Izaak Walton 



away in another part of England, and (sec- 

 ondly), that up to the time of the actual 

 writing of The Complete Angler, Walton's 

 familiarity with the famous Derbyshire 

 stream was but little to what it became 

 on the commencement of the friendship 

 between himself and Charles Cotton. It 

 was reserved for Cotton, the writer of 

 the second part of the book, to introduce 

 the unrivalled beauties of the Dove to the 

 notice of the reader, and for him to whet 

 the appetites of generations of anglers for 

 a taste of its pleasures. 



Cotton was born in 1630, and was thus 

 just forty-three years the junior of Walton. 

 His father was a man of estate and un- 

 common mental accomplishments. His 

 mother belonged to a well-known Derby- 

 shire family, which included among its 

 possessions the estates of Beresford and 

 Euson in that county, the former being in 

 close proximity to the quaint old town 

 of Ashbourne (Dr. Johnson, it is said, wrote 

 his Rasselas here), and near to the river 

 Dove. Young Cotton was sent to Cam- 

 bridge about the usual age, where, we are 

 told, " he did not betake himself to any 

 lucrative profession," and, on returning 

 home, " addicted himself to the lighter 

 kind of study, and the improvement of a 

 296 



