1 6 THE TROUT ARE RISING 



In the first chapter of "The Com pleat Angler," 

 Izaak Walton points out that in the Old Testa- 

 ment fish hooks are but twice mentioned, once by- 

 Moses and once by the prophet Amos ; though 

 Cruden's " Concordance" discloses, throughout the 

 Bible, many allusions to fish. But there is nothing 

 concerning fly-fishing therein. 



Nor indeed is there much to the purpose in 

 literature before the seventeenth century, when 

 Charles Cotton, who died in 1687, was about 

 the first to systematize the art in the second part 

 of " The Compleat Angler." Robert Venables, 

 however, and James Chetham in the same century 

 were hardly behind him as instructors. 



But it is not for me to attempt exploration 

 of the dark ages for the inventor of fly-fishing. 

 All I know about it is that he did later generations 

 of honest men a good turn ! And he certainly 

 bequeathed to them what the poet calls a " pleasing 

 madness." 



Many miles will the enthusiast travel by train, 

 by motor or cycle, sometimes even on foot a 

 fine performance, nowadays in order to get 

 trout-fishing. One of the best walking feats 

 accomplished for this object that I ever heard 

 of was that of Sir Charles Payton (" Sarcelle "), 

 formerly for many years British Consul at Calais, 

 who remembers walking from Worcester to Ten- 

 bury one night about fifty years ago, fishing next 

 day, and walking back in the evening, From 

 Worcester to Tenbury must be a good twenty- 

 one miles by road. As a schoolboy at Scarborough 



