The Fishing of Burns with the Wet Fly 19 



same trout, and the burn in spate, peaty 

 rather than muddy, the lure a worm on a 

 single bait-hook tied upon gut thick enough 

 to land a salmon, and skill nowhere ; that 

 wretched trout skulldragged out of the 

 drumly water, and thrown on the bank 

 by sheer force. And there, in a nutshell, 

 you have my idea of sport and of murder. 



I shall not touch on the latter subject 

 again. 



Such is the poetry of angling, and its 

 prose. 



My young friend, make your choice early. 

 It is surely enough to be a true disciple 

 of old Izaac Walton, to love angling for its 

 own sake, and to be content therewith. 



Believe me, for it is the truth, that 

 many "a record-breaker" is that, and 

 nothing else. He is " a miserable dog" if 

 he returns home unsuccessful, and quite 

 spiteful, if even his dearest friend has 

 " licked his head off," however fairly. 



Let me not be mistaken. Some of the 

 noblest and most unselfish of men and of 

 "fishers" (I love the old word) are also 

 record-breakers, at least occasionally. The 

 combination means the blue ribbon. 



And now to my hill-burn again. There 

 is but the one linn, and one other large, 



