THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 215 



Ven. Then, good Master, let it be at , for he is nearest to 



my dwelling ; and I pray let us meet there the ninth of May 

 next, about two of the clock, and I'll want nothing that a fisher 

 should be furnished with. 



you either to Charles Brandon's (near to the Swayi in Golding lane) , 

 or to Mr. Fletcher's in the Court, which did once belong to Dr. JVowel, 

 the Dean of PaiiFs, that I told you was a good man, and a good Fisher; it 

 is hai'd by the west end of Saint PaxiVs Church ; they be both honest men, 

 and will fit an angler with what tackling hee wants. Viat. Then, good 

 Master, let it be at Charles Brandon" &c. In the second edition, after 

 speaking of Fletcher, our author adds : " But if you would have choice hooks, 

 I will one day walk with you to Charles Kerbye's in Harp alley in Shoe- 

 lane, who is the most exact and best hook-maker that the nation affords." 



The text has been taken from the fifth edition (1676), " at which time," 

 Sir Harris Nicholas thinks, " Brandon, Fletcher and Kerbye were pro- 

 bably dead." Why Walton left Kirby's name out of his last edition is 

 beyond our conjecture, but he was not dead at the time, for in the first 

 edition of The Angler's Vade Mecum (Chetham's), 16SI, there is an ad- 

 vertisement, " The choicest hooks are made by Mr. Charles Kirby in 

 Globe Court in Shoe lane, London ;" and in the third edition of the same 

 work there is another advertisement of Will. Browne at the sign of the 

 Fish in Black Horse alley near Fleet street, " who selleth all sorts of Fish- 

 ing Tackle, also Charles Kirby's hooks, &c.," to which is added: " Note, 

 That Kirby's hooks are known by the fineness of the wyer and strength, 

 and many shops sells counterfeits of his, which proves prejudicial to the 

 user." It is said that Kirby learnt the secret of tempering the steel for 

 his hooks from the celebrated Prince Rupert (son of the King of Bohemia 

 and Elizabeth daughter of James, who, under Charles II., commanded the 

 English fleet against the Dutch). This is probable, as the prince was 

 much given to practical science, among other evidences of which was his 

 discovery of mezzotint engraving from seeing a soldier scraping a rusty 

 musket barrel. (See Evelyn's Sciilptura.) There was a succession of 

 Kirbys, Hawkins says, " The method of tempering hooks communicated 

 to Charles Kirby by Prince Rupert, has been continued in his family ever 

 since, there being a lineal descendant of his now (1760) living in Crow- 

 ther's well-alley near Aldersgate street." This was John Kirby, whose 

 portrait, as" The Celebrated Angler," is prefixed to The Angler's Museum 

 by Shirley, in which work he (Kirby) is supposed to have assisted, 1764. 



The Kirby hooks are distinguished by the fineness of the steel, and by the 

 point being turned towards the left, from the bend. This has the advan- 

 tage of hooking in some cases more certainly ; though Williamson {Com- 

 plete Angler's Vade Mecum, 180S), no mean authority, prefers the point 

 that stands perfectly upright, thinks that the Kirby often fails in striking, 

 and makes too large a cut, which often loses a fish. Chitty (South's Fly- 



