FLY-FISHING FOR TROUT 109 



one certain place for its abode, nor any certain kind of herb or 

 flower for its feeding '. 



43. buy a good wind. The superstition that Lapland witches 

 sold winds to seamen is a well-known tradition. Sir Walter 

 Scott knew an old woman at Stromness in 1814 who 'sold 

 winds ' at sixpence each. 



46. Marry ! For ' By Mary ' ! This petty oath was for many 

 years a survival from Roman Catholic times. 



60. as Solomon observes. Ecclesiastes, xi. 4. 



71. rains May butter. A shower that benefits the pasture. 



87. holy Mr. Herbert. The Rev. George Herbert, parson of 

 Bemerton, near Salisbury, author of The Temple, a collection 

 of religious and moral poems, of which the one quoted is a fine 

 specimen. Walton wrote a life of Herbert. 



115. primitive Christians, fyc. In the first chapter of The 

 Compleat Angler Walton writes : ' Of the apostles of our 

 Saviour, four were simple fishermen. He never reproved them 

 for their employment or calling, as He did the scribes and the 

 money-changers. He found that the hearts of such men, by 

 nature, were fitted for contemplation and quietness ; men of 

 mild, and sweet, and peaceable spirits, as indeed most anglers 

 are.' 



122. an even lay. An even wager. 



124. putting money to use. Laying it out to usury, or interest. 



128. Virgil's Tityrus, %c. See Virgil's first Eclogue 



Tityre, tu patulae recubans sub tegmine fagi, &c. 



138. Dr. Butler. Perhaps Dr. William Butler, physician and 

 humorist, a contemporary of Walton's own. Fuller, in his 

 Worthies, speaks of him as the uEsculapius of his age. He 

 belonged to Suffolk. 



144. Charles the Emperor. Charles V (1500-58). His great 

 victory in Italy was at Pavia, over Francis I, in 1525. 



150. our profit and their destruction. The allusion is to the 

 ruinous rates of interest charged by money-lenders (usurers). 



160. an ell long. Forty-five inches. 



162. at The George. An inn with the figure of St. George for 

 sign. A * George ', part of the insignia of a Knight of the 

 Garter, is a pendant with the figure of St. George in relief. 



