The Complete Angler
I >>
Izaak Walton >> The Complete Angler
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 | 11 |
12 |
13 |
14
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, the 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 kind 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 generation, but not by spawning as other fish do; but that
her brood come alive from her, being then little live Eels no bigger nor
longer than a pin; and I have had too many testimonies 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 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 anything, 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 worms 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
across the stream, with many hooks at it, and those baited with the
aforesaid 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 on the river 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, with the help of a short stick, put in y our bait, but
leisurely, and as far as you may conveniently; and it is scarce to be
doubted, but if there be an Eel within the sight of it, the Eel will bite
instantly, 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 a most excellent dish of meat.
First, wash him in water and salt; then pull off his skin below 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 mixt
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 within his skin: and 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 as 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 drest, 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 Solomon says of honey, " Hast thou found it, eat no more
than is sufficient, lest thou surfeit, for it is not good to eat much honey
". And let me add this, that the uncharitable Italian 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 other 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 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 small 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 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 GUINIAD; of
which I shall tell you what Camden and others speak. The river Dee,
which runs by Chester, springs in Merionethshire; 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-continued
Of the Barbel
Chapter XIV
Piscator, Venator, Milk-woman
Piscator. The Barbel is so called, says Gesner, by reason of his barb or
wattles 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 very 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 weir; where he
will nest himself amongst piles, or in hollow places; and take such 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 living creatures 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 quiet and 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 labour 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 of the year, be
taken, by those who dwell near to the river, with their hands, eight or
ten load at a time. He says, 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 Gasius declare it
had an ill effect upon them, even to the endangering of their lives.
The 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 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 generals, 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 likelier 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 likelier 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. Rut, 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 together: 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 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 favour
with Dr. 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 water for their use.
Come, scholar, which will you take up ?
Venator. Which you think fit, master.
Piscator. 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 towards
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.
Venator. Master, I like your motion very well: and I think it is now
about milking-time; and yonder they be at it
Piscator. God speed you, good woman ! I thank you both for our songs
last night: I and my companion have had such fortune a-fishing this day,
that we resolve to give you and Maudlin a brace of Trouts for supper;
and we will now taste a draught of your red-cow's milk.
Milk-woman. 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 haycock, 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, because you be such honest men.
Venator. We thank you; and intend, once in a month to call 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.
Piscator. I will, honest scholar.
The fourth day-continued
Of the Gudgeon, the Ruffe, and the Bleak
Chapter XV
Piscator
The GUDGEON is reputed a fish of excellent taste, and to be very
wholesome. He is of a fine shape, of a silver colour, 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 Germans 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 off from 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
and rot, and the weather colder, then they gather 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 an excellent 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 much like the Perch for his
shape, and taken to be better than the Perch, but will not grow to be
bigger than a Gudgeon. He is an excellent fish; no fish that swims is of
a pleasanter 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-swallow; 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 flies, in the
air, by which he lives; so does the Bleak at the top of the water.
Ausonius would have called him Bleak from his whitish colour: his
back is of a pleasant sad or sea-water-green; his belly, white and
shining as the mountain snow. And doubtless, though we 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 anchovies. 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 colour, 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 summer'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
swallows so, or especially martins; this bird-angler standing on the top
of a steeple to do it, and with the line twice so long as I have spoken of.
And let me tell you, scholar, that both Martins and Bleaks be most
excellent meat
And let me tell you, that I have known a Heron, that did constantly
frequent one place, caught with a hook baited with a big minnow or a
small gudgeon. The line and hook must be strong: and tied to some
loose staff, so big as she cannot fly away with it: a line not exceeding
two yards.
The fourth day-continued
Is of nothing, or of nothing worth
Chapter XVI
Piscator, Venator, Peter, Coridon
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 forbear, at this time, to say any
more, because you see yonder come our brother Peter and honest
Coridon. But I will promise you, that as you and I fish and walk to-
morrow towards London, if I have now forgotten anything that I can
then remember, I will not keep it from you.
Well met, gentlemen; this is lucky that we meet so just together at this
very door, Come, hostess, where are you ? is supper ready ? Come, first
give us a 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 bouts, of
which my scholar caught three. Look! here's eight; and a brace we gave
away. We have had a most pleasant day for fishing and talking, and are
returned home both weary and hungry; and now meat and rest will be
pleasant.
Peter. And Coridon and I have not had an unpleasant day: and yet I
have caught but five bouts; 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 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.
Piscator. Nay, I will not be worse than my word; you shall not want my
song, and I hope I shall be perfect in it
Venator. 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 moderation.
Coridon. 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.
Piscator. Well then, here s to you, Coridon; and now for my song.
O the gallant Fisher's life,
It is the best of any;
'Tis full of pleasure, void of strife,
And 'tis beloved of 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 eyes.
Leave the sluggard sleeping;
Then we go
To and fro,
With our knacks
At our backs
To such streams
As the Thames
If we have the leisure.
When we please to walk abroad
For our recreation,
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,
We have paste and worms too
We can watch both night and morn,
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.
If the sun's excessive heat
Make our bodies swelter,
To an osier hedge we get
For a friendly shelter
Where, in a dike,
Perch or Pike
Roach or Dace
We do chase Bleak or Gudgeon,
Without grudging
We are still contented.
Or we sometimes pass an hour
Under a green willow,
That defends us from a shower,
Making earth our pillow;
Where we may
Think and pray
Before death
Stops our breath.
Other joys
Are but toys,
And to be lamented.
Jo. Chalkhill.
Venator. Well sung, master; this day s fortune and pleasure, and the
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 himself from talking with me that he might be
so perfect in this song; was it not, master?
Piscator. Yes indeed, for it is many years since I learned it; and having
forgotten a part of it, I was forced to patch it up with 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.
Venator. 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 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 law-suits 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 content that I, who pretended no title to them,
took in his fields: for I could there sit quietly; and looking on the water,
see some fishes sport themselves in the silver streams, others leaping at
flies of several shapes and colours; looking on the hills, I could behold
them spotted with woods and groves; looking down the meadows,
could see, here a boy gathering lilies and lady-smocks, and there a girl
cropping culverkeys and cowslips, 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
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 possess the earth; or rather, they enjoy what the others
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 express it,
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 | 11 |
12 |
13 |
14