" Give me a supple fly-rod, equip me in all respects in light 

 marching order, introduce me to a few miles of stream that 

 meanders through flowery mead and leafy dell ; that now rolls 

 dark and deep and anon splashes and foams over stones and 

 shallows ; that at every bend opens up a new prospect ; that 

 brings me here to a rustic, weather-browned footbridge, and 

 there to a ford through which the ploughman or harvestman 

 takes his team ; or to a simple hamlet, perfumed with wood 

 fire, thatch and homeliness, where morning newspapers are 

 unknown ; thence into the sheltered glade, and, by smiling 

 homestead, away from the haunts of man ; give me all this 

 on a day when the larks sing loud and untiringly, and the 

 insects rehearse in happy chorus ; when ' waves of shadow ' 

 pass over the glad fields and woods, and all God's beautiful 

 earth seems to murmur in grateful softness of spirit give me 

 this and you present to me one of the masterful attractions of 

 what has been so appropriately termed the ' contemplative 

 man's recreation.' I shall like it all the better, to be sure, 

 if my fly be not cast upon the water in vain ; but in no case 

 shall I bewail the day as a positive blank." 



WILLIAM SENIOR (Red Spinner), "Waterside Sketches." 



