166 THE PRACTICAL FISHERMAN. 



The following are some of the dialectical names by which the salmo salar 

 is, or has been, known : Baggit, beikat, bluecap, bluepoll, brandling, 

 brandlin, chine, cudding, ehoe, farthing trout, fingerling, finnack, fork- 

 tail, gravelin, gravelling, gibfish, gilse, grilse, grilse-kelt, gowries, half- 

 fish, heppar, kelt, kepper-grilse, kilty, kipper, laspring, lax, lewin, ligger, 

 parr, pink, pug, rawner, salmon, salmon-peal, salmon- sprint, samlet, 

 sewen, silver salmon, simen, skeggar, skirling, smelt, smolt, smoot, 

 sparling, sprag, sprod, summer cock, and trotter. 



This list is from a glossary of fish names which the Dialect Society 

 contemplate publishing, under the editorship of Mr. Satchell, of Hamp- 

 stead. 



I shall now, for the convenience of myself as well as the reader, proceed 

 to trace the history of the salmon from the deposition of the ova, through 

 its parrhood, smolthood, and grilsehood, on to the period when it falls to 

 the fisherman an adult fish. 



First as to the ova. It is expedient to say that during early or late 

 spring the salmon commence to leave the estuaries of the rivers and 

 ascend for the purpose of depositing the eggs. These salmon are usually 

 at this time in the pink of condition, and are known as "clean-run" 

 fish. They have obtained an increase of size and quality by their preced- 

 ing residence in salt water, which on some occasions has amounted to- 

 as much as from 51b. to 91b. in a single journey. 



In selecting a river for ascension, it is a noticeable fact that salmon 

 seldom make a mistake as to whether it is that in which they passed 

 the early stages of their existence or not. It would seem as if either 

 the temperature or complexion, or some other quality in the water 

 flowing from the native stream of the salmon, was easily percep. 

 tible to it, for with a homing instinct which is also observable in 

 animals higher in the scale of organisation, it unerringly determines 

 to ascend to the haunts of its parrhood for the accomplishment of 

 its mission the Divine edict, "increase and multiply." However this 

 be, it is an indisputable fact that smolts which in the year pre- 

 ceding have been taken, marked, and returned to the water, have 

 been taken, in repeated cases, during the ensuing season, exhibiting the 

 astonishing increase alluded to. The order of the ascent of these clean- 

 ran parent fish seems to be, first, salmon, or the strong early runners ; 

 then the grilse ; and, lastly, the small " spring salmon," which have 

 probably never before ascended, but for a period of from eight to ten 

 months remained in the sea gathering size and strength, and conceiving 

 ova for the first deposit in its history. It may be useful at this stage 

 to explain what I had almost forgotten, namely, that the parr usually 

 puts on a " smelt dress," by which is meant a slightly different colouring 



