William Laivson. 87 



hardly be called a prose version of the 

 Secrets ; it consists of two or three only 

 of the chapters of that work, with some 

 from Leonard MascalFs book, and a few 

 additions given apparently from the prac- 

 tical experience of the compiler. 



WILLIAM LAWSON, ANGLER AND 

 WRITER. 



It is uncertain who made this compila 

 tion in 1614, whether Markham himself 

 or Lawson for him ; but about 1620 a 

 second edition of the Secrets in verse, 

 with notes by William Lawson, appeared, 

 and in the complete edition of Markham's 

 Cheape and Goode Husbandry, published 

 in 1631, called on the title-page "Fifth 

 Edition," we find the sixth book, " On 

 the Orchard, Garden, Bees, etc.," is by 

 William Lawson. In his dedication to 

 Sir Henry Belosses, Lawson mentions his 

 " 48 yeeres (and moe) experience in 

 the North of England," so that he was 

 probably a North-countryman. His very 

 practical additions to the Secrets, and his 

 " approved experiments," show clearly that 

 he was an angler accustomed to fishing 

 clear North-country streams. The follow- 

 ing remark of his reminds one of Cotton's 

 criticism of " southern " tackle : 



