THE POETRY OF FLY FISHING. 229 



sical volume on fish and fishing. Pliny in his ' ' Historia 

 Naturalis" treats at length of the finny tribes, and 

 Ansonius in his poem, "Mostella," describes the tench, 

 salmon and other varieties of fish. 



Among the early contributions to English literature 

 on angling, the " Poeticae," generally attributed to a 

 Scottish balladist known as Blind Harry, is conspicu- 

 ous. Then the " Boke of St. Albans," by Dame Juliana 

 Berners, and quaint .old Izaak Walton's "Compleat 

 Angler " a brace of classic volumes dear to the heart 

 of all who love the rod and reel. 



In modern times the literature of angling has had 

 scores of staunch and able supporters among the writers 

 of Britain and our own land. Sir Humphry Davy's 

 " Salmonia " ; Christopher North's essays on angling, in 

 " Noctes Ambrosianae " ; Stoddart's Angling Songs ; 

 all these and a score of others are familiar to rodsters 

 on both sides of the Atlantic. The clever poet and 

 satirist, Tom Hood, discourses thus in praise of the 

 gentle art : 



" Of all sports ever sported, commend me to angling. 

 It is the wisest, virtue usest, discreetest, best; the safest, 

 cheapest, and in all likelihood the oldest of pastimes. 

 It is a one-handed game that would have suited Adam 

 himself ; and it was the only one by which Noah could 

 have amused himself in the ark. Hunting and shoot- 

 ing come in second and third. The common phrase, 

 'fish, flesh and fowl,' clearly hints at this order of pre- 

 cedence. * * * To refer to my own experience, I 



