FISHERMEN'S YARNS 89 



swallow, and up came the open mouth of the fish ; 

 into which, in pursuit of his prey, the swallow 

 pitched his head. The struggle was not long, but 

 pretty severe ; and the swallow was once or twice 

 nearly immersed, wings and all, in the water, before 

 he got himself disentangled from the sharp teeth of 

 the fish." It is true that the trout had no intention 

 of encountering the bird ; but every one knows that 

 pike will pull young ducks under the water, and 

 devour them. 



" The Tay trout," says John Crerar (I copy from 

 his MS.), " lives in that river all the year round. It 

 is a large and yellow fish, with a great mouth, and 

 feeds chiefly on salmon spawn, moles, mice, frogs, 

 &c. A curious circumstance once happened to me 

 at Pulney Loch. One of my sons threw a live 

 mouse into it, when a large trout took the mouse 

 down immediately. The boy told me what had 

 happened ; so I took my fishing rod, which was 

 leaning against my house close to the loch, and 

 put a fly on. At the very first throw I hooked a 

 large trout, landed it, and laid it on the walk : in 

 two seconds the mouse ran out of its mouth, and 

 got into a hole in the wall before I could catch it." 

 Thus far John Crerar. 



" The mouse that is content with one poor hole 

 Can never be a mouse of any soul. 1 '' 



I believe every author on the subject, from the 

 time of dear Isaak Walton to the present day, has 

 taken some pains to vindicate the amusement of 

 angling. For this purpose they have quoted men 

 eminent for humanity, illustrious for science, and 



