vi Preface. 



living lyre," or the poetic element may remain 

 latent only, " mute and inglorious." That heredity 

 has little or no influence in the making of poets 

 would seem to be proved by the fact that their sons 

 and daughters so rarely inherit this peculiar gift of 

 their parents. So also it is sometimes asserted that 

 a successful brother of the gentle craft is a born 

 angler ; and in this case heredity may to some 

 extent be answerable for it, for the love of sport in 

 one form or another is a national characteristic of 

 nearly all Englishmen, and at the present time 

 fishing is by far the most popular of all pastimes. 

 An enthusiastic angler is always a worshipper of 

 the Great Creator in all his works, especially 



Where peaceful rivers, soft and slow, 

 Amidst the verdant landscape flow ; 



and he is very often a minor poet at heart, or he 

 likes to think so. 



The writer's forbears were certainly good anglers, 

 and he remembers many tales his grandfather told 

 of his exploits in the river Loddon near Shinfield, 

 in Berkshire, particularly one giving stirring 

 details of the capture of a 2 Sib. pike on gut tackle 

 the single hook being baited with a large live 

 roach. The fish was played, from a 12ft. moder- 

 ately stiff rod for about twenty minutes, and then, 

 completely exhausted, drawn on its side to a 

 smooth, gravelly shallow ford and there lifted out 

 * 



