, you must endure worse luck some time,
or you will never make a good Angler. But what say you
now ? there is a Trout now, and a good one too, if I can but
hold him, and two or three turns more will tire him. Now
-^^ , you see he lies still, and the sleight is to land him : reach me
3 ^ that landing-net. So, Sir, now he is mine own, what say you
now ? is not this worth all my labor and your patience ?

Ven. On my word. Master, this is a gallant Trout ; what
shall we do with him ?

Pisc. Marry, e'en eat him to supper : we *11 go to my Host-
ess, from whence we came ; she told me, as I was going out of

Chap. IV.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 93

door, that my brother Peter, a good Angler and a cheerful
companion, had sent word he would lodge there to-night, and
b^ing a friend with him. My Hostess has two beds, and I
know you and I may have the best : we '11 rejoice with my
brother Peter and his friend, tell tales, or sing ballads, or make
a catch, or find some harmless sport to content us, and pass
away a little time without offence to God or man.

Ven. a match, good Master : let 's go to that house, for the
linen looks white, and smells of lavender, and I long to lie in a
pair of sheets that smell so. Let 's be going, good Master, for
I am hungry again with fishing,
li Pisc. Nay, stay a httle, good Scholar : I caught my last
Trout with a worm ; now I will put on a minnow and try a
quarter of an hour about yonder trees for another, and so walk
towards our lodging. Look you, Scholar, thereabout we shall
^ave a bite presently, or not at all. Have with you. Sir ! o'
my word, I have hold of him. Oh ! it is a great logger-
headed Chub; come, hang him upon that willow-twig, and
let 's be going. But turn out of the way a little, good Scholar,
towards yonder high honeysuckle hedge; there we 41 sit and
.sing whilst this shower falls so gently upon the teeming earth,
and gives yet a sweeter smell to the lovely flowers that adorn
these verdant meadows.

Look, under that broad beech-tree I sat down, when I was
last this way a- fishing, and the birds in the adjoining grove
seemed to have a friendly contention with an echo, whose dead
voice seemed to live in a hollow tree, near to the brow of that
primrose hill ; there I sat viewing the silver streams glide si-
lently towards their centre, the tempestuous sea ; yet some-
times opposed by rugged roots, and pebble-stones, which broke
their waves, and turned them into foam : and sometimes I
beguiled time by viewing the harmless lambs, some leaping
securely in the cool shade, whilst others sported themselves in
the cheerful sun ; and saw others craving comfort from the
swollen udders of their bleating dams. As I thus sat, these

p4 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part I

and other sights had so fully possessed my soul with content,
that I thought, as the poet has happily expressed it,

** I was for that time lifted above earth,
And possessed joys not promised in my birth."

As I left this place, and entered into the next field, a second
pleasure entertained me ; 't was a handsome Milkmaid that had
not yet attained so much age and wisdom as to load her mind
with any fears of many things that will never be, as too many
men too often do ; but she cast away all care, and sung like a
nightingale. Her voice was good, and the ditty fitted for it ;
't was that smooth song, which was made by Kit Marlowe,
now at least fifty years ago : and the Milkmaid's mother sung
an answer to it, which was made by Sir Walter Raleigh in his
younger days.

They were old-fashioned poetry, but choicely good, I think
rnuch better than the strong lines that are now in fashion in
this critical age. Look yonder ! on my word, yonder they
both be a-milking again. I will give her the Chub, and per-
suade them to sing those two songs to us.

God speed you, good woman ! I have been a-fishing, and
am going to Bleak Hall to my bed ; and having caught more
fish than will sup myself and my friend, I will bestow this upon
you and your daughter, for I use to sell none.

MiLK-w. Marry, God requite you ! Sir, and we '11 eat it
cheerfully ; and if you come this way a-fishing two months
hence, a-grace of God I '11 give you a syllabub of new verjuice
in a new-made hay-cock for it, and my Maudlin shall sing you
one of her best ballads ; for she and I both love all Anglers,
they be such honest, civil, quiet men. In the mean time will
you drink a draught of red cow's milk? you shall have it
freely.

Pisc. No, I thank you ; but I pray do us a courtesy that
shall stand you and your daughter in nothing, and yet we will
think our ourselves still something in your debt : it is but to

Chap. IV.J THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 95

sing lis a song that was sung by your daughter when I last
passed over this meadow, about eight or nine days since. ^

MiLK-w. What song was it, I pray? Was it " Come, Shep* % ^S
herds, deck your herds " ? or, ^' As at noon Dulcina rested *' ?
or ^^PhiUda flouts me'* ? or Chevy Chace? or Johnny Arm-
strong ? or Troy Town ?

Pisc. No, it is none of those : it is a song that your daugh-
ter sung the first part, and you sung the answer to it.

MiLK-w. O, I know it now ; I learned the first part in my
golden age, when I was about the age of my poor daughter ;
and the latter part, which indeed fits me best now, but two or
three years ago, when the cares of the world began to take
hold of me : but you shall, God willing, hear them both, and
sung as well as we can, for we both love Anglers. Come,
Maudlin, sing the first part to the gentlemen with a merry
heart, and I'll sing the second, when you have done,

*^THE milk-maid's SONG.

•*Come, live with me, and be my love, ^ 3 5*5^
And we will all the pleasure prove
That valleys, groves, or hills, or fields
Or woods and steepy mountains yield,—

** Where we will sit upon the rocks,
And see the shepherds feed our flocks^
By shallow rivers, to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals.

•* And I will make thee beds of roses, [

And then a thousand fragrant posies ;
A cap of flowers, and a kirtle
Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle^

**A gown made of the finest wool,
Which from our pretty lambs we pull $
Slippers lined choicely for the cold,
With buckles of the purest gold ;

22

96 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part 1

** A belt of straw, and ivy-buds,
With coral clasps and amber studs ;—
And if these pleasures may thee move,
Come, live with me, and be my love,

** Thy silver dishes for thy meat,
As precious as the Gods do eat,
Shall on an ivory table be
Prepared each day for thee and me.

**The shepherd swains shall dance and sing
For thy delight each May morning :
If these delights thy mind may move,
Then live with me, and be my love."

Ven. Trust me, Master, it is a choice song, and sweetly
sung by honest Maudlin. I now see it was not without cause
that our good Queen Elizabeth did so often wish herself a
Milkmaid all the month of May, because they are not troubled
with fears and cares, but sing sweetly all the day, and sleep
securely all the night : and, without doubt, honest, innocent,
pretty Maudlin does so. I'll bestow Sir Thomas Overbury's
Milkmaid's wish upon her, — '' that she may die in the Spring;
and, being dead, may have good store of flowers stuck round
about her winding-sheet.

99

**THE milk-maid's MOTHER's ANSWER.

** If all the world and love were young,
And truth in every shepherd's tongue,
These pretty pleasures might me more
To live with thee, and be thy love.

** But time drives flocks from field to fold :
When rivers rage, and rocks grow cold,
Then Philomel becometh dumb,
And age complains of cares to come.

** The flowers do fade, and wanton fields
To wayward Winter reckoning yields :
A. honey tongue, a heart of gall,
Is fancy's spring, but sorrow's fall*

CHAP. IV.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 97

** Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of roses,
Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies,
Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten ;
In folly ripe, in reason rotten.

** Thy belt of straw, and ivy-buds,
Thy coral clasps and amber studs.
All these in me no means can move
To come to thee, and be thy Love.

** What should we talk of dainties then,
Of better meat than 's fit for men ?
These are but vain : that 's only good
Which God hath blest, and sent for food

** But could youth last, and love still breed.
Had joys no date, nor age no need, —
Then those delights my mind might move.
To live with thee, and be thy love."

Mother. Well, I have done my song. But stay, honest:
Anglers, for I will make Maudlin to sing you one short song
more. Maudlin, sing that song that you sung last night, when
young Coridon the Shepherd played so purely on his oaten
pipe to you and your Cousin Retty.

Maud. I will, Mother.

** I married a wife of late,
The more's my unhappy fate t

I married her for love,

As my fancy did me more,
And not for a worldly estate :

•* But oh ! the green-sickness
Soon changed her likeness.
And all her beauty did fail.
But 't is not so
With those that go,
Through frost and snoWy
As all men know.
And carry the milking-pail.**

pS THE COMPLETE ANGLER. IPart t

Pisc. Well sung ! Good woman, I thank you. I '11 give you
another dish of fish one of these days ; and then beg another
song of you. Come, Scholar, let Maudlin alone : do not you
offer to spoil her voice. Look ! yonder comes mine Hostess, to
call us to supper. How now ! is my brother Peter come ?

Host. Yes, and a friend with him ; they are both glad to
hear that you are in these parts, and long to see you, and long
to be at supper, for they be very hungry.

I

It

THE THIRD AND FOURTH DAYS.

Chap. V. — More Directions how to fish for, and how to make Jot
the Trout an Artificial Minnow and Flies, with some
Merriment,

PiSCATOR.

\ 1 /ELL met, Brother Peter ! I heard you and a friend
' ^ would lodge here to-night, and that hath made me to
bring my friend to lodge here too. My friend is one that
would fain be a Brother of the Angle : he hath been an Angler
but this day, and I have taught him how to catch a Chub by
daping with a grasshopper; and the Chub he caught was a
lusty one of nineteen inches long. But pray. Brother Peter,
who is your companion ?

Peter. Brother Piscator, my friend is an honest Country-
man, and his name is Coridon, and he is a downright witty
companion, that met me here purposely to be pleasant and eat
a Trout ; and I have not yet wetted my Hne since we met to-
gether : but I hope to fit him with a Trout for his breakfast^
for I '11 be early up.
|p Pisc. Nay, brother, you shall not stay so long: for, look^
vou 1 here is a Trout will fix six reasonable bellies.

Come, Hostess, dress it presently, and get us what othe/
meat the house will afford, and give iis K^\*Tie of your best bar

100 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part L

ley-wine, the good liquor that our honest forefathers did use to
drink of; the drink which preserved their health, and made
them live so long, and to do so many good deeds.

Peter. O' my word, this Trout is perfect in season. Come,
I thank you, and here is a hearty draught to you, and to all
the Brothers of the Angle wheresoever they be, and to my
young brother's good fortune to-morrow. I will furnish him
with a rod, if you will furnish him with the rest of the tack-
ling ; we will set him up and make him a fisher. And I will
tell him one thing for his encouragement, that his fortune hath
made him happy to be scholar to such a master ; a master that
knows as much both of the nature and breeding of fish as any
man : and can also tell him as well how to catch and cook
them, from the Minnow to the Salmon, as any that I ever met
withal.

Pisc. Trust me, Brother Peter, I find my Scholar to be so
suitable to my own humor, which is to be free, and pleasant,
and civilly merry, that my resolution is to hide nothing that I
know from him. Believe me. Scholar, this is my resolution ;
and so here's to you a hearty draught, and to all that love us,
and the honest art of Angling.

Ven. Trust me, good Master, you shall not sow your seed
in barren ground ; for I hope to return you an increase answer-
able to your hopes : but, however, you shall find me obedient,
and thankful, and serviceable to my best ability.

Pisc. *T is enough, honest Scholar: come, let 's to supper.
Come, my friend Coridon, this Trout looks lovely ; it was
twenty-two inches when it was taken ; and the belly of it
looked, some part of it as yellow as a marigold, and part of it
as white as a hly j and yet methinks it looks better in this
good sauce.

Coridon. Indeed, honest friend, it looks well, and tastes
well: I thank you for it, and so doth my friend Peter, or else
he is to blame.

Pet. Yes,* and so J dt>; we all thank you, and when we have

Chap. V.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. lOI

supped, I will get my friend Coridon to sing yoa a song for re-
quital.

Cor. I will sing a song, if anybody will sing another ; else,
to be plain with you, I will sing none : I am none of those that
sing for meat, but for company ; I say, ** 'T is merry in hall,
when men sing all. ' '

Pisc. I '11 promise you I '11 sing a song that was lately made,
at my request, by Mr. William Basse, one that hath made the
choice songs of the ''Hunter in his career," and of ''Tom -^^
of Bedlam," and many others of note; and this that I will 3 ^6
sing is in praise of Angling.

Cor. And then mine shall be the praise of a countryman's
life. What will the rest sing of?

Pet. I will promise you, I will sing another song in praise
of Angling to-morrow night ; for we will not part till then ;
but fish to-morrow, and sup together, and the next day every
man leave fishing, and fall to his business.

Ven. 'T is a match ; and I will provide you a song or a catch
against then, too, which shall give some addition of mirth to
the company ; for we wi.U be civil, and as merry as beggars.

Pisc. 'T is a match, my masters. Let 's even say grace, and
turn to the fire, drink the other cup to wet our whistles, and
so sing away all sad thoughts.

Come on, my masters, who begins ? I think it is best to
draw cuts, and avoid contention.

Pet. It is a match. Look, the shortest cut falls to Coridon,

Cor. Well, then, I will begin, for I hate contention.

CORIDON 'S SONG.

*' O the sweet contentment
The countryman doth find !

Heigh trolollie lollie loe,

Heigh trolollie lee,
That quiet contemplation
S*ossesseth all my mind ;

Then care away,

i^d wend along with me*

102 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part L

** For courts are full of flattery,
As hath too oft been tried ;

Hejgh trolollie lollie loe, etc.
The city full of wantonness,
And both are full of pride :

Then care away, etc.

** But oh ! the honest countryman
Speaks truly from his heart,

Heigh trolollie lollie loe, etc
His pride is in his tillage.
His horses, and his cart :

Then care away, etc.

" Our clothing is good sheep-skins,
Gray russet for our wives,

Heigh trolollie lollie loe, etc.
*T is warmth, and not gay clothing.
That doth prolong our lives :

Then care away, etc.

** The ploughman, though he labor hard,
Yet on the holiday,

Heigh trolollie lollie loe, etc
No emperor so merrily
Does pass his time away :
Then care away, etc.

•* To recompense our tillage.
The heavens afford us showers ;

Heigh trolollie lollie loe, etc
And for our sweet refreshments
The earth affords us bowers :

Then care away, etc.

•*The cuckoo and the nightingale
Full merrily do sing,

Heigh trolollie lollie loe, etc.
And with their pleasant roundelays
Bid welcome to the spring :
Then care away, etc.

**This is not half the happiness
The countryman enjoys ;

Heigh trolollie lollie loe, etc

»

,j3iAP. V.l THE COMPLETE ANGLER. IO3

Though others think they have as much.
Yet he that says so lies :

Then come away, turn

Countryman with me."

Jo. Chalkhilu

Pisc. Well sung ! Condon, this song was sung with mettle ;
and it was choicely fitted to the occasion : I shall love you for
it as long as I know you. I would you were a Brother of the
Angle, for a companion that is cheerful, and free from swear*
ing and scurrilous discourse, is worth gold. I love such mirth
as does not make friends ashamed to look upon one another
next morning; nor men, that cannot well bear it, to repent
the money they spend when they be warmed with drink. And
take this for a rule, you may pick out such times and such com-
panies, that you may make yourselves merrier for a little than
a great deal of money ; for '^ 'T is the company and not the
charge that makes the feast'': and such a companion you
prove ; I thank you for it.

But I will not compliment you out of the debt that I owe
you, and therefore I will begin my song, and wish it may be
50 well liked.

THE angler's song.

** As inward love breeds outward talk,

1 he hound some praise, and some the hawk s
. Some, better pleased with private sport,

Use tennis, some a mistress court :
But these delights I neither wish,
Nor envy, while I freely fish.

•*Who hunts, doth oft in danger ride ;
Who hawks, lures oft both far and wide :
Who uses games shall often prove
A loser ; but who falls in love

Is fettered in fond Cupid's snare :

My angle breeds me no such care.

104 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part I

•* Of recreation there is none
So free as Fishing is alone ;
All other pastimes do no less
Than mind and body both possess :

My hand alone my work can do,

So I can fish and study too.

** I care not, I, to fish in seas ;

Fresh rivers best my mind do please,
Whose sweet calm course I contemplate^
And seek in life to imitate :

In civil bounds I fain would keep.
And for my past offences weep,

** And when the timorous Trout I wait

To take, and he devours my bait,

How poor a thing sometimes I find

Will captivate a greedy mind !

And when none bite, I praise the wite^
Whom vain allurements ne'er surprise.

** But yet, though while I fish I fast,
I make good fortune my repast ;
And thereunto my friend invite,
In whom I more than that delight :

Who is more welcome to my dish.

Than to my angle was my fish.

^*As well content no prize to take,

As use of taken prize to make :

For so our Lord was pleased when

He fishers made fishers of men :

Where, which is in no other game,
A man may fish and praise his name.

•* The first men that our Saviour dear

Did choose to wait upon him here

Blest fishers were, and fish the last

Food was that he on earth did taste :
1 therefore strive to follow those
Whom he to follow him hath chose."

Cor. Well sung, Brother ! you have paid your debt in good
toin. We Anglers are all beholden to the good man that made

chap.v.j the complete angler. io5

this song. Ceme, Hostess, give us more ale, and let 's drink to
him.

And now let 's every one go to bed that we may rise early i
but first let *s pay our reckoning, for I will have nothing to
hinder me in the morning ; for my purpose is to prevent the sun
rising.

Pet. a match. Come, Coridon, you are to be my bed-
fellow : I know, Brother, you and your Scholar will lie together.
But where shall we meet to-morrow night ? for my friend Cori*
don and I will go up the water towards Ware.

Pisc. And my Scholar and I will go down towards Waltham.

Cor. Then let 's meet here, for here are fresh sheets that smell
of lavender ; and I am sure we cannot expect better meat or
better usage in any place.

Pet. *T is a match. Good night to everybody I

Pisc. And so say I.

Ven. And so say I.

THE FOURTH DAY.

Pisc. Good morrow, good Hostess ! I see my Brother Peter
is still in bed : come, give my Scholar and me a morning drink,
and a bit of meat to breakfast, and be sure to get a good dish
of meat or two against supper, for we shall come home as hungry
as hawks. Come, Scholar, let 's be going.

Ven. Well now, good Master, as we walk towards the river
give me direction, according to your promise, how I shall fish
for a Trout.

Pisc. My honest Scholar, I will take this very convenient op-
portunity to do it.

The Trout is usually caught with a worm or a minnow, which
some call a Penk, or with a fly, viz. either a natural or an arti-
ficial fly : concerning which three I will give you some observa*
tions and directions.

And, first, for worms ; of these there be very many sorts ;

I06 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. (Part L

some breed only in the earth, as the Earth-worm ; others of or
amongst plants, as the Dug-worm ; and others breed either out
of excrements, or in the bodies of living creatures, as in the
horns of sheep or deer ; or some of dead flesh, as the maggot or
gentle, and others.

Now these be most of them particularly good for particular
fishes : but for the Trout, the Dew-worm, which some also call
the Lob-worm, and the Brandling, are the chief; and especially
the first for a great Trout, and the latter for a less. There be
also of Lob-worms some called Squirrel-tails, a worm that has
a red head, a streak down the back, and a broad tail, which are
noted to be the best, because they are the toughest and most
lively, and live longest in the water : for you are to know, that
•a dead worm is but a dead bait, and like to catch nothing, com-
pared to a lively, quick, stirring worm. And for a Brandlings
he is usually found in an old dunghill, or some very rotten place
near to it : but most usually in cow-dung, or hog's dung, rather
than horse-dung, which is somewhat too hot and dry for that
worm. But the best of them are to be found in the bark of the
tanners, which they cast up in heaps after they have used it
about their leather.

There are also divers other kinds of worms, which for color
and shape alter even as the ground out of which they are got ;
as the Marsh-worm, the Tag-tail, the Flag-worm, the Dock-
worm, the Oak-worm, the Gilt-tail, the Twachel or Lob-worm,
which of all others is the most excellent bait for a Salmon, and
too many to name, even as many sorts as some think there be
of several herbs or shrubs, or of several kinds of birds in the air :
of which I shall say no more, but tell you, that what worms
soever you fish with are the better for being well scoured, that
is, long kept before they be used : and in case you have not been
so provident, then the way to cleanse and scour them quickly
is to put them all night in water, if they be Lob-worms, and
then put them into your bag with fennel ; but you must not put
your Brandlings above an hour in water, and then put them into

Chap, v.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. IO7

fennel for sudden use ; but if you have time, and purpose to
keep them long, then they be best preserved in an earthen pot
with good store of moss, which is to be fresh every three or four
days in summer, and every week or eight days in winter ; or at
least the moss taken from them, and clean washed, and wrung
betwixt your hands till it be dry, and then put it to them again.
And when your worms, especially the Brandling, begins to be
sick and lose of his bigness, then you may recover him by put-
ting a little milk or cream, about a spoonful in a day, into them
by drops on the moss ; and if there be added to the cream an
egg beaten and boiled in it, then it will both fatten and pre-
serve them long. And note, that when the knot, which is near
to the middle of the Brandhng, begins to swell, then he is sick,
and, if he be not well looked to, is near dying. And for moss
you are to note, that there be divers kinds of it, which I could
name to you, but will only tell you that tiiat which is likest a
buck's horn is the best, except it be soft white moss, which
grows on some heaths, and is hard to be found. And note, that
in a very dry time, when you are put to an extremity for worms,
walnut-tree leaves squeezed into water, or salt in water, to make
it bitter or salt, and then that water poured on the gr»ound
where you shall see worms are used to rise in the night, will
make them to appear above ground presently. And you may
take notice, some say that camphor put into your bag with your
moss and worms gives them a strong and so tempting a smelly
that the fish fare the worse and you the better for it.

And now I shall show you how to bait your hook with a
worm, so as shall prevent you from much trouble, and the loss
of many a hook too, when you fish for a Trout with a running-
line ; that is to say, when you fish for him by hand at the
ground. I will direct you in this as plainly as I can, that you
may not mistake.

Suppose it be a big Lob-worm; put your hook into him
somewhat above tlie middle, and out again a little below the
middle : having so done, draw your worm above the arming of

I08 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part I

your hook; but note, that at the entering of your hook it
must not be at the head-end of the worm, but at the tail-end
of him, that the point of your hook may come out toward the
head-end, and having drawn him above the arming of your
hook, then put the point of your hook again into the very head
of the worm, till it come near to the place where the point of
the hook first came out : and then draw back that part of the
worm that was above the shank or arming of your hook, and
so fish with it. And if you mean to fish with two worms, then
put the second on before you turn back the hook's head of
the first worm. You cannot lose above two or three worms
before you attain to what I direct you ; and having attained it,
you will find it very useful, and thank me for it, for you will
run on the ground without tangling.

Now for the Minnow or Penk ; he is not easily found and
caught till March, or in April, for then he appears first in the
river ; Nature having taught him to shelter and hide himself in
the winter in ditches that be near to the river, and there both to
hide and k^p himself warm in the mud or in the weeds, which
rot not so soon as in a running river, in which place if he were
in winter, the distempered floods that are usually in that
season would suffer him to take no rest, but carry him head-
long to mills and weirs, to his confusion. And of these Min-
nows, first you are to know, that the biggest size is not the
best ; and next, that the middle size and the whitest are
the best : and then you are to know, that your Minnow must
be so put on your hook, that it must turn round when *t is
drawn against the stream, and that it may turn nimbly, you
must put it on a big-sized hook as I shall now direct you,
which is thus. Put your hook in at his mouth and out at his
gill ; then, having drawn your hook two or three inches be-
yond or through his gill, put it again into his mouth, and
the point and beard out at his tail ; and then tie the hook
and his tail about very neatly with a white thread, which will
make it the apiber to turn quick in the water: that done, pull

L

.^AP. v.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. IO9

iback that part of your line which was slack when you did put
your hook into the Minnow the second time ; I say, pull that
part of your line back so that it shall fasten the head so that
the body of the Minnow shall be almost straight on your hook ;
this done, try how it will turn by drawing it across the water
or against a stream ; and if it do not turn nimbly, then turn
the tail a little to the right or left hand, and try again, till
It turn quick; for if not, you are in danger to catch nothing;
for know, that it is impossible that it should turn too quick.
And you are yet to know, that in case you want a Minnow,
then a small Loach or a Stickle-bag, or any other small fish that
will turn quick, will serve as well. And you are yet to know,
that you may salt them, and by that means keep them ready
and fit for use three or four days, or longer ; and that of salt,
bay-salt is the best.

And here let me tell you, what many old Anglers know right
well, that at some times, and in some waters, a Minnow is not
to be got, and therefore let me tell you, I have — which I will
show to you — an artificial Minnow, that will catch a Trout as
well as an artificial fly ; and it was made by a handsome
woman, that had a fine hand, and a hve Minnow lying by her :
the mould or body of the Minnow was cloth, and wrought
upon or over it thus with a needle ; the back of it with very sad
French green silk, and paler green silk towards the belly, shad-
owed as perfectly as you can imagine, just as you see a Min-
now ; the belly was wrought also with a needle, and it was a
part of it white silk, and another part of it with silver thread :
the tail and fins were of a quill, which was shaven thin ; the
eyes were of two little black beads, and the head was so shad-
owed, and all of it so curiously wrought, and so exactly dis-
sembled, that it would beguile any sharp-sighted Trout, in a
swift stream. And this Minnow I will now show you ; look,
here it is : and if you like it, lend it you, to have two or three
made by it, for they be easily carried about an Angler and be
of excellent use ; for note. Ihat a large Trout will come as

no THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part L

fiercely at a Minnow, as the highest mettled hawk doth seize
on a partridge, or a greyhound on a hare. I have been told,
that one hundred and sixty Minnows have been found in a
Trout's belly ; either the Trout had devoured so many, or the
miller that gave it a firiend of mine had forced them down his
throat after he had taken him.

Now for Flies, which is the third bait wherewith Trouts are
usually taken. You are to know, that there are so many sorts
of flies as there be of fruits : I will name you but some of them ;
as the Dun-fly, the Stone-fly, the Red-fly, the Moor-fly, the
Tawny-fly, the Shell-fly, the Cloudy or Blackish-fly, the Flag-
fly, the Vine-fly : there be of flies. Caterpillars, and Canker-
flies, and Bear-flies; and indeed too many either for me to
name or for you to remember : and their breeding is so various
and wonderful, that I might easily amaze myself and tire you
in a relation of them.

And yet I will exercise your promised patience by saying a
little of the Caterpillar, or the Palmer-fly or worm, that by
them you may guess what a work it were in a discourse but to
run over those very many flies, worms, and little living creat-
ures with which the sun and summer adorn and beautify the
river-banks and meadows, both for the recreation and contem-
plation of us Anglers : pleasures which, I think, myself enjoy
more than any other man that is not of my profession.

Pliny holds an opinion, that many have their birth or being
from a dew, that in the spring falls upon the leaves of trees ;
and that some kinds of them are from a dew left upon herbs or
flowers ; and others from a dew left upon coleworts or cab-
bages ; all which kinds of dews being thickened and con-
densed, are by the sun's generative heat most of them hatched,
and in three days made living creatures : and these of several
shapes and colors ; some being hard and tough, some smooth
and soft ; some are horned in their head, some in their tail^
some have none : some have hair, some none : some have six-
teen feet, some less, and some have none : bu*, as our Topse)

Chap, v.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. Ill

hath, with great dihgence, observed, those which have none
move upon the earth, or upon broad leaves, their motion being
not unhke to the waves of the sea. Some of them he also ob-
serves to be bred of the eggs of other caterpillars, and that
those in their time turn to be butterflies ; and again, that their
eggs turn the following year to be caterpillars. And some
affirm, that every plant has his particular fly or caterpillar,
which it breeds and feeds. I have seen, and may therefore
affirm it, a green caterpillar, or worm, as big as a small peas-
cod, which had fourteen legs ; eight on the belly, four under
the neck, and two near the tail. It was found on a hedge of
privet ; and was taken thence, and put into a large box, and a
little branch or two of privet put to it, on which I saw it feed
as sharply as a dog gnaws a bone : it lived thus five or six
days, and thrived, and changed the color two or three times ;
but, by some neglect in the keeper of it, it then died and did
not turn to a fly : but if it had lived, it had doubtless turned
to one of those flies that some call Flies-of prey, which those
that walk by the rivers may, in summer, see fasten on smaller
flies, and, I think, make them their food. And 't is observa-
ble, that, as there be these Fhes-of-prey which be very large,
so there be others, very little, created, I think, only to feed
them, and breed out of I know not what ; whose life, they say,
Nature intended not to exceed an hour ; and yet that life is
thus made shorter by other flies, or accident.

'T is endless to tell you what the curious searchers into
Nature's productions have observed of these worms and flies :
but yet I shall tell you what Aldrovandus, our Topsel, and ^"
others, say of the Palmer-worm or Caterpillar : that whereas '
others content themselves to feed on particular herbs or leaves,
— for most think those very leaves that gave them life and
shape give them a particular feeding and nourishment, and that
upon them they usually abide ; — yet he observes that this is
called a Pilgrim or Palmer-worm, for his very wandering life
and various food ; not contenting himself, as others do, with

112 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. (Part L

any one certain place for his abode, nor any certain kind ot
herb or flower for his feeding ; but will boldly and disorderly
wander up and down, and not endure to be kept to a diet, or
fixed to a particular place.

Nay, the very colors of Caterpillars are, as one has observed,
very elegant and beautiful. I shall, for a taste of the rest, de-
scribe one of them, which I will some time the next month show
you feeding on a willow-tree, and you shall find him punc tually
to answer this very description : his lips and mouth somewhat
yellow, his eyes black as jet, his forehead purple, his feet and
hinder parts green, his tail two-forked and black ; the whole
body stained with a kind of red spots which run along the neck
and shoulder-blade, not unlike the form of Saint Andrew's cross,
or the letter X, made thus crosswise, and a white line drawn
down his back to his tail ; all which add much beauty to his
whole body. And it is to me observable, that at a fixed age
this Caterpillar gives over to eat, and towards winter comes to
be covered over with a strange shell or crust, called an Aurelia ;
and so lives a kind of dead life, without eating, all the winter.
And, as others of several kinds turn to be several kinds of flies
and vermin the spring following, so this caterpillar then turns
to be a painted butterfly.

Come, come, my Scholar, you see the river stops our morn-
ing walk, and 1 will also here stop my discourse : only, as we
sit down under this honeysuckle hedge, whilst I look a line
to fit the rod that our Brother Peter hath lent you, I shall, for
^ a little confirmation of what I have said, repeat the observation
33jof Du Bartas:—

** God, not contented to each kind to give.
And to infuse the virtue generative,
By his wise power made many creatures breed
Of lifeless bodies, without Venus' deed.

» ** So the cold humor breeds the Salamander ;

Who, in effect, like to her birth's commander,
With child with hundred winters, with her touch
Quencheth the lire, though glowing ne'er so much*

tHAP. V.J THE COMPLETE ANGLER. II j

** So in the fire, in burning furnace, springs
The flf Perausta with the flaming wings :
Without the fire it dies ; in it it joys ;
Living in that which all things else destroys.

** So, slow Bootes underneath him sees
In th' icy islands goslings hatched of trees ;
Whose fruitful leaves, falling into the water,
Are turned, 't is known, to living fowls soon after*

** So rotten planks of broken ships do change
To barnacles. O transformation strange I
*T was first a green tree, then a broken hull.
Lately a mushroom, now a flying gull."

Ven. O my good Master ! this morning walk has been speirt
to my great pleasure and wonder : but I pray, when shall I have
your direction how to make Artificial Flies, like to those that
the Trout loves best ? and also how to use them ?

Pisc. My honest Scholar, it is now past five of the clock ;
we will fish till nine, and then go to breakfast. Go you to
yonder sycamore-tree, and hide your bottle of drink under the
hollow root of it ; for about that time, and in that place, we
will make a brave breakfast with a piece of powdered beef, and
a radish or two that I have in my fish-bag : we shall, I warrant
you, make a good, honest, wholesome, hungry breakfast ; and
I will give then you: direction for the making and using of
your flies : and in the mean time there is your rod and line ;
and my advice is, that you fish as you see me do, and let 's try
which can catch the first fish.

Ven. I thank you, Master, I will observe and practise your
direction, as far as I am able.

Pisc. Look you. Scholar ; you see I have hold of a good fish :
I now see it is a Trout. I pray put that net under him, and
touch not my line, for if you do, then we break all. Well done,
Scholar, I thank you.

Now for another. Trust me I have another bite. Come,
Scholar, come, lay down your rod, and help me to land this, as

114 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part I

you did the other. So now we shall be sure to have a good
dish of fish to supper.

Ven. I am glad of that ; but I have no fortune : sure, Master
yours is a better rod and better tackling.

Pisc. Nay, then, take mine, and I will fish with yours. Look
you, Scholar, I have another. Come, do as you did before.
\nd now I have a bite at another. Oh me ! he has broke all;
there*s half a line and a good hook lost.

Ven. Ay, and a good Trout too.

Pisc. Nay, the Trout is not lost ; for pray take notice, na
man can lose what he never had.

Ven. Master, I can neither catch with the first nor second
angle : I have no fortune.

Pisc. Look you. Scholar, I have yet another. And now,
having caught three brace of Trouts, I will tell you a short tale
as we walk towards our breakfast. A scholar, a preacher I
should say, that was to preach to procure the approbation of a
parish, that he might be their lecturer, had got from his fellow-
pupil the copy of a sermon that was first preached with great
commendation by him that composed it : and though the bor-
rower of it preached it word for word, as it was at first, yet it
was utterly disliked as it was preached by the second to his con-
gregation ; which the sermon-borrower complained of to the
lender of it, and was thus answered : *' I lent you indeed my
fiddle, but not my fiddlestick ; for you are to know, that every
one cannot make music with my words, which are fitted for my
own mouth." And so, my Scholar, you are to know, that as
the ill pronunciation or ill accenting of words in a sermon spoils
it, so the ill carriage of your line, or not fishing even to a foot
in a right place, makes you lose your labor ; and you are to
know, that though you have my fiddle, that is, my very rod and
tacklings with which you see I catch fish, yet you have not my
fiddlestick : that is, you yet have not skill to know how to carry
your hand and line, nor how to guide it to a right place : and
this must be taught you, — for you are to remember I told you

Chap. V.J THE COMPLETE ANGLER. II5

Angling is an art, — either by practice, or a long observation,
or both. But take this for a rule, when you fish for a Trout
with a worm, let your line have so much, and not more lead
than will fit the stream in which you fish ; that is to say, more
in a great troublesome stream than in a smaller that is quieter :
as near as may be, so much as will sink the bait to the bottom,
md keep it still in motion, and not more.

But now let 's say grace and fall to breakfast. What say
you, Scholar, to the providence of an old Angler? Does
not this meat taste well ? and was not this place well chosen
to eat it ? for this sycamore-tree will shade us from the sun*s
heat.

Ven. All excellent good ; and my stomach excellent good
too. And now I remember, and find that true which devout /^
Lessius says, " that poor men, and those that fast often, have ^^'
much more pleasure in eating than rich men and gluttons, that
always feed before their stomachs are empty of their last meat,
and call for more ; for by that means they rob themselves of
that pleasure that hunger brings to poor men.'' And I do seri-
ously approve of that saying of yours, '' that you had rather be
a civil, well-governed, well-grounded, temperate, poor Angler,
than a drunken lord " : but I hope there is none such. How-
ever, I am certain of this, that I have been at many very costly
dinners that have not afforded me half the content that this has
done, for which I thank God and you.

And now, good Master, proceed to your promised direction
for making and ordering my Artificial Fly.

Pisc. My honest Scholar, I will do it, for it is a debt due
unto you by my promise. And because you shall not think
yourself more engaged to me than indeed you really are, I will
freely give you such directions as were lately given to me by an
ingenious Brother of the Angle, an honest man, and a most ex-
cellent fly-fisher.

• You are to note, that there are twelve kinds of artificial -made
Flies to angle with upon the top of the water. Note by the

1 16 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part 1.

way, that the fittest season of using these is a blustering, windy
day, when the waters are so troubled that the natural fly can-
not be seen, or rest upon them. The first is the Dun-fly, in
March : the body is made of dun wool, the wings of the par-
tridge's feathers. The second is another Dun-fly : the body of
black wool, and the wings made of the black drake's feathers^
and of the feathers under his tail. The third is the Stone-fly,
in April : the body is made of black wool, made yellow under
the wings, and under the tail, and so made with wings of the
drake. The fourth is the Ruddy-fly, in the beginning of May :
the body made of red wool wrapt about with black silk, and
the feathers are the wings of the drake ; with the feathers of a
red capon also, which hang dangling on his sides next to the
tail. The fifth is the yellow or greenish fly, in May hkewise :
the body made of yellow wool, and the wings made of the red
cock's hackle or tail. The sixth is the Black-fly, in May also :
the body made of black wool, and lapped about with the herle
of a peacock's tail ; the wings are made of the wings of a brown
capon with his blue feathers in his head. The seventh is the
Sad-yellow-fly in June : the body is made of black wool, with
a yellow list on either side, and the wings taken ofl" the wings
of a buzzard, bound with black braked hemp. The eighth is
the Moorish-fly : made with the body of duskish wool, and the
wings made of the blackish mail of the drake. The ninth is
the Tawny-fly, good until the middle of June : the body made
of tawny wool, the wings made contrary one against the other,
made of the whitish mail of the wild-drake. The tenth is the
Wasp-fly, in July : the body made of black-wool, lapped about
with yellow silk ; the wings made of the feathers of the drake,
or of the buzzard. The eleventh is the Shell-fly, good in mid-
July : the body made of greenish wool, lapped about with the
herle of a peacock's tail, and the wings made of the wings of
the buzzard. The twelfth is the dark Drake-fly, good in Au-
gust : the body made with black wool, lapped about with black
silk j his wings are made with the mail of the black-drake, with

Chap. V.) THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 1 17

a black head. Thus have you a jury of flies Hkely to betray
and condemn all the Trouts in the river.

I shall next give you some other directions for fly-fishing,
such as are given by Mr. Thomas Barker, a gentleman thatj^^^
hath spent much time in fishing ; but I shall do it with a little
variation.

First, let your rod be light, and very gentle : I take the best
to be of two pieces. And let not your line exceed, — especially
for three or four links next to the hook, — I say, not exceed
three or four hairs at the most, though you may fish a little
stronger above in the upper part of your line ; but if you can
attain to angle with one hair, you shall have more rises and
catch more fish. Now you must be sure not to cumber your-
self with too long a line, as most do. And before you begin
to angle, cast to have the wind on your back, and the sun, if
it shines, to be before you, and to fish down the stream ; and
carry the point or top of your rod downward, by which means
the shadow of yourself, and rod too, will be the least offensive
to the fish ; for the sight of any shade amazes the fish, and
spoils your sport, of which you must take a great care.

In the middle of March, till which time a man should not
in honesty catch a Trout ; or in April, if the weather be dark,
or a Httle windy or cloudy, the best fishing is with the Palmer-
worm, of which I last spoke to you ; but of these there be
divers kinds, or at least of divers colors : these and the May-fly
are the ground of all fly-angling, which are to be thus made.

First, you must arm your hook with the line in the inside of
it ; then take your scissors, and cut so much of a brown mal-
lard's feather as in your own reason will make the wings of it,
you having withal regard to the bigness or littleness of your
hook : then lay the outmost part of your feather next to your
hook, then the point of your feather next the shank of your
hook ; and, having so done, whip it three or four times about
the hook with the same silk with which your hook was armed ;
and, having made the silk fast, take the hackle of a cock or

Il8 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part i

capon's neck, or a plover's top, which is usually better : take
off the one side of the feather, and then take the hackle, silk,
or crewel, gold or silver thread, make these fast at the bent of
the hook, that is to say, below your arming ; then you musf
take the hackle, the silver or gold thread, and work it uj
to the wings, shifting or still removing your finger as you
turn the silk about the hook ; and still looking at every stop or
turn, that your gold, or what materials soever you make your
fly of, do he right and neatly, and if you find they do so, then,
when you have made the head, make all fast : and then work
your hackle up to the head, and make that fast : and then,
with a needle or pin, divide the wing into two ; and then with
the arming silk whip it about cross-ways betwixt the wings ;
and then with your thumb you must turn the point of the
feather towards the bent of the hook ; and then work three or
four times about the shank of the hook ; and then view the pro-
portion, and if all be neat and to your liking, fasten.

I confess, no direction can be given to make a man of a dull
capacity able to make a fly well : and yet I know this, with a
little practice, will help an ingenious Angler in a good degree :
but to see a fly made by an artist in that kind, is the best
teaching to make it. And, then, an ingenious Angler may
walk by the river and mark what flies fall on the water that
day, and catch one of them, if he see the Trouts leap at a fly
of that kind : and then having always hooks ready-hung with
him, and having a bag also always with him, with bear's hair,
or the hair of a brown or sad-colored heifer, hackles of a cock
or a capon, several colored silk and crewel to make the body
of the fly, the feathers of a drake's head, black or brown
sheep's wool, or hog's wool, or hair, thread of gold and of
silver, silk of several colors, especially sad-colored, to make the
fly's head ; and there be also other colored feathers both of
little birds and of speckled fowl : — I say, having those with
him in a bag, and trying to make a fly, though he miss at first,
yet shall he at last hit it better, even to such a perfection as

Chap. V.J THE COMPLETE ANGLER. I IJ|

none can well teach him. And if he hit to make his fly right,
and have the luck to hit also where there is store of Trouts, a
dark day, and a right wind, he will catch such store of them
as will encourage him to grow more and more in love with the
art of fly-making.

Ven. But, my loving Master, if any wind will not serve,
then I wish I were in Lapland, to buy a good wind of one
of the honest witches, that sell so many winds there, and so
cheap.

Pisc. Marry, Scholar, but I would not be there, nor indeed
from under this tree : for look how it begins to rain, and by
the clouds, if I mistake not, we shall presently have a smoking
shower : and therefore sit close ; this sycamore-tree will shelter
us : and I will tell you, as they shall come into my mind, more
observations of Fly-fishing for a Trout.

But first for the wind : you are to take notice, that of the
winds the south wind is said to be best. One observes,
that

"when the wind is south
It blows your bait into a fish's mouth."

Next to that, the west wind is believed to be the best : and
having told you that the east wind is the worst, I need not tell
you which wind is the best in the third degree : and yet, as
Solomon observes, Eccles. xi. 4, that *^he that considers the
wind shall never sow '' ; so he that busies his head too much
about them, if the weather be not made extreme cold by an
east wind, shall be a little superstitious : for as it is observed
by some, that there is no good horse of a bad color, so I have
observed that if it be a cloudy day, and not extreme cold,
let the wind sit in what corner it will, and do its worst, I heed
it not. And yet take this for a rule, that I would willingly
fish standing on the lee-shore : and you are to take notice, that
the fish lies or swims nearer the bottom, and in deeper water,
in winter than in summer ; and also nearer the bottom in a
told day, and then gets nearest the lee-side of the water.

I20 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. C^art I,

But I promised to tell you more of the Fly-fishing for a
Trout, which I may have time enough to do, for you see it
rains May butter. First for a May-fly : you may make his
body with greenish-colored crewel, or willowish color ; dark-
ening it in most places with waxed silk, or ribbed with black
hair, or some of them ribbed with silver thread ; and such
wings, for the color, as you see the fly to have at that season, —
nay, at that very day on the water. Or you may make the
Oak-fly with an orange tawny and black ground, and the brown
of a mallard's feather for the wings; and you are to know,
that these two are most excellent flies, that is, the May-fly and
the Oak-fly. And let me again tell you, that you keep as far
from the water as you can possibly, whether you fish with a fly
or worm, and fish down the stream : and when you fish with a
fly, if it be possible, let no part of your line touch the water,
but your fly only ; and be still moving your fly upon the
water, or casting it into the water, you yourself being also
always moving down the stream.

Mr. Barker commends several sorts of the Palmer- flies ; not
only those ribbed with silver and gold, but others that have
their bodies all made of black, or some with red, and a red
hackle. You may also make the Hawthorn-fly, which is all
black, and not big, but very small, the smaller the better : or
the Oak-fly, the body of which is orange-color and black
crewel, with a brown wing; or a fly made with a peacock's
feather is excellent in a bright day. You must be sure you
want not in your magazine-bag the peacock's feather, and
grounds of such wool and crewel as will make the Grasshop-
per ; and note, that usually the smallest flies are the best. And
note also, that the light fly does usually make most sport in a
dark day, and the darkest and least fly in a bright or clear day :
and lastly note, that you are to repair upon any occasion to
your magazine-bag ; and upon any occasion vary, and make
them Hghter or sadder according to your fancy or the day.
And now I shall tell you^ that the fishing with a natural fly

*

Chap, v.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 121

is excellent, and affords much pleasure. They may be found
thus : the May-fly usually in and about that month near to the
river -side, especially against rain : the Oak-fly on the but or
body of an oak or ash, from the beginning of May to the end
of August ; it is a brownish fly, and easy to be so found, and
stands usually with his head downward, that is to say, towards
the root of the tree : the small black fly, or Hawthorn-fly, is
to be had on any hawthorn-bush after the leaves be come forth :
with these and a short line, as I showed to angle for a Chub,
you may dape or dop ; and also with a grasshopper behind a
tree, or in any deep hole ; still making it to move on the top
of the water, as if it were alive, and still keeping yourself out
of sight, you shall certainly have sport if there be Trouts ;
yea, in a hot day, but especially in the evening of a hot day,
you will have sport.

And now, Scholar, my direction for fly-fishing is ended with
this shower, for it has done raining. And now look about
you, and see how pleasantly that meadow looks ; nay, and the
earth smells as sweetly too. Come, let me tell you what holy <
Mr. Herbert says of such days and flowers as these ; and then ' /
we will thank God that we enjoy them, and walk to the river,
and sit down quietly, and try to catch the other brace of
Trouts.

** Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright,
The bridal of the earth and sky,
Sweet dews shall weep thy fall to-night,—

For thou must die !

" Sweet rose, whose hue, angry and brave,
Bids the rash gazer wipe his eye,
Thy root is ever in its grave, —

And thou must die !

** Sweet spring, full of sweet days and roses,
A box where sweets compacted lie ;
My music shows you have your closes, —

And all must die I

122 ITHE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part i

* * Only a sweet and virtuous soul,
Like seasoned timber, never gives,
But when the whole world turns to coal,^

Then chiefly lires ! "

Ven. I thank you, good Master, for your good direction for
fly-fishing, and for the sweet enjoyment of the pleasant day,
which is so far spent without offence to God or man : and I
thank you for the sweet close of your discourse with Mr. Her-
bert's verses ; who, I have heard, loved Angling : and I do
the rather believe it, because he had a spirit suitable to An-
glers, and to those primitive Christians that you love, and have
so much commended.

Pisc. Well, my loving Scholar, and I am pleased to know
that you are so well pleased with my direction and discourse.

And since you like these verses of Mr. Herbert's so well, let
me tell you what a reverend and learned divine that professes
to imitate him, and has indeed done so most excellently, hath
writ of our Book of Common Prayer : which I know you will
like the better because he is a friend of mine, and I am sure no
enemy to Angling.

*' What? Prayer by the Book? and Common? Yqs ; why not?

The spirit of grace
And supplication
Is not left free alone
For time and place,
But manner too : to read or speak by rote,
Is all alike to him, that prays
In *s heart what with his mouth he says.

** They that in private by themselves alone

Do pray, may take /

What liberty they please,
In choosing of the ways
Wherein to make
Their soul's most intimate affections known
To Him that sees in secret, when
Th' are most concealed from other men*

Char V.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. I23

** But he that unto others leads the way
In public prayer,
Should do it so,
As all that hear may know
They need not fear
To tune their hearts unto his tongue, and say,
Amen ! not doubt they were betrayed
To blaspheme, when they meant to have prayed,

^* Devotion will add life unto the letter.
And why should not
That which authority
Prescribes esteemed be
Advantage got ?
If th' prayer be good, the commoner the better,
Prayer in the Church's words, as well
As sense, of all prayers bears the bell/'

Ch. Harvie.

""^■"

And row, Scholar, I think it will be time to repair to our
angle-rods, which we left in the water to fish for themselves ;
and you shall choose which shall be yours ; and it is an even
lay one of them catches.

And let m.e tell you, this kind of fishing with a dead rod,
and laying night-hooks, are like putting money to use ; for
they both work for the owners when they do nothing but sleep,
or eat, or rejoice ; as you know we have done this last hour,
and sat as quietly and as free from cares under this sycamore,
as Virgil's Tityrus and his Meliboeus did under their broad
beech-tree. No life, my honest Scholar, no life so happy and
so pleasant as the life of a well-governed Angler ; for when
the lawyer is swallowed up with business, and the statesman
is preventing or contriving plots, then we sit on cowslip banks,
hear the birds sing, and possess ourselves in as much quietness
as these silent silver streams, which we now see glide so quietly
by us. Indeed, my good Scholar, we may say of Angling, as
Dr. Boteler said of strawberries : *^ Doubtless God could have*^^
made a better berry, but doubtless God never did ' ' : and so, ^

124 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part 1.

if I might be judga '* God never did make a more calm, quie^
innocent recreation than Angling/'

I '11 tell you, Scholar, when I sat last on this primrose-bank,
and looked down these meadows, I thought of them as Charles
the Emperor did of the city of Florence, — " that they were too
pleasant to be looked on, but only on holy-days '*: as I then sat
on this v^ry grass, I turned my present thoughts into verse : *t
was a Wish, which I '11 repeat to you.

THE angler's wish.

I in these flowery meads would be ;

These crystal streams should solace me ;

To whose harmonious, bubbling noise

I with my angle would rejoice :
Sit here, and see the turtle-dove
Court his chaste mate to acts of love t

Or, on that bank, feel the west wind
Breathe health and plenty ; please my mind
To see sweet dew-drops kiss these flowers,
And then washed off by April showers :
'T^ 5 3 S Here, hear my Kenna sing * a song ;
There, see a blackbird feed her young.

Or a leverock build her nest ;

Here, give my weary spirits rest.

And raise my low-pitched thoughts above

Earth, or what poor mortals love :

Thus free from lawsuits, and the noise
Of princes' courts, I would rejoice :

Or, with my Bryan, and a book.
Loiter long days near Shawford Brook;
There sit by him, and eat my meat,
There see the sun both rise and set :

♦ Like Hermit poor.

k

Chap. V.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 125

There bid good morning to next day.
There meditate my time away :

And angle on, and beg to have

A quiet passage to a welcome grare.

When I had ended this composure, I left this place, and saw
a Brother of the Angle sit under that honeysuckle hedge, one
that will prove worth your acquaintance. I sat down by him,
and presently we met with an accidental piece of merriment
which I will relate to you ; for it rains still.

On the other side of this very hedge sat a gang of Gypsies,
and near to them sat a gang of beggars. The Gypsies were
then to divide all the money that had been got that week,
either by stealing linen or poultry, or by fortune-telling, or
legerdemain, or, indeed, by any other sleights and secrets be-
longing to their mysterious government. And the sum that
was got that week proved to be but twenty and some odd
shillings. The odd money was agreed to be distributed
amongst the poor of their own corporation : and for the re-
maining twenty shillings, that was to be divided unto four
Gentlemen-gypsies, according to their several degrees in their
commonwealth.

And the first or chiefest Gypsy was by consent to have a
third part of the twenty shillings, which ^11 men know is 6s.

The second was to have a fourth part of the 20s. , which all
men know to be ^s.

The third was to have a fifth part of the 20s., which all men
know to be 4^*.

The fourth and last Gypsy was to have a sixth part of the
tos.y which all men know to be y. 4^.

As, for example,

3 times 6^". 2>d, is ••••>• 20J.

And so is 4 times 5^". ...••*' . 20^".

And so is 5 times ^s 2CW.

And so is 6 times 3^. 40^ « • • • joi;

126 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part 3.

And yet he that divided the money was so very a Gypsy^
that, though he gave to every one these said sums, yet he kept
one shilHng of it for himself.

As, for example, s» d.

6 8

5 o

4 O

3 4

make but 19 o

But now you shall know, that when the four Gypsies saw
that he had got one shilling by dividing the money, though
i.ot one of them knew any reason to demand more, yet, like
^ords and courtiers, every Gypsy envied him that was the
gainer, and wrangled with him ; and every one said the re-
maining shilHng belonged to him : and so they fell to so high a
contest about it, as none that knows the faithfulness of one
Gypsy to another will easily believe ; only we that have lived
these last twenty years are certain that money has been able to do
much mischief. However, the Gypsies were too wise to go to
law, and did therefore choose their choice friends Rook and
•^ Shark, and our late English Gusman, to be their arbitrators
2i^* and umpires. And so they left this honeysuckle hedge; and
went to tell fortunes, and cheat, and get more money and
lodging in the next village.

When these were gone, we heard as high a contention
amongst the beggars, whether it was easiest to rip a cloak, or
to unrip a cloak ? One beggar affirmed it was all one ; but
that was denied, by asking her if doing and undoing were all
one. Then another said, 't was easiest to unrip a cloak, for
that was to let it alone : but she was answered by asking her
how she unripped it, if she let it alone ? and she confessed her-
self mistaken. These and twenty such like questions were pro-
posed, and answered with as much beggarly logic and earnest-
ness as was ever heard to proceed from the mouth of the most

Chap, v.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 127

pertinacious schismatic ; and sometimes all the beggars, whose
number was neither more nor less than the poets' nine Muses,
talked all together about this ripping and unripping, and so loud
that not one heard what the other said : but at last one Beggar
craved audience, and told them, that old Father Clause, whom
Ben Jonson in his Beggar's Bush created king of their corpo
ration, was that night to lodge at an ale-house, called Catch-
her-by-the-way, not far from Waltham Cross, and in the high-
road towards London ; and he therefore desired them to spend
no more time about that and such like questions, but to refer
all to Father Clause at night, for he was an upright judge, and
in the mean time draw cuts what song should be next sung, and
who should sing it. They all agreed to the motion, and the
lot fell to her that was the youngest, and veriest virgin of the
company, and she sung Frank Davison's song, which he made
forty years ago ; and all the others of the company joined to
sing the burden with her. The ditty was this, — but first the
burden : —

'* Bright shines the sun : play, beggars, play,
Kerens scraps enough to serve to-day.

** What noise of viols is so sweet

As when our merry clappers ring?
What mirth doth want when beggars meet ?

A beggar's life is for a king.
Eat, drink, and play ; sleep when we list,
Go where we will, — so stocks be mist.

Bright shines the sun : play, beggars, pl^y,

Kerens scraps enough to serve to-day.

•* The world is ours, and ours alone,

For we alone have world at will ;
We purchase not, all is our own,

Both fields and streets we beggars fill :
Nor care to get, nor fear to keep,
Did ever break a beggar's sleep.

Bright shines the sun : play, beggars, play.

Here's scraps enough to serve to-day.

128 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part 3,

** A hundred herds of black and white

Upon our gowns securely feed ;
And yet if any dare us bite,

He dies therefore as sure as creed.
Thus beggars lord it as they please,
And only beggars live at ease.

Bright shines the sun : play, beggars, play,

Here's scraps enough to serve to-day."

Ven. I thank you, good Master, for this piece of merriment,
and this song, which was well humored by the maker, and well
remembered by you.

Pisc. But I pray forget not the catch which you promised
to make against night ; for our countryman, honest Coridon,
will expect your catch and my song, which I must be forced
to patch up, for it is so long since I learned it that I have for-
got a part of it. But come, now it hath done raining, let's
stretch our legs a little in a gentle walk to the river, and try
what interest our angles will pay us for lending them so long
to be used by the Trouts : lent them indeed, like usurers, for
our profit and their destruction.

Ven. O me ! look you Master, a fish, a fish ! O alas, Mas-
ter, I have lost her !

Pisc. Ay marry. Sir, that was a good fish indeed : if I had
had the luck to have taken up that rod, then 't is twenty to
one he should not have broke my line by running to the rod's
end, as you suffered him. I would have held him within the
bent of my rod, unless he had been fellow to the great Trout
ihat is near an ell long, which was of such a length and depth
that he had his picture drawn, and is now to be seen at mine
Host Rickabie's, at the George in Ware ; and it may be, hj
giving that very great Trout the rod, that is, by casting it to
him into the water, I might have caught him at the long run ;
for so I use always to do when I meet with an overgrown fish,
and you will learn to do so too hereafter: for I tell yoU;
Scholar, fishing is an art, or, at least, it is an art to catch fish.

I

Chap. V.J THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 1 29

Ven. But, Master, I have heard that the great Trout you
speak of is a Salmon.

Pisc. Trust me, Scholar, I know not what to say to it.
There are many country people that believe Hares change sexes
every year ; and there be very many learned men think so too,
for in their dissecting them they find many reasons to incline
them to that belief. And to make the wonder seem yet less.
that Hares change sexes, note that Doctor Mer. Casaubon af-^^
firms, in his book *^ Of Credible and Incredible Things,*' that
Caspar Peucerus, a learned physician, tells us of a people that
once a year turn wolves, partly in shape, and partly in con-
ditions. And so, whether this were a Salmon when he came
into the fresh water, and his not returning into the sea hath
altered him to another color or kind, I am not able to say ;
but I am certain he hath all the signs of being a Trout, both
for his shape, color, and spots; and yet many think he is
not.

Ven. But, Master, will this Trout which I had hold of die ?
for it is like he hath the hook in his belly.

Pisc. I will tell you. Scholar, that unless the hook be fast
in his very gorge, 't is more than probable he will live ; and a
little time, with the help of the water, will rust the hook, and
it will in time wear away, as the gravel doth in the horse-hoof,
which only leaves a false quarter.

And now. Scholar, let's go to my rod. Look you. Scholar,
I have a fish too, but it proves a loggerheaded Chub ; and this
is not much amiss, for this will pleasure some poor body, as
we go to our lodgings to meet our brother Peter and honest
Coridon. Come, now bait your hook again, and lay it into
the water, for it rains again ; and we will even retire to the
Rycamore-tree, and there I will give you more directions con-
cerning fishing, for I would fain make you an artist.

Ven. Yes, good Master, I pray let it be so.

Pisc. Well, Scholar, now we are sat down and are at ease, I
shall tell you a little more of Trout-fishing, before I speak of

130 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. IPart I

the Salmon, which I purpose shall be next, and then of the
Pike or Luce.

You are to know, there is night as well as day fishing for a
Trout, and that in the night the best Trouts come out of their
holes ; and the manner of taking them is, on the top of the
water with a great lob or garden-worm, or rather two, which
you are to fish with in a place where the waters run somewhat
quietly, for in a stream the bait will not be so well discerned.
I say in a quiet or dead place near to some swift, there draw
your bait over the top of the water, to and fro, and if there be
a good Trout in the hole, he will take it, especially if the
night be dark : for then he is bold and lies near the top of the
water, watching the motion of any frog or water-rat or mouse
that swims betwixt him and the sky ; these he hunts after, if
he sees the water but wrinkle or move in one of these dead
holes, where these great old Trouts usually lie near to their
holds : for you are to note, that the great old Trout is both
subtle and fearful, and lies close all day, and does not usually
stir out of his hold, but lies in it as close in the day as the
timorous Hare does in her form ; for the chief feeding of either
is seldom in the day, but usually in the night, and then the
great Trout feeds very boldly.

And you must fish for him with a strong line, and not a lit
tie hook ; and let him have time to gorge your hook, for he
does not usually forsake it, as he oft will in the day fishing.
And if the night be not dark, then fish so with an artificial fly
of a Hght color, and at the snap : nay, he will sometimes rise
at a dead mouse, or a piece of cloth, or anything that seems to
swim cross the water, or to be in motion. This is a choice
way, but I have not oft used it, because it is void of the pleas-
ures that such days as these, that we two now enjoy, aff'ord an
Angler.

And you are to know, that in Hampshire, which I think ex-
ceeds all England for swift, shallow, clear, pleasant brooks, and
store of Trouts, they use to catch Trouts in the night by the

Chap /.} THE COMPLETE ANGLER. I3I

light of a torch or straw, which when they have discovered,
they strike with a trout-spear or other ways. This kind of
way they catch very many ; but I would not beheve it till I
was an eyewitness of it, nor do I like it now I have seen it.

Ven. But, Master, do not Trouts see us in the night ?

Pisc. Yes, and hear and smell too, both then and in the
day-time ; for Gesner observes, the Otter smells a fish forty fur-
longs off him in the water : and that it may be true seems to
be affirmed by Sir Francis Bacon, in the Eighth Century of his
Natural History, who there proves that waters may be the me-
dium of sounds, by demonstrating it thus: *' That if you
knock two stones together very deep under the water, those
that stand on a bank near to that place may hear the noise
without any diminution of it by the water." He also offers
fhe like experiment concerning the letting an anchor fall, by a
very long cable or rope, on a rock or the sand within the sea.
And this being so well observed and demonstrated, as it is by
that learned man, has made me to believe that Eels unbed
themselves, and stir at the noise of thunder, and not only, as
some think, by the motion or stirring of the earth winch is oc-
casioned by that thunder.

And this reason of Sir Francis Bacon, Exper. 792, has made
me crave pardon of one that I laughed at for affirming, that he
knew Carps come to a certain place in a pond, to be fed, at the
ringing of a bell or the beating of a drum : and however, it
shall be a rule for me to make as little noise as I can when I am
fishing, until Sir Francis Bacon be confuted ; which I shall
give any man leave to do.

And, lest you may think him singular in this opinion, I will
tell you, this seems to be believed by our learned Doctor Hake- ^"^
will, who in his Apology of God's Power and Providence, foL
360, quotes Pliny to report, that one of the Emperors had par-
ticular fish-ponds, and in them several fish, that appeared and
came when they were called by their particular names. And
St. James tells us, Chap. iii. 7, that all things in the sea nave

132 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. IPart I

been tamed by mankind. And Pliny tells us, Lib. ix. 35, that
Antonia, the wife of Drusus, had a Lamprey, at whose gills she
hung jewels, or earrings : and that others have been so tender-
hearted as to shed tears at the death of fishes which they have
kept and loved. And these observations, which will to most
hearers seem wonderful, seem to have a further confirmation
frcm Martial, Lib. iv. Epigr. 30, who writes thus: —

**Piscator, fuge, ne nocens," etc.

•* Angler, wouldst thou be guiltless ? then forbear,
For these are sacred fishes that swim here,
Who know their sovereign, and will lick his hand,
Than which none *s greater in the world's command ;
Nay, more, th' have names, and when they called are.
Do to thtii a'.veral owners* call repair."

All the further use that I shall make of this shall be, to advise
Anglers to be patient, and forbear swearing, lest they be heard
and catch no fish.

And so I shall proceed next to tell you, it is certain, that
certain fields near Leominster, a town in Herefordshire, are
observed to make the sheep that graze upon them more fat than
the next, and also to bear finer wool ; that is to say, that that
year in which they feed in such a particular pasture they shall
yield finer wool than they did that year before they came to
feed in it, and coarser again if they shall return to their former
pasture ; and again return to a finer wool, being fed in the
iine-wool ground. Which I tell you, that you may the better
believe that I am certain, if I catch a Trout in one meadow,
he shall be white and faint, and very like to be lousy ; and as
certainly, if I catch a Trout in the next meadow, he shall be
strong, and red, and lusty, and much better meat. Trust me,
Scholar, I have caught many a Trout in a particular meadow,
that the very shape and the enamelled color of him hath been
such as hath joyed me to look on him ; and I have then with

Chap. V.]

THE COMPLETE ANGLER.

133

much pleasure concluded with Solomon, ** Everything is beau-
tiful in his season/' Eccles. iii. 11.

I should by promise speak next of the Salmon ; but I will,
by your favor, say a little of the Umber or Grayling ; which
is so like a Trout for his shape and feeding, that I desire I may
exercise your patience with a short discourse of him ; and then
the next shall be of the Salmon.

k

THE FOURTH DAY.

Chap. VI. — Observations of the Umber or Grayling, and D^
rections how to fish for them,

PiSCATOR.

T^HE Umber and Grayling are thought by some to differ, as
^ the Herring and Pilcher do. But though they may do so
in other nations, I think those in England differ nothing but
in their names. Aldrovandus says, they be of a Trout kind ;
and Gesner says that, in his country, which is Switzerland, he
is accounted the choicest of all fish. And in Italy he is, in
the month of May, so highly valued, that he is sold then at a
much higher rate than any other fish. The French, which call
the Chub Un Villain^ call the Umber of the Lake Leman Un
Umble Chevalier ; and they value the Umber or Grayling so
highly, that they say he feeds on gold ; and say that many
have been caught out of their famous river of Loire, out
of whose bellies grains of gold have been often taken. And
some think that he feeds on water-thyme, and smells of it at
his first taking out of the water ; and they may think so with
as good reason as we do that our Smelts smell like violets at
their being first caught, which I think is a truth. Aldrovan-
dus says, the Salmon, the Grayling, and Trout, and all fish
that live in clear and sharp streams, are made by their mother
Nature of such exact shape and pleasant colors, purposely tc
invite us to a joy and contentedness in feasting with her.
Whether this is a truth or not, it is not my purpose to dispute ;
but 't is certain, all that write of the Umber declare him to be
very medicinable. And Gesner says, that the fat of an Um-
ber or Grayling being set, with a Httle honey, a day or two ill

Chap. VI.]

THE COMPLETE ANGLER.

I3S

the sun, in a little glass, is very excellent against redness oi|
swarthiness, or anything that breeds in the eyes. Salvian takes -^
him to be called Umber from his swift swimming, or gliding ^^^
out of sight more like a shadow or a ghost than a fish. Much
more might be said both of his smell and taste : but I shall
only tell you, that St. Ambrose, the glorious Bishop of Milan,
who hved when the Church kept fasting-days, calls him the
Flower-fish, or Flow^er of Fishes, and that he was so far in
love with him, that he would not let him pass without the
honor of a long discourse ; but I must ; and pass on to tell
you how to take this dainty fish.

First, note, that he grows not to the bigness of a Trout ; for
\he biggest of them do not usually exceed eighteen inches.
He lives in such rivers as the Trout does, and is usually taken
with the same baits as the Trout is, and after the same manner,
for he will bite both at the minnow or worm, or fly : though
le bites not often at the minnow, and is very gamesome at the
[fly, and much simpler, and therefore bolder than a Trout ; for
he will rise twenty times at a fly, if you miss him, and yet rise
again. He has been taken with a fly made of the red feathers
of a Parakita, a strange outlandish bird ; and he will rise at a
fly not unlike a gnat or a small moth, or, indeed, at most flies
that are not too big. He is a fish that lurks close all winter,
but is very pleasant and jolly after mid-April, and in May, and
in the hot months : he is of a very fine shape ; his flesh is
white, his teeth — those little ones that he has — are in his

136 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part L

throat, yet he has so tender a mouth that he is oftener lost after
an Angler has hooked him than any other fish. Though there
be many of these fishes in the delicate river Dove, and in
Trent, and some other smaller rivers, as that which runs by
Salisbury, yet he is not so general a fish as the Trout, nor to
me so good to eat or to angle for. And so I shall take my
Jeave of him, and now come to som^ observations of tibf
Salmon, and how to catch bim.

THE FOURTH DAY.

Chap. V\\.— Observations of the Salmon, with Directions how to

fish for him.

T

PiSCATOR. ^

HE Salmon is accounted the King of fresh-water fish, and

Ks

I

is ever bred in rivers relating to the sea ; yet so high, or
far from it, as admits of no tincture of salt, or brackishness.
He is said to breed or cast his spawn, in most rivers, in the
month of August : some say that then they dig a hole or grave
in a safe place in the gravel, and there place their eggs or
spawn, after the melter has done his natural office, and then
hide it most cunningly, and cover it over with gravel and
stones ; and then leave it to their Creator's protection, who,
by a gentle heat which He infuses into that cold element,
makes it brood and beget life in the spawn, and to become
Samlets early in the spring next following.

The Salmons having spent their appointed time, and done
this natural duty, in the fresh waters, they then haste to the
sea before winter, both the melter and spawner : but if they
be stopped by flood-gates or weirs, or lost in the fresh waters,
hen those so left behind by degrees grow sick, and lean, and
unseasonable, and kipper ; that is to say, have bony gristles
grow out of their lower chaps, not unlike a hawk's beak, which
hinder their feeding ; and, in time, such fish so left behind
pine away and die. 'T is observed that he may live thus one
year from the sea ; but he then grows insipid, and tasteless,
and loses both his blood and strength, and pines and dies the
second year. And *t is noted, that those little Salmons called

£38 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part L

Skeggers, which abound in many rivers relating to the sea, are
bred by such sick Salmons that might not go to the sea, and
that though they abound, yet they never thrive to any consid-
erable bigness.

But if the old Salmon gets to the sea, then that gristle which
shows him to be kipper wears away, or is cast off, as the eagle
is said to cast his bill, and he recovers his strength, and comes
jiext summer to the same river, if it be possible, to enjoy the
former pleasures that there possessed him : for, as one has wit-
tily observed, he has, like some persons of honor and riches,
which have both their winter and summer houses, the fresh
rivers for summer, and the salt water for winter, to spend his
life in ; which is not, as Sir Francis Bacon hath observed in
his *' History of Life and Death," above ten years. And
it is to be observed, that though the Salmon does grow big
in the sea, yet he grows not fat but in fresh rivers ; and it is
observed, that the farther they get from the sea, they be both
the fatter and better.

Next I shall tell you, that though they make very hard shift
to get out of the fresh rivers into the sea, yet they will make
harder shift to get out of the salt into the fresh rivers, to spawn,
or possess the pleasures that they have formerly found in them :
to which end, they will force themselves through flood-gates,
or over weirs, or hedges, or stops in the water, even to a height
beyond common belief. Gesner speaks of such places as are
known to be above eight feet high above water. And our
Camden mentions in his Britannia the like wonder to be in
Pembrokeshire, where the river Tivy falls into the sea ; and
hat the fall is so downright, and so high, that the people stand
and wonder at the strength and sleight by which they see the
Salmon use to get out of the sea into the said river : and the
manner and height of the place is so notable, that it is known
far by the name of the Salmon-Leap. Concerning which take
this also out of Michael Drayton, my honest old friend, as he
tells it you in his ^' Polyolbion.*'

Chap. VII.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 1 39

** And when the Salmon seeks a fresher stream to find,
Which hither from the sea comes yearly by his kind ;
As he towards season grows, and stems the wat'ry tract
Where Tivy, falling down, makes an high cataract,
Forced by the rising rocks that there her course oppose.
As though within her bounds they meant her to enclose, '*%
Here, when the laboring fish does at the foot arrive,
And finds that by his strength he does but vainly strive ;
His tail takes in his mouth, and, bending like a bow
That *s to full compass drawn, aloft himself doth throw.
Then springing at his height, as doth a little wand,
That, bended end to end, and started from man's hand,
Far off itself doth cast ; so does the Salmon vault :
And if at first he fail, his second summersault
He instantly essays ; and, from his nimble ring
Still yerking, never leaves until himself he fling
Above thft opposing stream.*'

This Michael Drayton tells you of this leap or summersault
of the Salmon.

And, next, I shall tell you, that it is observed by Gesner
and others, that there is no better Salmon than in England ;
and that, though some of our northern counties have as fat and
as large as the river Thames, yet none are of so excellent a
taste.

And as I have told you that Sir Francis Bacon observes, the
age of a Salmon exceeds not ten years, so let me next tell you,
that his growth is very sudden : it is said, that, after he is got
into the sea, he becomes, from a Samlet not so big as a Gud-
geon, to be a Salmon, in as short a time as a gosHng becomes
to be a goose. Much of this has been observed, by tying a
ribbon, or some known tape or thread, in the tail of some
young Salmons, which have been taken in weirs as they have
swimmed towards the salt water, and then by taking a part of
them again, with the known mark, at the same place, at their
return from the sea, which is usually about six months after ;
and the like experiment hath been tried upon young swallows,
who have, after six months* absence, been observed to return

I40

THE COMPLETE ANGLER,

[Part t

to the same chimney, there to make their nests and hab-
itations for the summer following : which has incHned many
to think, that every Salmon usually returns to the same river in
which it was bred, as young pigeons taken out of the same
dove-cote have also been observed to do.

And you are yet to observe further, that the he-Salmon is
usually bigger than the Spawner ; and that he is more kipper,
and less able to endure a winter in the fresh water, than she is :
yet she is, at that time of looking less kipper and better, as
watery, and as bad meat.

And yet you are to observe, that as there is no general rule
without an exception, so there are some few rivers in this
nation that have Trouts and Salmons in season in winter ; as
't is certain there be in the river Wye in Monmouthshire,
where they be in season, as Camden observes, from September
till April. But, my Scholar, the observation of this and many
other things, I must in manners omit, because they will prove
too large for our narrow compass of time ; and therefore I shall
next fall upon my direction how to fish for this Salmon.

'r==r^f^^pj 'P^--C^

r-^,. ci .,..• -'-^1 ^.-

And for that : first you shall observe, that usually he stays
not long in a place, as Trouts will, but, as I said, covets still
to go nearer the spring-head ; and that he does not as the
Trout, and many other fish, lie near the water-side, or banks,

Chap. VII ] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. I4I

or roots of trees, but swims in the deep and broad parts of the
water, and usually in the middle, and near the ground, and that
there you are to fish for him ; and that he is to be caught as
the Trout is, with a worm, a minnow, which some call a Penk,
or with a fly.

And you are to observe, that he is very seldom observed to
bite at a minnow, yet sometimes he will, and not usually at a
fly, but more usually at a worm, and then most usually at a
Lob or garden-worm, which should be w^ell scoured, that is to
say, kept seven or eight days in moss before you fish with them :
and if you double your time of eight into sixteen, twenty, or
more days, it is still the better ; for the worms will still be
clearer, tougher, and more lively, and continue so longer upon
your hook. And they may be kept longer by keeping them
cool and in fresh moss; and some advise to put camphire
into it.

Note also, that many use to fish for a Salmon with a ring of
wire on the top of their rod, through which the line may run
to as great a length as is needful when he is hooked. And to
that end, some use a wheel about the middle of their rod, or
near their hand, which is to be observed better by seeing one
of them, than by a large demonstration of words.

And now I shall tell you that which may be called a secret.
I have been a-fishing with old Oliver Henley, now with God,
a noted fisher both for Trout and Salmon, and have observed
that he would usually take three or four worms out of his bag,
and put them into a little box in his pocket, where he would
usually let them continue half an hour or more before he would
bait his hook with them ; I have asked him his reason, and he
has replied, '^ He did but pick the best out to be in readiness
against he baited his hook the next time ' ' : but he has been
observed, both by others and by myself, to catch more fish
than I or any other body that has ever gone a-fishing with him
could do, and especially Salmons. And I have been told
lately, by one of his most intimate and secret friends, that tXi\s

142 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part L

box in which he put those worms was anointed with a drop,
or two or three, of the oil of ivy-berries, made by expression or
infusion ; and told, that by the worms remaining in that box
an hour, or a hke time, they had incorporated a kind of smell
that was irresistibly attractive, enough to force any fish within
the smell of them to bite. This I heard not long since from a
friend, but have not tried it ; yet I grant it probable, and refer
my reader to Sir Francis Bacon's ''Natural History," where
he proves fishes may hear, and, doubtless, can more probably
smell ; and I am certain Gesner says the Otter can smell in the
water, and I know not but that fish may do so too. 'T is left
for a lover of angling, or any that desires to improve that art,
to try this conclusion.

I shall also impart two other experiments, but not tried by
myself, which I will deliver in the same words that they were
given me by an excellent angler and a very friend, in writing :
he told me the latter was too good to be told, but in a learned
language, lest it should be made common.

''Take the stinking oil drawn out of Polypody of the oak
by a retort, mixed with turpentine and hive-honey, and
anoint your bait therewith, and it will doubtless draw the fish
toit.'*

The other is this: " Vulnera Hederae grandissimae infiicta
sudant Balsamun oleo gelato, albicantique persimile, odoris
vero longe suavissimi.*'

'T is supremely sweet to any fish, and yet assafoetida may do
the like.

But in these things I have no great faith, yet grant it proba-
ble ; and have had from some chemical men, namely, from Sir
George Hastings and others, an affirmation of them to be
very advantageous : but no more of these, especially not in
this place.

I might here, before I take my leave of the Salmon, tell you,
that there is more than one sort of them, as namely, a Tecon,
and another called in some places a Samlet, or by some, a

Chap. VII.J THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 143

Skegger : but these and others, which I forbear to name, may
be fish of another kind, and differ, as we know a Herring and
a Pilcher do'; which, I think, are as different as the rivers in
which they breed, and must by me be left to the disquisitions
of men of more leisure, and of greater abilities than I profess
myself to have.

And lastly, I am to borrow so much of your promised pa-
tience, as to tell you that the Trout or Salmon, being in season,
have at their first taking out of the water, which continues
during life, their bodies adorned, the one with such red spots,
and the other with such black or blackish spots, as give them
such an addition of natural beauty as, I think, was never given
to any woman by the artificial paint or patches in which they
so much pride themselves in this age. And so I shall leave
them both, and proceed to some observations on the Pike.

THb fourth Da\.

Chap. VIII. — Observations of the Luce or Pike, with Directions

how tojishfor him.

PiSCATOR.

THE mighty Luce or Pike is taken to be the Tyrant, as the
Salmon is the King, of the fresh waters. 'T is not to be
doubted but that they are bred, some by generation, and some
not : as namely, of a weed called Pickerel-weed, unless learned
Gesner be much mistaken ; for he says, this weed and other
glutinous matter, with the help of the sun's heat in some par-
ticular months, and some ponds apted for it by nature, do be-
come Pikes. But doubtless divers Pikes are bred after this
'nianner, or are brought into some ponds some such other ways
as are past man's finding out, of which we have daily testimo-
nies.

Sir Francis Bacon, in his •' History of Life and Death,*' ob-
serves the Pike to be the longest-lived of any fresh-water fish,
and yet he computes it to be not usually above forty years ;
and others think it to be not above ten years : and yet Gesner
mentions a Pike taken in Swedeland in the year 1449, with a
ring about his neck, declaring i.e was put into that pond by
Frederick the Second, more than two hundred years before he
was last taken, as by the inscription in that ring, being Greek,
was interpreted by the then Bishop of Worms. But of this
no more, but that it is observed that the old or very great
Pikes have in them more of state than goodness ; the smaller
or middle-sized Pikes being by the most and choicest palates

I

Chap. VXII.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 145

observed to be the best meat : and, contrary, the Eel is ob-
served to be the better for age and bigness.

All Pikes that Hve long prove chargeable to their keepers,
because their life is maintained by the death of so many other
fish, even those of their own kind ; which has made him by
some writers to be called the Tyrant of the Rivers, or the
Fresh-Water-Wolf, by reason of his bold, greedy, devouring
disposition ; which is so keen, as Gesner relates, a man going
to a pond, where it seems a Pike had devoured all the fish, to
water his mule, had a Pike bit his mule by the lips ; to which
the Pike hung so fast, that the mule drew him out of the water,
and by that accident the owner of the mule angled out the
Pike. And the same Gesner observes, that a maid in Poland
had a Pike bit her by the foot as she was washing clothes in a
pond. And I have heard the like of a woman in Killingworth
Pond, not far from Coventry. But I have been assured by my
friend Mr. Seagrave, of whom I spake to you formerly, that
keeps tame Otters, that he hath known a Pike, in extreme
hunger, fight with one of his Otters for a Carp that the Otter
had caught, and was then bringing out of the water. I have
told you who relate these things, and tell you they are persons
of credit ; and shall conclude this observation by telling you
what a wise man has observed : ^^ It is a hard thing to persuade
the belly, because it has no ears.'*

But if these relations be disbelieved, it is too evident to be
doubted that a Pike will devour a fish of his own kind, that
shall be bigger than his belly or throat will receive, and swallo\r
a part of him, and let the other part remain in his mouth tiU
the swallowed part be digested, and then swallow that othei
part that was in his mouth, and so put it over by degrees >
which is not unlike the ox, and some other beasts, taking their
meat, not out of their mouth immediately into their belly, but
first into some place betwixt, and then chew it, or digest it by
degrees after, which is called chewing the cud. And douibt-

146 THE COMPLETE ANGLER [Part L

less Pikes will bite when they are not hungry, but, as some
think, even for very anger, when a tempting bait comes near
to them.

And it is observed that the Pike will eat venomous things,
as some kind of frogs are, and yet live without being harmed
by them ; for, as some say, he has in him a natural balsam, or
antidote against all poison : and he has a strange heat, that,
though it appear to us to be cold, can yet digest, or put over,
any fish-flesh, by degrees, without being sick. And others ob-
serve, that he never eats the venomous frog till he have first
killed her, and then — as ducks are observed to do to frogs in
spawning-time, at which time some frogs are observed to be
venomous — ^so thoroughly washed her, by tumbling her up and
down in the water, that he may devour her without danger.
And Gesner affirms that a Polonian gentleman did faithfully
assure him he had seen two young geese at one time in the
belly of a Pike. And doubtless a Pike, in his height of hunger,
will bite at and devour a dog that swims in a pond ; and there
have been examples of it, or the like ; for, as I told you, " The
belly has no ears when hunger comes upon it.''

The Pike is also observed to be a solitary, melancholy, and
a bold fish : melancholy, because he always swims or rests him-
self alone, and never swims in shoals or with company, as
Roach and Dace, and most other fish do : and bold, because
he fears not a shadow, or to see or be seen of anybody, as the
Trout and Chub and all other fish do.

And it is observed by Gesner, that the jaw-bones and hearts
and galls of Pikes are very medicirable for several diseases ; or
to stop blood, to abate fevers, to cure agues, to oppose or ex-
pel the infection of the plague, and to be many ways medicin-
able and useful for the good of mankind : but he observes,
that the biting of a Pike is venomous and hard to be cured.

And it is observed, that the Pike is a fish that breeds but once
a vear- and that other fish, as namely Loaches, do breed oftener.

Chap. VIII.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. I47

as we are certain tame pigeons do almost every month ; and
yet the hawk, a bird of prey, as the Pike is of fish, breeds but
once in twelve months. And you are to note, that his time of
breeding, or spawning, is usually about the end of February, or
somewhat later, in March, as the weather proves colder or
warmer, and to note that his manner of breeding is thus : a he
and a she Pike will usually go together out of a river into some
ditch or creek, and that there the spawner casts her eggs, and
the melt'^r hovers over her all that time that she is casting
her spawn, but touches her not.

I might say more of this, but it might be thought curiosity
or worse, and shall therefore forbear it, and take up so much
of your attention as to tell you that the best of Pikes are noted
to be in rivers ; next, those in great ponds, or meres ; and the
worst, in small ponds.

But before I proceed further, I am to tell you that there is a
great antipathy betwixt the Pike and some frogs : and this
may appear to the reader of Dubravius, a Bishop in Bohemia,
who, in his book " Of Fish and Fish-Ponds, " relates what he
says he saw with his own eyes, and could not forbear to tell
the reader. Which was : —

'' As he and the Bishop Thurzo were walking by a large pond
in Bohemia, they saw a Frog, when the Pike lay very sleepily
and quiet by the shore-side, leap upon his head ; and the Frog
having expressed malice or anger by his swollen cheeks and
staring eyes, did stretch out his legs and embrace the Pike's
head, and presently reached them to his eyes, tearing with
them and his teeth those tender parts : the Pike, moved with
anguish, moves up and down the water, and rubs himself
egainst weeds, and whatever he thought might quit him of
his enemy : but all in vain, for the Frog did continue to ride
triumphantly, and to bite and torment the Pike, till his strength
failed : and then the Frog sunk with the Pike to the bottom of
the water : then presently the Frog appeared again at the top

148 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part I

and croaked, and seemed to rejoice like a conqueror, after
which he presently retired to his secret Jiole. The Bishop,
that had beheld the battle, called his fisherman to fetch his
nets, and by all means to get the Pike, that they might de-
clare what had happened : and the Pike was drawn forth, and
both his eyes eaten out ] at which when they began to wonder,
the fisherman wished them to forbear, and assured them he was
certain that Pikes were often so served."

I told this, which is to be read in the sixth chapter of the
first book of Dubravius, unto a friend, who replied, '' It was
is improbable as to have the mouse scratch out the cat's eyes.*'
But he did not consider that there be Fishing-Frogs, which
the Dalmatians call the Water-Devil, of which I might tell you
as wonderful a story : but I shall tell you, that 't is not to be
doubted but that there be some Frogs so fearful of the Water-
Snake, that, when they swim in a place in which they fear to
meet with him, they then get a reed across into their mouths,
which, if they two meet by accident, secures the Frog from
the strength and malice of the snake ; and note, that the Frog
usually swims the fastest of the two.

And let me tell you, that as there be Water and Land Frogs,
so there be Land and Water Snakes. Concerning which, take
this observation, that the Land-Snake breed§ and hatches her
eggs, which become young snakes, in some old dunghill, or a
like hot place : but the Water-Snake, which is not venomous,
and, as I have been assured by a great obsener of such secrets,
does not hatch, but breed her young alivv ; which she does
not then forsake, but bides with them, and in case of danger
will take them all into her mouth, and s»vim away from any
apprehended danger, and then let them out again when she
thinks all danger to be past : these be accidents that we
anglers sometimes see, and often talk of.

But wh^ iher am I going ? I had almost lost myself by re-
■D^mbering the discourse of Dubravius. I will therefore stop

Chap. VIII.]

THE COMPLETE ANGLER.

149

here, and tell you according to my promise how to catch this
Pike.

His feeding is usually of fish or frogs, and sometimes a
weed of his own called Pickerel-weed. Of which I told you
some think some Pikes are bred ; for they have observed, that
where none have been put into ponds, yet they have there
found many ; and that there has been plenty of that weed in
those ponds, and that that weed both breeds and feeds them ;
but whether those Pikes so bred wi\l ever breed by generation
as the others do, I shall leave to the disquisitions of men of
more curiosity and leisure than I profess myself to have ; and
shall proceed to tell you that you may fish for a Pike, either
with a ledger or a walking bait. And you are to note, that I
call that a ledger-bait which is fixed or made to rest in one
certain place when you shall be absent from it ; and I call that
a walking-bait which you take with you, and have ever in mo-
tion. Concerning which two, I shall give you this direction ;
that your Ledger-bait is best to be a living bait, though a dead
one may catch, whether it be a fish or a frog ; and that you may
make them live the longer, you may, or indeed you must, take
this course.

First, for your live-bait. Of fish, a Roach or Dace is, I think,
best and most tempting, and a Perch is the longest lived on a
hook, and having cut off his fin on his back, which may be done
without hurting him, you must take your knife, which cannot

I50 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. IPart L

be too sharp, and betwixt the head and the fin on the back, cut
or make an incision, or such a scar, as you may put the arming
wire of your hook into it, with as little bruising or hurting the
fish as art and diligence will enable you to do ; and so carrying
your arming-wire along his back, unto or near the tail of your
fish, betwixt the skin and the body of it, draw out that wire or
arming of your hook at another scar near to his tail : then tie
him about it with thread, but no harder than of necessity to
prevent hurting the fish. And the better to avoid hurting the
fish, some have a kind of probe to open the way, for the more
easy entrance and passage of your wire or arming ; but as for
these, time, and a little experience, will teach you better than
I can by words ; therefore I will for the present say no more of
this, but come next to give you some directions how to bait
your hook with a Frog.

Ven. But, good Master, did you not say even now, that
some Frogs were venomous, and is it not dangerous to touch
them?

Pisc. Yes, but I will give you some rules or cautions con-
cerning them : and first, you are to note, that there are two
kinds of Frogs ; that is to say, if I may so express myself, a
Flesh and a Fish Frog. By Flesh-frogs, I mean frogs that breed
and live on the land ; and of these there be several sorts also,
and of several colors, some being speckled, some greenish, some
blackish or brown : the Green-frog, which is a small one, is by
Topsell taken to be venomous ; and so is the Padock or Frog-
padock, which usually keeps or breeds on the land, and is very
large, and bony, and big, especially the she-frog of that kind ;
yet these will sometimes come into the water, but ic is not often :
and the Land-frogs are some of them observed by him to breed
by laying eggs ; and others to breed of the slime and dust of the
earth, and that in winter they turn to slime again, and that the
next summer that very slime returns to be a living creature ;
"^^ this is the opinion of Pliny. And Cardanus undertakes to give
a reason for the raining of frogs : but if it were in my power, it

iM^

Chap. VIILl THE COMPLETE ANGLER. I5I

should rain none but Water-frogs, for those, I think, are not
venomous, especially the right Water-frog, which, about Feb-
ruary or March, breeds in ditches by slime, and blackish eggs
in that slime : about which time of breeding, the he and she
frogs are observed to use divers summersaults, and to croak and
make a noise, which the Land-frog or Padock-frog never does.
Now of these Water-frogs, if you intend to fish with a frog for
a Pike, you are to choose the yellowest that you can get, for
that the Pike ever likes best. And thus use your frog, that he
may continue long alive.

Put your hook into his mouth, which you may easily do from
the middle of April till August ; and then the frog's mouth
grows up, and he continues so for at least six months without
eating, but is sustained, none but He whose Name is Wonder-
ful knows how : I say, put your hook, I mean the arming-wire,
through his mouth, and out at his gills, and then with a fine
needle and silk sew the upper part of his leg with only one stitch
to the arming-wire of your hook, or tie the frog's leg above the
upper joint to the armed wire : and in so doing, use him as
though you loved him, that is, harm him as little as you may
possibly, that he may live the longer.

And now, having given you this direction for the baiting
your Ledger-hook with a live fish or frog, my next must be to
tell you how your hook thus baited must or may be used : and
it is thus. Having fastened your hook to a line, which, if it
be not fourteen yards long, should not be less than twelve, you
are to fasten that line to any bough near to a hole where a Pike
is, or is likely to lie, or to have a haunt ; and then wind your
line on any forked stick, all your line, except half a yard of it,
or rather more ; and split that forked stick with such a nick or
notch at one end of it as may keep the line from any more of it
ravelling from about the stick than so much of it as you intend.
And choose your forked stick to be of that bigness as may keep
the fish or frog from pulling the forked stick under the water
till the Pike bites, and then the Pike having pulled the line

152 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part I

forth of the cleft or nick of that stick in which it was gently
fastened, he will have line enough to go to his hold and pouch
the bait. And if you would have this Ledger-bait to keep at a
fixed place, undisturbed by wind or other accidents, which may
drive it to the shore-side, — for you are to note, that it is like-
liest to catch a Pike in the midst of the water, — then hang a
small plummet of lead, a stone, or piece of tile, or a turf, in a
string, and cast it into the water, with the forked stick, to hang
upon the ground, to be a kind of anchor to keep the forked
stick from moving out of your intended place till the Pike come.
This I take to be a very good way to use so many Ledger-baits
as you intend to make trial of.

Or if you bait your hooks thus with live fish or frogs, and in
a windy day, fasten them thus to a bough or bundle of straw,
and by the help of that wind can get them to move across a
pond or mere, you are like to stand still on the shore and see
sport presently if there be any store of Pikes : or these live-baits
may make sport, being tied about the body or wings of a goose
or duck, and she chased over a pond. And the like may be
done with turning three or four live-baits, thus fastened to
bladders, or boughs, or bottles of hay or flags, to swim down a
river, whilst you walk quietly alone on the shore, and are still
in expectation of sport. The rest must be taught you by prac-
tice, for time will not allow me to say more of this kind of fish-
ing with live-baits.

And for your dead-bait for a Pike, for that you may be taught
by one day's going a-fishing with me, or any other body that
fishes for him ; for the baiting your hook with a dead Gudgeon
or a Roach, and moving it up and down the water, is too easy
a thing to take up any time to direct you to do it : and yet,
because I cut you short in that, I will commute for it by teUing
you that that was told me for a secret. It is this.

Dissolve gum of ivy in oil of spike, and therewith anoint
your dead-bait for a Pike ; and then cast it into a likely place,
and when it has lain a short time at the bottom, draw it tow-

Chap. VIII.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. I {3

ards the top of the water, and so up the stream : and it is
more than Hkely that you have a Pike follow with more than
common eagerness.

And some affirm, that any bait anointed with the marrow of
the thigh-bone of an Hern is a great temptation to any fish.

These have not been tried by me, but told me by a friend of
note, that pretended to do me a courtesy. But if this direc-
tion to catch a Pike thus do you no good, yet I am certain this
direction how to roast him when he is caught is choicely good,
for I have tried it ; and it is somewhat the better for not being
common : but with my direction you must take this caution,
that your Pike must not be a small one, that is, it must be
more than half a yard, and should be bigger.

First, open your Pike at the gills, and, if need be, cut also
a little slit towards the belly. Out of these take his guts ; and
keep his liver, which you are to shred very small with thyme,
sweet marjoram, and a little winter-savory ; to these put some
pickled oysters, and some anchovies, two or three ; both these
last whole, for the anchovies will melt, and the oysters should
not ; to these you must add also a pound of sweet butter,
which you are to mix with the herbs that are shred, and let
them all be well salted. If the Pike be more than a yard
long, then you may put into these herbs more than a pound,
or if he be less, then less butter will suffice. These being thus
mixed, with a blade or two of mace, must be put into the
Pike's belly, and then his belly so sewed up as to keep all the
butter in his belly if it be possible ; if not, then as much of it
as you possibly can : but take not off the scales. Then you
are to thrust the spit through his mouth, out at his tail ; and
then take four, or five, or six split sticks, or very thin laths,
and a convenient quantity of tape or filleting ; these laths are
to be tied round about the Pike's body from his head to his
tail, and the tape tied somewhat thick to prevent his breaking
or falling off from the spit. Let him be roasted very leisurely,
and often basted with claret-wine, and anchovies, ^nd butter.

J 54 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. (Part I

mixed together ; and also with what moisture falls from him
into the pan. When you have roasted him sufficiently, you
are to hold under him, when you unwind or cut the tape that
ties him, such a dish as you purpose to eat him out of; and let
him fall into it with the sauce that is roasted in his belly ; and
by this means the Pike will be kept unbroken and complete.
Then, to the sauce which was within, and also that sauce in
the pan, you are to add a fit quantity of the best butter, and
to squeeze the juice of three or four oranges : lastly, you may
either put into the Pike, with the oysters, two cloves of garlic,
and take it whole out, when the Pike is cut off the spit ; or to
give the sauce a haut-gout, let the dish into which you let th(
Pike fall be rubbed with it. The using or not using of this
garlic is left to your discretion. M. B.

This dish of meat is too good for any but anglers, or very
honest men ; and I trust you will prove both, and therefore I
have trusted you with this secret.

Let me next tell you, that Gesner tells us there are no Pikes
in Spain, and that the largest are in the Lake Thrasymene in
Italy ; and the next, if not equal to them, are the Pikes of
England ; and that in England, Lincolnshire boasted to have
the biggest. Just so doth Sussex boast of four sorts of fish;
namely, an Arundel Mullet, a Chichester Lobster, a Shelsey
Cockle, and an Amerly Trout.

But I will take up no more of your time with this relation,
but proceed to give you some observations of the Carp, and
how to angle for him, and to dress him :~but not till he i
caught.

THE FOURTH DAY.

Chap. IX. — Observations of the Carp, with Directions how to

fish for him.

PiSCATOR.

T^HE Carp is the Queen of Rivers : a stately, a good, and a
* very subtle fish, that was not at first bred, nor hath been
long, in England, but is now naturalized. It is said, they
were brought hither by one Mr. Mascal, a gentleman that then
lived at Plumsted in Sussex, a county that abounds more with
this fish than any in this nation.

You may remember that I told you, Gesner says there are
no Pikes in Spain ; and, doubtless, there was a time, about a
hundred or a few more years ago, when there were no Carps in
England, as may seem to be affirmed by Sir Richard Baker, in ^
whose Chronicle you may find these verses : — -' T

\

** Hops and Turkeys, Carps and Beer,
Came into England all in a year.'*

And doubtless, as of sea-fish the Herring dies soonest out ot
the water, and of fresh-water fish the Trout, so, except the Eel,
the Carp endures most hardness, and lives longest out of his
own proper element ; and therefore the report of the Carpus
being brought out of a foreign country into this nation is the
more probable.

Carps and Loaches are observed to breed several months in
one year, which Pikes and most other fish do not. And this
is partly proved by tame and wild rabbits, as also by some
ducks, which will lay eggs nine of the twelve months ; and yet
there be other ducks that lay not longer than about one month.

156 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part I

And it is the rather to be believed, because you shall scarce or
never take a male Carp without a melt, or a female without a
roe or spawn, and for the most part very much ; and especially
all the summer season : and it is observed, that they breed
more naturally in ponds than in running waters, if they breed
there at all ; and that those that live in rivers are taken by men
of the best palates to be much the better meat.

And it is observed, that in some ponds Carps will not breed,
especially in cold ponds; but where they will breed, they
breed innumerably : Aristotle and Pliny say, six times in a
year, if there be no Pikes nor Perch to devour their spawn when
it is cast upon grass, or flags, or weeds, where it lies ten or
twelve days before it be enlivened.

The Carp, if he have water-room and good feed, will grow
to a very great bigness and length ; I have heard, to be much
above a yard long. 'Tis said by Jovius, who hath writ of
fishes, that in the Lake Lurian, in Italy, Carps have thriven
to be more than fifty pounds' weight; which is the more
probable, for as the bear is conceived and born suddenly, and
being born is but short-lived, so, on the contrary, the ele-
phant is said to be two years in his dam's belly, some think he
is ten years in it, and being born grows in bigness twenty
years; and 't is observed too that he lives to the age of a
hundred years. And 't is also observed, that the crocodile is
very long-lived, and more than that, that all that long life he
thrives in bigness : and so I think some Carps do, especially
in some places; though I never saw one above twenty-three
inches, which was a great and goodly fish ; but have been as-
sured there are of a far greater size, and in England too.

Now, as the increase of Carps is wonderful for their number,
so there is not a reason found out, I think, by any, why they
should breed in some ponds and not in others of the same
nature for soil and all other circumstances. And as their
breeding, so are their decays also very mysterious : I have both
read it, and been told by a gentleman of tried honesty, that

Chap. IX.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 1 57

he has known sixty or more large Carps put into several ponds
near to a house, where by reason of the stakes in the ponds, and
the owner's constant being near to them, it was impossible they
should be stolen away from him : and that when he has, after
three or four years, emptied the pond, and expected an increase
from them by breeding young ones, — for that they might do
so, he had, as the rule is, put in three melters for one spawner,
— he has, I say, after three or four years, found neither a young
nor old Carp remaining. And the like I have known of one
that has almost watched the pond, and at a like distance of
time, at the fishing of a pond, found of seventy or eighty large
Carps not above five or six : and that he had forborne longer
to fish the said pond, but that he saw, in a hot day in summer,
a large Carp swim near the top of the water with a frog upon
his head ; and that he upon that occasion caused his pond
to be let dry : and I say, of seventy or eighty Carps, only
found five or six in the said pond, and those very sick and lean,
and with every one a frog sticking so fast on the head of the
said Carps, that the frog would not be got off without extreme
force or killing. And the gentleman that did affirm this to me
told me he saw it ; and did declare his belief to be, and I also
believe the same, that he thought the other Carps that were
so strangely lost were so killed by frogs, and then devoured.

And a person of honor now living in Worcestershire * as-
sured me he had seen a necklace or collar of tadpoles hang like
a chain or necklace of beads about a Pike's neck, and to kill
him : whether it were for meat or malice must be to me a
question.

But I am fallen into this discourse by accident ; of which I
might say more, but it has proved longer than I intended, and
possibly may not to you be considerable : I shall therefore give
you three or four more short observations of the'Carp, and then
fall upon some directions how you shall fish for him.

The age of Carps is by Sir Francis Bacon, in his '' History

*Mr. Fr. Ru.

158 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part t

of Life and Death/' observed to be but ten years, yet others
think they Hve longer. Ges^ier says, a Carp has been known
to hve in the Palatinate above a hundred years : but most con-
clude, that, contrary to the Pike or Luce, all Carps are the
better for age and bigness. The tongues of Carps are noted
to be choice and costly meat, especially to them that buy them :
but Gesner says, Carps have no tongue like other fish, but sl
piece of flesh-like fish in their mouth like to a tongue, and
should be called a palate : but it is certain it is choicely good,
and that the Carp is to be reckoned amongst those leather-
mouthed fish which I told you have their teeth in their throat ;
and for that reason he is very seldom lost by breaking his hold,
if your hook be once stuck into his chaps.

I told you that Sir Francis Bacon thinks that the Carp lives
but ten years ; but Janus Dubravius has writ a book '' Of Fish
and Fish-Ponds, " in which he says that Carps begin to spawn
at the age of three years, and continue to do so till thirty : he
says also, that in the time of their breeding, which is in sum-
mer when the sun hath warmed both the earth and water, and
so apted them also for generation, that then three or four
male Carps will follow a female ; and that then, she putting on
a seeming coyness, they force her through weeds and flags,
where she lets fall her eggs or spawn, which sticks fast to the
weeds, and then they let fall their melt upon it, and so it be-
comes in a short time to be a hving fish : and, as I told you, it
is thought the Carp does this several months in the year ; and
most believe that most fish breed after this manner, except the
Eel. And it has been observed, that when the spawner has
weakened herself by doing that natural office, that two or three
melters have helped her from off the weeds by bearing her up
on both sides, and guarding her into the deep. And you
may note, that, though this may seem a curiosity not worth
observing, yet others have judged it worth their time and costs!
to make glass hives, and order them in such a nvanner as to see
how bees have bred and made their honeycombs, and how they

Chap. IX.]

THE COMPLETE ANGLER.

159

have obeyed their king and governed their commonwealth.
But it is thought that all Carps are not bred by generation, but
that some breed other ways, as some Pikes do.

The physicians make the galls and stones in the heads of
Carps to be very medicinable. But 't is not to be doubted
but that in Italy they make great profit of the spawn of Carps,
by selling it to the Jews, who make it into red caviare, the
Jews not being by their law admitted to eat of caviare made of
the Sturgeon, that being a fish that wants scales, and, as may
appear in Levit. xi. 10, by them reputed to be unclean.

Much more might be said out of him, and out of Aristotle,
which Dubravius often quotes in his Discourse of Fishes ; but
it might rather perplex than satisfy you ; and therefore I shall
rather choose to direct you how to catch, than spend more
time in discoursing either of the nature or the breeding of this
Carp,

or of any more circumstances concerning him' : but yet I shall
remember you of what I told you before, that he is a very
subtle fish, and hard to be caught.

And my first direction is, that, if you will fish for a Carp,
you must put on a very large measure of patience ; especially
to fish for a River-Carp : I have known a very good fisher
angle diligently four or six hours in a day, for three or four

l6o THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part I

days together, for a River-Carp, and not have a bite. And
you are to note that, in some ponds, it is as hard to catch a
Carp as in a river ; that is to say, where they have store of
feed, and the water is of a clayish color : but you are to re-
member, that I have told you there is no rule without an ex-
ception ; and therefore, being possessed with that hope and
patience, which I wish to all fishers, especially to the Carp-
Angler, I shall tell you with what bait to fish for him. But
first you are to know, that it must be either early or late ; and
let me tell you, that in hot weather, for he will seldom bite in
cold, you cannot be too early or too late at it. And some have
been so curious as to say, the loth of April is a fatal day for
Carps.

The Carp bites either at worms or at paste ; and of worms I
think the bluish marsh or meadow worm is best; but possibly
another worm, not too big, may do as well, and so may a
green gentle : and as for pastes, there are almost as many sorts
as there are medicines for the toothache ; but doubtless sweet
pastes are best ; I mean pastes made with honey or with sugar:
which, that you may the better beguile this crafty fish, should
be thrown into the pond or place in which you fish for him
some hours, or longer, before you undertake your trial of skill
with the angle-rod : and, doubtless, if it be thrown into the
water a day or two before, at several times and in small pellets,
you are the likelier when you fish for the Carp to obtain your
desired sport. Or in a large pond, to draw them to any cer-
tain place, that they may the better and with more hope be
fished for, you are to throw into it, in some certain place,
either grains, or blood mixed with cow-dung or with bran ; or
any garbage, as chicken's guts, or the like ; and then some of
your small sweet pellets with which you purpose to angle : and
these small pellets being a few of them also thrown in as you
are angling, will be the better.

And your paste must be thus made : take the flesh of a rab-
bit or cat cut small, and bean-flour ; and if that may not be

Ghap. IX.] the complete ANGLER. l6l

easily got, get other flour, and then mix these together, and
put to them either sugar, or honey, which I think better ; and
then beat these together in a mortar, or sometimes work them
in your hands, your hands being very clean ; and then make it
into a ball, or two, or three, as you like best for your use ; but
you must work or pound it so long in the mortar, as to make
it so tough as to hang upon your hook without washing from
it, yet not too hard: or that you may the better keep it on
your hook, you may knead with your paste a little, and not
much, white or yellowish wool.

And if you would have this paste keep all the year for any
other fish, then mix with it virgin-wax and clarified honey,
and work them together with your hands before the fire; then
make these into balls, and they will keep all the year.

And if you fish for a Carp with gentles, then put upon your
hook a small piece of scarlet about this bigness Q], it being
soaked in, or anointed with oil of peter, called by some oil of
the rock : and if your gentles be put, two or three days before,
into a box or horn anointed with honey, and so put upon your
hook as to preserve them to be living, you are as like to kill
this crafty fish this way as any other : but still as you are fish-
ing, chew a little white or brown bread in your mouth, and
cast it into the pond about the place where your float swims.
Other baits there be; but these, with diHgence and patient
watchfulness, will do it better than any that I have ever prac-
tised or heard of: and yet I shall tell you, that the crumbs of
white bread and honey made into a paste is a good bait for a
Carp ; and you know it is more easily made. And having said
thus much of the Carp, my next discourse shall be of the
Bream, which shall not prove so tedious : and therefore I de-
sire the continuance of your attention.

But first I will tell you how to make this Carp, that is so
curious to be caught, so curious a dish of meat, as shall make
him worth all your labor and patience ; and though it is not
without some trouble and charges, yet it will recompense both.

l62 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part L

Take a Carp, alive if possible, scour him, and rub him clean
with water and salt, but scale him not : then open him, anc]
put him with his blood and his liver, which you must save
when you open him, into a small pot or kettle; then take
sweet-marjoram, thyme, and parsley, of each half a handful ; a
sprig of rosemary, and another of savory ; bind them into two
or three small bundles, and put them to your Carp, with four |
or five whole onions, twenty pickled oysters, and three an- [
chovies. Then pour upon your Carp as much claret-wine as
will only cover him ; and season your claret well with salt,
cloves, and mace, and the rinds of oranges and lemons. That i
done, cover your pot and set it on a quick fire, till it be suf-N *
ficiently boiled : then take out the Carp, and lay it with the
broth into the dish, and pour upon it a quarter of a pound of j
the best fresh butter, nielted and beaten with half a dozen |
spoonfuls of the broth, the yolks of two or three eggs, and
some of the herbs shred : garnish your dish with lemons, &nd
so serve it up, and much good do you ! T)ii. T*

THE FOURTH DAY.

Chap. X. — Observations of the Bream, and Directions to catch

him.

PiSCATOR.

'T'HE Bream, being at a full growth, is a large and stately
^ fish. He will breed both in rivers and ponds ; but lovts
best to live in ponds, and where, if he likes the water and air,
he will grow not only to be very large, but as fat as a hog. He
is by Gesner taken to be more pleasant, or sweet, than whole-
some : this fish is long in growing, but breeds exceedingly in
a water that pleases him; yea, in many ponds so fast as to
over-store them, and starve the other fish.

He is very broad, with a forked tail, and his scales set in ex-
cellent order : he hath large eyes, and a narrow sucking mouth >
he hath two sets of teeth, and a lozenge-like bone, a bone to
\ielp his grinding. The melter is observed to have two large
melts, and the female two large bags of eggs or spawn.

Gesner reports, that in Poland a certain and a great number
of large Breams were put into a pond, which in the- next fol-
lowing winter were frozen up into one entire ice, and not ore
drop of water remaining, nor one of these fish to be found,
though they were diligently searched for ; and yet the next
spring, when the ice was thawed, and the weather warm, and
fresh water got into the pond, he affirms they all appeared
again. This Gesner affirms, and I quote my author, because
it seems almost as incredible as the resurrection to an atheist.
But it may win something in point of believing it, to him that
considers the breeding or renovation of the silk-worm, and of
many insects. And that is considerable which Sir Francit;

l64 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part L

Bacon observes in his ** History of Life and Death/' fol. 20,
that there be some herbs that die and spring every year, and
some endure longer.

But though some do not, yet the French esteem this fish
highly, and to that end have this proverb: *'He that hath
Breams in his pond is able to bid his friend welcome/' And
it is noted, that the best part of a Bream is his belly and head.

Some say, that Breams and Roaches will mix their eggs and
melt together, and so there is in many places a bastard breed
of Breams, that never come to be either large or good, but
very numerous.

The baits good to catch this Bream

are many. First, paste made of brown bread and honey^
gentles, or the brood of wasps that be young, and then not un-
like gentles, and should be hardened in an oven, or dried on a
tile before the fire to make them tough : or there is at the root
of docks or flags, or rushes in watery places, a worm not un-
like a maggot, at which Tench will bite freely. Or he will
bite at a grasshopper with his legs nipped off, in June and
July ; or at several flies, under water, which may be found on
flags that grow near to the water -side. I doubt not but that
there be many other baits that are good, but I will turn them
all into this most excellent one, either for a Carp or Bream, in
any river or mere : it was given to me by a most honest and
excellent Angler, and, hoping you will prove both, I will im-
part it to you.

Chap. X.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. l6$

1. Let your bait be as big a red-worm as you can find,
without a knot : get a pint or quart of them in an evening in
garden-walks, or chalky commons, after a shower of rain ; and
put them with clean moss well washed and picked, and the
water squeezed out of the moss as dry as you can, into an
^arthern pot or pipkin set dry, and change the moss fresh every
three or four days for three weeks or a month together ; then
your bait will be at the best, for it will be clear and lively.

2. Having thus prepared your baits, get your tackling ready
and fitted for this sport. Take three long angling-rods, and as
many and more silk, or silk and hair, lines, and as many larg^
swan or goose quill floats. Then take a piece of lead
made after this manner, and fasten them to the low-
ends of your hnes. Then fasten your link-hook also
to the lead, and let there be about a foot or ten inches between
the lead and the hook ; but be sure the lead be heavy enough to
sink the float or quill a little under the water, and not the quill
to bear up the lead, for the lead must lie on the ground. Note
that your link next the hook may be smaller than the rest of
your line, if you dare adventure, for fear of taking the Pike or
Pearch, who will assuredly ^'isit your hooks, till they be taken
out, as I will show you afterwards, before either Carp or Bream
will come near to bite. Note also, that when the worm is well
baited, it will crawl up and down, as far as the lead will give
leave, which much enticeth the fish to bite without suspicion.

3. Having thus prepared your baits, and fitted your tackling,
repair to the river, where you have seen them to swim in skuls
or shoals in the summer-time in a hot afternoon, about three or
four of the clock ; and watch their going forth of their deep
holes and returning, which you may well discern, for they re-
turn about four of the clock, most of them seeking food at the
bottom, yet one or two will lie on the top of the water, rolling
and tumbling themselves whilst the rest are under him at the
bottom ; and so you shall perceive him to keep sentinel : then
mark where he plays most, and stays longest, which commonly

1 66 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part t

is in the broadest and deepest place of the river, and there, or
near thereabouts, at a clear bottom and a convenient landings
place, take one of your angles ready fitted as aforesaid, and
sound the bottom, which should be about eight or ten feet deep ;
two yards from the bank is best. Then consider with yourself
whether that water will rise or fall by the next morning, by
reason of any water-mills near, and according to your discretion
take the depth of the place where you mean after to cast your
giV^and-bait, and to fish, to half an inch ; that the lead lying on
or near the ground-bait, the top of the float may only appear
upright half an inch above the water.

Thus you having found and fitted for the place and depth
thereof, then go home and prepare your ground-bait; which is,
next to the fruit of your labors, to be regarded.

The Ground-Bait.

You shall take a peck, or a peck and a half, according to the
greatness of the stream, and deepness of the water, where you
mean to angle, of sweet gross-ground barley-malt, and boil it in
a kettle ; one or two warms is enough : then strain it through a
bag into a tub, the liquor whereof hath often done my horse
much good ; and when the bag and malt is near cold, take it
down to the water-side about eight or nine of the clock in the
evening, and not before : cast in two parts of your ground-bait,
squeezed hard between both your hands, it will sink pres-
ently to the bottom, and be sure it may rest in the very place
where you mean to angle : if the stream run hard, or move
a little, cast your malt in handfuls a little the higher, upwards
the stream. You may, between your hands, close the malt so
fast in handfuls, that the water will hardly part it with the
fell.

Your ground thus baited, and tackling fitted, leave your bag
firith. the rest of your tackhng and ground-bait near the sporting-

Chap. X.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 167

place all night ; and in the morning, about three or four of the
clock, visit the water-side, but not too near, for they have a
cunning watchman, and are watchful themselves too.

Then gently take one of your three rods, and bait your hook,
casting it over your ground-bait ; and gently and secretly draw
it to you, till the lead rests about the middle of the ground-
bait.

Then take a second rod and cast in about a yard above, and
your third a yard below the first rod, and stay the rods in the
ground ; but go yourself so far from the water-side, that you
perceive nothing but the top of the floats, which you must watch
most diligently. Then, when you have a bite, you shall per-
ceive the top of your float to sink suddenly into the water ; yet
nevertheless be not too hasty to run to your rods, until you see
that the line goes clear away ; then creep to the water -side, and
give as much line as possibly you can : if it be a good Carp or
Bream, they will go to the farther side of the river, then strike
gently, and hold your rod at a bent a little while ; but if you
both pull together, you are sure to lose your game, for either
your line, or hook, or hold, will break : and after you have over-
come them, they will make noble sport, and are very shy to be
landed. The Carp is far stronger and more mettlesome than
the Bream.

Much more is to be observed in this kind of fish and fishing,
but it is far fitter for experience and discourse than paper.
Only thus much is necessary for you to know, and to be mind-
iil and careful of; that if the Pike or Pearch do breed in that
river, they will be sure to bite first, and must first be taken.
And for the most part they are very large ; and will repair to
your ground-bait, not that they will eat of it, but will feed and
sport themselves amongst the young fry that gather about and
hover over the bait.

The way to discern the Pike and to take him, if you mistrust
your Bream-hook, — for I have taken a Pike a yard long sevcr^

l68 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part 1

times at my Bream-hooks, and sometimes he hath had the luck
to share my Une, — may be thus : —

Take a small Bleak, or Roach, or Gudgeon, and bait it ; and
set it alive among your rods two foot deep from the cork, with
a little red-worm on the point of the hook ; then take a few
crumbs of white bread, or some of the ground-bait, and sprinkle
it gently amongst your rods. If Mr. Pike be there, then the
little fish will skip out of the water at his appearance, but the
live-set bait is sure to be taken.

Thus continue your sport from four in the morning till eighty
and if it be a gloomy, windy day, they will bite all day long.
But this is too long to stand to your rods at one place, and it
will spoil your evening sport that day, which is this.

About four of the clock in the afternoon repair to your baited
place ; and as soon as you come to the water-side, cast in one
half of the rest of your ground-bait, and standoff: then, whilst ;
the fish are gathering together, for there they will most certainly
come for their supper, you may take a pipe of tobacco ; and
then in with your three rods as in the morning. You will find
excellent sport that evening till eight of the clock : then cast in
th€ residue of your ground-bait, and next morning by four of
the clock visit them again for four hours, which is the best sport
of all ; and after that, let them rest till you and your friends
have a mind to more sport.

From St. James's-tide until Bartholomew-tide is the best :
when they have had all the summer's food, they are the fat-
test.

Observe lastly, that after three or four days' fishing together,
your game will be very shy and wary, and you shall hardly get
above a bite or two at a baiting ; then your only way is to de- \
sist from your sport about two or three days : and in the mean \
time, on the place you late baited, and again intend to bait, !
you shall take a turf of green but short grass, as big or bigger |
than a round trencher ; to the top of this turf, on the green

Chap. X.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. . 1 69

side, you shall, with a needle and green thread, fasten one by
one as many little red-worms as will near cover all the turf.
Then take a round board or trencher, make a hole in the
middle thereof, and through the turf, placed on the board or
trencher, with a string or cord as long as is fitting, tied to a
pole, let it down to the bottom of the water for the fish to feed
upon without disturbance about two or three days ; and after
that you have drawn it away, you may fall to, and enjoy your
former recreation.

B. A.

i

THE FOURTH DAY.

Chap. XI. — Observations of the Tench, and Advice how to angU

for him,

PiSCATOR.

T^HE Tench, the physician of fishes, is observed to love
^ ponds better than rivers, and to love pits better than
either ; yet Camden observes there is a river in Dorsetshire
that abounds with Tenches, but doubtless they retire to the
most deep and quiet places in it.

This fish hath very large fins, very small and smooth scales,
a red circle about his eyes, which are big and of a gold color,
and from either angle of his mouth there hangs down a little
barb. In every Tench's head there are two little stones, which
foreign physicians make great use of; but he is not commended
for wholesome meat, though there be very much use made
of them, for outward applications. Rondeletius says, that at
his being at Rome he saw a great cure done by applying a
Tench to the feet of a very sick man. This, he says, was done
after an unusual manner by certain Jews. And it is observed,
that many of those people have many secrets, yet unknown to
Christians ; secrets that have never yet been written, but have
been since the days of their Solomon, who knew the nature of
all things, even from the cedar to the shrub, delivered by tra-
dition from the father to the son, and so from generation to
generation without writing; or, unless it were casually, with-
out the least communicating them to any other nation or tribe :
for to do that, they account a profanation. And yet it is
thought that they, or some spirit worse than they, first told us,
that lice swallowed alive were a certain cure for the yellow-

Chap. XL]

THE COMPLETE ANGLER.

171

jaundice. This and many other medicines were discovered by
them, or by revelation ; for doubtless we attained them not by
study.

Well, this fish, besides his eating, is very useful, both dead
and alive, for the good of mankind. But I will meddle no
more with that ; my honest humble art teaches no such bold-
ness : there are too many foolish meddlers in physic and
divinity, that think themselves fit to meddle with hidden se-
crets, and so bring destruction to their followers. But I '11
not meddle with them, any farther than to wish them wiser;
and shall tell you next, for I hope I may be so bold, that the«
Tench is the physician of fishes ; for the Pike especially, and
that the Pike, being either sick or hurt, is cured by the touch
of the Tench. And it is observed, that the tyrant Pike will
not be a wolf to his physician, but forbears to devour him
though he be never so hungry.

This fish, that carries a natural balsam in him to cure both
himself and others, loves yet to feed in very foul water, and
amongst weeds. And yet I am sure he eats pleasantly, and
doubtless you will think so too, if you taste him. And I shall
therefore proceed to give you some few, and but a few, direc-
tions how to catch this Tench,

of which I have given you these observations.

He will bite at a paste made of brown bread and honey, or

1/2 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part I

at a marsh-worm, or a lob-worm ; he incHnes very much to
any paste with which tar is mixed, and he will bite also at a
smaller worm, with his head nipped off, and a cod -worm put on
the hook before that worm ; and I doubt not but that he will
also in the three hot months, for in the nine colder he stirs not
much, bite at a flag-worm, or at a green gentle, but can posi-
tively say no more of the Tench, he being a fish that I have not
often angled for, but I wish my honest Scholar may, aiki be
ever fortunate when he fishes.

THE FOURTH DAY.

Chap. XII. — Observations of the Pearch, and Directions how U

Jishfor him,

PiSCATOR.

T^HE Pearch is a very good and a very bold-biting fish. He
* is one of the fishes of prey that, Uke the Pike and Trout,
carries his teeth in his mouth, which is very large; and he
dare venture to kill and devour several other kinds of fish.
He has a hooked, or hog-back, which is armed with sharp and
stiff bristles, and all his skin armed or covered over with thick,
dry, hard scales ; and hath, which few other fish have, two fins
on his back. He is so bold that he will invade one of his own
kind, which the Pike will not do so willingly ; and you may
therefore easily believe him to be a bold biter.

The Pearch is of great esteem in Italy, saith Aldrovandus ;
and especially the least are there esteemed a dainty dish. And
Gesner prefers the Pearch and Pike above the Trout, or any
fresh-water fish : he says the Germans have this proverb,
'* More wholesome than a Pearch of Rhine '' : and he says the
PJver-Pearch is so wholesome, that physicians allow him to be
eaten by wounded men, or by men in fevers, or by women in
child-bed.

He spawns but once a year, and is by physicians held very
nutritive ; yet, by many, to be hard of digestion. They
abound more in the river Po and in England, says Rondeletius,
than other parts, and have in their brain a stone, which is, in
foreign parts, sold by apothecaries, being there noted to be
very medicinable against the stone in the reins. These be z

174 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part I.

part of the commendations which some philosophical brains
have bestowed upon the fresh-water Pearch : yet they commend
the Sea- Pearch, which is known by having but one fin on his
back, of which, they say, we English see but a few, to be a
much better fish.

The Pearch grows slowly, yet will grow, as I have beep
ciedibly informed, to be almost two foot long; for an honest
informer told me, such a one was not long since taken by Sir
A^braham Williams, a gentleman of worth, and a Brother of the
Angle, that yet lives, and I wish he may. This was a deep-
bodied fish, and doubtless durst have devoured a Pike of half
his own length ; for I have told you he is a bold fish, such a
one as, but for extreme hunger, the Pike will not devour : for
to affright the Pike, and save himself, the Pearch will set up
his fins, much like as a turkey-cock will sometimes set up his
tail.

But, my Scholar, th^ Pearch is not only valiant to defend
himself, but he is, as I said, a bold-biting fish, yet he will not
bite at all seasons of the year ; he is very abstemious in win-
ter, yet will bite then in the midst of the day, if it be warm :
and note, that all fish bite best about the midst of a warm day
in winter, and he hath been observed by some not usually to
bite till the mulberry-tree buds; that is to say, till extreme
frosts be past the spring : for when the mulberry-tree blossoms,
many gardeners observe their forward fruit to be past the dan-
ger of frosts ; and some have made the like observation of
the Pearch's biting.

But bite the Pearch will, and that very boldly ; and as one
has wittily observed, if there be twenty or forty in a hole
they may be, at one standing, all catched one after another i
they being, as he says, Hke the wicked of the world, not
afraid, though their fellows and companions perish in their
sight. And you may observe, that they are not like the soli-
tary Pike ; but love to accompany one another, and march to-
.gether in troops.

Chap. XIL] THE COMPLETE ANGLER,

And the baits for this bold fish

175

are not many : I mean, he will bite as well at some or at any
of these three, as at any or all others whatsoever, — a worm, a
minnow, or a little frog, of which you may find many in hay-
time : and of worms the dunghill-worm, called a Brandling, I
take to be best, being well scoured in moss or fennel ; or he
will bite at a worm that lies under cow-dung, with a bluish
head. And if you rove for a Pearch with a minnow, then it
is best to be alive, you sticking your hook through his back
fin ; or a minnow with a hook in his upper lip, and letting him
swim up and down, about mid-water or a little lo\/er, and you
still keeping him to about that depth by a cork, which ought
not to be a very little one : and the like way you are to fish for
the Pearch, with a small frog, your hook being fastened
through the skin of his leg, towards the upper part of it : and
lastly, I will give you but this advice, that you give the Pearch
time enough when he bites, for there was scarce ever any An-
gler that has given him too much. And now I think best ta
rest myself, for I have almost spent my spirits with talking so
long.

Ven. Nay, good Master, one fish more, for you see it rains
still, and you know our Angles are like money put to usury ;
they may thrive, though we sit still and do nothing but talk
and enjoy one another. Come, come, the other fish, good
Master.

176 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part I

Pisc. But, Scholar, have you nothing to mix with this dis-
course, which now grows both tedious and tiresome ? Shall I
have nothing from you, that seem to have both a good memory
and a cheerful spirit ?

Ven. Yes, Master, I will speak you a copy of verses that
were made by Doctor Donne, and made to show the world
that he could make soft and smooth verses, when he thought
smoothness worth his labor ; and I love them the better, be-
cause they allude to rivers, and fsh, and fishing. They be
these : —

*' Come, live with me, and be my love,
^nd we will some new pleasures prove
Of golden sands, and crystal brooks,
With silken lines and silver hooks.

•'There will the river whispering run,
Warmed by the eyes more than the sun ;
And there the enamelled fish will stay,
Begging themselves they may betray.

•• When thou wilt swim in that live bath,
Each fish, which every channel hath,
Most amorously to thee will swim,
Gladder to catch thee than thou him.

** If thou to be so seen be'st loath.
By sun or moon, thou dark'nest both ;
And if mine eyes have leave to see,
I need not their light, having thee.

** Let others freeze with angling-reeds.
And cut their legs with shells and weeds ;
Or treacherously poor fish beset
With strangling snares, or windowy net :

•* Let coarse, bold hands from slimy nest
f , The bedded fish in banks outwrest ;
^ ^ ^ p yJUjol Let curious traitors sleave silk flies,

To * witch poor wandering fishes* eyes:

Chap. XILI THE COMPLETE ANGLER. I77

**For thee, thou need*st no such deceit,
For thou thyself art thine own bait :
That fish that is not catched thereby
Is wiser far, alas ! than I.**

Pisc. Well remembered, honest Scholar ! I thank you for
these choice verses, which I have heard formerly, but had
quite forgot till they were recovered by your happy memory.
Well, being I have now rested myself a little, I will make you
some requital, by telling you some observations of the Eel, for
it rains still ; and because, as you say, our angles are as money
put to use, that thrives when we play, therefore we '11 sit still
and enjoy ourselves a little longer under this honeysuckle
hedge.

I

THE FOURTH DAY.

Chap. XIII. — Observations of the Eel, and other Fish that want
scales^ and how to fish for them.

PiSCATOR.

IT is agreed by most men, that the Eel is a most dainty fish :
* the Romans have esteemed her the Helena of their feasts,
and some the queen of paiate-pleasure. But most men differ
about their breeding : some say they breed by generation as
other fish do ; and others, that they breed, as some worms do,
of mud ; as rats and mice, and many other Hving creatures,
are bred in Egypt by the sun's heat when it shines upon the
overflowing of the river Nilus ; or out of the putrefaction of
the earth, and divers other ways. Those that deny them to
breed by generation as other fish do, ask. If any man ever saw
an Eel to have a spawn or melt ? And they are answered,
that they may be as certain of their breeding as if they had
seen them spawn : for they say, that they are certain that Eels
have all parts fit for generation, like other fish, but so small as
not to be easily discerned, by reason of their fatness, but that
discerned they may be, and that the he and the she Eel may
be distinguished by their fins. And Rondeletius says, he has
seen Eels cling together like dew-worms.

And others say, that Eels, growing old, breed other Eels out
of the corruption of their own age, which. Sir Francis Bacon
says, exceeds not ten years. And others say, that as pearls are
made of glutinous dewdrops, which are condensed by the sun's
heat in those countries, so Eels are bred of a particular dew,
falling in tr-ie months of May or June on the banks of some
particular ponds or rivers, apted by nature for that end ; which
in a few days are by the sun's heat turned into Eels : and some

Chap. XIII.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 1 79

of the ancients have called the Eels that are thus bred the
offspring of Jove. I have seen in the beginning of July, in a
river not far from Canterbury, some parts of it covered over
with young Eels, about the thickness of a straw ; and these Eels
did lie on the top of that water, as thick as motes are said to
be in the sun : and I have heard the hke of other rivers, as
namely in Severn, where they are called Yelvers; and in a
pond or mere near unto Staffordshire, where, about a set time
in summer, such small Eels abound so much, that many of the
poorer sort of people, that inhabit near to it, take such Eels out
of this mere with sieves or sheets, and make a kind of Eel-cake
of them, and eat it like as bread. And Gesner quotes Vener- v.
able Bede to s!ay, that in England there is an island called Ely, j^/6
by reason of the innumerable number of Eels that breed in it.
But that Eels may be bred as some worms, and some kind of
bees and wasps are, either of dew, or out of the corruption of
the earth, seems to be made probable by the barnacles and
young goslings bred by the sun's heat and the rotten planks of
an old ship, and hatched of trees ; both which are related for
truths by Du Bartas and Lobel, and also by our learned Cam- ^
den, and laborious Gerard in his Herbal. 74 (r/

It is said by Rondeletius, that those Eels that are bred in
rivers that relate to or be nearer to the sea, never return to the
fresh waters, as the Salmon does always desire to do, when they
have once tasted the salt-water; and I do the more easily be-
lieve this, because I am certain that powdered beef is a most
excellent bait to catch an Eel. And though Sir Francis Bacon
will allow the Eel's life to be but ten years, yet he, in his
^' History of Life and Death," mentions a Lamprey belonging
D the Roman Emperor to be made tame, and so kept for
almost threescore years : and that such useful and pleasant ob-
servations were made of this Lamprey, that Crassus the orator,
who kept her, lamented her death. And we read in Doctor
Hakewill, that Hortensius was seen to weep at the death of a
Lamprey that he had kept long, and loved exceedingly.

l80 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part L

It is granted by all, or most men, that Eels, for about six
months, that is to say, the six cold months of the year, stir not
up and down, neither in the rivers, nor in the pools in which
they usually are, but get into the soft earth or mud ; and there
many of them together bed themselves, and live without feed-
ing upon anything, as I have told you some swallows have been
observed to do in hollow trees for those cold six months : and
this the Eel and swallow do, as not being able to endure winter
weather ; for Gesner quotes Albertus to say, that in the year
1 1 25, that year's winter being more cold than usually. Eels did
by nature's instinct get out of the water into a stack of hay in
a meadow upon dry ground, and there bedded themselves ; but
yet at last a frost killed them. And our Camden relates, that
in Lancashire fishes were digged out of the earth with spades,
where no water was near to the place. I shall say little more
of the Eel, but that, as it is observed he is impatient of cold,
so it hath been observed that, in warm weather, an Eel has
been known to live five days out of the water.

And lastly, let me tell you that some curious searchers into
the natures of fish observe that there be several sorts or kinds
of Eels : as the Silver Eel, and Green or greenish Eel, with
which the river of Thames abounds, and those are called Grigs ;
and a blackish Eel, whose head is more flat and bigger than
ordinary Eels ; and also an Eel whose fins are reddish, and but
seldom taken in this nation, and yet taken sometimes. These
several kinds of Eels are, say some, diversely bred ; as namely,
out of the corruption of the earth, and some by dew, and
other ways, as I have said to you : and yet it is affirmed
by some for a certain, that the Silver Eel is bred by genera-
tion ; but not by spawning as other fish do, but that her
brood come ahve from her, being then little live Eels no big-
ger nor longer than a pin : and I have had too many testimo-
nies of this to doubt the truth of it myself; and if I thought
it needful I might prove it, but I think it is needless.

And this Eel, of which I have said so much to you, may be

Chap. XIII.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. l8l

caught with divers kinds of baits : as namely, with powdered
beef; with a lob or garden worm ; with a minnow ; or gut of
a hen, chicken, or the guts of any fish ; or with almost any-
thing, for he is a greedy fish. But the Eel may be caught,
especially, with a little, a very little Lamprey, which some call
a Pride, and may in the hot months be found many of them in
the river Thames, and in many mud-heaps in other rivers ;
yea, almost as usually as one finds worm^s in a dunghill.

Next note, that the Eel seldom stirs in the day, but then
hides himself; and therefore he is usually caught by night,
with one of these baits of which I have spoken, and may be
then caught by laying hooks, which you are to fasten to the
bank, or twigs of a tree ; or by throwing a string cross the
stream with many hooks at it, and those baited with the afore-
said baits ; and a clod, or plummet, or stone, thrown into the
river with this line, that so you may in the morning find it
near to some fixed place, and then take it up with a drag-hook
or otherwise. But these things are, indeed, too common to be
spoken of, and an hour's fishing with any Angler will teach
you better both for these and many other common things in
the practical part of Angling, than a week's discourse. I shall
therefore conclude this direction for taking the Eel, by telling
you that, in a warm day in summer, I have taken many a good
Eel by snigling, and have been much pleased with that sport.

And because you that are but a young Angler know not
what snigling is, I will now teach it to you. You remember I
told you that Eels do not usually stir in the daytime, for then
they hide themselves under some covert, or under boards or
planks about flood-gates, or weirs, or mills, or in holes in the riv-
er-banks : so that you, observing your time in a warm day,
when the water is lowest, may take a strong, small hook, tied
to a strong line, or to a string about a yard long ; and then
into one of these holes, or between any boards about a mill, or
under any great stone or plank, or any place where you think
an Eel may hide or shelter herself, you may, and with the help

l82

THE COMPLETE ANGLER.

[Part t

of a short stick, put in your bait, but leisurely, and as far as
you may conveniently : and it is scarce to be doubted but that,
if there be an Eel within the sight of it, the Eel will bite in-
stantly, and as certainly gorge it : and you need not doubt to
have him, if you pull him not out of the hole too quickly, but
pull him out by degrees ; for he, lying folded double in his
hole, will, with the help of his tail, break all, unless you give
him time to be wearied with pulling, and so get him out by
degrees, not pulling too hard.

And to commute for your patient hearing this long direction,
I shall next tell you how to make this Eel

rr /'■ /'r^ (

a most excellent dish of meat.

First, wash him in water and salt ; then pull off his skin be-
low his vent or navel, and not much further : having done
that, take out his guts as clean as you can, but wash him not :
then give him three or four scotches with a knife ; and then
put into his belly and those scotches sweet herbs, an anchovy,
and a little nutmeg grated or cut very small ; and your herbs
and anchovies must also be cut very small, and mixed with
good butter and salt : having done this, then pull his skin over
him all but his head, which you are to cut off, to the end you
may tie his skin about that part where his head grew, and it
must be so tied as to keep all his moisture wrthin his skin : and

Chap. XIII.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 183

having done this, tie him with tape or packthread to a spit,
and roast him leisurely, and baste him with water and salt till
his skin breaks, and then with butter : and having roasted him
enough, let what was put into his belly, and what he drips, be
his sauce. S. F.

When I go to dress an Eel thus, I wish he were as long and
big as that which was caught in Peterborough River in the
year 1667, which was a yard and three quarters long. If you
will not believe me, then go and see at one of the coffee-
houses in King Street in Westminster.

But now let me tell you, that though the Eel thus dressed be
not only excellent good, but more harmless than any other
way, yet it is certain that physicians account the Eel dangerous
meat ; I will advise you therefore, as vSolomon says of honey,
Prov. XXV. 16, ^' Hast thou found it, eat no more than is suffi-
cient, lest thou surfeit, for it is not good to eat much honey."
And let me add this, that the uncharitable Itahan bids us
*'give Eels, and no wine, to our enemies."

And I will beg a little more of your attention to tell you,
that Aldrovandus and divers physicians commend the Eel very
much for medicine, though not for meat. But let me tell you
one observation ; that the Eel is never out of season, as Trouts
and most fish are at set times ; at least most Eels are not.

I might here speak of many other fish whose shape and
nature are much like the Eel, and frequent both the sea and
fresh rivers ; as namely, the Lamprel, the Lamprey, and the
Lamperne ; as also of the mighty Conger, taken often in Severn
about Gloucester : and might also tell in what high esteem
many of them are for the curiosity of their taste. But these
are not so proper to be talked of by me, because they make us
Anglers no sport ; therefore I will let them alone, as the Jews
do, to whom they are forbidden by their law.

And, Scholar, there is also a Flounder, a sea-fish, which
will wander very far into fresh rivers, and there lose himself,

1 84 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part L

and dwell, and thrive to a hand's breadth, and almost twice so
long, — a fish without scales, and most excellent meat, — and a
fish that affords much sport to the Angler, with any sm„all
worm, but especially a little bluish worm, gotten out of marsh-
ground or meadows, which should be well scoured. But this,
though it be most excellent meat, yet it wants scales, and is, as
I told you, therefore an abomination to the Jews.

But, Scholar, there is a fish that they in Lancashire boast
very much of, called a Char, taken there, and I think there
only, in a mere called Winander-Mere ; a mere, says Camden,
that is the largest in this nation, being ten miles in length, and,
some say, as smooth in the bottom as if it were paved with
polished marble. . This fish never exceeds fifteen or sixteen
inches in length, and *t is spotted like a Trout, and has scarce
a bone but on the back. But this, though I do not know
whether it make the Angler sport, yet I would have you take
notice of it, because it is a rarity, and of so high esteem with
persons of great note.

Nor would I have you ignorant of a rare fish called a Gui-
NiAD, of which I shall tell you what Camden and others speak.
The river Dee, which runs by Chester, springs in Merioneth-
shire ; and, as it runs toward Chester, it runs through Pemble-
Mere, which is a large water : and it is observed that, though
the river Dee abounds with Salmon, and Pemble-Mere with
the Guiniad, yet there is never any Salmon caught in the mere,
nor a Guiniad in the river. And now my next observation
shall be of the Barbel.

THE FOURTH DAY.

Chap. XIV. — Observations of the Barbel, and Directions hem

to fish for him,

PiSCATOR.

HT'HE Barbel is so called, says Gesner, by reason of his barb
* or wattels at his mouth, which are under his nose or chaps.
He is one of those leather-mouthed fishes that I told you of, that
does v^ery seldom break his hold if he be once hooked : but he
is so strong, that he will often break both rod and line, if he
proves to be a big one.

But the Barbel, though he be of a fine shape, and looks big,
yet he is not accounted the best fish to eat, neither for his
wholesomeness nor his taste : but the male is reputed much better
than the female, whose spawn is very hurtful, as I will presently
declare to you.

They flock together like sheep, and are at the worst in April,
about which time they spawn, but quickly grow to be in season.
He is able to live in the strongest swifts of the water, and in
summer they love the shallowest and sharpest streams ; and love
to lurk under weeds, and to feed on gravel against a rising
ground, and will root and dig in the sands with his nose like a
hog, and there nests himself: yet sometimes he retires to deep
and swift bridges, or flood-gates, or weirs, where he will nest
himself amongst piles, or in hollow places, and take surh hold
of moss or weeds, that, be the water never so swift, it is not
able to force him from the place that he contends for. This is
his constant custom in summer, when he and most hving creat-
ures sport themselves in the sun ; but at the approach of winter,
then he forsakes the swift streams and shallow waters, and by
degrees retires to those parts of the river that are guiet and

1 86

THE COMPLETE ANGLER.

[Part L

deeper : in which places, and I think about that time, he spawns ;
and, as I have formerly told you, with the help of the melter,
hides his spawn or eggs in holes, which they both dig in the
gravel : and then they mutually labor to cover it with the same
sand, to prevent it from being devoured by other fish.

There be such store of this fish in the river Danube, that
Rondeletius says they may in some places of it, and in some
months in the year, be taken by those that dwell near to the
river, with their hands, eight or ten load at a time. He says,
i they begin to be good in May, and that they cease to be so in

' August, but it is found to be otherwise in this nation : but thus

far we agree with him, that the spawn of a Barbel, if it be not
poison, as he says, yet that it is dangerous meat, and especially
in the month of May ; which is so certain, that Gesner and
I jv I Gasius declare it had an ill effect upon them, even to the en-
dangering of their lives.

This fish is of a fine cast and handsome shape, with small
scales, which are placed after a most exact and curious manner,
and, as I told you, may be rather said not to be ill, than to be
good meat. The Chub and he have, I think, both lost part of
their credit by ill cookery, they being reputed the worst or
coarsest of fresh-water fish. But the Barbel

affords an Angler choice sport, being a lusty and a cunning fish ;
so lusty and cunning as to endanger the breaking of the Angler's

Chap. XIV.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 1 8/

line, by running his head forcibly towards any covert, or hole,
or bank ; and then striking at the line, to break it off with his
tail, as is observed by Plutarch, in his book *^De Industria
Animalium ' ' ; and also so cunning to nibble and suck off your
worm close to the hook, and yet avoid the letting the hook
come into his mouth.

The Barbel is also curious for his baits, that is to say, that
they be clean and sweet ; that is to say, to have your worms
well scoured, and not kept in sour and musty moss, for he is a
curious feeder : but at a well-scoured Lob-worm he will bite as
boldly as at any bait, and specially if, the night or two before
you fish for him, you shall bait the places where you intend to
fish for him with big worms cut into pieces : and note, that none
did ever over-bait the place, nor fish too early or too late for a
Barbel. And the Barbel will bite also at gentles, which not
being too much scoured, but green, are a choice bait for him ;
and so is cheese, which is not to be too hard, but kept a day or
two in a wet linen cloth to make it tough : with this you may
also bait the water a day or two before you fish for the Barbel,
and be much the Hkelier to catch store : and if the cheese were
laid in clarified honey a short time before, as namely, an hour
or two, you were still the Hkelier to catch fish. Some have
directed to cut the cheese into thin pieces, and toast it, and
then tie it on the hook with fine silk : and some advise to fish
for the Barbel with sheep's tallow and soft cheese beaten or
worked into a paste, and that it is choicely good in August, and
I believe it : but doubtless the Lob-worm well scoured, and the
gentle not too much scoured, and cheese ordered as I have
directed, are baits enough, and I think will serve in any month ;
though I shall commend any Angler that tries conclusions, and
is industrious to improve the art. And now, my honest Scholar,
the long shower and my tedious discourse are both ended to-
gether : and I shall give you but this observation, that when you
fish for a Barbel your rod and line be both long, and of good
strength ; for, as I told you, you will find him a heavy and a

1 88 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part I.

dogged fish to be dealt withal, yet he seldom or never breaks
his hold if he be once strucken. And if you would know more
of fishing for the Umber or Barbel, get into favor with Doctor
Sheldon, whose skill is above others ; and of that the poor that
dwell about him have a comfortable experience.

And now let 's go and see what interest the Trouts will pay
us for letting our Angle-rods lie so long, and so quietly, in
the v/ater, for their use. Come, Scholar, which will you take
up?

Ven. Which you think fit. Master.

Pisc. Why, you shall take up that; for I am certain, by
viewing the line, it has a fish at it. Look you, Scholar ! Well
done ! Come now, take up the other too ; well ! Now you
may tell my brother Peter at night, that you have caught a
leash of Trouts this day. And now let 's move toward our
lodging, and drink a draught of red-cow's milk as we go, and
give pretty Maudlin and her honest mother a brace of Trouts
for their supper.

Ven. Master, I Hke your motion very well ; and I think it
is now about milking-time, and yonder they be at it.

Pisc. God speed you, good woman ! I thank you both for
our songs last night : I and my companion have had such fort-
une a-fishing this day, that we resolve to give you and Maud-
lin a brace of Trouts for supper, and we will now taste a draught
of your red-cow's milk.

MiLKW. Marry, and that you shall with all my heart, and I
will be still your debtor when you come this way : if you will
but speak the word I will make you a good syllabub, of new
verjuice, and then you may sit down in a hay-cock and eat it ;
and Maudlin shall sit by and sing you the good old song of the
*' Hunting in Chevy Chace,'' or some other good ballad, for
she hath store of them. Maudlin, my honest Maudlin, hath a
notable memory, and she thinks nothing too good for you, be-
cause you be such honest men.

Ven. We thank you, and intend once in a month to caH

Chap. XIV.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 189

upon you again, and give you a little warning, and so good
night. Good night. Maudlin. And now, good Master, let 's
lose no time ; but tell me somewhat more of fishing, and, if
you please, first something of fishing for a Gudgeon,
Pisc. I will, honest Scholar.

THE FOUf^TH DAY.

Char :^ .—Observations of the Gudgeon, the Ruffe, and the
Bleak, and how to fish for them,

PiSCATOR.

THE Gudgeon is reputed a fish of excellent taste, and to be
very wholesome ; he is of a fine shape, of a silver color,

and beautified with black spots both on his body and tail. He
breeds two or three times in the year, and always in summer.
He is commended for a fish of excellent nourishment : the Ger-
mans call him Groundling, by reason of his feeding on the
ground ; and he there feasts himself in sharp streams, and on
the gravel. He and the Barbel both feed so, and do not hunt
for flies at any time, as most other fishes do : he is an excellent
fish to enter a young Angler, being easy to be taken with a
small red-worm, on or very near to the ground. He is one of
those leather-mouthed fish that has his teeth in his throat, and
will hardly be lost from off the hook if he be once strucken. They
be usually scattered up and down every river in the shallows,
in the heat of summer ; but in autumn, when the weeds begin
to grow sour or rot, and the w^th^ colder, then they gather

Chap. XV.]

THE COMPLETE ANGLER,

191

together, and get into the deeper parts of the water ; and are to
be fished for there, with your hook always touching the ground,
if you fish for him with a float, or with a cork. But many will
fish for the Gudgeon by hand, with a running-line upon the
ground, without a cork, as a Trout is fished for, and it is ao
t'xcelient way, if you have a gentle rod and as gentle a hand.

There is also another fish called a Pope, and by some a
Ruffe ; a fish that is not known to be in some rivers : he is

^r^rAv

^ much like the Pearch for his shape, and taken to be better
than the Pearch, but will not grow to be bigger than a GucJ-
geon : he is an excellent fish, no fish that swims is of a pleas-
anter taste, and he is also excellent to enter a young Angler,
for he is a greedy biter, and they will usually lie, abundance of
them together, in one reserved place, where the water is deep,
and runs quietly ; and an easy Angler, if he has found where
they lie, may catch forty or fifty, or sometimes twice so many,
at a standing.

You must fish for him with a small red worm, and if you
bait the ground with earth, it is excellent.

There is also a Bleak, or Fresh-water Sprat, a fish that is
ever in motion, and therefore called by some the River-Swal-
low ; for just as you shall observe the Swallow to be, most
evenings in summer, ever in motion, making short and quick
turns when he flies to catch fties in the aii, by which he lives,,
so does the Bleak at the top of the water. Ausonius would

192 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part I.

have him called Bleak, from his whitish color : his back is of
a pleasant sad or sea-water-greeii; his belly white and shining

as the mountain snow. And, doubtless, though he have the
fortune, which virtue has in poor people, to be neglected, yet
the Bleak ought to be much valued, though we want Allamot-
salt, and the skill that the Italians have to turn them into An-
chovies. This fish may be caught with a Pater-noster line;
that is, six or eight very small hooks tied along the line, one
half a foot above the other : I have seen five caught thus at
one time, and the bait has been gentles, than which none is
better.
^ Or this fish may be caught with a fine small artificial fly,
which is to be of a very sad brown color, and very small, and
the hook answerable. There is no better sport than whipping
for Bleaks in a boat, or on a bank in the swift water in a sum-
mer's evening, with a hazel top about five or six foot long, and
a line twice the length of the rod. I have heard Sir Henry
Wotton say, that there be many that in Italy will catch swal-
lows so, or especially martins, this bird-angler standing on the
top of a steeple to do it, and with a line twice so long as I
have spoken of: and let me tell you. Scholar, that both Mar-
tins and Bleaks be most excellent meat.

And let me tell you, that I have known a Hern that did
constantly frequent one place caught with a hook baited with
a big minnow or a small gudgeon. The line and hook must
i)e strong, and tied to some loose staff, so big as she cannot fly
*tway with it, — a, line not exceeding two yards.

THE FOURTH DAY.

Chap. XVI. — Is of nothings or that which is nothing worth.

PiSCATOR.

MY purpose was to give you some directions concerning
Roach and Dace, and some other inferior fish, which
make the Angler excellent sport, for you know there is more
pleasure in hunting the hare than in eating her : but I will for-
bear at this time to say any more, because you see yonder
come our Brother Peter and honest Coridon. But I will prom-
ise you, that, as you and I fish and walk to-morrow towards
London, if I have now forgotten anything that I can then re-
member, I will not keep it from you.

Well met, Gentlemen ; this is lucky that we meet so just to-
gether at this very door. Come, Hostess, where are you ? Is
supper ready ? Come, first give us drink, and be as quick as
you can, for I believe we are all very hungry. Well, Brother
Peter and Coridon, to you both ! come, drink, and then tell
me what luck of fish : we two have caught but ten Trouts, of
which my Scholar caught three ; look, here 's eight, and a
brace we gave away : we have had a most pleasant day for fish-
ing and talking, and are returned home both weary and hun-
gry ; and now meat and rest will be pleasant.

Pet. And Coridon and I have had not an unpleasant day,
and yet I have caught but five Trouts ; for indeed we went to
a good honest ale-house, and there we played at shovel-board
half the day ; all the time that it rained we were there, and as
merry as they that fished. And I am glad we are now with a
dry house over our heads ; for, hark ! how it rains and blows.
Come, Hostess, give us more ale, and our supper with what

194 THE COMPLETE ANGLER, [Part L

haste you may : and when we have supped let us have your
song, Piscator, and the catch that your Scholar promised us,
or else Coridon will be dogged.

Pisc. Nay, I will not be worse than my word; you shall
not want my song, and I hope I shall be perfect in it. -

Ven. And I hope the like for my catch, which I have ready
too : and therefore let 's go merrily to supper, and then have
a gentle touch at singing and drinking ; but the last with mod-
eration.

Cor. Come, now for your song, for we have fed heartily.
Come, Hostess, lay a few more sticks on the fire, and now sing
when you will.

Pisc. Well then here 's to you, Coridon ; and now for my
3ong.

** O, the gallant fisher's life,
It is the best of any ;
'T is full of pleasure, void of strife^
And 't is beloved by many :

Other joys

Are but toys,

Only this

Lawful is ;

For our skill

Breeds no ill.
But content and pleasure,

** In a morning up we rise.
Ere Aurora 's peeping :
Drink a cup to wash our eyeSj
Leave the sluggard sleeping :

Then we go

To and fro,

With our knacks

At our backs.

To such streams

As the Thames,
K we have the leisure.

•* When we please to walk abrocwl
F#r our recreatiom,

^

1

^«A?. AVLJ

THE COMPLETE ANGLER.

In the fields is our abode.

Full of delectation :

Where in a brook

With a hook,

Or a lake,

Fish we take ;

There we sit,

For a bit,

Till we fish entangle.

^ We have gentles in a horn,

1

We have paste and worms toe j

P .

We can watch both night and monu

Suffer rain and storms too.

None do here

Use to swear,

Oaths do fray

Fish away ;

We sit still,

And watch our quill ;

Fishers must not wrangle.

1^

** If the sun's excessive heat
Make our bodies swelter,
To an osier -hedge we get
For a friendly shelter ;

Where in a dike

Pearch or Pike,

Roach or Dace,

We do chase,

Bleak or Gudgeon

Without grudging ;
We are still contented.

•* Or we sometimes pass an hoot
-Onder a green willow ;
That defends us from a shower,
Mftking earth our pillow ;

Where we may

Think and pray,

Before death

Stops our breath :

ig6 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part t

Other joys
Are but toys,
And to be lamented."

Jo. Chalkhill.

Ven. Well sung, Master ! This day's fortune and pleasure,
and this night's company and song, do all make me more and
more in love with Angling. Gentlemen, my Master left me
alone for an hour this day ; and I verily believe he retired him-
self from talking with me, that he might be so perfect in this
song; was it not, Master?

Pisc. Yes, indeed, for it is many years since I learned it ;
and having forgotten a pari of it, I was forced to patch it up by
the help of mine own invention, who am not excellent at poetry,
as my part of the song may testify : but of that I will say no
more, lest you should think I mean by discommending it to beg
your commendations of it. And therefore, without replications,
let 's hear your catch. Scholar ; which I hope will be a good
one, for you are both musical and have a good fancy to boot.

Ven. Marry, and that you shall ; and as freely as I would
have my honest Master tell me some more secrets of fish and
fishing as we walk and fish towards London to-morrow. But,
Master, first let me tell you that, that very hour which you
were absent from me, I sat down under a willow-tree by the
water-side, and considered what you had told me of the owner
of that pleasant meadow in which you then left me : that he
had a plentiful estate, and not a heart to think so ; that he had
at this time many lawsuits depending, and that they both
damped his mirth, and took up so much of his time and
thoughts, that he himself had not leisure to take the sweet con-
tent that I, who pretended no title to them, took in his fields :
for I could there sit quietly ; and, looking on the water, see
9ome fishes sport themselves in the silver streains, others leap-
ing at flies of several shapes and colors ; looking on the hills, I
could behold them spotted with woods and groves ; looking
4own the meadows, could see here a boy gathering lilies and

CHAP. XVI.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 197

lady-smocks, and there a girl cropping culverkeyes and cow-
slips, all to make garlands suitable to this present month of
May. These, and many other field-flowers, so perfumed the
air, that I thought that very meadow like that field in Sicily,
of which Diodorus speaks, where the perfumes arising from the /y^
place make all dogs that hunt in it to fall off, and to lose their
hottest scent. I say, as I thus sat, joying in my own happy
condition, and pitying this poor rich man that owned this and
many other pleasant groves and meadows about me, I did
thankfully remember what my Saviour said, that the meek pos-
sess the earth ; or, rather, they enjoy what the other possess and
enjoy not : for Anglers, and meek, quiet-spirited men, are free
from those high, those restless thoughts, which corrode the
sweets of life ; and they, and they only, can say, as the poet
has happily expressed it : —

** Hail ! blest estate of lowliness !
Happy enjoyments of such minds,
As, rich in self-contentedness,
Can, like the reeds in roughest winds,

By yielding make that blow but small

At which proud oaks and cedars fall.*'

There came also into my mind at that time certain verses in
praise of a mean estate and an humble mind ; they were writ-
ten by Phineas Fletcher, an excellent Divine, and an excellent ;^,
Angler, and the author of excellent Piscatory Eclogues, in '
which you shall see the picture of this good man^s mind ; and
I vrih mine to be like it.

*'^o empty hopes, no courtly fears, him fright,
^o begging wants his middle-fortune bite,

But sweet content exiles both misery and spite.
His certain life, that never can deceive him,

Is full of thousand sweets, and rich content ;
The smooth-leaved beeches in the field receive him

With coolest shade, till noontide's heat be spent :
His life is neither tossed in boisterous seas,
Or the vexatious world, or lost in slothful ease :
Pleased and full blest he lives, when he his God can please^

198' THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part L

** His bed, more safe than soft, yields quiet sleeps,
While by his side his faithful spouse hath place ;

His little son into his bosom creeps,
The lively picture of his father's face.

His humble house or poor state ne'er torment him ;

Less he could like, if less his God had lent him ;

And when he dies, green turfs do for a tomb content him.**

Gentlemen, these were a part of the thoughts that then poS'
sessed me. And I there made a conversion of a piece of an
old catch, and added more to it, fitting them to be sung by aa
Anglers. Come, Master, you can sing well ; you must sing
a part of it as it is in this paper.

Pet. I marry. Sir, this is music indeed ! This has cheered
my heart, and made me to remember six verses in praise of
Music, which I will speak to you instantly.

** Music ! miraculous rhetoric ! that speak'st sense
Without a tongue, excelling eloquence ;
With what ease might thy errors be excused,
Wert thou as truly loved as thou 'rt abused !
But thou dull souls neglect, and some reprove thee,
I cannot hate thee, 'cause the Angels love thee."

Ven. And the repetition of these last verses of music hay^
called to my memory what Mr. Edmund Waller, a lover of the
angle, says of Love and Music.

** Whilst I listen to thy voice,

Chloris, I feel my heart decay ;
That powerful voice

Calls my fleeting soul away :
O, suppress that magic sound.
Which destroys without a wound !

** Peace, Chloris, peace ; or singing die,
That together you and I

To heaven may go :

For all we Know
Of what the blessed do above
Is, that they sing, and that they love.'*

Chap. XVI.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 199

Pisc. Well remembered, Brother Peter; these verses came
seasonably, and we thank you heartily. Come, we will all
join together, my Host and all, and sing my Scholar's Catch
over again, and then each man drink the t'other cup and to
bed, and thank God we have a dry house over our heads.

Pisc. Well now. Good night to everybody.

Pet. And so say I.

Ven. And so say I.

Cor. Good night to you all ; and I thank you.

Pisc. Good morrow. Brother Peter ! and the like to you,
honest Coridon. Come, my Hostess says there is seven shil-
lings to pay : let 's each man drink a pot for his morning's
draught, and lay down his two shilHngs ; that so my Hostess
may not have occasion to repent herself of being so diligent,
and using us so kindly.

Pet. The motion is liked by everybody, and so, Hostess,
here 's your money : we Anglers are all beholden to you ; it
will not be long ere I '11 see you again. And now. Brother
Piscator, I wish you and my Brother, your Scholar, a fair day
and good fortune. Come, Coridon, this is our way.

THE FIFTH DAY.

iJhaP. XVII. — Of Roach and Dace, and how to fish for them ^

and of Cadis.

Venator.

GOOD Master, as we go now towards London, be still so
courteous as to give me more instructions, for I have
several boxes in my memory, in which I will keep them all
very safe ; there shall not one of them be lost.

Pisc. Well, Scholar, that I will : and I will hide nothing from
you that I can remember, and can think may help you forward
towards a perfection in this art. And because we have so
much time, and I have said so little of Roach and Dace, I will
give you some directions concerning them.

Some say the Roach is so called from rutilus^ which, they
say, signifies red fins. He is a fish of no great reputation for
his dainty taste ; and his spawn is accounted much better than
any other part of him. And you may take notice, that, as the
Carp is accounted the water-fox for his cunning, so the Roach
is accounted the water-sheep for his simplicity or foolishness. It
is noted that the Roach and Dace recover strength, and grow
'in season in a fortnight after spawning : the Barbel and Chut
in a month ; the Trout in four months ; and the Salmon in the
like time, if he gets into the sea, and after into fresh water.

Roaches be accounted much better in the river than in a
pond, though ponds usually breed the biggest. But there is a
kind of bastard small Roach that breeds in ponds, with a very
forked tail, and of a very small size, which some say is bred by
the Bream and right Roach, and some ponds are stored with
these beyond belief; and kn^^wine men that know their dif-

Chap. XVII.]

THE COMPLETE ANGLER.

201

ference call them Ruds : they differ from the true Roach as
much as a Herring from a Pilchard. And these bastard breed
of Roach are now scattered in many rivers, but I think not in
the Thames, which I believe affords the largest and fattest in
this nation, especially below London Bridge. The Roach is
a leather - mouthed fish, and has a kind of saw - like teeth in
his throat. And lastly, let me tell you, the Roach makes an
Angler excellent sport, especially the great Roaches about Lon-
don, where I think there be the best Roach-Anglers ; and I
think the best Trout-Anglers be in Derbyshire, for the waters
there are clear to an extremity.

Next, let me tell you, you shall fish for this Roach in winter

with paste or gentles ; in April, with worms or cadis ; in
the very hot months, with little white snails, or with flies
under water, for he seldom takes them at the top, though the
Dace will. In many of the hot months. Roaches may also be
caught thus : take a May-fly or Ant-fly, sink him with a little
lead to the bottom near to the piles or posts of a bridge, or
near to any posts of a weir, I mean any deep place where
Roaches lie quietly, and then pull your fly up very leisurely, and
usually a Roach will follow your bait to the very top of the

202 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part L

water, and gaze on it there, and run at it and take it lest the
fly should fly away from him.

I have seen this done at Windsor and Henley Bridge, and
great store of Roach taken ; and sometimes a Dace or Chub.
And in August you may fish for them with a paste made only
of the crumbs of bread, which should be of pure fine man-
chet ; and that paste must be so tempered betwixt your hands
till it be both soft and tough too : a very little water, and time
and labor, and clean hands, will make it a most excellent
paste. But when you fish with it, you must have a small hook,
a quick eye, and a nimble hand, or the bait is lost and the
fish too ; if one may lose that which he never had. With this
paste you may, as I said, take both the Roach and the Dace
or Dare, for they be much of a kind, in matter of feeding.

cunning, goodness, and usually in size. And therefore take
this general direction for some other baits which may concern
you to take notice of. They will bite almost at any fly, but
especially at Ant-flies ; concerning which take this direction,
for it is very good.

Take the blackish Ant-fly out of the mole-hill or ant-hill, in
which place you shall find them in the month of June ; or, if
that be too early in the year, then doubtless you may find them
in July, August, and most of September. Gather them alive,
with both their wings, and then put them into a glass that will
hold a quart or a pottle : but first put into the glass a handful, or
more, of the moist earth out of which you gather them, and as
much of the roots of the grass of the said hillock ; and then put
in the flies gently, that they lose not their wings : lay a clod ol

Chap. XVII.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 203

earth over it, and then so many as are put into the glass with-
out bruising will live there a month or more, and be always in
a readiness for you to fish with : but if you would have them
keep longer, then get any great earthen pot, or barrel of three
or four gallons, which is better, then wash your barrel with
water and honey ; and having put into it a quantity of earth
and grass-roots, then put in your flies, and cover it, and they
will live a quarter of a year. These, in any stream and clear
water, are a deadly bait for Roach or Dace, or for a Chub ;
and your rule is, to fish not less than a handful from the bot-
tom.

I shall next tell you a winter-bait for a Roach, a Dace, or
Chub ; and it is choicely good. About All-hallontide, and so
till frost comes, when you see men ploughing up heath-ground,
or sandy ground, or greenswards, then follow the plough, and
you shall find a white worm as big as two maggots, and it hath
a red head ; you may observe in what ground most are, for
there the crows will be very watchful and follow the plough very
close ; it is all soft, and full of whitish guts : a worm that is in
Norfolk, and some other counties, called a Grub, and is bred
of the spawn or eggs of a beetle, which she leaves in holes that
she digs in the ground under cow or horse dung, and there
rests all winter, and in March or April comes to be, first a red,
and then a black beetle : gather a thousand or two of these,
and put them, with a peck or two of their own earth, into some
tub or firkin, and cover and keep them so warm that the frost
or cold air or winds kill them not : these you may keep all
winter, and kill fish with them at any time ; and if you put
some of them into a little earth and honey a day before you
use them, you will find them an excellent bait for Bream, Carp,
or indeed for almost any fish.

And after this manner you may also keep gentles all winter,
which are a good bait then, and much the better for being
lively and tough. Or you may breed and keep gentles thus ;
take a piece of beast's liver, and with a cross-stick hang it in

204 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part I.

some corner over a pot or barrel, half full of dry clay ; and as
the gentles grow big, they will fall into the barrel, and scour
themselves, and be always ready for use whensoever you incline
to fish ; and these gentles may be thus created till after Mich-
aelmas. But if you desire to keep gentles to fish with all the
year, then get a dead cat or a kite, and let it be fly-blown ; and [|
when the gentles begin to be alive and to stir, then bury it
and them in soft, moist earth, but as free from frost as you
can, and these you may dig up at any time when you intend
to use them: these will last till March, and about that time
turn to be flies.

But if you be nice to foul your fingers, which good Anglers
seldom are, then take this bait : get a handful of well-made malt,
and put it into a dish of water, and then wash and rub it be-
twixt your hands till you make it clean, and as free froni husks
as you can ; then put that water from it, and put a small quan-
tity of fresh water to it, and set it in something that is fit for
that purpose over the fire, where it is not to boil apace, but
leisurely and very softly, until it become somewhat soft, which
you may try by feeling it betwixt your finger and thumb ; and
when it is soft, then put your water from it : and then take a
sharp knife, and, turning the sprout-end of the corn upward,
with the point of your knife take the back part of the husk off
from it, and yet leaving a kind of inward husk on the corn, or
else it is marred ; and then cut off' that sprouted end, I mean a
Kttle of it, that the white may appear, and so pull off the husk
on the cloven side, as I directed you ; and then cutting off" a
very little of the other end, that so your hook may enter ; and,
if your hook be small and good, you will find this to be a very
choice bait, either for winter or summer, you sometimes casting
a /ittle of it into the place where your float swims.

And to take the Roach and Dace, a good bait is the young
prood of wasps or bees, if you dip their heads in blood ; espe-
cially good for Bream, if they be baked or hardened in their husks
in an oven, after the bread is taken out of it ; or hardened on a

Chap. XVII.J THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 205

fire-shovel . and so also is the thick blood of sheep, being half
dried on a trencher, that so you may cut it into such pieces as
may best fit the size of your hook ; and a little salt keeps it from
growing black, and makes it not the worse, but better : this is
taken to be a choice bait if rightly ordered.

There be several oils of a strong smell that I have been to!''
of, and to be excellent to tempt fish to bite, of which I could
say much. But I remember I once carried a small bottle from
Sir George Hastings to Sir Henry Wotton, they were both
chemical men, as a great present : it was sent, and received, and
used, with great confidence ; and yet, upon inquiry, I found it
did not answer the expectation of Sir Henry ; which, with the
help of this and other circumstances, makes me have little belief
in such things as many men talk of. Not but that I think fishes
both smell and hear, as I have expressed in my former discourse :
but there is a mysterious knack, which though it be much easier
than the philosopher's stone, yet is not attainable by common
capacities, or else lies locked up in the brain or breast of some
chemical man, that, like the Rosi crucians, will not yet reveal .^:
it.. But let me nevertheless tell you, that camphor, put with
moss into your worm-bag with your worms, mpkes them, if
many Anglers be not very much mistaken, a tempting bait, and
the Angler more fortunate. But I stepped by chance into this
discourse of oils, and fishes smelling ; and though there might
be more said, both of it and of baits for Roach and Dace, and
other float-fish, yet I will forbear it at this time, and tell you in
the next place how you are to prepare your tackling : concern-
ing which, I will, for sport-sake, give you an old rhyme out of
an old fish-book, which will prove a part, and but a part, of
what you are to provide.

** My rod and my line, my float and my lead,

My hook and my plummet, my whetstone and knife,

My basket, my baits both living and dead,
My net and my meat, for that is the chief :

Then I must have thread, and hairs green and small.

With mine Angling-purse, and so you have all. "

-^:

206 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. IPart i

But you must have all these tackling,* and twice so many-
more, with which, if you mean to be a fisher, you must store
yourself; and to that purpose I will go with you either to Mr.
-Margrave, who dwells amongst the booksellers in St. Paul's
Churchyard, or to Mr. John Stubbs, near to the Swan in Gold-
ing Lane ; they be both honest men, and will fit an Angler with ' |1
what tackling he lacks.

Ven. Then, good Master, let it be at — r— , for he is nearest
to my dwelling, and I pray let 's meet there the 9th of May
next about two of the clock ; and I '11 want nothing that a fisher
should be furnished with.

Pisc. Well, and I '11 not fail you, God wilHng, at the time
and place appointed.

Ven. I thank you, good Master, and I will not fail you.
And, good Master, tell me what baits more you remember, for
it will not now be long ere we shall be at Tottenham High
Cross ; and when we come thither I will make you some requital
of your pains, by repeating as choice a copy of verses as any we
have heard since we met together ; and that is a proud word,
for we have heard very good ones.

Pisc. Well, Scholar, and I shall be then right glad to heai
them. x\nd I will, as we walk, tell you whatsoever comes in
my mind, that I think may be worth your hearing. You may
make another choice bait thus : Take a handful or two of the
best and biggest wheat you can get ; boil it in a little milk, like
as frumity is boiled ; boil it so till it be soft, and then fry it very
leisurely with honey and a little beaten saffron dissolved ir
milk ; and you will find this a choice bait, and good I think for
any fish, especially for Roach, Dace, Chub, or Grayling : I know
not but that it may be as good for a River-Carp, and especially
if the ground be a little baited with it.

And you may also note, that the spawn of most fish is a very
tempting bait, being a Httle hardened on a warm tile, and cut

* I have heard that the tackldagf hath been priced at fifty pounds, in the !••
ventory of an Angler.

Chap. XVII.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 20/

into fit pieces. Nay, mulberries and those blackberries which
grow upon briers be good baits for Chubs or Carps : with these
many have been taken in ponds, and in some rivers where such
trees have grown near the water, and the fruit customarily
dropped into it. And there be a hundred other baits, more
than can be well named ; which, by constant baiting the water,
will become a tempting bait for any fish in it.

You are also to know, that there be divers kinds of Cadis, or
Case-worms, that are to be found in this nation in several disv
tinct counties, and in several little brooks that relate to bigger
rivers : as namely, one Cadis called a Piper, whose husk or case
is a piece of reed about an inch long, or longer, and as big about
as the compass of a two-pence. These worms being kept three
or four days in a woollen bag with sand at the bottom of it, and
the bag wet once a day, will in three or four days turn to be
yellow ; and these be a choice bait for the Chub or Chavender,
or indeed for any great fish, for it is a large bait.

There is also a lesser Cadis-worm, called a Cockspur, being
in fashion like the spur of a cock, sharp at one end, and the
case or house in which this dwells is made of small husks, and
gravel, and slime, most curiously made of these, even so as to
be wondered at ; but not to be made by man, no more than a
kingfisher's nest can, which is made of little fishes' bones, and
have such a geometrical interweaving and connection, as the
like is not to be done by the art of man. This kind of Cadis
is a choice bait for any float-fish; it is much less than the
Piper-Cadis, and to be so ordered ; and these may be so pre-
served, ten, fifteen, or twenty days, or it may be longer.

There is also another Cadis, called by some a Straw-worm,
and by some a Ruff-coat ; whose house or case is made of little
pieces of bents, and rushes, and straws, and water-weeds, and
I know not what ; which are so knit together with condensed
slime, that they stick about her husk or case, not unlike the
bristles of a hedgehog. These three Cadises are commonly
taken in the beginning of summer ; and are good, indeed, to

208 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. CPart t

take any kind of fish, with float or otherwise. I might tell you
of many more, which as these do early, so those have their time
also of turning to be flies later in summer ; but I might lose my-
self and tire you by such a discourse. I shall, therefore, but re-
member you, that to know these and their several kinds, and to
what flies every particular Cadis turns, and then how to use
them, first as they be Cadis, and after as they be flies, is an
art, and an art that every one that professes to be an Angler has
not leisure to search after ; and, if he had, is not capable of
learning.

I '11 tell you, Scholar, several countries have several kinds of
Cadises, that indeed differ as much as dogs do : that is to say,
as much as a very cur and a greyhound do. These be usually
bred in the very little rills or ditches that run into bigger
rivers ; and, I think, a more proper bait for those very rivers
than any other. I know not, or of what, this Cadis receives
life, or what colored fly it turns to ; but doubtless they are the
death of many Trouts : and this is one killing way.

Take one, or more if need be, of these large yellow Cadis :
pull off his head, and with it pull out his black gut; put the
body, as little bruised as is possible, on a very little hook,
armed on with a red hair, which will show like the Cadis-head
and a very little thin lead, so put upon the shank of the hook
hat it may sink presently. Throw this bait, thus ordered,
which will look very yellow, into any great still hole where a
Trout is, and he will presently venture his life for it, 't is not
to be doubted, if you be not espied ; and that the bait first
touch the water, before the line : and this will do best in the
deepest, stillest water.

Next let me tell you, I have been much pleased to walk
quietly by a brook with a little stick in my hand, with which
I might easily take these and consider the curiosity of theii
composure : and if you shall ever like to do so, then note that
your stick must be a little hazel or willow, cleft, or have a nick
at one end of it, by which means you may with ease take many

Chap. XVILl THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 209

of them in that nick out of the water, before you have any oc-
casion to use them. These, my honest Scholar, are some ob-
servations told to you as they now come suddenly into my
memory, of which you may make some use : but for the prac-
tical pait, It is that that makes an Angler : it is diligence, and
observation, and practice, and an ambition to be the besK to
the art, that must do it. I will tell you. Scholar, I once heara
one say, <* I envy not him that eats better meat than I do, nor
him that is richer, or that wears better clothes than I do: I
envy nobody but him, and him only, that catches more fisb
than I do.'' And such a man is like to prove an Angler;
aad this noble emulation I wish to you and all young Angiere;

THE FIFTH DAY,

Chaf. XVUl.—0/^Ae Minnow ^r Penk, of t/ie Loach, audi^

the Bull-Head, or Miller's-Thumb.

PiSCATOR.

THERE be also three or four other Uttle fish that I had
almost forgot, that all are without scales ; and may, for
excellency of meat, be compared to any fish of greatest value
and largest size. They be usually full of eggs or spawn all the
months of summer ; for they breed often, as 't is observed mice
and many of the smaller four-footed creatures of the earth do ;
and as those, so these come quickly to their full growth and
perfection. And it is needful that they breed both often and
numerously ; for they be, besides other accidents of ruin, both
a prey and baits for other fish. And first I shall tell you of the
Minnow or Penk.

Chap. XVIII.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 211

The Minnow hath, when he is in perfect season and not
sick, which is only presently after spawning, — a kind of dap-
pled or waved color, like to a panther, on his sides, inclining
to a greenish and sky-color, his belly being milk-white, and
his back almost black or blackish. He is a sharp biter at a
small worm, and in hot weather makes excellent sport for young
A^nglers, or boys, or women that love that recreation. And
in the spring they make of them excellent Minnow-Tansies ; for,
being washed well in salt, and their heads and tails cut off,
and their guts taken out, and not washed after, — they prove
excellent for that use; that is, being fried with yolks of eggs,
the flowers of cowslips, and of primroses, and a little tansy j
thus used they make a dainty dish of meat.

The Loach is, as I told you, a most dainty fish : he breeds
and feeds in little and clear swift brooks, or rills, and lives
there upon the gravel, and in the sharpest streams : he grows
not to be above a finger long, and no thicker than is suitable
to that length. This Loach is not unlike the shape of the Eel :
he has a beard or wattles like a Barbel. He has two fins at his
sides, four at his belly, and one at his tail; he is dappled with
many black or brown spots ; his mouth is Barbel-like under his
nose. This fish is usually full of eggs or spawn, and is by Ges*
ner, and other learned physicians, commended for great nour-
ishment, and to be very grateful both to the palate and stomach
of sick persons. He is to be fished for with a very small worm
at the bottom ; for he very seldom or never rises above the
gravel, on which, I told you, he usually gets his Hving.

The Miller' s-Thumb or Bull-head, is a fish of no pleasing
shape. He is by Gesner compared to the Sea-toad-fish, for
his similitude and shape. It has a head, big and flat, much
greater than suitable to his body ; a mouth very wide and usu-
ally gaping. He is without teeth, but his lips are very rough,
much like to a file. He hath two fins near to his gills, which
be roundish or crested ; two fins also under the belly ; two on
the back ; one below the vent ; and the fin of his tail is round.

212 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. IPArt L

Nature hath painted the body of this fish with whitish, blacfc
ish, brownish spots. They be usually full of eggs or spawn all
the summer, I mean the females; and those eggs swell their
vents almost into the form of a dug. They begin to spawn
about April, and, as I told you, spawn several months in the
summer. And in the winter the Minnow, and Loach, and
Bull-Head dwell in the mud, ai the Eel doth, or we know not
where ; no more than we know where the cuckoo and swallow,
and other half-year birds, which first appear to us in April, spend
their six cold, winter, melancholy months. This Bull-Head
does usually dwell and hide himself in holes, or amongst stones,
in clear water : and in very hot days will lie a long time very
still, and sun himself, and will be easy to be seen upon any flat
stone, or any gravel ; at which time he will suffer an Angler to
put a hook baited with a small worm very near unto his very
mouth : and he never refuses to bite, nor indeed to be caught
with the worst of Anglers. Matthiolus commends him much
more for his taste and nourishment than for his shape or
beauty.

There is also a little fish called a Stickled ag : a fish with-
out scales, but hath his body fenced with several prickles. I
know not where he dwells in winter, nor what he is good for
in summer, but only to make sport for boys and women»
anglers, and to feed other fish that be fish of prey, as Trouts in
particular, who will bite at him as at a Penk; and better,
if your hook be rightly baited with him : for he may be so
baited as, his tail turning like the sail of a windmill, will make
him turn more quick than any Penk or Minnow can. For
note, that the nimble turning of that, or the Minnow, is the
perfection of Minnow fishing. To which end, if yon put your
hook into his mouth, and out at his tail ; and then, having
first tied him with white thread a little above his tail, and
placed him after such a manner on your hook as he is like to
turn, then sew up his mouth to your line, and he is like to turn
quick, and tempt any Trout : but if he does not turn quick,

Chap. XVIIL] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 213

then turn his tail a Httle more or less towards the inner part,
or towards the side of the hook ; or put the Minnow or Stickle-
bag a little more crooked or more straight on your hook, until
it will turn both true and fast : and then doubt not but to
tempt any great Trout that lies in a swift stream. And the
Loach that I told you of will do the like : no bait is more
tempting, provided the Loach be not too big.

And now, Scholar, with the help of this fine morning, and
your patient attention, I have said all that my present memory
will afford me concerning most of the several fish that are usu-
ally fished for in fresh waters.

Ven. But, Master, you have, by your former civility, made
me hope that you will make good your promise, and say some-
thing of the several rivers that be of most note in this nation ;
and also of fish-ponds, and the ordering of them : and do it, I
pray, good Master, for I love any discourse of rivers, and fish
and fishing : the time spent in such discourse passes away very
pleasantly.

THE FIFTH l^AY.

Chap. XIX. — Of several Rivers y and some Observations of FisK

PiSCATOR.

\ 1 ZELL, Scholar, since the ways and weather do both favor
^^ us, and that we yet see not Tottenham Cross, you shall
see my willingness to satisfy your desire. And, first, for the
rivers of this nation : there be, as you may note out of Doc-
tor Heylin's Geography and others, in number three hundred
and twenty-five ; but those of chiefest note he reckons and de-
scribes as followeth.

The chief is Thamisis, compounded of two rivers, Thame
and Isis ; whereof the former, rising somewhat beyond Thame
in Buckinghamshire, and the latter near Cirencester in Glou-
cestershire, meet together about Dorchester in Oxfordshire;
the issue of which happy conjunction is the Thamisis, or
Thames. Hence it flieth betwixt Berks, Buckinghamshire,
Middlesex, Surrey, Kent, and Essex, and so weddeth himself
to the Kentish Medway in the very jaws of the ocean. This
glorious river feeleth the violence and benefit of the sea more
than any river in Europe ; ebbing and flowing twice a day
more than sixty miles : about whose banks are so many fair
towns, and princely palaces, that a German poet thus truly

spake : —

** Tot campos, etc.

** We saw so many woods and princely bowers,
Sweet fields, brave palaces, and stately towers,
So many gardens, dressed with curious care.
That Thames with royal Tiber may compare."

2. The second river of note is Sabrina or Severn. It hath
its beginning in Plinlimmon Hill in Montgomeryshire, and his

Chap. XIX.J THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 215

end seven miles from Bristol ; washing, in the mean space, the
walls of Shrewsbury, Worcester, and Gloucester, and divers
other places and palaces of note.

3. Trent, so called from thirty kind of fishes that are
found in it, or for that it receiveth thirty lesser rivers ; who,
having his fountain in Staffordshire, and gliding through the
counties of Nottingham, Lincoln, Leicester, and York, aug-
menteth the turbulent current of Humber, the most violent
stream of all the isle. This Humber is not, to say truth,
a distinct river, having a spring-head of his own, but it is
rather the mouth, or sestuarium, of divers rivers here confluent
and meeting together : namely, your Derwent, and especially
of Ouse and Trent ; and (as the Danow, having received into
its channel the rivers Dravus, Savus, Tibiscus, and divers
others) changeth his name into this of Humberabus, as the
old geographers call it.

4. Medway, a Kentish river, famous for harboring the
royal navy.

5. Tweed, the northeast bound of England, on whose
northern banks is seated the strong and impregnable town of
Berwick.

6. Tyne, famous for Newcastle, and her inexhaustible coal-
pits. These, and the rest of principal note, are thus compre-
hended in one of Mr. Drayton's Sonnets.

** Our floods' queen, Thames, for ships and swans is crowneii j

And stately Severn for her shore is praised ;
The crystal Trent for fords and fish renowned ;

And Avon's fame to Albion's cliffs is raised,
Carlegion-Chester vaunts her holy Dee ;

York many wonders of her Ouse can tell ;
The Peak her Dove, whose banks so fertile be.

And Kent will say her Medway doth excel.
Cotswold commends her Isis to the Thame ;

Our northern borders boast of Tweed's fair flood;
Our western parts extol their Willy's fame,

And the old Lea brags of the Danish blood/'

2l6 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part I

These observations are out of learned Dr. Heylin, and my
old deceased friend, Michael Drayton ; and because you say
you love such discourses as these of rivers and fish and fishing,
I love you the better, and love the more to impart them to
fou : nevertheless. Scholar, if I should begin but to name the
several sorts of strange fish that are usually taken in many of
those rivers that run into the sea, I might beget wonder in you,
or unbelief, or both : and yet I will venture to tell you a real
truth concerning one lately dissected by Dr Wharton, a man
of great learning and experience, and of equal freedom to
communicate it ; one that loves me and my art ; one to whom
I have been beholden for many of the choicest observations
that I have imparted to you. This good man, that dares do
anything rather than tell an untruth, did, I say, tell me he
lately dissected one strange fish, and he thus described it to
me.

** The fish was almost a yard broad, and twice that length;
his mouth wide enough to receive or take into it the head of a
man ; his stomach seven or eight inches broad. He is of a
slow motion, and usually lies or lurks close in the mud, and
has a movable stri/ig on his head about a span, or near unto a
quarter of a yara long, by the moving of which, which is his
natural bait, when he lies close and unseen in the mud, he
draws other smaller fish so close to him that he can suck them
into his mouth, and 50 devours and digests them.''

And, Scholar, do not wonder at this, for, besides the credit
of the relator, you are to note, many of these, and fishes
which are of the like and more unusual shapes, are very often
taken on the mouths of our sea-rivers, and on the sea-shore.
And this will be no wonder to any that have travelled Egypt ;
where 't is known the famous river Nilus does not only breed
fishes that yet want names, but, by the overflowing of that
river, and the help of the sun's heat on the fat slime which
that river leaves on the banks, when it falls back into its natural
channel, such strange fish and beasts are also bred, that no man

Chap. XIX.) THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 217

can give a name to, as Grotius, in his ^' Sophom/* and others, ^
have observed. ^

But whither am I strayed in this discourse ? I will end it
by telling you, that at the mouth of some of these rivers of
ours Herrings are so plentiful, as namely, near to Yarmouth in
Norfolk, and in the West-country Pilchers so very plentiful, as
you will wonder to read what our learned Camden relates of
them in his ^* Britannia,** pp. 178, 186.

Well, Scholar, I will stop here, and tell you what by read-
ing and conference I have observed concerning fish-ponds.

\

THE FIFTH DAY.

Chap. y^.-^Of Fish-Ponds^ and how to order them.

PiSCATOR.

r^OCTOR Lebault, the learned Frenchman, in his large dis«
^^ course of Maison Rustique, gives this direction for mak-
ing of fish-ponds. I shall refer you to him to read it at large ;
but I think I shall contract it, and yet make it as useful.

He adviseth, that when you have drained the ground, and
made the earth firm where the head of the pond must be, that
you must then, in that place, drive in two or three rows of oak
or elm piles, which should be scorched in the fire, or half
burnt, before they be driven into the earth ; for being thus
used it preserves them much longer from rotting. And hav-
ing done so, lay fagots or bavins of smaller wood betwixt
them ; and then earth betwixt and above them : and then,
having first very well rammed them and the earth, use another
pile in like manner as the first were : and note, that the second
pile is to be of or about the height that you intend to make
your sluice or flood-gate, or the vent that you intend shall con-
vey the overflowings of your pond, in any flood that shall en-
danger the breaking of the pond-dam.

Then he advises that you plant willows or owlers about it, or
both : and then cast in bavins in some places not far from the
side, and in the most sandy places, for fish both to spawn upon,
and to defend them and the young fry from the many fish, and
also from vermin, that lie at watch to destroy them ; especially
the spawn of the Carp and Tench, when 't is left to the mercy [
of ducks or vermin.

He, and Dubravius, and all others, advise, that you make

Chap. XX.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 219

choice of such a place for your pond, that it may be refreshed
with a Httle rill, or with rain-water running or falling into it;
by which fish are more inclined both to breed, and are also re-
freshed and fed the better, and do prove to be of a much
sweeter and more pleasant taste.

To which end it is observed, that such pools as be large, and
have most gravel, and shallows where fish may sport them-
selves, do afford fish of the purest taste. And note, that in all
pools it is best for fish to have some retiring-place ; as namely,
hollow banks, or shelves, or roots of trees, to keep them from
danger; and, when they think fit, from the extreme heat of
summer ; as also from the extremity of cold in winter. And
note, that if many trees be growing about your pond, the
leaves thereof falling into the water make it nauseous to the
fish, and the fish to be so to the eater of it.

'T is noted that the Tench and Eel love mud, and the Carp
loves gravelly ground, and in the hot months to feed on grass.
You are to cleanse your pond, if you intend either profit or
pleasure, once every three or four years, especially some ponds,
and then let it lie dry six or twelve months, both to kill the
water-weeds, as water-liUes, candocks, reate, and bulrushes,
that breed there : and also, that as these die for want of water,
so grass may grow in the pond's bottom, which Carps will eat
greedily in all the hot months if the pond be clea.i. The let-
ting your pond dry and sowing oats in the bottom is also good,
for the fish feed the faster : and, being some time let dry, you
may observe what kind of fish either increases or thrives best
in that water ; for they differ much both in their breeding and
feeding.

Lebault also advises, that if your ponds be not very large
and roomy, that you often feed your fish by throwing into
them chippings of bread, curds, grains, or the entrails of chick-
ens, or of any fowl or beast that you kill to feed yourselves ;
for these afford fish a great relief. He says that frogs and
ducks do much harm, and devour both the spawn and the

220 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part t

young fry of all fish, especially of the Carp ; and I have, besides
experience, many testimonies of it. But Lebault allows water-
frogs to be good meat, especially in some months, if they be
fat; but you are to note, that he is a Frenchman, and we
English will hardly believe him, though we know frogs are
usually eaten in his country ; however, he advises to destroy
them and kingfishers out of your ponds. And he advises not
to suffer much shooting at wild-fowl ; for that, he says, af-
frightens, and harms, and destroys, the fish.

Note, that Carps and Tench thrive and breed best when no
other fish is put with them into the same pond ; for all other
fish devour their spawn, or at least the greatest part of it. And
note, that clods of grass thrown into any pond feed any Carpg
in summer ; and that garden-earth and parsley thrown into a
pond recovers and refreshes the sick fish. And note, that when
you store your pdnd, you are to put into it two or three melt-
ers for one spawner, if you put them into a breeding-pond ;
but if into a nurse-pond, or feeding-pond, in which they will
not breed, then no care is to be taken whether there be most
male or female Carps.

It is observed that the best ponds to breed Carps are those
that be stony or sandy, and are warm and free from wind ; and
that are not deep, but have willow-trees, and grass on their
sides, over which the water does sometim.es flow : and note,
that Carps do more usually breed in marle-pits, or pits that
have clean clay-bottoms, or in new ponds, or ponds taat lie
dry a winter-season, than in old ponds that be full of mud and
weedb.

Well, Scholar, I have told you the substance of all that
either observation or discourse, or a diligent survey of Dubra-
vius and Lebault hath told me : not that they, in their long
discourses, have not said more ; but the most of the rest are
so common observations, as if a man should tell a good arith-
metician that twice two is four. I will therefore put an end
to this discourse, and we will here sit down and rest us.

THE FIFTH DAY.

Cmap. XXI. — Directions for making of a Line^ and for the color*

ing of both Rod and Line.

PiSCATOR.

\1 7ELL, Scholar, I have held you too long about these
^ * cadis, and smaller fish, and rivers, and fish-ponds ; and
my spirits are almost spent, and so I doubt is your pa-
tience ; but being we are now almost at Tottenh^jn, where I
first met you, and where we are to part, I will lose no time,
but give you a little direction how to make and order your
lines, and to color the hair of which you make your lines, for
that is very needful to be known of an Angler ; and also how
to paint your rod, especially your top ; . for a right-grown top
is a choice commodity, and should be preserved from the
water soaking into it, which makes it in wet weather to be
heavy, and fish ill-favoredly, and not true; and also it rots
quickly for want of painting : and I think a good top is worth
preserving, or I had not taken care to keep a top above twenty
years.

But first for your line. First, note, that you are to take care
that your hair be round and clear, and free from galls, or scabs,
or frets ; for a well-chosen, even, clear, round hair, of a kind
of glass-color, will prove as strong as three uneven, scabby
hairs, that are ill-chosen, and full of galls or unevenness. You
shall seldom find a black hair but it is round, but many white
are flat and uneven ; therefore if you get a lock of right, round,
clear, glass-color hair, make much of it.

And for making your line, observe this rule : first let your
hair be clean washed ere you go about to twist it ; and then

222 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part L

choose not only the clearest hair for it, but hairs that be of an
equal bigness, for such do usually stretch all together, and
break all together, which hairs of an unequal bigness never do,
but break singly, and so deceive the Angler that trusts to
them.

When you have twisted your links, lay them in water for a
quarter of an hour at least, and then twist them over again be-
fore you tie them into a line ; for those that do not so, shall
usually find their line to have a hair or two shrink, and be
shorter than the rest at the first fishing with it ; which is so
much of the strength of the line lost for want of first watering
it and then re-twisting it ; and this is most visible in a seven-
hair line, one of those which hath always a black hair in the
middle.

And for dyeing of your hairs, do it thus. Take a pint ol
strong ale, half a pound of soot, and a little quantity of the
juice of walnut-tree leaves, and an equal quantity of alum ; put
these together into a pot, pan, or pipkin, and boil them half
an hour ; and having so done, let it cool ; and being cold, put
your hair into it, and there let it he : it will turn your hair to
be a kind of water or glass-color, or greenish ; and the longer
you let it lie, the deeper colored it will be. You might be
taught to make many other colors, but it is to little purpose;
for doubtless the water-color or glass-colored hair is the most
choice and most useful for an Angler ; but let it not be too
green.

But if you desire to color hair greener, then do it thus.
Take a quart of small ale, half a pound of alum ; then put ^
these into a pan or pipkin, and your hair into it with them ; then
put it upon a fire, and let it boil softly for half an hour ; and
then take out your hair, and let it dry ; and, having so done,
then take a pottle of water, and put into it two handfuls of
marigolds, and cover it with a tile, or what you think fit, and
set it again on the fire, where it is to boil again softly for half
an hour, about which time the scum will turn yellow : then

Chap. XXI.I THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 223

put into it half a pound of copperas, beaten small, and with
it the hair that you intend to color ; then let the hair be boiled
softly till half the liquor be wasted ; and then let it cool three
or four hours, with your hair in it : and you are to observe,
that the more copperas you put into it, the greener it will be ;
but doubtless the pale green is best. But if you desire yellow
hair, which is only good when the weeds rot, then put in the
more marigolds ; and abate most of the copperas, or leave it
quite out, and take a little verdigris instead of it. This for
coloring your hair.

And as for painting your rod, which must be in oil, you
must first make a size with glue and water boiled together until
the glue be dissolved, and the size of a lye-color ; then strike
your size upon the wood with a bristle, or a brush, or pencil,
whilst it is hot. That being quite dry, take white lead, and a
little red lead, and a little coal-black, so much as all together
will make an ash-color ; grind these all together with linseed-
oil ; let it be thick, and lay it thin upon the wood with a
brush or pencil : this do for the ground of any color to lie upon
wood.

For a green : Take pink and verdigris, and grind them to-
gether in linseed-oil, as thin as you can well grind it ; then
lay it smoothly on with your brush, and drive it thin : once
doing, for the most part, will serve, if you lay it well ; and if
twice, be Sure your first color be thoroughly dry before you
lay on a second.

Well, Scholar, having now taught you to paint your rod,
and we haying still a mile to Tottenham High-Cross, I will, as
we walk towards it, in the cool shade of this sweet honeysuckle
hedge, mention to you some of the thoughts and joys that have
possessed my soul since we two met together. And these
thoughts shall be told you, that you also may join with me in
thankfulness, to " the Giver of every good and perfect gift,**
for our happiness. And, that our present happiness may
appear to be the greater, and we the more thankful for it, 1

224 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part L

will beg you to consider with me, how many do, even at this
very time, lie under the torment of the stone, the gout, and
toothache; and this we are free from. And every misery
that I miss is a new mercy ; and therefore let us be thankful.
There have been, since we met, others that have met disasters
of broken limbs ; some have been blasted, others thunder-
strucken ; and we have been freed from these, and all those
many other miseries that threaten human nature : let us there-
fore rejoice and be thankful. Nay, which is a far greater
mercy, we are free from the unsupportable burden of an accus-
ing, tormenting conscience, — a misery that none can bear :
and therefore let us praise Him for His preventing grace, and
say. Every misery that I miss is a new mercy. Nay, let mo
tell you, there be many that have forty times our estates, that
would give the greatest part of it to be healthful and cheerful
like us ; who, with the expense of a little money have eat and
drank, and laughed, and angled, and sung, and slept securely ;
and rose next day, and cast away care, and sung, and laughed,
and angled again ; which are blessings rich men cannot pur-
chase with all their money. Let me tell you. Scholar, I have
a rich neighbor, that is always so busy that he has no leisure to
laugh : the whole business of his life is to get money, and more
money, that he may still get more and more money ; he is still
drudging on, and says, that Solomon says, ^* The diligent hand
maketh rich "; and is it true indeed : but he considers not that
't is not in the power of riches to make a man happy ; for it
was wisely said, by a man of great observation, ^^That there
be as many miseries beyond riches, as on this side them."
And yet God deliver us from pinching poverty ; and grant
that, having a competency, we may be content and thankfuL
Let not us repine, or so much as think the gifts of God un-
equally dealt, if we see another abound with riches ; wheri, a*>
God knows, the cares that are the keys that keep those riches,
hang often so heavily at the rich man's girdle, that they clog
him with weary days, and restless nights, even when others

Chap. XXL] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 225

sleep quietly. We see but the outside of the rich man*s happi-
ness : few consider him to be like the silkworm, that, when
she seems to play, is, at the very same time, spinning her own
bowels, and consuming herself. And this many rich men do ;
loading themselves with corroding cares, to keep what they
have, probably, unconscionably got. Let us, therefore, be thank-
ful for health and a competence, and above all, for a quiet con-
science.

Let me tell you. Scholar, that Diogenes walked on a day,
with his friend, to see a country-fair ; where he saw ribbons,
and looking-glasses, and nut-crackers, and fiddles, and hobby-
horses, and many other gimcracks; and having observed
them, and all the other finnimbruns that make a complete
country-fair, he said to his friend, *'Lord! How many
things are there in this world, of which Diogenes hath no
need ! '' And truly it h^ so, or might be so, with very many
who vex and toil themselves to get what they have no need of.
Can any man charge God, that he hath not given him enough
to make his Hfe happy ? No, doubtless ; for nature is content
with a httle. And yet you shall hardly meet with a man that
complains not of some want ; though he, indeed, wants nothing
but his will, it may be, nothing but his will of his poor neigh-
bor, for not worshipping, or not flattering him : and thus, when
we might be happy and quiet, we create trouble to ourselves.
I have heard of a man that was angry with himself because
he was no taller ; and of a woman that broke her looking-glass
because it would not show her face to be as young and hand-
some as her next neighbor's was. And I knew another, to
whom God had given health, and plenty ; but a wife, that
nature had made peevish, and her husband's riches had made
purse-proud, and must, because she was rich, and for no other
virtue, sit in the highest pew in the church ; which being de-
nied her, she engaged her husband into a contention for it ;
and, at last, into a lawsuit with a dogged neighbor, who was
as rich as he, and had a wife as peevish and purse-proud as the

226 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part I

Other : and this lawsuit begot higher oppositions, and action-
able words, and more vexations and lawsuits ; for you must re-
member, that both were rich, and must therefore have their
wills. Well, this wilful, purse-proud lawsuit lasted during 4;he
life of the first husband ; after which his wife vexed and chid,
and chid and vexed, till she also chid and vexed herself into
ner grave : and so the wealth of these poor rich people was curst
into a punishment : because they wanted meek and thankful
hearts ; for those only can make us happy. I knew a man that
had health and riches, and several houses, all beautiful and
ready furnished, and would often trouble himself and family to
be removing from one house to another ; and being asked by
a friend, why he removed so often from one house to another,
repHed, '^ It was to find content in some one of ,them.'* But
his friend, knowing his temper, told him, '^If he would find
content in any of his houses, he must leave himself behind
him; for content will never dwell but in a meek and quiet
soul." And this may appear, if we read and consider what
our Saviour says in St. Matthew's Gospel : for he there says,
'' Blessed be the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed
be the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed be the
poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And,
Blessed be the meek, for they shall possess the earth." Not
that the meek shall not also obtain mercy, and see God, and be
comforted, and at last come to the kingdom of heaven ; but in
the mean time he, and he only, possesses the earth as he goes
toward that kingdom of heaven, by being humble and cheerful,
and content with what his good God has allotted him. He
has no turbulent, repining, vexatious thoughts, that he deserves
better; nor is vexed when he sees others possessed of more
honor, or more riches than his wise God has allotted for his
share ; but he possesses what he has with a meek and contented
quietness ; such a quietness as makes his very dreams pleasing
both to God and himself.

My honest Scholar, all this is told to incHne you to thank

CRAP. XXL] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 227

fulness; and to incline you the more, let me tell you, that
though the prophet David was guilty of murder and adultery,
and many other of the most deadly sins, yet he was said to be
a man after God's own heart, because he abounded more with
hankfulness than any other that is mentioned in Holy Script-
ure, as may appear in his book of Psalms ; where there is such
a commixture of his confessing of his sins and unworthiness,
and such thankfulness for God's pardon and mercies, as did
make him to be accounted, even by God himself, to be a man
after his own heart : and let us in that, labor to be as like him
as we can ; let not the blessings we receive daily from God
make us not to value, or not praise Him, because they be com-
mon : let not us forget to praise Him for the innocent mirth
and pleasure we have met with since we met together. What
would a blind man give to see the pleasant rivers, and mead-
ows, and flowers, and fountains, that we have met with since
we met together ? I have been told, that if a man that wa?.
born blind could obtain to have his sight for but only one hour
during his whole life, and should, at the first opening of his
eyes, fix his sight upon the sun when it was in his full glory,
either at the rising or setting of it, he would be so transported
and amazed, and so admire the glory of it, that he would not
willingly turn his eyes from that first ravishing object, to be-
hold all the other various beauties this world could present to
him. And this, and many other like blessings, we enjoy daily.
And for most of them, because they be so common, most men
forget to pay their praises ; but let not us ; because it is a sac-
rifice so pleasing to Him that made that sun, and us, and still
protects us, and gives us flowers, and showers, and stomachs,
and meat, and content, and leisure to go a-fishing.

Well, Scholar, I have almost tired myself, and, I fear,
more than almost tired you. But I now see Tottenham High-
Cross ; and our short walk thither shall put a period to my
too long discourse; in which my meaning was, and is, to
plant that in your mind, with which I labor to possess my

228 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part I

own soul, that is, a meek and thankful heart. And to that
end I have showed you, that riches without them do not make
any man happy. But let me tell you, that riches with them
remove many fears and cares ; and therefore my advice is.,
that you endeavor to be honestly rich, or contentedly poor ;
but be sure that your riches be justly got, or you spoil all.
^^ipFor it is vvell said by Caussin, '' He that loses his conscience
has nothing left that is worth keeping." Therefore be sure
you look to that. And, in the next place, look to your health :
and if you have it, praise God, and value it next to a good
conscience ; for health is the second blessing that we mortals
are capable of ; a blessing that money cannot buy ; and there-
fore value it, and be thankful for it. As for money, which
may be said to be the third blessing, neglect it not : but note,
that there is no necessity of being rich ; for, I told you, there
be as many miseries beyond riches as on this side them : and,
if you have a competence, enjoy it with a meek, cheerful,
thankful heart. I will tell you. Scholar, I have heard a grave
divine say, that God has two dwellings ; one in heaven, and
the other in a meek and thankful heart : which Almighty God
grant to me, and to my honest Scholar ! And so you are wel-
come to Tottenham High-Cross. *

Ven. Well, Master, I thank you for all your good directions ;
but for none more than this last of thankfulness, which I hope I
shall never forget. And pray now let 's rest ourselves in this
sweet shady arbor, which Nature herself has woven with her
own fine fingers; 't is such a contexture of woodbines, sweet-
brier, jessamine, and myrtle, and so interwoven as will secure us
both from the sun's violent heat, and from the approaching
shower. And, being sat down, I will requite a part of your
courtesies with a bottle of sack, milk, oranges, and sugar, which,
all put together, make a drink like nectar ; indeed, too good for
anybody but us Anglers. And so. Master, here is a full glass to
you of that liquor ; and when you have pledged me, I will
repeat the verses which I promised you. It is a copy printed

Chap. XXI.J THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 22§

amongst some of Sir Henry Wotton's, and doubtless made
either by him or by a lover of Angling. Come, Master, now
drink a glass to me, and then I will pledge you, and fall to my
repetition ; it is a description of such country recreations as I
have enjoyed since I had the happiness to fall into your com-
{Muay.

** Quivering fears, heart-tearing cares,
Anxious sighs, untimely tears,

Fly, fly to courts,

Fly to fond worldlings' sports,
Where strained sardonic smiles are glozing stil^
And Grief is forced to laugh against her will :

Where mirth 's but mummery,

And sorrows only real be.

** Fly, from our country pastimes, fly.
Sad troops of human misery.

Come, serene looks,

Clear as the crystal brooks.
Or the pure azured heaven, ttiat smiles to fSCC
The rich attendance of our poverty :

Peace and a secure mind,

Which all men seek, we only find,

•* Abused mortals, did you know

Where joy, heart' s-ease, and comforts grow,

You 'd scorn proud towers.

And seek them in these bowers ;
Where winds, sometimes, our woods' perhaps may shaJr^
But blust'ring care could never tempest make ;

Nor murmurs e'er come nigh us,

Saving of fountains that glide by us,

•* Here 's no fantastic masque, nor dance,
But of our kids that frisk and prance ;

Nor wars are seen,

Unless upon the green
Two harmless lambs are butting one the other,
Which done, both bleating run each to his mother t

And wounds are never found,

Save what the ploughshare gives the ground.

230 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. tPAl- "

** Here are no entrapping baits
To hasten too, too hasty fates,

Unless it be

The fond credulity
Of silly fish, which, worldling like, still look
Upon the bait, but never on the hook :

Nor envy, 'less among

The birds, for prize of their sweet song.

•*Go, let the diving negro seek
For gems hid in some forlorn creek :

We all pearls scorn,

Save what the dewy mom
Congeals upon each little spire of grass.
Which careless shepherds beat down as they pass l

And gold ne'er here appears,

Save what the yellow Ceres bears.

••Blest silent groves ! O may you be
Forever mirth's best nursery !

May pure contents

Forever pitch their tents
Upon these downs, these meads, these rocks, these mountainii
And peace still slumber by these purling fountains :

Which we may every year

Meet when we come a-fishing here."

Pisc. Trust me, Scholar, I thank you heartily for these verses •
they be choicely good, and doubtless made by a lover of An-
gling. Come, now, drink a glass to me, and I will requite you
with another very good copy : it is a Farewell to the Vanities
of tlie World, and some say, written by Sir Harry Wotton, who
T told you was an excellent Angler. But let them be writ by
whom they will, he that writ them had a brave soul, and must
needs be possessed with happy thoughts at the time of their
composure.

** Farewell, ye gilded follies, pleasing troubles !
Farewell, ye honored rags, ye glorious bubbles !
Fame *s but a hollow echo ; Gold, pure clay ;
Honor, the darling but of one short day ;

ghap.xxl) the complete angler. 231

Beauty, th* eye's idol, but a damasked skin ;
State, but a golden prison, to live in
And torture free-born minds ; embroidered trainii
Merely but pageants for proud swelling veins ;
And blood allied to greatness is alone
Liherited, not purchased, nor our own.

Fame, Honor, Beauty, State, Train, Blood, and Birth

Are but the fading blossoms of the earth.

••I would be great, — but that the sun doth still
Lerel his rays against the rising hill :
I would be high, — but see the proudest oak
Most subject to the rending thunder-stroke s
I would be rich,— but see men, too unkind.
Dig in the bowels of the richest mind :
I would be wise, — but that I often see
The fox suspected, whilst the ass goes free :
I would be fair, — but see the fair and proud,
Like the bright sun, oft setting in a cloud :
I would be poor, — but know the humble grass
Still trampled on by each unworthy ass :
Rich, hated ; Wise, suspected ; Scorned if poor ;
Great, feared ; Fair, tempted ; High, still envied more t

I have wished all ; but now I wish for neither ;

Great, High, Rich, Wise, nor Fair ; Poor I '11 be rathei;

*• Would the World now adopt me for her heir,
Would Beauty's queen entitle me the fair, —
Fame speak me Fortune's minion ; — could I vie
Angels with India ; with a speaking eye
Command bare heads, bowed knees, strike justice dumb
As well as blind and lame ; or give a tongue
To stones by epitaphs ; be called great master
In the loose rhymes of every poetaster ; —
Could I be more than any man that lives.
Great, fair, rich, wise, all in superlatives :
Yet I more freely would these gifts resign.
Than ever Fortune would have made them mine|
And hold one minute of this holy leisure
Beyond the riches of this empty pleasure.

** Welcome, pure thoughts ! Welcome, ye silent groves I
These guests, these courts, xny soul most dearly lovea^

232 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. lt*ART L

Now the winged people of the sky shall sing
My cheerful anthems to the gladsome spring :
A prayer-book now shall be my looking-glass,
In which I will adore sweet Virtue's face.
Here dwell no hateful looks, no palace-cares,
No broken vows dwell here, nor {^ale-faced fears I
Then here I '11 sit, and sigh my liot love's folly,
And learn t' affect an holy melancholy 2

And if Contentment be a stranger, then

I Ml De'er look for it, but in heaven again.'*

Ven. Well, Master, these verses be worthy to keep a room
in every man's memory. I thank you for them ; and I thank
you for your many instructions, which, God willing, I will not
forget. And as St. Austin, in his Confessions, Book IV. Chap.
3, commemorates the kindness of his friend Verecundus, for
lending him and his companion a country-house, because there
they rested and enjoyed themselves free from the troubles of the
world ; so, having had the like advantage, both by your con-
versation and the Art you have taught me, I ought ever to do
the like : for indeed, your company and discourse have been so
useful and pleasant, that I may truly say, I have only lived since
I enjoyed them and turned Angler, and not before. Neverthe-
less, here I must part with you, here in this now sad place,
where I was so happy as first to meet you : but I shall long for
the 9th of May, for then I hope again to enjoy your beloved
company at the appointed time and place. And now I wish
for some somniferous potion, that might force me to sleep away
the intermitted time, which will pass away with me as tediously
as it does with men in sorrow ; nevertheless I will make it as
short as I can, by my hopes and wishes. And my good Master,
I will not forget the doctrine which you told me Socrates taught
his scholars, that they should not think to be honored so much
for being philosophers, as to honor philosophy by their virtuous
lives. You advised me to the like concerning Angling, and I
will endeavor to do so, and to live like those many worthy men,
of which you made mention in the former part of your discourse.

Chap. XXLJ THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 235

This is my firm resolution. And as a pious man advised his
friend, that, to beget mortification, he should firequent churches,
and view monuments, and charnel-houses, and then and there
consider, how many dead bones Time had piled up at the gates
of Death : so when I would beget content, and increase con-
fidence in the power, and wisdom, and providence of Almighty
God, I will walk the meadows by some ghding stream, and
there contemplate the lilies that take no care, and those very
many other various little living creatures, that are not only
created, but fed, man knows not how, by the goodness of the
God of nature, and therefore trust in him. This is my purpose j
and so, ** Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord " :
and let the blessing of St. Peter's Master be with mine.

Pisc. And upon all that are lovers of virtue, and dare trust
In his providence, and be quiet, and go a- Angling.

"Study to be Quiet/' — i Thes. iv. ii»

THE COMPLETE ANGLER

OR, THB

CONTEMPLATIVE MAN'S RECREATION
Part II.

BEING INSTRUCTIONS HOW TO ANGLE FOR A TROUT O^
GRAYLING IN A CLEAR STREAM

I

THE FIRST DAY.

CHAPTER I.

PISCATOR JUNIOR AND VIATOR,
PiSCATOR.

YOU are happily overtaken, Sir. May a man be so bold ^s
to inquire how far you travel this way ?

Viator. Yes, sure. Sir, very freely ; though it be a question
I cannot very well resolve you, as not knowing myself how far
it is to Ashbourn, where I intend to-night to take up my inn.

Pisc. Why then, Sir, seeing I perceive you to be a stranger
in these parts, I shall take upon me to inform you, that from ^
the town you last came through, called Brailsford, it is five- .
miles ; and you are not yet above half a mile on this side.

ViAT. So much ! I was told it was but ten miles from Derby ;
and, methinks, I have rode almost so far already.

Pisc. O, Sir, find no fault with large measure of good land ;
which Derbyshire abounds in, as much as most counties of
England.

ViAT. It may be so ; and good land, I confess, affords a
pleasant prospect : but, by your good leave, Sir, large measure
of foul way is not altogether so acceptable.

Pisc. True, Sir ; but the foul way serves to justify the fer-
tility of the soil, according to the proverb, *^ There is good
land where there is foul way ' ' : and is of good use to inform you
of the riches of the country you are come into, and of its con-
tinual travel and traffic to the country-town you came from;
which is also very observable by the fulness of its road, and
the laden horses you meet everywhere upon the way.

238 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. CPart VL

ViAT. Well, Sir, I will be content to think as well of your
country as you would desire. And I shall have a good deal of
reason both to think and to speak very well of you, if I may
obtain the happiness of your company to the fore-mentioned
place ; provided your affairs lead you that way, and that they
will permit you to slack your pace, out of complacency to a
traveller utterly a stranger in these parts, and who am still to
wander further out of my own knowledge.

Pisc. Sir, you invite me to my own advantage, and I am
ready to attend you ; my way lying through that town ; but
my business, that is, my home, some miles beyond it ; however,
I shall have time enough to lodge you in your quarters, and
afterwards to perform my ow*i journey. In the mean time,
may I be so bold as to inquire the end of your journey ?

ViAT. *T is into Lancashire, Sir, and about some business
of concern to a near relation of mine : for I assure you, I do
not use to take long journeys, as from Essex, upon the single
account of pleasure.

Pisc. From thence. Sir ! I do not then wonder you should
appear dissatisfied with the length of the miles, and the foul-
ness of the way ; though I am sorry you should begin to
quarrel with them so soon : for, believe me, Sir, you will find
the miles much longer and the way much worse, before you
come to your journey's end.

ViAT. Why truly, Sir, for that, I am prepared to expect the
wor^t; but methinks the way is mended since J had the good
fortune to fall into your good company.

Pisc, You are not obliged to my company for that : but be-
cause you are already past the worst, and the greatest part of
your way to your lodging.

ViAT. I am very glad to hear it, both for the ease of myself
^nd my horse : but especially because I may then expect a
freer enjoyment of your conversation : though the shortness of
the way will, I fear, make me lose it the sooner.

Pisc. That, Sir, is not worth your care j and I am sure you

Chap. LI THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 239

deserve much better, for being content with so ill company.
But we have already talked away two miles of your journey ;
for, from the brook before us, that runs at the foot of this
sandy hill, you have but three miles lo Ashbourn.

ViAT. I meet everywhere in this country with these little
brooks ; and they look as if they were full of fish. Have they
not Trouts in them ?

Pisc. That is a question which is to be excused in a strangerj
as you are : otherwise, give me leave to tell you, it would
seem a kind of affront to our country, to make a doubt of what
we pretend to be famous for, next, if not before, our malt,
wool, lead, and coal : for you are to understand, that we think
we have as many fine rivers, rivulets, and brooks as any country
whatever ; and they are all full of Trouts, and some of then}
the best, it is said, by many degrees, in England.

ViAT. I was first, Sir, in love with you, and now shall be so
enamored of your country, by this account you give me of it, as
to wish myself a Derbyshire man, or at least that I might live
in it ; for you must know I am a pretender to the Angle, and,
doubtless, a Trout affords the most pleasure to the Angler of
any sort of fish whatever ; and the best Trouts must needs make
the best sport : but this brook, and some others I have met
with upon this way, are too full of wood for that recreation.

Pisc. This, Sir ! why this, and several others like it, which
you have past, and some that you are like to pass, have scarce
any name amongst us : but we can show you as fine rivers, and
as clear from wood, or any other encumbrance to hinder an
Angler, as any you ever saw ; and for clear, beautiful streams, •
Hantshire itself, by Mr. Izaak Walton's good leave, can show
none such ; nor I think any country in Europe.

ViAT. You go far, Sir, in the praise of your country rivers,
and I perceive have read Mr. Walton's Complete Angler, by
your naming of Hantshire ; and I pray what is your opinion
of that book ?

Pisc. My opinion of Mr. Walton's book is the same with

24D THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part II

every man's that understands anything of the art of Angling,
that it is an excellent good one ; and that the forementioned
gentleman understands as much of fish, and fishing, as any man
living. But I must tell you further, that I have the happiness
to know his person, and to be intimately acquainted with him ;
and in nim to know the worthiest man, and to enjoy the
best and the truest Iriend any man ever had : nay, I shall yet
acquaint you further, that he gives me leave to call him father,
and I hope is not yet ashamed to own me for his adopted son.

ViAT. In earnest. Sir, I am ravished to meet with a friend
of Mr. Izaak Walton's, and one that does him so much right
in so good and true a character : for I must boast to you, that
I have the good fortune to know him too, and came acquainted
with him much after the sarr^e manner I do with you ; that he
^as my Master who first taught me to love Angling, and then
to become an Angler ; and, to be plain v/ith you, I am the
very man deciphered in his book under the name of Venator :
for I was wholly addicted to the Chase, till he taught me as
jgood, a more quiet, innocent, and less dangerous diversion.

Pisc. Sir, I think myself happy in your acquaintance ; and
before we part shall entreat leave to embrace you. You have
said enough to recommend you to my best opinion ; for my
Father Walton will be seen twice in no man's company he
does not like, and likes none but such as he believes to be very
honest men ; which is one of the best arguments, or at least of
the best testimonies I have, that I either am, or that he thinks
me, one of those, seeing I have not yet found him weary of
me.

ViAT. You speak like a true friend ; and, in doing so,
render yourself worthy of his friendship. May I be so bold as
to ask your name ?

Pisc. Yes, surely, Sir, and if you please a much nicer

question ; my name is , and I intend to stay long enough

in your company, if I find you do not dislike mine, to ask
yours too. In the mean time, because we are now almost at

Chap. 1] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 241

Ashbourn, I shall freely and bluntly tell you, that I am a
Brother of the Angle too; and, peradventure, can give you
some instructions how to angle for a Trout in a clear river, that
my Father Walton himself will not disapprove ; though he did
either purposely omit, or did not remember them when you
and he sat discoursing under the sycamore-tree. And, being
you have already told me whither your journey is intended, and
that I am better acquainted with the country than you are, I
will heartily and earnestly entreat you will not think of staying
at this town, but go on with me six miles farther to my house,
where you shall be extremely welcome ; it is directly in your
way ; we have day enough to perform our journey, and, as you
like your entertainment, you may there repose yourself a day
or two, or as many more as your occasions will permit, to rec-
ompense the trouble of so much a longer journey.

ViAT. Sir, you surprise me with so friendly an invitation
upon so short acquaintance : but how advantageous soever it
would be to me, and that my haste, perhaps, is not so great,
but it might dispense with such a divertisement as I promise
myself in your company, yet I cannot, in modesty, accept your
offer, and must therefore beg your pardon : I could otherwise,
I confess, be glad to wait upon you, if upon no other account
but to talk of Mr. Izaak Walton, and to receive those instruc-
tions you say you are able to give me for the deceiving a
Trout ; in which art I will not deny but that I have an am-
bition to be one of the greatest deceivers : though I cannot
forbear freely to tell you that I think it hard to say much more
than has been read to me upon that subject.

Pisc. Well, Sir, I grant that too; but you must know that
the variety of rivers require different ways of Angling : how-
ever, you shall have the best rules I am able to give, and I will
tell you nothing I have not made myself as certain of, as any
man can be in thirty years' experience, for so long I have been
a dabbler in that art ; and that, if you please to stay a few
days, you shall in a very great measure see made good to jrou.

242 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. (Part H

But of that hereafter : and now, Sir, if I am not mistaken, I
have half overcome you ; and that I may wholly conquer that
modesty of yours, I will take upon me to be so familiar as to
say, you must accept my invitation ; which, that you may the
more easily be persuaded to do, I will tell you that my house
stands upon the margin of one of the finest rivers for Trouts
and Grayling in England ; that I have lately built a little fish-
ing-house upon it, dedicated to Anglers, over the door of which
you will see the two first letters of my Father Walton's name
and mine, twisted in cipher ; * that you shall lie in the same
bed he has sometimes been contented with, and have such
country entertainment as my friends sometimes accept ; and be
as welcome, too, as the best friend of them all.

ViAT. No doubt, Sir, but my Master Walton found good
reason to be satisfied with his entertainment in your house ; for
you, who are so friendly to a mere stranger, who deserves so
little, must needs be exceeding kind and free to him who
deserves so much.

Pisc. Believe me, no : and such as are intimately acquainted
with that gentleman know him to be a man who will not en-
dure to be treated like a stranger. So that his acceptation of
my poor entertainments has ever been a pure effect of his own
humility and good nature, and nothing else. But, Sir, we are
now going down the Spittle Hill into the town ; and therefore
let me importune you suddenly to resolve, and mo^t earnestly
not to deny me.

ViAT. In truth, Sir, I am so overcome by your bounty, that
I find I cannot ; but must render myself wholly to be disposed
by you.

Pisc. Why that 's heartily and kindly spoken, and I as heart-
ily thank you : and, being you have abandoned yourself to my
conduct, Tfc will only call and drink a glass on horseback at
the Talbot, and away.

* As in the title-page.

Chap. I.J THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 243

ViAT. I attend you. But what pretty river is this, that runs
under this stone bridge ? Has it a name ?

Pisc. Yes, 't is called Henmore, and has in it both Trout
and Grayling ; but you will meet with one or two better anon.
And so soon as we are past through the town, I will endeavor,
by such discourse as best likes you, to pass away the time till
you come to your ill quarters.

ViAT. We can talk of nothing with which I shall be more
delighted, than of Rivers and Angling.

Pisc. Let those be the subjects then. But we are now come
to the Talbot. What will you drink, Sir, ale or wine ?

ViAT. Nay, I am for the country liquor, Derbyshire ale, if
you please ; for a man should not, methinks, come from Lon-
don to drink wine in the Peak.

Pisc. You are in the right : and yet, let me tell you, you
may drink worse French wine in many taverns in London, than
they have sometimes at this house. What, Ho ! bring us a
flagon of your best ale. And now. Sir, my service to you, a
, good health to the honest gentleman you know of; and you
are welcome into the Peak.

ViAT. I thank you, Sir, and present you my service again,
and to all the honest Brothers of the Angle.

Pisc. I '11 pledge you. Sir : so there 's for your ale, and fare-
well. Come, Sir, let us be going : for the sun grows low, and
I would have you look about you as you ride ; for you will see
an odd country, and sights that will seem strange to you.

THE FIRST DAY.
CHAPTER II.

PiSCATOR,

SO, Sir, now we have got to the top of the hill out of town,
look about you, and tell me how you like the country.

ViAT. Bless me ! what mountains are here ! Are we not in
Wales ?

Pisc. No, but in almost as mountainous a country ; and yet
these hills, though high, bleak, and craggy, breed and feed
good beef and mutton above ground, and afford good store of
lead within.

ViAT. They had need of all those commodities to make
amends for the ill landscape : but I hope our way does not lie
over any of these, for I dread a precipice.

Pisc. Believe me, but it does, and down one especially, that
will appear a little terrible to a stranger ; though the way is
passable enough, and so passable, that we, who are natives of
these mountains, and acquainted with them, disdain to alight.

ViAT. I hope though, that a foreigner is privileged to use
his own discretion, and that I may have the liberty to intrmst
my neck to the fidelity of my own feet, rather than to those of
my horse ; for I have no more at home.

Pisc. *T were hard else. But in the mean time, I think
't were best, while this way is pretty even, to mend our pace,
that we may be past that hill I speak of, to the end your ap-
prehension may not be doubled for want of light to discern the
easiness of the descent.

ViAT. I am willing to put forward as fast as my beast will

Chap. II.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 245

give me leave ; though I fear nothing in your company. But
what pretty river is this we are going into ?

Pisc. Why this, Sir, is called Bentley Brook, and is full of
very good Trout and Grayling ; but so encumbered with wood
in many places, as is troublesome to an Angler.

ViAT. Here are the prettiest rivers and the most of them in
this country that ever I saw : do you know how many you
have in the country ?

I Pisc. I know them all, and they were not hard to reckon,
were it worth the trouble ; but the most considerable of them
I will presently name you. And to begin where we now are,
for you must know we are now upon the very skirts of Derby-
shire ; we have, first, the river Dove, that we shall come to by
and by, which divides the two counties of Derby and Stafford,
for many miles together ; and is so called from the swiftness of
its current, and that swiftness occasioned by the declivity of its
course, and by being so straitened in that course betwixt the
rocks; by which, and those very high ones, it is hereabout,
for four or five miles, confined into a very narrow stream. A
river that, from a contemptible fountain, which I can cover
with my hat, by the confluence of other rivers, rivulets, brooks,
and rills, is swelled, — before it falls into Trent, a little below
Egginton, where it loses the name, — to such a breadth and
depth as to be in most places navigable, were not the passage
frequently interrupted with fords and weirs : and has as fertile
banks as any river in England, none excepted. And this
river, from its head, for a mile or two, is a black water, — as
all the rest of the Derbyshire rivers of note originally are ; for
they all spring from the mosses, — but is in a few miles' travel
so clarified, by the addition of several clear, and very great
springs, bigger than itself, which gush out of the limestone
rocks, that before it comes to my house, which is but six or
«even miles from its source, you will find it one of the purest
crystalline streams you have seen.

ViAT. Does. Trent spring in these parts ?

246 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part II

Pisc. Yes, in these parts : not in this county, but some-
where towards the upper end of Staffordshire, I think not fai
from a place called Trentham ; and thence runs down not fai
from Stafford to Wolsley Bridge, and, washing the skirts and
purlieus of the Forest of Needwood, runs down to Burton in
the same county : thence it comes into this where we now are,
and, running by Swarkeston and Dunnington, receives Der-
went at Wildon ; and so to Nottingham, thence to Newark,
and by Gainsborough to Kingston upon Hull, where it takes
the name of Humber, and thence falls into the sea : but that
the map will best inform you.

ViAT. Know you whence this river Trent derives its name ?

Pisc. No, indeed, and yet I have heard it often discoursed
upon, when some have given its denomination from the fore-
named Trentham, though that seems rather a derivative from
it; others have said, 't is so called from thirty rivers that fall
into it, and there lose their names ; which cannot be, neither,
because it carries that name from its very fountain, before any
other rivers fall into it : others derive it from thirty several
sorts of fish that breed there ; and that is the most likely deri-
vation : but be it how it will, it is doubtless one of the finest
rivers in the world, and the most abounding with excellent
Salmon, and all sorts of delicate fish.

ViAT. Pardon me. Sir, for tempting you into this digres-
sion : and then proceed to your other rivers, for I am mightily
dehghted with this discourse.

Pisc. It was no interruption, but a very seasonable question ;
for Trent is not only one of our Derbyshire rivers, but the
chief of them, and into which all the rest pay the tribute of
their names ; which I had, perhaps, forgot to insist upon, be-
ing got to the other end of the county, had you not awoke my
memory. But I will now proceed ; and the next river of note,
for I will take them as they He eastward from us, is the river
Wye : I say of note, for we have two lesser betwixt us and it,
namely, Lathkin, and Bradford ; of which Lathkin is, by many

Chap. II.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 247

degrees, the purest and most transparent stream that I ever yet
saw, either at home or abroad ; and breeds, 't is said, the red-
dest and the best Trouts in England ; but neither of these are
to be reputed rivers, being no better than great springs. The
river Wye then has its source near unto Buxton, a town some
ten miles from hence, famous for a warm bath, and which you
are to ride through in your way to Manchester : a black water
too at the fountain, but, by the same reason with Dove, be-
comes very soon a most delicate clear river, and breeds admi-
rable Trout and Grayling, reputed by those who, by living
upon its banks, are partial to it, the best of any ; and this run-
ning down by Ashford, Bakewell, and Haddon, at a town a
little lower called Rowsley, falls into Derwent, and there loses
its name. The next in order is Derwent, a black water too,
and that not only from its fountain, but quite through its prog-
ress, not having these crystal springs to wash and cleanse it,
which the two forementioned have : but abounds with Trout
and Grayling, such as they are, towards its source, and with
Salmon below : and this river from the upper and utmost part of
this county, where it springs, taking its course by Chatsworth,
Darley, Matlock. Derby, Burrow-Ash, and Awberson, fall?
into Trent at a place called Wildon, and there loses its name.
The east side of this County of Derby is bounded by little in-
considerable rivers, as Awber, Eroways, and the like, scarce
worth naming, but Trouty too, and further we are not to in-
quire. But, Sir, I have carried you, as a man may say, by
water, till we are now come to the descent of the formidable
hill I told you of, at the foot of which runs the river Dove,
which I cannot but love above all the rest ; and therefore pre-
pare yourself to be a little frighted.

ViAT. Sir, I see you would fortify me, that I should not
■. shame myself ; but I dare follow where you please to lead me ;
and I see no danger yet ; for the descent, methinks, is thus far
green, even, and easy.

Pisc. You will like it worse presently, when you come to

248 THE COMPLETE ANGLEk. [Part II.

the brow of the hill: — and now we are there, what think
you?

ViAT. What do I think? Why I think it the strangest
place that ever, sure, men .and horses went down ; and that,
if there be any safety at all, the safest way is to alight.

Pisc. I think so too for you, who are mounted upon a beast
not acquainted with these slippery stones : and, though I fre-
quently ride down, I will alight too, to bear you company,
and to lead you the way; and, if you please, my man shall
lead your horse.

ViAT. Marry, Sir ? and thank you too : for I am afraid I
shall have enough to do to look to myself ; and with my horse
in my hand should be in a double fear, both of breaking my
neck, and my horse's falling on me ; for it is as steep as a
penthouse.

Pisc. To look down from hence it appears so, I confess j
but the path winds and turns, and will not be found so trouble-
some.

ViAT. Would I were well down though ! Hoist thee I
there 's one fair 'scape ! these stones are so slippery I cannot
stand ! yet again ! I think I were best lay my heels in my
neck, and tumble down.

Pisc. If you think your heels will defend your neck, that is
the way to be soon at the bottom. But give me your hand at
this broad stone, and then the worst is past.

ViAT. I thank you. Sir, I am now past it, I can go myself.
What's here? the sign of a bridge? Do you use to travel
Vith wheelbarrows in this country ?

Pisc. Not that I ever saw. Sir. Why do you ask that
question ?

ViAT. Because this bridge certainly was made for nothing
else ; why a mouse can hardly go over it : 't is not two fingers
broad.

Pisc. You are pleasant, and I am glad to see you so : but I
have rid over the bridge many a dark night.

Chap. II.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 249

ViAT. Why, according to the French proverb, and *t is a
good one among a great many of worse sense and sound that
language abounds in, Ce que Dieu garde, est bien garde. They
whom God takes care of are in safe protection ; but, let me tell
you, I would not ride over it for a thousand pounds, nor fall
off it for two ; and yet I think I dare venture on foot, though
if you were not by to laugh at me, I should do it on all four.

Pisc. Well, Sir, your mirth becomes you, and I am glad to
see you safe over ; and now you are welcome into Stafford-
shire.

ViAT. How, Staffordshire ! What do I there trow ? There
is not a word of Staffordshire in all my direction.

Pisc. You see you are betrayed into it ; but it shall be in
order to something that will make amends ; and 't is but an ill
mile or two out of your way.

ViAT. I believe all things. Sir, and doubt nothing. Is this
your beloved river Dove? 'T is clear and swift, indeed, but
a very little one.
I Pisc. You see it here at the worst ; we shall come to it anon
again after two miles riding, and so near as to lie upon the
very banks.

ViAT. Would we were there once ! But I hope we have no
more of these Alps to pass over.

Pisc. No, no, Sir, only this ascent before you, which you
I see is not very uneasy ; and then you will no more quarrel
with your way.

ViAT. Well, i^ ever I come to London, of which many a
man there, if he were in my place would make a question, I
will sit down and write my travels; and, like Tom Coriate,'^^jL/i:
print them at my own charge. Pray what do you call this hill
we come down ?

Pisc. We call it Hanson Toot.

ViAT. Why, farewell Hanson Toot ! I '11 no more on thee :
I '11 go twenty miles about first. Puh ! I sweat, that my shirt
sticks to my back.

25^ THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part II,

Pisc. Come, Sir, now we are up the hill, and now how do
you?

ViAT. Why, very well, I humbly thank you, Sir, and warm
^ .enough, I assure you. What have we here, a church ! As I *m
^^ an honest man, a very pretty church ! Have you churches in
this country. Sir ?

Pisc. You see we have : but, had you seen none, why should
you make that doubt. Sir ?

ViAT. Why, if you will not be angry, I '11 tell you I thought
myself a stage or two beyond Christendom.

.Pisc. Come, come ! we '11 reconcile you to our country, be-
fore we part with you ; if showing you good sport with An-
gling will do it.

ViAT. My respect to you, and that together may do much.
Sir ; otherwise, to be plain with you, I do not find myself
much inclined that way.

Pisc. Well, Sir, your raillery upon our mountains has
brought us ahnost home. And look you where the same river
of Dove has again met us to bid you welcome, and to invite
you to'a dish of Trouts to-morrow.

ViAT. Is this the same we saw at the foot of Penmen-Maure ?
It is a much finer river here.

Pisc. It will appear yet much finer to-morrow. But look
you. Sir, here appears the house, that is now like to be you:
inn, for want of a better.

ViAT. It appears on a sudden, but not before 't was lookec
for. It stands prettily, and here *s wood about it too, but s^
young, as appears to be of your own planting.

Pisc. It is so. Will it please you to alight. Sir. — And now
permit me, after all your pains and dangers, to take you in my
arms, and to assure you that you are infinitely welcome.

ViAT. I thank you, Sir, and am glad with all my heart I am
here; for, in downright truth, I am exceeding weary.

Pisc. You will sleep so much the better : you shall presently
have a hght supper, and to bed. Come, Sirs, lay the clotl\

Chap. II.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 2$ I

and bring what you have presently, and let the gentleman's
bed be made ready in the mean time, in my Father Walton's
chamber. And now, Sir, here is my service to you ; and
once more welcome !

ViAT. I, marry, Sir, this glass of good sack has refreshed
mc. And I '11 make as bold with your meat, for the trout has
got me a good stomach.

Pisc. Come, Sir, fall to then, you see my little supper is al-
ways ready when I come home ; and I '11 make no stranger of
you.

ViAT. That your meal is so soon ready, is a sign your ser-
vants know your certain hours. Sir. I confess I did not ex-
pect it so soon ; but now 't is here, you shall see I will make
myself no stranger.

Pisc. Much good do your heart ! and I thank you for that
friendly word. And now. Sir, my service to you in a cup of
More-Lands ale; for you are now in the More-Lands, but
within a spit and a stride of the Peak. Fill my friend his
glass.

ViAT. Believe me, you have good ale in the More-Lands :
far better than that at Ashbourn.

Pisc. That it may soon be ; for Ashbourn has, which is a
kind of a riddle, always in it the best malt, and the worst ale
in England. Come, take away, and bring us some pipes, and
a bottle of ale, and go to your own suppers. Are you for this
diet, Sir ?

ViAT. Yes, Sir, I am for one pipe of tobacco ; and I per-
ceive yours is very good by the smell.

Pisc. The best I can get in London, I assure you. But,
Sir, now you have thus far complied with my designs, as to
take a troublesome journey mto an ill country, only to satisfy
me ; how long may I hope to enjoy you ?

ViAT. Why, truly. Sir, as long as I conveniently can ; and
longer, I think, you would not have me.

Pisc Not to your inconvenience by any means. Sir, but I

252 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part It

§ee you are weary, and therefore I will presently wait on you
to your chamber, where take counsel of your pillow, and to-
morrow resolve me. Here ! take the lights, and pray follow
them, Sir : here you are like to lie : and, now I have showevj
you your lodgings, I beseech you command anything you want ;
and so ? wish you good rest 1
YiATs ^•''•ood night. Sir 1

THE SECOND DAY.

CHAPTER III.

PiSCATOR.

GOOD morrow, Sir ! What, up and dressed so early ?
ViAT. Yes, Sir, I have been dressed this half-hour ; for
I rested so well, and have so great a mind either to take, or see
a Trout taken, in your fine river, that I could no longer lie
abed.

Pisc. I am glad to see you so brisk this morning, and so
eager of sport ; though, I must tell you, this day proves so
calm, and the sun rises so bright, as promises no great success
to the Angler; but, however, we'll try; and, one way or
other, we shall, sure, do something. What will you have to
your breakfast, or what will you drink this morning ?

ViAT. For breakfast, I never eat any, and for drink I am
very indifferent ; but if you please to call for a glass of ale, I 'm
for you : and let it be quickly, if you please, for I long to see
the little fishing-house you spoke of, and to be at my lesson.

Pisc. Well, Sir ! You see the ale is come without calling ;
for though I do not know yours, my people know my diet ;
which is always one glass so soon as I am dressed, and no more
till dinner ; and so my servants have served you.

ViAT. My thanks. And now, if you please, let us look out
this fine morning.

Pisc. With all my heart ; boy, take the key of my fishing-
house, and carry down those two angle-rods in the hall-window,
thither, with my fish-pannier, pouch, and landing-net ; and stay
you there till we come. Come, Sir, we '11 walk after; where,

254 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part IL

by the way, I expect you should raise all the exceptions against
our country you can.

ViAT. Nay, Sir, do not think me so ill-natured nor so un-
civil : I only made a little bold with it last night to divert you/
and was only in jest.

Pisc. You were then in as good earnest as I am now with
you : but had you been really angry at it, I could not blame
you ; for, to say the truth, it is not very taking at first sight.
But look you. Sir, now you are abroad, does not the sun shine
as bright here as in Essex, Middlesex, or Kent, or any of your
southern counties ?

ViAT. 'T is a delicate morning indeed ! And I now think
this a marvellous pretty place.

Pisc. Whether you think so or no, you cannot oblige me
more than to say so ; and those of my friends who know my
humor, and are so kind as to comply with it, usually flatter me
that way. But look you, Sir, now you are at the brink of the
hill, how do you like my river, the vale it winds through like a
snake, and the situation of my Httle fishing-house?

ViAT. Trust me, 't is all very fine; and the house seems at
this distance a neat building.

Pisc. Good enough for that purpose. And here is a bowl-
ing-green too, close by it ; so, though I am myself no very good
bowler, I am not totally devoted to nay own pleasure, but that
I have also some regard to other men's. And now. Sir, you
are come to the door ; pray walk in, and there we will sit and
talk, as long as you please.

ViAT. Stay, what 's here over the door ? Piscatoribus sa-
crum ! * Why then I perceive I have some title here ; for I am
one of them, though one of the worst ; and here below it is the
cipher too you spoke of, and *t is prettily contrived. Has

* There is, under this motto, the cipher mentioned in the title-page. And
some part of the fishing-house has been described ; but the pleasantness of
the river, mountains, and meadows about it cannot, unless Sir Philip Sidney,
or Mr. Cotton's father, were again alive to do it

Chap. III.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 255

my Master Walton ever been here to see it ? for it seems new-
built.

Pisc. Yes, he saw it cut in the stone before it was set up ;
but never in the posture it now stands : for the house was but
building when he was last here, and not raised so high as the
arch of the door. And I am afraid he will not see it yet ; for
he has lately writ me word, he doubts his coming down this
summer ; which, I do assure you, was the worst news he could
possibly have sent me.

ViAT. Men must sometimes mind their affairs to make more
room for their pleasures ; and 't is odds he is as much displeased
with the business that keeps him from you, as you are that he
comes not. But I am the most pleased with this little house of
anything I ever saw : it stands in a kind of peninsula, too, with
a delicate clear river about it. I dare hardly go in, lest I should
not like it so well within as without ; but by your leave I ^11 try.
Why this is better and better, fine lights, finely wainscoted, and
aH exceeding neat, with a marble table and all in the middle.

Pisc. Enough, Sir, enough ! I have laid open to you the
part where I can worst defend myself; and now you attack me
there ! Come, boy, set two chairs, and w^hilst I am taking a
pipe of tobacco, which is always my breakfast, we will, if you
please, talk of some other subject.

ViAT. None fitter, then. Sir, for the time and place, than
those instructions you promised.

Pisc. I begin to doubt, by something I discover in you,
whether I am able to instruct you, or no : though, if you are
really a stranger to our clear northern rivers, I still think I can ;
and therefore, since it is yet too early in the morning at this
time of the year, to-day being but the 7th of March, to cast a
fly upon the water, if you will direct me what kind of fishing
for a Trout I shall read you a lecture on, I am willing and ready
to obey you.

ViAT. Why, Sir, if you will so far oblige me and that it may
not be too troublesome to you, I would entreat you would run

256 THE COMPl.ETE ANGLER. IPart U

through the whole body of it ; and I will not conceal from you,
that I am so far in love with you, your courtesy, and pretty
Moreland seat, as to resolve to stay with you long enough by
intervals ; for I will not oppress you, to hear all you can say
upon that subject.

Pisc. You cannot oblige me more than by such a promise.
And, therefore, without more ceremony I will begin to tell you,
that my Father Walton having read to you before, it would
look like a presumption in me, and peradventure would do so
in any other man, to pretend to give lessons for Angling after
him who, I do really believe, understands as much of it, at least,
as any man in England ; did I not pre-acquaint you, that I am
not tempted to it by any vain opinion of myself, that I am able
to give you better directions ; but, having from my childhood
pursued the recreation of Angling in very clear rivers, — truly I
think by much, some of them at least, the clearest in this king-
dom,— and the manner of Angling here with us, by reason of
that exceeding clearness, being something different from the
method commonly used in others, which, by being not near so
bright, admit of stronger tackle, and allow a nearer approach
to the strearm ; — I may, peradventure, give you some instruc-
tions, that may be of use even in your own rivers ; and shall
bring you acquainted with more flies, and show you how to
make them, and with wh^ dubbing too, than he has taken notice
of in his Complete Angler.

ViAT. I beseech, you, Sir, do : and, if you will lend me your
steel, I will light a pipe the while ; for that is commonly my
breakfast in a morning, too.

THE SECOND DAY.

CHAPTER IV.

PiSCATOR.

tl7HY then, Sir, to begin methodically, as a master in any
' ^ art should do, — and I will not deny but that I think
myself a master in this, — I shall divide Angling for Trout or
Grayling into these three ways : at the top, at the bottom,
and in the middle ; which three ways, though they are all of
them, as I shall hereafter endeavor to make it appear, in some
sort common to both those kinds of fish, yet are they not so
generally and absolutely so but that they will necessarily require
u distinction ; which, in due place, I will also give you.

That which we call angling at the top is with a fly ; at the
bottom, with a ground-bait; in the middle, with a minnow,
or ground-bait.

Angling at the top is of two sorts : with a quick-fly, or with
an artificial-fly.

That we call angling at the bottom is also of two sorts : by
the hand, or with a cork or float.

That we call angling in the middle is also of two sorts : witn
a minnow for a Trout, or with a aground-bait for a Grayhng.

Of all which several sorts of AngHng I will, if you can
have the patience to hear me, give you the best account I can.

ViAT. The trouble will be yours, and mine the pleasure aind
llie obligation. I beseech you, therefore, to proceed.

Pisc Why, then, first of Fly-fishing.

THE SECOND DAY.

Chap. Y.—Of Fly-Fishing.

PiSCATOR.

pLY-FISHING, or fishing at the top, is, as I said before, of
^ two sorts : with a Natural, and Hving, Fly, or with an
Artificial, and made. Fly.

First, then. Of the Natural Fly : of which we generally use
but two sorts, and those but in the two months of May and
June only, namely, the Green-drake and the Stone-fly ; though
I have made use of a third that way, called the Camlet-fly,
with very good success for Grayling, but never saw it angled
with by any other after this manner, my master only excepted,
who died many years ago, and was one of the best Anglers
that ever I knew.

These are to be angled with, with a short line, not much
more than half the length of your rod, if the air be still ; or
with a longer, very near or all out as long as your rod, if you
have [any wind to carry it from you : and this way of fishing
we call Daping, Dabbing, or Dibbling; wherein you are
always to have your line flying before you up or down the
river as the wind serves, and|to angle as near as you can to the
bank of the same side whereon you stand : though where you
see a fish rise near you, you may guide your quick-fly over
him, whether in the middle, or on che contrary side; and, i^
you are pretty well out of sight, either by kneeling or the in^
terposition of a bank or bush, you may almost be sure to raise^
and take him too, if it be presently done ; the fish will other-
wise, peradventure, be removed to some other place, if it be
in the still-deeps, where he is always in motion, and roving up

Chap. VI THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 259

and down to look for prey ; though in a stream, you may
always, almost, especially if there be a good stone near, find
him in the same place. Your line ought in this case to be
three good hairs next the hook ; both by reason you are, in
this kind of Angling, to expect the biggest fish, and also that,
wanting length to give him line after he is struck, you must be
forced to tug for 't ; to which I will also add, that, not an inch
of your line being to be suffered to touch the water in dib-
bling, it may be allowed to be the stronger. I should now
give yt^u a description of those flies, their shape and color, and
then give you an account of their breeding, and withal show
you how to keep and use them ; but shall defer that to their
proper place and season.

ViAT. In earnest. Sir, you discourse very rationally of rhis
affair, and I am glad to find myself mistaken in you ; for in
plain truth I did not expect so much from you.

Pisc. Nay, Sir, I can tell you a great deal more than this,
and will conceal nothing from you. But I must now come to
the second way of angling at the top, which is with an arti-
ficial-fly, which also I will show you how to make before I
have done : but nrst shall acquaint you, that with this you are
to angle with a line longer, by a yard and a half or sometimes
two yards, than your rod ; and with both this, and the other,
in a still day, in the streams, in a breeze that curls the water
in the still-deeps, where (excepting in May and June, that the
best Trouts will lie in shallow streams to watch for prey, and
even then too) you are like to hit the best fish.

For the length of your rod, you are always to be governed
by the breadth of the river you shall choose to angle at : and
for a Trout-river, one of five or six yards long is commonly
enough ; and longer, though never so neatly and artificially
made, it ought not to be, if you intend to fish at ease ; and if
otherwise, where lies the sport ?

Of these, the best that ever I saw are made in Yorkshire,
which are all of one piece : that is to say of several, six, eignt,

26o THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part H.

ten, or twelve pieces, so neatly pieced, and tied together with
fine thread below, and silk above, as to make it taper, like a
switch, and to ply with a true bent to your hand. And these,
too, are light, being made of fir-wood for two or three lengths
nearest to the hand, and of other wood nearer to the top ; that
a man might very easily manage the longest of them that ever
I saw, with one hand. And these, when you have given over
Angling for a season, being taken to pieces, and laid up in
some dry place, may afterwards be set together again in their
former postures, and will . be as straight, sound, and good as
the first hour they were made ; and being laid in oil and color,
according to your Master Walton's direction, will last many
years.

The length of your line, to a man that knows how to handle
his rod, and to cast it, is no manner of encumbrance, except-
ing in woody places and in landing of a fish, which every one
that can afford to angle for pleasure has somebody to do for
him. And the length of line is a mighty advantage to the
fishing at distance ; and to ^^fine dind far off, is the first and
principal rule for Trout-Angling.

Your line in this case should never be less, nor ever exceed
two hairs next to the hook ; for one (though some I know will
pretend to more art than their fellows) is indeed too few, the
least accident, with the finest hand, being sufficient to break
it ; hut he that cannot kill a Trout of twenty inches long with
two, in a river clear of wood and weeds, as this and some other
of ours are, deserves not the name of an Angler.

Now to have your whole line as it ought to be, two of the
first lengths nearest the hook should be of two hairs apiece ;
the next three lengths above them of three ; the next three
above them of four ; and so of five, and six, and seven, to the
very top : by which means your rod and tackle will, in a man-
ner, be taper from your very hand to your hook ; your line
will fall much better and straighter, and cast your fly to any
certain place to which the hand and eye shall direct it, witt

Chap, v.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 26l

iess weight and violence, than would otherwise circle the water
and fright away the fish.

In casting your line, do it always before you, and so that
your fly may first fall upon the water, and as little of your line
with it as is possible ; though if the wind be stiff, you will then
of necessity be compelled to drown a good part of your line to
keep your fly in the water : and in casting your fly, you must
aim at the further, or nearer bank, as the wind serves your
turn ; which also will be with and against you on the same
side, several times in an hour, as the river winds in its course;
and you will be forced to angle up and down by turns accord-
ingly ; but are to endeavor, as much as you can, to have the
wind evermore on your back. And always be sure to stand as
far off the bank as your length will give you leave when you
throw to the contrary side : though, when the wind will not
permit you so to do, and that you are constrained to angle on
the same side whereon you stand, you must then stand on the
very brink of the river, and cast your fly at the utmost length
of your rod and line, up or down the river as the gale serves.

It only remains, touching your line, to inquire whether your
two hairs, next to the hook, are better twisted, or open. And
for that I should declare that I think the open way the better,
because it makes less show in the water ; but that I have found
an inconvenience, or two, or three, that have made me almost
weary of that way: of which one is, that, without dispute,
they are not so strong open as twisted ; another, that they are
not easily to be fastened of so exact an equal length in the
arming, that the one will not cause the other to bag, by which
means a man has but one hair, upon the matter, to trust to ;
and the last is, that these loose flying hairs are not only more
apt to catch upon every twig or bent they meet with, but
moreover the hook, in falling upon the water, will very often
rebound, and fly back betwixt the hairs, and there stick,
(which, in a rough water especially, is not presently to be dis-
cerned by the Angler,) so as the point of the hook shall stand

262 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. iPart ft

reversed ; by which means your fly swims backwards, makes a
much greater circle in the water, and, till taken home to you
gnd set right, will never raise any fish ; or, if it should, 1 am
sure, but by a very extraordinary chance, can hit none.

Having done with both these ways of fishing at the top, the
length of your rod, and line, and all, I am next to teach you
how to make a fly ; and afterwards, of what dubbing you are
to make the several flies I shall hereafter name to you.

In making a fly, then, which is not a Hackle, or Palmer-fly,
(for of those, and their several kinds, we shall have occasion
to speak every month in the year,) you are first to hold your
hook fast betwixt the forefinger and thumb of your left hand,
with the back of the shank upwards, and the point towards
your fingers' ends : then take a strong small silk of the color
of the fly you intend to make, wax it well with wax of the
same color too : to which end you are always, by the way, to
have wax of all colors about you ; and draw it betwixt your
finger and thumb, to the head of the shank, and then whip it
twice or thrice about the bare hook, which you must know is
done, both to prevent slipping, and also that the shank of the
hook may not cut the hairs of your towght, which sometimes it
will otherwise do. Which being done, take your line and draw
it likewise betwixt your finger and thumb, holding the hook so
fast, as only to suffer it to pass by, until you have the knot of
your towght almost to the middle of the shank of your hook,
on the inside of it ; then whip your silk twice or thrice about
both hook and line, as hard as the strength of the silk will per-
nit. Which being done, strip the feather for the wings pro-
portionable to the bigness of your fly, placing that side down-
wards which grew uppermost before, upon the back of the
hook, leaving so much only as to serve for the length of the
wing of the point of the plume lying reversed from the end of
the shank upwards : then whip your silk twice or thrice about
the root-end of the feather, hook, and towght. Which bemg
done, clip off the root-end of the feather close by the arming,

Chap. V.J THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 263

and then whip the silk fast and firm about the hook and towght,
until you come to the bend of the hook : but not further, 33
you do at London, and so make a very unhandsome, and, in
plain English, a very unnatural and shapeless fly. Which be-
5ng done, cut away the end of your towght, and fasten it. And
then take your dubbing which is to make the body of your fly,
as much as you think convenient ; and, holding it lightly with
your hook betwixt the finger and thumb of your left hand,
take your silk with the right, and twisting it betwixt the finger
and thumb of that hand, the dubbing will spin itself about the
silk, which when it has done, whip it about the armed-hook
backward, till you come to the setting on of the wings. And
then take the feather for the wings, and divide it equally into
two parts ; and turn them back towards the end of the hook,
the one on the one side and the other on the other of the
shank, holding them fast in that posture betwixt the forefinger
and thumb of your left hand. Which done, warp them so
down as to stand and slope towards the bend of the hook;
and, having warped up to the end of the shank, hold the fly
fast betwixt the finger and thumb of your left hand, and then
take the silk betwixt the finger and thumb of your right hand,
and, where the warping ends, pinch or nip it with your thumb-
nail against your finger, and strip away the remainder of your
dubbing from the silk; and then, with the bare silk, whip it
once or twice about, make the wings to stand in due order,
fasten, and cut it off: after which with the point of a needle
raise up the dubbing gently from the warp ; twitch off" the
superfluous hairs of your dubbing ; leave the wings of an
equal length, — your fly will never else swim true ; — and the
work is done. And this way of making a fly, which is cer-
tainly the best of all other, was taught me by a kinsman of
mine, one Captain Henry Jackson, a near neighbor, an ad-
mirable Fly-Angler ; by many degrees the best fly-maker that
ever I yet met with. And now that I have told you how a fly
is to be made, you shall presently see me make one, witK which

264 *^HE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part II.

you may peradventure take a Trout this morning, notwith-
standing the unHkeHness of the day ; for it is now nine of the
clock, and fish will begin to rise if they will rise to-day. I
will walk along by you, and look on : and, after dinner, I will
proceed in my lecture of Fly-fishing.

ViAT. I confess I long to be at the river ; and yet I could
sit here all day to hear you ; but some of the one, and some ot
the other, will do well : and I have a mighty ambition to take
a Trout in your river Dove.

Pisc. I warrant you shall : I would not for more than I will
speak of but you should, seeing I have so extolled my river to
you. Nay, I will keep you here a month, but you shall have
one good day of sport before you go.

ViAT. You will find me, I doubt, too tractable that way ;
for, in good earnest, if business would give me leave, and that,
if it were fit, I could find in my heart to stay with you forever.

Pisc. I thank you, Sir, for that kind expression; and nov
let me look out my things to make tUis flf .

IHE SECOND DAY.
CHAPTER VI.

PiSCATOR,

DOY ! come, give me my dubbing-bag here presently. And
*^ now, Sir, since I find you so honest a man, I will make
no scruple to lay open my treasure before you.

ViAT. Did ever any one see the like ! What a heap of
trumpery is here ! certainly never an Angler in Europe has his
shop half so well furnished as you have.

Pisc. You, perhaps, may think now that I rake together
this trumpery, as you call it, for show only ; to the end that
such as see it, which are not many I assure you, may think me
a great master in the art of Angling ; but let me tell you here
are some colors, as contemptible as they seem here, that are
very hard to be got ; and scarce any one of them, which, if it
should be lost, I should not miss, and be concerned about the
loss of it too, once in the year. But look you. Sir, amongst
all these I will choose out these two colors only, of which, this
is bear's hair, this darker, no great matter what : but I am
sure I have killed a great deal of fish with it ; and with one or
both of these, you shall take Trout or Grayling this very day,
notwithstanding all disadvantages, or my art shall fail me.

ViAT. You promise comfortably, and I have -a great deal of
reason to believe everything you say ; but I wish the fly were
made, that we were at it.

Pisc. That will not be long in doing; and pray observe
then. You see first how I hold my hook, and thus I begin.
Look you, here are my first two or three whips about the bare

266 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. (Part II

hook ; thus I join hook and Hne ; thus I put on my wings ;
thus I twirl and lap on my dubbing ; thus I work it up towards
the head ; thus I part my wings ; thus I nip my superfluous
dubbing from my silk ; thus fasten ; thus trim and adjust my
fly : and there's a fly made. And now how do you like it?

ViAT. In earnest, admirably well ; and it perfectly resembles
a fly : but we about London make the bodies of our flies both
much bigger and longer, — so long as even almost to the very
beard of the hook.

Pisc. I know it very well, and had one of those flies given
me by an honest gentleman, who came with my Father Walton
to give me a visit ; which, to tell you the truth, I hung in my
parlor window to laugh at : but Sir, you know the proverb,
*' They who go to Rome must do as they at Rome do '* ; and,
believe me, you must here make your flies after this fashion, or
you will take no fish. Come, I will look you out a line, and
you shall put it on, and try it. There, Sir, now I think you
are fitted ; and now beyond the farther end of the walk you
shall begin. I see at that bend of the water above, the air
crisps the water a little. Knit your Hne first here, and then
go up thither, and see what you can do.

ViAT. Did you see that, Sir ?

Pisc. Yes, I saw the fish, and he saw you too, which made
him turn short ; you must fish farther off", if you intend to have
any sport here ; this is no New River, let me tell you ! That
was a good Trout, believe me ; did you touch him ?

ViAT. No, I would I had, we would not have parted so 1
Look you, there was another ! This is an excellent fly !

Pisc. That fly, I am sure, would kill fish, if the day were
Dght ; but they only chew at it, I see, and will not take it.
Come, Sir, let us return back to the fishing-house ; this still
water I see will not do our business to-day. You shall now,
if you please, make a fly yourself, and try what you can do in
the streams with that ; and I know a Trout taken with a fly of
your own making will please you better than twenty with one

Chap. VI.J THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 26/

of mine. Give me that bag again, Sirrah. Look you, Sir,
there is a hook, towght, silk, and a feather for the wings : be
doing with those, and I will look you out a dubbing that I
^•hink will do.

ViAT. This is a very little hook.

Pisc. That may serve to inform you, that it is for a very
little fly, and you must make your wings accordingly ; for as
the case stands it must be a little fly, and a very little one too,
that must do your business. Well said ! believe me you shift
your fingers very handsomely ; I doubt I have taken upon me
to teach my master. So, here 's your dubbing now.

ViAT. This dubbing is very black.

Pisc. It appears so in hand, but step to the door and hold it
up botwixt your eye and the sun, and it will appear a shining
red : let me tell you, never a man in England can discern the
true color of a dubbing any way but that ; and therefore choose
always to make your flies on such a bright sunshine day as this,
which also you may the better do, because it is worth nothing
to fish in. Here, put it on ; and be sure to make the body of
yoar fly as slender as you can. Very good ! Upon my word
yc>u have made a marvellous handsome fly.

ViAT. I am very glad to hear it; 't is the first that ever I
H.iade of this kind in my life.

Pisc. Away, away ! You are a doctor at it : but I will not
commend you too much, lest I make you proud. Come, put
it on, and you shall now go downward to some streams betwixt
the rocks below the little foot-bridge you see there, and try your
fortune. Take heed of slipping into the water as you follow me
under this rock. So, now you are over, and now throw in.

ViAT. This is a fine stream indeed ! There *s one ! I have
him.

Pisc. And a precious catch you have of him ; pull him out !
I see you have a tender hand. This is a diminutive gentleman,
e*en throw him in again, and let him grow till he be more
worthy your anger.

268 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part II

ViAT Pardon me, Sir, all 's fish that comes to the hook with
me now. Another !

Pisc. And of the same standing.

ViAT. I see I shall have good sport now. Another ! and a
Grayling. Why, you have fish here at will.

Pisc. Come, come, cross the bridge, and go down the other
side, lower ; where you will find finer streams, and better sport,
I hope, than this. Look you. Sir, here is a fine stream now
You have length enough, stand a little farther off, let me entreat
you ; and do but fish this stream like an artist, and per ad venture
a good fish may fall to your share. How now ! What, is all
gone?

ViAT. No, I but touched him ; but that was a fish worth
taking.

Pisc. Why now, let me tell you, you lost that fish by your
own fault, and through your own eagerness and haste ; for you
are never to offer to strike a good fish, if he do not strike him-
self, till first you see him turn his head after he has taken your
fly ; and then you can never strain your tackle in the striking,
if you strike with any manner of moderation. Come, throw in
once again, and fish me this stream by inches ; for I assure you
here are very good fish : both Trout and Grayling lie here ; and
at that great stone on the other side, *t is ten to one a good
Trout gives you the meeting.

ViAT. I have him now, but he has gone down towards the
bottom. I cannot see what he is, yet he should be a good fish
by his weight : but he makes no great stir.

Pisc. Why then, by what you say, I dare venture to assure
you 't is a Grayling, who is one of the deadest-hearted fishes in
the world ; and the bigger he is, the more easily taken. Look
you, now you see him plain ; I told you what he was. Bring
hither that landing-net. Boy. And now. Sir, he is your own ;
and believe me a good one, sixteen inches long I warrant him :
I have taken none such this year.

ViAT. I never saw a GrayUng before look so black.

Chap. VI.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 269

Pisc. Did you not? Why then, let me tell you, that you
never saw one before in right season ; for then a Grayling is
very black about his head, gills, and down his back ; and has
his belly of a dark gray, dappled with black spots, as you see
this is ; and I am apt to conclude, that from thence he derives
his name of Umber. Though I must tell you this fish is past
his prime, and begins to decline, and was in better season at
Christmas than he is now. But move on, for it grows towards
dinner-time ; and there is a very great and fine stream below,
under that rock, that fills the deepest pool in all the river, where
you are almost sure of a good fish.

ViAT. Let him come, I '11 try a fall with him. But I had
thought that the Grayling had been always in season with the
Trout, and had come in and gone out with him.

Pisc. O no ! assure yourself a Grayling is a winter-fish ; but
such a one as would deceive any but such as know him very
well indeed ; for his flesh, even in his worst season, is so firm,
and will so easily calver, that in plain truth he is very good
meat at all times ; but in his perfect season, which, by the way,
none but an overgrown Grayling will ever be, J think him so
good a fish as to be little inferior to the best Trouf that ever I
tasted in my life.

ViAT. Here 's another skip-jack ; and I have raised five or
six more at least whilst you were speaking. Well, go thy way,
little Dove ! thou art the finest river that ever I saw, and the
fullest of fish. Indeed, Sir, I like it so well, that I am afraid
you will be troubled with me once a year, so long as we two
live.

Pisc. I am afraid I shall not. Sir ; but were you once here a
May or a June, if good sport would tempt you, I should then
expect you would sometimes see me ; for you would then say it
were a fine river indeed, if you had once seen the sport at the
height.

ViAT. Which I will do, if I live, and that you please to give
mc leave. There was one ; and there another.

270 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part U.

Pisc. And all this m a strange river, and with a fly of your
own making ! Why, what a dangerous man are you !
-X: 2 ^^ ^^ ViAT. I, Sir, but who taught me ? and as Damoetas says b)
kis man Doras, so you may say by me, —

** If my man such praises have,
What then have I, that taught the knave ? "

But what have we got here ? A rock springing up in the
middle of the river ! this is one of the oddest sights that ever I
saw.

Pisc. Why, Sir, from that Pike,* that you see standing up
there distant from the rock, this is called Pike-Pool. And
young Mr. Izaak Walton was so pleased with it, as to draw it
in landscape in black and white, in a blank book I have at
home ; as he has done several prospects of my house also,
which I keep for a memorial of his favor, and will show you,
when we come up to dinner.

ViAT. Has young Master Izaak Walton been here too ?

Pisc. Yes, marry has he. Sir, and that again, and again too ;
and in France since, and at Rome, and at Venice, and I can't
tell where ; but I intend to ask him a great many hard ques-
tions so soon as I can see him, which will be, God willing,
next month. In the mean time. Sir, to come to this fine
stream at the head of this great pool, you must venture ovei
these shppery, cobbling stones. Believe me. Sir, there you
were nimble, or else you had been down ! But now you are got
over, look to yourself; for, on my word, if a fish rise here, he

*'T is a rock in the fashion of a spire-steeple, and almost as big. It stands
in the midst of the river Dove and not far from Mr. Cotton's house ; below
which place this delicate river takes a swift career betwixt many mighty
rocks, much higher and bigger than St. Paul's Church, before 't was burnt.
And this Dove, being opposed by one of the highest of them, has at last
forced itself a way through it ; and, after a mile's concealment, appears again
with more glory and beauty than before that opposition, running through the
most pleasant valleys and most fruitful meadows that this nation can justly
boast of.

CHAP. VI.1 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 2/1

is like to be such a one as will endanger your tackle. How
now !

ViAT. I think you have such command here over the fishes,
that you can raise them by your word, as they say conjurors
can do spirits, and afterward make them do what you bid
them ; for here 's a Trout has taken my fly ; I had rather have
lost a crown. What luck 's this ! He was a lovely fish, and ^
turned up a side like a salmon ! 'J V ^

Pisc. O Sir, this is a war where you sometimes win, and
must sometimes expect to lose. Never concern yourself for the
loss of your fly ; for ten to one I teach you to make a better.
Who 's that calls ?

Servant. Sir, will it please you to come to dinner ?

Pisc. We come. You hear. Sir, we are called ; and now
take your choice, whether you will climb this steep hill before
you, from the top of which you will go directly into the house,
or back again over these stepping-stones, and about by the
bridge.

ViAT. Nay, sure the nearest way is best ; at least my stomach
tells me so ; and I am now so well acquainted with your rocks,
that I fear them not.

Pisc. Come, then, follow me; and so soon as we have
dined, we will down again to the little house, where I will
begin at the place I left off about fly-fishing, and read you an-
other lecture ; for I have a great deal more to say upon that
subject.

ViAT. The more the better ; I could never have met with a
more obliging master, my first excepted ; nor such sport can
all the rivers about London ever afford as is to be found in this
pretty river.

Pisc. You deserve to have better, both because I see you
are willing to take pains, and for liking this little so well ; and
better I hope to show you before we part.

THE SECOND DAY.

CHAPTER VII.

Viator.

/^OME, Sir ! having now well dined, and being again set m
^-^ your little house, I will now challenge your promise, and
entreat you to proceed in your instruction for Fly-fishing;
which, that you may be the better encouraged to do, I will as-
sure you that I have not lost, I think, one syllable of what you jl
have told me ; but very well retain all your directions both for
the rod, line, and making a fly, and now desire an account of
the flies themselves.

Pisc. Why, Sir, I am ready to give it you, and shall have
the whole afternoon to do it in, if nobody come in to inter-
rupt us ; for you must know, besides the unfitness of the day,
that the afternoons so early in March signify very little to an-
gling with a fly ; though with a minnow, or a worm, something
might, I confess, be done.

To begin then where I left off*. My Father Walton tells us
but of twelve artificial-flies, to angle with at the top, and gives
their names : of which some are common with us here ; and 1
think I guess at most of them by his description, and I believe
they all breed, and are taken in our rivers, though we do not
make them either of the same dubbing, or fashion. And it
may be in the rivers about London, which I presume he has
most frequented, and where 't is likely he has done most execu-
tion, there is not much notice taken of many more ; but we
are acquainted with several others here, though, perhaps, I
may reckon some of his by other names too ; but if I do, I

Chap. VII.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 273

shall make you amends by an addition to his catalogue. And
although the forenamed great Master in the art of Angling, for
so in truth he is, tells you that no man should in honesty catch
a Trout till the middle of March, yet I hope h^ will give a
man leave sooner to take a Grayling ; which, as I told you, is
in the dead months in his best season ; and do assure you,
which I remember by a very remarkable token, I did once
take upon the sixth day of December one, and only one, of the
biggest Graylings, and the best in season, that ever I yet saw,
or tasted ; and do usually take Trouts too, and with a fly, not
only before the middle of this month, but almost every year in
February, unless it be a very ill spring indeed ; and have some-
times in January, so early as New-year's-tide, and in frost and
snow, taken Grayling in a warm sunshine day for an hour or
two about noon ; and to fish for him with a grub it is then the
best time of all.

I shall therefore begin my fly-fishing with that month,
(though I confess very few begin so soon, and that such as are
so fond of the sport as to embrace all opportunities, can rarely
in that month find a day fit for their purpose,) and tell you
that, upon my knowledge, these flies in a warm sun, for an
hour or two in the day, are certainly taken.

JANUARY.

1. A Red Brown, with wings of the male of a mallard, al-
most white ; the dubbing, of the tail of a black long-coated
cur, such as they commonly make muffs of; for the hair on
the tail of such a dog dyes and turns to a red brown, but the
hair of a smooth-coated dog of the same color will not do, be-
cause it will not dye, but retains its natural color. And this
fly is taken, in a warm sun, this whole month through.

2. There is also a very little Bright-Dun Gnat, as little as
can possibly be made, so little as never to be fished with, with
above one hair next the hook : and this is to be made of a

2;>4 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part II,

mixed dubbing of marten's fur, and the white of a hare's-sout ;
with a very white and small wing. And 't is no great matter
how fine you fish, for nothing will rise in this month but a
Grayling ; and of them I never, at this season, saw any taken
with a fly, of above a foot long, in my life ; but of little ones,
about the bigness of a smelt, in a warm day and a glowing sun.
you may take enough with these two flies ; and they are both
taken the whole month through.

FEBRUARY.

1. Where the Red Brown of the last month ends, another^
almost of the same color, begins with this ; saving, that the
dubbing of this must be of something a blacker color, and both I
of them warpt on with red silk. The dubbing that should
make this fly, and that is the truest color, is to be got ofl* the
black spot of a hog's ear : not that a black spot in any part of
the hog will not aff'ord the same color, but that the hair in that
place is by many degrees softer, and more fit for the purpose :
his wing must be as the other ; and this kills all this month,
and is called the Lesser Red-Brown.

2. This month also a Plain Hackle, or Palmer-fly, made
with a rough black body, either of black spaniel's fur, or the
whirl of an ostrich-feather, and the red hackle of a capon over
all, will kill ; and, if the weather be right, make very good
sport.

3. Also a Lesser Hackle with a black body also, silver-
twist over that, and a red feather over all, will fill your pan-
nier, if the month be open, and not bound up in ice, and snow,
with very good fish ; but in case of a frost and snow, you are
to angle only with the smallest gnats, browns, and duns, you
can make ; and with those are only to expect Graylings no
bigger than sprats.

4. In this month, upon a whirling round water, we have a
Great Hackle ; the body black, and wrapped with a red

Chap. VII.) THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 2/5

feather of a capon untrimmed ; that is, the whole length of the
hackle staring out (for we sometimes barb the Hackle-feather
short all over, sometimes barb it only a little, and sometimes
barb it close underneath) ; leaving the whole length of the
feather on the top or back of the fly, which makes it swim
better, and, as occasion serves, kills very great fish.

5. We make use also, in this month, of another Great
Hackle ; the body black, and ribbed over with gold twist, and
a red feather over all ; which also does great execution.

6. Also a Great Dun, made with dun bear's hair, and tha
wings of the gray feather of a mallard near unto his tail ; which
is absolutely the best fly can be thrown upon a river this month,
and with which an angler shall have admirable sport.

7. We have also this month the Great Blue Dun; the
dubbing of the bottom of bear's hair next to the roots mixed
with a little blue camlet j the wings of the dark gray feather of
a mallard.

8. We have also this month a Dark Brown ; the dubbing
of a brown hair off" the flank of a brended cow, and the wings
of the gray drake's feather.

And note, that these several Hackles, or Palmer-flies, are
some for one water and one sky, and some for another ; and,
according to the change of those, we alter their size and color.
And note also, that both in this, and all other months of the
year, when you do not certainly know what fly is taken, or
cannot see any fish to rise, you are then to put on a small
Hackle, if the water be clear, or a bigger, if something dark,
until you have taken one ; and then, thrusting your finger
through his gills, to pull out his gorge, which being opened
with your knife, you will then discover what fly is taken, and
may fit yourself accordingly.

For the making of a Hackle, or Palmer-fly, my Father Wal-
tOB has already given you sufficient direction.

276 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part II

MARCH.

For this month you are to use all the same Hackles, and flies
with the other ; but you are to make them less.

1. We have besides for this month, a little Dun called a
Whirling-Dun, though it is not the Whirling-Dun indeed,
which is one of the best flies we have ; and for this the dubbing
must be of the bottom fur of a squirrel's tail, and the wing of
the gray feather of a drake.

2. Also a Bright Brown ; the dubbing either of the brown
of a spaniel, or that of a cow's flank, with a gray wing.

3. Also a Whitish Dun, made of the roots of camel's hair,
and the wings of the gray feather of a mallard.

4. There is also for this month a fly, called the Thorn-Tree
Fly ; the dubbing an absolute black, mixed with eight or ten

^ hairs of Isabella-colored mohair, the body as little as can be
^'^ made, and the wings of a bright mallard's feather: an admi-
rable fly, and in great repute amongst us for a killer.

5. There is, besides this, another Blue Dun, the dubbing
of which it is made being thus to be got. Take a small-tooth
comb, and with it comb the neck of a black greyhound, and
the down that sticks in the teeth will be the finest blue that
ever you saw. The wings of this fly can hardly be too white ;
and he is taken about the tenth of this month, and lasteth till
the four-and-twentieth.

6. From the tenth of this month also, till towards the end,
is taken a little Black Gnat : the dubbing either of the fur of
a black water-dog, or the down of a young black water-coot ;
the wings of the male of a mallard, as white as may be ; the
body as little as you can possibly make it, and the wings as
short as his body.

7. From the sixteenth of this month also, to the end of it,
we use a Bright Brown ; the dubbing for which is to be
had out of a skinner's hme-pits, and of the hair of an abortive

Chap. VII.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 277

calf, which the lime will turn to be so bright as to shine like
gold ; for the wings of this fly, the feather of a brown hen is
best ; which fly is also taken till the tenth of April.

APRIL.

All the same Hackles and flies that were taken in March wil\
betaken in. this month also; with this distinction only con-
-cerning the flies, that all the browns be lapped with red silk,
and the duns with yellow.

1. To these a Small Bright Brown, made of spaniel's fur,
with a light gray wing, in a bright day and a clear water, is
very well taken.

2. We ha\ J too a little Dark Brown ; the dubbing of that
color, and some violet camlet mixed, and the wing of a gray
feather of a mallard.

3. From the sixth of this month to the tenth, we have also
a fly called the Violet-Fly ; made of a dark violet stuff, with
the wings of the gray feather of a mallard.

4. About the twelfth of this month comes in the fly called
-the Whirling-Dun, which is taken every day, about the mid-
time of day, all this month through, and by fits from thence
to the end of June ; and is commonly made of the down of a
fox-cub, which is of an ash color at the roots, next the skin,
and ribbed about with yellow silk ; the wings of the pale gray
feather of a mallard.

5. There is also a Yellow Dun; the dubbing of camel's
hair, and yellow camlet or wool, mixed, and a white-gray
wing.

6. There is also, this month, another Little Brown, be-
sides that mentioned before ; made with a very slender body,
the dubbing of dark brown, and violet camlet mixed, and a
gray wing ; which, though the direction for the making be
near the other, is yet another fly ; and will take when the other
will not, especially in a bright day, and a clear water.

278 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part U

7. About the twentieth of this month comes m a fly called
the Horse-flesh Fly ; the dubbing of which is a blue mohair,
with pink-colored and red tammy mixed, a light-colored wing,
and a dark brown head. This fly is taken best in an evening,
and kills from two hours before sunset till twiUght; and is
taken the month through.

MAY.

And now, Sir, that we are entering into the month of May,
I think it requisite to beg not only your attention, but also
your best patience ; for I must now be a little tedious with
you, and dwell upon this month longer than ordinary ; which
that you may the better endure, I must tell you, this month
deserves and requires to be insisted on, forasmuch as it alone,
and the next following, afford more pleasure to the Fly-Angler
than all the rest. And here it is that you are to expect an
account of the Green-Drake, and Stone-fly, promised you so
long ago, and some others that are peculiar to this month, and
part of the month following ; and that, though not so great
either in bulk or name, do yet stand in competition with the
two before named ; and so, that it is yet undecided, amongst
the anglers, to which of the pretenders to the title of the May-
fly it does properly and duly belong. Neither dare I, where
so many of the learned in this art of Angling are got in dispute
about the controversy, take upon me to determine ; but I think
I ought to hav^ a vote amongst them, and according to that
privilege shall give you my free opinion ; and peradventure
when I have told you all, you may incline to think me in the
right.

ViAT. I have so great a deference to your judgment in these
matters, that I must always be of your opinion ; and the more
you speak, the faster I grow to my attention, for I can never
be weary of hearing you upon this subject.

Pisc. Why that 's encouragement enough ; and now prepare
yourself for a tedious lecture ; but I will first begin with the

Chap. VII.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 2/9

flies of less esteem, — though almost anything will take a Trout
in May, — that I may afterwards insist the longer upon those of
greater note and reputation. Know, therefore, that the first
fly we take notice of in this month, is called

1. The Turkey-Fly; dubbing ravelled out of some blue
stuff, and lapped about with yellow silk ; the wings of a gray
mallard's feather.

2. Next a Great Hackle or Palmer-Fly, with a yellow
body; ribbed with gold twist, and large wings of a mallard's
feather dyed yellow, with a red capon's hackle over all.

3. Then a Black Fly ; the dubbing of a black spaniel's fur,
and the wings of a gray mallard's feather.

4. After that a Light Brown, with a slender body ; the
dubbing twirled upon small red silk, and raised with the point
of a needle, that the ribs or rows of silk may appear through ;
the wings of the gray feather of a mallard.

5. Next a Little Dun ; the dubbing of a bear's dun whirled
upon yellow silk, the wings of the gray feather of a mallard.

6. Then a White Gnat, with a pale wing, and a black
head.

7. There is also this month a fly called the Peacock-Fly;
the body made of a whirl of a peacock's feather, with a red
head, and wings of a mallard's feather.

8. We have then another very killing fly, Known by the
name of the Dun-Cut ; the dubbing of which is a bear's dun,
with a little blue and yellow mixed with it, a large dun wing,
and two horns at the head, made of the hairs of a squirrel's
tail.

9. The next is the Cow-Lady, a little fly; the body of a
peacock's feather, the wing of a red feather, or strips of the red
hackle of a cock.

10. We have then the Cow-Dung Fly ; the dubbing light-
brown and yellow mixed, the wing the dark gray feather of a
mallard. And npte, that besides these above mentioned, all
the same Hackles and flies, the Hackles only brighter, and the

280 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part It

flies smaller, that are taken in April, will also be taken this
month, as also all Browns and Duns. And now I come to my
Stone-Fly, and Green-Drake, which are the Matadores for
Trout and Grayling; and, in their season, kill more fish in
our Derbyshire rivers than all the rest, past and to come, in
the whole year besides.

But first I am to tell you, that we have four severaJ flies
which contend for the title of the May-fly : namely,

The Green-Drake,

'^jthe Stone-Fly,

The Black-Fly, and

The Little Yellow May-Fly.

And all these have their champions and advocates to dispute,
and plead their priority ; though I do not understand why the
two last named should, the first two having so manifestly the
advantage, both in their beauty, and the wonderful execution
they do in their season.

II. Of these, the Green-Drake comes in about the twenti-
eth of this month, or betwixt that and the latter end, for they
are sometimes sooner, and sometimes later, according to the
quality of the year ; but never well taken till towards the end
of this month, and the beginning of June. The Stone-Fly
"omes much sooner, so early as the middle of April ; but is never
well taken till towards the middle of May, and continues to
kill much longer than the Green-Drake stays with us, — ^so long
as to the end almost of June ; and indeed, so long as there are
any of them to be seen upon the water ; and sometimes in an
artificial fly, and late at night, or before sunrise in a morning,
longer.

Now both these flies, and, I believe, many others, though I
think not all, are certainly and demonstratively bred in the
very rivers where they are taken : our Cadis or Cod-bait,
which lie under stones in the bottom of the water, most ot
them turning into those ^Tfo flies ; and, being gathered in the

Chap. VIIJ THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 28l

husk, or crust, near the time of their maturity, are very easily
known and distinguished ; and are of all other the most re-
markable, both for their size, as being of all other the biggest,
the shortest of them being a full inch long, or more, and foi
the execution they do, the Trout and Grayling being much
more greedy of them than of any others ; and indeed, the Trout
never feeds fat, nor comes into his perfect season, till these flies
come in.

Of these, the Green-Drake never discloses from his husk, till
he be first there grown to full maturity, body, wings, and all ;
and then he creeps out of his cell, but with his wings so
crimped and ruffled, by being pressed together in that narrow
room, that they are, for some hours, totally useless to him ; by
which means he is compelled either to creep upon the flags,
sedges, and blades of grass, if his first rising from the bottom
of the water be near the banks of the river, till the air and sun
stiffen and smooth them ; or, if his first appearance above water
happen to be in the middle, he then lies upon the surface of
the water like a ship at hull ; for his feet are totally uselesa to
him there, and he cannot creep upon the water as the Stone-
fly can, until his wings have got stiffness to fly with, if by some
Trout or Grayling he be not taken in the interim, which ten to
one he is ; and then his wings stand high, and closed exact
upon his back, like the butterfly, and his motion in flying is
the same. His body is, in some, of a paler, in others, of a
darker yellow, for they are not all exactly of a color ; ribbed
with rows of green, long, slender, and growing sharp towards
the tail, at the end of which he has three long small whisks of
a very dark color, almost black, and his tail turns up towards
his back like a mallard ; from whence, questionless, he has his
name of the Green-Drake. These, as I think I told you before,
we commonly dape or dibble with ; and, having gathered great
store of them into a long draw-box, with holes in the cover to
give them air, where also they will continue fresh and vigorous
a night or more, we take them out thence by the wings, and

282 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. (Part IL

bait them thus upon the hook. We first take one, for we com*
monly fish with two of them at a time, and, putting the point
of the hook into the thickest part of his body under one of his
wings, run it directly through, and out at the other side, leav-
ing him spitted cross upon the hook ; and then taking the
other, put him on after the same manner, but with his head the
contrary way ; in which posture they will live upon the hook,
and play with their wings for a quarter of an hour, or more;
but you must have a care to keep their wings dry, both from
the water, and also that your fingers be not wet when you take
them out to bait them ; for then your bait is spoiled.

Having now told you how to angle with this fly alive, I am
now to tell you next, how to make an artificial-fly, that will so
perfectly resemble him, as to be taken in a rough windy day
when no flies can lie upon the water, nor are to be found about
the banks and sides of the river, to a wonder ; and with which
you shall certainly kill the best Trout and Grayling in the
river.

The artificial Green-Drake, then, is made upon a large hook;
the dubbing, camel's hair, bright bear's hair, the soft down
that is combed from a hog's bristles and yellow camlet, well
mixed together; the body long, and ribbed about with green
silk, or rather yellow, waxed with green wax, the whisks of
the tail, of the long hairs of sables, or fitchet. and the wings of
the white gray feather of a mallard, dyed yellow ; which also is
to be dyed thus.

Take the root of a Barbary-tree, and shave it, and put to it
woody viss, with as much alum as a walnut, and boil you;
feathers in it with rain-water ; and they will be of a very fine
yellow.

I have now done with the Green-Drake ; excepting to tell
you, that he is taken at all hours during his season, whilst
there is any day upon the sky ; and with a made-fly I once
took, ten days after he was absolutely gone, in a cloudy day,
after a shower, and in a whistling wind, five and thirty very

Chap. VII.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER, 283

great Trouts and Graylings, betwixt five and eight of the clock
in the evening ; and had no less than five or six flies, with
three good hairs apiece, taken firom me in despite of my heart,
besides.

12. I should now come next to the Stone-fly, but there is
another gentleman in my way, that must of necessity come iu
between ; and that is the Gray-Drake, which, in all shapes
and dimensions, i? perfectly the same with the other, but quite
almost of another color ; being of a paler and more livid yellow
and green, and ribbed with black quite down his body, with
black, shining wings, and so diaphanous and tender, cobweb-
like, that they are of no manner of use for daping, but come
in and are taken after the Green-Drake, and in an artificial fly
kill very well ; which fly is thus made : the dubbing of the
down of a hog's bristles, and black spaniel's fur, mixed, and
ribbed down the body with black silk, the whisks of the hairs
of the beard of a black cat, and the wings of the black-gray
feather of a mallard.

And now I come to the Stone-Fly, but am afraid I have
already wearied your patience ; which if I have I beseech you
freely tell me so, and I will defer the remaining instructions
for Fly-Angling till some other time.

ViAT. No, truly. Sir, I can never be weary of hearing you.
But if you think fit, because I am afraid I am too troublesome,
to refresh yourself with a glass and a pipe : you may afterwards
proceed, and I shall be exceedingly pleased to hear you.

Pisc. I thank you. Sir, for that motion ; for, believe me, I
am dry with talking. Here, Boy ! give us here a bottle, and
a glass ; and. Sir, my service to you, and to all our friends in
the South.

ViAT. Your servant. Sir, and I '11 pledge you as heartily ; for
the good powdered beef I eat at dinner, or something else, has
made me thirsty.

THE SECOND DAY-
CHAPTER VIII.

Viator.

SO, Sir, I am now ready for another lesson, so soon as you
please to give it me.

Pisc. And I, Sir, as ready to give you the best I can. Hav-
ing told you the time of the Stone-fly's coming in, and that he
is bred of a cadis in the very river where he is taken, 1 am
next to tell you, that,

13. This same Stone-Fly has not the patience to continue
in his crust, or husk, till his wings be full grown ; but so soon
as ever they begin to put out, that he feels himself strong (at
which time we call him a Jack), squeezes himself out of prison,
and crawls to the top of some stone ; where, if he can find a
chink that will receive him, or can creep betwixt two stones,
the one lying hollow upon the other, (which, by the way, we
also lay so purposely to find them,) he there lurks till his wings
be full grown, and there is your only place to find him ; and
from thence doubtless he derives his name : — though, for want
of such convenience, he will make shift with the hollow of a
bank, or any other place where the wind cannot come to fetch
him off. His body is long, and pretty thick, and as broad at
the tail, almost, as in the middle : his color a very fine brown,
ribbed with yellow, and much yellower on the belly than the
back : he has two or three whisks also at the tag of his tail,
and two little horns upon his head : his wings, when full
grown, are double, and flat down his back, of the same color
but rather darker than his body, and longer than it; though

Chap. VIILl THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 285

he makes but little use of them, for you shall rarely see him
flying, though often swimming and paddling, with several feet
he has under his belly, upon the water, without stirring a wing.
But the Drake will mount steeple-high into the air ; though he
is to be found upon flags and grass too, and, indeed, everywhere
high and low near the river ; there being so many of them in
their season, as, were they not a very inofl'ensive insect, would
look like a plague : and these Drakes (since I forgot to tell you
before, I will tell you here) are taken by the fish to that in-
credible degree, that, upon a calm day, you shall see the still-
deeps continually all over circles by the fishes rising, who will
gorge themselves with those flies, till they purge again out of
their gills : and the Trouts are at that time so lusty and strong,
that one of eight or ten inches long will then more struggle
and tug, and more endanger your tackle, than one twice as big
in winter : but pardon this digression.

This Stone-Fly, then, we dape or dibble with, as with the
Drake, but with this difference : that whereas the Green-Drake
is common both to stream and still, and to all hours of the day,
we seldom dape with this but in the streams, for in a whis-
tling wind a made-fly in the deep is better, — and rarely but
early and late, it not being so proper for the mid-time of the
day ; though a great Grayling will then take it very well in a
sharp stream, and here and there a Trout too, but much better
towards eight, nine, ten, or eleven of the clock at night, at
which time also the best fish rise, and the later the better, pro-
vided you can see your fly ; and when you cannot, a made-fly
will murder, which is to be made thus : the dubbing of bear's
dun with a little brown and yellow camlet very well mixed ;
but so placed, that your fly may be more yellow on the belly
and towards the tail underneath than in any other part ; and
you are to place two or three hairs of a black cat^s beard on
the top of the hook, in your arming, so as to be turned up,
when you warp on your dubbing, and to stand almost upright,
and staring one from another ; ^^d note that your fly is to be

286 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. IPart li

ribbed with yellow silk ; and the wings long, and very large,
of the dark gray feather of a mallard.

14. The next May-fly is the Black-Fly ; made with a
black body, of the whirl of an ostrich-feather, ribbed with
silver-twist, and the black hackle of a cock over all ; and is a
killing fly, but not to be named with either of the other.

15. The last May-fly, that is of the four pretenders, is the
Little Yellow May-Fly ; in shape exactly the same with the
Green-Drake, but a very little one, and of as bright a yellow
as can be seen ; which is made of a bright yellow camlet, and
the wings of a white-gray feather dyed yellow.

16. The last fly for this month, and which continues all
June, though it comes in in the middle of May, is the fly called
the Camlet-Fly ; in shape like a moth, with fine diapered, or
water-wings, and with which, as I told you before, I sometimes
used to dibble ; and Grayling will rise mightily at it. But
the artificial fly, which is only in use amongst our Anglers, is
made of a dark-brown shining camlet, ribbed over with a very
small light-green silk, the wings of the double-gray feather of a
mallard ; and 't is a killing fly for small fish. And so much
for May.

JUNE.

From the first to the four-and-twentieth, the Green Drake
and Stone-fly are taken, as I told you before.

1. From the twelfth to the four-and-twentieth, late at night,
is taken a fly, called the Owl-Fly, the dubbing of a white
weasel's tail, and a white-gray wing.

2. We have then another Dun, called the Barm-Fly, from
its yeasty color ; the dubbing of the fur of a yellow-dun cat,
and a gray wing of a mallard's feather.

3. We have also a Hackle with a purple body, whipped
about with a red capon's feather.

4. As also a Gold-twist Hackle with a purple body,
whipped about with a red capon's feather.

Chap. VIII.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 287

5. To these we have, this month, a Flesh-Fly ; the dub-
bing of a black spaniel's fur, and blue wool mixed, and a gray
wing.

6. Also another Little Flesh-Fly ; the body made of the
whirl of a peacock's feather, and the wings of the gray feather
of a drake.

7. We have then the Peacock-Fly ; the body and wing
both made of the feather of that bird.

8. There is also the Flying-Ant, or Ant-Fly ; the dubbing
of brown and red camlet mixed, with a light gray wing.

9. We have likewise a Brown Gnat ; with a very slender
body of brown and violet camlet well mixed, and a light gray
wing.

. 10. And another little Black Gnat ; the dubbing of black
mohair, and a white-gray wing.

11. As also a Green Grasshopper ; the dubbing of green
and yellow wool mixed, ribbed over with green silk, and a red
capon's feather over all.

12. And lastly, a Httle Dun Grasshopper; the body slen-
der, made of a dun camlet, and a dun hackle at the top.

JULY.

First, all the small flies that were taken in June are also
taken in this month.

1. We have then the Orange-Fly ; the dubbing of orange
wool, and the wings of a black feather.

2. Also a little White Dun ; the body made of white mo-
hair, and the wings blue, of a heron's feather.

3. We have likewise this month a Wasp-Fly ; made either
of a dark brown dubbing, or else the fur of a black cat's tail,
ribbed about with yellow silk, and the wing of tlie gray feather
of a mallard.

4. Another fly taken this month is a Black-Hackle ; the
body made of the whirl of a peacock's feather, and a black
hackle-feather on the top.

288 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part II,

5. We have also another, made of a peacock's whirl without
wings.

6. Another fly also is taken this month, called the Shell-
Fly ; the dubbing of yellow-green Jersey-wool, and a little
white hog's hair mixed, which I call the Palm-fly : and do be-
lieve it is taken for a palm, that drops off the willows into the
water ; for this fly I have seen Trouts take little pieces of moss, '
as they have swam down the river ; by which I conclude that
the best way to hit the right color is to compare your dubbing
with the moss, and mix the colors as near as you can.

7. There is also taken this month, a Black-Blue Dun ; the
dubbing of the fur of a black rabbit mixed with a little yellow,
the wings of the feather of a blue pigeon's wing.

AUGUST.

The same flies with July.

1. Then another Ant-Fly ; the dubbing of the black-brown
hair of a cow, some red warped in for the tag of his tail, and
a dark wing. A killing fly.

2. Next a fly called a Fern-Fly ; the dubbing of the fur of
a hare's neck, that is, of the color of fern or bracken, with a
darkish-gray wing of a mallard's feather. A killer too.

3. Besides these we have a White Hackle ; the body of
white mohair, and warped about with a white hackle-feather ;
and this is assuredly taken for thistle-down.

4. We have also this month a Harry-Long-Legs ; the body
made of bear's dun and blue wool mixed, and a brown hackle-
feather over all.

Lastly, In this month all the same browns and duns are
taken that were taken in May.

SEPTEMBER,

This month the same flies are taken that are taken in Apru:.
I. To which I shall only add a Camel-Brown Fly ; the

I>

»

Chap. VIII.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 289

dubbing pulled out of the lime of a wall, whipped about with
red silk, and a darkish-gray mallard's feather for the wing.

2. And one other, for which we have no name, but it is
made of the black hair of a badger's skin, mixed with the yel-
low softest down of a sanded hog.

OCTOBER.

The same flies are taken this month that were taken in
March.

NOVEMBER.

The same flies that were taken in February are taken this
month also.

DECEMBER.

Few men angle with the fly this month, no more than they
do in January ; but yet, if the weather be warm, — as I have
known it sometimes in my Kfe to be, even in this cold country,
where it is least expected, — then a brown that looks red in the
hand, and yellowish betwixt your eye and the sun, will both
raise and kill in a clear water, and free from snow-broth ; but,
at the best, 't is hardly worth a man's labor.

And now, Sir, I have done with Fly-fishing, or angling at
the top ; excepting once more to tell you, that of all these, —
and I have named you a great many very killing flies, — none
are fit to be compared with the Drake and Stone- Fly, both for
many and very great fish. And yet there are some days that
are by no means proper for the sport ; and in a calm you shall
not have near so much sport, even with daping, as in a whis-
tling gale of wind, for two reasons, both because you are not
then so easily discovered by the fish, and also because there are
then but few flies that can lie upon the water ; for where they
have so much choice, you may easily imagine they will not be

290 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. .Part U

SO eager and forward to rise at a bait, that both the shadow of
your body, and that of your rod, nay, of your very hne, in a
hot, calm day, will, in spite of your best caution, render sus-
pected to them ; but even then, in swift streams, or by sitting
down patiently behind a willow-bush, you shall do more execu-
tion than at almost any other time of the year with any other
fly; though one may sometimes hit of a day, when he shall
come home very well satisfied with sport with several other
flies. But with these two, the Green-Drake and the Stone-
Fly, I do verily believe I could, some days in my life, had I
not been weary of slaughter, have loaden a lusty boy ; and have
sometimes, I do honestly assure you, given over upon the mere
account of satiety of sport, which will be no hard matter to
believe, when I likewise assure you that, with this very fly, I
have, in this very river that runs by us, in three or four hours,
taken thirty, five and thirty, and forty of the best Trouts in
the river. What shame and pity is it, then, that such a river
should be destroyed by the basest sort of people, by those un-
lawful ways of fire and netting in the night, and of damming,
groping, spearing, hanging, and hooking by day ! which are
now grown so common, that, though we have very good laws
to punish such ofl'enders, every rascal does it, for aught I see,
impune.

To conclude, I cannot now, in honesty, but frankly tell you,
that many of these flies I have named, at least so made as we
make them here, will peradventure do you no great service in
your southern rivers : and will not conceal from you but that I
have sent flies to several friends in London, that, for aught I
could ever hear, never did any great feats with them ; and,
therefore, if you intend to profit by my instructions, you must
come to angle with me here in the Peak ; and so, if you please,
let us walk np to supper ; and to-morrow, if the day be windy,
as our days here commonly are, *t is ten to one but we shell
take a good dish of fish for dinner.

THE THIRD DAY.

CHAPTER IX.

PiSCATOR.

A GOOD day to you, Sir ; I see you will always be stirring
^^ before me.

ViAT. Why, to tell you the truth, I am so allured with the
sport I had yesterday, that I long to be at the river again ;
and when I heard the wind sing in my chamber-window, could
forbear no longer, but leap out of bed, and had just made an
end of dressing myself as you came in.

Pisc. Well, I am both glad you are so ready for the day,
and that the day is so fit for you. And look you, I have made
you three or four flies this morning ; this silver-twist hackle,
this bear's dun, this light brown, and this dark brown, any of
which I dare say will do ; but you may try them all, and see
which does best : only I must ask your pardon that I cannot
wait upon you this morning, a little business being fallen out-
that for two or three hours will deprive me of your company ;
but I '11 come and call you home to dinner, and my man shall
attend you.

ViAT. O, Sir, mind your affairs by all means. Do but
lend me a little of your skill to these fine flies, and, unless it
have forsaken me since yesterday, I shall find luck of my own,
I hope, to do something.

Pisc. The best instruction I can give you, is that, seeing the
wind curls the water, and blows the right way, you would now
angle up the still-deep to-day ; for betwixt the rocks where the

292 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. (Part It

Streams are you would find it now too brisk ; and, besides, I
would have you take fish in both waters.

ViAT. I *11 obey your direction, and so a good morning to
you. Come, young man, let you and I walk together. But
hark you, Sir, I have not done with you yet ; I expect another
lesson for angling at the bottom, in the afternoon.

Pisc. Well, Sir, I ' 11 be ready for you.

THE THIRD DAY.
CHAPTER X.

PiSCATOR.

/^ SIR, are you returned? You have but just prevented
^^ me. I was coming to call you.

ViAT. I am glad, then, I have saved you the labor.

Pisc. And how have you sped ?

ViAT. You shall see that. Sir, presently : look you. Sir, here
are three * brace of Trouts, one of them the biggest but one
that ever I killed with a fly in my life ; and yet I lost a bigger
than that, with my fly to boot ; and here are three Grayhngs,
and one of them longer by some inches than that I took yester-
day, and yet I thought that a good one too.

Pisc. Why you have made a pretty good morning's work
on 't; and now. Sir, what think you of our river Dove?

ViAT. I think it to be the best Trout-river in England ; and
am so far in love with it, that if it were mine, and that I could,
keep it to myself, I would not exchange that water for all the
land it runs over, to be totally debarred from it.

Pisc. That compliment to the river speaks you a true lover
of the art of Angling ; and now. Sir, to make part of amends
for sending you so uncivilly out alone this morning, I will my-
self dress you this dish of fish for your dinner ; walk but into
the parlor, you will find one book or other in the window to*
entertain you the while ; and you shall have it presently.

ViAT. Well, Sir, I obey you.

• Spoke like a South-Countryman.

294 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part IL

Pisc. Look you, Sir ! have I not made haste ?

ViAT. Believe me, Sir, that you have ; and it looks so well,
I long to be at it.

Pisc. Fall to, then. Now, Sir, what say you, am I a toler-
ble cook or no ?

ViAT. So good a one, that I did never eat so good fish in my
life. This fish is infinitely better than any I ever tasted of the
kind in my life. *T is quite another thing than our Trouts
about London.

Pisc. You would say so, if that Trout you eat of were in
right season ; but pray eat of the Grayling, which, upon my
word, at this time, is by much the better fish.

ViAT. In earnest, and so it is. And I have one request to
make to you, which is, that as you have taught me to catch
Trout and Grayling, you will now teach me how to dress them
as these are dressed ; which, questionless, is of all other the
best way.

Pisc That I will. Sir, with all my heart ; and am glad you
like them so well, as to make that request. And they are
dressed thus : —

Take your Trout, wash, and dry him with a clean napkin ;
then open him, and, having taken out his guts, and all the
blood, wipe him very clean within, but wash him not ; and
give him three scotches with a knife to the bone, on one side
only. After which take a clean kettle, and put in as much
hard stale beer (but it must not be dead), vinegar, and a little
white wine, and water, as will cover the fish you intend to
boil ; then throw into the liquor a good quantity of salt, the
rind of a lemon, a handful of sliced horse-radish root, with a
handsome little fagot of rosemary, thyme, and winter-savory.
Then set your kettle upon a quick fire of wood, and let your
liquor boil up to the height before you put in your fish ; and
then, if there be many, put them in one by one, that they may
not so cool the liquor, as to make it fall. And whilst your
fish is boiUng, beat up the butter for your sauce with a ladleful

CHAP. X.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 295

or two of the liquor it is boiling in. And, being boiled
enough, immediately pour the liquor from the fish ; and, being
laid in a dish, pour your butter upon it ; and, strewing it
plentifully over with shaved horse-radish, and a little pounded
ginger, garnish your sides of your dish, and the fish itself with
a sliced lemon or two, and serve it up.

A Grayling is also to be dressed exactly after the same man-
ner, saving that he is to be scaled, which a Trout never is ; and
that must be done, either with one's nails, or very lightly and
carefully with a knife for bruising the fish. And note, that
these kinds of fish, a Trout especially, if he is not eaten within
four or five hours after he be taken, is worth nothing.

But come, Sir, I see you have dined ; and, therefore, if you
please, we will walk down again to the little House, and there
I will read you a lecture of Angling at the Bottom.

THE THIRD DAY.

CHAPTER XI.

Viator.

SO, Sir, now we are here, and set, let me have my instruc-
tions for Anghng for Trout and GrayHng, at the Bottom ;
which, though not so easy, so cleanly, nor, as 't is said, so
genteel, a way of fishing, as with a fly, is yet (if I mistake not)
a good holding way, and takes fish when nothing else will.

Pisc. You are in the right, it does so ; and a worm is so sure
a bait at all times, that, excepting in a flood, I would I had
laid a thousand pounds that I killed fish more or less with it,
winter or summer, every day throughout the year ; those days
always excepted that, upon a more serious account, always ought
so to be. But not longer to delay you, I will begin : and tell
you, that Angling at the Bottom is also commonly of two sorts ;
— and yet there is a third way of angling with a ground-bait,
and to very great effect too, as shall be said hereafter ; — namely,
by Hand, or with a Cork or Float.

That we call Angling by Hand is of three sorts.

The first : with a line about half the length of the rod, a good
weighty plumb, and three hairs next the hook, which we call a
tunning'line, and with one large brandling, or a dew-worm of
a moderate size, or two small ones of the first, or any other sort,
proper for a Trout, of which my Father Walton has already
given you the names, and saved me a labor ; or, indeed, almost
any worm whatever ; for if a Trout be in the humor to bite, it
must be such a worm as I never yet saw that he will refuse ; and
if you fish with two, you are then to bait your hook thus. You

Chap. XL] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 297

are first to run the point of your hook in at the very head of
your first worm, and so down through his body till it be past
the knot, and then let it out, and strip the worm above the
arming (that you may not bruise it with your fingers) till you
have put on the other, by running the point of the hook in be-
low the knot, and upwards through his body towards his head ;
till it be but just covered with the head, which being done, you
are then to slip the first worm down over the arming again, till
the knots of both worms meet together.

The second way of angling by hand, and with a running-
line, is with a line something longer than the former, and with
tackle made after this same manner. At the utmost extremity
of your line, where the hook is always placed in all other ways^
of angling, you are to have a large pistol or carabine bullet, into-
which the end of your Hne is to be fastened with a peg or pin,
even and close with the bullet ; and, about half a foot above
that, a branch of line, of two or three handfuls long, or more
for a swift stream, with a hook at the end thereof baited with
some ot the forenamed worms ; and another, half foot above
that; another, armed and baited after the same manner, but
with another sort of worm, without any lead at all above : by
w^hich means you will always certainly find the true bottom in
all depths ; which, with the plumbs upon your line above you
can never do, but that your bait must always drag whilst you
are sounding (which, in this way of Angling, must be continu-
ally), by which means you are like to have more trouble, and
I peradventure worse success. And both these ways of angling
at the bottom are most proper for a dark and muddy water ; by
reason that in such a condition of the stream, a man may stand
as near as he will, and neither his own shadow nor the round-
ness of his tackle will hinder his sport.

The third way of angling by hand with a ground-bait, and
by much the best of all other, is, with a line full as long, or a
yard and a half longer than your rod ; with no more than one-
hair next the hook, and for two or three lengths above it ; and

398 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part U

no more than one small pellet of shot for your plumb : youi
hook little; your worms of the smaller brandlings, very well
scoured ; and only one upon your hook at a time, which is thus
to be baited : the point of your hook is to be put in at the very
tag of his tail, and run up his body quite over all the arming,
and still stripped on an inch at least upon the hair ; the head
and remaining part hanging downward. And with this line
and hook, thus baited, you are evermore to angle in the streams ;
always in a clear, rather than a troubled water, and always up
the river, still casting out your worm before you with a light
one-handed rod, like an artificial fiy ; where it will be taken,
sometimes at the top, or within a very little of the superficies
of the water, and almost always before that light plumb can sink
it to the bottom ; both by reason of the stream, and also that
you must always keep your worm in motion by drawing still
back towards you, as if you were angling with a fly. And
believe me, whoever will try it, shall find this the best way of
all other to angle with a worm, in a bright water especially ;
but then his rod must be very hght and pliant, and very true
and finely made ; which, with a skilful hand, will do wonders,
and in a clear stream is undoubtedly the best way of angling for
a Trout or Grayling, with a worm, by many degrees, that any
man can make choice of, and of most ease and delight to the
angler. To which let me add, that if the angler be of a con-
stitution that will suffer him to wade, and will slip into the tail
of a shallow stream, to the calf of the leg or the knee, and so
keep off the bank, he shall almost take what fish he pleases.

The second way of angling at the bottom is with a cork or
float. And that is also of two sorts : with a Worm, or with a
Grub or Cadis.

With a Worm, you are to have your line within a foot, or a
foot and a half, as long as your rod, in a dark water with two,
or, if you will, with three ; but in a clear water never with
above one hair next the hook, and two or three for four or five
lengths above it ; and a worm of what size you please : your

Chap. XI.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 299

plumbs fitted to your cork, your cork to the condition of the
river (that is, to the swiftness or slowness of it), and both, when
the water is very clear, as fine as you can ; and then you are
never to bait with above one of the lesser sort of brandlings ;
or, if they are very little ones indeed, you may then bait with-
two after the manner before directed.

When you angle for a Trout, you are to do it as deep, that
is, as near the bottom as you can, provided your bait do not
drag ; or if it do, a Trout will sometimes take it in that post-
ure. If for a Grayling, you are then to fish further from the
bottom, he being a fish that usually swims nearer to the middle
of the water, and lies always loose ; or, however, is more apt
to rise than a Trout, and more inclined to rise than to descend
even to a ground-bait.

With a Grub or Cadis, you are to angle with the same length
of Hne, or if it be all out as long as your rod, 't is not the
worse ; with never above one hair for tw^o or three lengths next
the hook, and with the smallest cork or float, and the least
weight of plumb you can that will but sink, and that the swift-
ness of your stream will allow : which also you may help, and
avoid the violence of the current, by angling in the returns of
a stream, or the eddies betwixt two streams ; which also are
the most likely places wherein to kill a fish in a stream, either
at the top or bottom.

Of Grubs for a Grayhng, the Ash-grub, which is plump,
milk white, bent round from head to tail, and exceeding ten-
der, with a red head ; or the Dock-worm, or grub, of a pale
yellow, longer, lanker, and tougher than the other, with rows
of feet all down his belly, and a red head also ; are the best, I
say, for a Grayling : because, although a Trout will take both
these, the Ash-grub especially, yet he does not do it so freely
as the other, and I have usually taken ten Graylings for one
Trout with that bait ; though if a Trout come, I have observed
that he is commonly a very good one.

These baits we usually keep in bran, in which an Ash-grub

3CX) THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part II

commonly grows tougher, and will better endure baiting;
though he is yet so tender, that it will be necessary to warp in
a piece of a stiff hair with your arming, leaving it standing out
about a straw-breadth at the head of your hook, so as to keep
the grub either from slipping totally off when baited, or at.
least down to the point of the hook, by which means your arm-
ing will be left wholly naked and bare, which is neither so
sightly, nor so likely to be taken : though, to help that, which
^ill however very oft fall out, I always arm the hook I design
for tkis bait with the whitest horse-hair I can choose ; which
itself will resemble, and shine like that bait, and consequently
will do more good, or less harm, than an arming of any other
color. These grubs are to be baited thus : the hook is to be
put in under the head or chaps of the bait, and guided down
the middle of the belly, without suffering it to peep out by the
way (for then, the Ash-grub especially, will issue out water
and milk, till nothing but the skin shall remain, and the bend
of the hook will appear black through it) till the point of your
hook come so low, that the head of your bait may rest, and
stick upon the hair that stands out to hold it ; by which means
it can neither slip of itself, neither will the force of the stream,
nor quick pulling out, upon any mistake, strip it off.

Now the Cadis, or Cod-bait, which is a sure killing bait,
and, for the most part, by much surer than either of the other,
may be put upon the hook, two or three together ; and is some-
times, to very great effect, joined to a worm, and sometimes
to an artificial fly to cover the point of the hook ; but is always
' to be angled with at the bottom, when by itself especially, with
^ the finest tackle ; and is for all times of ^he year the most hold-
ing-bait of all other whatever, both for Trout and GrayHng.

There are several other baits, besides these few I have named
you, which also do very great execution at the bottom ; and
some that are pecuHar to certain countries and rivers, of which
every Angler may in his own place make his own observation ;
and some others that I do not think fit to put you in mind ot

Chap. XL] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 3OI

because I would not corrupt you, and would have you, — as in
all things else I observe you to be a very honest gentleman, a
fair Angler. And so much for the second sort of angling for a
Trout at the bottom.

ViAT. But, Sir, I beseech you give me leave to ask you one
question. Is there no art to be used to worms, to make them
allure the fish, and in a manner compel them to bite at the
bait?

Pisc. Not that I know of : or did I know any such secret, I
would not use it myself, and therefore would not teach it you.
Though I will not deny to you that, in my younger days, I
have made trial of Oil of Osprey, Oil of Ivy, Camphor, As-
safoetida, Juice of Nettles, and several other devices that I was
taught by several Anglers I met with, but could never find any
advantage by them ; and can scarce believe there is anything
to be done that way: though I must tell you, I have seen
some men, who I thought went to work no more artificially
than I, and have yet with the same kind of worms I had, in
my own sight, taken five, and sometimes ten, for one. But
we '11 let that business alone, if you please. And, because we
have time enough, and that I would deliver you from the
trouble of any more lectures, I will, if you please, proceed to
the last way of angling for a Trout or Grayling, which is in
the middle ; after which I shall have no more to trouble you
with.

ViAT. 'T is no trouble, Sir, but the greatest satisfaction tha.
I can be, and I attend you.

THE THIRD DAY.
CHAPTER Xn.

PiSCATOR.

A NGLING in the Middle, then, for Trout or Grayhng, is ot
*^ two sorts : with a Penk or Minnow for a Trout ; or with
a Worm, Grub, or Cadis for a Grayhng.

For the first ; it is with a Minnow, half a foot, or a foot,
within the superficies of the water. And as to the rest that
concerns this sort of Angling, I shall wholly refer you to Mr.
Walton's direction, who is undoubtedly the best Angler with a
Minnow in England : only in plain truth I do not approve ot
those baits he keeps in salt, — unless where the living ones are
not possibly to be had (though I know he frequently kills with
them, and peradventure more than with any other, nay, I have
seen him refuse a living one for one of them), — and much lesf
of his artificial one ; for though we do it with a counterfeit-
fly, methinks it should hardly be expected that a man should
-deceive a fish with a counterfeit-fish. Which having said, I
jhall only add, and that out of my own experience, that I do
beheve a Bull-head, with his gill-fins cut off, at some times
of the year especially, to be a much better bait for a Trout
than a Minnow, and a Loach much better than that : to prove
which I shall only tell you, that I have much oftener taken
Trouts wdth a Bull-head or a Loach in their throats (for there
a Trout has questionless his first digestion) than a Minnow ;
and that one day especially, having angled a good part of the
day with a Minnow, and that in as hopeful a day, and as fit a
water, as could be wished for that purpose, without raising any

Chap. XII. 1 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 303

one fish ; I at last fell to it with the worm, and with that took
fourteen in a very short space ; amongst all which there was
not, to my remembrance, so much as one that had not a Loach
or two, and some of them three, four, five, and six Loaches,
in his throat and stomach; from whence I concluded, that,
had I angled with that bait, I had made a notable day's work
of 't.

But, after all, there is a better way of angling with a Min-
now than perhaps is fit either to teach or to practise : to which
I shall only add, that a Grayling will certainly rise at, and
sometimes take a Minnow, though it will be hard to be be-
lieved by any one, who shall consider the littleness of that
fish's mouth, very unfit to take so great a bait ; but 't is af-
firmed by many, that he will sometimes do it, and I myself
know it to be true ; for though I never took a Grayling so, yet
a man of mine once did, and within so few paces of me, that
I am as certain of it as I can be of anything I did not see ;
and, which made it appear the more strange, the Grayling was
not above eleven inches long.

I must here also beg leave of your Master, and mine, not to
controvert, but to tell him, that I cannot consent to his way of
throwing in his rod to an overgrown Trout, and afterwards re-
covering his fish with his tackle. For though I am satisfied he
has sometimes done it, because he says so, yet I have found it
quite otherwise ; and though I have taken with the Angle, I
may safely say, some thousands of Trouts in my life, my top
never snapped (though my line still continued fast to the re-
maining part of my rod, by some lengths of line curled round
about my top, and there fastened with waxed silk, against such
an accident) nor my hand never slacked, or slipped by any
other chance, but I almost always infallibly lost my fish,
whether great or little, though my hook came home again.
And I have often wondered how a Trout should so suddenly
disengage himself from so great a hook as that we bait with a
Minnow, and so deep-bearded as those hooks commonly are ;

304 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [Part IL

when I have seen by the forenamed accidents, or the slipping
of a knot in the upper part of the Hne, by sudden and hard
striking, that though the Hne has immediately been recovered,
almost before it could be all drawn into the water, the fish
cleared, and was gone in a moment. And yet, to justify what
he says, I have sometimes known a Trout, having carried away
a whole line, found dead three or four days after, with the
hook fast sticking in him ; but then it is to be supposed he had
gorged it, which a Trout will do, if you be not too quick with
him, when he comes at a Minnow, as sure and much sooner
than a Pike ; and I myself have also, once or twice in my life,
taken the same fish with my own fly sticking in his chaps, that
he had taken from me the day before, by the slipping of a hook
in the arming. But I am very confident a Trout will not be
troubled two hours with any hook, that has so much as one
handful of line left behind with it, or that is not struck through
a bone, if it be in any part of his mouth only : nay, I do cer-
tainly know that a Trout, so soon as ever he feels himself
pricked, if he carries away the hook, goes immediately to the
bottom, and will there root like a hog upon the gravel, till he
either rub out, or break the hook in the middle. And so much
for this sort of angling in the middle for a Trout.

The second way of angling in the middle is with a Worm
Grub, Cadis, or any other ground-bait for a Grayling; and
that is with a cork, and a foot from the bottom, a Grayling
taking it much better there than at the bottom, as has been said
before ; and this always in a clear water, and with the finest
tackle.

To which we may also, and with very good reason, add the
third way of angling by hand with a ground-bait, as a third
way of fishing in the middle, which is common to both Trout
and GrayUng ; and, as I said before, the best way of angling
with a worm of all other I ever tried whatever.

And now, Sir, I have said all I can at present think of coa-

Chap. XIL| THE COMPLETE ANGLER. . 305

cerning Angling for a Trout and Grayling, and I doubt not
have tired you sufficiently ; but I will give you no more
trouble of this kind whilst you stay ; which I hope will be a
good while longer.

ViAT. That will not be above a day longer ; but if I live
till May come twelvemonth, you are sure of me again, either
with my Master Walton or without him ; and in the mean
time shall acquaint him how much you have made of me for
his sake, and I hope he loves me well enough to thank you
for it.

Pisc. I shall be glad, Sir, of your good company at the time
you speak of, and shall be loath to part with you now ; but
when you tell me you must go, I will then wait upon you more
miles on your way than I have tempted you out of it, and
heartily wish you a good journey.

LINN^AN ARRANGEMENT
OF THE FISH

WGUREP IN THIS EDITION OF WALTON AND COTTON'S COM

PLETE ANGLER.*

Extracted from General Zo61cp:y, by George Shaw, M.D., &c., &c. ; and
British Zoology, by Thomas Pennant, Esq., Edit Lond., 1812, 8vo.

TTHE reader of Walton's most interesting and amusing work
* will probably be gratified by its closer connection with
the science of Natural History ; and for this purpose, the fol-
lowing list is added, containing the Systematic Names and
Characters of the principal Fish described in it.

Fishes form one great division of the Systema Naturae of
Linnaeus ; and the most generally received modification there
of, by Dr. Shaw, arranges them under two great Classes, — to
the former of which alone the present work has reference, — viz.
those which have a Skeleton of Bone, and those which have a
Skeleton of Cartilage, The Orders are founded upon circum-
stances connected with the Fins, which are named from their
situation. Dorsal^ or Back Fins ; Pectoral, or Breast Fins ;
Ventral, or Belly Fins ; Anal, or Vent Fin; and Caudal, or
Tail Fin.

The Ventral Fins are held to be analogous to the Feet of
Quadrupeds ; and from theij: absence, or relative situation to
the others, the Orders are taken. Such as want the Ventral

* The late Dr. Richard Powell, Secretary of the Royal College of Physi-
cians, volunteered the Linnaean Arrangement annexed, from his admiration
of the original paintings, and the great pains taken to have them faithfully
engraved.

I THE COMPLETE ANGLER, 307

Fins are named Apodal, or Footless ; such as have the Ventral
placed before, or more forward than the Pectoral, are named
Jugular ; such as have them immediately under the Pectoral
are named Thoracic ; and such as have them behind or beyond
the Pectoral are named Abdominal,

As the ensuing descriptions of the Fish are placed according
to their scientific order, and not according to that of their oc-
currence in the preceding work, a reference to the chapter and
the page in which they are treated of and represented is placed
against each of the following Articles.

ORDER L

Apodal, or Footless.

No Ventral Fins,
Genus Anguilla, Eel.

Head smooth. Nostrils tubular. Eyes covered by the common
skin. Gill-membrane 10 rayed. Body roundish, smooth, mucous.
Dorsal, Caudal, and Anal fins united. Spiracles behind the head or
Pectoral fins.
A, vulgaris. Common Eel, Chap. XIII. page 178.

Olive-brown Eel, subargenteous beneath, with the lower jaw longer
than the upper.

ORDER II.
Jugular.

\ Ventral Fins before the PectoraL

No example.

ORDER III.

Thoracic

Ventral Fins under the PectoraL

Genus Cottus, Bull-Head.

Head broader than the body, spiny. Eyes vertical, and furnished
with a nictitating membrane. Gil) -membrane 6 rayed. Body (in
most species), without scales, attenuated towards the tail. Dorsal
fins (in most species), two.
C Gobio, River Bull-Head, Chap. xvm. pp. 210, 211.

308 THE COMPLETE ANGLER.

Smooth yellowish-olive Bull- Head, variegated with black ; beneath
whitish. The Head furnished with a spine on each side.

Genus Perca, Perch.

Teeth sharp, incurvate. Gill-covers triphyllous (three-leaved), scaly,
serrated. Dorsal fin spiny on the forepart. Scales (in most species)
hard and rough.
P, Fluviatilis^ Common Perch, Chap. Xll. page 173.

Olivaceous Perch, with transverse semi-decurrent blackish bands.
Dorsal fin subviolaceous, the rest red.
P, Cernua, Ruffe- Perch. Chap. XV. page 191.

Sub-olivaceous Perch speckled with black, with 15 spines in the
Dorsal fin.

N. B. The large Eyes (Oculi magni), which are noticed irt
Linnseus's description, are well expressed in the Plate.
Genus Gasterosteus, Stickleback.

Body somewhat lengthened. Dorsal spines distinct. Ventral fins
spiny. Abdomen carinated on the sides, and bony beneath.
G, Aculeatus^ Common Stickleback, Chap. XVIII. pp. 210, 212.
Olivaceous Stickleback, silvery-red beneath, with 3 Dorsal spines.

ORDER IV.
Abdominal.

Ventral Fins behind^ or beyond the PectoraL

Genus Cobitis, Loche.

Mouth (in most species) bearded. Eyes situated in the upper part of
the head. Body nearly of equal thickness, from head to tail. Scales
small, easily deciduous. Air-bladder hard, or osseous.
C, Barbatula, Common Loche, Chap. XVIII. pp. 210, 2II.
Yellow-gray Loche, with dusky variegations, small compressed head
and 6 beards.

Genus Salmo, Salmon.

Head compressed, smooth. Tongue cartilaginous. Teeth, both in
the jaws, and on the tongue. Gill-membrane from 4 to 10 rayed.
Body compressed, furnished at the hind part with an Adipose fin.
S, Salary Common Salmon, Chap. VII. page 140.

Silvery-gray spotted Salmon, with the jaws (in the male) incurvated.
S, Fario, Common Trout, Chap. V. page 99.

Yellowish -gray Salmon with red spots, and lower jaw rather longer

than the upper.
5. Salmulus, Samlet. Chap. IV. page %%.

Bluish -gray Salmon, with distant reddish spots and forked tail.

THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 309

Note, Pennant seems to have established this as a distinct
species, and not the fry of the Sahnon, which some have sup-
posed. One conclusive reason amongst others is, that they are
furnished with roes, and are therefore to be considered as full-
grown fishes. A similar inference may be made with respect to
the White-Bait of the Thames.

S, Thymallus, Grayling Salmon, Chap. VI. page 135.

Gray Salmon, with longitudinal dusky blue lines, and violet-colored
Dorsal fin barred with brown.

Genus Esox, Pike.

Head somewhat flattened above. Mouth wide. Teeth sharp, in the
jaws, palate, and tongue. Body lengthened. Dorsal and Anal fins
(in most species) placed near the tail, and opposite each other.
£, Lucius^ Cormnon Pike. Chap. viii. page 149.

Grayish-olive Pike, with yellowish spots, and depressed subequal
jaws.

Genus Cyprinus, Carp.

Mouth small and toothless. Teeth in the throat. Gill-membrane 3

rayed. Ventral fins, in general, 9 rayed.

Note, It is remarkable, that of the twenty-one principal Fish
which minister to the pleasure of the Angler, ten belong to this
single Genus.

C, Carpio^ Common Carp, Chap. IX. page 159.
Yellowish-olive Carp, with wide Dorsal fin, with the third ray
serrated behind.

C, Brama. Bream, Chap. x. page 164.

Broad olivaceous Carp, with flesh-colored Abdomen; smallish

Dorsal fin, and 27 rays in the Anal fin,
C, Rutilusy Roach, Chap. XVII. page 201.

Yellowish-silvery Carp, with olivaceous back. Dorsal fin brown,

the rest reddish, and forked tail.

C, Tinea, Tench, Chap. XI. page 171.
Mucous blackish-olive Carp, with very small scales, and nearly
even tail.

C, Barbus, Barbel, Chap. XIV. page 186.
Bluish-white Carp, with 4 beards, olive-colored back, and the first
ray of the Dorsal fin serrated on both sides.

C, Jeses^ Chub, Chap. II. page 79.

Silvery-bluish Carp, with olivaceous back, thick head, and rounded
snout.

310

THE COMPLETE ANGLER.

C, Leuciscus, Dace, Chap. xvil. page 202.

Yellowish-silvery Carp, with olivaceous back, Dorsal fin brown, the

rest reddish, and forked tail.
C. Alburnus^ Bleak, Chap. XV. page 192.

Silvery Carp, with olivaceous back, 20 rays in the Anal fin, and

forked tail.
C, Gobioy Gudgeon, Chap. XV. page 190.

Silvery-Olive Carp, with the upper lip bearded, and the Dorsal fin

and tail spotted with black.
C. Fhoximcs, Minnow, Chap. XVIII. page 210.

Blackish-green Carp, with blue and yellow variegations ; reddish-
silvery Abdomen, and forked taiL

ORIGINAL AND SELECTED NOTES.

ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE COMPLETE ANGLER.

PREVIOUS to entering upon the following series of illustra-
'■' tive Notes, it may be advantageous to state what were
the books to which the Authors of the preceding work have
referred in the course of it ; and, so far as they now can be
ascertained, to specify the probable editions which they con-
salted. By doing this Walton's principal authorities will ap-
pear at one view ; and by numbering each article separately, a
connection will be formed between them and the following
Notes, without the continual repetition of the title of any
Volume which may be referred to. Walton, by an admirable
selection of his authors, was enabled to quote not only the
best, most learned, and most popular writers of his own time,
but he also was rendered capable of citing numerous ancient
classics, as well as the works of many eminent foreigners, whose
productions were generally written in Latin. The Complete
Angler was, perhaps, fully as much as any other work in the
English tongue, a progressive composition ; since each sue
ceeding edition, down to the Fifth, — which was the last pub-
lished in the author's life, — contained some variation, addition
or improvement on that which preceded it. Though Walton
certainly anticipated future impressions of his most entertain-
ing work, yet in the Preface to his First Edition, which was
afterwards considerably altered, he writes of such a circum-
stance with very great modesty. When speaking of the flies
which are used for the different months, he says: '' Of these
(because no man is born an artist nor an Angler) I thought fit
to give thee this notice. I might say more, hut it is not fit

312 THE COMPLETE ANGLER.

for this place ; but if this Discourse which follows shall come
to a second impression, which is possible, for slight books have
been in this age observed to have that fortune, I shall then, for
thy sake, be glad to correct what is faulty, or, by a conference
with any, to explain or enlarge what is defective ; but for this
time I have neither a willingness nor leisure to say more, than
wish thee a rainy evening to read this book in, and that the
east wind may never blow when thou goest a-fishing. Fare-
well. Iz. Wa.'' He faithfully fulfilled this promise, for the
Second Edition has eight entirely new chapters, and above an
hundred pages more than the First ; and the Fifth contains
twenty pages more than the Fourth.*

It is from these variations, the most important of which will
be found carefully preserved in the following Notes, that a con-
ception may be formed of the editions used by Walton of the
authors whom he cites ; and it is from a careful collation of
these earlier impressions, that some illustrations of the text have
been recovered, from marginal notes which were afterwards
omitted. Nor from the author only have such illustrations
been compiled, but the Editions of the Complete Angler by
the Reverend Moses Browne, Sir John Hawkins, Sir Henry
Ellis, and the elaborate and beautiful impression edited by Sir
N. Harris Nicolas, published eight years since by Mr. Picker-
ing, have been also consulted ; and the collection formed into
c. brief but comprehensive abstract of all. Brief indeed, the
plan of the present volume required it to be, although it would
2n most instances have been truly interesting to have given the
very words of the ancient and erudite authorities themselves ;
but these extracts extend occasionally to many pages, and are
to be found in the impressions referred to. The reader has

* As these various Editions are referred to in the succeeding Notes by the
number of the impression only, a list of them in the order of publication is
here given. First, 1653 ; Second, 1655 ; Third, 1664 ; Fourth, 1668 ; Fifth,
1676. Of all these impressions, copies are in the possession of W. J. Bro-
DERIP, Esq., with the most liberal use of which, beside other assistance, *h«
Editor has been favored for the improvement of this work.

THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 313

however the less to regret, since he will find, on a reference to
the originals, that Walton has so happily abbreviated them, as
in the words of Addison, to have ^'practised in the chemical
method, and given the virtue of a bulky draught in a few
drops.*' Such as are famihar with the Hterature of the time
will find the ensuing Notes almost all which can be required,
since they will serve as an index to many of the passages re-
ferred to in the numerous authors quoted ; while for the gener-
al reader, it is presumed there will be sufficient to amuse and
guide him, without the introduction of quaint extracts, which
he would neither value or enjoy.

The works referred to in The Complete Angler are presumed
to be the following.

1. i^ilianus, Claudius : De Natura Animalium, libri xvii. Gr. Lat. Pet,

Gillio et Conr. Gesnero Interp. Lugd, 1565. i6to.

2. Aldrovandus, Ulysses : De Piscibvs, libri v. et de Cetis liber vnvs.

Bon. 1638. fol.

3. Bacon, Francis, Baron Verulam : Sylva Sylvarum : or a Naturall His-

tory in Ten Centuries. Published after the Author's death, by W,
Rawley, D.D. Lond, 1635. fol.

^ .«-. A History, Natural and Experimental, of Life and Death : or

of the Prolongation of Life. Translated from the Latin by W.
Rawley, D.D. Lond. 1638. i2mo.

5. Baker, Sir Richard : A Chronicle of the Kings of England. Lond.

1653. fol.

6. Barker, Thomas : The Art of Angling. Lond. 1661. i2mo.

7. Bartas, Guillaume De Salluste, Sieur Du : Du Bartas his Diuine

Weekes and Workes. Translated by Joshua Sylvester, Gent.

Lond, 1 64 1, fol.
S. Camden, William : Britain : or a Chorographical Description of the

most flourishing Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and

the Islands adjoining. Translated from the Latin by Philemon

Holland, M.D. Lond, 1637. fol.
9. Cardanus, Jerome : De Subtilitate, libri xxi. Par, 1551. 8vo.

10. Casaubon, Dr. Merle : Of Credulity and Incredulity, in Things

Natural, Civil, and Diviae. Lond, 1668. 8vo.

11. Caussin, Nicholas : The Holy Court. 1663. fol.

12. Diodorus Siculus : The History of the World ; Done into English bjf

Mr. (Henry) Cogan. Lond, 1653. fol.

314 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. '

13. Donne, Dr. John : Poems by J, D. with Elegies on the Authoi*»

Death. Lond. 1663. 4^^'

14. Drayton, Michael : Poly-Olbion. Lond, (1612.) foL '

15. Dubravius, Janus : De Piscinis et Piscium qui in eis aluntur naturis ;

libri V. 1559. 8vo.

16. Fletcher, Phineas : The Purple Island, or the Isle of Man : together

with Piscatorie Eclogs and other Poeticall Miscellanies. By P. F.
Cambr, 1633. 4to.

17. Gerard, John ; The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes. Lond.

1633. fol.

18. Gesner, Conrad : De Piscibvs et Aqvatilibvs omnibvs, libelli iii. Lat,

Germ. Tigur, No date. i2mo.

ig^ «— _ Historiae Naturalis Animalium, libri v. Quadrupedum,

Avium, Piscium, et Serpentum. Tigur, 1551-1558. 5 vols. fol.

20. Grotius, Hugo : His Sophompaneas, or Joseph, A Tragedy. With

Annotations by Frj.ncis Goldsmith, Esq. Land. No date, but
printed about 1634. 8vo.

21. Hakewill, Rev. George, D.D. An Apology or Declaration of the

Power and Providence of God in the Government of the World.
Lond, 1630. fol.

22. Herbert, Rev. George : The Temple. Sacred Poems and Private

Ejaculations. Cambr, 1 633. i2mo.

23. Heylin, Rev. Peter, D.D. : Microcosmos. A Little Description of

the Great World. Oxf, 1633. 4to.

24. Josephus, Flavius : Josephus's History : or the Antiquities of the

Jews. Translated into English by Thomas Lodge, M.D. Lond.
1602. fol.

25. Jovius, Paulus : De Romanis Piscibus, libellus. Basil, 1531. 8vo.

26. Lessius, Leonardus : Hygiasticon : or the right course of preserving

Life and Health unto extream Old Age. Done into English b^.
T(imothy) S(mith). Cambr, 1634. i2mo.

27. Liebault, Dr. J. : Maison Rustique : or the Covntrey Farme. Con-«

pyled in the French Tongue by Charles Stevens, and John Lie
bavlt. Doctors of Physicke. And Translated into English bj
Richard Svrflet, Practitioner in Physicke. Lond, 1616. fol.

28. Matthiolus, Pet. Andr. : Epistolae Medicinales. Prag. 1 56 1, fol,

29. Montaigne, Michael De : The Essayes, or Morall, Politicke, and

Militarie Discovrses of Lord Michael de Montaigne. Translated
by John Florio. Lond. 1632. fol.

30. Moulin, Rev. Pierre Du : The Accomplishment of the Prophecies, of

the third book in defence of the Catholicke Faith. Translated b|
J. Heath. Oxf. 161 1. t2u»o

THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 315

31. Obel, Matthew De L* : Plantarum seu Stirpium Historia, cum alio

volumine adversariorum ; per M. de L'Obel et P. Peaen. Antv,
1576.

32. Overbury, Sir Thomas : His Wife, with Additions of New Characters

and many other witty conceits never before printed. Lond. 1638.
i6to.

33. Pinto, Ferdinand Mendez : The Voyages and Adventures of Ferdinand

Mendez Pinto. Done into EngUsh by H(enry) C(ogan) Gent,
Lond. 1633. fol.

34. Pliny, Junior : The Historic of the World. Commonly called the

Naturall Historic of C. Plinivs Secvndvs. Translated into English
by Philemon Holland, M.D. Lond. 1601. fol.

35. Plutarch : The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romanes, compared

together by that graue and learned Philosopher and Histori-
ographer, Plutarke of Chaeroneas : Translated out of Greeke into
French by James Amyot, Abbot of Bellozane, &c., and out of
French into Englishe by Thomas North. (Esq. Controller of the
Household to Queen Elizabeth.) Lond. 1579. fol.

36. Rondeletius, Gulielmus : Libri de Piscibus Marinis ; in quibus verae

Piscium effigies expressse sunt. Ludg, 1554. fol.

37. Royal Society : The Philosophical Transactions, vol. vi. Lond,

1671. 4to.

38. Salvianus, Hippolytus : Aqvatilivm Animalivm Historiae. Rom. 1554.

fol.

39. Sandys, George : A Relation of a Journey begun An : Dom : 16 10.

L^ond. 1615. fol.

40. Sidney, Sir Philip : The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia. Lond

1655. fol.

41. Topsell, Rev. Edw. : The Historic of Fovre-Footed Beastes. Lond

1607. f^^* '^

42* The Historic of Serpents : or the Seconde Bobke of Liuing

Creatures. Lond, 1608. fol. * *^"

43. Wotton, Sir Henry : Reliquiae Wottonianae. Lond. 1651. i2mo.

44. Xenophon : The Life of Cyrus, translated by Philemon MollaBi^

M.D. Lond. 1632. fol.

Page 28. /, Lzaak Walton,

With respect to the peculiar orthography employed by Walton as to his
Christian name, it is to be remembered, that in his time it was frequently
spelled in the Scriptures Izak, Izaacke, and Izaack ; and also that such a
manner was agreeable to the orieinal Hebrew of the word Ilzhcuk^ or

3l6 THE COMPLETE ANGLER.

Laughter, vide Gen. xxi. 6. In this circumstance Walton was, most
probably, guided by some of the many learned divines with whom he was
acquainted.

Page 31. IVttn^^^, Abraham MarklanJ,

The appearance of the above name as a witness to Walton's Will, is an
additional proof of the great respect in which he was held by the most
eminent clergy of his time. Dr. Abraham Markland was a Prebendary of
Winchester Cathedral, where he was installed the 4th of July, 1692 ; and
in August, 1694, he was named Master of the Hospital of St. Cross, near
the above city. He published several Poems, in 1667, 4to, composed in
that retirement, and ** A Sermon, preached before the Aldermen in Guild-
hall Chapel," Lond. 1683. 4to. Ath, Oxon, Edit, by Bliss, vol. iv. p.
710. The above circumstances were obligingly pointed out by his
descendant J. H. Markland, Esq., F.R.S., etc. Walton's Will, which
is given in the text, is recorded in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, in
the volume called i Hare, 375, Art. 24. It was proved by the Executors
at London, on February the 4th, 1683-4, before Sir Thomas Exton and
Sir Leoline Jenkins.

Page 41. A Conference betwixt an Angler, etc.

The First Edition of the Complete Angler has not any descriptive titles
prefixed to the chapters ; but the leaf immediately preceding the com-
mencement of the work itself contains a short Table of Contents to the
thirteen chapters of which that edition is composed, and which is intro-
duced in the following manner : ** Because in this Discourse of Fish and
Fishing I have not observed a method, which (though the Discourse be
not long) may be some inconvenience to the Reader, I have therefore for
his easier finding out some particular things which are spoken of, made
this following Table. The first chapter is spent in a vindication or com-
mendation of the Art of Angling.'* After having gone through the whole
number of chapters, the Table concludes with, ** These directions the
Reader may takt as an ease in his search after some particular Fish, and
the baits proper for them ; and he wilkshew himselfe courteous in mend-
ing or passing by some few errors in the Printer, which are not so many
but that they may be pardoned." In the Second Edition, there were
twenty-one chapters, entitled as they are in the foregoing pages ; and the
Third Edition was the first which had an index.

Page 41. The Thatched House in Hoddesden,

In the First Edition, there are but two characters introduced in Chapter
I. : Viator, or the Wayfarer, whose name in the Second impression was
changed to Venator, or the Hunter, and Piscator, the Fisherman. In-
stead, therefore, of the dialogue as it now stands, the opening passages
were originally as follow : * * Piscator, You are wel overtaken Sir ; a

THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 317

good morning to you ; I have stretchM my legs up Totnam Hil to over-
take you, hoping your businesse may occasion you towards Ware, this fine,
pleasant, fresh, May-day in the morning. Viator. Sir, I shall almost
answer your hopes ; for my purpose is to be at Hodsden (three miles short
of that town) I will not say, before I drink, but before I break my fast :
for I have appointed a friend or two to meet me there at the Thatcht-
house, about nine of the clock this morning ; and that made me so early
up, and, indeed, to walk so fast. Fisc. Sir, I know the Thatcht-house
very well : I often make it my resting place, and taste a cup of ale there,
for which liquor that place is very remarkable ; and to that house I shall
by your favour accompany you, and either abate of my pace, or mend it,
to enjoy such a companion as you seem to be, knowing that (as the
Italians say,") etc. Pages i, 2. The Thatcht-house is stated by the Rev.
Moses Browne, in a note in his Third Edition of the Complete Angler,
Lond. 1772, i2mo, p. I, to be *' seventeen miles from London on the
Ware road." It is now quite unknown ; but it has been supposed that a
thatched cottage, once distinguished by the sign of the Buffalo's Head,
standing at the farther end of Hoddesdon, on the left of the road «n going
towards Ware, about seventeen miles and half distant from London^ was
the actual building.

Page 41. Mews a Hawk.

Mew, derived from the old French MuS^ signifies a change, or the period
"when birds and other animals moult, or cast th^ir feathers, hairs, or horns:
hence Latham observes that the ** Mew is that place, whethei it be abroad
or in the house, where you set down your hawk during the time she rais-
eth (or reproduces) her feathers." In the above passage, the term refers
to the care with which a hawk should be kept in her mewing-time ; and in
** The Gentleman's Academie, or the Book of St. Alban*s, '* Lond, 1595.
4to. Edit, by Gerv. Markham, there are several sections on the mewing of
hawks ; from one of which, p. 9, it may be learned that the best time to
commence, is in the beginning of Lent, and, if well kept, the bird will
be mewed by the beginning of August.

Page 42. Hunting the Otter.

In pursuing this sport, which is now almost obsolete, the huntsmen as-
sembled on each side of the river where an otter was supposed to harbor,
beating up the hollow banks, reed-beds, and sedges, with hounds kept
solely for that purpose ; and, if the game were at hand, its ** j^a/," or the
impression produced by the round ball under the soles of the feet, were
soon discovered in the mud. Every hunter was armed with a spear, to
assist the dogs, and attack the animal when it came to the surface of the
water to breathe or vent ; but if the otter were not found by the river-side,
It was traced by the seal, the fragpaents of the prey, and the '' spraints,^^

3l8 THE COMPLETE ANGLER.

or soil, up the stream inland to the place where it had gone to couch.
The otter when wounded, as it is noticed on page 75, bites violently, and
makes towards land ; although the male-otter never utters a cry, but the
pregnant females give a very shrill scream. When the otter fastens upon
the dogs in the water, it dives with them, carries them far below the sur-
face, and will seldom give up or quit its hold but with life. The hunting
of an otter will last three and four hours, and the most fatal time for the
pursuit is in snow and hard frost : an unbaited gin set near the landing-
place of otters is also used to destroy them. Daniel. Otter-dogs, which
are mentioned a short distance below the line above quoted, are a breed
between the harrier and the terrier, and are hounds of great strength and
activity. The following extract from the Whitehall Evening Post of May,
1760, was communicated for the first impression of this Edition of The
Complete Angler, twenty-one years since, by the late Joseph Haslewood,
as showing the time when otter-hunting in England began to decline.

**To be Disposed of, At Barton under Needwood, near Litchfield,
Staffordshire, Otter-Hounds, exceeding staunch, and thoroughly well
trained to the hunting of this Animal. The Pack consists of nine Couple
and a Terrier, and are esteemed to be as good, if not the best, Hounds in
the Kingdom. In the Winter Season they hunt the Hare, except about
two Couple and a half that are trained to the Otter only ; but there are
about two Couple of Harriers, that have never been entered at the Otter,
which will go with the rest ; beside three Couple of Year-old Hounds, now
fit to enter at either or both ; and one Couple of Whelps, ready to go to
Walks. The greatest part of them are the Blood of as high bred a Fox-
Hound as any in England. The Proprietor disposes of them for the two
following reasons only : First, because all the Otters except about three
or four are killed within this Hunt, which consists of all the Rivers in this
Country, (except the Dove, where Otters are not to be killed with Hounds,)
Leicestershire, and Warwickshire ; but more especially, because the Pro-
prietor finds himself too infirm to follow them. None but Principals wii2
be treated with. Direct to Walter Biddulph, of Barton aforesaid, Esq. :
by whom all letters from Principals will be duly answered.

** N.B. Mr. Biddulph has killed within these last six Years with these
Hounds, above Burton upon Trent only, seventy-four Otters. There are
six Spears to be disposed of with the Hounds."

Page 42. Noble Mr, Sadler,

Ralph Sadler, or Sadleir, of Standon, in the County of Hertford, Esq.;
only son and heir of Sir Thomas Sadler, and grandson of Sir Ralph Sadler,
Knight-Banneret, celebrated in the times of Henry VHL, Edward VI.,
Mary, and Elizabeth. He married, in 1601, Anne Paston, eldest daughter
of the very eminent Sir Edward Coke, Lord Chief -Justice ; in 1606, he

THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 319

succeeded to the family-seat of Standon, and he died without issue, on
February the 12th, 1660 (1661) ; Scott^s Sadler^ s Papers, He appears to
have had a great attachment to angling, and Sir Henry Chauncey, in his
Historical Antiquities of Hertfordshire, p. 219, says of him, that **he
brought an action of trespass Quare vi et armis against John Hyat in the
Court of King's Bench, for fishing in the river Standon leading through
his own land, and for erecting a weir there ; and he obtained judgment
hereupon. He delighted much in hawking and hunting, and the pleas-
ures'of a country life ; was famous for his noble table, his great hospitality
to his neighbors, and his abundant charity to the poor.*' The original
edition of Walton's work in this part reads as follows. ** Viator, In-
deed, Sir, a little business and more pleasure : for my purpose is to be-
stow a day or two in hunting the otter, which my friend, that I go to
meet, tells me is more pleasant than any hunting whatsoever : and, having
despatched a little business this day, my purpose is to-morrow to follow

the dogs of honest Mr. , who hath appointed me and my friend to

meet him upon Amwell-hill to-morrow morning by daybreak."

P^-ge 43. According to Lucian,

The First Edition of the Complete Angler has these verses placed im-
mediately after the extract from Montaigne, which was introduced by the
same remarks which now precede it, upon Viator's answer to that speech
of Piscator, in which he declares himself an enemy to the Ottei, both on
the account of his brother-anglers and his own. At page 5, in the original
impression, Viator^ who is the subsequent Venator, though without his
discourse in praise of Hunting, says : *'Sir, to be plain with you, I am
sorry you are an Angler : for I have heard many grave, serious men pitie,
and many pleasant men scoffe, at Anglers." Piscator's reply is then nearly
the same as it now appears, with the transposition already mentioned ;
'^ but at the end of the sentence ** and I hope I may take,'' etc., see page 50,
he continues : ** But, if this satisfie not, I pray bid the scoffer put this Epi-
gram in his pocket, and read it every morning for his breakfast (for I wish
him no better) ; Hee shall find it fixed before the Dialogues of Lucian, who
may justly be accounted the father of the family of all scoffers : And,
though I owe none of that fraternitie so much as good-will, yet I have
taken a little pleasant pains to make such a conversion of it as may make
it the fitter for all of that fraternity." The translation of Lucian alluded
to by Walton is entitled ** Certain select Dialogues of Lucian : together
with his true history," translated from the Greek into English by Mr.
Francis Hickes. Oxford^ 1634, 4to. The book was published by Thomas
Hickes, M. A., the son of the translator ; and at the end of an address
**To che honest and judicious reader," is the Epigram already referred
to, printed in Greek and English, and signed T. H. The original lines,

320 THE COMPLETE ANGLER.

taken from the copy of this volume in the Library of Sion College, Loa
don, are as follow :

•• Lucian, well skill'd in old toyes, this hath writ:
For all 's but folly that men thinke is wit ;
No settled judgement doth in men appear:—
But thou admirest that which otheiS jeer/'

Page 43. The learned and ingenuous Montaigne says.
The original edition, in this place, reads, "And as for any Scoffer, * ^tn
mockat^ mockabiturJ* Let mee tell you, (that you may tell him) what the
wittie French-man sayes in such a case." The extract then follows, and
a marginal note refers to the authority. The edition of Montaigne's Essays
used by Walton was in all probability that marked No. 29 in the foregoing
list : the passage alluded to will be found in Chap, xii., ** An Apologie of
Raymond de Sebonde," and on page 250 of the volume ; but the para-
phrase which has been given at the place above quoted is far more beauti-
ful and copious than the original. Michel de Montaigne, whose amusing
and instructive Essays Walton seems carefully to have read, was born at
the Chateau de Montague, in Perigord, on February the 28th, 1533. As
soon as he could speak he was sent into Germany to learn Latin, which he
understood perfectly when he was only six years olc^; the Greek he also
acquired with considerable ease ; and by the time he was thirteen, his
education was finished. As he was intended for the profession of the law,
he married Fran9oise de la Chassaigne, the daughter of a Councillor of
the Parliament of Bourdeaux ; but although he was extensively employed
and caressed i» Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, the retirement of study
was most congenial to his feelings. Charles IX. of France invested him
with the Order of St. Michael, and he died on his own estate on the 15th
of September, 1592. His principal work is his Moral, Political, and Mili-
tary Essays, which are replete with information on all subjects, and espe-
cially on natural history ; but he also published a volume of travels, and a
French translation of the Natural Theology of Raymond de Sebonde.
fohn Florio, the Resolute, as he styled himself, who made that translation
of Montaigne's Essays, consulted by Walton, was the son of Italian parents
who were Waldenses, and who fled to London to avoid the Papal perse-
cutions. In that city he was born in the reign of Henry VIIL Florio
taught Italian and French in the University of Oxford, and also to Anne,
the Queen of James I. , and Prince Henry his son. He died of the plague
at Fulham, in 1625, at the age of 80.

Page 44. / hope in time to disabuse you.

This expression is now nearly obsolete ; it is derived from the old French
T)eiabuser, to undeceive. In Chap. iii. page loi, the same wora occurs
vain, and in the Rev, H. J. Todd's edition of Dr. Johnson's Dictionary,

THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 321

the first of the foregoing passages is given, as one of the authorities for the
use of the expression. The verb to abuse, put for deception, will be found
in Wotton's verses on page 229. — ** Abused mortals, did you know.'* In
the original edition of this work, in which there are two speakers only in
the first chapter, the dialogue imnividiately passes to Piscator's illustrations
of the antiquity of angling.

Page 47. Varro his Aviary,

In Book IV. section 7, and page 388, of Dr. HakewilPs Apology, No.
21 in the preceding list, are several particulars of Varro's passion for birds,
and his extensive aviaries, quoted from himself, Lucius Accius, and Colu-
mella, with particular references to each. Marcus Terentius Varro was
a very learned Roman, who was Lieutenant 10 Pompey in his piratical wars,
and who obtained a naval crown. Cicero greatly commends his erudi-
tion, and to him he dedicated his five books **De Lingua Latina/* in his
eightieth year. Beside these he wrote nearly five hundred volumes, which
are now all lost, excepting a Treatise De Re Rustica, in Book III. of which
sorrie notices of his aviary may be found.

Page 47. This for the Birds of Pleasure,

To these may with propriety be added the practice of the Persian Kings
mentioned by Robert Burton in his *' Anatomy of Melancholy," Lond, 1676,
fol. part 2, sect. 2, memb. 4, page 169, col. i, which he quotes from Sir
Anthony Shirley's Travels. **The Persian Kings," says he, **hawk after
butterflies with sparrows made to that use, and Starrs (starlings) : lesser
hawks for lesser games they have and bigger for the lest, that they may
produce their sport to all seasons. The Muscovian Emperours reclaim
eagles to let fly at hindes, foxes, etc., and such a one was sent for a pres-
ent to Queen Elizabeth : some reclaim ravens, castriis (young kites or
baijtard-hawks), pies, etc., and man them for pleasure." In the very en-
tertaining Life of Edward, Lord Herbert of Cherbury, Lond. 1778, 4to, p.
134, it is related that M. De Luynes, subsequently Prime Minister of
I France in the early years of Louis XIII., ** gained much upon the King
: by making hawks fly at all little birds in his gardens, and by making some
of those little birds again catch butterflies. *' Hawkins,

Page 47. Mr, G. Sandys in his Travels,

George Sandys, or Sandies, was the seventh or youngest son of Dr. Ed-
win Sandys, Archbishop of York from 1576 to 1588, and was born in the
Archiepiscopal palace at Bishopsthorpe in 1577. In 1588 he was entered
of St. Mary's Hall, Oxford ; and in August, 16 10, he departed on his
travels through Europe and Asia, which occupied two years, and of which
He published an account in folio, with many plates, in 1615, and repeat-
edly reprinted. Sandys was not only pious, learned, and accomplished,
but he was also one of the best versifiers of his ame ; and in poetry he

322 THE COMPLETE ANGLER.

published "Ovid's Metamorphoses Englished,*' 1626, folio ; A Paraphrase
upon the Psalms of David, etc., 1636, octavo ; Christ's Passion, a Tragedy,
translated from H. Grotius, 1640, i2mo ; and a Paraphrase upon the Song
of Solomon, 1641, 4to. He died in 1643. The passage in his Travels
alluded to in the text will be found in No. 39 of the foregoing list, p,
209.

Page 47. The Dove was sent out of the ark by Noah,

Genesis, chap. viii. 8-12. The Offering of Turtle-doves or Pigeons, re*
ferred to immediately after, will be found in Leviticus xii. 6, 8, and Luke
ii. 24. The Descent of the Holy Ghost, also mentioned in the same para*
graph, is related in St. Matthew iii. 16 ; St. Mark i. 10 ; St. Luke iii. 22 \
and St. John i. 32. With the exception of the third reference, however,
the words imply that the Holy Spirit descended in the manner of a Dove,
overshadowing and covering that which is beneath ; but Dr. Whitby, in
his ** Paraphrase and Commentary on the New Testament," Land. 1727,
fol. vol. i. p. 370, says that even that passage has the same meaning, since
it is not a bodily form as of a Dove^ but as a Dove^ which is similar to the
phrase used in Acts ii. 3, as of Fire, ** This bodily shape,*' he continues,
"seems rather to have been that of light, or of a bright cloud, in which
God usually appeared under the Old Testament, and from which he spake,
and which is usually called *the Glory of the Lord.' '* Dr. Doddridge, in
his "Family Expositor," Lond, 1760, 4to, vol. i. p. 115, Note g, says,
that the phrase might have been used without any actual appearance, "but
only a lambent flame falling from Heaven with a dove-like motion, which
Dr. Scot, in his Christian Life, vol. iii. p. 66, supposes to have been all.
Dr. Owen and Grotius think it was a bright flame in the shape of a Dove,
and Justin Martyr adds, that all Jordan shone with the reflection of the
light.'* See also Dr. Henry Hammond's ** Paraphrase and Annotations
on the New Testament," and Bishop Jeremy Taylor's "DuctorDubi*
tantium. " Hawkins,

Page 48. The laborious Bee, of 7vhose prudence, etc.

The following work was doubtless in Walton's memory when this pas*
sage was written. " The Feminine Monarchie : or the Historic of Bees.
Shewing their admirable nature and properties, their generation and
colonies, their gouernment, loyaltie, art, Industrie, enemies, warres, mag-
nanimitie, etc. Together with the right ordering of them from time to
time : and the sweet profit arising therefrom. Written out of experiment
by Charles Butler. Lond, 1623. 4to." Hawkins.

Page 48. A7td now to return to my Ha7vks,

This part of the text may be illustrated by referring to the ensuing
irolumes, which are considered as being the best that are extant on the
labjcct of Falconry. ** The Booke of Falconrie," by George Turbenrillt,

THE COMPLETE ANGLER. J^3

m English poet, born about 1530, 1575, 4to, **The Gentleman^s Acad-
emic," Lond, 1595, 4to, and •* Country Contentments," Lond, 1675, 4I0,
by Gervase Markham. ** Falconne," in Two Books, Lond. 1658, 4to, and
•* Another New and Second Book of Falconry," Lond, 1618, 4to, by Simoa
Latham. Hawkins, The eulogies on Hawking and Hunting are not in
Walton's First Edition.

Page 50. The Fichet^ the Fulimart, the Mouldwarp.

It has been ascertained that the first two of these names were anciently
applied indiscriminately to the Ferret and the Polecat ; but the Fitchet,
Fitchel, 01 Fitchew is a name most commonly appropriated to the Weasel,
and it is supposed is derived of the Teutonic Visse^ Fisse, or Vitche, an
extremely rank animal of the Mustela or Weasel genus. Dr. Skinner, in
his Etymologicon Linguae Anglicanae, Lo7td, 1671, fol., under the word
Fulimart, states that * * it is a word which is not in any place excepting in
the book called The Complete Angler " ; but it may be observed that
J\Aiana Bai*nes, in the Book of St. Albans, speaks of the Fulmarde as one
of ihe rascal beasts of chase ; and Strutt, in his ** Sports and Pastimes of
the People of England,'* Lond, iSoiy n, lA^ places it as one of the animals
of rank, or fetid flight, which leave a toul scent behind them. In Dr.
Adam Lyttleton's Dictionary, it is called ** a fetid mouse of Pontus '* ; and
Phillips, in his " World of Words," explains it to be a species of Polecat,
in which sense the word Fowmarte is still usel in Scotland. Francis
Junius calh i': ** Fullmer, that is th'^ same as I'^olecat, a Marten. It is
from the Teutonic Ful, Fetid, and Merder, a Marten. Also in the Belgic
it is now called Visse, which was formerly Fiest, from its offensive smell."
Etymologicum Anglicanum. Oxon. 1743, fol. The Mouldwarp is a name
of the Mole, compounded of the Anglo-Saxon words Molde, dnst, and
Weorpan, to cast. **We call,*' says Verstegan, **in some parts of Eng-
land, a mole a Mouldwarp, which is as much as to say a cast-earth."

Page 50. How could Cleopatra have feasted Mark Antony.

See North's Translation of Plutarch's Lives, No. 35 of the preceding
!ist, page 982. Marginal letter D. of that volume.

Page 50. One of the qualifications that Xenophon, etc.

The Edition of the Cyropaedia used by Walton was in all probability
:hat marked No. 44 in the preceding list ; and the passage referred to is
ki the first book. In the translation of this author by the Hon. Maurice
Ashley, Lond, 1728, 8vo, it will be found in vol. i. p. 84.

Page 52. Moses f . , . who zvas called the friend of God,

This title in the Scriptures is usually applied to Abraham, see 2 Chron.
ajL 7, Isaiah xli. 8, James ii. 23 ; but in Exodus xxxiii. 1 1, it is said that
** trod spake to Moses as a man to his friend." Walton has another pas-
similar to the line cited above, on page 67. The reference relatmf

?24 THE COMPLETE ANGLER.

»o the learning of Moses, mentioned on page 52, is to Acts vii. 22 ; and
»hat which alludes to his meekness is to Numbers xiii. 3.

Page 53. He that shall view the writings of Macrobius or Varro,

This passage occurs first in the Second Edition of The Complete Angler,
1655 ; and the materials of it are taken, with little alteration in the lan-
guage, from lib. iv. sect. 6, p. 434, of Dr. Hakewill's Apology, etc. ; see
the preceding list, No. 21. Aurelius Macrobius ^^'s, a Latin writer of the
fourth century, who is by some supposed to have been a Christian, and
Chamberlain to the Emperor Theodosius IL His principal production is
the *' Saturnalia Convivia," in seven books, consisting of a miscellaneous
collection of antiquities and criticisms, supposed to have been derived
from the conversation of some learned Romans, during the Saturnalian'
Festival. The circumstances mentioned in the text will be found in lib.
ii. cap. xi. of that work. He also wrote a Commentary on Cicero's Som-
nium Scipionis, and many other books which are now lost ; but his latinity
is often corrupt, as he was not born in a part of the Roman Empire where
the Latin language was spoken. The passage taken from Varro will be
found in his book. *' De Re Rustica," lib. iii. cap. xviu

Page 54. A 7)iost learned physiciaji^ Dr, Wharton,

Dr. Thomas Wharton was descended from an ancient family in York-
shire, and was originally educated at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge ; whence
he removed to Trinity College, Oxford, before the breaking out of the
civil wars. On the commencement of the rebellion, he came up to Lon-
don, and practised physic under the eminent Dr. John Bathurst, until
1646, when he again returned to his college, and, through the recommen-
dation of Lord Fairfax, was created M.D. early in 1647. I" ^^5^ ^^e was
admitted a Fellow of the College of Physicians in London, where he re^
sided ill Aldersgate Street, and remained in the city throughout the whole
of the last Plague of 1665. He died at his house on the 14th of Novem-
ber, 16173. ^^ published an excellent description of the Glands, written
in Latin, which was printed at London in 1656, 8vo. Amsterd. 1659.
Hawkins. Dr. Wharton's name was not inserted in the text at this place
till the Edition of 1676 ; and the First is entirely without the eulogy on
^ater. It is worthy of remark, that the whole of these passages relating to
Hawking, Hunting, and Angling are copied almost verbatim, in a very pop-
alar and well-kaown work, entitled *' The Gentleman's Recreation"; of
which the first edition was printed in 1674, six years after the fourth edi-
tion of Walton's Angler ; and that portion of The Gentleman's Recreation
which treats of Fishing is merely an abstract of Walton's researches. An-
*ither imitation of this author, although of a much slighter extent, may be
tound in the Works of Bishop Home, Edit, by W. Jones, Lond, 1809,
tJvo. vol iv. p. 537, in a Discourse composed at Brighthelmston, entitled

THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 325

•* Considerations on the Sea." This similarity was pointed out to the Edi-
tor by the Rev. Dr. J. T. Barrett, of Westminster.

Page 55. I see l^heobald'^ s House,

This favorite palace of King James I. formerly stood in a large Manor
called Thebaudes, in vhe County of Hertford, and Parish of Cheshunt,
somewhat north of the Ware road, about twelve miles from London. It
was erected about the year 1570, by John Thorpe, for Secretary Cecil,
afterwards Lord-Treasurer Burghley. On the 27th of July, 1564, Eliza-
beth made her first visit to the house ; and, having probably expressed
her intention of repeating it, by her second progress to Theobald's on tht
22d of September, 1571, it was considerably enlarged and improved.
During her reign, the Queen went thither twelve different times ; at some
of which, the expenses of her entertainment amounted to from £2,000 to
;,f3,ooo. On the death of Lord Burghley, he was succeeded at Theobald's
by his son Robert, subsequently the Earl of Salisbury ; who, on the 3d of
May, 1603, entertained King James L, then on his journey to London to
assume the English Crown. This costly entertainment was repeated in
1606, when that sovereign was accompanied by Christiern IV., King of
Denmark, and, from these visits. King James became so great an admirer
of Theobald^s, that he at length exchanged for it the Palace of Hatfield ;
after which it became his favorite residence, and he died there on March
the 27th, 1625. His son Charles also occasionally lived at Theobald's :
he there received the Petition from the Parliament in 1642, and it was
thence he went to assume the command of his army. In 1650, after a
minute Parliamentary survey, and some disputes concerning its sale, the
greater part of Theobald's was taken down, and the amount received for
the materials sold employed for the use of the army. About 1660, George
Monk, Duke of Albemarle, received Theobald's by patent from King
Charles II. ; but on the failure of male issue in the second Duke Christo-
pher, the property again returned to the Crown. In 1689, King William
III. issued a patent granting it to William Bentinck, Earl of Portland ;
but about 1762, it was sold to George Prescott, Esq., from whom it has
ultimately descended to Sir George William Prescott, Bart., the present
possessor. Of the magnificence of the Palace at Theobald's, some idea
may be formed from the particular description given of it in the Life of
Lord Burghley, in Peck's *' Desiderata Curiosa" ; that by Sir Paul Hentz*
ner ; that in the ** Voyages Celebres" of the Sieur Jean Albert de Man*
delslo ; that in the Parliamentary Survey of 1650, already mentioned ;
and also from a short notice in the ** Description of Hertfordshire," by
John Norden. See also the Rev. Daniel Lysons's ** Environs of London,"
vol. iv. pp. 29-39, and ** Clutterbuck's History and Antiquities of the
County of Hertford," vol. ii. pp. 87-95, whence the foregoing account has

326 THE COMPLETE ANGLER.

been abstracted. There are two small old views of the exterior of this
mansion, by John Stent and Peter King ; but the best is that published by
the Society of Antiquaries, in 1765, in the second volume of the ** Vetusta
Monumenta," under the name of Richmond Palace, from a painting by Vin-
kenboom. It wis identified as Theobald's in The Gentleman's Magazine,
for September. 1836, and engraven as an illustration in Mr. Pickering's
edition of the Complete Angler. In 1840, in the first volume of Mr. C. J.
"Richardson's Architectural Remains of Elizabeth and James I. Part ii.
plate X. were published for the first time fac-similes of Thorpe's original
plans of the basement and ground-floor of Theobald's Palace, from the
collection of the architect's drawings in the Museum of Sir John Soane.
The fragments of the old Theobald's House were taken down about 1765,
the present building standing on a rising ground, about a mile to the
northwest of the ancient site. Theobald's House is not mentioned in the
First Edition of the Contemplative Man's Recreation.

Page 56. Then firsts for the antujtiity of Angling,

At this place, in Walton's First Edition, p. 12, there is a marginal refer-
ence to ** J. Da. Jer. Mar." as the authorities which furnished this para-
graph ; which are certainly meant for John Davors, and Jervis or Gervase
Markham. The beautiful verses by the former of these persons, on page
70, have been, however, considered to belong rather to a John Dennys ;
since those stanzas which in the First Edition of Walton, p. 35, are marked
Jo. Da., afterwards extended into Davors, form a part of a very rare poem
entitled ** The Secrets of Angling, by J. D., Esquire," first printed in
octavo in 1613. In a modern reprint of this very curious work, the fol-
lowing extract from the Books of the Stationers' Company gavp an account
of this poem and the Author. *' 1612. 33° Martij. Mr. Rog. Jackson en-
tred for his copie under th'ands of Mr. Mason and Mr. Warden Hooper,
a booke called the Secrete of Angling, teaching the choycest tooles, bates,
and seasons, for the taking of any fish in any pond or river, practised and
opened in three bookes, by John Dennis, Esquire.*' It is, however, pos-
sible that John Davors was a maternal relative of the author. ;uid assisted
him in his work, and that this circumstance was known to W-^.)ton. There
are fourteen lines prefixed to the poem in commendation ** of his praise-
Worthy skill and work," signed ** Jo. Daves," which might h*ive been an
old or contracted way of writing the name of Davors. Th^ passage at
present alluded to by Walton wili be found in that division at the poem
entitled ** The Author of Angling, Poetical Fictions," and on Ps l,^ of the
reprint of 1811, beginning ** Then did Deucalion first the art invent."
The Stanzas which Piscator quotes on p. 70 will be found in the division
called " A Worthy Answer," on p. 10, ** O let me rather on the pleasant
brinke," etc. \ and in this instance, as in nearly every other, Wa^t^a Wi

THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 32/

improved his author. The passage referred to in Markham will be found
in his ** Pleasures of Princes, or Good Men's Recreations ; containing a
Discourse of the generall Art of Fishing with an Angle or otherwise. '*
Lond, 1614, 4to, Chap. I. ** Of Angling the vertue, vse, and antiquitie,"
p. 3. Sir John Hawkins supposed that when Piscator is defining the men-
tal character of a fisherman, Walton had in his mind that singular chapte:.
in Markham's Country Contentments, gn the subject of the ** Angler's Ap
parel and Inward Qualities " ; but it is more probable that he alluded to
those stanzas contained in the third book of The Secrets of Angling,
ivhich are entitled ** The Qualities of an Angler."

Page 57. In the Prophet Amos i7iention is made of fish-hooks.
Chap. iv. 2. Canne, in his marginal references to this chapter, refers to
Jeremiah xvi. 16 : ** Behold I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord,
and they shall fish them." The passage of Job which the text refers to
will be found in chap. xli. i, 2, and the 7th verse is also distantly allusive
to the formation of hooks. Again, in Isaiah the word occurs in chap,
xxxvii. 29. ** I will put my hook in thy nose." And also in chap. xix. 8,
which Bishop Lowth translated

*' And the fishers shall mourn, and lament ;
All those that cast the hook on the river,
And those that spread nets on the face of the waters shall languish."

Isaiah, a New Translation^ etc. by Robert
Lowth, D.D., Lond. 1795, 8vo, p. 56.

The common translation of King James reads, ** all they that cast angk
into the brooks shall lament." In Ezekiel xxix. 4, hooks are mentioned
in connection with fishing, as the medium of catching the King of Egypt,
who is represented under the figure of the crocodile, lying in the midst of
his rivers ; and the word occurs again in Ezek. xxxviii. 4. The Prophet
Habakkuk, in chap. i. 14-17, has an inference to hooks, but the word \»
commonly translated Angle. Hawkins,

Page 57. In ancient times a debate hath arisen^ etc.

This was a favorite subject with the old theological writers of Italy :
and the chief of their arguments, with many references, ar-e considered ir,
** A collection of several Tracts of the Right Honorable Edward, Earl of
Clarendon, Lond, 1727, fol. pp. 167-205. This tract was most probably
written at Montpcllier in March, 1670. Hawkins, Walton, however,
might probably allude to a rare piece by Evelyn, which he wrote in answer
to Sir George Mackenzie, entitled ** Public Employment, and an Active
Life preferred to Solitude." Lond, 1667. i2mo.

Page 58. The learned Peter Du Moulin,

This very eminent writer in the Romish controversy was the eldest soD

325 THE COMPLETE ANGLER.

of Peter Du Moulin, who was also celebrated in the same cause. "Ke was
Chaplain to King Charles IL of England, and a Prebendary of the Cathe-
dral of Canterbury, in which city he died in 1684, at the age of 84. The
passage alluded to by Walton will be found in No. 30 of the preceding
list, at sign, a 3 in the Preface to the Reader.

Page 59. And an ingeniozts Spaniard says.

This passage is commonly suppo^d to allude to John Valdesso, a Span-
ish soldier in the service of the Emperor Charles V. ; of whom, in his old
age, he obtained leave to retire, by urging the aphorism, ** It is fit that be-
tween the employment of life and the day of death some space should inter-
vene *' : reflection on this is thought to have been the chief reason of that
Sovereign's abdication, of which Walton gives a particular narrative in his
Life of Mr. George Herbert. Valdesso secluded himself in the city of
Naples, and there wrote, in the Castilian tongue, * ' The Hundred and Ten
Considerations of Signor Valdesso," which were translated into Italian by
Caelius Secundus Curio, of Basil, and thence into English by the celebrated
Nicholas Farrar, Jun. of Little Gidding, and published in 4to at Oxford in
1638. From this work the passage in the text is said to have been taken,
but it d*^ ^s not appear there. Hawkins.

Page 59. One of no less credit than Aristotle.

In the margin of the First Edition of Walton is inserted at this place,
•* In his Wonders of Nature. This is confirmed by Ennius, and Solon in
His Holy History." The circumstances mentioned by Camden will be
found in his Britannia, see No. 8 in the preceding list, at pages 558 and 762.
The Sabbatical River of Josephus is described in the Seventh Book and
5th Chapter of his History, No. 24 in the list ; and in the fifth volume of
Purchas, his Pilgrims and Pilgrimage, p. 581, will be found some additional
particulars and references concerning it.

Page 60. Learned Dr, Casaiibon^ s discourse.

Meric, son of Isaac Casaubon, a man of very great learning, was bom
at Geneva in 1599, and was educated at Oxford ; he was afterwards made
a Prebendary of Canterbury, in addition to which Oliver Cromwell vainly
endeavored to engage him by a pension of £'^QO to write the history of his
time. He died in 167 1, bearing an amiable character for loyalty, religion,
luid charity : he wrote many volumes, but the singular work mentioned in
the text will be found at No. 10 of the preceding list, and the passage
alluded to commences at page 243 of that edition.

Page 60. Collected by John Tradescant.

Of these names there were three p":rsons, grandfather, father, and son %
of whom the son is the one alluded , * the text. They were all eminent
botanists^ and collectors of natural t- ^ osities ; the two former were gar-
deners to Queen Elizabeth and IW ^ i^ter held the same situation under

THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 32^

Charles L They resided at South Lambeth in Surrey, at a building now
known by the name of Turret-House ; and, dying there, were buried in
an altar-tomb, singularly ornamented, in Lambeth churchyard. With the
youngest of the family Mr. Ashmole contracted an intimacy, and, together
with his wife, boarded at his house for a summer ; during which time he
agreed with him for the purchase of his whole collection of rarities, and it
was accordingly conveyed to him by a deed of gift from Tradescant and
his wife. On his death, Ashmole was obliged to file a bill in Chancery for
the delivery of his property ; but soon after a decree had been pronounced
in his favor Mrs. Tradescant was discovered drowned in her own pond.
This collection of natural curiosities, which was the first made in England,
Ashmole bequeathed with all its additions to the University of Oxford,
and thus founded the Ashmolean Museum. Hazvkins, The list of
strange Fishes, etc., mentioned by Walton, will be found at page 8 of a
Catalogue of the Collection, entitled ** Museum Tradescantium, or a Col-
lection of Rarities preserved at South Lambeth, near London, by John
Tradescant.*' Lond, 1656, 8vo. The passage from the words, **But I
will lay aside," p. 60, down to **she locks up her wonders," p. 61, was
not inserted till Walton's Fifth Edition. Elias Ashmole^ who is men-
tioned in the same sentence with Tradescant, was born May 16, 1617, ^"^
was a Chorister in Lichfield Cathedral. In 1638 he became a Solicitor in
Chancery ; but in 1649 he married his second wife, the lady Mary Main*
waring, who was possessed of a large fortune, and he resigned himself to
alchemical study in concert with William Lilly and John Aubrey, Esq., of
Surrey. In 1660 Charles 11. gave him the office of Windsor Herald ; and
ten years after he produced his excellent History of the Order of the Gar-
ter. Ashmole married a third time in 1668, Elizabeth Dugdale, daughtei
of Sir William Dugdale, and he died or\ May 18, 1692, celebrated for his
knowledge of many and various Arts and Sciences.

Page 61. Mr, George Herbert,

This pious, learned, and eminent person was of the noble family of Her*
bert, and a younger brother of the deistical Edward Lord Herbert of
Cherbury. He was a King's-Scholar at Westminster, and subsequently a
Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge; where, in 1 6 19, he was choseit
University Orator. In that station he studied the modern languages with
a view to the office of Secretary of State ; but being of a consumptive habit,
and a retired turn of mind, he entered into holy orders, and was preferred
to a Prebend in the Cathedral of Lincoln. He married about 1630 a near
relation of the Earl of Danby, and died without issue in 1635, ^^ ^^ ^g^
of forty-two. The printed works of Herbert are, a collection of Religious
Poems called the Temple, his Remains, and a Translation of Luigi Cor-
lMiro*s Work on Temperance and Long Life. Walton. The passage

330 THE COMPLETE ANGLER.

quoted in the text is in the first of these, No. 22 of the foregoing list, pp.
no, 113 of that volume. Stanzas 7, 8, 36. The word Owes in Herbert's
verses is the older form of Owns.

Page 62. Gesner, RondeletiuSy Pliny^ Ausonius^ Aristotle,

Ccnirad Gesner^ an eminent scholar, philosopher, physician, and natur-
alist, was the son of Vasa Gesner and Barbara Friccius, and was born at
Zurich in Switzerland in 15 16, and there received his initiation into the
Greek and Latin languages. His poverty obliged him to travel, and at
length to study physic at Basle, where he took his Doctor's degree, and
then returned to Zurich. His works are very numerous, and were, many
of them, evidently written in haste to procure him a subsistence : of these,
the principal is the *' Historiae Animalium," for which he was surnamed
the Pliny of Germany. For twenty-four years Gesner was Professor of
Philosophy at Zurich, and he died of the plague on December 13, 1565.
Guliebnus RondeletiuSy or Guillaume Rondelet, was a celebrated physi-
cian, who was born at Montpellier, in Languedoc, in 1507. He wrote
several medical books, but his best production is his Treatise *' De Pisci-
bus Marinis,*' of which there is also a French translation. He died, in
great poverty, at Realmont in Albigeois, on July 18, 1566, of a surfeit, in-
duced by eating figs to excess. Caius Plinius Sectmdus^ surnamed the
Elder, was born at Verona, and was celebrat. d as a soldier, a statesman,
and a scholar. He wrote one hundred and sixty volumes of remarks on
>ihe authors which he had read ; but his Natural History, in thirty-seven
books, is the only one of his works now extant. He perished in that
eruption of Mount Vesuvius which overthrew Herculaneum, A.D. 79, in
his fifty-sixth year. Decimus Magnus Ausonius was a Latin poet born at
Bordeaux in Gaul ; and preceptor of Gratian, the son of the Emperor
Valentinian, which occasioned him to be made Consul. His compositions
are chiefly Epigrams from the Greek, Epitaphs, and poetical Epistles.
He died about a.d. 390. Aristoteles^ the celebrated philosopher, was born
at Stagira, and studied at Athens under Plato. He wrote above four hun-
dred literary and scientific volumes, and Alexander the Great magnificently
patronized his Natural History of Animals. He died at the age of sixty-
three, B.C. 322.

Page 62. Divine Du Bart as.

Guillaume de Salluste, Sieur Du Bartas, was the son of a Treasurer of
France, and was born in 1544, at Montfort in Armagnac. He served in
the army of Henry IV., as the commander of a company of cavalry, ia
Gascony, under Marechal de Matignon ; and the King also employed him
in various commissions to England, Denmark, and Scotland. His works
are numerous, and written both in French and Latin verse ; but his prin-
cipal production is entitled *' A Commentary of the Week of the Creation

THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 331

of the World,'* in seven books. In six years, it passed through upwards
of thirty editions ; and an English translation of it in verse, by Joshua
Sylvester, merchant-adventurer of London, was published in 1605. Du
Bartas held the doctrines of Calvinism ; he was a modest and reserved
man, a brave soldier, and he died in 1590, at the age of forty-six. The
passage quoted in the text will be found in the Fifth Day of the First
Week, line 33, but it is considerably varied from the original : see No. 7
in the list of Authorities, and p. 39, col. 2, of that volume. In the quota«
tion from Du Bartas in the text, the word Stares is put for Starlings : it if
derived from the Saxo^a Staer or the Teutonic Sterre, ultimately fronr^
the Latin Sturnus. The Two Ecclesiastical Fishes mentioned by Da
Bartas are described by Rondeletius, and delineated in the Posthu-
mous Works of Mr. John Gregory, Lond. 1683, 4^^» pages 121, I22i.
Hawkins.

Page 62. The Cuttle-fish^ etc.

The margin in all the editions refers to Montaigne's Essays, see No. 2^^
of the preceding list ; and in the Apology for Raymond de Sebonde, book
ii. chap. xii. p. 256, is the passage alluded to.

Page 63. JElian,

Claudius ^lianus was a Roman sophist of Prseneste in Italy, in the reign
of Adrian, who originally taught Rhetoric at Rome ; bue taking a dislike
to his profession, he became an author, and wrote seventeen books D^
Animalium Natura, and fourteen of various History, etc., in Greek. He
died in his sixtieth year, a.d. 140. The passage from the words "And
there is a fish," down to '' most of mankind," was not inserted till the Third
Edition of The Complete Angler, 1664.

Page 63. And first what Du Bartas says.

See No. 7 in the preceding list, and the Fifth Day of the First Week,
line 195, p. 41, col. i, of that volume : the verses on the Cantharus anc"
the Mullet mentioned on pages 63 and 64, immediately follow the above
at lines 20 x and 205 ; and Walton's reference to the custom of the Thra«
cian women also came from Du Bartas, beginning at line 209. Th«
lu:count of the Sargus was taken by Du Bartas from Oppian's Halieutic%
lib. iv.

Page 64. Pheer—prest,

Pheer, or Fere, Saxon, Fera^ Gefera, Is a Mate, an Equal ; and »••
ciently, as in the present instance, a Husband or Wife. Prest is the old
orthography of the French Pret, Ready. Hawkins.

Page 67, The Voyages of Ferdinand Mendez Pinto.

A native of Monte Mor Ouelho in Portugal, born about 1510, and
whose Travels, written by himself, have been very much questioned as to
Iheir truth* For twenty*one years of his life b« was journeying chiefly \m

332 THE COMPLETE ANGLER.

the East ; and during that time he was five times shipwrecked, seventeen
times sold, and thirteen times made a slave : he returned to Lisbon, Sep*
tember 22, 1558. A translation of his Voyages will be found in the list of
Authorities, No. 33 ; and the passage alluded to by Walton is in chap. 79,
p. 319. The paragraph in which this traveller is mentioned did not ap-
pear until Walton's Second Edition.

Page 67. He that reads Plutarch,

See No. 35 in the foregoing list, p. 983, marginal letter D, in that
volume. Those passages from the words, *'And for the lawfulness,'*
down to *' great learning have been," did not appear until Walton's
Second Edition.

Page 67. Angling is ahvays taken in the best sense,

See Cruden*s Concordance, under the titles Fishing and Hunting.

Page 67. Our learned Perkins . . . Doctor Whitaker . , ,
Doctor NoweL

William Perkins was a learned divine, and a pious and laborious
preacher ; and Dr. William Whitaker was an eminent writer in the Rom-
ish controversy, and Regius Professor of Divinity in the University of
Cambridge. They both flourished at the close of the sixteenth century ;
and the love of the latter for Angling is mentioned in Fuller's Holy State,
book iii. chap. 13. Dr. Alexander Nowel was a learned divine, and a
famous preacher in the reign of King Edward VI. ; upon whose death he,
with many other Protestants, fled to Germany, where he lived several
years. In 1561 he was made Dean of St. Paul's ; and died in 160T. His
monument was consumed in 1666 ; but the inscription and an engraving
of the tomb will be found in Dugdale's History of St. Paul's. There has
been considerable dispute as to the Catechism alluded to by Walton : and
it seems almost certain that it is not the one printed in the Book of Com-
mon Prayer. See Fuller's Worthies, Lane, 115, Athen. Oxon. 113, and
Churton's Life of Nowel, p. 366. Hawkins. See also Herbert's Typo*
^aphical Antiquities, Edit, by the Rev. T. F. Dibdin, vol, iv. p. 13, and
the Rev. E. Card well's Documentary Annals of the Reformed Church of
England, vol. L page 266, note.

Page 69. Sir Henry Wot ton.

An eminent scholar and statesman, bom at Bocton Hall in Kent, in
1568, and educated at Winchester School and New College, Oxford.
Having travelled about nine years, he became Secretary to Robert Dev-
ereux, Earl of Essex ; but upon his attainder he again went to the Conti*
nent, and attached himself to the Duke of Florence, who sent him as An>
Oassador to James VI. of Scotland. When that Monarch came to be
King of England, he received Wotton into his service, knighted him, anc^
»anployed him as his princiDs' ^nsbassador. About 1624 he took Dea

THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 333

con's Orders, Jind was made Provost of Eton College, where he died in
December 1639. Walton, The passage quoted in the text is in his Re-
mains ; see the foregoing list. No. 43, and the recto of sign, c 6 in that
volume. The poem printed on page 70 is in the same book at p. 524 ;
and in these verses the word Pilgrim is put for the Swallow, because of
its migrations.

Page 73. The gloves of an Otter ^ etc.

All the particulars related of the Otter were derived from the Rev.
Edward Topsell's Natural History; see No. 41 in the list of Authorities,
and pp. 572-575 of that volume. The work is, in effect, a translation of
the Historise Animalium of Gesner, and contains numerous references to
many learned authorities. The Rev. Edward Topsell, bj whom it was
executed, was Chaplain to Dr. Neile, Dean of Westminster, in the Church
of St. Botolph, Aldersgate, The Second Chapter in the First Edition of
Walton contains a great part of the matter of the present Chapters II.,
HI., IV. ; since it ends with the Hostess calling Viator and Piscator to
supper. The title of it, in the table already mentioned, is *'In the
Second are some observations of the nature of the Otter, and also some
observations of the Chub or Cheven, with directions how and with what
baits to fish for him. *'

Page 76. Make conscience of the Laws of the Nation,

This passage — which from **Is not mine Host a witty man ? '' p. 76,
down to ** To speak truly," p. 77, is wanting in the First Edition — alludes
to a statute made in the 5th of Eliz,, which enacts that any person eating
flesh upon the usual Fish-days shall forfeit £1^ for every offence, or under-
go three months' imprisonment without bail. This Act, in all its branches,
views, and amendments, is fully considered in a Tract published by John
Erswicke, Gent., in 1642, 4to, entitled *' A brief e note of the benefits that
grow to this Realme by the obseruation of Fish-daies with a reason and
cause wherefore the Law in that behalfe made is ordained." The statutes
mentioned on p. 76, with many amendments, may be seen in '^ The Sec-
Dnd Part of the Institutes of the Lawes of England," by Sir Edw. Coke,
Lond. 1642, fol. p. 477. In most of the former editions of The Com
plete Angler there is a misprint of Richard HI. for Richard II.

Page 85, You shall read in Seneca,

These particulars were taken from Dr. Hakewill's Apology, No. 2i in
the preceding list, and book iv. sect. 6, p. 433 of that volume. The
translation of Seneca by Dr. Thomas Lodge, printed in 1620, fol., war
however most probably known to Walton.

Page 87. His name is of a German offspring,

Minsheu shows it to be rather from the Low-Dutch Trort, derived
probably of the corrupt Latir Truia^

334 THE COMPLETE ANGLER.

Page 87. Mercator says, etc.

Gerard Mercator was born in 15 12, at Ruremonde in Flanders, and was
a man of such intense application to mathematical studies, that he neg-
lected the refreshments of nature. He engraved and colored with his
own hand the maps to his geographical writings. He wrote several book*
of Theology ; and died at Duisburg in 1594. Hawkins,

Page 88. Sir George Hastings,

The party referred to by Walton has been usually supposed to be the
Hon. Henry Hastings of Woodlands, near Cranborne in Dorsetshire, who
died October 5, 1650, at the age of ninety-nine. His character was
written with great humor and ability by Lord Shaftesbury, and was in-
scribed under his portrait at Winbourne St. Giles ; it may be also found
printed in the Gentleman's Magazine, vol. xxiv. p. 160, and in Hutchins^s
History of Dorset, Edit. 1803, vol. ii. p. 510, with other particulars. It
is, however, more probable that the person to whom Walton alludes was
either Sir George Hastings, the son of Henry, who died October 25,
165 1 ; or Sir George, the nephew of Henry, the brother of Henry, Fifth
Earl of Huntingdon, who is recorded in Richard Smith's Obituary to have
died of the plague on June 4, 1641. See Peck's ** Desiderata Curiosa,'*
vol. ii. lib. xiv. p. 19. Collins's Peerage, Edit. 1779, vol. iii. p. 97.

Page. 89. Albertus observes, etc.

Albertus Magnus, a German Dominican, and a very learned man.
Urban IV. compelled him to accept of the Bishopric of Ratisbon. He
wrote a treatise on the Secrets of Nature, and twenty other volumes in
folio ; and died at Cologne in 1280. Hawkins, The passage in the text
is from Topsell's History of Serpents, No. 42 in the preceding list, p. i8q
of that volume. The quotation from Bacon will be found at p. 194,
Century ix. of No. 3. See also Dr. Franklin's letter to M. Dubourg^
**On the prevailing Doctrines of Life and Death.''

Page 92. The Royal Society, etc.

See No. 37 in the foregoing list, pp. 2170-2175 ; the list alluded to is
on the last page. This passage did not appear until Walton's last edition.
The word sleight on the same page is from the Icelandic Slaegd or th^
Anglo-Saxon Slyth, Deceit, or Deceitful.

Page 94. That s7nooth song which was made by Kit Marlowe,

Christopher Marlowe, or Marloe, was a poet of considerable eminence,
and is called by Phillips *'a kind of second Shakespeare." He is sup-
posed to have been born about 1562, and in 1587 he became M. A. at
Bene't College, Cambridge ; after which he commenced actor and drama-
tic writer. There are extant five Tragedies of his writing, and a Poem en-
titled Hero and Leander, which was finished by George Chapman. Thr
song attributed to Marlowe in the text is printed with his name in Eng^

THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 335

land's Helicon, 1600, 4to ; as is also the Answer, there signed Ignoto,
but ascribed by Walton to Sir Walter Raleigh. Marlowe is said towards
the end of his life to have become a professed atheist : he died before
1593, of a wound given him by a serving-man, who was his rival. Haw*
kins.

Page 95. What song zuas it^ I pray ?

See the songs As at Noon^ Chevy Chace, Johnny Armstrongs and Troy
Town, printed after the most authentic copies in Percy's Reliques of Eng-
lish Poetry. Hawkins. Phillida flouts me was printed in the Theatre of
Cofupliments, Lond. 1689, i2mo ; but it is also to be found in a volume
collected by J. Ritson, entitled Ancient Songs from the IHme of King
Henry the Third to the Revolution. Lond. 1792, i2mo, Art. xi. p. 235.
The Editor of that collection states, in the notice preceding the verses^
that there is a modern Answer by A. Bradley, and that the song of Cofne^
Shepherds^ is not known ; the last, however, was discovered in a manu-
script belonging to the late Richard Heber, Esq., and was printed in Mr.
Pickering's edition of the Complete Angler, from the communication of
Mr. T. Rodd.

Page 95. Come., live with me, and be my love.

The notes of various Shakespearian commentators on the Comedy of
The Merry Wives of Windsor contain the principal information now ex-
tant concerning this song ; but the propriety of ascribing it to Shakespeare
is also considered in Dr. Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, vol.
i. p. 322, where it is printed under the title of The Passionate Shepherd
to his Love. Dr. Warburton assigns it to Shakespeare, perhaps because
Sir Hugh Evans, in Act iii. Sc. i, of the above play, sings four lines of it ;
and it was printed, with some variations, in a collection of Poems said to
be Shakespeare's, printed by Thomas Cotes for John Benson, 1640, i2mo.

Page 96. Sir Thomas Overbury^s Milkmaid'' s wish.

See the preceding list. No. 32, in which the following exquisite character
is delineated with a simple beauty of language that is the very counterpart
of Walton's own.

" A fat re and happy Milk- Maid

Is a Countrey Wench, that is so farre from making her selfe beautifull by
Art, that one looke of hers is able to put all face-Physicke out of counte-
nance. She knowes a faire looke is but a Dumbe Orator to commend
vertue, therefore minds it not. All her excellencies stand in her so
silently, as if they had stolne upon her without her knowledge. The lin-
ing of her apparell (which is her selfe) is farre better than outsides of Tis-
sew : for though she be not arrayed in the spoile of the Silke-ivorme, shee
is deckt in innocency, a far better wearing. She doth not, with lying long

336 THE COMPLETE ANGLER.

abed, spoile both her complexion and conditions ; Nature hath taught hef;
too inwwderate sleepe is rust to the Soule : she rises therefore with Chaun*
ticleare her dame's cock, and at night makes the Lamb her Cu7'few, In
milking a Cow, a-straining the Teats through her fingers, it seems that sa
sweet a Milk-presse makes the Milk the whiter or sweeter ; for never came
Abnond Glove or Arotnatique oyntf?te7tt on her palme to taint it. The
golden eares of corne fall and kisse her feet when shee reapes them, as if
they wisht to be bound and le^^ ^:ri3^ ' f^vs by the same hand that felPd
them. Her breath is her own, which sei.. ill the yeare long of June,
like a new-made Haycock. She nakes her hand hard with labor, and
her heart soft with pitty ; and v^hen vvintei ev».Miings fall early (sitting ai:
her mery wheele) she sings -c lefiance to the giddy wheele of Fortune.
She doth all things with so 3\^. cet a grace, it seems ignorance will not
suffer her to doe ill, being her mind is to doe well. Shee bestowes her
yeare's wages at next faire ; and \\\ chusing her garments, counts no brav-
ery i' th' world like decency. 'J 'ha Ga? den and Bee-hive are all her Phy-
sick and Chyrurgery, and shc5 ives che longer for 't. She dares goe
alone, and unfolds sheepe i' th' lighr and feares no manner of ill, be-
cause she meanes none : yet ' o ay tiuth, she is never alone, for she is
still accompanied with old son^s honest thoughts, and prayers, but short
ones, yet they have their efficacy in that they are not pauled with insuing,
idle cogitations. Lastly, her Iroames are so chaste, that shee dare tell
them : only a Fridaie's dreame is all hex mpe^.^tition : that shee conceales
for feare of anger. Thus lives stie, and all hei care is that she may die in
the Springtime, to have store of flowers stucke upon her winding-sheet. '*
Character 51, sign. L. 7. FronT tht copy in the Library of Sion College,
London.

Page 10 1. The choice songs, etc.

The Song of Old Tom of Bedlam will be found in Percy's Reliques of
Ancient English Poetry, vol. ii. p. 356. It is also printed in Playford's
** Antidote against Melancholy," 1669, 8vo ; *'and with the Music, com-
posed by H. Lawes, in a work entitled Choice Ayres, Songs, and Dia-
logues, to the Theorbo-Lute and Base- Viol.'' Fol. 1675. Hawkins. In
the volume of Ancient Songs already cited, pp. 261, 265, there are two
different songs, both called Tom of Bedlam, which are stated to have been
taken out of an old Miscellany, entitled ** Le Prince d' Amour, or the
Prince of Love, with a Collection of Songs, by the Wits of the Age."
Lond. 1660, 8vo. The Editor adds, however, that the above were in-
serted in the collection in burlesque, on the love of the English for ballads
on the subject of madness. See Percy's Reliques, vol. ii. p. 350. The
song of **The Hunter in his Career," also mentioned in the text, is re-
printed for the first time in Mr. Pickering's edition of the Complete

THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 337

Angler, from a collection of old ballads published in 1 725. In Walton's
First Edition, this passage is contained in the Third Chapter ; which is
entitled *' In Chapter 3 are some observations of Trouts, both of their nat-
ure, their kinds, and their breeding."

Page III. Aldrovandus.

Ulysses Aldrovandus, a great physician and naturalist, born at Bologna
in 1527 ; he wrote 120 books on several subjects, and a Treatise *' De
Piscibus," published last at Francfort, 1640. He died blind in an hospi-
tal at Bologna, in great poverty, May 4, 1605. ^^^ passage alluded to in
the text is in his ** Serpentum et Draconum Historiae," 1640, fol. Haw-
kins,

Page 112. 7^he observation of Du Bartas,

See No. 7 in the foregoing list, p. 58, col. 2, the last 20 lines.

Page 115. Devout Lessius,

Leonard Lessius, Professor of Divinity in the College of Jesuits at Lou-
vain ; he was born at Antwerp in 1554 ; and became very famous for his
skill in divinity, civil-law, mathematics, physic, and history. He wrote
several theological tracts, and a treatise entitled Hygiasticon ; see N. 26
in the preceding list, from the third chapter of which the sentiments in the
text were extracted. He died in 1623. Hawkins,

Page 117. Mr, Thomas Barker.

This person, an account of whom is to be derived only from his writings,
appears to have been an Angler by profession, and an experienced cook
of fish ; since he says he ** had been admitted into the most Ambassadors*
kitchens that had come to England for forty years, and drest fish for
them ; for which, he adds, he was duly paid by the Lord Protector/' He
spent a considerable portion of his time, and, it seems, of his property
also, in fishing ; and in the latter part of his life, he resided in Henry the
Seventh's Gifts, some almshouses which stood near the Gatehouse at
Westminster. Hawkins. His work on Angling will be found at No. 6
of the preceding list, and the information contained in the text is at pp.
a and 15 of the very neat reprint of that tract, published in 1821.

Page 121. Holy Mr, Herbert,

See No. 22 of the foregoing list, p. 80 of that volume.

Page 123. Ch, Harvie,

The verses with this signature do not appear until the Second Edition ;
for the dialogue in the First passes immediately from Herbert's verses to
the Beggars* Song, which is there sung by Viator, without the introductory
story. It is most probable that the person mentioned above was a Chris-
topher Harvey, M. A., Vicar of Clifton in Warwickshire ; born in 1597,
and who lived until about 1663. The same signature also appears to a copy
of verses addressed to Walton on his Angler ; and that collection of poems

338 THE COMPLETE ANGLER*

entitled the Synagogue is supposed to have been produced by the samo
person. Hawkins,

Page 123. Z>r. Bottler.

Dr. William Butler, a celebrated but eccentric physician, who was bom
at Ipswich about 1535, and educated at Clare-Hall, Cambridge, of which
be became Fellow. He died January 29, 1618, and was buried at St.
Mary*s Church, Cambridge.

Page 124. Hear my Kenna sing a song.

The reference to the margin indicates that Walton wishes to hear Ken«
ca, his mistress, sing the song, Like Hermit Poor, This song was set to
music by Nicholas Laneare, an eminent master of Walton*s time,— who,
it is said by Wood, was also an excellent painter, and whose portrait is to
be'^seen in the Music-school at Oxford, — and is printed with the notes in a
collection entitled Select Musical Ayres and Dialogues^ fol. 1659, page I.
The verses which introduce this song were in all probability the production
of Walton, for it may be observed that Kenna is evidently a feminine for*
mation of Ken, the maiden name of his second wife. The tirst ^hreoi
.words of the song of ** Like Hermit Poor** were used as a proverb or
phrase, about and after the middle of the seventeenth century. Havf
kins.

Page 126. Our late English Gusman,

The very curious volume to which this passage alludes is entitled ** The
English Guzman ; or the History of that unparalleled Thief James Hind,
5mtten by G(eorge) F(idge).** Lond. 1652, 4to. In the King's Tracts in
the British Museum.

Page 129. Caspar Peucerus,

An eminent physician and mathematician, bom at Lusatia, in 1525 : he
married the daughter of Melancthon, wrote many books on various sub-
jects, and died in 1602, aged seventy-eight. Hawkins, Casaubon quotas
him at p. 252 of his book, No. 10 of the foregoing list. The paragraph
from which the above line is quoted did not appear as it now stands until
the Fifth Edition of- Walton. The Hares changing sexes is mentioned by
Topsell, see No. 41, p. 266.

Page I31. Learned Doctor HakewilL

Dr. George Hakewill was bom at Exeter in 1579, and was Rector of
Exeter College, Oxford ; he died at his living of Heanton in Devonshire,
in April, 1649 His book will be found at No. 2.1 of the list, and the con-
tents of the paragraph in the text, which did not appear until the Second
Edition of Walton, are from p. 434 of that volume. In Walton's First
Edition this part falls in Chap. V,, which is entitled, ** Some direction to
iish for the Trout by night ; and a question whether fish hear? and lastly,
$Ome directions how to fish for the Umber or Grayling.*' The titles of

THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 339

the other chapters in the First Edition do nov greatly differ from those in
he present.

Page 135. Salvian takes him, etc.

Hippolito Salviani, an Italian Physician, of the sixteenth century ; he
yrote a treatise ** De Piscibus cum eorum figuris " ; and died at Rome in
1572, aged fifty-nine. Hawkins, The passage in the text is in chap vi.
p. 81, of No. 38 in the preceding list. All references to Gesner concern-
ing fish will be found in the fourth volume of No. 19.

Page 137. The Salmon . , . is said to breed, etc.

This very interesting and curious subject has been recently most min-
utely examined and illustrated by Mr. W. Yarrell, F. L. S., in his work
**0n the Growth of the Salmon in Fresh-water, with six colored engrav-
ings of the fish, of the natural size, exhibiting its character and exact ap-
pearance at various stages during the first two years." Lond, 1839. Oblong
folio.

Page 138. Michael Drayton,

An excellent poet, born in Warwickshire in 1563. One of his principal
works, which are very numerous, is the Poly-Olbion^ a chorographical de-
scription of the rivers, mountains, forests, castles, etc., in this island.
Although the poem has great merit, it is rendered much more valuable by
the learned notes of John Selden. The author died in 163 1, and lies
buried with the Poets in Westminster Abbey. Hawkins, The passage
referred to is at p. 88 of No. 14 of the foregoing list ; and in Camden it
occurs at page 654. This extract is not in the First Edition of Walton.

Page 144. Gesner mentions a Pike,

This story is told by Dr. Hakewill in his Apology, No. 21 of the pre-
ceding list, lib. ii. chap. 8, sect. 2, p. 136, of that volume. Walton sub-
sequently mentions several instances of the voracity of the Pike ; but, as a
proof that other fish beside will swallow hard substances, Fuller, in his
History of the Worthies of England, Lond. 1662, fol. Northumberland,
p. 310, relates from a book entitled *' Vox Piscis," printed in 1626, p. 13,
that a Mr. Anderson, a townsman and merchant of Newcastle, who was
afterwards knighted, and who was Mayor of that place in 1599, was con-
versing on the bridge there, and suddenly let his seal-ring fall into the
river Tyne. As Mayor, he was entitled to the first Salmon caught in the
season, and upon opening the one that was thus presented to him, his
own ring was discovered in its stomach.

Page 147. Dubravius,

Janus Dubravius Scala, Bishop of Olmutz in Moravia, in the sixteenth
century, was born at Pilsen in Bohemia, was sent Ambassador into Sicily,
and made President of the Chamber which tried the Rebels of Smalcald.
His book alluded to by Walton is No. 15 in the foregoing list, the pas-

340 THE COMPLETE ANGLER.

sage is in the sixth chapter of book i., and a translation of it was published
in 4to, 1599, by George Churchey, Fellow of Lincoln's Inn. He is said
to have died in 1559. Hawkins, The extract from Dubravius is not in
Walton's First Edition.

Page 150. Cardanus,

Jerome Cardan, an Italian physician, naturalist, and astrologer, born at
Pavia, September 24, 1501, well known by the many works he has pub-
lished : he died at Rome on" September 21, 1576. It is said that he had
foretold the day of his death ; and that, when it approached, he suffered
himself to die of hunger to preserve his reputation. He had been in Eng-
land, and wrote a character of our Edward VI. Hawkins,

Page 155. Sir Richard Bake7'^ in whose Chronicle^ etc.

Vide No. 5, p. 428, marginal letter E. It is probable that this rhyme,
with all its variations, is historically erroneous. Not in Walton's First
Edition.

Page 156. ^T is said by Jovius.

Paulus Jovius, an Italian historian, of very doubtful authority, was born
at Como in 1483. He wrote a small tract De Romanis Fiscibus, and he
died at Florence in 1552. Ha^okins,

Page 1 76. Made by Doctor Donne,

John Donne was born in London about the year 1573, and was educated
at Oxford and Cambridge, whence he removed to Lincoln's Inn. He
afterwards became secretary to Lord Ellesmere, and privately addressed
and married a near relation of his lady's ; which was so highly resented
"by Sir George Moor, his wife's father, that Donne was dismissed from his
situation, and involved in the greatest poverty and distress. About 1614,
he was persuaded to enter into holy orders, and he at length obtained the
Deanery of St. Paul's ; but his misfortunes had induced a lingering con-
sumption, of which he died in 163 1. Walton. Dr. Donne's Poems ap-
pear at No. 13 of the preceding list, and at p. 190 of that volume are the
verses quoted in the text, which are sometimes entitled *' The Bait." The
word s leave ^ on page 176, is from the Icelandic Slefa, fibres of silk, and
signifies to untwist ravelled silk.

Page 179. Venerable Bede,

The most universal scholar of his time : he was born at Durham about
the year 671, and bred under St. John of Beverly. It is said that Pope
Sergius L invited him to Rome, though others say that he never quitted
his cell. He was a man of great virtue, and remarkable for a sweet and
engaging disposition ; he died in 734, and lies buried at Durham. The
passage referred to in the text is in his Ecclesiastical History of the Eng-
lish Nation, lib. iv. cap. 19. Matthias de D Obel^ who is mentioned in the
same page, was an eminent physician and botanist of the sixteenth cen»

THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 341

tury, and was a native of L'Isle in Flanders. He was a disciple of Ron-
deletius, and was invited to London by King James L He died in 1616.
The book from which the text is quoted is No. 31 in the foregoing list.
John Gerard^ who is also cited with L'Obel, was a surgeon in London,
and one of the most celebrated of English botanists ; he was born at
Namptwich in Cheshire, in 1545. His Herbal, mentioned in the text, is
No. 17 in the list of authorities, and the passage referred to is in lib. 3, p.
1587, chap. 171, which is entitled "Of the Goose tree, Barnacle tree, or
the Tree bearing Geese " : of this there is a curious woodcut. Hawkins,
The passages from Lord Bacon, quoted on p. 179, are at p. 71, Nos. 46,
44, of his History, &c. ; those from Dr. Hakewill are in lib. iv. sect. 6j
pp. 433, 434, of his Apology. The reference to Camden, on page 184,
will be found on page 666 of his Britannia.

Page 186. Gashes.

Antonio Gazius of Padua, the author of the ** Corona Florida Medi-
cinse," which he published at Venice in 149I, in folio, at the age of twenty-
eight. He died in 1530. His name does not appear in Walton's First
Edition.

Page 188. Doctor Sheldon,

Dr. Gilbert Sheldon, Warden of All-Souls College, Chaplain to King
Charles I., and, after the Restoration, Archbishop of Canterbury. He
was born July 19, 1598, at Stanton in Staffordshire. He founded the
Theatre at Oxford, died in 1677, and lies buried under a stately monu-
ment at Croydon in Surrey. Hazvkins, This passage is not in Walton's
First Edition, and the Second reads, *' Doctor Sh."

Page 197. Of which Diodorus speaks,

Diodorus, surnamed Siculus, because his birthplace was Argyra in
Sicily, was an excellent historian, who flourished about 44 years B. c. Of
his History of Egypt, Persia, Syria, etc. , there are only fifteen books re-
I maining, but it originally consisted of forty : it was the work of thirty
^ years, although the greatest part of it is a compilation. The passage men-
tioned in the text is in book v. ch. i.

Page 197. Phineas Fletcher,

The son of Giles Fletcher, LL. D., and Ambassador from Queen
Elizabeth to the Duke of Muscovy. He is said to have been born about
1584, and in 1600 he became Fellow of King's College, Cambridge. In
1633 he was known as the author of a fine allegorical poem, entitled ** The
Purple Island," which was printed at Cambridge, with others of his works.
He died about 1650. Hawkins,

Page 198. You must sing a part of it.

These verses were composed for two voices, a treble and a bass, by the
very celebrated Henry Lawes, most probably at Walton's request, and

THE ANGLER'S SONQ.-
Skt by H. Lawks, 1653.

Harmonized for Four Voices.
Bv J. S. Major, 1844.

_,-j — 1^ — ^-H — ! — r-r-^ J ■-! — I rn ,

Man's life is but vain; For 'tis sub-ject to pain, And eor - row, and

e— e-

:p=P"

1 1

I jH

m

s=^

:t:

m

^^—-^=^

-Urn.

odge-podge of business and mon ey and

Bkort as a bub-ble ; 'Tis a hodge-podge of business and mon ey and

E^iE

^-

\ — h^ — ^

mmm^^^m^^

K ^

care , And care and mon-ey and trouble. But we'll take no care When the

g ^-r^-e—fL

i2&:

:(»zii»:

e=^

f— -f:

*=^

-m — m-

1-.-I-

J — u

a=^^a=^!i^l3^i!iii^^

weather proves fair; Nor will we vex now the' it rain; We'll ban-ish all

«=•

5*-^-*-

ti^zc

gi=

/!\

=t

«=s:

=^^s=^^-

~—wti±^.

Bor- row, And sing till to- mor-row, And an - gle and an - gle a - gain.

^:

;t=zt:

:p=:t:

^mm

* Walton himself calls this a " Catch,"— Hawkins styles it a Song,— proba-
bly from the nature of the words, althoug:h the music is perfectly that ot the
Madrigal so much in the fashion of the time, and now again revived by per-
sons of the best musical taste. The above version is harmonized for four
voices, the Alto and Tenor being now first added. For the convenience of
publication, the four parts are given on two staves instead of a stave for each
voice — a double tail being added where two voices sing the same note.

THE COMPLEY-E ANGLER. 343

they are to be found at p. 62 of a volume entitled ** Select Ayres and Dia-
logues for One, Two, and Three Voyces ; to the Theorbo-Lvte, and Basse-
Viol. Composed by John Wilson and Charles Coleman, Doctors in Music,
Henry Lawes," etc. Lond, 1659, fol. It occurs in the First Edition of
Walton. The verses in praise of Music are also in the First Edition of
Walton, and are taken from the end of the same book of songs, where
they are signed W. D., Knight, meaning perhaps Sir William Davenant.
Hawkins,

An harmonized version of Lawe^s composition is given on the preceding
page.

Page 205. Like the Rosicruciaiis,

The title of the Rosycrucians, or the Brothers of the Rosy-Cross, was first
assumed by a sect of Hermetic Philosophers in Germany, about the com-
mencement of the fourteenth century. They professed to have a knowl-
edge of all the occult sciences, as the making of gold, the prolongation
of human life, the restoration of youth, from which they were also called
Immortales, and the formation of the philosopher's stone ; but all these
secrets they were bound by a solemn oath to reveal only to the members
of their own fraternity, and it is to this custom, in particular, that Walton
alludes. Their founder was a German gentleman, named Christian Crux,
who had travelled to Palestine, where, falling sick, he was cured by
Arabian physicians, who, he asserted, revealed to him their mysterious
arts. He died in 1484 ; and the name of his society was composed of the
word Ros, Dew, and his own name, Crux, a Cross, the old chemical
character for light. Mosheim. Gassendi, Renaudot. Brucker,

Page 206. Either to Mr, Margrave, etc.

There is printed upon the reverse of the last leaf of Cotton's Second
Part of the Complete Angler, Edit. 1676, the following memorandum con-
cerning this person : '' Courteous Reader, You may be pleas'd to take
notice, that at the Sign of the Three Trouts in St. PauPs Church-Yard, on
the North side, you may be fitted with all sorts of the best Fishing-Tackle,
by John Mar graved

The four earlier editions of Walton read, *' I will go with you either to
Charles Brandon's (neer to the Swan in Golding-Lane) ; or to Mr. Fletch-
er's, in the Court which did once belong to Dr. Nowel, the Dean of St.
Paul's, that I told you was a good man and a good Fisher ; it is hard by
the West end of St. Paul's Church; they be both," etc. Viator selects
Charles Brandon. This is in the last chapter of the First Edition. The
note on the value of an Angler's tackle did not appear until the Second
Edition.

Page 212. Matthiolus commends him,

Petrus Andreas Matthiolus was born at Sienna in Tuscany, in 1501,

344 THE COMPLETE ANGLER.

He was an eminent physician, and particularly famous for his Comment
taries on some of the writings of Dioscorides. He died of the plague at
Trent, in 1577. Hawkms.

Page 214. As you ??iay note out of Dr, Hey lift's Geography.

See No. 23 in the foregoing list, from pages 458, 459 of which this chap-
ter, from the words '*The chief is Thamisis, " down to the end of Dray-
ton's Sonnet, is printed almost verbatim. Dr. Peter Heylin was born at
Burford in Oxfordshire, November 29, 1600. In 1619 he was made Fel-
low of Magdalen College, Oxford, and in 1621, he published his Micro-
cosmos, alluded to in the text. He was steadfastly attached to King
Charles I., and wrote for him the weekly paper entitled Mercurius Auli-
cus ; though his loyalty reduced him to great poverty. He died on May
8, 1662.

Page 217. Gi'otius i7t his Sophom,

Hugo Grotius, or De Groot, a very celebrated scholar, statesman, and
theologian, who was born at Delft in Holland, on April 10, 1583. He
was at first an advocate, but about 161 3 he became Grand- Pensionary of
Holland ; though in 161 8, for adhering to the doctrines of Arminius, he-
was confined for nine months in the castle at the Hague. Grotius died at
Rostock in Pomerania, August 28, 1645. His works were very numerous,
and a translation of that alluded to in the text is shown at No. 20 in the
foregoing list. The passage will be found at pages 29, etc., in the speech
of the Chorus, and in the notes to the third Act, pages 84, etc. The title
ot the Tragedy, Sophompaneas^ signified, in the Egyptian language, the
Saviour of the World ; and was given to Joseph, Pharaoh's minister, be-
cause he delivered so many nations from destruction by famine.

Page 228. it is well said by Caussin,

Nicholas Caussin, a Jesuit and Confessor to Louis XHL, was born at
Troyes in Champagne, in 1580. He was esteemed a person of great
probity, and of such a spirit that he attempted to displace Cardinal Riche-
lieu ; but that minister proved too powerful for him, and procured his
banishment to a city of Lower Bretagne. He returned to Paris after the
Cardinal's death, and died in the Jesuits' Convent there, in July, 165 1.
Hawkins, The '* grave Divine " mentioned on the same page, according
to the Rev. Moses Browne, was Dr. Donne. The verses by Sir Henry
Wotton, in the same place, are printed near the end of his Remains, No.
43 of the preceding list.

Page 237. Brelsford.

Brelsford, or Brailsford, a township in the Hundred of Appletree, in
Derbyshire, situated about seven miles northwest of the Town of Derby.

Page 240. Own me for his adopted Son.

This alludes to the practice of the ancient Alchemists and Astrologers,

THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 345

of adopting favorite persons for their sons or pupils, to whom they im-
parted their secrets. Hawkins, In the English translation of the Script-
ures, the disciples of the Prophets are called '* the Sons of the Prophets,"
with the same signification.

Page 249. lorn Coriate,

The son of the Rev. George Coriate, born at Odcombe in Somersetshire,
in 1577. He was educated at Westminster School, and at Gloucester
Hall, Oxford; after which, he went into the family of Henry Prince of
Wales. He travelled almost all over Europe on foot, and in that tour
walked nine hundred miles with one pair of shoes, which he got mended
at Zurich. Afterwards he visited Turkey, Persia, and the Great Mogul's
dominions ; proceeding in so frugal a manner that, as he tells his mother
in a letter, in his ten months' travel between Aleppo and the Mogul's
Court, he spent but three pounds sterling, living reasonably well for
about twopence sterling a day ! He was a redoubted champion for
the Christian religion, against the Mahometans and Pagans ; in the
defence whereof he sometimes risked his life. He died of the flux, oc-
casioned by drinking sack at Surat in 1617; having, in 161 1, published
his Travels in a quarto volume, which he called his Crudities ; in which,
on the reverse of b. i. in *'a Character of the Author,'' is the passage
alluded to in the text. Hawkins.^

Page 250. What have we here, a church ?

This passage alludes to the Church at Alstonefield, a Parish in the North
Division of the Hundred of Totmanslow, and County of Stafford ; it is
dedicated to St. Peter, and stands five miles north-northwest from Ashborn.

Page 254. Now you are come to the door.

This celebrated Fishing-House is formed of stone, and the room within
is a cube of fifteen feet, paved with black and white marble, having in the
centre a square black marble table. The roof, which is triangular in shape,
terminates in a square stone sun-dial, surmounted by a globe and a vane.
It was originally wainscoted with walls of carved panels and divisions, in
the larger spaces of which were painted some of the most interesting scenes
in the vicinity of the building ; whilst the smaller ones were occupied with
groups of fishing-tackle. In the right-hand corner stood a large beaufet with
folding-doors, on which were painted the portraits of Walton and Cotton
attended by a servant-boy ; and beneath it was a closet, having a Trout and
a Grayling delineated upon the door. Such was the original appearance
of the Fishing-House, as collected from a description given by Mr. White
of Crickhowel to Sir John Hawkins, in 1784; although it was then con-
siderably decayed, especially in the wainscoting and the paintings. To
this, the following account of its present state, written from actual obser
vation by W. H. Pepys, Esq., F R. S.. etc., will form an appropriate and

346 THE COMPLETE ANGLER.

an interesting counterpart. The visit which it details was made by a party
composed of several eminent characters equally distinguished in Science
and the Fine Arts.

** It was in the month of April, i8ii, that I visited the celebrated Fish-
ing-House of Cotton and Walton. I left Ashbourne about nine o'clock in
the morning, accompanied by several Brothers of the Angle : we took the
Buxton road for about six miles, and, turning through a gate to the left,
soon descended into the valley of the Dove, and continued along the
banks of the river about three miles farther, when we arrived at Beresford
Hall. The Fishing-House is situated on a small peninsula, round which
the river flows, and was then nearly enveloped with trees. It has been a
small, neat stone building, covered with stone slates, or tiles, but is now
going fast to decay : the stone steps by which you entered the door are
nearly destroyed. It is of a quadrangular form, having a door and two
windows in the front, and one larger window on each of the other three
sides. The door was secured on the outside by a strong staple ; but the
bars and casements of the windows being gone, an easy entrance was ob-
tained. The marble floor, as described by White in 1784, had been re-
moved : only one of the pedestals upon which the table was formerly
placed was standing, and that much deteriorated. On the left side was
the fireplace, the mantle-piece and sides of which were in a good state.
The chimney and recess for the stove were so exactly on the Rumford
plan, that one might have supposed he had lived in the time when it was
erected. On the right-hand side of the room is an angular excavation or
small cellar, over which the cupboard, or beaufet, formerly stood. The
wainscoat of the room is wanting, the ceiling is broken, and part of the
stone-tiling admits both light and water. Upon examining the small cellar,
we found the other pedestal which supported the marble table, and against
the door on the inside, three large fragments of the table itself, which were
of the Black Dove-Dale Marble, bevelled on the edges, and had been well
polished. The inscription over the door, and the cipher of Walton and
Cotton in the key-stone, were very legible."

Page 270. As Damoetas says by his vian Dorus,

See Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia, No. 40 in the foregoing list, lib. i. pw
70, of that volume. Browne.

Page 271. He was a lovely fish ^ and turned up a side like a salmon.

There is but little doubt that the author of Guy Mannering had these
words in his mind, when he wrote the description of the Salmon-hunt near
Charlies-hope ; since he makes one of the characters say, ** Come here,
Sir ! Come here, Sir ! look at this ane ! look at this ane ! he turns up a
side like a Sow." Edit* Edinb. 1815, vol. ii. chap. v. p. 65.

THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 347

Page 276. Isabella*colored,

A species of whitish-yellow, or buff-color somewhat soiled. Altieri
The name of this tint is said to have originated in the following circum-
stance. The Archduke Albert, who had married the Infanta Isabella,
daughter of Philip II., King of Spain, with whom he had the Low Coun-
tries in dowry, in the year 1602, having determined to lay siege to Ostend,
then in the possession of the Protestants, the Princess, who attended him
in his expedition, made a vow, that until it was captured she would nevei
change her garments. It was, however, three years before the city was re-
duced ; and in that time the Infanta's linen had acquired the hue above
mentioned, Hawkins.

I

GENERAL INDEX.

Abdominal Fishes, explanation of,

307 ; Order of, 308.
Action, its connection with Man's

happiness, 57 ; Debates on ditto,

327.
-^han, C, 6;^] Account of, &c., 313,

331.
Air, eulogium on, 45.
Albertus Magnus, 89, 180 ; Account

of, 334.
Aldrovandus, U. , iii, 134,173,183;

Account of, &c., 313, 337.
Ambrose, St., his admiration of the

Grayhng, 135.
Amos, Illustration from the Prophet,

57. 67, 327.

Amwell Hill, 42, 72, y;^.

Anglers, eminent modern, 16 ; Ditto
ancient, 67 ; Qualities of, 56 ; The
Angler's Wish, 70, 124 ; Ditto Song,
103 ; Their peculiar enjoyment of
Nature, 21, no.

Angling, earliest English work on,
21 ; Paper on, from the Sketch-
Book, 24 ; Defence of, 44 ; Praise
of, 55. 56 ; Antiquity of, 56, 326 ;
Allowed to Ecclesiastics, 6j ; Re-
marks on, 68, 69 ; With an Arti-
ficial Fly, 120 ; With a Natural Fly,
121, 122, 258; At the Bottom, 257,
298 ; In the Middle, 257, 302 ; With
Cadis, 208, 298, 299; With a Min-
now, 108 ; With a Running-line,
107, 298 ; With a Ledger-bait, 149 ;
With a Float, 298 ; By Hand, 296.

Ant-Fly, 83, 201, 202 ; Directions for
Making, 287, 288.

A.postles, four of them Fishermen,
65 ; Comparison of their language,
67.

April, Artificial Flies for, 116, 117, 277.

Aristotle, 59, 62, 65, 156, 328 ; Ac-
count of, 330.

Ash Grub, 299, 304.

Ashmole, E. , his collection of Natural
History, and Portrait of, 60 ; Ac-
count of him and his collection,
329.

August, Artificial Flies for, 116, 288.
Ausonius, D. M., 62, 191 ; Account

of, 330.
Authors consulted by Walton, 313.

Bacon, Fr., Baron Verulam, refer-
ences to, 89, 90, 131, 138, 139, 142,
144, 158. 178, 179, 313, 334.

Baker, Sir R. , references to, 155, 313,
340.

Barbel, observations on the, &c.,
185 ; Representation of the, 231 ;
Season of the, 200 ; Linnaean de-
scription of the, 309.

Barker, Tho., 22, 117, 313 ; Account

of, 337-

Bartas, G. de S. Du, references to,
62, 63, 64, 112, 179, 313, 330, 337 ;
Account of, 330.

Bede, Venerable, his notice of the
Island of Ely, 179 ; Account of,
340.

Beggars, humorous story of, 126.

Beresford Hall, 242, 254.

Berners, Jul, her work on Hunting,
&c., 21.

Birds, various properties of, 46 ; Ene-
mies to Fish, 77 ; Migrations, 89 ;
Breed of, 92.

Black Blue Dun-Fly, directions for
making, 288.

Fly, ditto, 116, 279, 286.

Gnat-Fly, ditto, 276, 278.

Hackle-Fly, ditto, 287.

Bland, Michael, Esq. , an advocate for
a Monument to Walton, 31.

Bleak, particulars of the, 191 ; En-
graving of the, 192 ; Linnaean de-
scription of the, 310.

Blue Dun-Fly, directions for making,
275, 276.

Brandling, 106, 175.

Bream, observations of the, 163;
Engraving of the, 164 ; Seasons of
the, 168 ; Linnaean description of
the, 309.

Bright Brown Fly, directions for mak-
^■nsL^ 276.

350

GENERAL INDEX.

Bright Dun Gnat-Fly, ditto, 273.

Broderip, W. J., Esq., his various
kind assistances to this work, 312.

Browne, Rev. M., his praise of Wal-
ton, 23.

Bull-Head, 210 ; Account of the,
211 ; Linnaean description of the,

Butler, Dr. W. , remark of, 123 ; Ac-
count of, 338.

Cadis-Worms, account of, 200, 207,
280 ; How to angle with, 207, 298,
300, 304.

Camden, W. .references to, 38, 59, 74,
170. 179, 180. 184, 217, 313.

Cardanus, J., Extract from, 150; No-
tice of, &c., 313, 340.

Carp, docility of, 131 ; Observations
of the, &c. , 155 ; Representation of
the, 159; How to dress the, 162;
Linnaean description of the, 309.

Casaubon, Dr. M., references to, 60,

129, 313. 328.

Caterpillar, account of, no.

Caussin, N., references to, 228, 313 ;
Account of, 344.

Chalkhill, J., verses by, loi, 194.

Chub, observations on the, 72 I Rep-
resentation of the, 79 ; How to fish
for and dress the, 81 ; Linnaean de-
scription of the, 309.

Confidence in God, incitements to,
232.

Conscience, happiness of a good, 228.

Contemplation, how connected with
man's happiness, 57 ; Debates on
ditto, 327.

Content, verses in praise of, 197, 229;
Incitements to, 233.

Coriate, Tho., 249; Account of, 345.

Cotton, Ch., various particulars of,
11; Letter of, 12; Poem by, 13;
Character of, 16.

Covetous men unhappy, 43.

Country Scenery, beautiful descrip-
tion of, 196.

Life, Song in Praise of, loi.

Dace, observations on the, 200 ; En-
graving of the, 201 ; Linnaean de-
scription of the, 310.

David, his exceeding gratitude to
God, 227.

Davison, F. , humorous song by, 127.

Davors, J., pastoral song by, 70;
His real name, &c., 326.

Davy, Sir H., Characteristic Memo-
rial to his friend W. H. Pepys,
Esq., 27.

December, Artificial Flies for, 289.
Dennys, J., his Secrets of Angling,

326.
Derbyshire, rivers in, 245.
i Diodorus Siculus, references to, 197,

! s'^s^ 341.

Donne, Dr. J., his Portrait, 9 ; Praise
of Walton's life of, 9 ; Copy of a
Seal given by him to Walton, 32 ;
Verses by, 176; Account of, &c.,
314. 340.

Dove River, account of, 245.

Drayton, M., his description of tht
Salmon-leap, 138, 139 ; Sonnet or
the English Rivers, 215 ; Account
of, &c., 314, 339-

Dubravius, J. S., references to, 147,
158, 218, 314; Account of, 339.

Dun-Flies, no ; Directions for mak-
ing, 116, 275.

Earth, eulogy on, 49 ; Earth-Worms,
how bred, 106.

Eel, observations on the, and how to
fish for the, 178 ; How to dress the,
182 ; Linnaean description of the,

307.
Elizabeth, Queen, her Laws on the
eating Fish, 333.

Feathers, a yellow dye for, 283.
February, Artificial Flies for, 274.
Fish, of extraordinary size, 53, 128,

216; Have the sense of-hearing, 131;

Linnaean arrangement of, 306.
Fish-days, laws for their preservation,

333

Fishhooks, mention of in the Script-
tures, 57, 327.

Fish-ponds, directions for making,
218.

Fishing-house, at Beresford Hall, de-
scriptions of, 254, 345.

Fletcher, P., Verses by, 197 ; Account
of, &c., 314, 341.

Flies, Artificial, directions for mak-
ing, 115, 117, 262, 265, 273, 274 J-
Materials for, 118 ; How to discover
what are taken, 275 ; How to angle
with, 259 ; Natural^ how to angle
with, 120 ; Water, observations on,
208.

Florio, J., account of, 402.

Flounder, notice of, and bait lor the,

183-

Floud, R., his verses in praise of
Walton, 33.

Fly-fishing, remarks on, 12 ; Direc-
tions concerning, 117, 258.

Frogs, wonderfully sustained, 189;

GENERAL INDEX.

351

Their enmity to the Pike, 147 ;
How to bait with, 151, 152, 175.
Fflilimart, account of the, 323.

Gasius, or Gazius, A. , 186 ; Notice of,

341.
Gentles, 105, 161, 164, 187, 201 ; How

to breed, 203.
Gerard, J., 179 ; Notice of, &c., 314,

341.
Gesner, C, references to, 62, 65, 74,

87. 134, 139. 144, 154. 158, 163, 173.
179, 180, 186, 211, 314, 339 ; Account
of, 330-

Grasshopper, 82, 84, 164 ; How sus-
tained without a mouth, 89.

Grayling, or Umber, observations
on the, and how to fish for, 134, 257 ;
Engraving of, 135 ; How to dress,
295 ; Linnaean description of the,

309-
Green-Drake Fly, account of, 280.
Grotius, H., 217; Account of, &c.,

314. 344-

Ground-Bait for Bream, &c., 166;
Angling by hand with, for, 297.

Grubs, how to find and preserve, 203, '
299 ; How to angle with, 299.

Gudgeon, observations on, and how
to fish for, 190 ; Linnaean descrip-
tion of, 310.

Guiniad, notice of the, 184.

Guzman, the English, 126 ; Notice of,

^338.

Gypsies, a party of, humorous story
concerning, 125.

Hackle-Flies, directions for making,

274.
Hair, how to select, 221.
Hakewill, Dr. G., references to, 131,

179. 314, 321. 333* 339 'f Account of,

338.
Hampshire, famous for Trout- rivers,

130, 239.
Hand, Angling by, explained, 296.
Harvie or Harvey, Chr., his verses,

122 ; Account of, 337.
Hastings, Sir G., 88, 205 ; Notice of,

^ 334.

Hawking, the praise of, 45 ; Hawks,
list of, 48, 49 ; Works on, 317, 322.

Hawkins, Sir J., his statement con-
cerning Walton, 18 ; His first Edi-
tion of the Complete Angler, 23.

Hawthorn-Fly, 120.

Herbert, G., Portrait of, 9; Verses
by, 61, 121; Account of, &c., 314,

329. 337-
Heylin, P., his description of Eng-

lish Rivers, 214; Account of, &c.,

314. 344.

Hoddesdon, Thatched-House at, 41.
72; Notice of, 316.

Holy Spirit, form of the descent of
the, 48, 322.

Hook, directions for baiting, 107, 208,
212, 282, 296, 300.

HouKer, R., Portrait of, 9.

Humoer River, account of, 215, 346.

Huntmg, the praise of, 49 ; Not per-
mitted to Ecclesiastics, 67.

Introductory Essay, 9.

Irving, W., his eulogy on Walton, 24.

Isaac, Hebrew spellmg and significa-
tion of, 315.

Isabella-colored, 276 ; Historical ex-
planation of, 347,

January, Artificial Flies for, 373.
josephus F., references to, 60, 314,

328.
Jovius, P. , references to, 156, 314 ;

Account of, 340.
July, Artificial Flies for, 117, 287.
June, Artificial Flies for, 117, 286.

Lamprels or Lampreys, 181, 183.
Laneare, N., Song composed by, 338.
Lawes, H., Song composed by, 341.
Laws concerning Fish, 76, ;^22'
Lebault or Liebault, Dr. J., refer-
ences to, 218, 219, 314.
Lessius, L., references to, 115, 314,

337-
Lines, various directions concerning,

221, 260, 296.
Linnaean Airangement of River Fish,

306.
Loach, representation of the, 210 ;

Particulars concerning the, 211 ;

Linnaean description of the, 308.
Lob-worm, 106, 107, 108, 141, 172,

181.
London-Bridge, excellent Roach near,

201.
Lowth, Dr. R., illustration from, 327.
Lucian, Verses prefixed to his Dia-
logues, 43 ; Hickes's Translation of,

319.

Macrobius, A., references to, and
account of, 53, 324.

March, Artificial Flies for, 116, 276.

Markham, G., illustrations from, 317,
323> 326.

Markland, Abr., account of, 316.

Marlow, Chr. , Song by, 94, 95 ; Ac-
count of, 334.

352

GENERAL INDEX.

Marsh-Worm, i6o, 172.

Martial, his Epigram on Fish, 132.

Matthiolus, P. A., references to, 212,
314 ; Account of, 343.

May, Artificial Flies for, 116, 278.

May-Fly, how to make, 120, 201 ; Ac-
count of, 121 ; Various titles of the,
280.

Meadow- Worm, 160.

Medway, notice of the River, 215.

Mercator, G., reference to, 87 ; Ac-
count of him, 334.

Middle, Angling in the, 257, 302.

Miller's Thumb, a name of the Bull-
Head, 210, 211.

Minnow, used as a Bait, 85, 105, 108,
141, 175, 181, 192, 302, 303; Time
of catching, and description of the,
108, 211, 310; Mow to preserve and
imitate, 108; Representation of the,
210 ; How to dress, 211 ; Linnoean
description of the, 310.

Montaigne, M. de, references to, and
account of, 43, 314, 320. 331.

Moorish-Fly, how to make, 116,

Moses, various references to, 48, 51,
52. 53> 57. 66.

Moss, for scouring Worms, 107.

Mouldwarp, explanation of the name,

323-

Moulin. P. Du, references to, and ac-
count of, 58, 314, 327.

Mullet, how used in Roman Feasts,
85 ; Verses on the, 64 ; Peculiar
kind of, 89.

Music, to the Angler's Song, 342.

' Verses in praise of, 341.

Nicolas, Sir H., his copious Life of,
and Literary Illustrations of Wal-
ton, 24.

Night-fishing, particulars of, 130.

Nightingale, melody of, 47.

Notes, illustrative, 311 ; Character of
the, 27.

November, Artificial Flies for, 289.

Nowel, Dr. AL, Character of, 68, 69;
Account of, 332 ; Notice of his Resi-
dence, 343.

Oak-Fly, directions for making and

finding, 120, 121 ; Worm, 106.
Obel, M. de L', references to, 179,

315 ; Notice of, 340.
October, Flies for, 289.
Offley, J., 10; Original Dedication

to, 35.
Oils for Baits, remarks on, 142, 152,

161, 205, 301.
Orange-Fly, how to make, 287.

Orders of Fishes, 306.

Otter, great destruction of Fish by
the, 42, ^-^-^ 76 ; various particulars
of the, 'j^i I Description of an Otter-
hunt, 74, 317 ; Tame ones taught to
fish, 75 ; Power of the, to smell
under water, 142.

Overbury, Sir Tho., 96, 315; His
Milkmaid's character, 335

Owl-Fly, how to make, 286.

Palmer, or Pilgrim-Worm, account
of, III; Palmer-Flies, directions for
making, 118, 120, 274, 279.

Pastes, for Chub; 85 ; For Carp, 160,
161 ; For Bream, 164 ; For Tench
171 ; For Barbel, 187 ; For Roacli»
202.

Peacock-Fly, how to make, 279, 287.

Pearch, observations on the, 173;
Representation of the, 175, 310 ;
How to fish for, 175 ; Linnaean de
scription of the, 308.

Pemble-Mere, a fish peculiar to, 184.

Pepys, W. H., the friend of Sir H.
Davy, 28 ; His account of Cotton's
Fishing-House, 345.

Perkins, W., his praise of Angling,
67 ; Account of, 332.

Peucerus, G. , 129; Account of, 338.

Pickerel-Weed, various properties of,
144, 149.

Pigeons, various uses of, 47 ; Their
long flight for food, 74 ; Names of,
92.

Pike, observations on the, 144; In-
stances of its voracity, 144, 147, 339;
Representation of the, 149; How to
fish for, 149, 151 ; Baits for, ib.^
151 ; How to dress, 153 : Countries
of, 154 ; Destroyed by Tadpoles,
157 ; Linnaean description of the,

309-

Pike-Pool, Staffordshire, description
of, 270.

Pinto, F. M.. references to, and ac-
count of, 67, 315, 331.

Pliny, C. S., references to, 60, 61, 65,
no, 131, 150, 156, 315 ; Account of,

Plutarch, references to, 6^, 187, 315,
332.

Poetry, vide Songs, 13, 17, 18, 2>?,^ 43,
61. 62, 63, 64, 70, 71, -]-], 94, 121,
122, 123, 124, 132, 139, 155, 176, 197,
205, 214. 215, 229, 231, 270, 320.

Powell, Dr. R. , contributor of the
Linnaean Arrangement of Fish, 306.

Prophets, inspiration of, 58 ; Com-
parison of, 66, 67.

GENERAL INDEX,

353

Proverbs, various, 41, 43, 76, loi, 103,
164, 173, 183. 237, 249, 251.

Raleigh, Sir W., Song by, 94, 95, 335.
Raven, various particulars of the, 48,

89.
Red- Worm, 165, 190, 191.
Rich Men, unhappiness of, 224.
Ring swallowed by a Salmon, account

of, 339-

Rivers, the wonders of, 59 ; Accounts
of the English, 213, 245.

Roach, observations on, 164, 200 ;
Inferior breed of, 201 ; Representa-
tion of the, 201; How to fish for the,
204, 206 ; Linnsean description of
the, 309.

Rod, various directions for the, 223,

259.
Rome, splendid entertainment of

Fish there, 53 ; Rarities of, 54.
Rondeletius, Guil., references to, 62,

170, 178, 179, 186, 315 ; Account of,

330.
Rosicrucians, allusion to the, 205 ;

Notice of the, 343.
Royal Society, reference to the

transactions of the, 92, 315, 334.
Ruddy-Fly, how to make, 116.
Ruds, an inferior Roach, 201.
Ruffe or Pope, representation of

the, &c. , 191 ; Linnaean description

of the, 308.
Running-line, how to bait the hook of

a, 107.

Sadler, Mr. R., 42 ; Account of, 318.

Sad-Yellow-Fly, how to make, 116.

Salmon, observations on the. 137 ;
Leap of the, and verses on ditto,
138. 139 ; Age and growth of the,
139 ; Representation of the, 140 ;
Seasons of the, 38, 140, 200 ; How
to fish for the. 141 ; Varieties of the,
90, 142 ; Linnaean description of
the, 308, 309.

Salvian, Hipp., references to, 135,
315 ; Account of, 339.

Sami.et or Skegger-Trout, engrav-
ing of the, 88 ; A variation of the
Salmon, 143 ; Linnaean description
of the, 308 ; A distinct species of
fish, 309.

Sanderson, Dr. R., Portrait of, 9.

Sandys, G. , references to his Travels,
47» 315 I Account of, 321.

Sargus, verses on the. 63.

Scouring of Worms, directions for,
106.

Sea, discoveries made by means of

the, 54 ; Sea-Angler, a Fish so

called, 62.
Seneca, L. A., references to, 85, 333.
September, Artificial Flies for, 288.
Severn River, account of its spring

and course, 214.
Shaw, Dr. G., his classification of

Fishes, 306.
Sheldon, Dr. G.,i88; Account of,

341.

Shell-Fly, how to make, 116, 288.

Sheridan, Hon. R. B., his praise of
the Complete Angler, 27.

Sidney, Sir P., references to, 254, 315,
346.

Singing Birds, eulogy on, 46.

Sketch-book, paper on Angling from
the, 24.

Snakes, bred by various means, 148.

Songs, names and references to old,
95. loi. 334, 335 ; The Milkmaid's.
95. 97. 335> 33^ ; Answer to ditto,
96 ; Coridon's Song, loi ; The Beg-
gar's ditto, 127 ; The Angler's ditto,
103, 194, 342 ; Kenna's ditto, 338.

Stickleback, representation ot the,
2ic; Descriptions and uses of the,
109, 212, 308.

Stone-Fly, no; Account of the, 280;
Birth and Description of, 284; How
to make, 116, 285.

Sussex, Fish peculiar to, 89.

Tackle, directions concerning, 206 ;
Ditto for making, 221.

Tawny-Fly, how to make, 116.

Tench, observations on the, 170;
Medical virtues of the, 171 ; Repre-
sentation of the, 171 ; Linnaean de-
scription of the, 309.

Thames, River, account of the, 214;
Verses on, 214 ; Trouts in, 88.

Thatched-House, Herts., 41, 72 ; No-
tice of, 316.

Theobald's House, 41 ; History of,

325.
Thorn-tree Fly, how to make, 276.
Top, Angling at the, explained, 257.
Topsell, Edw. , references to, no,

150, 315, 333-

Tottenham High-Cross, 41, 228.

Tradescant, J., his Museum, 60 ; Ac-
count of, 328.

Trent River, account of the, 215, 246.

Trout, observations on the, 87 ; Va-
rieties of the, 88, 90, 91 ; Seasons
of the, 91, 208 ; How to fish for, 99,
115, 130, 297, 302 ; Representation
of the, 99 ; Best anglers for tke.

354

GENERAL INDEX.

20I ; How to dress, 294 ; Linnaean

description of the, 308.
Tyne, notice of the River, 215.
Tweed, notice of the River, 215.

Umber, a name of the Grayling, 134,
135. 136.

Valdesso, Sign. J., references to his

works, account of, 328.
Varro, references to, and account of,

47. 53. 321, 324.
Ventral fins, orders of fishes taken

from the, 306.
Violet-Fly, directions for making, 277.

Walking-Bait explained, 149.

Waller, Edm., Verses by, 198.

Wall-Fly, a bait for a Chub, 83.

Walton, Izaak, his literary character,
9, 32; Biographical Sketch of, 18 ;
Fac-similes of his writing, 13, 32 ;
His Will, 28 ; Character of. by Cot-
ton, 240 ; Notes by, 254, 270.

Izaak. Jun., 20, 29. 33, 270.

Wasps, used as Baits 164, 179, 204.

Wasp-Fly, how to make, 116, 287.

Water, the praise of, 52 ; A medium
for sound, 131.

— Frogs, nature of, &^., 150, 220.

■■■ SnaJke, account of, 148.

Wharton, Dr. Tho., 216 ; Account o^

324-
Whirling-Dun-Fly, how to make, 276,

277.
Whitaker, Dr. W. , 68 ; Account of,

332.
White-Bait, a distinct species of fish,

309.

Willow, experiment with concerning
water, 52.

Worms, names of.and directions con-
cerning, 105, 106, 107, 141, 142, 160,
165, 172, 191, 203. 296, 298, 299.

Wotton, Sir H., references to, 10, 69,
70, 192, 229, 230, 315 ; Portrait of»
9 ; Account of, 332.

Wye River, notice of, 248.

Xenophon, references to, 50, 315, 323^

Yarrel, W., Esq., treatise on th^
I growth of the Salmon, 339.
i Yellow Dun-Fly, how to make, 116,
277.

Yellow dye for feathers, 282.

Zouch, Dr. The, his praise of Wail
ton, 24.

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