FLY-MAKING. 217 



Tail. — Yellow wool. 



Hound the body. — Gold twist ; over that cock's 

 hackle, hlack at the roots and red at the points. 



" Concerning these flies, I will note one thing, which 

 is, that if you rise a fish with the Lady of Mertoun, 

 and he does not touch her, give him a rest and come 

 over him with the Toppy, and you have him to a 

 certainty, and vice-versa. This I hold to be an in- 

 valuable secret, and is the only change that, during 

 my long practice, I have found eminently successful. 



Another method of dressing No. 3, Toppy ; wing 

 feather from rump or tail of turkey, which is black 

 below and strongly marked with a white tip, to be 

 set on Tweed fashion (that is to say, the wings 

 parted and made to lie open like a butterfly's wings). 



" Body black mohair ; three turns of broad silver 

 tinsel. 



" Blue or black heron's neck-feather at the shoulder ; 

 if heron's feather cannot be procured, a good-sized 

 black cock's hackle ; orange or yellow wool, for tail." 



The long transparent bodies which are made in 

 imitation of the ephemeridce, and are rather more 

 admired by the fancy angler than by the fish, are 

 composed of small pieces of gut, whalebone, or other 

 similar material, which, after being cut to the proper 

 length, are fastened on at the shoulder, together with 

 a thin flat end of gut, such as comes in the covered 

 part of every hank, and which, after being well 

 soaked in warm water, has been smoothed down 

 with the finger nail. The latter, while still damp 

 and pliable, is wound evenly round the material of 

 10 



