LORD LILFORD'S HOME 5 



And again (January 23rd, 1889): 



" I never saw or heard of a barbel in any part of the 

 Nene, certainly not in the neighbourhood of Lilford, as 

 I own, more or less, some twelve miles of river and 

 tributary brooks ; in my father's time the river was 

 systematically dragged for the whole length of our domain 

 in February and March, and I have bottom-fished every 

 inch of it with every variety of bait at various times of 

 year between 1840 and 1888, and never caught, seen, or 

 heard of a barbel : in fact, I believe that our river 

 produces every English river fish except barbel, grayling, 

 and possibly one or two fishes of the family Salmonidie. 

 Perch have perhaps increased in number in our river, but 

 certainly diminished in average size very palpably. In my 

 early fishing days we used to catch many of 2 lbs. and 

 over, and 3-pounders were not very rare ; but it is quite 

 exceptional now to catch a perch of 1 lb." ^ 



Northamptonshire is commonly spoken of as a flat and 

 rather uninteresting county ; but about Lilford, at any rate, 

 it is neither the one nor the other. If not conspicuously 

 striking, it is characteristically English, and as such is 

 full of charm. It is a rolling, almost a hilly country, 

 and is closely wooded with singularly fine timber. With 

 the botany of this neighbourhood we are not acquainted ; 

 probably its botany is not very distinctive, though henbane 

 grows there (and not only on rubbish-heaps). Bladderwort 



1 To Dr. Albert Giinther. 



