TlClillfam Scrope 445 



1886 one of 57 J Ibs., in 1889 one of 53 Ibs., in 1891 one 

 of 51 J Ibs., and fish of 40 Ibs. and upwards are killed by 

 anglers in these waters every autumn. The angler who 

 lands one of 30 Ibs. or 35 Ibs. does not think that he 

 has done anything unusual. Doubtless, as Sir Herbert 

 Maxwell suggests, the improvement in the size of the 

 fish is owing to the protection of keifs z>., adult fish 

 which have spawned and are unfit for food. 



And here I take my leave of William Scrope and his 

 two delightful books, which have afforded a great fund 

 of pleasure to many a good sportsman dead and gone. 

 Charles Kingsley, I remember, was amongst the most 

 ardent of Scrope's admirers, and called him " a prince 

 among sportsmen." New and handsome editions of 

 "The Art of Deer-stalking " and "Days and Nights of 

 Salmon-fishing" have been recently issued, and the 

 sportsman of to-day may, an it so please him, dip into 

 the pages which enthralled his father and grandfather, 

 though, in his lordly consciousness of superiority in 

 sport, he can hardly be expected to bring the same zest 

 to his reading as they did. 



Of William Scrope himself there is little more to tell. 

 He died, in his seventy-first year, on July 2Oth, 1852, at 

 his London house in Belgrave Square. He was the 

 last male representative of his ancient line. His only 

 daughter married George Julius Poulet, who assumed 

 the name and arms of the Scropes, and added some 

 lustre to the house of his adoption by his distinguished 

 career as a geologist and political economist. 



