MODERN TWEED-FLIES. 103 



body gold twist, and a large furnace hackle ; tail 

 and head, yellow mohair ; wings, light-brown of 

 the wing-feather of a bittern, and over their roots 

 blue jay hackle. Hook, No. 5. 



These last two flies dressed on No. 3. hooks, 

 will suit the Tweed in spring time. Of the 

 above six patterns, Mr. Scrope observes, *' I will 

 note one thing, which is, that if you rise a fish 

 with the Lady of Mertoun, and he does not touch 

 her, give him a rest, and come over him with the 

 Toppy, and you have him to a certainty, and vice 

 versa. This I hold to be an invaluable secret, 

 and is the only change that, during my long 

 practice, I have found eminently successful." 



Recently, somewhat gaudy-bodied flies, with 

 mixed wings, have killed well in the Tweed, 

 frequently better than the old standard flies. I 

 shall give a short list of these successful substi- 

 tutes. 



No. 1. Body, purple pig's hair; orange and red 

 tag, tipped with gold tinsel ; a topping for tail ; 

 body to be ribbed with silver tinsel and gold 

 twist, and to have a purple hackle struck from 

 the tags to the wings, over the shoulder of which 



H 4 



