ed allone by itself and put in a lytyll plaunflet; therefore I have compylyd it in a greter uolume, of dyuerse bokys concernynge to gentyll and noble men, to the entent that the forsayd ydle persones whyche sholde haue but lytyll mesure in the sayd dysporte of fysshynge, shold not by this meane utterly dystroye it."

And as to the treatise itself, it must be deemed a great typographical curiosity, as well for the wooden sculpture which in the original immediately follows the title, as for the orthography and the character in which it is printed. And, with respect to the subject matter thereof, it begins with a comparison of fishing with the diversions of hunting, hawking, and fowling, which, the authoress shows, are attended with great inconveniences and disappointments: whereas in fishing, if his sport fail him, "the Angler," says she, "atte the leest, hath his holsom walke, and mery at his ease, a swete ayre of the swete sauoure of the meede floures, that makyth him hungry; he hereth the melodyous armony of fowles; he seeth the yonge swannes, heerons, duckes, cotes, and many other fowles, wyth theyr brodes; whyche me semyth better than alle the noyse of houndys, the blastes of hornys, and the scrye of foulis, that hunters, fawkeners, and foulers can make. And if the Angler take fysshe; surely, thenne, is there noo man merier than he is in his spyryte."

At the beginning of the directions, "How the angler is to make his harnays, or tackle," he is thus instructed to provide a rod: "And how ye

shall make your rodde craftly, here I shall teche you. Ye shall kytte, between Myghelmas and Candylmas, a fayr staffe of a fadom and an halfe longe, and arme-grete, of hasyll, wyllowe, or aspe; and bethe hym in an hote ouyn, and sette him euyn; thenne, lete hym cole and drye a moneth. Take thenne and frette* hym, faste, with a coekeshote corde; and bynde hym to a fourme, or an euyn square grete tree. Take, thenne, a plummer's wire, that is euen and streyte, and sharpe at the one ende; and hete the sharpe ende in a charcole fyre till it be whyte, and brenne the staffe therwyth thorugh, euer streyte in the pythe at bothe endes, tyll they mete and after that brenne hym in the nether end wyth a byrde broche† and wyth other broches, eche gretter than other, and euer the grettest the laste; so that ye make your hole, aye, tapre were. Thenne lete hym lye styll, and kele two dayes; unfrette hym thenne, and lete hym drye in an hous roof, in the smoke tyll he be thrugh drye. In the same season, take a fayr yerde of grene hasyll, and bethe him euen and streyghte, and lete it drye with the staffe; and whan they ben drye, make the yerde mete unto the hole in the staffe, unto halfe the length of the staffe; and to perfourme that other half of the croppe, take a fayr shote of blacke thornn, crabbe tree, medeler, or of jenypre, kytte in the same season, and well bethyd and streyghte, and frette theym

i. e. tie it about: the substantive plural, frets of a lute, is formed of this verb.

+ A bird spit.

Untie it.

togyder fetely, sao that the croppe maye justly entre all into the sayd hole; thenne shaue your staffe, and make hym tapre were; then vyrell the staffe at bothe ends with long hopis of yren, or laton, in the clennest wise, wyth a Pyke at the nether ende, fastnyd with a rennynge vyce, to take in and out your croppe; thenne set your croppe an handfull within the ouer ende of your staffe, in suche wise that it be as bigge there as in ony other place about: thenne arme your croppe at thouer ende, downe to the frette, wyth a lyne of vj heeres, and dubbe the lyne, and frette it faste in the toppe with a bowe to fasten on your lyne; and thus shall ye make you a rodde soo prevy, that ye may walke therwyth; and there shall noo man wyte where abowte ye goo."

Speaking of the Barbel, she says: "The Barbyll is a swete fysshe; but it is a quasy meete, and a peryllous for mannys body. For, comynly, he yeuyth an introduxion to the febres : and yf he be eten rawe, he may be cause of mannys dethe, whyche hath oft be seen." And of the Carp, "that it is a deyntous fiysshe, but there ben but fewe in Englonde. And therefore I wryte the lasse of hym. He is an euyll fysshe to take. For he is soo stronge enarmyd in the mouthe, that there maye noo weke harnays hold hym.

"And as touchynge his baytes, I have but lytyll knowledge of it. And me were loth to wryte more than I knowe and have prouyd. But well I wote, that the redde worme and the menow ben good baytes for hym at all tymes, as I have herde saye of persones credyble, and also founde wryten in bokes of credence."

For taking the Pike, this lady directs her readers in the following terms, viz.

"Take a codlynge hoke; and take a Roche, or a fresshe Heeryng; and a wyre with an hole in the ende, and put it in at the mouth, and out at the taylle, downe by the ridge of the fresshe Heeryng; and thenne put the lyne of your hoke in after, and drawe the hoke into the cheke of the fresshe Heeryng; then put a plumbe of lede upon your lyne a yerde longe from your hoke, and a flote in myd waye betwene; and caste it in a pytte where the Pyke usyth: and this is the beste and moost surest crafte of takynge the Pyke. Another manere takynge of hym there is; take a frosshe,* and put it on your hoke, at the necke, betwen the skynne and the body, on the backe half, and put on a flote a yerde therefro, and caste it where the Pyke hauntyth, and ye shall haue hym. Another manere: Take the same bayte, and put it in asa fetida, and caste it in the water wyth a corde and a corke, and ye shall not fayl of hym. And yf ye lyst to haue a good sporte, thenne tye the corde to a gose fote; and ye shall se gode halynge, whether the gose or the Pyke shall haue the better."

The directions for making flies, contained in this book, are, as one would expect, very inartificial: we shall therefore only add, that the authoress advises the angler to be provided with twelve different sorts; between which and Walton's twelve, the dif ference is so very small, as well in the order as the

* Or Frog. Minsheu's Dictionary

manner of describing them, that there cannot remain the least doubt but he had seen and attentively perused this ancient treatise.

The book concludes with some general cautions, among which are these that follow: which at least serve to show how long Angling has been looked on as an auxiliary to contemplation.

66 Also ye shall not use this forsayd crafty dysporte, for no couetysenes, to the encreasynge and sparynge of your money oonly; but pryncypally for your solace, and to cause the helthe of your body, and specyally of your soule: for whanne ye purpoos to goo on your dysportes in fysshynge, ye woll not desyre gretly many persons wyth you, whyche myghte lette you of your game. And thenne ye may serue God, deuowtly, in sayenge affectuously youre custumable prayer; and, thus doynge, ye shall eschewe and voyde many vices."

But to return to the last mentioned work of our author, "The Complete Angler." It came into the world attended with Encomiastic Verses by several writers of that day; and had in the title-page, though Walton thought proper to omit it in the future editions, this apposite motto:

"Simon Peter said, I go a fishing; and they said, we also will go with thee," -JOHN xxi. 3.

And here occasion is given us to remark, that the circumstance of time, and the distracted state of the kingdom at the period when the book was written, reaching indeed to the publication of the third edition thereof, are evidences of the author's inward temper and disposition; for who, but a man whose