COMMON TROUT. 



105 



fish, when in good condition, is considered a present worthy a 

 place at a royal table. 



Among performances in Trout catching, the following 

 may be mentioned, as found in the MS. of the late Colonel 

 Montagu. 



" Mr. Popharn, of Littlecot, in the county of Wilts, was 

 famous for a Trout fishery. They were confined to a certain 

 portion of a river by grating, so that fish of a moderate size 

 could not escape. To the preserving and fattening these fish 

 much trouble and expense were devoted, and fish of seven and 

 eight pounds" weight were not uncommon. A gentleman at 

 Lackham, in the same county, had a favourite water-spaniel 

 that was condemned to suffer death for killing all the Carp in 

 his master's ponds, but was reprieved at the desire of Mr. 

 Popham, who took charge of him, in the belief that so shy 

 and so swift a fish as a Trout was not to be caught by a dog. 

 However, in this he was mistaken, for the dog soon convinced 

 him that his largest Trout were not a match for him." Mr. 

 Stoddart also, in his Scottish Angling, page 119, has recorded 

 the propensities of a fish-catching dog. 



I am indebted to William Thompson, Esq. of Belfast, 

 for a very fine specimen of the Gillaroo Trout of Lough 

 Ncagh, measuring twenty-two inches in length, from which 

 fish the representation on this page was taken. The internal 



