128 A WORTHY PERSON EMBARRASSED. 



No. 6. 



Meg in her Braws. 



Wings - - - Light brown, from the wing of a bit- 



tern. 



Head ... Yellow wool. 



Next the head - - Mottled blue feather from a jay's 



wing. 



Body ... Brown wool mixed with bullock's hair. 



Towards the end of body Green wool ; next to that crimson 



wool. 



Tail . - - Yellow wool. 



Round the body - - Gold twist ; over that cock's hackle, 



black 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 invaluable secret, and 

 is the only change that during my long practice I have 

 found eminently successful. 



Having now named all things necessary for the sport, 

 I must now advise all fishermen, Cocknies in particular, 

 to provide themselves with plenty of spare tackle before 

 they go felicity hunting ; for in the wilds of Scotland it 

 is not easy to replace any loss that inexperience and ill 

 fortune may occasion. 



A friend of mind told me a circumstance, by which it 

 appeared that a very worthy person was considerably 

 embarrassed for want of this due precaution. This said 

 friend had been fishing in the river Shiel in Inverness- 

 shire, and was seated on a bank with a large salmon be- 

 fore him that he had just caught. He was eyeing the fish 

 with complacency, and smoking a cigar in all the enjoy- 



