i6 5 



CHAPTER VII. 



WORM-FISHING. 



" Ay me ! what perils do environ 

 The fish that meddles with cold iron ! " 



Hudibras, adapted. 



rPHE worm has always been a favourite lure. 

 Most probably it was our first. Did we not, 

 when schoolboys, betake ourselves on a holiday to 

 the nearest burn, and there, with deepest cunning, 

 lie in wait for simple minnows, behind a lob-worm 

 on a bent pin ? But though we have doubtless all 

 got beyond the pin, many of the fraternity of ang- 

 lers have not yet outgrown their first love for the 

 worm, but still find in it their be-all and end-all. 

 This reveals lamentable want of taste, and almost 

 unpardonable ignorance of the surpassing charms 

 of fly-fishing. While Stewart justly assigns the 

 first place in scientific angling to the artificial fly, 

 he is nevertheless a very valiant champion of the 

 rights of the worm. He says that many of his 



