GRAYLING. 137 



Staffordshire, in the Hodder, the Trent, the Dove, and the 

 Wye. In Derbyshire, in the Dove. In Merionethshire, 

 in the Dee, between Curwen and Bala. In Lancashire, in 

 the Kibble. In Yorkshire, in the Derwent, the Ure, the 

 Wharfe, and the Wiske, near Northallerton. Dr. Heysham 

 says it is occasionally taken in the Eden and the Esk in 

 Cumberland. It is not found, that I am aware, either in 

 Ireland or Scotland ; Mr. Low, however, includes this fish 

 in his Fauna Orcadensis, and it is known to be plentiful in 

 Sweden, Norway, and Lapland. The peculiarity of the local 

 distribution in this country gave rise to the supposition that 

 the Grayling had been originally introduced by the monks, 

 as a fish worth cultivating ; many of the rivers containing the 

 Grayling being near the remains of great monasteries. But 

 two circumstances affect this solution : it would be very dif- 

 ficult to bring this fish alive from the Continent to this coun- 

 try ; and it is not found in the rivers of Kent, Dorsetshire, 

 Devonshire, or Cornwall, where monastic establishments were 

 formerly numerous. 



The Grayling thrives best in rivers with rocky or gravelly 

 bottoms, and seems to require an alternation of stream and 

 pool. According to Sir Humphrey Davy, who has given a 

 good history of the Grayling in his " Salmonia," this fish was 

 introduced into the Test, in Hampshire, from the Avon; 

 and the former river, in particular parts, appears to suit it 

 the better of the two. Large Grayling, are, however, occa- 

 sionally taken in both these waters, which are constantly 

 resorted to by the southern anglers. Three Graylings, 

 weighing together twelve pounds, were caught by Thomas 

 Lister Parker, Esq. in the Avon, near Ringwood. A Gray- 

 ling of four and a half pounds' 1 weight has been killed in the 

 Test, and one of five pounds is recorded to have been caught 

 near Shrewsbury. 



However fastidious in the quality of the water or the 



