" Trout Tickling " and an Old-England Blizzard 



Here comes the trout that must be caught with tickling. 



— TwBLPTH Night. 



Up in the extreme north of England there is a 

 great stretch of moorlands, with here and there a 

 plantation of fir trees. Weardale, in the county of 

 Durham, is situated in this region, and among its hills 

 the Kiver Wear has its rise, rushing swiftly down its 

 rocky course to where it enters the sea at the great 

 shipping port of Sunderland, and, on its way, passing 

 the historic city of Durham with its grand cathedral, 

 and the town of Stanhope where the learned bishop 

 of Durham, Joseph Butler, lived and wrote his " Anal- 

 ogy of Keligion." 



The Wear is a stream well-fitted to stir up a man's 

 love for romance — if he has any — and to feed his 

 fancy for the musty doings of Antiquity. The river 

 flows through a limestone region abounding with rich 

 veins of lead ore which have been worked with profit 

 from time immemorial. The region also has large 

 coal deposits, and these, too, have been worked since 

 the days of Julius Caesar and are still inexhausted. 



All this is very true. But suppose " the man with 

 a love for romance " happens to be a " sport " ? 

 What cares he for the musty doings of Antiquity? 



310 



