176 DE. BliETT — NOTES AND ftUKRIES 



For instance, another Hertfordshire stream, the Thame, rises at 

 Tring:, and after a time, according to Chauncy, " congratulates 

 the Ms ; but both emulating each other for the Name, and neither 

 yielding, they arc complicated by that of Thamisis " or Thames — a 

 river more famous, perhaps, than any in the world. It may be 

 that the relative size of the two streams has changed during the 

 last 1500 years or so. I may remark that the two rivers meet, 

 not at Park-street, but at the commoQ meadows between Munden 

 and the K'ether Wyld. 



Is the river Colne at "Watford improving or not as a stream for 

 fish ? Before we discuss this question I should like to call your 

 attention to a peculiarity of the river in the low meadows from 

 Bushey Mill to the town. In many places the river is much above 

 the level of the meadows, and the banks of the river require 

 constant attention in order to prevent the water overflowing. Mr. 

 Robert Clutterbuck, to whom the meadows on this side until 

 recently belonged, says in a letter to me : — 



" Has it ever struck you that the bed of the Colne from Otterspool to "Watford 

 must clearly be an artificial one ? In many places if the banks are not drawn up, 

 the water runs on the meadows. I have never met with or heard of any evidence 

 of this alteration of the level to serve, no doubt, the mills; nor have I ever 

 heard of any in Herts." 



It is a very general opinion that there are not so many fish in the 

 river at Watford as there used to be. I have heard the late Mr. 

 "W. Capel (who was a good sportsman and a keen and accurate 

 obsei-ver of nature, and on whose sporting adventures a book full 

 of interest might be written) say that formerly he could always 

 have a brace of trout brought him if he wished it, but now he 

 seldom saw a trout Mr. E. Mead, who owns the Watford Flour 

 Mill, says: "We think the river is better for roach and dace, not 

 so good for trout or for minnows." Mr. Jonathan King says : 

 "We have no fish in the river now; very few minnows or 

 gudgeons, and no trout." I presume he refers to the Colne at 

 Wiggenhall ; where, in 1856, he caught with the net 54lbs. of 

 trout in one day. And another friend tells mo that twenty-five 

 years ago he used to take out of the Colne about 150lbs. of trout 

 in a year. 



I should think that minnows were more plentiful formerly than 

 they are now. Mr. W. Johnson, a good fisherman, tells mo that 

 it was the custom formerly to hold a minnow-feast each year at 

 the Leatherscllers' Arms, Watford. The way the fish were caught 

 was somewhat singular. A miller's sack used to be placed in the 

 shallow part of the stream, and the fish would go into the sack, 

 and a peek might be caught at one time. I doubt if we could 

 catch as many now. I have often seen men catch minnows at 

 Cashio Bridge which they say are for the aninuds at the Zoological 

 Gardens. I have not seen them come to the Coluc. The Colne 

 used to have a good reputation for trout. Boccius says, in 1848 : — 

 "The river wliich I have restored for many miles is the Colne."* 

 * Fish iu llivors and Streams, p. 5. 



