328 Pike-Fishing. 



and Barker, in his 'Art of Angling/ tells us that 

 in his day (1651) it was " the greatest sport and 

 pleasure that a noble gentleman in Shropshire gave 

 his friends entertainment with." To me " trimmer- 

 ing " is a word of evil omen, and in pike-fishing as 

 in politics, is too suggestive of accommodation of 

 principle to profit, to find favour with the " honest " 

 angler. Many, indeed, in their love for true angling, 

 may be disposed to think that Mr Pennell was 

 not less just than he was severe, when, in his ' Book 

 of the Pike,' he thus sarcastically summarised his 

 instructions to any who aspired to the dignity of 

 a trimmer-fisher : " Procure a good supply of old 

 bottles, rusty hooks, and clothes-line, and the assist- 

 ance of the most notorious poacher and blockhead 

 in the neighbourhood, and the chances are that the 

 angler will find himself exactly fitted to his sport 

 both in tackle and companionship, without ' violat- 

 ing the bond of like to like.'" 



There is considerable diversity of opinion in 

 regard to the gastronomic merits of the pike. It 

 appears to have been held in much higher repute 

 both at home and abroad ages ago than it is now. 

 Many of our countrymen at the present day have a 

 strong repugnance to it, and cannot be prevailed 

 upon even to taste and see. Italians like it not, 

 and Spaniards will have none of it. In Germany, 

 too, it has fallen very much in estimation. But some 



