P R E FA C E
T his
fo r t h e
.
s e r i es o f ar t i c e s
s po rts
is
l
m an w h o i s
“
w
p oo r
ri
tte n
fr o m
p o i nt o f V i e w o f w o r d ly g o o d s
S uc h a m
an c a n e n
j o y t h e v a r i o us
s p o r t s d e s c r i be d i f h e d o e s no t g o fo r
”
“
t h e s i z e a nd v a l ue o f t h e
a nd
ba g
w i l l a g r ee w i t h
I z aa k W a l t o n t h a t
”
“
The
a ll
of
fi s h i ng i s no t fi s h
a ut h o r d o e s
no t c l a i m t h a t t h e d e
sc n
i p t i o ns a re e x h a us t i v e i n a ny w ay
en w h o
o r a r e o f a ny v a l ue t o t h e m
k no w h o w t o d o i t but h e h o p e s t h e y
ma y be us e ful t o t h e fe w w h o d o no t
th e
.
,
,
.
,
,
k no w
.
p r o s e i s s o w e a k t h at t h e
p r i nt e r s g o o d fe l l o w s h a v e s c h e m e d
i t be t w e e n t w o p o e m s
s up p o r t
to
T h e i nt e nt i o n w as w e l l m e a nt a nd i s
t a ke n i n t h e r i g h t s p i r i t
The
,
.
.
T W E M
.
.
8846 8 5
.
C O NT E NT S
TH
C H E S H I é E H OU ND S
E
J
AN UA R Y
—P i ke
.
F i s h i ng
FE B RUA R Y — P i ke
a nd
T
ro
.
M AY
J
UN E
J
U Lv
.
.
F i s h ery
a
S po r t s m an s
-
— T ro ut
.
W a r d ro be
.
fi s h i ng ( W e t F ly )
-
fi sh i i i g
—T r o ut -fi sh i ng
( D ry
.
F ly )
.
( M i nno w
a nd
A U G U S T — W o o d p i g e o n S h o o t i ng
.
—P a r t r i d ge
S E PT E MB E R
O C T OB E R
N OV
.
( S p i nni ng
F i s h i ng
’
O ut fi t
—
T r o ut
.
ve B a i t )
i
L
(
.
M A R C H — M a k i ng
a nd
.
l l i ng )
"
AP R I L — T h e
.
S h o o t i ng
.
.
— T h e S p o r t s m a n s L i bra r y
’
.
E M BE R
D ECE MBE
R
.
— F o x H unt i ng
.
— P h e as a nt S h o o t i ng
T H E OL D D O G - F o x
.
.
.
H O U N DS
C H E S H IR E
THE
.
N ow l i st to me ye C he s h ire men w h o a ll are
sportsmen keen
I l l s ing you a s ong o f a f amous pack the
C hesh i re h oun d s I mean
F irst T h urs d ay in N ovem ber at D u dd on Heath
they re d own to meet
I f we fin d a st ra ig ht necke d f o x at hom e
we re boun d to h ave a treat
.
.
.
'
,
.
.
’
.
-
.
’
.
C hor us
T hen T a l lyho f orrar d aw ay
I t s a bea uti f u l huntin g d ay
W i th a s t r ai gh b neck ed fo x to
,
.
'
,
'
t he
\V e
Dan
’
P ec kf orton
Ro ck s
ll h a ve a gra n d ga llop to d ay
-
.
m n know s of
a goo d d og f o x i n the
VV at les s Covert n ear
I f he h asn t been to the T a rporl ey B all he s
been up a l l n i gh t I f ear
He d i ne d a t ol d J ohn L i ght f oot s an d break
f a ste d at L ea s
B ut th e Ma ster s come an d they re moving o fl
“
”
Houn d s gent lemen i f you plea se
G id
a
.
'
'
,
,
'
'
.
'
’
,
,
C horus
.
.
,
T hen T a l lyh o f orra rd a way
I t s a bea ut i f ul hunt i ng d ay
Le t s fin d the ol d f o x an d t o
,
’
,
’
I
’
oc
k fo r to n Ro c ks
,
W e ll h ave a gran d ga llop
'
d ay
to -
.
' ‘
l
lyh o ! T allyh o l
see yon d er he goes w i th a
houn d close on to his brush
You d best t ake the f ence to th e righ t of t h e
g ate i f yo u w ant to be clear o f the ru sh
Hol d h a r d ! there a re on ly three couple o f
h oun d s ou t o f covert T h at m an on t h e
fi eabi t ten grey
I s a con f ounde d f oo l : A ll right sir d on t
bo llo s l We al l kn ow the f o x i s aw ay
al
,
.
’
,
.
.
'
,
,
.
be aut i f ul hun tin g d ay
He s a b an gin g big f ox an d t o
P eckf orton Ro ck s
We re in f or a g al lop to d ay
'
It
s a
,
'
‘
-
.
J ove it s a cracker they re going as f ast as
your horse can lay legs to th e groun d
Hol d up ! y ou old brute tw as a n asty ish place
and I though t we were sure to be d owne d
T h ere s the b rook with a sti ff b it o f t im ber in
f ront but a tak e o ff a s soun d as a board
T here a re si x com in g d own a t it h ard a s they
ca n but I ll bet t here ll be som e o f e n
floore d
‘
By
‘
,
.
’
-
,
,
'
-
.
,
,
’
’
'
:
,
.
Chorus
.
T hen T a l ly ho f orrar d aw ay
I t s a be auti f u l huntin g d ay
,
'
A
,
brimmer a b umper you r bes t
w ater j umper
Wil l fin d h is work cu t out t o d ay
,
,
-
S te a d y
.
m a re now we re not in a c av a lry
ch arge
J ust a ca nter then q uicken you r
stri d e
As you co me to it ; now f or th e honou r o f
Ch esh ire !
T h ank goodness we re on th e
ri ght si d e
T here are th ree o f them in it a n d th ree h ave
re f use d a nd t h e others are look in g about
F or a f or d —well there is one a m ile up the
stream T h at they re poun d ed th ere i sn t
a d oubt
’
,
,
,
.
,
‘
.
,
,
,
'
.
.
’
Ch oru s
T hen T allyho f orrard aw ay
I t s a beauti f ul hunting d ay
On m y good m are s b ack I m
a lon e w i t h the pack !
An d I m in f or a ga l lop t o d ay
.
,
’
,
’
‘
’
.
c an t l as t much longer th eir h ack les are up
a n d th ey re r unnin g f or b loo d th at s
cle ar
B y J ove ! bu t they re running i n view ; t here
he goes but t he m ain e arth s are d euce d l y
nea r !
Who hoo p ! tw as t oo hot f or him all th e w ay
t hrou gh they ve roaste d h i m over an hour
He s a s sti ff a s a boar d but a gr an d er ol d f o x
ne er to h oun d s h a d hi s colours to lower
’
It
,
’
’
,
.
’
’
-
’
.
,
’
,
’
.
Ch orus
.
T hen T a llyh o f orrar d aw ay
It s a be autifu l huntin g d ay
Whoop tear h im an d e at h im
You f airly h ave be at h im
We ve h ad a gran d g al lop to d ay
,
’
,
,
,
.
’
-
.
SP O RT S
FIE LD
M O NT H
THE
JAN UA R Y
PIK E
“
OF
F I S HI N G
.
— L IV
.
.
B
E
AI T IN G
.
a J ack th en a P ickerel thir d ly a
”
P ike an d l ast o f a ll a L uce
H al liwell i s
our authority for t his nomencl ature but the
e x act age at wh ich these n ames are given i s
d oubtful an d as a rule only J ack and P ike
are referred to by modern fisherm en the
f ormer n ame bein g bestowe d on sm all fi sh up
to t hree or f our poun d s
T he n ame J ack is
probab ly a term o f f amili arity an d an alogous
to J ack d aw an d J ack s h arp
P ickerel i s the
dimin utive of P ike w hich i s derive d from the
”
“
F rench
P i que
meaning poin te d allu d ing
to the general sh ape o f the fi sh rather th an
to i ts hea d which is not pointe d but fl attene d
like a d uck s beak
F irst
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
.
.
,
,
,
,
,
’
.
T he n am e L uce is prob ably t aken f rom the
”
“
Greek wor d L ukos
which mean s a W ol f
E so x h as not a good ch aracter f rom h is last
,
.
pl ace one gentlem an writing about h im as
"
“
fell tyrant o f th e liqui d pl a in
a n d another
“
as
th e sco urge an d terror o f th e scaly
”
brood !
,
,
I will not give
mt h
d escription o f the
P ike a t length b ut wil l just refer to the f act
“
th at the b od y is covered with sm a ll cycloi d
,
Gi
’
'
er s
FIE LD
2
OF
s r oar s
'
M O NTH
TH E
.
"
sc ales m any with a m uciferous ch annel
I
whi ch
W l ll at tempt a d escript i on f or my self
m ay be more intel li gible i f not so scient i fic
Have a look at th is 1 4lb m ale pik e—len gth
T h e s i z e of he ad
33 inch es gi rth 1 4 inches
4
to th e whole len gth is 1
T he bo d y is
o f uniform d epth or ne arly so f rom shoulder
to d or sal fi n there n arrowing to tail T he
hea d is a w f ul ; no other a d j ective fi ts so w ell
a s I s ai d before
Open h is j aw s fl a ttened
like a duck s beak the un d er one slight ly
longer an d look i a — a pint po t woul d go in
e asily
L ook
a t the teeth as Houghton
"
“
—
says
in a sin gle series unequ al in si z e
S h arp ? y es ve ry
N ever t ry to release boo k s
from hi s mont h without a d isgorger an d gag
I t is like gettin g your fingers in a rat trap
“
i f he f asten s on you Mark his p lum a ge
d ark olive green on back becom in g lighter
“
”
tow ard s the si d es which a re fin gered
like
those of a m ackerel an d d apple d w ith yellow
spots Wh ite i s his belly th at sepulch re ful l
o f hi s victim s bones As to th e rest of his
e x tern a l an atomy loo k at hi s mightly t a i l
.
,
,
.
,
.
.
,
.
,
,
.
.
.
,
,
,
'
,
,
,
.
.
,
.
,
.
,
”
.
.
,
,
,
,
.
’
.
,
,
line on i t s ed ge an d as you are i nv esti
gatin g h is fi n s observe t h at the dors al fin i s
d irectly above the ana l
o
,
,
.
T he
b est
month s for p ike fis h in g are
October to F eb rua ry
and for som e re asons
J anu a ry i s the best T he fi sh are in prime
con
d ition a s th ey d o not usu a lly spawn ti ll
March or April T he wee d s a re d own a nd
“
the N E w ind a s Ki ngsley s ay s
h anger s
"
in to m adness eve ry plungin g pike
,
.
,
.
.
,
,
.
,
.
L e t me suppose you h ave got leave for a
d ay on a
“
”
pikey wate r If you are to h ave
a boat so much the b etter bu t in this case
mi nd you put on your w a rmest cl othes Al l
,
.
,
.
FI E LD S P O R T S OF
M O NTH
TH E
3
.
”
“
wool un d erwear with a sweater over your
sh irt a Nor f olk j acket w ith stormproo f cufl s
a mackintosh
a strong pair of b oots an d
leggings a d eer st alker cap wi th ear fl ap s
G oin g to the North P o le ? No but you can
come in your pyj ama s i f you like
L unch
o f course—whisky ?
Wel l we won t argue
but I th ink col d tea beat s it al l to nothin g
B ri ng yo ur fl ask though ; I pre f er S cotch
,
’
,
,
,
-
-
.
,
,
.
,
’
,
,
.
.
,
Now about t ack le T here are only two w ays
o f t aking pike wh ich I sh all d escribe p artien
lar ly as 1 t hink they are t he most int eresting
live b ai ting an d spinn ing T h e same ro d
vi z
wil l d o for both —a whole c ane w ith green
heart to p fairly whippy
T he rin gs must
be big sn ake rings righ t up to th e top which
“
”
is best f urnish e d w ith a B i ck er dyk e rin g
An i nd i ar ubber button on the en d o f th e but t
is a comfort
A N ottingh am reel with
a d j ustable check or a M allock ( of wh ich I
h ave no practical e x perience ) w i th 80 y ards
or so o f si lk line
.
,
.
,
.
,
,
.
,
-
,
.
.
,
,
,
.
N ow
let us suppose you a re goin g to live
bait fi rst an d t hen when you w ant to get
your circulation a l ittle br i sk et to spin
Your li v ebai t a re d ace or gudgeon wh ich you
ha d better buy
D on t rely on the rustic
who promises to bring you t w o d oz en fin e
d ace on the morn ing o f your e x pe d it i on or on
th e keeper s c asti ng n et when you arrive
,
,
,
.
,
'
.
,
’
.
P ut your rod up an d a f ter fi x ing the reel
with the h an d le to your right h an d t hrea d
,
,
,
the line through th e rin gs
.
N ow push o ff your boat an d moor i t at the
e d ge o f the wee d s if possibl e w ith your b ack
to th e wee d s an d win d I t Wi l l be w a rmer
an d your b ait wi ll keep a way f rom th e bo at
“
"
When I say moor your h o s t
it i s not s o
simple as i t soun d s I f there are no stake s
,
.
,
,
,
.
FIE LD
4
s p o s 'r s o r
wa s
m
ou
rn
.
o ar s wil l do at a p i nch if th e bott om is
soft and th e depth of w ater not too gre at or
a hea vy s to ne made fa st to a rope will serv e
I reco ll ect fi lli ng a b ai t c an wi th gravel and
lett in g it d own a s a n anchor T he st r i ng
broke as we were h au li ng i t up but w e sp liced
a gafl on to an oar and lucki ly h it th e h andle
of th e can at th e fi rst t ry
Th e
,
,
.
.
,
‘
,
.
As
soon
as you are in pos ition whi ch
should h e a rrived at wi th as little sp las hi n g
and n oise a s po s si b le tie a le ad on to y our
line a nd pl um b the dept h : we w i ll suppose
you h ave si x feet of w a te r in fron t of you
N ow att ach to y our runn ing l ine th ree feet
o f the finest gimp you c an l ay h ands on or
better s ti ll of strong gut at the free end of
“
”
whi ch is the sn ap t ack le
T h is co n sists
mere ly o f a tri angle with a single boo k
whipped on to th e c a s t about an i nch above
the
t riple
h ooks
Attach
a
J ar
d ine
lead—veri ly the best ever i nven ted
about 1 8 inches above the h ook s and a foot
above wh ere line and trace j oin fasten a
J a r di n s plugless float
T he beau ty of th e
J ar di ne lea d s and floats i s th at you c an
att ach th em wi thout either d i sconn ectin g the
trace an d lin e or inj u rin g either
T w o or
three sm a ll cork s above th e float will prevent
the ba i t from swimming over the s unk line
an d getti ng entan gl ed in it N ow t ake a live
bait and put th e single boo k o f th e sn ap
t ac kle t hrough th e fl esh y pa rt of the b ack
t akin g c are not to in j u re th e spine and th en
eith er fa sten one h ook of the tri an gle into th e
"
"
shoul d er or le ave it flying
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
-
.
,
.
,
.
.
.
,
,
.
y ar d s o f sl ack o ff th e
the bait sw i n g once or t w ice like
“
”
and then with a gentle h eft
you wi ll ha ve the s atis faction of
hook s in th e gunwale of th e b oat
P ull
tw o
reel and let
a pe ndulum
let go an d
catchi ng the
or o f s eein g
,
,
,
FI E LD
s r o ar s
OF
M O NTH
TH E
5
.
the bait fa ll into th e w ater some y ards o ff
the boat in f ront of you I n the l atter ca se
all wil l go merry a s a m arri age bel l -oth er
w ise there w ill be a f uneral as you will h ave
stunne d your b ait an d h ave to fi sh another
out o f t he can Never use a sickly b ait i f
you can help i t —a d rop or two of alcohol s
a
corpse reviver
f or such
.
,
,
.
i
.
You must not think you h ave got a bite
if th e float goes un d er at once— a lively b ait
will d o th is at first N ow l ight your pipe—i t
is out lon g ago —an d look a f ter your rem ain
ing b aits P ut them in the wel l of the punt
i f there is one or h an g t he can in the w ater
T hi s w ill p revent bother with the li v ebai t
san it ary inspecto r an d arguments about cub ic
feet L ook out now —th at s E so x
D ow n
goes the float w ith a plunge — then up again
then d own and sailin g aw ay un d er w ater
Up comes the float again
Now when i t goes
un d er again an d aw ay strike
N ow s the
tim e —give it h im S trike once or tw ice an d
hol d on ; d on t touch the line let h im go
it s open water T here th at s rush num ber
one N ow reel i n He s com ing a t you an d
this i s crit ic al as he me ans to m ake for t he
w eed s un d er the boat Hol d h im h ar d an d
turn hi m b ack wh en you get him un d er the
r od
point T h at s ri gh t he s aw ay a gain
but the ne x t time h e com es t his w ay I ll be
rea d y with th e net R eel in now an d st ill
hol d him tigh t a s he m ay not be e x tra wel l
h ooke d T h a t wi l l d o S tea d y Here he i s
—a n ice fi sh About twenty poun d s ? N o I
think he l l pul l about si x but he m a y weigh
twenty by t his time ne x t yea r
.
.
,
.
,
’
.
.
.
.
’
.
,
.
'
,
’
,
’
.
,
’
.
.
,
,
.
’
’
.
,
,
’
.
,
,
.
.
.
.
.
’
,
.
“
We ll d rink He a lth to men an d death to
”
fishes
T h ank s th at s be tter th an col d tea
’
'
.
,
.
mn
0
ea
s p e ar
'
s
'
or
T HE
M ONTH
F E B R UA R Y
PI
'
K E
F
T R OLL IN G
.
.
I S HIN G
SP IN N IN G
AN D
.
It l oo ks as i f you h a d caugh t th e k ing of
"
the castle
No other p i k e seem s to h a ve
A
v ent ur ed on to th e l ate o w ner s dom ain
fancy they h ave cert ain be ats li ke trout
.
’
.
.
,
’
leven o cloc k is It ? Wh at about troll i ng
f or an h our or t w o ? You can tr y from the
boa t and I wil l row you S pin nin g f rom th e
boat is
as I s h all h ave to t ake my
c hance of your hoo ki ng me i n th e e ar and I
”
“
don t t hi nk even the
D aily M ail
policy
will co ver th at risk You c an practise after
l un ch in the p ark m ead ow T ak e the live b ai t
tackle off ; set th e bait free in the w a te r He
”
“
will d o a ll ri ght You wi ll find a Wobbler
flight in my bo x A spoo n b ait is too crude
t h ough sometim es very dea d ly
’
E
,
.
,
’
.
-
.
.
.
.
,
.
“
the way th at b ox w as one us ed in the
"
t anks
It is m os t convenien t a s it is not
too d eep and you can find th i ngs in it
It Is
ma d e of k h a ki co l oure d tin —1 8 by 4 by 9
i nches
It h as two comp artments an d a loose
By
,
.
,
,
.
-
.
li d
.
I h ave brought a sco re of nice h and pick ed
spra ts f rom the fi sh m
onger and h ave h ad th em
i n pickle f or a f ort ni ght An ol d pi ck le bottle
wi d e mou th ed an d squ at w ith a pa tent sp ri ng
cork can be found in most h dus ek eeper s cup
-
,
,
.
,
-
,
'
,
.
FIE LD
s r os r s
OF
TH E
MO NTH
.
T he sprats are a s bright as th e d ay they
were caught an d ough t to be tough P ick th e
biggest an d push the bla d e o f th e tackle i ntc
.
,
,
the mouth
.
You will find there is a kn ack in openin g a
sprat s mo nt h which is somethi ng like a motor
hoo d all angles an d rod s covere d with a f airly
t ough membrane but go care f ul ly about i t a n d
push t he b la d e up to t he hil t through t he
body of t he fi sh a nd par allel Wi th the spine
Now curve t he oo d y an d fi x the lowest
tri angle into the flesh y part o f the t a i l P us h
the stra ight book o f the upper triangle into
t he shoul d er of the b ait an d to m ake it l ast
longer wrap a thi n piece o f wire round the
ba it enclosing the shoul d er t ri angle F asten
“
”
th at tw iste d steel wire P un j ab trace ( w hi ch
i s no t hicker th an s a lmon gut ) to t he swivel
at the he a d of the b ai t by mean s of the link
spri ng a n d tie the line on to the swivel at
the other en d o f the trace
T h ere are two
e x tra swivels on the tr ace so somethi ng i s
b ound to go roun d N ow are you ready ? N o
You h ave got no lea d on P ut th at J ar di ne
lea d about t w o feet from the b ait Up anchor
and when I get th e boat into d eeper w ater
d rop the b ait astern t ake a pull to see it
wobb les an d p ay out slowly f rom the ree l
with the check on T h at s ri ght
’
,
,
,
,
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,
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,
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l
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,
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-
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,
,
,
,
,
’
.
.
W e ll l D i d you ever ? A sma ll j ack s tr uck
a t the b ait wh ile it w as in sight K ee p th e
line a s it i s an d he w ill prob ably come again
Yes ! there he is an d though h e is not a bi g
one you wil l h ave to get h i m in to the boat
to release the hooks a n d put h im b ack as i f
you love him W h at is th e goo d o f ki lli ng
sm a ll fi sh in pike w ate r ? You might a s well
t ake s i x inch trout f rom the T est K eep the
r od s po in t up hold h im tight an d r ee l i n
.
,
.
,
,
,
.
-
.
'
,
,
FIE LD S P O R T S
8
o
n THE
M O N TH
.
slowly He is qui et now b ut wi ll pro b ab ly
pe r f orm one a ntic on the s ur f ace before we get
T here—th at is th e antic
hi m in t he net
Nothing ve ry serious b ut I s ee you dr opped
your pipe at th at moment Youare not nervous
oh no ! I di d not su ggest th at did I ? N ow
brin g hi mup to th e net an d I will s coop h im
out or you c an h andli ne h im into th e boat
.
,
.
.
,
.
,
,
,
.
,
a sma ll t w o pounder and h oo k ed
li ghtly ! Hol d h im j ust behind the gill s wi th
th at towel a n d with these tweez ers t ak e out
the h ook N ow put h i m on the fl oo r b oard s
a n d see wh at he c an d o T a lk ab out h and
springs ! Al l righ t he won t b ite you now
al though s to ries h ave been told of their b ark
i ng and bi tin g ! A fi ne ch il d isn t h e ? N o
C 3 development !
We m ay meet at some
f ut ure d a te —
s ay about ten ye ars hence
I
h a v e a n otion h e w i ll be at least 101b by then
P unch 3 h ole i n hi s t ail i f you like and you
w ill r ecogni se h i m again
P ut hi m over
gently a nd don t squee z e h is air b l adder on
w hich h e d ep ends for d ivin g into v a ri ou s
d epth s If th e gi ll s b leed sligh tl y th ey w il l
h eal bu t the air bl ad d er w ill n ot
Only
-
,
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’
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’
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,
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'
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,
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,
L ook how h e s lowly submerges
A fi ne
.
story he w ill h ave to te ll the other fe ll ow s in
the d orm itory to -ni gh t !
Your b ai t i s h ardly touch ed so in w ith it
again and repe at th e perform ance of pay ing
out the li n e S ee th at it wob b les wel l S low
work f or you ! I ca n look at the duck and
I think I s aw a big gr eb e j ust no w but h e w as
to o qui ck for me to get a glass on h i m It i s
ne ar ly lunch t im e T here goe s th e one o cl ock
b e ll at the Hall and not a t ouch !
,
,
.
.
,
,
.
’
.
,
W e w ill go w h ere the old men li k e to si t
in t h e s un and out of the wind b y th e old
,
FI E LD S P O R T S OF
10
M O NTH
T HE
.
D raw across the str eam f rom l eft to right
or righ t to le f t r eel in g in slowly a s the s tre am
wi ll now help you to m ake th e b ait spin T ake
,
,
,
.
anoth er c as t somewh at lon ger if you h ave
the ch eek to d o so an d repeat the perform ance
Wa d e i n a y ar d or t w o—
d on t get th e w ater
over th e to ps o f your wa d ers in winter—an d
d o the s ame a gain When you get too deep
f or s a f ety get on to the ba nk and still fi sh
in g down s tre am you ca n cover ne arly th e
whole pool T he subseq uen t proceedin gs w il l
be simi l ar an d pr oductive or not Of a fi sh
but you wi ll not h ave trie d th e most d i fi cult
manmuvr e i e spinn i n g the b ait down stre am
,
,
.
,
’
.
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,
.
T h e s ickly or wo un d e d fi sh i nvariably goe s
down s tre am T he b attle up s tre am is to th e
-
.
stron g and the pike en vi sages th e situ ation
T h e wob b ler up s tream or across is not quite
wh at E s o x w ants He suspect s there is
a
”
ca tch i n it s omew here He requ ires an easy
and n atur al prey i f possib le it is on ly h um an
n ature Give h i ma wobb ler d own stre am and
“
it is money for noth in g
B ut h ow to do it
“
”
i s another story
.
.
.
,
-
.
.
.
Wa d e in from the bottom Of th e poo l and
I
t hrow to right or le f t up stre am
t
soun d s easy but it is not T he resist ance Of
the stre am is now minus and it is d ifficu lt to
m an age the spin from the reel
,
.
,
.
,
‘
.
T a lki ng about ree ls I kn ow th ere are som e
on the m arke t—Illin gwort h or S i le x
to
,
—th at
,
are a lmost autom atic but they are
“
"
beyon d the d re am s of avarice to t he or d inary
m an No you m ust d o it yoursel f
wi t
.
,
.
,
If
it is onl y a short c ast pull the line with
yo ur own f air h and an d ch ance the sl ack or
co i l in your h a n d or on a tray strapped round
yo ur wai st in f ront of you You would st an d
,
,
,
,
.
FI EL D S P O R T S OF
TH E
M O NTH
11
.
a g ood ch an ce o f fi rs t pri z e at a f ancy d r ess
”
“
b a ll i f you went i n th i s get up
b ut i t is
practical
-
-
,
.
Another w ay as Mrs Gl asse s ays on the
cooking of a bare is to fish f rom the b a nk
( which must be f airly clear) an d d i spense
~ a tip f or d ry fl
with a reel a ltogether—
y fi sh i ng
which will b e mentione d in a f utur e article
Yo u must h ave about 2 5 y ar d s Of line with a
button at the en d an d be content Wi th a 20
yards cast At the en d o f th e ca st the b utton
ought to come up aga inst the lowest ring of
the rod b ut it O f ten t akes a turn or two round
t he butt unless you check it i n its w il d career
You can han d line t h e bai t by dr aw mg it unt i l
it arr i ves almost at your f eet One a d v ant age
Of t h is metho d i s th at you d on t h ave to p ay
f or a reel an d a nother a d vant age i s th at you
can d raw quickly or slow ly a s you desire
T here i s no reeling i n
A d i sa d v antage is
t hat i f you leave the li ne tr aili ng beh in d with
th e bu tton j umping abo ut like a pea on a h o t
plate you soon spoil your line by attrition and
run a good cha nce of gettin g i t into an un holy
mess among loose twi gs a n d bushes S o i f
you h a ve any S cottish b loo d in your veins
coil the line up roughly in your h an d as y ou
proceed f rom one position to a noth er
.
,
,
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’
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We wi ll not try sp inn in g f rom the b ank :
“
”
it i s a mug s game
You Wi ll t ire o f it
soon on a l ake W eed s a re nearly all roun d
the bor d er o f the poo l and you wi ll only h a ve
a f ew y ards clear Come out into th e p ark
and see i f you c an hi t a tree
F asten the
pl um bin g bullet on the line an d come on l and
’
.
.
,
.
.
N ow turn your b ack
S wing arms bod y an d
somethi ng—I w as not a
I a d vise d yo u in fi shin g
,
,
ru d ely on th at tree
rod at an angle o f
wrangler—e x ac tly a s
the river T he bul let
.
.
FIE LD
12
M O NTH
er o ar s o r TH E
.
your leg di d i t ? Well you h ad not t aken
t he ch e ck 0 5 your ree l so i t could not go fa r
Now h ave anot her t ry
Th at on e d arned
ne arly hi t m e and I w as st anding a s far o il
the tree as I though t nec es s ary
Now try
ag ai n A fai r c as t ten y ard s long b ut ten
y ards o fi th e tree T ry ag ain Th at s b etter
and a t every cas t in every w ay you wi ll do
bet t er and bette r Well t h at la st c a st wa s
good enoug h to sh ew t h at you h ave got t he
id e a and you c an practise on th e l awn wh e n
you g e t home and should put the b ul let into
a h at on the groun d at 30 y ards both more
or l es s after a few d ays practise
hi t
,
,
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,
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,
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,
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,
’
.
.
,
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,
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'
.
,
get i nto th e boat and we w i ll troll
ag ai n
W hile I li g h t a ci ga r and smo k e
it dur i ng th e i n te rv als of t a lkin g I mus t
ad vise yo u on th e subj ect of keep i ng rods r ee ls
an d t ac k l e Your rod s must b e car eful ly over
h auled i n the close s e a son If they look a ll
right you n eed o nl y v a rni sh t h e wrap p ing s
but every te n y e ars they shoul d go to the
mak ers Th e r e els s h oul d b e c ar ef ul ly dri ed
wi t h t he li nes after a d ay s fish ing a nd a
s light d res sing of
th em T ackl e must
otherw i se t he boo k s will rus t L oo k out you
are i n to a good fi sh ! D o not get off yo ur se a t
yet an d I wi ll kee p a slow w ay on th e boat
as h e i s sur e to com e towards us K e ep t he
po i n t of t h e rod up and a ti g h t lin e and th e
devi l t ake th e hi ndmos t l
N ow ,
,
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,
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’
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,
Wh at doe s h e fee l li k e ? You c an t s ay ?
N o you w ill know in a few mi n ut e s
N ot
very b ig ? D on t be too ce rt ai n
'
.
,
'
.
Th ere
Re el in
T w e n ty
pounder
he i s ! L ooks a ten poun d e r to m
e
“
”
slow ly II he so unds
let hi m go
po unds you say ? Well a tw ent y
w as t ak en h er e l ast y e ar D on t b e
-
.
,
,
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,
’
.
F IE LD
i n a h ur ry
see him !
”
fi sh
.
M O NTH
TH E
s p o s r s or
13
.
Keep a tight lin e N ow you can
“
there ain t no su ch
3o1b ? N o
.
’
,
.
.
he is away and d e ep too ! You c an
t rust your t ackle b ut don t do anything b ut
k eep a tight li n e He i s coming up I By J ov e !
h e i s bigger th an I t hough t b ut t hey alw ays
look b ig i n th e w ater They alw ay s rem
ind
me of sucking pigs ; I don t know why I
don t think our net i s bi g enough for h im s o
I wil l t ake him b y the eyes— t hum b and fore
finger Steady ! Keep a tight lin e
N ow
,
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’
,
,
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,
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'
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’
,
.
.
I h ave got him and a good fi sh h e i s Get
”
“
a priest
and perform the l ast obsequi es
Sixteen pounds by an erratic a nd somewh at
rusty sprin g b a l ance and th e best fi sh you
a re ever likely to get in your littl e li fe !
if
th at b i t o f sport h as not bitten i nto your soul
I am very much mi staken
.
,
.
,
,
.
Hold out your h ands p alm s down Tremor
m ark ed but wi ll pass aw ay in a f ew m inutes
L et me h ave your wrist
P ul se over 1 00
Th at wi ll come down to norm a l quicker th an
the oth er Good enough for to d ay ? I agree
,
.
,
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.
.
.
.
P ac k the b ig on e i n th at rush salmon carri er
I b rough t a nd put the little one separate
D on t let th em be together or th e plum age
wi ll s uff er You wi ll h ave him se t up in a
case of course !
,
.
'
,
.
,
The sma l ler fi sh I wi ll h ave cooked according
to Iza se W a l t on s D irection s
if I ca n g et
oy sters and we wi ll eat h im on F rid ay night
'
,
,
.
Th is D i sh of Meat i s too good for any
but An glers or honest Men and I t ru st you
will prove bo t h ; and t herefore I h ave t ru sted
”
you with this Sec ret
,
,
.
,
,
FI E LD
14
'
s r os r s
or
THE
M A R CH
M AKIN G
M O NTH
.
F I SH E RY
A
.
.
“
You ca nno t m ake a silk purse out of a
"
sow s ear
we are told by th e anci e nts but
you Can form i t a s a re ce pt ac le to hold som e
t h i ng
E very tni e fi sherm an ought to b e
endowed by Government wi th funds to en ab le
him to live by a riv e r i n a hous e w hen ce h e
can s ee the water gauge with a telesco pe from
hi s bedroom window or a t least be ab le to get
trustworthy in form ation every morni ng as to
the size and colour of t he w ater from the vi l
lage postman who mus t of course himself h e
a fisherman In defaul t of thi s U topi an sch em e
panni ng out it i s w i se to m ake the most of
our imm edi ate and pr ac t ical surroundin gs and
t o prosp ec t the neigh bouring country for a
”
“
l i kely fi nd
’
,
,
.
,
.
.
,
.
,
.
I was th e founder and am still t he Sec retary
of a F i shing C lub which added i ts quot a to
"
“
th e gai ety of n ations
I h ave yet to wri te
a ful l h i s tory of the Gowy F ishin g C lub bu t
my ex p e rience t aught me a good d e a l
I
lea rn ed abou t ri vers from h er
The l e sson
brough t m e much pleasure if li ttle profi t in
m aki n g the acqu aint ance of the memb ers
( some of w h om wi ll not speak to me now )
m any of whom I s ould not oth erwise h a ve
h
known
.
,
.
.
.
,
,
.
You c an get plenty of fun and some li ttle
sport by t a k ing in h and two or three mil es of
D on t
any stream i n your own nei gh bourh ood
go too far ab ro ad A moto r ri de spoils it a b it
"
“
and a rod rack i n th e h al l i s th e only w ay
,
.
.
,
.
F IE LD S P O RT S
M O NTH
TH E
OF
B E WAR E P O LL U TI O N
“
Thou sh alt
”
stream ought
.
2
no t
'
pol lute thy neighbour s
to h ave been o ne o f t h e Com
mandment s ( perh aps our P rayer Book
Reform ers wil l put thi s right ) i nstead of which
it i s on ly one of the l aws of thi s beauti ful
E ngl and of ours which i s more honoured in
th e breach th an in the ob serv ance I h ave p ut
a Medica l O fficer of Health on the trai l w h o
let loose Inspectors a nd such like sleuth hounds
but the d i fi culty w as to prove th e act of pol
“
There i s now an Alli ance for P re
lut i on
”
P ol lution
with H Q at Not
v ent i o n of
t i ngh am whose prop agand a are b ased on
“
th e question of F ood Hea lth and R ecr e
”
“
ation
P eople must b e m ade t o realise th at
i t i s as crimin a l t o th row fi lth i nto a river as
i t i s to throw it in t o a street The pollution
of our rivers i s a scanda l an d a disgrace and
”
should be stopped without del ay
,
.
,
.
.
,
.
,
,
.
.
,
.
“
We must give one word of w arn i ng viz
To b e moderate and reasonab le To a sk for
a Bi ll which wi ll upset i ndu stry would be
fat al
We c an s ay stop and ask for a
cl ause which will prevent fur t h er pollution a nd
m ake the pen alty greater for the more recent
c ases which h ave a ri sen since the commence
”
ment o f the W ar
”
“
These extracts shew the spi ri t of the
alli an ce and let us hope it wil l not b e
“
”
drown ed
,
.
.
‘
’
.
,
.
,
.
You wi ll prob ably know h al f a dozen men
li ving wi thin reason ab le di stan c e w ho wi ll
en te rt ain the idea of s t arting a small F i sh in g
Club They ne ed not al l b e expert s It i s
perh aps better they are not Get t h em together
some d ay in a p ri va t e room at th e hotel i n
the nearest town to di scuss w ays and me an s
and b ring to the m eeting rough agend a
-
-
,
.
.
.
,
.
FI E LD
16
m mm
aw ar e o r
e
o
.
w h ich you c an put before t h em
If on e of
th em h appen s to be a loc a l rip ari an own er
who does not do m uch fish ing b ut i s i n sym
pa thy with the sport el ect hi m to th e c h air
You w i ll h ave got a long
and order dr i nks
w ay o n your j ourn ey
.
,
,
,
.
.
Th e propos ed C lub W ater ex tend s from t he
road below the Mil l up to th e B lack B r ook
about t h ree m
i les Th e Ch airm an h a s kindly
con sente d to allow th e C lub right -of w ay over
hi s l ength below and above th e M i ll T h at s
M aj or isn t it ?
He know s old Smith
so
who i s hi s neigh bo ur and will see h im about
th e lon g m e adow clos e to the wood and a s
a lso know s th e shoo tin g ten an ts on th e ot h er
side a ll th e w ay up and wi ll do h i s b es t to
get the fi shing ri gh ts from them Th ey never
we t a l i ne In any case a lease for 7 1 4 or
21
years should be drawn up and duly
ex ecut ed
A pepper corn ren t s h ould b e p aid
.
-
’
.
’
,
,
,
,
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,
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.
,
,
.
.
O n th e question of ri gh t of fi sh in g m ay I
,
quote from Si dn ey W ri ght M A
of th e
“
Middle Temple
B a rriste r at law ?
Wi th
regard to pri vate ri v e rs which a re ot n avi g
g
able the ri gh t of fi sh i n g belongs to th e pro
”
“
If a
p ri eto r of t h e l and of eith er side
rip arian o w ner h as allow ed th e pub lic to fi sh
from th e b a nk s of the river h e c an at any
tim e with dr aw hi s pe rmission without a ny
rea son and no len gth of user b y th e pub lic
of the b ank s of th e ri ver for fi s hing wi ll con
”
fer on th em a leg al ri ght to such user
P a ssing ov e r t h e di st i nction b etw een a
“
”
"
"
several or a free fi shery wh ich l awy e rs
h ave d rawn up and t h er efore doubtless can
“
W h ere a river
und ers tand I note h e s ays
di vid es land b e longi ng to two diff erent own e rs
each h a s a r i ght to fi sh us que ad m edium
filu
( w h ic h m e a n s t he middl e o f the
.
,
-
.
,
-
,
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‘
m
‘
FI E LD s pe ar s
18
m
o ur n
wa s
or
.
af ter a sc ram b le th rough the two bo ttom ones
when you co me suddenly upon hi m D on t
shoot h im I pray you It s lik e s hooti ng a
fo x and you c ann ot eat either of th em
'
.
'
.
,
.
,
W h at about th e ag e nd a ? Keeper ?
No ;
cannot b e done
We will get e x Serg e ant
J ones to k eep hi s eye on the w ater and gi v e
him on e d ay a week and the pri vi l e ge of t aki ng
a fri end He will appreci ate th at and i t wi ll
be worth a pound a week to th e Club
S tocking ? There is much advice to b e got
on t hi s sub j ec t and m a ny suggestion s amon g
wh ich m ay be mention ed
( 1 ) Stoc kin g with ey ed ova—a d angerous
proceedi ng unl es s a r t ifici ally screened 0 &
one egg in a thou sand reaches yearlin g st age
-
.
,
.
,
.
,
,
.
,
.
( 2) Turnin g i n fry di rect
Ha lford s ay s
this should never be attempt ed and th at
opinion ought to b e good enough for us H e
advoc ates turning in yearlings or 2 year olds
I propose we get a s m any yea rli ngs as w e
find we c an afi or d from any t rout fa rm you
suggest and no other fi sh of any sort or size
.
,
.
-
-
.
'
-
,
.
ment
Ra in bow ? No most cc m l
Well l et s meet next S und ay at 2 o clock at
the Mi ll and w alk the w ater
You fellow s
w ill com e up t o tea with m e and we can
h ave a busin es s m eeti n g
Have anoth er ? No ; well try some of th is
tob acco Th anks ! I do like a cig ar w h en I
can get one which is not often in these lean
d ay s
.
,
'
'
,
.
.
.
,
.
The w ate r i s j ust about sum mer l e v e l
tho ugh F e b ru ary F i lldyk e i s on ly j us t ou t
You nev er can go by sea so n s now ad ays Cold
enough for snow and the pi ts very low
S ni pe ? T her e s h a rdly b ee n a b ir d here t hi s
,
.
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FI E LD S PO R T S O F
M O NTH
THE
.
season excep t J ack and very few of th em
There are plenty in th e F orest meres Better
feed I suppose
N o w w e wil l w alk the leng t h up s tream and
cut across from the top of the water to my
place
O ugh t t o do it in t w o hour s Th e
Mill race i s ours— goes wi t h t he Mil l as far as
the road a good length but duck s play the
deuce on th e only h i t of gr av el th ere i s for
a spa w nin g bed on o ur w ater and I f ancy
there are one or t w o pik e which h ave go t
up from the lower w ater I ll leave a card on
them b efore long Thi s pool above the Mill
vi e nt e planting on the right b ank for sh ade
an d in sect h arbour age
I wi ll order a few
hundred willow s lips with your consent
Maj or They will help to keep the b ank up
wh en t he roots b egin t o spread Th e wa ter
looks nice deep holding t o day as the wheel
is not going but i t s no use w hen th e Mil l
i s working You must in th at case either go
below or higher up stream
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Here is the first b end with a good old alder
—good for m akin g clogs b ut b etter for fish
Th e lower branch es w ant th e lea st b it of
t h inning—o th erwi se a pe rfect poo l with t h e
stream running in through th e reeds wh e n
they come up i n th e spring
You cannot
appr eci ate it to day
,
.
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.
Now we come to a long length ( old S mit h
w as al l right and I wi ll send h im a box of
ci gars every Chri stma s ) which i s fairly
str ai g h t wi t h deep w a ter under one b ank
V ery good but a li ttle bare and a few wi l
lows wi ll complete the picture Now it runs
a long a wood w hich wi ll want cutting but
not too mu ch
You w ant h arbo urage for
trout as for fo x es If you ca n get an under
h and c ast h ere a nd th ere you must b e con
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n
or ru
I LD S PO RT S
20
F E
M O NTH
.
A left-h and ca st ? Yes b ut is not th e
di fi culty most of th e s p ort and wh at fun i f
you do book a pounder ? B ound to g e t o fi ?
W el l wh at i f he do e s ? If w e wer e ce rt a i n
to l an d ev e ry fi sh w e booked som e of us
would not fi s h muc h
W e w ent out i t t i ll
J une w hen we can s ee wh at th e und er gro w t h
looks lik e N ow h ere is the l as t mi l e not a
tree or a b ush e x ce pt those th ree t a ll popl ar s
Too mu ch ? N o
but th er e s pl en ty of w eed
you c ann ot h ave too mu ch for w he r e t he r e i s
w eed t h ere is food and you can alw ay s out
w eed —j udiciously D on t leave it to t he agri
cul tur al l abour e r as h e will s h av e it c lose
li ke hi s ow n face on a S aturd ay night W e
wi ll h ave a d ay or two at we ed ing nex t sum
mer wi th sm all h and scyt h es s e t on long
po l es an d h av e th e time of our lives Th at s
w hen you w a nt b eer and can d ri nk i t I once
to ld t wo kee p ers to cut w eed one hot J ul y d ay
and to ld t hem to get som e b eer
Th e b ill
came in for three g allon s and wh en I e x pos
“
Wel l sir th ere
tulated one of th em s aid
w as t w o of us I
tent
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”
N ow w e are a t t h e top of the w a t e r ; i f you
th in k of anything on t h e w ay home let it rip
.
L ook s a rotte n sort of stream Y es it does ;
b ut did you notice its pos sib iliti es of holdi ng
fish ? It nev e r run s d ry li ke a mount ain stream
and i s not up a nd down in a nigh t Th e field
d ra i n s are most of them choked and only let
t h e w a t er i n slowly and you wi ll seldom get
in t he fi sh in g seas on a roa ring torren t wh ich
you cannot fi sh N o breed in g grounds ! A h !
t here you h ave me Th a t s th e weak po int o f
”
“
the whole cabood le
There are two smal l
b rooks not on our ground but hi gh er up and
th e byebrook above t he Mi ll on whi ch w e
s h all h av e to d epe nd W e s h al l h av e to m
ak e
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FIE LD
s p o ar s OF
M O NTH
TH E
21
.
a rearing pond n ext y e ar Where can we do
th at ? Above the Mill in th e angle b etw een
the main s tr e am and the byebr ook It simply
m e an s a pond tw e lve y ards in di ameter the
b anks of w hich are m ade of th e soil t hrow n
out and which must b e above flood level A
ba tch in the b a nk whi ch c an b e rai sed o r
lowered according t o h eight of w ater and a
h atch at th e oth er side of t he pond A few
to ns of gravel and you h ave your nursery
c apab le of rearing s ay 200 year lings every
year
Th e feeding i s a di fli culty b ut th e
mi ller s d aughter m ay w ant a w atch bracelet
or a di amond ti ar a more likely in these d ay s
a nd s h e wi ll fe ed th e b abies
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Ki ngfi sh er s
are not too frequen t Herons
are too sh y of anythi ng like a scarecrow It s
only t he tol l of n atur e th at th e li ttl e b eggars
wi ll h ave to p ay
W h at i s the morta li ty
among hum an b abi es ? I don t know b ut it
us ed to b e somet h ing li ke 2 0 per cent and
t h ey didn t al l depend on th e mi ller s
daughter
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When we get i n we ll m ake rul es a nd draw
up a li st of prob ab le members
P a r tridge c alling ? Yes there i s about one
pai r on ev e ry 1 00 acr e s I don t know thei r
i nf ant mort a lity but it s pretty high he re
abouts
F oxes ? Yes but they don t t ake
t rout th a nk goodness in any l arge qu antiti es
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N ow here we are
.
Come in
N ev e r mi nd
your b oots Co me into th e b i l li a rd room and
we ll resolve ourselves i nto Committee
.
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N ow
we
h ave got it
.
( 1 ) Th at the Club b e ca ll ed t h e
i ng
Club
N ew F i sh
.
( 2 ) Th at the num ber of members be l i mi ted
to
12
.
FIE LD
22
’
'
'
s P oar s
r
or
m
z
h
ours
.
pay ab l e on or
before l s t J anua ry in each year
M embers
not int i ma ti ng th e ir i n te n tion to with draw
be fore th at d a te w i ll be consid e r ed li able for
th at y e a r s sub sc ription
( 3) Annual sub scripti on
.
’
.
E a ch m em ber
h a ve 1 2 d ay tickets for
fri ends and every riparian own e r ( not ch arg
ing o t her th an a peppe rco rn ren t ) to h av e
power to grant d ay ti ckets to his friends
( 4)
to
,
,
.
Well y es he migh t of co urse give leav e
to 1 00 friends eve r y d ay b ut you wil l find he
wi ll pl ay th e game E xpert o crede
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Seas o n —l at Apri l ( or S aturd ay b efore
E a ster if earlier ) to 3oth Sept e mber
B arn— F ly only —Al ex andr a a nd such lures
b arr ed
( 5)
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m
T axm
FI SH
an;
i nch es—c oarse fi s h no limi t
L
'
r
or
.
—Tr0 ut
,
e ight
.
La w
or
B as s i st — Thr ee brac e
( 6) Ti ckets
be sh ewn
kee pers on dem and
to
.
memb ers
to
or
.
The keepe r a nd e x Sergeant J ones wi ll
a w a rr ant
-
h ave
.
( 7) No dogs al low ed
.
( 8) Mem bers are req uested no t to d am age
mowing grass
.
Well i f they k eep on the b ank they wi l l not
do any h arm
The stuff grow ing t h er e i s
never ca rt ed with th e crop If any d am age i s
done the Cl ub m ust p ay for it
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,
Maj or h as told us he h as got th e right
of t he shooting t e n an ts who w an t us to
I pr o
£5 to th e Infi rm ary e ve r y yea r
we acce p t t h a t o d er with th anks espec i
as t h ey will let us h ave an agr eemen t
Th e
side
send
pos e
a lly
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I LD
FE
M O NTH
‘
s P o ar s
T HE
0 17
'
23
.
which wi ll be bindi ng d uring their ten ancy
and wi ll al so inst ruct th eir keepers t o w a rn o fi
trespassers
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There s th at bi t o f wood you rememb e r
I ve got t h at for
r unni ng down to the river
10 /
O ld Smith wi ll get £2 wor t h of cig ars
s o th at the first year accou nt s wi ll b e roughly
as follows — B y sub scription s ( 1 2 members at
E xpendi ture wil l con s i st o f rent
£3) £36
Notice boards and foo t bridges £3
s ay
£8
Th at wil l lea ve £20 for stock
V arious £5
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ng
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We h ave not elec t ed any ofi i cers
The
presen t Comm i ttee i s good enoug h to c arry
on with power to add to t heir number Mem
bers wi ll b e elected in t he usua l mann er a t
any m eeting of t he Club If you do me the
honour to el ect me — no not for P arli ament o r
the P a ri sh Counci l— I will act as Secre t ary
and Treas urer with pleasure and open a Club
account at t he B ank
Thi s i s ab solutely
necess a ry Q uite so you know me I wi ll get
quot ations for yea rlings and let you know
when they are co mi ng
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I‘
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t o Members
( Copy of letter from Secretary
of Co m
mittee )
.
“
The yearlings wi ll arrive at t h e S tation on
S aturday next at 2 p m I h ave a rranged for
transport of same and they should reach t he
Mill a t 2 30 I sh al l b e glad if you can m ake
”
i t conveni ent to be there
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i
I
!
C’
9
Here we are !
Good men ! You h ave a ll
turn ed up
E very t hing i s O K and not a
sickly fish i n t he lot J ust h ad a peep a t the
S t a t ion but di d not add any fres h w a t er
This should only be done in case of extreme
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FIE LD
24
r an
s r oar s o r
mm
o
.
Th er e are ei ght c ans
I p rop os e
empty ing two of t h em b elow th e M ill in th e
sl ack w ater By the w ay I got two sm all J a ck
a bi g worm th e oth e r d ay i n the fi rs t
w it h
h our s fi s hing and n ever got a to uc h a f te r
w ards so I t hi nk th e odd s are th e re ar e no
more a t present
ur g enc y
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’
,
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T he n w e can empty two c a ns about 1 00
y ards above the Mi ll and th e res t w e s h al l
h ave to ca rry up som ehow and p ut t h e fi s h
in h e re and th e re
T h ey a r e not v e ry
hea vy a nd w e can em p ty most of th e w a t e r
out b e fore w e st a rt for the u pp er w ater
.
,
.
get them unlo ad ed by th e b a r k
and feel the temperatur e of th e w ate r in t e
c an s w i t h your h and N ow f e el th e w a te r i n
th e ri ver— 2O degrees di ff er e nce ? I d ares ay
ther e wi ll b e 1 0 N ow b ale i n with t he li d
some of the ri ver w ater in to eac h can i n turn
Go slow ! A cold douch e i s ve r y refr e sh i ng
but trout s gi lls a re delica te organs and fi s h
can get a sort of pneumoni a from sudd e n
shock Tem p e rat ure equ al now ? V ery w e ll
Bring two c an s down to th e s h or e of t he Mil l
r ace You c annot si nk them i t i s too sh al
lo w —
so qui etly turn t h em on th e ir sid es and
let t h e li ttle strangers fi nd thei r w ay out
Th e re they go like sheep through a gap and
are t aki ng up t heir positions at th e edg e of
N ow up e nd t he can
th e stre am
D on t
h andle t h e fi sh
Now
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N ow we are eig h t J uen and a boy so we
,
c an
c arry two c ans up stream and empty
th em as b efor e and come b ac k for th e r e m ain
in g four for the long trai l
,
,
.
—t ha t s
T h er e
sa ti sf ac tory W e ha ve so wn
th e s eed an d hope to reap th e h a rves t not
T her e i s an odd tr out her e
t hi s year or next
’
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F IE LD
26
s r o ar s o r TH E
M O N TH
.
g lad you d i d not buy on e as I h ave a schem e
for you whi ch Wi ll s ui t your pocke t
I t is
som ewh a t a t erm of reproach t o c all a m an
"
“
homo uni us lib ri
bu t I sugges t you beco m e
a m an of one r od
The scheme is t his : I
know a clever li ttle m an —all li tt le men are
clever or i s th a t all clever men are l i t t le ?
w h o Wi ll b ui ld you a rod t o your spec i fic ation
I t will be a green hear t i n t wo p i eces and
spl i ced
The conn ec ti on is m ade in a few
m i n ut es by means of a spec i al sp lic i ng t ape
and a couple of clips We Wi ll get h im t o
rough it out and fi t i t in t o an old b u t t I h ave
got somewher e i n my mus eum and we wi l l
go and t ry it w i t h th e r eal and li ne with tw o
or three t emporary r i ngs every few d ays
unt i l we are s atisfied with the b al ance and
“
”
drive
There wi ll be thr ee tops for him t o
work hi s Wi cked will upon The fi rst wi ll be
for w et fly— not too w hi ppy as a long b a c k
eas t w an t s some lifting
The second to p wi l l
be the same length but stiff er for d ry fly ;
and the t hi rd wi ll be shorter and even s t i fl er
t h an t h e last for pik e The l e ngth ov e r all
wi l l be l 0ft 6i n for the firs t two an d 1 0 ft
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m most
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tr oub le and we sh al l h av e to try
it against the w i r d It is a severe test b ut
j
i t must pas s th at ex ami n ation with honours
A s our little ma n is a fisherm an hi mself h e
wi ll get enthusi a s t ic about it and m ay forget
to send you i n the bi ll
Anyhow h e wi ll do
i t for a couple o f pounds and yo u will be set
up a s far as rods are concern e d
A Not
t i ngh amreel w i ll b e n ecessa ry for pike fi s h ing
and a pl ain
c hec k alumi nium r ee l for trout
i ng
Al th ough the outfi t wi l l not be quite up
to d a t e it wil l b e practica l and you wil l be
ab le to hold yo ur o w n on Test E den or the
Norfolk Broad s
hi
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FI E LD
sr oa r s
OF
T HE
M O NTH
27
.
rod
wil l be fitted with b ridge rings and
a B i ck er dyk e top ring W e wi ll t ry for a
”
“
heron b lue stain and not t oo much v arnish
—a heliograph i s useful on occasion as
"
“
General B angs
th at most immor al m an
found t o h i s cost b ut most fi s h kno w
t he Morse co de as fl ashed from your r od I t
“
reads
L ie doggo t ill th at silly as s h a s
”
Y o u wi ll h ave t o go a muck e r on
passed
lines as yo u Wi ll w ant a n undressed silk
line fo r pike a nd a dressed line for trout The
l atter should b e doub le t apered ; fine at th e
ex tremity
a nd then a bulge then fi ne
ag ain and swel l i ng to norm al di ameter In
t he m atter of c asts you can t ake your choice
bu t fo r w et fl y I seriously advise you to fi sh
”
“
h air — i t w as prob ab ly used by the Ancient
Bri to ns b ut i t h as i t s poi nt s
It i s cheap
and fairly ea sy t o procure i n Yorkshire It
i s often 3f t long and it avoids sup erab un d ant
knots
I t i s in vi sib le and never gets
into a t angle But i t will not stand a sudden
j erk or very hea vy strai n
And here i s i ts
sport i ng recomm end ation
You wil l have t o
p lay a four o unce trout into the net and
refrain from skull dragg ing When you get a
h al f pounder on it wil l b e an arti stic perform
ance t ) b ring him in and i f the trout i s any
t h i ng approaching a pound you will h ave to
do yo ur very best or h e wi ll break you Go od
enough ? Yes ? Th at s the spirit Hair i t
sh all be for w et fly but not for dry fly You
wi ll h ave two or th ree tapered casts for th e
latter and a dozen fine points for the b reak
i f it does h appen— wil l b e at th e weakest link
of the ch ain
The
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But we c an go more ful ly in to the sub j ect
as the seasons co me round
Get al l your
”
“
flies eyed
and k eep them in sm a ll l abell ed
.
,
,
new
28
aw ar e o r
mm
was
o
.
m atch boxes Yo ur c ast s wi ll do v e ry w ell
bet ween b lotti ng p aper ( s li gh tl y d am p ed at
in te rv als ) in an .old letter case A n et yo u
"
“
wi ll w an t and our little m an w i ll fit you
up—o ne on a s hort h an dl e for dr y fly w i th a
clip and an i nd i ar ubber ring to k eep it secur e
on th e strap of your b ag The s am e net on
a lon g h andl e f or wet fly The latter w il l be
shod wi th a spik e and boo k
The one for
sa fety in w ad ing a nd th e oth er for d i sen
g a ging t h e c as t from overh an ging br an ches
tin
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-
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,
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,
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Rather awkw ard to m an age both rod and
long net wh en you h ave got a fi sh on ? Not a t
a ll G et a curta in ring which w i ll s lip easi ly
over the h andl e Tie 2f t of cord t o the ring
a nd fasten th e oth e r end with a runni ng noos e
ro un d yo ur arm above the elbow and see wh at
h appen s You c an w ade us in g th e n e t as a
g uid e to dep th and wh en you boo k a fi s h le t
go t he net It i s anchored to yo ur a rm and
cannot slip through th e ri ng and i s a lw ay s
at h and wh en you w an t to net your fi s h
whet h er you are fi sh i ng up or dow nstre a m
D on t forg e t thi s t i p —i t is worth rem em
beri ng
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Somethin g to carry t he fi s h or game ? A
fairly l arge h av e rs ack wi th a p iece of strong
netting on the outsid e forming a purs e i s
good enough
It w ill hold two bo tt les
thermos lunch t ackl e and—fi sh ? W e ll y e s
it will ca rr y fi sh or g ame If you h ave a b ag
w i th t w o compa rtments i t wi ll b e b e tt e r
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
,
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.
W ad ers w ill str ai n your b ank b a lanc e but
you m us t h ave a pair Get stron g ones and
rubb e r shoe b rogues an d a coupl e of p airs of
larg e t h i ck socks to go over t h e w ad er f ee t
K eep t h e
to p r e v e nt ch afi ng of th e b rogues
s o cks up by me ans o f strong rubb er b ands
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F IE LD
'
s r os r s
OF
M O NTH
TH E
29
.
you wi ll h ave to see th e m an ager of
th e bank which st aggers under t he reepe n
Tell h i m from me
si bi li ty of your accoun t
( I h ad a p ainful interview with him last W 661i )
th at you must h ave a gun next August and
th at it will cos t about fif te e n pounds If he
faint s at th e suggestion I should loosen hi s
coll ar and cal l the h ead clerk to attend to hi m
and transfer your acco unt t o another b a nk
If h e does not turn a h air and a sks you w hose
moor you are going to sh oot tell hi m you d o
not know a grouse from a gri lse b ut only
want to h ave a go at woodpigeons in t h a t
month
He wi ll then prob ab ly smi le and
m ark your account up to t he requi red over
dra ft
N ow
.
,
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-
.
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,
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I wi ll gu arantee to get you a secondh and
h ammerless gun—1 2 bore —left b arrel slig h tl y
choked—for less th an fi fteen pounds
Th e
ch ange out of thi s amount wi ll buy a c anv a s
gun c ase a cartridge ex tractor an d whi stle
comb ined a d og ch ai n or sl i p and a sm all h i ll
hook for m aking b linds for pi geon shooting
N o not a mo tor car a s well unless i t i s a
1 906 model
I could h ave done it for you i n
19 1 9 b a r j okes
,
-
.
,
.
o
,
,
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.
o
,
,
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,
Never h andle a h ammer gun and m ake a
point of fei gning i llness if one of the shooting
p a rty i s using th at weapon
It m ay sa ve
yo ur li fe I h ave seen —no I wi ll not tell y i zi
wh at I h ave seen exce pt to s ay th at I h ave
seen enough of h a mmer gun s and th e a ccidents
th ey cause to last me my time wh ich i s short
enough now wi thout run ning risk s of t h at sort
Now about your wa rdrob e —Starting from
above down w ards you wi ll no t w an t a si lk
h at The ancient s used to fish shoot and
pl ay c rick e t i n th em but w e h av e d e teri orated
in t he last h undr e d years fro mthe p ictur e s que
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FI E LD s p e ar s
30
or
r un
M O NTH
.
poin t of V i ew of our spo rt i n g g arb You Wi l l
req ui re only one h at bu t i t must s atisfy t h e
ex ac t i n g requi r em en ts of the ex am i n ing board
It must b e i nconspicuous It must b e rain
and s un proof Th e b es t I ever st ruck is one
m ade of goat h ai r in b l ac k and gr e y ch eck
a dap t ab le to cover eyes or neck whi ch fulfils
It w as gi v e n to m e by
all the r e qui rem e n ts
a spo rt sm an employ ed on r ai lw ay s in Indi a
I must ask him for another M ine i s twenty
ye ars o ld a nd i s b eg i nnin g to shew sign s of
wear
.
,
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,
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Coll ars and shi rts are a m a t t e r of ta ste but
b ew ar e of a W hite coll ar Kh aki i s th e colour
and flannel the m ateri al for both A stock
is comfort able and sm art i t well t ied
,
.
,
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,
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,
not b e persuad ed to buy a sh ooting coat
You h ave or ought t o h ave an old lounge
coat
It wil l do ad mirably i f a brown ( r
h eath er m i x ture homespun I h ave on e pre
W ar— South Afr i c an W ar I mea n —whic h I
h ave kept l ock ed up i n my s afe for fear it goes
to a j umble s ale—i t would not f etc h a sh i lli ng
It h as leather str ap p in g on both shoulders
and h as in side w at e rproof pock e ts e ach of
wh ich wi ll hold a rab bit I do not c all them
h are p oc ke t s as we leave our h a re for th e
beagles
Do
.
,
,
o
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,
.
In one of them you w i ll find a fl at tin cas e
w hich w i ll hold a ni ce di sh of m us h room s
Lord t h e b e auti f ul lots of th ese delic acies I
,
,
a h andk erchi e f or th e gam e b ag It wi l l
c a rry an y oth er loot you may
in
the sh ape of ferns pl ants eggs etc and s
useful on a r e al ly wet d ay to carry sp are
car t ri dges
Al l the b uttons a re cut o ff th e co at ex ce pt
t he to p one and the coll ar button Th e sto rm
in
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i
FI E LD
OF
'
s r o ar s
M O NTH
T HE
.
31
proo f c ufi s are so frayed t h at they ar e to be
bo und with soft leather for the comin g sea son
The p o k et s h ave fl aps an d a re l i ned with
ia t er i al
strong
w hich can be t urned inside
out for cleaning Above all th ere i s plenty of
room acros s th e should e rs a lthough th ere are
“
”
no gusset s or s uch gadgets
which alway s
remind me o f a dressm aker
There i s not
much w ai stline about th e g arment but it i s
a com
f ort ab le coa t and I thi nk I sh all be
b ur ied in it
A leath er w ai stcoat and a B alacla va knitted
h elm e t for Ar cti c e x pedi tion s and a woo lly
”
“
Cardigan w i l l be t h e n e x t articles
Now as
”
“
to unm ention ab les
S l ack s every tim e for
com fort Grey fl an nel for su m
mer and kh aki
Bedford cord for w i nter They are not worn
”
“
by th e b est people
so if you w an t to s acri
fi ce comfor t t o appearance
you can wear
kni ckerbockers or b re eches with or w i thout
puttees gai t ers anklets or sp at s
You can
play a vari ation of tunes with th ese but avoid
anything th at looks new
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Boots an d shoes are a m at t er of person al
ta ste Some m e n swe ar they cann ot wa lk all
d ay w ithout about th r e e poun ds of leather and
n ails on each foot
P erson ally I wear the
ligh test o f shoes a nd sp ats j us t to keep th e
dirt out and ( s h all I admit i t ? ) k nicker
boc k ers for shootin g bu t always sl acks for
fi sh i ng in w aders
G um boots wi t h l oose tops i nto which you
ca n tuck your sl ack s and with l eath er n ai l ed
soles are very useful b oth for shooti ng in a
wet coun t ry
or fi s h ing wh ere wad i n g i s
unn ece s s ary or not allow ed
Bew are of gum boots with rubber sol es
They wi ll let you down in more senses th an
one and are th e very devi l on a sli ppery pl ank
.
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FI LD s o
32
p
E
si
'
s OF
r
m M O NTH
:
.
As to socks and s tockings avoi d heavily d arn ed
h eel s
Get the stoc ki ngs re foot ed and th e
“
”
sock s wi ll b e welcomed a s rubbers in th e
house
,
-
.
.
You wi ll w an t a w aterproof
E veryon e
wan ts a w at e rp roo f th at is cool a nd comf ort ab le
a nd— w aterproof and they are sti ll w anting
Buy o ne o f t hose ad aptable groun d sheets price
about h a lf a crown and you will not b e far
o ff your idea l
.
,
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,
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old dog skin glove for t he left h and is
when shooting
It k eeps th e fingers
and serv e s a s a protection f rom thorn s
negoti ating a fence
Hunt in g tog s ?
”
“
You ar e a
poor
sportsm an and
No
Sha nks pony does not c arry a pin k co at and
buck sk i n leather and b oots
An
us e ful
warm
when
.
,
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,
’
.
There are prob ab ly a h undr ed thing s I sh all
”
“
t hink o f goin g home i n th e c ab b ut I ven
tur e to s ay th at you h ave l aid the fo un d ation
of your w ardrob e and outfi t and wi ll not r e
gret t h e pur ch ase of anyth ing I h ave p ut on
th e list
M ake an appo i ntmen t with our
little m an as soon as possib le a s th e alder
bud i s nearly as big a s a trout s ey e and t h en
th e trout wi l l t ake the fly The weat her at
present reminds me o f -th e immortal J oh n
”
“
L eech s
P unch
pict ur e —Ti tl e : Th ank
goodness !
F lyfi sh i ng h as
begu n —Scene :
The b ank s of a stream —
Weather : Snow in g
and b lowi ng —D ram a ti s p er s onaa : F isherm an
“
—
and Miller Th e l atter remark s
D on t they
reall y P erh aps they wi l l ri se b etter tow ard s
”
the cool of th e evening They mostly do
,
,
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“
B ut Rudy ard Kipling dir ects th e feet of t h e
"
yo ung m e n in the way t hey should go in t he
sprin g tim
e
.
F IE LD
34
s r o ar s O F
M O N TH
TH E
.
fly m an B ut w e must not mi x i t now or
you wil l g e t co n fused and th at is a st ate of
mi nd of whi c h spor t smen esp ec i al ly should
bewa re
,
.
,
.
wi ll want your w aders and b ro gues
and you might as well b ri ng your gum b oots
—r od with two top s ( leave th e pik e top at
home ) in case of a break age—trout reel and
l i n e—h air c asts and fli es—long h andled n e t
bag—e tc
et c
You c an p ack m y B S A
r i fle There are rabb its Y o u h ave got th e
h a i r in your pocket ? You are a bright boy
Where did you get i t ? F rom a st alli on s t ai l
up Aysg ar t h w ay It looks the righ t stu ff
“
A good t ransparent colour an d plenty of lif e
in i t N o w we will pick out 50 of t h e best
h airs and trim them to length s of about two
feet
Th a t wi ll l ast you for th e season
D on t keep i t for next
You
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P ut th e b unch b ar wh a t you w ant for
i mmedi ate use in to a n old tob acco pouch
Now we will m ake up a cast
A bow l of
lukew arm w ater please P u t a few s trands
of t he h ai r in and light a pipe You h ave
always got th at old bri a r i n your mouth b ut
mos t ly cold I t i s wonderful w h at a lot of
smoking on e does th at w ay J us t a s well
Wi th t ob ac co at its present p rice I b elieve
I could h ave got into P arli am ent a t the l a st
elect i on on ch e aper tob acco and beer a nd
never men ti oned the E ut ent e Cordi ale or the
B et te r to leave t hese
housing ques t ion
alone i t seems B ut we must not mi x up
N othing mu st be intro
po h t i cs w ith fish ing
d uced th at c an i n any w ay distrac t th e a tten
tion from the ma tter i n h and You know t he
“
a wful posi t ion of t he m an in the story
Th e
"
lady and t he salmon
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FIE LD
S P O RT S
OF
M O NTH
TH E
35
.
as to flies
I h ave often wondered
h ow m any flies there ar e i n entomology S ay
there ar e two thousa nd for the s ake of argu
m ent
Then a priori ( I thi nk th at sounds
well i f i t means noth ing ) there are t w o
t housand fi ve h undred in th e t ackle dealers
li s t
Some authorities—dues et auspice
“
—
Cholmondeley P en nel l are
colour i sts
and
others with Ron a lds and Stew art as leaders
”
“
ar e forma li sts
No doubt they are still
discussin g the question We sh a ll j oin t hem
l ater on Some swear b y h ackle p artridge
snipe or w a t erhen B ut the fu n of the whole
thing i s th at the w et fly m an i s fishing the
larva which i s supposed to imi tate t h e fly in
its embryo stage b efore it b urst s into the
im ago If th i s i s so h e ought to present t o
the fi sh someth i ng between a h ayseed with
legs and a wood louse and the question of
“
colour i s im materi al
In medio t uti s si mus
”
i bi s —t h e ib is w as a lw ay s th e s afest of birds
— and you wi ll find th at h ackle represen ting
motion and colour representing the i gnotum
agni fi co
a re both points th at need to be
p ro m
considered
Now
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Remember yo u are going t o fi s h dow n
stream —secundum artem — and al t hough m
en
who are authorities bec ause o f ach ievement
wil l tel l yo u th at wet fl y up s trea m i s more
deadly th an do w n s tr eam you will be t aking
on a di fli cult proposition You wi ll be w ad
ing up s t ream w hich i s tiri ng work i n strong
w ater Y ou wi ll b e castin g on an average
eve ry fi ve seconds and your wri st wil l soo n
be sendi ng out
messages to wh at b ra i n
I f you get b ang into a r i se on th e
yo u h ave
surf ace i t m ay pay you to change your tac
ti cs though those condi tion s which look so
much like th e ch a nce of a li f etime are usually
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FIEL D
36
S P O RT S
OF
M O NTH
TH E
.
mos t d is a p poi n
ting You fi nd your s e lf c h ang
ing your fly every two or t hr e e m i n ut e s
fi n all y win di ng up with a biggi sh sea t rout
pa tte rn and fo uLh oo ki ng a t h r ee ounce trout
whi ch fe els like a three -qu arter po un d e r ti ll
you g e t a sigh t of h i m with th e h ook in h i s
“
”
b ack fi n The n it i s you see the n avi es
of dun s whi ch you re ad about and get a sur
pris e as to t h e num ber of fish in a stream
you h ave often though t did not hold a trout
”
“
E very tr out i s up and th ey will ri s e un der
yo ur nose and j ust behin d you i n a most
t an t a lisi ng way
.
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B u t the rise t h at you fi sh down str e am i s
mos tly under water Th ey are t aking th a t
h ays eed w i th l egs and do not b reak the wat er
very oft en ex ce pt to t ake t h e ima go as it
flo a ts do w n like a fai ry shi p
-
.
,
,
,
.
ac tu al cas t can only b e demonstr at e d
on th e w ater and I propose to l e a ve t h e
d escription of this t ill we get on th e ri ver
ba nk But we can cons ider the qu es tion of
flies now Give me a m atch p l e ase
The
T he
,
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,
North you wi ll l e arn about such f e arful
fowl as th e b lue p art ridge and pur ple s ni pe
suggesti ve o f lob ster patties t aken too late at
night
D own South th ey t alk o f a pink
Ro b inson
whi c h is wors e to con te m p l a t e
but for the most pa rt th e South e rn e rs do not
describe th e h ac k le and are content to s ay
"
“
blue or oli ve d un
Many d istin gui sh ed
an glers h ave flies n am ed afte r th em sort of
Some fli es h ave fancy n ames
god ch ildren
such a s Co ac h ma n and L ittle Ch ap
Up
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—
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Th e re i s no wi sdom in getting a l arge co l
l ec ti on of a rt i fi i a l fli es We must keep ou r
li st wi thin rea so n ab le li mits
March B rown
( m ale and fem al e) G reen we ll s Glory Coc h
c
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’
o
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FI E LD S P O R T S O F
y bo ndh u
THE
M O NT H
37
.
B lue D un P ur ple Snipe P a rtridge
and Wood cock both with various coloured
bodies
Th is selection will d o for early
month s—March to J une
L ater you must
h ave Alder Coac h m an Yellow S ally Hare s
E a r B lack Midge Sedge ( var i ous sizes )
There are
others as I rem arked b efor e
if my c alculations were correct but w e h ave
twen ty of th e best Numb er 1 or 0 for early
month s and 00 for later wil l be sm al l enough
for th e size of boo k
-
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To go in to a few par t icul ars of the above
fli es you must know th at t he March Brown
f em al e h as a body made from the sandy
coloured fur of a h are s ear and ligh t orange
wool whi le th e m ale body con si s t s of t h e
d ark part of th e ear Bot i are ribb ed wi t h
yel low silk or gold wire The w i ngs in both
ca ses are mottled hen phea s ant or par t rid g e
tai l bunch ed
Greenwell s Glory i s n amed
aIt er C anon G reenwell
and i s a good fly in
D evonshire
indeed
it i s anywh ere
as
Coch y bondh u i s the Bracken Clock or beetle
an d look s li ke a cross between a gol liwog and
a ferocious spider The B lue D un i s good for
cold days and the n a t ural fly ch anges to t he
R ed Spinner ( or i s it March Brown th at m akes
t h i s ch ange ? ) on w arm evenings The latt er
fly is bes t represented artifi cia lly by th e R ed
Q ui ll o f which more anon P urple Snipe will
ki l l fi sh i n a snowstorm —a good r ecommend a
tion i f you are an e arly b ird on the w at er
Th e pa rt ridge woodcock and snipe provide the
feathers for scores of flies all of which are
good ki llers
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O f fli e s for l ater months t he Al der is in i ts
,
,
s ea so n w h ic h i s J une and out of its sea son
th e m ost ki l li ng fl y of the lot
If I w as
limit ed to one fly for all sea sons on a ll r i v er s
,
,
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.
,
FIE LD S PO RT S
38
M O NT H
OF THE
.
I would p ass over t he M arch Brown ev en
You c an fish it w et or dry big or sm all You
c an drop it light ly or you c an flop it on the
w a te r with a d istinct S pl ash Th e body s
m ad e wi th m ul berry si lk wi th p e acock herl
L e gs are b lack s t er ling feath er from th e b ack
of an old cock b ird
W i n gs b rown speck led
hen
T h ere ar e several oth e r dres sings
I
mus t read t o you w h at Ch arles Kingsley in
“
”
h is
Ch alk Stream S tudi es
s ay s i n p rais e
of t h e Alder
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By th e w ay you told m e th e other d ay you
never h ad read any of his works or h i s life
Happy m an ! You h a ve got th e greatest tr e at
of your life in fron t of you You must read
“
”
his L ife an d L ett ers fi rst so as to get an
impres sion of hi s m an y sid ed n atur e
H is
l e tters are serious and yet b ub blin g over with
humour on occa sion w hich i s O ften He 8
very much i n ea rn est a bout everything and
fe arles s i n his opinions
O s i S i c omnes !
F rom th e angling point of view th e great
ch a rm of h is wri tings i s t h at h e w a s a
n atur ali st fir st and then an angler—S O few
men a re both
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Now li s ten—I Wi ll not quo t e t oo much
“
She wil l ki ll on till Septemb er from th at
h appy d ay on whi ch
You find her out on every st a lk
Wh ene er you t ake a river w alk
When S wifts at eve b egin to h awk
.
,
'
,
thou b elov ed mem b e r of the b rute creation !
So ngs h ave b ee n w ri tt en in praise of th ee ;
st atues would ere now h ave been erect ed to
th ee h ad th a t h unch b ack and fl abby wi ngs
of thine been
susceptib le of a rti stic tre at
ment
But ugly thou ar t in th e ey es of the
un ini ti at ed vul gar ; a little stumpy old m a i d
O
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,
FIE LD
'
sr os r s
or
T HE
M O NTH
39
.
toddling about the world in a b lack bonnet and
a brown cloak l aughed at by n aughty boys
but doing goo d w herever thou comest and
leaving sweet memori es behin d thee ; s o
sweet th at t he t rout wi ll rise at the ghost or
sh am of th ee How h ave I seen
the gr e at trout rush from every hover t o w e l
come thy fi rst appea rance
Beloved alder
fl y ! woul d th at I could give thee a soul ( if
in d ee d thou h a st not one a lready t hou and
a ll thi ngs th at li ve ) and make th ee h appy in
"
all a
eons to come
.
,
,
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,
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now I ll get you a cup of tea an d wh ile
it i s brewin g you must listen t o wh at Hardy
Brothers of A lnwick s ay about casting the
fly
“
T o m ake an or d in ary overhead cast cor
the tyro sh oul d begin w ith a gut line
r ec t ly
not more th an t w o y ards long and Wi th t w o
flies Supposi ng then the rod and line co r
r ec t l
y b al anc ed an d mounted with a sui table
gut l ine and fl ies ; let him draw f rom t he
reel a s much li ne a s once and a h alf the
length of h is r od then hol d i n g t h e end fly
between the finger and th umb of th e le f t h and
while grasping the r o d a l i ttle above th e reel
wi th h i s right he should gent ly wave it unti l
h e gets t h e required momen tum to c arry out
t he lin e w hen he shoul d release th e fly
m akin g a t the s ame time a ca st i n lin e with
the spot where the fli es are in ten d e d to a ligh t
care bein g t aken th at the poin t of t he rod is
not a l low ed to d rop further th an at right
a ngles to h im sel f
And
'
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“
The best w ay to lea rn i s to fi sh do w n
stream a s shoul d th e ca s t not b e m ade cor
r ec t ly
the stream will floa t th e line and fl ies
out s tr ai ght To m ake a fresh cast ra ise t he
po int of th e rod upw ards in order to get a s
,
,
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,
,
ne w
40
'
s po a r s o r
M O NTH
THE
.
much h ue clea r of the w a t er as pos si b le
W i t h a sm a r t li ft b ack over the shoulder
slig h tly incli ni ng the rod s poi nt to th e r ight
he m us t t h r ow the li ne clear behi nd h im
avoidin g all elbow work and wi thout a llow
i ng the rod po i nt to go b ack f ur ther th a n an
angle of 45 d e grees to th e body
H a vin g
done thi s a momen t s refl ection wil l shew
hi m th at as th e li ne w en t b ac k i n a c urve
i t w i ll ta ke an inst an t to straighten after th e
r od i s t hrow n b ack into the req ui r ed p osition
for th e forw ard cast and thi s is w h at m ay
be te rm ed th e pause
[T hi s is very im port
an t a s the li n e must h ave time to str ai gh ten
be fore t he retur n cast is m ade If thi s is not
given it i s pos sib le h e will hea r a s li ght
cr ack
si gni f y i ng t h at th e flies are gon e
Th rowing th e fli e s b ac k co rrectly is q uit e a
impo rtant as th rowin g th e m forw ar d ! N o w
drive th e l ine and flies forw ard b y sm a rtly
b ringi ng t he rod down into th e horizont al
positi on ag ain; i n doin g thi s aim a t a point
s ay t w o or th ree feet a b ove wh er e the flies
are in tended to fa ll ; they must not b e th rown
at b ut above t h e wa te r so th at t h ey m ay
.
fall softly If th es e direction s are c ar e ful ly
s t udi ed it wil l be seen th at th ere are th r ee
1 Rai s e the rod
movement s and a p aus e
poin t —g et as much l ine clear of th e w ater a s
p ossib le
2 M ake t h e b ac kw ard li f t —t h en
p ause unti l th e li ne gets t i m e to strai ght e n
3 Now m ak e t h e cast over t h e pl ace intend ed
and th e mov em
ent s are complete P ati en ce
c are ful attention to i n structi ons and pers e
veranos ar e n eed ed
.
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Ha vi n g i n so m e degree m as te r ed thi s our
tyro sh ould e xt e nd hi s li ne ( about a y ard at
a ti me) un til h e find s h e ca n fairly co mm and
"
th e w ater be i n g fish ed
,
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FIE LD
42
sPo ar s
r an
or
mo ur n
.
of course come n atura lly dow n t he stream
”
“
and c annot be work ed a s the h ack led fly
w hen fi sh ed wet I k now I am on d angerous
gro und so I will get o ff i t
,
,
.
.
,
We w i ll go ne x t w eek up to th e Q ue e n of
t he Westmorland vi ll ages I sh all not t e l l
anyone her n ame or they Wi ll go and m ake
love to her We sh all h ave to m ake a n early
st art The only w ay I can be got out of b ed
a t si x o clock i s to h ave fri ed b a con sizzli ng
and s avoury ca rri ed to th e bottom of th e
stairs from wh en ce I c an both h e ar and sm el l
it T his is one of th e m any advan ta ge s of
l i ving i n a sm a ll hou se Th at is the fly th at
"
"
will m ak e m e ri se
And the pipe a ft e r the
te a
and m arm al ade th at a cco mpany t h e
me al ! Sh ades of Sir W a lter R a leigh ! Hi s
m emory ough t to be kept a s gr ee n a s th at of
Is a ak Wa lto n Is there a Ral ei gh C lub ? s
th e re a Wa lto n C lub ? I fancy they are t o o
old fa shioned Isa ak W a lton wou l d prob abl y
"
“
be regarde d a s an ol d buff e r b y most of
ou
r modern an glers
and hi s writings not up
It i s a prac tica l world my m asters
to d ate
and th e ofli ce and t h e cl ub and t h e m
otor blot
“
ou t th e vi sion of V en ator when he s ay s
So
w hen I woul d b eget Content an d increa se
Co nfid ence i n t h e P ower and Wisdom and
P rovidence of Al mighty God I wi ll w alk th e
M e adows by some glid i n g Stream and th ere
contempl ate the L i llies th at t ake no Ca re
and those very m any oth er va ri ous
little liv
in g Creatures th at are not only created but
fed ( M an kn ows not h ow ) by t h e G oodness
of th e G od of N a ture ; and th erefore trust
"
in Him
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B y the way wh a t abo u t th at cast we were
goin g to m ake up ? Th at s the worst of fel
low s like you who ta lk so much ! Take t w o
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FIE LD
r s or
sp ou
TH E
M O NTH
43
.
length s o f h air and h olding th em p ar alle l
but wi th the e nds poi nting in opposite d i rec
tion s tie eac h to th e oth er with a h al f knot
D raw th e knots together an d for th e present
leave th e ends long Add t w o more len gth s
in a simi lar manner a nd m ake a loop at one
end You now h ave an ei ght foot ca st At
the po int tie on an eyed fly P ul l th e secon d
knot sligh tly ap art and th rough the loop
”
“
thus m ade insert the dr opper fl y tied o n
to a b out tw o inches of h air w hich h as a large
doub le knot at th e free end Close the run
n ing knots still le aving the ends long Wh en
you w ant to use the cast tigh ten up all knots
and cut o fl th e ends leaving a sm a ll piece
“
”
proj ecting in ca se th e h a ir d raw s a s it w i l l
d o in a ll prob ab i lity You c 1 n add two more
fl ies if you like but at fi rst must b e con
tent wit h t w o unti l your ca sti ng i s reli ab l e
indeed it is as w ell if you b egin with only
the t a i l fly on the ca st However nex t M on
d ay wi ll see us on the water an d furt her
practica l i nst ruction s can be m ore easily given
and understood
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H urr ah l
Here we are slowing up a t th e
St ation There s old Bill with the wagonette
a n d in ten mi nutes th e cu rt ain wi ll go Up
There wh at about th at for a b it of scenery ?
A stragglin g vill age—no two houses a lik e
set in a street 7 0 yards w ide with th e strip
of road runn ing th rough the vi llage gre en
Th e old church —elm s — rooks —and here is the
vi l lage in n which i s our d est ination A r od
l e aning aga in st th e w al l and a few wet foot
ma rks outside tell thei r own tale I vote we
order h am and eggs and go out for a b it o f
c ast ing prac tice before the even i n g ri se
P u t on your w aders before te a to sa ve
tim e and I will unp ac k th e rods and get out
the t ac kle
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FIE LD
44
s r oar s
M O NTH
o r TH E
'
.
You could not h ave ea te n thr ee po ach ed eggs
an d h a lf a barn at home ? N o of co ur se you
couldn t You W l ll d o bet t er at breakf a s t as
I hope you w i ll sta rt wi t h a ha lf po und trou t
F ish those ca sts out of t he s lop bowl and get
B in di n g t he
a move on Give me t h e rod
sp lice from be low upw ards wi t h the ad hesive
tape you wil l admi t th a t it is a fi rm j ob an d
t h e rod l o ses none of its pli an c y Put th e
r eel on and draw th e li ne through every r ing
a nd t h r ough th e top Tie a k not on th e end
of th e lin e P ull the t op of the cast nex t to
the l oop t h rough th e l oop and into t h e n oos e
th us form ed push the reel li ne
D raw the
noose tight a n d p ull the r ee l li ne ti gh t up
Th at s righ t—and tig h t C ut
to th e k not
”
“
e nds of th e kn ots no w and ti e on
0 6 th e
a fly Wh at fly ? W e ll th e G O K and the
ar e
reco mm e nded by the b es t
AD T
authori ties so we will t ak e th e fi rst fly t h at
comes to h and
P a rt ridg e and crim son
P ush the h air point t hr ough
B igh t put it on
the eye tie a h a lf knot abo ve th e sh a nk pull
tight and cut off th e end—not too clos e N ow
you are re ady I ll b rin g th e net and bag
for th e fish I s h all le ave m y r od at home
as I must be s ch oo lm ast er and n ot hi n g el s e
t o ni gh t N ow here is the ol d b rid ge B ridges
don t s eem to alter—th ey don t los e t h e ir h air
and t ee th—th ey don t get gout or rh eum ati sm
—th ey don t g e t angr y or t alkati v e W h at
t he ri ver t ells th em is a secret between the
Th e new s i t gets from the p upp e ts
tw o
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para pe ts is usua lly associ a ted w i t h false
proph ec ies about th e w e ather which trout c an
more surely for e te ll or d etails of m arke ts and
pri ces most p es s i mi sti c i n th ei r tone Y oung
l ov e rs seldom li nger on th e b r idg e—
th e
B ut I t hin k I h a ve
si lh ouette is to o cl e ar
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FI E LD
s p o ar s
OF
TH E
M O NTH
45
.
previously remarked th at not h ing must be
a llowed to interfere w ith fi shi ng and here I
am t alk ing ab solute rubbish
,
.
We wi ll go up stream strai ght to a big
pool and a sl ack and longish run out of it
which wi ll give you fi sh in g for the eveni ng
If we cut across t he m eadow it wil l save w alk
Here w e
ing a quarter of a mi le of w ater
are—a ni ce w ater—j ust righ t —fal ling an d
clearing to a goo d colour
T ake your st and at t he head of the pool
and c ast o ut to th e far b ank
L et the line
tig h ten on th e s t ream and let it go ti ll i t
N ow d raw all one
reach es t he near b a nk
yard of li ne and repeat the perform a nce No ~
v
d raw o fl t wo or t hree y ards an d thi s t i me
“
”
pl ay th e sink and dr aw act L et the li ne
"
"
drown a s much a s possible and by slowly
ra ising an d lowering the point of t he rod a
movement wi ll be con vey ed throu gh the line
an d c ast to the h ackles of your pa rtri d ge an d
c rim son which wil l a ltern ately open and close
”
“
a movement which simul ates li f e and fl ash
I h ave lately been readin g F ran cis W ard s
“
”
Anim al L i fe under W ater
which is a
m arvel lous record of p atien t and close obser
vation J us t one cinem atogr aph seri es of an
ot ter playi ng wit h a pike un der w ater as a
ca t plays with a mouse will perh aps b e
enough to il lustrate t h e wonde rful meth od s of
t he author w h o i s of course also th e ob server
”
“
He m akes a gre at point of fl ash
whether
of fi sh or b i rd or in sect under w ater but the
whole boo k is tense with poin t s of interest to
the na tural ist a n d the spo rtsm an
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A li t tle qui cker wi t h th e draw and you wi ll
d o all righ t F elt something ? Wh at d i d you
d o ? Noth ing
We ll nex t time t ighte n t h e
li n e —
d on t strike
.
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’
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46
1? a
er
o ar a
'
or
TH E
M O NTH
.
So methi ng on? K ee p yo ur rod po in t well
up an d be gi n to reel i n slow ly R em emb er
,
,
.
you a re fi sh i ng h air
You w ill eventual ly
b ring him i n to t h e slack w ater t o your r i gh t
b u t j u st for th e mom ent you mus t drown your
fi sh in th e s tr ong w at e r Keep reel i ng in and
t r y to get bac k to the l and a s you wi l l
h a ve
more co mm an d from there Now bar acci
den ts h e i s yours H e is qui et on th e surf ace
“
”
If he s alutes or j umps out of the w a t e r
lower your po int or he w ill fall on the ti ght
lin e an d b reak th e c a st Acc i d enta lly ? N o I
be li eve th ey mea n it as t hey do wh en they
“
”
w ee d you a nd hold on by the i r teeth D on t
move to h i m but p ut th e net in th e w ate r
wh ere you m ea n to b r in g hi m in N ow he is
o ver th e net Rai se the net sm artly keep i ng
a tigh t line and b ring hi m i n in tri umph
You re ally did th at much better th an I though t
you would
He s a nice E den trout—si x
ounces—and w i l l cut a s p i nk as a s almon
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you c an put on anoth er fly—woodcock
a n d yellow j ust to gi v e a choice of colour
You are at a dis ad vant age when t ry ing to book
your fi sh a s you ar e pul li n g th e fly out of hi s
mouth unl es s you w ait till h e tur ns Thi s
me an s a slow tightenin g o f the l i ne after h e
“
”
h as pu lled
B y th e time you a re eig hty
“
”
you m ay be ab le to f a ste n fi ve t im es out o =
si x It is so in all thi n gs L i fe i s too short
and by th e tim e you really c an do any th ing
No w
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old gentlem an w ith a beard and a scy the pre
tendi n g to cut t h i stles wh o wi ll order you to
p ass a long Yes lif e is too short b ut I h ave
great hop es of a fut ur e s tate w her e we s h a ll
b e nefit by our experi en ce h ere below and be
“
"
ab le to carry on
Wh at b a skets we sh a ll
make ! D uring the si nging of th e h ym n a fter
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S PO R T S OF
1? a
M O NTH
TH E
47
.
the sermon th e co l lection wi l l be taken so
you had better w ad e into t he pool again an d
try your luck I sh all not be far off and will
b e b ack by the eve ning ri se I w ant some
tob acco and some b—b—b acon w hich I c an
get at th e pub near th e st ation It s on ly
j ust ac ross the me adow
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Well wh a t luck ? I got my t ob acco and
baco n in a mug Wh at h a ve you d one ? Got
: h r ee more —
all on the Woodcock and yel low
“
”
and lost a plugger —
b roke you in th at sunk
tree Well th at s b etter th an dragging th em
out w it h a ship s h awser an d you will cer
t ai nly rise more fi s h
,
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’
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,
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Now i t s t i me to ge t on to the stream below
the pool The eveni ng rise h as begun and
may last only h alf an hour D on t rai se your
hopes too much and above all d on t get
fl ur r i ed
Get i nto th e m
iddle o f th e strea m
and fi sh very slow ly h al f the lengt h T h e
oth er h a lf you can fi s h after the rise is over
and I ll bet you sixpence you will d o more
in t he seco nd h alf
’
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N ot l anded a fi sh alth ough the w ater w a s
,
boiling and you could not s ee wh at t hey were
t aking No yo u w ant a pair of S am Weller s
ma gn i fyi ng gla sses t o s ee t h at
Now it s
ge tt ing d a rki sh but you must go in ag ain
a nd you need h ardly move your place Into
someth ing hea vy ? I am a f ra i d it i s a ch ub
b ut he wil l te ach you a lot if you c an get
You h ave h ad him on ten
h im out your se lf
minutes Wh at is he d o i ng ? Goin g roun d
you ? Well t h e nex t t im e he gets above you
put a b it more pr es s ur e on h im and ch ance
es pa st M iss ed
h i m wi th the net as h e com
him ? N ever mind He m ay be on hi s side
ne x t ti me and you wi ll h a ve a bette r t arget
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FIE LD
48
s Po s T s
was
or
mo urn
.
an
Got hi m?
G ood m
Wad e ash ore and
t urn hi m out
By George ! he s a t h r ee
pound er if he s an o unce and ol d B ill s w ears
h e li k es them better th an trout
.
‘
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’
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,
.
Now you h ave done enough for to night
and w e h ave got fi sh for b re a kfast
You ce r
"
"
f ai nl y h ave got
h an ds
or you would not
”
“
E nj oy ed the whole
h ave nett ed t h e sk e lly
thi ng ?
Th at s right It s a great game
though how m any people doe s one meet who
s ay they h ave not got p ati en ce enough to sit
on a b ank all day P ati en ce ! Sit on a b a nk !
You someti mes sit dow n in th e riv er
I
rem emb e r ta ki n g a novic e out fi sh in g
N eith er r us h a d w aders I w as over my sh oe
tops i n a f e w mi nutes He d eclin ed to go in
for fe ar o f ca tch i ng cold ! The next t h i ng I
after h a lf e u hour s absence w as h is
s aw
shi rt dr yi ng on a rock and found h im a keen
fi sh erm
as I thi n k y ou w i l l b e
an for e v er
though you h ave not wet your sh i r t !
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J UN E
.
TR O U T F I S H IN G
D RY
FLY
.
.
I d o not us u ally wor ry you about st atistics
or d a t es becaus e I never c an rem ember t he m
but it is a f ac t th at the d ry fly me t hod is of
comp ara t i vely recent d a te
In 1 880
an
“
Am eri can a ngler D r P r im e author o f I go
”
”
“
~
a Fi s h i n
st a t ed th at it w as i mposs i b le
g
to k eep the fl y dry wh en fis h ing P rob ab ly n
t hi s yea r of L i be rty
Americ ans know mor e
“
“
”
a bo ut dryn es s th an t h ey w an t and e x tr a
"
i s the brand th ey aff ect
see
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F IE LD
50
r an
s r o ar s o r
'
mu n
o r
.
a trout is ris ing under a bank try and
”
“
your fl y o ff th e b ank or the gra ss
w i llow
gro w i ng on i t
The f all of th e fl y i s most
n a tural but don t try i t o ff an e lder b us h or
you w i ll be h un g up f or a cert ainty T al k in g
rub your new gut c as t with th e alder
of alders
le af to t ake off th e g li tt e r
E ve ry ca st you
m ake ov er a fres h fi sh draw the l as t foot of
t he gut th rough fi nger and th um b w e tt ed w i th
sa liva Have a piec e of well oiled ra g tied i nt o
th e middle of a n old h andkerch ief and draw
t h e l as t h al f doz e n y ard s o f th e r ee l li n e thr ough
the r ag every now and th en duri n g the d ay
T hi s k eeps the reel li n e floatin g and avoid s
drag on th e cast and fly a most poten t c ause
of dr o w n ing the fl y
If
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N ow a bo ut p ar affin D o n t us e i t unl es s i t
It i s like butteri ng a
is a bs ol ut ely ne c es s ar y
c at s f ee t to make it st ay at home If pussy
’
.
,
.
’
.
wants to go aw ay not h ing wi ll sto p it doi ng
so and if a fly wi ll not float noth ing w i l l
P ar afli n wi ll keep i t from
m ak e i t do so
dro w ning but a floating fl y is one th at r ide s
on th e w ate r on t h e tips of its h ack l es an d to
a ce rt ain e x t e nt on its qui ll body and if th e
w i ngs ar e p rope rly b al anc ed
you see t he
n eares t appro ac h to th e i m ago th at m an c an
p rodu ce P ut t he a rtifi ci al by th e side of t he
n at ur al and you w i ll wonder N o you will
not wond e r w h ich i s th e n atura l a nd whic h i s
th e art ifi ci al—b ut you W il l wonder why on e art h
t he tr out e ver t ak es the arti fi ci a l !
,
,
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.
you d o apply oil only touc h th e h ac k le
and r em e mb er th at th e re mus t be a prism ati c
film on th e w ater surroundi ng th e o i l ed fly
w hi ch I do not th ink th e tr out rega rds as a
“
”
new sauce 6 l h ui le
So , if
,
,
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i
At
fi sh
,
i n te rv als ,
and es peci ally aft er t aki ng a
dry th e fl y in your h andk e rch ief t hen
,
FIE LD
M O NTH
s p o s r s o n TH E
51
.
whisk it abou t in th e ai r and leave i t flying
whi le yo u are looking for a rising fish
.
N ow
about flies Red Q ui ll Wick h am
O li ve D un ( p ale and dark ) I ron Blue Alder
S edge ( l arge an d sm all)
I f you w ant a ny
more are they not written i n t h e cat alogues o f
th e tackle dealers ?
B ut if you do not h ave
sport with the h al f dozen above mentioned you
W i ll not do much with th e rest
.
,
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Th e S edge is useful in th a t l ast hou r o f d ay
light w hen you c annot see a floating fly but
c an hear and j ust s ee t he b ig fi s h risi ng near
the b ank Th row over th e pl ace and at any
indic ation of a rise tighten It m ay be as
wel l to take o ff your fine point as you must
hold on t o anything bi g or he will b reak or
weed you in the d arkness
E x a i n e the ba rb o f th e hook eve ry now and
then especi al ly at ni ght
It m ay be broken
I
o ff by hitt i ng a stone in t h e b ack ca st
rem emb er a big night rise on E d e n in whic h
my companion fishing j ust a bove me com
“
”
pl a in ed of fish after fi sh comin g short
As
thi s h ad been going on for nearly an h our I
advised hi m to look at t h e h ook and sure
enoug h th e b arb w a s broken and he h ad
mi ssed a great ch ance of a b a sket on th e purple
snipe
As a rul e fi sh t aken on dry fly are
hoo k ed lightl y just inside the mouth ( sometim
es
they Wi l l ej ec t the fly i f given tim e ) but I f
you fi nd you are h ook in g them in th e ton gue
“
"
i t me an s th ey are on th e j ob so do not wa ste
“
”
time but get on with it
You wil l w ant a kneeling p ad Get a pi ece
of ca rpe t felt cov ered with an old motor inn er
tub e
Th e s add ler will p ut on th ree str aps
and buckl es
one above one below and a th ird
at t h e b end of th e kn ee If you h ave it fitt ed
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1"
a
52
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s ro ar s
or
m
nor
THE
s
.
for t h e righ t kn ee so much t h e bett e r b ut in
thi s ca se h ave t h e buck les on t h e inner side of
the kn ee so as to avoid t h e line fouling t h em
Yo u very often wi ll h a ve a loo p of sl ack line
re a c hi n g to your f ee t w hi c h you h a ve not h ad
ti me to r eel in
,
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,
.
Send for tw o ta pe r ed gut ca sts and a dozen
fi ne drawn poin ts and a dozen of e ac h of t h e
fli es I recommend ed Meet me n e xt M ond ay at
si x o clock at the Mil l and a lthoug h th e r ive r
is by no mean s a typica l ch a lk stream it o ff e rs
oppo rt uni ties for th e dr y fly m e t h ods and a
g ood m any difli cul ti es T h ere will be an odd
t rout ri sin g an d i f it is a ni ce wa rm sti ll
evening the d ace will b e risin g a ll ov e r th e
pl a ce
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You w i ll not often get the ch an ce of fi shing
waters where t h e 1 3i nch limit obta in s but you
may get the opport uni ty of fi shing d ry fly wh e n
noth in g else Wi ll m ak e a b asket I remember
going up to K irkosw ald with t w o fri ends T he
E den w a s in flood and in! wet fly p urists
d eclin ed to go out fi shing bu t pa id a visi t to
t he Ch urch a nd t he V icarage w here t hey
one of them at any rat e—were rather k ee n
to see the V ica r s d augh t er
Sh e w as a
rem ark ably pre tty gi rl an d wi t h t he ri ver in
flood t he time w as not wa st ed I however
m ade for the nearest h o o k and found th e
Cro gli n~ I t hi nk th at w a s t he n am e—com ing
do w n from the moorlan d a b l i gh t amber colour
The
and with it a batch
of d
fish wi t h a red quill I fini shed up wit h fi ft een
ni ce trou t and go t b ack for d inner a s th e
even in g ri se w as spo ilt by co ld showers com i ng
on a b out s i x o clock and I h ad d one enough
By the w ay you wi ll not order lat e di nn e r or
i f you do you wi ll eat it b y yoursel f
Th e
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F IE LD
'
s r oa r s
T HE
or
M O NTH
53
.
veni ng rise must h appen b etween sev e n and
Have a thick tea and a sandwich
nin e o clock
for supper Bet t er for your l i ver t h an a l a t e
”
“
heavy mea l However
ch acun e s on go h t
I knew a m an w ho alw ays at e a whole apple
pasty an d three bo t tles of gi nger b eer on return
from fi shing and pa sties in Westmorland cover
a plate
It loo ked a s d angerous as nigh t
flyin g but hi s Insurance Co mpany ei t her
al low ed or were ignorant o f t h e risk
e
’
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About the coat and h at you wi ll wear ; you
c an put on a li ght dust co r and a ligh t grey
h a t No you wi ll not h e l anded in an a sy lum
I t is al l a question of background Thi s will
be the sky a s there are few trees on dry fly
stre am s and I wi ll only re f er you once more
“
to Ward s book o n
A n im a l L ife U nder
”
W ater
t o convi nce yo u th at und er cert ain
con ditions li ght colours are al most in vi sib le to
t he fi sh
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J ust gone six bu t th ere i s no hurry I h ave
w alked a mi le of the w ater on my w ay d own
and on ly saw one trout moving — a rovi ng fi sh
under th at b ig wi llow where a sm all bye br ook
com es in It i s great spo rt sta lking a rover
b ec ause he i s not a lw ay s feedi ng wi t h h is hea d
up s tr eam but somet i mes mee t s you face to
face on hi s tra vels He does not cover muc h
ground b ut j ust l azil y sw i ms in circles suck
ing in very qui etly any surfa ce food t h a t comes
do w n or f rom a bove We w il l go for him now
as he m ay b e st ill ri sing Keep d own and pee p
over t he b ank a s far o ff as poss i b le and repo rt
S ti ll ris i ng is be ? Good N o w put on a red
qui ll an d as all you : t ackle i s dr y i t wi ll
float for ten min u t es i f necess a ry ne ar h is
b ea t If you ac tua ll y see hi mop en hi s mou t h
to t ak e your fly count t hr ce s lowly before you
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54
FIELD
OF
'
s r o ar s
M O NTH
TH E
.
tig hte n You will n e v e r do i t I kn ow but 1!
you p ull the fly o fl the water before h e h as
taken i t don t s ay I did not wa rn you G o
on and put the fly ov e r h i mwi th a s idew ay s
c ast He m ad e your fly move th en but h e
w as after so meth ing else H e must h ave seen
i t so pick i t o fl t he w a t er and p ut on s W ick
h am If he does fas ten mi nd t h ose wi l low
roots Th at s hi s holt A nic e light c ast a n d
wel l over h i m Loo k out ! B abet l He i s a
pl ugger Hard luek l He h as broken you i n
th e wi llow roots
Thoug h he n e ver took a
d egr ee in scien ce he k now s all about f ulc rum
power and wei gh t W ily old begg ar !
Tak e
your h at o fl to hi m Honours ar e equal You
”
“
put the comether o n h i m but h e di d not lose
He wi ll not be up aga in to night b u t
hi s h ead
“
”
he wi ll not move h is pi tc h
and w i l l be lay ~
ing yo u t h e odd s to morrow e vening
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P ut on anothe r red qui ll and w a tch t he ne x t
In t he clear
fi fty y ards of w ater
s ti ll
w es te ring light you can see eve ryt h ing th at
“
”
—
goe s ou No th at plop w as not a fi sh but
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tow ards u s K e ep s ti ll l h e h as wi n ded s om e
t hi n g and i s c asting ab out lik e a fo x h ound for
t h e sce nt
It i s th at t ur nip t h at h as run
aground on th at fl at we e d b ed L et h i m h av e
a t as te of it but w e ca nn ot w ai t for h im t o
fi ni s h hi s mea l as t h er e is a trout rising un d er
t h e far b ank P lop l He w i ll come b ack t o
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You s ee t h at bi t of b ar e b a nk about a c ri c k e t
pi tch up strea m ? A foot below There h e is
The wind i s j ust r i gh t for t h e c ast a nd all yo ur
di fi c ulty w i ll h e th e approac h
Ge t down on
yo ur tummy for t he ne x t ten y ards and th en
t ak e s tock of the situati on
L ay i t to your
h ea r t th at it i s t he p urs ui t and not the k ill th at
-
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mm S
a
)
P
O R T S OF THE M O NTH
55
.
gi ves the raptur e of the ch ase b ut I sho uld
a void th a t b ed of net t les if you possib ly can
Go ah ead He i s up again
,
.
.
.
I t s t rikes me yo u do not w ant much more
teac hing You approach ed wel l you got your
“
”
fly over h im firs t cast you tightened li ke a
veteran and th e only mi st ake you mad e w a s
th at you tr ied to net hi mbe fore he w as ready
to come in However you got 90 ou t of a
possib le 1 00 m arks and if you h ave got a fl ask
”
“
on you we wi ll wet h i s head as they s ay of
b abi es
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Now I do not w ant to give you a swelled
h e ad b ut you h ave go t the fingers wri s t and
eye for the dr y fly It i s l i ke bil li ards S ome
fellows c an do los i ng and W i n ni ng h az ards and
“
can non s but they h ave no idea of a j enny
It i s j ust th at de li c ate touch and j udgment of
sp i n dr ag and p ace th at p uts the m an who c an
”
“
play a j enny prop erl y in a di fler ent category
You h ave got to control
80 in dr y fly fish i ng
a fly so t h at you know e x ac t ly wh at it i s do i ng
fif teen yards beh ind yo u and esp eci a lly wh at
it i s goi ng to do fif teen y ards in front of you
You a lso h ave not got to gi ve the show aw ay
by goi ng into action with th e w avin g of fl ags
and the b eat ing of drum s so to speak Q ui et
i nvi si bl e an d a lmost motion less you must pl ay
"
"
your g ame Any fl ash o n your pa rt wil l be
fat al to su cces s P ut your fly over e ve ry li k el y
pl ace and do not wait ti ll you s ee a fish actu
a lly ri si ug L if e i s t oo short t o c as t on ly over
"
“
tr out which are s tan di ng —a cur io us expres
sion the de ri vation o f which t hough t ech ni c a l
and co rrect I do not know Now I m us t be
so good luck to you Try the Bad ge when
ofl
it get s too d ark t o s ee th e duns and let me
know to -morrow how you got on
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SP ORTS
FIE LD
56
or
M O NTH
TH E
.
J UL Y
T R OUT F I SHI N G
MIN N O W
.
W O RM
AN D
.
am no t going to ch ampion ei th er minnow
or wo r m fi shing for trout and wi ll only s ay
th at both methods are useful if you w an t t o
ki l l fi sh under cert ai n co ndition s When th e
w ater i s dead low in J uly or Augus t you can
get a b as ket W it h the worm fi shing up stream
wi th a 1 5 foo t r od The t ackle is P ennel l
whi ch con sists of t w o sm a ll boo k s abou t one
inch ap art on e ac h of w l i ch the worm i s
li ghtly im
p al ed
Immedi a tely after t his
operation drop the b ai t i n the w ater at your
feet The sligh t s hock seem s to stop e x ecs
si ve wriggl i ng a nd prevent s the worm from
ty in g itself in to a k not on the t ackle A
si ngle shot a foot or so abov e th e book s
will be enough to steady t he b ait Th e cas t
i s ordin ary gut t apered for choice and about
”
“
6ft i n length
O n ly the sh a ll ow stickles
and th e stre am s n eed be fished and i t i s from
t he former th at you wi ll get most of yo ur fish
”
“
The stickles look too sh al low to hold a fi sh
of h a lf a pound but their appearance i s d ecep
“
t ive You ought to do some creeping and
”
crawling
though not tw enty fo ur ho urs of
it which c onsti tuted accordi ng to th e keep er
a d ay s fishi n
g in th e case of Ch ri sto p h er
North ( or wa s it Stew art ? — I forget ) Keep
lo w a nd th row up stream with a sidew ays or
overh ead c ast The lat te r i s rather h ard on
th e wo rm If th e l i ne stops strik e at once
with the rod parallel to the w ater If it i s
only a stone or w eed i nspect yo ur b ait as
th e sli ghtest suspicion of weed on the h ook s
I
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FIELD S P O R T S
58
or
M O NTH
TH E
.
not seem to m e an to t ake it i n t h eir mout h s
but ra th er a s if they were pl ayin g a sort of
"
"
game equiv alen t to o ur footb all
ch arg i n g
"
“
L i ttle a nd big tr ou t a ll h ave a go
A trout
th at t akes a mi nnow f ai rly in hi s mouth gives
“
”
very li ttle sport and i s B OO I dr ow n ed
ow i n g
to t he fac t th at he cannot close his mouth
and t h e water goes t hr ough hi s gi lls the wrong
w ay
B y fa r the mos t sporting method i s the clea r
wa ter minnow I notice in Hardy s c a t alogu e
“
of 192 1 it st ates th at The art of ca sting a
mi nnow across an d up stream i s not gener ally
"
know n
w hil e in th e 1 923 E di ti on th e word
now i s sub s ti tuted for no t
I do not agree
I r e member in 1 91 1 —t h e hottest summ er I
ever remember— h ab in g the E d e n and doing
well for a week with th e up s tream minnow
in a very low water Then the green s lime
appear e d a nd I w as undone a s at eve ry cast
the book s w e re fouled by t h e b eastly st uff
So we took to night fi shi ng from 7 p m to
7 a m W e breakfa sted at 8 a m a nd w e nt
to bed soon afterw ards W e got up for t ea
0 t he co flee
room found a lady from Yorkshire w ho
a sked us whe t h er we h ad h a d an y sport W e
replied th at no one could catch fi sh in su c h
w ater
She then s aid—I cannot give h er
“
—
Yorksh ire di al ec t
O ur Bil l can c atc h e m
W e c ame down by t he one o clock tr ain and
”
h e ll be in for tea and you ll see
We
piti ed the l ady for her m arit al optimism and
the m an for the g ril ling h ! w as gett i n g in
th e ve r y hottest p ar t of th e aftern oon
But
the l ady w as righ t a s th ey usually are Bi ll
could catch em
A big meat pl ate w as
br ought i n with ab ou t twen t y tro u t—th ree to
the pound— and Bil l c ame in q uietly to h ave
hi s te a
We were me an enoug h to th ink
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S P O RT S O F
I
F E LD
TH E M O
NTH
59
.
about m aggots a nd ev e n s almon r oe H ow
He
bad h e got t hem ? N atural minnow
would shew us after tea
The perform ance
and except for th e fact
w as an eye opener
t h at he used the Ill i ngworth reel w hich w as
th en b arred in club w aters i t w as sportsm an
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Selecting a long fl at length with a depth
of about three feet and lined w it h bushes on
both sides he w aded up the middle—i t would
b e about forty y ard s wid e —an d flicked hi s
b ait with unerring acc uracy near the bushes
and then app arent ly did nothing It w as only
the movement of a finger on the reel th a t
but the b ait w as coming
w as taking pl ace
tow ards him like a torpedo g uid ed by wire
less At lea st once in every three casts he
“
h ad a fi s h or a run
Af ter a short time h e
came to th e b ank and accepted a cigar and
”
“
while he smoked it w e drew him for all
w e were wort h
He on ly used fresh minnows
S a l t he con tended put th e trout o ff and
form alin h e would not h ea r of His t ackle
w as the A ri el which I h ad alw ay s sworn by
and used but th e tri angles on hi s cast were
sh arp a s needles and finer th a n any I h ad
seen
By th e w ay you know M arry at s
“
—
defi ni tion of a good book
The temper of an
angel
t he penetration o f a proph et fi ne
enough to be in vi sib le and stron g enough to
"
ki ll a b ul l in a ten a cre field
Bi ll h ad got
thi s sort
O n h i s c ast he h ad as few knots
a s possi ble as h e s aid th at every knot c aused
a bubb le wh en t h e b ait w as movi ng th rough
the water But of course the real secret
w as the distance
E very t rout took the b ait
at least t en ya rds from the angler Th a t i s
where you are done when fishing with an
o rdi n ary reel and h a ve to rely on your own
ski ll in getting out the b ait The Si lex r ee l
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FI E LD
60
s p os r s o r
TH E
M O NTH
.
i s a so rt of d i s t an t rel ati on of the Il li ngwo rth
in th at it m ak es i t e asier to c ast th e b a it b ut
is not so devi li s h ly autom a tic and i s not
b arred w h ere mi nn ow fi shi n g i s allow ed at
,
,
,
all
.
So much for Bi ll and hi s wor ks He did not
s ee the e rror of hi s w ays and w as a nice
q ui et ch ap at some Yorksh i re mi ll If he
w as as careful in de t ai l in hi s work a s in hi s
play h e w as a reli ab le workm an and in h i s
i nfini te cap acrty for t aki ng pains a geni us
.
,
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,
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,
B ut you wil l take your we t fl y rod and
ord i n a ry ree l and fol low some of B i ll s ti ps
F resh m i nnow s ar e more ki ll i ng but h o w do
you catc h mi nnows for b ait ?
Yo u wi ll see
sh oa ls o f them on th e sh a ll ows b ut th ey are
un approac h ab le I remember once t a ki ng o ff
my coat li t era lly to them and d as hi ng in with
a la ndi ng net fi ll ed w i t h gras s on the sh a l
lows
Re s ult —
o ne l andi ng net b roken and
one m i n now without a head
T h e b est w ay
i s to fin d t h em in fa ir ly d ee p w ater an d let
do w n your Ariel t ack le wi th it s tri angl es
ado rn ed with bits of worm Str i ke every t ime
you see th em at i t and yo u wi ll f oul h ook
enough for the d ay s fi sh i ng i n a ve ry sho rt
t im e The Ar iel fli ght consist s of a sm all
le ad t hrough a hole i n the he ad of whi c h two
str ands of gut are passed and knott ed abov e
O ne str and h as one tri angle a t its free e nd
and th e s econd h a s t w o —
o ne pl ac ed s o a s t o
come level wi t h t he fir st t ri angle menti on ed
and th e oth er about La n i nch below P us h
th e lead into the minn ow s mouth dr aw the
gu t thr ough t he le ad till th e side t ri angl es are
opposite t he s hould er an d fix them one o n
each side
Now b end t h e t ail a nd fi x
the fr ee t ri ang l e i n s uch a w ay th at a s li ght
c ur ve is att ai n ed Th ere i s a s wi vel about a
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FI E LD S P O R T S OF
TH E
M O NTH
61
.
foot abov e th e knot th at j oins th e gu t lengt hs
th e t r i angles are w hipped and
o n which
another where the cast j oin s t he reel line
If you tie a piece Of S i lk or fin e
wi re round t h e shoulders of th e b ait
including th e t w o side by side triangles it will
s ave you troub le in th e long r un as they are
liab le to come un stuck
,
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Now you ar e in im agi n ation ready to m ake
your c ast
W ade in and t h row acros s t h e
stream wi th an underh and ca st a line the
leng t h O f your r od let t ing t he b ai t go from
your lef t h and
Immedi ately it to uches th e
w ater draw th e lin e with the left h and and
fol low o n t he dr aw b y br i ng i ng the r o d acros s
as
wel l Th e actions must be m ade a lter
na tely
The plop O f t he b ai t attr acts r ath er
t ha n sc a res a trout and yo u may hook a fi s n
in t he fi rst y a rd
But i t i s more exciting
when yo u s e e your b ai t fol lowed b y a d ark
shadow a nd more exciting st i l l when yo u s ee
the fi s h with wide open mout h attempt to
seize t he b ait
But un fortun ately th at i s
very of t en the psychologica l momen t when h e
“
”
Yo u need
sees you and the de al is Off
not bother about th at p articul ar fish th a t day
He w ill not come again
If there i s a ripple on th e s t ream your im age
wi ll b e enormously distorted and yo u will
h ave a better ch ance of success s o keep the
b ai t spinning till close to you and you ca n
keep spinning no longer As yo u l i ft i t o ut
of the w ater you wil l sometimes s ee a fi s h
b re ak away from the very t ai l of your minnow
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t ry to spin dead up s tream and draw
No w
,
down Try in d eepish water at fi rst and you
wi ll at l ast find your sel f spin ning in q ui ck
sh allow w a ter which i s the most deadly
Kee p
ethod if you ca n k e e p o u t of sig h t
.
,
,
m
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.
o ar s
sn
FI E LD
62
low and wi th a
sible or beh ind
sh allow w a te r
h eig h t a nd ca n
posi tion equ al ly
,
OF
TH E
M O NTH
b ac k ground of tr ees i f pos
a bo ulder If you kn eel i n
you wi ll about h a lve you r
m a ni pul a t e th e rod in th a t
wel l as if erect or crouc h in g
o
,
.
.
you c an get no n atur al mi nnows
a
sm a ll p ainted qui ll m i nnow is a useful b ai t
and w i ll st and m ore rough us age th an th e
You c an th row it ov e rh an d li ke a
n atural
fl y for a con sid er ab le di sta nce a nd if it i s
not heavy enough put a shot or two i n to it s
body an d fi ll up t he h ol e wi t h w ax
If
,
,
.
,
.
I once h ad a most ex tr aordin a ry d ay wh e n
“
fish i n g th e M ayfl y It w a s rai ning cat s an d
"
and it w as no good t ry i ng to ke e p t h e
dogs
fl y d ry 80 I fish ed a bi g h ackl ed fly wet
but coul d do noth i ng until I beg an to j erk it
dow n stream ex actly a s i f I w as fi s h in g t he
mi n now Th e m eth od though unorth odox to
say th e le as t of i t wa s entirel y successful
and ni neteen trout were in m y b a sket b y t he
end of the d ay It h appen ed on a Club W a te r
on th e Arrow i n Herefordsh ire and I h av e
often wondered w h eth er i f I h ad met t h e
S ecr et ary or any of th e members I sho ul d
h ave given th em a demon stration of th e
met h od 1
.
,
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,
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,
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,
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,
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,
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.
,
,
Anot h er way of fi shin g th e m innow t h at I
sh a ll d esc rib e w a s on ce prac ti s ed on a S cot
tish Loc h
Two boats were out one wi t h
fly for s almon and another wi th a l arg e
minnow and e xtra s trong tack le When t h e
fl y fi sh er h ook ed a salmon
th e oth er h os t
d eli b e rately rowed acros s th e fly fi sh ers l in e
fouled the sa lmon at its h ea d by manm
uvr i ng
an d c al mly l anded and cl aimed th e fi sh
The
c a se w a s ac tua lly t ak en in to Co urt and t he
v erdi ct w as inevi tab l e b ut th e inciden t only
.
,
,
.
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,
-
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,
,
s r o nr s
FIELD
OF
M O NTH
THE
63
.
shews th at a ll fi shermen are not sport smen
or even honest It sounds rath er like a G er
m an pla n
The l ast method i s th at of the drop minnow
I h ave never fi shed it but I can believe it
useful in gett i ng cannib al trout out of d eep
w ater By th e way w e never m ade a post
mortem ex amin ation of any fi s h It some
times helps you and i s alw ay s interesting t o
ex amine th e co ntent s of the stom ach in an old
wh ite crock containi ng a little w ater
This h as been rather a bor i ng sort of lec
tur e b ut h ave anoth er—wh i s ky I mean not
l ec tur e—and you will feel better I do not
advise mi nnow or worm when th ere i s a ch ance
of fly tak ing I h ad my eye b adly wiped
years ago w hen to all appearances th ere
w a s a good mi nnow w ater I h ad b een fi s h
ing min now all morning with little result
wh en I b ec ame aware O f a sch ool c ap —
r ed
stri pes on a b l ack ground I remember— j ust
showin g above th e b ank A sm all boy w as
th e owner of the cap The young b eggar h ad
h alf fi lled a creel wi th beautiful t rout all on
the fl y !
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-
A UG US T
W OO DP I G E O N
.
SH OO TIN G
.
G et your gun my son and a couple of mi lk
”
“
i ng s tool s —h andier in 3
hide
and more
comfo rt ab le t h an any shootin g stick P ut on
your oldest h at and b ring an old coat to m ake
a d umm y i f necess a r y
I ve got ca rt ri dges
for both of us Come a long it s nearly tw o
o cl ock and we sh all b e j ust in tim e for the
aft ern oon f eed on th at w heat of F a rm er
Ro b i ns on th at th ey out yeste rd ay
It s
,
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FI E LD
64
s p o ar s
'
OF
TH E
M O NTH
.
l i k el y to be qui et and i f they h appen to be
worki ng in an adj acent fi eld a ll th e bet t er
for us
Now a s thi s i s your fi rst day after pigeon s
I ll give you a f e w tips a s w e go a long
D on t im agi ne you can a lw ay s go and ki ll
woodpigeons— th e wind
the weath e r
th e
feed fi eld work and even ch ildr e n getti ng
bl ackberries wi ll m ake all th e d i ff erenc e
The chi ef poi nts to bear i n m ind are thr ee
keep still keep sti ll and keep sti ll The eye
of a h awk i s proverbi a l but the eye of a
“
woodpig eon i s uncanny T alk about camou
”
fl age —paint yourself yel low or green
and
m ak e a noise li ke a grain of w he at or an a corn
according to th e sea s on but i t wil l be of no
a vai l i f you d o not keep sti l l
Turn your
eyes— a lmost keeping th e lids over th e whites
o f th em — bu t not your head
directly you s ee a
i
l rd for he will see you quick enough
”
“
un less you freeze
If we do happen to
di sturb a lot of bi rds o n the feed
don t shoot b ut assum e the easy air of
a farm h and They will come b ack most of
them N o w here w e are s o we ll t ak e stock of
”
“
our pitch
Rem ember pi geon s alw ay s come
in up wind and unless th ere are other birds
feeding or you h ave got d ecoys down usually
m ake for th e nea rest tree There s a big elm
wh i ch looks likely but from our poi nt of vie w
I prefer those t w o oaks so we l l bl ank the
”
“
a dum my
Hang your old co s t
e lm with
up and put a stick to look l i ke a gun Now
come round th e fence t o t he oaks There s
a good wide and fairly deep ditch overgrown
wi th nettles a nd h em lock Be c areful not to
tread the outside growt h down or th e birds
will notice i t G et do w n into the ditc h and
w e ll m ake our selves comfort ab le
Trim
aw ay as li tt l e as po s sib l e and b en d a h az e l
,
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FI ELD
66
aw ar e or
M ONTH
TH E
.
Look out ; th ere s a sm a ll lot comi n g d e ad
ahe ad rat her h i gh b ut th ey look lik e co m
i ng
to thi s feed
Th ey m ay go over us a nd
'
,
,
.
t urn b ack
K eep st il l now on your
lif e
D on t
look
up ;
t h ey re
ov e r
Now in a few second s they ll b e ro un d agai n
Let th e m come as close as you can j udg e they
wi ll and t ak e th e n ea r es t b ir d W ell don e
i n e and a thi rd
you got yo urs and I got m
h a s gon e in th e elm h ar d hi t and wi ll drop
Th ere h e i s h e fell a lmost on t he d u mmy
.
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,
Now I ll ligh t a pipe (I ll n ot she w mu ch
smok e as th ey s e e i t a lon g w ay off) an d you
go and co ll ec t t h e b ir ds th at are down and
I l l sh ew you h ow to set th e m a s d ecoys Be
car ef ul not to ruffl e th e feath ers or p ul l the
t ai l out
'
’
,
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’
.
.
P ut t hem abou t t hi rt y y ards out from o ur
hide one on t h e at toc k and two on t he ground
Head s up wi nd an d rai sed slig htly by push
i ng a pi ece of gr owin g stu bb le i n to th e be ak
or bett er sti ll by pus hi n g a poin t ed sti ck down
t he th roat a nd t h ro ugh its br e a s t in to the
ground D on t l e a e any loo s e feath e rs about
Now l e t us go b ack ag ain M i nd t h e out
side growt h
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I rememb er once sh ooti ng ov e r li v e d ecoys
Wood pi geo ns re ar ed from th e n est
They
b elonged to a Sergean t i n t h e Berk s h i r e s
They
w h o h ad w on derful sto ri es of huge b ags
cert ai n ly were useful as they told you by
rai sing t h ei i he ad s exa ctly wh e n wi ld p i g eons
were n ea r
.
.
,
.
,
.
D id you s ee any thi ng ?
I tho ug h t you
moved yo ur gu n O nl y a gus t Y es when
th ey are a foot or tw o aw ay th ey ce rt ai n ly
do look li ke pigeons on t h e h o rizon I don t
li ke a m an w h o shoo t s at a b umbl e b ee after
lunch , w hen w a lki n g up p art ri d ge e v en
.
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’
.
,
FI E LD S P O R TS OF
t hough he
TH
M O NTH
E
67
.
d oes
talk about pe rspect i ve T h e
a rtistic temperament i s d angerous som e t im e s
.
.
There s a pigeon come in t o t he oak o n your
right I c an s ee him plain ly but I won t
shoot him a s he wi ll act as a decoy as long
as
he i s there and m ay if w e keep s t ill
N o h e s o fi ; prob
go down t o t h e decoys
ably h eard me talkin g
There a re t hree more coming i n o n my lef t
Th ey t re dropp i ng very f a s t a nd W i ll prob
ab ly pi tch on th e decoys Well done again
you got your bi rd I didn t s hoo t G o and
se t h i m up with the r e st
L eave your gu n
and be as quick as you can but s et your b ird
up natural ly L ook out there s a b ig lot
t wen
ty or th irty—coming over us
They
don t look like coming down ; they are flyin g
ve ry fas t and seem t o h ave business else
where P eep through the b ack of t he hedge
a nd report G one i n t o the high elm s in the
P ark Th ey m ay come o ut again but h ave
prob ably fed and been di s t urbed at t h e end
of t h e feed
They don t keep coming as fa st as you l i ke
I know but it doesn t pay t o slack in your
lookout E very t hi ng t h at flies over a horizo n
of twen t y miles you ough t t o s ee from here
There s a h awk coming in t o your oak N O
don t sh oot him
There s an O ld heron
Capping down t he b rook
I t must be ge tt ing
l at e—fi v e O clock O nly a n hou r more and
only four pigeon s so far
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L i sten ; there are b i rds comi ng over us
from behi nd Tw o t o my side and t hree t o
yours T h ey l l turn t o t he decoys
Good
boy You ki lled t w o W it h your firs t b arrel
a nd I go t t he t hird of your lot My t w o b i rds
didn t com e along N i p out again and b ring
in W e don t w ant any more d ec oys
the
.
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FIE LD
68
sp o nr s
OF
M O NTH
TH E
.
There s one fl own into the big elm
He s
out ag ain
frightened by th e dumm y and
comi ng hell for leather over us T ake h im as
he goes over you Hold wel l forw a rd H e s
carri ed over the field b eh ind us but seem ed
to b e sl an ti ng down th e l ast thi ng I s a w of
h im th roug h the h edge
'
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,
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It s j ust as we ll to t ry and ke e p a pigeo n
in vi ew for a s l ong a s possib le after you h ave
shot h i m a s they car ry a lot of shot for a
h un dred y ards or more and then drop dead
Ah ; h e re are t w o men comi n g to set up any
so we
at toc k s th at h ave got on th e groun d
sh all not do any thi ng more h ere to nig h t
’
,
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,
,
-
.
T ake your c artridges out and b ri ng the
s tools I ve got the b ag Seven b ir ds so
far We ough t to m ake up to doub le fi gu res
before nigh t We ll go and w ait n e a r t h ose
fi r coverts i n th e P ark and keep a h un dred
yards apar t
'
.
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,
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’
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Take th em as th ey come i n as you won t
see much of th em after they h ave l e t If
you see a r e al big lot comin g w ai t till the
first bi rds a re i n and t ake t h e l ast odd two or
three Then reload quick l y and you m ay
get two more b a rrel s as th ey fly out h el te r
skel ter
'
,
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,
.
W ell h ow di d you get on ? O nl y on e and
,
,
fi red twelve c a rt ridges
You ll oft e n do i t
ag a i n so don t worr y
I got sev e n wit h
twelve ca rt ridges but I own i t w as my even
i ng out
We ll leave a few at th e Vicarage
a s we go p ast
in e x ch ange for th at b r ace of
gr ayli ng the Vicar left l ast ni ght at th e h ou s e
He d oesn t sh oot b ut h e can teach us a t h ing
or two i n th e fi shi n g li ne
’
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F IELD
SP O RT S O F
M O NTH
TH E
SE P T E MB E R
69
.
.
P ARTRID G E SH OO TI NG
.
A s ti l l September d ay with the smoke from
t he ch imney s go i ng s t ra i ght up and t he sun
no t t oo hot makes or ought t o make a man
a t peace W i th all the world and inc lined to
”
“
make h i s
w ayside comm union
with hi s
Crea to r E ach hedgerow i s a not of g lorious
colour and almost every field shew s evidenc e
of the h arvest which i s b eing gather ed You
“
must h ave no business on th at d ay
B ulls
”
and b ears are mythi ca l creat ures clients a r e
i e w are
non exi sten t Ofi i ces consulting roo m
houses and such like abomin ation s are only th e
figment o f an evi l dream and if you can find
yo ur fi r st covey without getting into one of
those horrib le motors s o much t h e better b ut
you c an appreci ate a ri de i n one at th e end
of the d ay —let us s ay fo r th e s ake of the dogs
,
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My old d ad us ed to protest th at there w a s
no dog i n t he world worth more t h an h alf a
crown There are times w h en I really b egi n
to t hi nk be appreci ated them above thei r
value You t ake three dogs out and a t one
o cl ock the b ag i s one pa rtridg e At lunch two
dogs qua rrel and fight and the t hi rd beast i s
found to h a ve ea te n the b ag wh at t im e th e
specta tors h ave h ad the i r att ention dr awn to
“
”
the scr ap
-
o
.
.
,
’
.
,
.
O ne s low old sp aniel and a r etri ever on a
,
s lip are a ll we s h al l t ake out I wi sh we h ad
a poin ter but they are such a nui sance i n th e
o ff
season and get fat and m angy un l ess
properly ex e rci sed A ch eap and efli ci ent sli p
“
”
i s illustrated i n H awker on Shooti ng
and
.
,
,
,
.
,
70
FI E LD SP O RTS O F
TH E
M O NTH
.
cons i sts of a strong cord about si x feet long
At one end i s a loop and t he oth er end i s ti ed
to the middle of a wooden stick about si x
i nches long The looped end is passed through
th e col lar and brough t b ack to h e s lipped over
t he wood en h and le It i s S imple ch eap and
practica l
.
,
,
,
.
,
.
.
The raisi ng of birds on a big shoot does not
concern you a nd m e and the likes Of us but
the method of L ord E uston i s i n teresting and
where foxes ar e preserved necess ary It i s
i mpossible t o rear pa rt ridges like ph e as
a nts
but the E uston system i s a lmost
American in its cuteness Your keepers m ark
down by mean s of dogs ( some of wh i c h a re
spec i a lly good at t he j o b) a s m an y sitting wild
bi rds a s they c an and t ake th e eggs aw ay
”
“
su bstituting dummies
The eggs are pl aced
under h ens and on the poin t o f h atchin g are
returned t o t he p artridge T h i s met h od avoids
the d anger of the eggs bei ng ta ken by v e rmin
—a wholes ale ri sk which i s not th e s ame wh e n
t h e chick s are h atched
,
,
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.
pendent on a good m any things Abov e all
i t depends o n th e amount of vermin
Th e
sitti ng hen i s s aid t o lose h er scent during th e
time o f incub ation but a llowi ng thi s t o be a
“
th oughtful provision o f n ature
red i n toot h
”
a nd c law
w h a t i s to prevent a fox dog
c at stoat h edgehog or oth er four foot ed
poacher from b lundering on t o h er perh aps in
pursui t of a rabbit i n a fence ? I c an only
hope she does not st art at sounds like a
wom an alone in a house or she wi l l h ave h er
nerves frayed to fiddles tri ngs before the e nd of
t he three week s And then her r e a l troub l es
beg in Some of us kn ow wh at it i s to t ake
fiv e c h i ldren to t h e sea side on a wet d ay b u t
.
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FI EL D
SP O R T S O F
TH E
M O NT H
71
.
th at must b e easy comp ared with the t ask of
convoying a dozen delicate chicks through wet
mowing gra ss to the protection O f the nearest
hedge They are wonderful little b eggars for
t aki ng cover and if you surpri se a b rood th at
cannot fly the o ld birds wi ll clear Off—the
hen usually dragging an apparently broken
wing t o lure you aw ay from the fami ly
“
"
w hi le the chicks wil l scatter and go down
ti ll th e h en retur ns Then if you c an keep
out of sight you wi ll see a beautiful moving
pictur e
The mother comes quietly but
anxiously b ack and not a movement i s de ~
t ect ed in the grass ti ll S he g i ves a curious low
c a l l and immedi ately little b lack heads are
and on the cal l b eing repeated t he chicks
ri p
wi ll r un tow ards the hen w h o will usually
draw th em away from th at particula r pl ace at
once Wh en the brood i s Old enough t o l ay
cl a im t o th e proud title of co vey t he di ary is
somewh at as follows — As soon as it i s light
they draw Ofl sometimes on the wi ng from
”
”
“
“
the eddish w here they h ave been j ugging
Strai gh t t o the feed on th e stub
all nigh t
”
“
b le w h ere eac h b ird feuds for itself Wh en
th eir w ants h ave b een s ati sfied they wi ll go
to t h e nearest hedg e w here the morning
toilet in the dust b ath wi ll be performed A
“
”
se cond b rea k fast or haggin wil l consi s t of
insect s and an t eggs of which they are ve ry
fond If the sun gets ve r y hot they w ill go
to the roots on the other side of the fence
w h ere the dewdrops on th e bi g leaves provide
a welcome quencher In the e arly afternoon
you m ay fin d them on th e grass fi eld s —
a sort
of P ark parade perh aps for exercise though
t h ey nev e r me e t their ki nd till l ate in the sea
son when two or th r ee coveys will sometimes
"
"
p a c k together
About thre e o cloc k they
wi ll b e t h in ki ng of the stub bles aga i n and
.
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FIE LD SP O RT S O F THE M O NTH
72
.
f eed unti l dusk when they wi ll be OK t o b e d
o n the mown gra ss
or mead ow In a ri ng
they S leep e ach b ird with i ts he ad pointing
outw a rds wi th th e old coc k on duty a s s e n
tinel and orderly officer for the ni gh t S afe
they a re th en ti ll the nex t d ay except fo r
the si lken net of t he poa ch er trailed over t h e
”
“
cl apped on th e rise
w el
ar k ed spot and
who only gets thi s
o f the faithf ul Old fath e r
one experience and so ca nnot lead h is family
out of h arm s w ay by running a s th ey co uld
S O easil y do
,
.
,
,
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’
,
Now I do want to advise you ab out th e way
O ne of my d e arest fri en d s
to c arry a g un
no longer with us to our rea l sorrow —w a s
often rny shooting host He used to s ay t h at
he h ad never kn o w n p art ridges or ph easan ts
cost more th an a sovereign in t h e m arket and
h ad never known a m an w h o w as worth les s
He preferred to see a m an after putti ng fresh
c art ridges in h i s gun b ring the stock up t o
the b arrels rather th an th e b arrels to the stock
The s afes t w ay to c a rry a gun in all circum
stances is O ver th e righ t shoulder with th e
trigger guard upp e rmost
E ven whe n w a lk
ing up b irds w hich you k n ow are in the field
you are traversing adopt thi s pl an You wil l
h ave plenty of tim e to get your two b arrels
Off
and w i ll neith er h ave to sh oot t oo close
“
nor t oo far Avoid both especi a lly th e too
"
“
”
far
N othing m ark s th e bounder mor e
th an thi s esp e ci al ly w hen h e rem ark s th at
“
one pe ll et mi gh t h ave gone thro ugh the
”
head
You cannot m ak e a spo rt sm an out of
th i s k i nd o f fool
,
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,
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-
,
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,
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.
F or
a plea sa nt easy d ay i n m y O pi nion
t hree gu ns are enough wi th two heaters—o ne
be tw een each g un I propose th at you and I
a nd t h e Ma j or w i th D i ggo ry and Ben fo rm
,
,
,
.
,
,
FIE LD SPORT S
74
M O NTH
or TH E
.
t h a t t hey
a re not th er e ! B i rds see you a s
“
”
soon a s you s ee th em a nd i mm edi ately cl ap
an d b ecome in vi sib le in stubb le or even short
grass so th a t our fri en d h as prob ab ly b ee n
mi sled by clods of ea rth s i m ul a ti ng the pr es
en ce of a co vey
,
,
.
If i t h appens th at w e fi nd a rea l wi ld lot
i n the a fternoon— a covey th at gets up
f rom a grass fi eld and dr ops in ano t her
w e S h a ll t ry and drive them over u s B en a n d
D i ggory ma y h av e a fi ve mi le w a lk but th e y
wil l b e r e warded with a s mu ch b eer as t h ey
can d ri nk —no
not q uite t h at but an e x tr a
p i nt will b e ample rew ard b ec a us e afte r all
i t i s t h e h eater s w h o h ave th e spo rt in a
dr i ve w h e th er on a l arge or s m al l sca le B en
kn ows e x ac t ly th e h e dge w h e re we sh a ll li ne
up and if th ey go wi de t h e fi r s t an d second
tim e w e c an ad mi re th e s ce n ery smoke a
good d e al of tob a cc o and p rob ab ly get a m ag
pie or two a n d a S h ot at pig eon w h i ch
we S h a ll not get into t he b ag Our b i r d s h av e
got t o l a st u s a good m any d ay s and t here
are not so m any of t h em t h a t we c an afford
to ki ll more t h an two or t hree b race a day
B e s id es it is t h e c h a se an d not th e c apture
and don t yo u forget i t
.
,
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'
.
I know t here are m en w h o wo uld not giv e
“
”
t h e D uk e of Wellin gton s tuppenny d am
I b elieve for a d ay on w hi ch
eu I n di an coin
t h e b a g i s not heavy I h ave h ad m any good
b l ank d ay s as far as th e b ag w as c on
ce rned bot h fi shi ng and s h ooting an d I
h ope I m ay h ave m any more
Th e re ar e
alw ay s mush room s or crow qui lls
T here is
a lw ays l unch W h at does a m an w ant more ?
”
“
Al l of fi s h i ng i s not fi s h
a s Iza ak W alton
“
”
u s ed to s ay Th ere i s too mu ch getti ng in
t h i s li f e an d we ar e p u ll ed up and rig h t ly s o,
’
—
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,
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‘
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,
,
F
eve ry
IELD SP O RT S
or
now
THE M O NTH
70
V
.
and then
by the parson
on
eye not
on ly
the
hi s
w ho
h as
“
collection
w hen he sugges t s th at
giv
”
ing i s p art O f th e scheme U nless you h ave
a contract to supply b i rds to the loc al poulterer
i t adds t o th e sport i f a big covey h as th e
bes t of the deal and af t er a long tramp w h en
ca rtridges are o ut and pipes lit gets up und e r
your feet in the l ast gateway on your w ay
home
Keep as quiet as yo u c a n especi ally when
bi rd s are known t o be i n fron t o f you You
wi ll see a fox or t w o i f we get into root s but
“
”
Ben and D i ggor y wi ll do enough hollering
f o r t he party and you wil l s ee a nice covey
goin g o ut a t t h e end o f the field out of shot !
But th a t i s all in the game If you are w alk
ing a fter single birds tha t h ave b een sep arated
from the main covey and m arked fairly accur
ately go ri gh t up to the fence n ear which
they h ave d ropped and b e ready for a sn ap
“
”
S hot o ut of th e fence The silliest shoot
ing you will get i s at b ird s th at h ave
”
“
squa ndered i n clover b ut you don t often
get it Modern birds a re wiser th an those of
twenty yea rs ago
,
,
o
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,
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,
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’
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My fi nal advice to you i s t o leave the emok
“
"
i ng roo m when t he l ast right and left h as
been a pa r t ridge and a trout
Keep your
”
“
a l low ance down to a minimum and t ake a
mi ld liver pil l on retiring
.
,
.
,
It
i s on record t h at
used to resort
to the l a t t er and prob ably exercised r es tr a i n t
“
"
as to the form er to get h i s eye in
as i t
usua lly w as I believe he w as a good g ame
shot Most big m en seem to get more out of
a gun th an a m a n w h o is lightly m ade The
m an w h o taugh t me wh at I know ab out sh oot
ing w as a loc al gi ant
W h en I w anted to
,
,
,
.
.
.
.
76
FI E LD
SP O R T S OF
M O NTH
THE
.
ma k e him a pr e sen t for hi s kindn es s wh at
“
do you t hink he chose ?
Th e Works of
”
J osephus ! Wh at J osephus h ad to tell him
I know not b ut i t w as not co nn ected with
shooting
“
”
B ring twenty fi ve c artridges
si xes
and
”
“
t he s ame num ber of th rees as w e m ay t ry
if there are any about
The
fo r pigeon
pa rt ri dge wi l l al ways b e on th e ground b u t
pi geon like woodcock h a ve to be gone for
“
”
when t hey are i n
Tuesday th en ; te n
“
O c lock S h a rp here
W e will keep gentle
”
men s ho ur s 1 0 to 4 and a s far a s possi b le
try not to shoot them on t he morning or after
H o w would you
noon feed It i s not f ai r
like it yourself ? O n S aturday you wi ll come
to din ner and we wi ll h ave a bird each pl a in
roast and a fl ask of Chi anti a fruit s al ad and
some cream c h eese and with the coffe e a
cigar which I ca nnot aff ord to buy b ut am
not too proud t o accept as a present from
fri ends who know my we akn e ss
,
,
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OC T OB E R
S P O RT SMAN S
TH E
'
.
L IB RARY
.
Come in old m an gl ad to see you Wh a t
is i t like outside ? Rai ning like m ad and a
gale b lowing from th e north west J us t th e
ni gh t for an i ns pection of books and th e b il
li ard table m akes a good p arade ground
L eave th e cover on as book s alw ay s h old a
cer t ain amount o f d ust I do not k eep th em
“
”
in pa rade gloss i n glass fronted shelves but
“
”
ra ther in fi eld po lish
There is a diffe rence
,
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.
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FIE LD SP O RT S O F
M O NTH
TH E
77
.
opinion as to t h e kind of bookcase to use
but so lo ng as th ere i s free venti l ation beh ind
and the boo k s are not t o o tightly p acked you
wil l not find th at d amp troub les them much
E very now and th en t ake a book o ut and leave
it lying on the to p of the oth ers for a d ay or
tw o
If a S h elf persist s in shewi ng d ampness
a few empty cigar b ox es p ierced with sm all
h ol es on every side can be inser t ed a t interval s
between the b oo k s and can b e fi lled with l oo se
papers letters etc and furni sh ed with a bar
indicating th e content s
of
,
,
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,
'
,
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.
.
.
The top s h elf should no t be h igh er t h an
your h and can easily reach and th e space above
c an be suit ab ly fi lled by your Old co llege
S porting prints th at case with th e
groups
1 6lb pike and a di spl ay o f any old sporting
piec e s of gunmetal th at you s o dearly prize
Wh at my wife rea lly thinks of a ll the old
j unk th at I h ave collected like a j ackd aw for
t h e last t hirty years
s h e does no t express in
words S h e i s a very sensi ble perso n Wh a t
my executors wil l s ay about the s tu ff I sh all
not bear but prob ably a short time after th e
funeral a rag and bone merch a nt s c a rt wil l
slip aw ay from my b ack premises with a vari ed
assortmen t o f Old scrap unless or indeed even
if I leave i t a ll to th em in recognition of th eir
valuable service s !
Your gun s rod s etc
shou ld be kept in the same room as your other
treasures i n a gl ass front ed ca se It m akes
an appropri ate piece Of fu r niture and en ab les
you t o get your gun out in the Off sea son and
b ri ng i t up to a m ark
It will also remind
you in th e wi nter th at your trout rod s will be
al l the better for a n overh aul and not left too
late Keep your cartridges with the cigars
over th e ki tch en m antelpiece They wi l l bot h
go 0 6 better if you do thi s
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m S PO R T S
78
Ex
a
OF THE M O NTH
.
Now a bout t he books You young f e llows
don t read anyt h ing nowaday s except th e news
papers and mag azines and some rubb ishy
novels about th e e t ern a l tri angle
own
i
you c an not learn much about sport from bohk s
till you h ave nearly finished your ed ucation
though som e men h ave a h appy kn ack of put
tin g you in to t hei r ski ns while they are writ
i ng of h o w things ar e d one
O f poe t ry
you know noth ing and me less You lose a
lo t b u t I know it i s no good j awing a bout i t
A m an either h as it or not and I s i n ce r e ly
pity the m an w h o h as not go t the sense to
appreci ate poet ry Well I suppose I am an
old fool but I cry over thi ngs th at are w ritt n
by men who are not la urea t es Kipl i ng i s th e
m an w h o grips me b u t he does not le t h im
sel f go i n the dom ain of spor t He gave us
"
"
his b est in th e Isla nders
shewing the pro
port i on of importance of spor t If th at poem
had b een re ad eve ry Sund ay in t h e churches
and ch apels of our E mpi re from t he day of
with th e Recession al a s an
pub lic a t ion
a n t hem t here would h a ve been no Great W ar
Kipli ng with L ord Rober t s and som e others
but we
s aw t he vision and w arn ed the n a t ion
"
“
would neither look nor h eed
Ta lking o f
ch urch es there are the d ee ply scored
s h a rpeni ng
notc h es m ade by Ch eshi re h ow
men in t he South P orch O f our old P ari sh
Church
E very S und ay there w as arc h e ry
practice prob ab ly on that piece of ground near
the ch urch kn own as B o v z c o ft
E ngl and
“
t hen h ad no re ason to fawn on the Younge r
Na t ions for th e men w h o could shoot and
Yes you are qui te right it w as th at
ride
“
"
fl annelled foo ls
piece wi t h t he referen ce to
“
"
and muddied oafs
Th at line w as th e only
one th at stuc k i n your sil ly h e ads and i t di d
o t ev en
ak e yo u t h i nk
n
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'
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e
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r
r
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m
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FIE LD SP O R T S O F
M O NTH
TH E
79
.
St e ady on ? Al l right I b eg your p ardon
I ll get o ff my hobby an d ch ange horses You
“
”
can read Kipl i ng s F eet of t h e Young Men
”
“
as
in the
F ive N ation s
well as t he
”
“
Islander s
The sw i nging rhythm and com
pelh ng ca ll of thi s h unting song m ake even
“
an old man s heart troub led for the whisper
”
of t he Trues
“
Who h ath sm e lt wood smoke at twi light ?
Who h ath heard the b i ch log b urning ?
Who i s q uick to read th e noi ses of the
night ?
Le t him fo llow wi th th e oth ers for the
Yo un g Men s feet are turnin g
T O t he camps o f proved d esire and
knowndel ight !
“
D O you know the long day s p atience
belly do w n on frozen drift
W hi le t he head of heads i s feeding out
”
of range ?
.
,
’
.
’
,
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’
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-
-
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‘
”
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’
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-
,
Q uick
!
ah h eave t he camp kit
-
,
over !
F or the Red Gods m a ke t hei r medicine
again
And yet they say he i s no S po rtsm an him
self ! P erh aps h e will not stop the rea l hi gh
b irds b ut he will tell you more about the d ay s
sport t h an you noticed a nd expressly ag ain s t
wi ll be inc lined to stop b ehind to pick
o rders
up a fter th e drive ( he s a w t hat hen pheas ant
c a rry on and sudden ly cr umple up ha lf a m i le
behi nd th e guns ) rather th an go on t o the
nex t st and Very b ad form and he pro bably
wi ll not be asked again ! He O ugh t to h ave
left it t o th e keepers of co urse It s t hei r
job
O f spo rting poets in general you must read
Wh yte Mel vi lle
L inds ay G ordon
E ge rton
W a rb urton and M asefi eld
'
,
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FIE LD
80
S
P O RT S OF THE M O NTH
.
Some of W h yte M e lv i lle s
Songs and
"
Verses a re t inged wi t h regre t s of wh a t migh t
h ave been but t h e Hu nt i n g Songs are a ll
s t i rring poems which echo t o the ring o f
sti r rup and bit
You h ave read some of
t h e m ? Well read them al l al so h is novels
You wi ll get a better idea of hun ting from h i s
works th an any others I could ment i on
’
“
,
,
.
,
.
,
.
Ch eshire Hun t
ing poet a nd h ad a par t icularly h appy h unting
gr ound for hi s bitch pac k of Muses to go over
“
”
Many a Q uze s i tum must h ave b een q uafled
in hi s honour at th e Sw an at Ta rporley i n th e
o ld days
I kn ow you h ave re ad most of hi s
”
ri gmarole
as he him s e lf c all s it i n
“
"
F a rm er D obbin
E ger te n Warbu rto n
o ur
is
,
.
.
,
.
“
”
Reyn ard th e F ox i s an epic by J ohn M ase
fi eld which c annot be left out of any li st of
spo rtin g poem s
A b lue penci l c areful ly
handled would no t h ave spoi lt th e plea sure of
the reader but i t i s a ll so n a t ural th at one
must no t ca vi l at t he l anguage h e puts into
th e lips o f hi s ac tors
.
.
,
,
,
.
“
You w i ll see th at I h ave put a la be l
Sport
"
and N atural Hi sto ry over th e S helves th at
ho ld my spo rting libra ry The tw o sub j ects
must b e t aken together
In our sch oold ays
b irds eggs pl ay ed t oo great a p art in our z oo
logy T h ey were solid more or less except
“
when we s at on them they were the S po li a
”
opi ma of m any a walk and climb and co uld
be swopped on a cu rious system of exch ange
in which the commerci al abi lities and b argain
ing capacities of t he young merch an ts cast the
sh adow s of a i ming event s in the futu re d ays
“
”
I w as alw ay s done
and only once got a
bi t of my own b ack wh en I pa lm ed 0 3 an old
r ough sh ell ed h en s egg as t h at of a dodo ! I
,
.
,
.
'
.
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-
’
,
mm
82
'
s p o ar s or
r
m mo u n
:
r
.
B irds of th e
I h a v e no t got C ow ard s
"
British Is l es
but I h ave read it w ith g re at
I t i s from t h e pen of a re al obser v er
i nter est
"
“
long d ay s p atien ce and
w h o h as known the
w h o can put down t he res ult on p ap e r in a
re li able and interes tin g m ann er The i ll ustra
ti on s are from v arious s our ce s
Th e phot o
gr aphs of b i rd s an d nes t i n situ ar e perf ec t
“
'
,
,
.
'
,
.
.
.
”
“
In B riti sh B irds in their H aun ts t here
are some d ai n ty colour ed p l a te s by W illi am
F oster Comp are them wit h Morri s
The y
are bot h i n the she l ves and I thi nk you wil l
a ll ow th at one i s better th an t h e other T alk
i ng of Morr is you wi l l fi nd a fi r st editi on of
"
“
B rit i s h B utte rfli es w hich I rescued the
hi s
other d ay f rom a h amper i n a shippon I t
w a s on it s w ay to a b onfi re There y ou h ave
re a l co l our i m
i tat ion h and pain ted I fancy
Y ou c an reco gni se any of the b eauties a gain
in l ife as they are not in t he l east l ik e human
portr aits painted by a fash ion ab l e artist
,
.
.
,
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-
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,
Th ere are a dozen vo l umes i ncludin g some
of Ri ch a rd J efi eri es and a S on of t he
M arsh es wh ich are p l eas ant readin g H ere
"
“
are the Idst one P apers
rep rinted from th e
”
“
F iel d of fi fty y ea rs ago wh i c h are wri tt en
by a p arson I f an cy but none the w orse for
th at I wou l d h a v e l iked to h a v e he ard h im
preach
,
.
,
,
,
,
,
,
.
.
N ow l et us see wh at books on H unt ing w e
“
c an fi nd Here is P eter Bec k ford s Th ough ts
”
on Hun tin g
A bit out of d ate ? Y es
'
.
,
and wh at is more th e style is stilted and old
fash ioned but it must be regarded a s a cl assic
and revered as su ch
,
,
,
.
B adm in to n v o l ume on H un ting i s
authoritati v e with the n ames of th e D uke of
B eaufort and A E T W ats on as i ts s pon s or s
Th e
.
.
.
.
FIE LD
SP
ORTS
or
T HE
M
O N TH
83
.
"
“
The N oble S cience o f F ox Hunti ng
by
with m any old coloured
D e lm e R ad cli fl e
prints is a delig h tfu l book w ritten eviden tl y
by a sportsm an and a schol ar
V yner s
”
“
N otitia V enat i c a I gave aw ay some time
”
“
ago
N imrod I ne v er read
,
'
-
.
,
,
'
.
.
.
”
“
H unting by J O th o P aget forms one of
the vo l umes of the H addon Hall L ibrary and
.
,
,
,
“
is not on ly up t o date but written
in the
l igh t m anner of those engaged in a smoking
"
room d iscussion
which
in my h umble
op i ni on i s the best w ay from the reader s
point of vi ew in tre atin g of sport
H ere
"
“
are
R idin g R ecollections
by W hyte Mel
ville as a case in point though he could write
reall y good stuff in the form of novels and
poet ry
-
v
,
,
,
'
,
,
,
,
,
,
.
a lighter vein S urtees a lthough h e h im
self would lay no cl a i m to ex c ellence h as added
“
"
considerab ly to th e gaiety of n ation s by h is
well k nown sportin g novels If we must h ave
"
“
a solem n service of music while we re ad
our Milton we must ask for a roaring fire and
hot brandy and w ater with a fox s m ask grin
ning at us from over the m antelpiece w hile w e
"
“
“
read H andle y Cr oss or S ponge s S portin g
"
Tour
There never w as a better overdrawn
ch a racter th an J or rock s
In
,
,
,
-
.
,
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’
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,
’
.
.
J ames P igg and J aw leyfo rd are dead lon g
ago the S cat ter cas h es are dead broke and
Gabrie l J unk s n o lon ger prophesies mmby his
screams
B ut you can con j ure up the who l e
motley crowd and even sympath ise with our
friend S oap ey S pon ge who I really believe
and ca n picture Jor
w as a keen sportsm an
rocks vowing he would m ake the cu s tomer cry
n
"
"
“
P hiz
The i l l us trat i ons
Capevi
,
,
,
,
,
,
‘
,
84
FIE LD
s p oar s o r THE
mm
o
.
L ee ch
are su ch a s to m ake th e story more re ad
ab l e as th ey ao ex ac tly h it off th e rac y
v ulga ri ty of the ch aracters
,
.
“
”
A set of P unch is a lm os t an essen ti a l part
of the S port sm an s L ibra ry espec i al l y the John
pe ri od with t he adventures of Mr
L e ec h
B riggs th ough K eane Bowers Co rbo uld and
Arm
our a ll co ntribu te to po rt rayin g th e h um or
one side of sport by their dr awings
’
,
.
,
,
,
.
T al kin g of dr awings you must h a ve some
of Caldecot t s Hunt i n g pictur es and l ast
but not least a few of Cecil Aldi n s though I
am not s ure th at h i s sketch of th e Ch es h ire
H oun ds is geograph ic ally correct
,
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"
"
B ai ley s
M aga zine
you will fi nd from
1 860 and ve ry good ligh t readin g th ey are
"
"
B ailey s Huntin g D irectory i s a u seful b ook
of reference a nd te lls you there i s a p ack of
h ounds in th e Isle of W i ght but none in the
Isle of M an
'
.
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,
'
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.
H awker on
"
S h ootin g
"
is another exa mple
of a classic but out of d ate H ere and there
you ge t a ti p worth actin g upon but th e sport
.
,
,
Th e
book is a lmost usel es s for reference
"
"
B admi n ton
aga in gi v es us tw o v ol um es
"
“
”
“
F ie l d and Co vert and Moor and Marsh
“
both s tufi ed full of good readin g
T h e F ur
"
and F eather se r ies h a s amon g others a book
"
"
on T h e P a rt ridge
which in my opinion
"
“
c ann ot be i mproved u po n
of
T h e Grouse
the s ame seri es is worth rea ding
“
”
its ch apte r on The S co tch Mai l
by A J
“
S tu a rt W or tley who w rites on
S hootin g th e
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,
Books on F ish in g a re more n umerous th an
al l the other books on S port put to gether Th ey
also command a pri ce f ar abo v e t heir in tri nsi c
.
FIE LD
va lue
s p o ar s
OF
TH E
M
O N TH
85
.
a s most of them are written before
1 850
Everybody seem s t h ave h ad a go at
m aking such b ook s and the result is d i s ap ~
"
“
pointin g
Even
The Compleat Angler
which with Beckford s and H awker s treatises
is a cla ssic h a s too much b an al and common
p lace conversation wh ich becomes tediou s
Th ere is very little h umour and the inform a
“
tion is not a lw ay s reli able Th e Bib lioth ec a
"
P iscatori a
a cat alogue on Books on Ang
ling includes over
dist i nct works m any
of which passed th rough several editions
,
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,
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"
"
The editions of
The Compleat A ngler
must by now amount to well over a h undred
The original edition dates from 1 653 a nd i s
worth as much a s you like to give for it I t
rarely gets into the market a nd the m a j ority
of copies are in A mer i ca My copy y ou wi ll
“
see is c alled the S eventh Edit ion very much
"
a mended and improved
d ate 1 7 59
I ha ve never seen a ny copy of D ame J ulyans
“
B erner s
Boke of h aw k ynge and h untynge
"
a nd lys s h ync
There i s a facs i mile
by E ll iot S t ock
which s hould be inter
estin g
F rom 1 850 to 1 900 to lot of pri nted m atter
relating to fi sh ing w as let loose I n 1 854
“
B adh am wrote a n interest in g volume on P rose
"
H a h e ut i cs
or F ish Tattle and gathered i n
his c astin g net al l sorts of q ueer creatures
from Ancient F ish in g Tackl e to Op sop h agy
includ i ng a lso a fe w C h o nd ro pte r ygi ans and
P le ur o nec t s
The L ife Hi story of the E e l w as
then unknown but he knows al l about Eel pie
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,
F rank Buckl and a nd F rancis F rancis d is
coursed on F ish Ha tch ing and S tewa rt a nd
Cholmondeley P en nell were telling the angling
fraterni ty ho w to catch fi sh L ate r on F M
H al ford w as th e auth o rity o n F i sh C u l t ur e.
,
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,
.
.
86
M
aw ar e or T HE
FIE LD
O NTH
.
and D a vi d F oster senior and the evergr een
P ennel l told us over a ga in how t o do th e trick
T h en c ame Lord Grey and t h
M ar q ui s of
Granby an d the H on A E G at h or ne H ard y
w ith H T S h erin gh am and Joh n B i ck er dyk e
to repr ese nt the Common s but betw een t h e
wh ole l ot o f them we are c a tc hing fewer fi sh
every ye ar !
,
,
.
.
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-
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,
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,
“
”
den
by W i l
li am N elson and g i ve it to me a s a bi rt hd ay
present I h ave fi shed E den since 1 891 and
"
"
h e wh o drink s N ile w a ter w il l surely return
holds g ood for the W estmorlan d stre am ;
L azonby Temple S owerby Crackenthorpe
( wh en we coul d get lea ve from C apt ain
M ach ell) Appleby Orm side B lack syk e W ood
( a beautiful b it of w ater ) and Mus grave
“
”
wh ere P aley wrote his
E vidences
A nd
there a re grayl in g n ow which a re worth going
for I believe F ancy goin g up in S eptember
for a m
i xed b a g W i th a d ay or two a fte r
p artridge or fai l ing these pigeo n W e l l go
next year h an ged if we do n t I t m ay be for
th e l ast t ime W h o knows ? N e l son h imself
g ave me an address B ank E nd F a rm ne ar
Coupl and B eck L et me verify the reference
by turning i t up in my F ishi n g Commonpla ce
Boo k a volume now run ning i n to three
"
h un dr ed pag es wi th records of d ays th at are
n o more
S ad ? N ot a b it of it
If you
can not grow old h appily you h ad be tt e r chuck
it
You must get
F i shi ng i n
E
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“
As Ro bert B l atch ford say s
Ti m e te ac hes
unselfi s h nes s an d h umi l i ty
a nd th es e are
tre asur es more des i rab l e and l astin g th an fam e
”
or riches po wer or app l aus e
W el l where
were we ?
O h yea t al ki n g about books
“
”
H an g all books ! S ay when
,
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,
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HU N TIN G
F OX
I
.
w as out earth stopping the other ni gh t
W i th old D an
W e foregathered at the Brook
H ous e F arm a t h a lf past n i ne and yo un g
Ba te w as good enough to come along W i th us
and see th at I did not fa ll into the brook It
w as a ni ce night for the j ob but the d i strict
although it pays rates was not well li ghted c r
d ra i ned a nd we di d not meet a S i ngle police
man Bate w a i ned me of th e bad pl aces and
I found most of them all r i gh t
I t w as
stran gely q ui et N ot a tw i tter in the bushes
t ough
f rom fre q uent experience of magp i e
sh oot i ng a t n i ght I know th at most of them
were ful l of v arious sm all birds wh ich lodge
th ere
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Through the gate on the south side an d
about twenty y ards along th e lower ride t here
are tw in ash tre es S tr iking into the b ush es
for ten yards w e came to the m ai n e arth The
ori gin al e ar th i s to a gre at exten t art ifi cial
It r un s abo ut twenty y ards in length and h as
an openi ng at each end
one of which is per
manent ly s topped A third openi ng ha lf w ay
is us ed only for t er rier work if necess ary
Anoth er entrance h a s been m ade by some fas
t i di ous fox w h o perh aps a lso ha d an idea at
t h e b ack of h is wi se head th at it might come
in useful in ce rt ain emergen ci es D an h ow
”
“
e v er h ad also tumbl ed to thi s idea and he
closed both ho l es with a big stone and t h rew
on a few spad es ful of ea rt h to m ake all secure
There were no pad marks on th e dr awnout sand
to s hew whether the fam il y h ad gone ou t but
th e pr obab ility w as th at they h ad done so and
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mn
88
a
m mm
s p oar s o r
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a
.
th is w as p roved to be a correc t su rm ise as tw o
c ubs were kil led next d ay D an h ad stopped
the b ad ger e art h s i n a neigh bouring pitho l e
and severa l big rabbit h oles th at mornin g an d
would h ave to vis it the b adger b ank aga in as
Mr Brock will s cr atc h out somewh ere h ow
e v er fi rm l y th e stopp i n g is done
,
,
,
,
.
.
more b ad gers t h an ev er i n t h e
”
“
coun try
sny e wi th
D el amere F orest is
th em and you ca n b ac k your sel f to get h a lf a
doz en in a day s di g gi n g if you h a v e t h e ri g ht
tackle an d te rriers It is sa id t h at b adger
dra wing m akes terr iers too h ar d for foxes but
it is a ls o true th at a dog t h at will t ac k l e a
b adg er gets a l ot of experien ce th at is good for
h i m and wi ll most likely d o we ll at foxes an d
ot ters The l atter a n im a l mus t be bo l ted as
“
”
you c annot stop hi m out W e h ad a look
a t a big b urrow th at D an h a d fil l ed in an d
th ere w as a s i n gle pad m ark m ad e by a fox
w h o doubtl ess to ld th e a gent of th e property
th at night th at he woul d not en tert ain t h e ide a
of takin g th e house as h e d id not thi nk it
h ea lth y
T h ere
ar e
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H an g it
.
I h op e no
I m us t s ay
Th ere s th e be ll
one wa n ts me to go out t o night
th at my pa ti ents are extrem e l y con si der ate
an d never c a ll me out without go od reas on
H urrah ! it s onl y t h e M a j or w ho is prob ab ly
*oo ki n
g for hi s revenge a t billi ards but h e
won t get i
Co me in Ma j or I rec o g ni s ed
y our sw eet voice and you are j ust the m an w e
w ant for a i lk on F ox Hun t i n g I t s a long
t im e—twen ty th ree yea rs to be ex ac t —s in ce I
t h rew a leg across a horse but I rem ember
if you forget t h e last run w e h ad togeth er
H ounds h ad met at Ta tte nh a l l road on a b eas t
of a mornin g in F eb ru a ry It w as raini n g and
blowi ng h ard and y ou h ad dr awn H an dl ey
all
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mn
90
ea
aw ar e on
m mm
a
o
.
found ourse lv es at P ort al wh ere h e ran
th rou gh the g ard en s an d out for E aton Ro t
ten country but th e roads w ere usef ul and w e
arri ved at Ca lveley with the pick of the Ou l ton
country in front of us P h i lo ( I should like to
kn ow where th at n ame ori gi n at ed ) and O ul t on
L o w h e di sd a in ed and h is poin t w as e v idently
O ul ton , from w h ich m any a good fox h ad
co me W e ran him to the H all and lost h i m
I am gl ad to s ay i n th e neighbour h ood of th e
s ta bl es Jon es h el d on to th e kee per s cott age
and th e reed bed at the far end of the P ool
but th ere w as nothin g th ere ex cept th e duck
A good fox and a good run N ot too fas t or
I shoul d not h ave bee n th ere t o tel l the t a l e
I r emember w e gave our horses mea l and
water a t the Egerton Ar m s a nd you w ere
shouti n g for te a w hi ch w as not forth coming
but you s eem ed to t ake to w hi sky an d sod a a ll
right W e were ei gh t m iles from home but
there w as noth i n g on th e ro ad e v e n at
J ord an s corner i n th ose d ays to be afraid of
a : t h ere i s now
I rem em ber on t he w ay home you ta lked a
lot of rot about F ox H untin g i c i ng non
e xi s ten t in a few years owi ng to th e Gov
ernm
ent
W h at about i t
L iberal I thi n k
now ? Y ou d on t know
N o nor anybody
else The s al e of b ig esta tes w i ll m ake a di f
ference b ut there is somet hi ng about F ox
H un t ing w h ich wi ll t ake a lot of put ti n g down
I somet i m es th in k th at a dra g woul d be t h e
best w ay of s a tis fy i n g m ost of the fi e l d with
a printed c ard si gni fy in g th at th e dr aw would
be at the W atleys for i L s t ance a nd lunch a t
one o c lock at the Gar den Arms B ut it i s no
g ood
I t is not E ng lish
A s you breed
bound s for p a c e and nose so you must breed
and ed u c ate m en for ini ti ative and acti on
ev en if t he y on l y h av e to ser v e i n the T ank
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mm
)
Corps
sr on
r s or
TE E
m
ou n
r
91
.
But don t breed either t oo c l ose as i t
“
reduces bra i n power
Get the bitc h fro m
”
t he Bel voir th e dog from the Q uorn
as
W hyt e Melville says i n praise of B ache l or the
K ing of the K ennel
'
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The sa le of big est ates is bo und to m ak e a
d i fi er ence to hunting
I t is not every m an
who buys his f arm th at likes to see houn ds
across his l and If he gets a q uid pro quo i n
the sh ape of a good price for his straw h ay or
oats and a n order for a t urkey or a goose for
h is wife h e wi ll be more likely to welcome the
.
,
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,
I
Th ere ought to be a system of barter be
tween t he Hunt and th e farmers w hich would
be free of th e mi ddleman It is co m
mis sion
and th e evils arisin g from t h at system th at
t ake the gi lt o fi th e gi n gerbread and the two
p art ies who are d i rectly interested se l dom get
together by a n introduct ion of any ki nd
F armers should be able to say wh at forage
they co ul d supply and customers to st ate t he ir
re q ui rem en ts
It could be man aged from a
cen tr al o ffi ce and if you got the right m a n t o
do it it would go a l on g way towards th at
E nten te Cor di als which i s so nec essary for
sport of a ll ki nd s O f course I do not over
look th e fact th at hunting causes a lot of
money to ch ange h a nds in t he di s t rict but the
b ands ar e not a lw ays those of the des er ving
c l a ss
It used to be s aid th at a p ack of
bo unds h unting s ay four d ay s a w eek cost
for the ye ar s expenses I exp ect it is
doub le that now
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S e at I never laid any c laim to
.
T here w as
a lways a lot of d ay ligh t between me an d the
“
saddl e M a j or Gonne author of H in ts on
"
“
H ors es
puts it this w ay :
A g ood rider
does n ot ride more th an hi s o wn w ei g ht H e
.
,
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.
FIE LD
92
'
s r oar s
OF
TH E M
O NTH
.
its d own cl ose to t he s add l e and h is t high s
pr actica l ly b ecome pa rt of th e horse
He
sways h is body from the loins conforming to
the movements of the ho rse so a s to keep the
cen tre of gra vi ty of m an and horse co mb in ed
in the most suitab le place e g i n ris ing at a
fence he le an s slight l y forw ard The extra
wei ght forw ard give s momentum The re l ief
of weigh t behi nd gi v es full opportunity to th e
propel ling force of th e hind q uarters W her ea s
in descen din g to the gr oun d h e le ans h is bod y
ba ck thereb y al low in g t h e fore h and to a l ight
"
wi thout im ped im ent
Mark you this i s h is
description of a good rider b ut I a m in c l ined
to thi nk th at out of a showyard most m en
lean b ack i n risin g at a fence and th at i n
descend ing m uch as t hey w oul d like to
lea n b ack they fi nd them selves m ore over
th eir horse s fore hand th an Bu c eph alus l i kes
espec ial ly if th ere is anyth in g l i ke a drop
Th e m odern j ockey seat is th e u gl iest picture
th at c an be presen ted of a rider and a h orse
but as Tod S loan proved it is the w ay to get
a horse first past the post S tirrup leathers
shou l d be j us t lon g enough f or a norm a l m an
to clear his h orse s with ers w hen he st ands up
in them If h e is short l egged he c an take
them up a coup l e of h oles
s
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say s W h yte Melville
tell
you they ride by
others by grip
I th ink a m an mi gh t a s well say h e pl ay ed
S ome people
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“
”
w ay to get a seat is to ride wit hout stirrups
on eve ry suit able occ a sion I n th is w ay both
b a lance and grip are achieved
S eat you can
ac q ui re but h ands a re lik e poets horn and
not m ad e Th ey are the we akest points of
most ri ders a rmour N e arly eve ry man d oes
more h arm th an good wi th th e rei ns No
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F IE LD
94
ra n
s p o ar s o r
mo ur n
.
S i l ence wraps the lea fless trees
N ot a brushwood br anch is stirred ;
S leepin g l i es the morn ing breeze
H i dden i s th e li stless bird
,
,
.
Then—a p atter in the l ane ;
Th en—a shoe th at click s on stone ;
C reak of s addle ; ch ink of ch ain ;
Music of a bit b a r thrown
-
.
Through the l atticed bough s th e sun
S ets a glitte ring sh aft astir
L i ght s t h e lean hounds one by one
T akes th e bit and gi ld s the spur
R ight ther e gleam s a m a gpie wing ;
L eft there s hri eks a w atc hf ul j ay
These h a v e he ard th e deep r ides ring
M any a wood land d ay
,
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'
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.
Good th at , I th in k
A m an
c an not wri te st uff l ike th a t from he arsay on l y
“
Tak e R ey
M asefi eld is impossib le to q uote
"
nard th e F ox home w ith you and let me
.
H e h as seen it
.
.
.
,
k now wh at you th ink of it
.
g ert on W a burton is in terest in g to us
“
tum M er i t i s
F ar
"
“
mer D ob bin and F a rewell to T a rp
are a s good as any The Introdu c tion gives
a n a cc ount of th e Tarporley Hunt and co n
E
r
,
”
,
.
,
“
wi t h th e words : I t r ust I h ave no t
d rawn too g loomy a picture of the futu re of
F oxh unt in g
My best wishes are for its l ast
cludes
'
.
ag ai nst w h ch it m ay h ave to strug gle my
ea rnest h ope is th at t h e youth o f m any gener
.
,
.
en j oyment a s th eir forefath e rs h ave done i n
”
th e noble sport
d so say all of u s !
An
.
Wh yte Mel vi lle gi v es us
“
Th e G al l oping
” “
S q ui re
T he C li pper th at st ands in t he s t all
” “
at t h e top
T h e Good Gre y
-
,
,
,
FIE LD
OF
sr o ar s
'
M
TH E
O NTH
95
.
" “
p l ace wh ere the old h orse di ed
Brow B ay
and Tray
and last but not least though not
"
“
with a huntin g sub j ect
A Ca v a lier s S ong
“
”
from Holmby House
,
,
’
,
,
,
’
,
,
F or th e s abre sh a ll swing
And th e headpieces ring
W hen the ga llants of E ng l and strike
home for th e K in g !
,
Makes you look up your a rm our and think of
s t i rr u c u s
Y ou cou l d not get into your
p
p
armour now Ma j or but you are still able t o
“
do the ot her th ing so let s drink
F ox
”
h untin g
.
,
,
'
,
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D E CE M B E R
.
P HEA S AN T S H O O TIN G
.
A lot o f nonsen se h as been t alked about
P heas ant S hootin g so you th ink I mi gh t a s
we ll add my q uota I must own I kno w
very little about it a s i t does not h appen t o
L ast
h ave co me my w ay to a ny extent
S atur d ay as e v er was we s aw as m any
fox es a s pheasan ts three of e ac h O ur ch ief
ob j ect w as to get a shot a last shot probably
a t partridge but a lthough w e s aw plenty of
birds th ey were un approach able and not a
cartr i dge w as fired
,
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,
,
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,
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,
,
,
,
.
I
h ave never formed one of a party
“
”
of sportsmen
wh o are always repor t ed
“
i n the papers to h ave
been
early
"
astir on the l et October The shootin g of
imm ature birds or a nim als h as no attraction
for me Th e d ate for pheasants and duck
onth with
i g h t b oth be p ut f o rw ard a
.
m
.
m
96
sp oar s or r
FIELD
m mm
;
o
.
ad v ant age
th ou gh I h ave s een youn g
ph eas an ts sh ot by mi st ake on the l at S eptem
ber
H ang it a l l M a j or don t rub i t
in
I stood you a bottle of vi nt age port
( m y on l y ewe l amb ) n ex t t i m e you c am e to
dinne r a nd though t th at wou l d cloud y our
r em
o ry of such m
i sd eexl s
D o you rem ember
sh ooti n g those six yo un g tu rkey s st ri n gin g
down th e tur nip dr i ll when y ou sh ot a t and
mi ssed a low fl yi ng p a rtr idge ? Th at cost y ou
un told gold a nd w a s not a m ere m at te r of be
“
”
ing scon ced
D o you rem em ber poo r old
"
"
Cl are
sh ooti n g the guine a fow l t h e l ast
t im e h e w a s e v er out in the F ores t ? T h ere
were a bout h alf a dozen of th ese b irds reared
wi th the ph ea s ants and th ey fl ew q ui te hi gh
W h at fun h e us ed to m ake of th e sh ooti n g
over th e T r afl or d P ark est a te w hich h e h ad
“
before it w as bui l t over
W e go out for
part rid g e an d we can t find them W hen we
find th em w e c an t hi t t hem a nd when w e
”
do hi t them they re pheas ants
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’
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A bout a shoot in whi ch h e h ad a sh a re
“
i n the F ores t he w as a sk ed
W h at is the
”
“
acre age ?
H e repl ied
I l l b e h anged if I
”
“
"
“
know
H ow m any guns are th ere ?
I
,
,
,
’
,
.
“
”
h aven t the fa i n test id ea
H ow m an y
”
“
”
d ays do y ou shoot ?
N ot a notion
"
“
“
My dear si r
W h at is th e a vera g e b a g ?
”
don t ask si ll y ques ti ons
Th e point of th e
sto r y is th at all hi s answe rs were per f ec t ly
true
’
.
.
.
’
.
.
Th at p arti c u l ar sh oot w as c ert ainl y the
most sport i n g one for ph eas an ts t h at I e v er
h ad th e p l ea sure of t a k ing p a r t i n Im
a gi n e
acres of con ti nuous wood l an d most ly
oaks ab out as hi g h as a h ous e Th e under
gr owth w as almost enti re ly b ra c k en whi c h
w as sh ou l der -hi gh i n p l aces an d until s now
.
,
.
,
,
,
mm
98
sro a rs o r
'
m mm
o
.
t h ese D oc to r I kn ow you li k e a ci g ar—L i k e
Good he av e ns wh er e did t he y s te al
t h em !
t h em from ? Som e of th e se to w n dw elle rs do
k now som e t hi ng an d the b e st of ev er y thi n g
is good en ough for t hem I once took o u t
“
”
s om
e Tric hi ch er oot s and g av e on e to a
m e mb er of the p arty T he sto ry i s s ti ll gree n
a s t he ch er oot w a s H e g av e i t h alf s moked
to a h eater w h o soon t hr ew it aw ay and lay
down i n th e b r a c k en Th e n an un fo rtun ate
dog h ad a go at it P oo r a ni m al ! T he v e t
co uld mak e not hi ng of t he c a se H e di d not
c all m e in to a consul t ati on or I could h av e
to ld h i m som e t hi n g abo u t a cu t e ni coti n e
po is onin g
,
,
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Aft e r l un c h
t h e w h ol e p a rty wo ul d
"
"
b e ord ered to w alk t he
moss es
on th e
ch ance of a wood co ck w hi c h usua lly obliged
b ut w as not a lw ay s added to th e b ag W h at
wi th th e eflect s of lun ch and t he b ad goi ng i t
w as odd s on t h e b ir d A co upl e of driv es to
wi n d up wi th and a w a lk b ac k to t h e farm
w here t h e bag w a s l ai d out
Tw e nty -fi ve
coc ks e igh t een h ens o ne woodcock four rab
bi ts and t h r ee woodpig eo n wo ul d b e a typical
b ag fo r a good d ay not a mon s trous bag b ut
eac h b ir d h ad th e s to ry of its un doi n g almos t
w r itte n on a lab el roun d i ts n ec k
,
,
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A ch ange of boot s in to s lippers and a delig h t
f ul cup of t ea and b uttered to ast at t h e farm
where our h os t who
an ag ed th e s ho oting
O ld times—h i s forbea rs h ad
w a s at h i s b es t
b een on the fa rm s i n ce t h e earli es t Georg es
old fri ends
wood coc k flig h ting
fa rmi n g
h un t i ng b adgers and fox es p a rt ri dg es p a ris h
counci l s and t h e t h ous and an d o ne thing s t hat
m ak e up life i n t he co un t ry c am
e u nder re vi e w
,
m
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,
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,
,
mm
aw a r e or
M O NTH
TH E
99
.
W ould t h at we could m e et oftener in the
co untry to h ave a t a lk b ut early hour s and
d is tance forb id the pl eas ure wh ich i s en
h an ced by its ra ri ty The peo ple in the town s
m ust get ti r ed of e ach ot her from their fr e
quen t meetings Not so i n th e co un try W e
h ave a month s . happenings to discuss and
some th i ng must h appen in th at time ev e n in
Boeoti a So m eon e s c at h as h ad kittens
,
,
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.
’
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’
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T alking about farmi n g it is qu e s ti on ab le
whether pheas ants do more h arm th an good
to cr ops L loyd Georg e s aid t h ey ate m an
golds and got well l augh ed a t by those who
preserve pheas an ts b ut they wi ll peck at these
roots and are sp ec i ally fond of pot atoes
though th e y prefe r the l atter b oi led W h e at
of cour se th ey will f eed on b ut wireworm is
a di sh th ey specia ll y enj oy on th e menu
A co rns and beec h m a st form a large p art of
the food of wild bir ds Th e h an d r e ar e d so rt
h ave to b e h and f ed all th e year ro un d or t h ey
would s t arve i f i n gr eat numbers P h e as an ts
"
"
ar e not ab le to fend for t h emselv es lik e
p ar t ri dg e
T hei r ex oti c strain t ell s ag ai ns t
th e m
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S h oot i ng th e h edg e row s and rough gro un d
for phea s ant s i s all ri ght for thos e who
li k e th at so rt of thi ng
You w ant two guns
or bett er t hr ee an d a good spani e l O n e gun
on eac h side of the fen ce and th e thir d at t he
en d a s a stop B u t th e sh oot i n g i s poor s tat!
and although you c an eas il y s h oot un de r a
bir d th at g e ts up q ui ck ly ther e i s not as mu c h
s a t i sfac ti on as i n ki l li ng a d ri ven bi r d
,
.
,
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'
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,
,
.
In de ed i f game exi st s i n any q u an ti ty dri v
i ng sh o uld b e r e so rt ed to i n th e c as e of nearly
ev ery sp ec i e s
Th ere i s no b e tt er w ay of
s h oot in g r abb i t s th an s topp i n g t hemout and
sh oo t in g t h emacr oss rid es
s p eci ally cut for
,
,
.
,
FIE LD
1 00
aw ar e o r
THE
M O NTH
.
th e p urpos e S nip e can b e d ri ven b ac kw ar ds
and forw ards if their h a unts are known
P artridge dr i vin g giv es the b est sh oot i n g in
the world b etter even t h an gr ouse B ut of
you cannot drive o ne covey with m u ch
course
ch ance of su cc e ss a nd you ca nnot put s ay
ten ph e a s an ts over t hree g un s out of a sma ll
”
“
wood They wi ll diddle you i n most c a ses
E xp e rto cr ede l
Howev er w hi le w e m ay
advise d ri vi n g t here should b e a l imit to t h e
n um be r of b i rd s shew n T h e owner of a big
ph ea s ant s hoot m ay argue th at i t doe s not cost
much more to rai se
bird s th an i t
doe s
Th e argum en t h as a com
merci al element w hich i s attractiv e or
repell e n t as you li ke to s e e i t He tell s you
h e g e ts ten t imes a s m any b irds k i lled and ten
tim es a s m uch shootin g and th e co st is for
th e s ake of ar gu m ent only tw ice a s m u c h
B ut h e cannot say th a t he gets ten tim es mor e
s port He prob ab ly does not shoot mor e d ays
or entertain more friend s as ea c h m an us es
two or e ven t h r ee g uns on such bi g occ asions
B a ttues h ave e a rned a n un e n vi ab l e noto ri e ty
for t h is kind of p ro ceed in g
P ers on a ll y
I wou ld t ake th e
bird
shoot fo r plea s ur ab l e spo rt S i x guns and si x
hu ndred bi rds over t h em Al low ei g h t dri ves
an d s ev en ty bir ds wo ul d com e e a ch drive
Allowing th at s ix ty at m os t could be s h ot at
e ac h gun wo uld get ten shot s at eac h d r ive
an d if a m an is not sa tisfi ed wi th th at let
hi m go home an d s h oot hi s t am e pig eon s or
h i s hens and ducks I know w hi ch day yo u
wo ul d t ak e Maj o r Th e bi g d ay wo u ld give
you an d m e a g u n h ead ache and v er y li ttl e
e lse U nles s the te am i s a pick ed lot a l arge
n um ber of b ir ds in th e big d ay are p ri cked
or b adly wo un ded and th e reco ll ec ti on of suc h
thi ngs i s p ainf ul
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°
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,
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1 02
r
mnn
l ast Tuesday
c rown h e
may b e i n
-
a
.
.
s r os'r s or r
Come
wi ll
“
un M ONTH
to -morrow ,
”
.
and we wil l
b est
11 5
The
It s a b it e arly for the
‘
,
sni pe
but
m
,
—
D OG FO X
O LD
THE
.
T E L LS S T O R Y T O H IS V lX E N
I
.
They d— d nea r got me to day old girl
you w arn ed m e they d draw the gorse
I winded old D an as I l ay b y t he gate to
pick up a r abb i t or h are
F or you r supper and mine—fo r you re
no t very grand and
e x pect aho ut
March so you s aid
“
B ut when I got back to our little grey
”
home the door w as fast b arred with a
stone
S o al l on my lonesome I qui etly supp ed
I knew wh at th e gam e w as to be
“
And I said t o myself No w my son you
keep fit for the dance t h at you ll lead
”
em t o d ay
,
,
’
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’
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’
’
-
.
II
.
Now I alw ay s h ave told al l our cub s th a t
th e sound far away of a slow trotting
h orse
on enough i n these motor car
I s uncomm
d ays to suggest th at you d b etter
beware
So I j ust h ad a peep at th e vi ew—wh en
t hings h appen i t s bes t to keep cool
i n your head
O ld Tom L each h e w as th ere I ve seen
hi m before and I though t i t w as time
t o b e gone
F or it s fifty to one there s a hunt in the
an d it m ay b e th e ob j ect i s me
ai r
And th e gr andstand at Burto n w as fairly
w el l fi ll ed to s e e a g ood fox go aw ay
-
,
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’
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'
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'
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’
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I felt fi t to run for a ki ngdom and
"
"
foo li sh ly w aited t o
view
them O f
course
I ough t to h ave
mizzled
but w an ted
“
to s ee w h at I could of the
fun of t he
"
f ai r
I s aw Wrigh t and th e w hi ps co ming
down the old l ane w ith the pack a nd
“
hi s c o at i t wer e r ed
Th e n t h e field fol lowed on and a brave
show th ey m ade and m an y a fai r
“
"
L ady D on e
B ut I thought i t w as ti m e to h e 0 3 s o I
s lipped out of cove r t w here no one
,
.
,
0 ‘
.
“
,
,
.
,
At lea s t so I thought but I m ad e a
mi st ake for I h e ard a lo u d shout
"
“
G one away
IV
My point w as th e m ain eart h at P eck
fo rto n Rocks but the wind w h s 8 11 9 3 6
,
,
,
.
.
,
I stru c k out for W averto n hoping t o
put another fox ou t from h i s l ai r
To take o n th e j ob But I fo und non e
ab road—They were a ll of em snugly
i n bed
80 I q ui ckly ra n out at th e W averton end
a nd m ade for th e vi llage alone
I slipped t hrough th e ga rden s and sw am
th e ca al a nd then felt a s b risk as a bee
And I g ave th em a steeplech ase ride to
t he Ro ck s t h ough I ow n it w a s some of
i t c l ay
V
I j us t cal led at Handley a nd th en o n
th e h igh gr oun d I looked round a nd
ventured to p ause
80
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,

Directions from Founders Hall to NYU MAGNET (for workshops)

Cycling Map - the City of Nanaimo

230 Commuter Bus - Dillon`s Bus Service

Transit Map

MLS Listing - Mosaic Properties

110 SEVEN SPRINGS APARTMENTS

Vogue Magazine

Overfishing is a myth Toxic green slime of lies

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The Pacific Northwest Cardiovascular Summit