38 To Catch the "Herne." 



holes, and then draw softly your pack- 

 threed line, and hold a while, and he will 

 yeelde if you do plucke hastely he will 

 holde so stiffe, ye shall breake your line, 

 or teare his mouth : there holde hard still 

 and at length he will yeelde, and come 

 forth. And where ye shall see any hole 

 in the bottome of a brooke or river, there 

 is like to lie an yeele, put there in your 

 proch, and he will soon byte if he be 

 there. Thus much for the order of the 

 proch hooke to take the Ye'ele." 



Mascall gives practical instructions not 

 only how to take fish, but also " how to 

 save and preserve" them "against such 

 devourers and raveners as hath and will 

 destroy them, as the Herne, Dobchicke, 

 the Coote, the Cormorant, the Sea-pie, 

 the Kingfisher and such like, and also the 

 Otter." 



To CATCH THE "HERNE." 



To take the heron, he recommends 

 baiting a hook with a minnow or other 

 small fish, and then fastening it to a 

 "greene" line or line the colour of the 

 water she haunts, and pegging it down, so 

 that she may have to wade half a foot 

 deep unto it, or else the kite or crow will 

 soon have it. 



