HESDIN. 207 



a very interesting place ; it was once a town of considerable 

 strength, and great military importance, but was almost 

 entirely destroyed by the Spaniards under Charles V. 

 Its chief charm, however, in the eyes of the angler, 

 will arise from its favourable position for trout-fishing, 

 and for the sport which is to be obtained in its 

 vicinity. 



If the angler choose to descend the Canche from 

 Hesdin, he will find the waters excellent, either for 

 minnow, red- worm, or fly. A friend of ours caught 

 twenty fine trout within a space of one hundred yards, 

 near one of the mills on the stream ; and performances of 

 this kind are by no means uncommon. Indeed the 

 magnitude and richness of the Canche trout are cele- 

 brated all over the country. Some have been caught from 

 seven to nine pounds in weight, and as firm and rosy as 

 the finest salmon. About four miles below Hesdin, the 

 Canche receives the Planquette, which abounds with trout 

 and runs a course of about twelve or fourteen miles from 

 a village called Planche. A little below the junction of 

 the Planquette, another rivulet runs into the Canche, 

 which also deserves the attention of the angler. 



At Buchamps, or Planche, where the river Planquette 

 or Planchette takes its rise, the English angler will surely 

 turn aside to gaze on the celebrated plain which adjoins 

 the quiet village of Azincour. He will enter the little 

 church, and read on its humble walls the monumental 

 record of those who perished on that dreadful battle-field ; 

 he will listen with absorbing interest to the faithful 

 traditions, which, after the lapse of four hundred years, 

 still linger amongst the peasantry ; and standing on the 

 green mounds, beneath whose verdant pall repose the 

 bones of the vanquished on the memorable 25th of Octo- 



