90 SALMON FISHING IN THE TWEED 



famed for high achievement — philosophers, warriors, 

 divines, — who have been dear lovers of the sport. 1 

 But does it require this vindication ? For myself, 

 far from being surprised that distinguished men 

 have delighted in fishing, I only wonder that any 

 man can be illustrious who does not practise 

 either angling or field sports of some sort or 

 another. They all demand skill and enterprise. 

 If you ask me to reconcile angling to reason, you 

 may possibly distress me. It is an instinct, a 

 passion, and a powerful one, originally given to 

 man for the preservation of his existence. The 

 waters as well as the land yield forth their increase. 

 In the joyless regions of the north, when the bear 

 famishes on the iceberg, and the gaunt wolf howls 

 amongst the snow-drifts, the miserable tenant of 

 the land stalks along the desolate shores, and with 

 his javelin, or hooks of bone, acquires by his rude 

 skill a precarious subsistence for his family. Ever- 

 lasting winter has stamped her iron foot upon the 

 soil : the snow whitens all interminably, except 

 where the blasts drive it from the face of the bleak 

 rocks ; and without this resource he must perish, — 

 he and his sad family together. Even so it is 

 ordained from above. 



Thrice happy are we, who live in a more genial 

 climate, and who inherit the instinct given to our 

 less fortunate fellow-creatures, and exercise it not 



1 When Sir Humphrey Davy was at Gisburn, the late Lord 

 Ribblesdale took him to see the celebrated Gorsdale Rocks, expecting 

 they would astonish and interest him, and call forth some very learned 

 remarks ; but the great philosopher noticed only the stream beneath 

 them, which he scrutinised minutely, saying he was sure there were no 

 fish in it, or he should have discovered them. 



