234 Grayling-Fishing. 



a "grayling-fisher who knows anything about it," 

 then I may be permitted to disclaim, for myself at 

 least, any share in this opinion ; and I am convinced 

 that, among those entitled to the doubtful honour, 

 I am not alone in my low estimate of the fish. But 

 perhaps neither my opinion, nor my title to give it, 

 will be regarded as quite admissible by a writer who, 

 in the year of grace 1884, assures us that "the 

 grayling is not found in Scotland." 1 



Something perhaps may be allowed to it on the 

 score of form, but I would assuredly never go so 

 far as to hold with Mr Pennell, that " the grayling 

 has the beauty of Apollo light, delicate, and grace- 

 fully symmetrical ; " or with Mr Eonalds, that it is 

 " more elegantly formed than the trout ; " or with 

 Mr Bullock, in the 'Fishing Gazette,' that it is 

 " the queenly grayling ; " or even with Mr Francis, 

 that " if the trout be the gentleman of the stream, 

 the grayling is certainly the lady." True, the 

 grayling has a smaller head than the trout, and 

 an inviting delicacy of lip ; but such admittedly 

 feminine charms are more than counterbalanced 

 by its broader shoulders, its Eoman nose, and the 

 sinister expression of its " lozenge-shaped " eye. 



But even if we grant all the elegance and sym- 

 metry of form that are claimed for the grayling, 

 much more is required ere we can regard its capture 

 1 Recollections of Fly-Fishing for Salmon, &c., p. 189. 



