INTRODUCTORY 5 



Besides the mere pleasure of fishing, however, 

 angling has more varied attractions than almost any 

 other amusement. To the lover of nature no sport 

 affords so much pleasure. The grandest and most 

 picturesque scenes in nature are to be found on the 

 banks of rivers and lakes. The angler, therefore, 

 enjoys the finest scenery the country offers ; and, 

 whereas other sportsmen are limited to particular 

 places and seasons, he can follow his vocation alike 

 on Lowland stream or Highland loch, and during 

 the whole six months in which the country is most 

 inviting. From April, with her budding trees and 

 singing birds, to May and June, with their meadows 

 decked with the daisy and the primrose, and breezes 

 scented with the hawthorn and wild thyme, and on 

 to autumn, with her " fields white unto the harvest," 

 he sees all that is beautiful all that is exhilarating 

 all that is grand and elevating in this world of 

 ours, which, whatever people may say, is not such a 

 bad world after all, if they would only keep bleach- 

 fields and blackguards off the rivers 1 banks. 



With this brief remm6 of some of the principal 

 attractions of angling we must content ourselves. 

 We have neither space, inclination, nor ability, to 

 do justice to this branch of the subject. Further- 

 more, it is unnecessary, as the ground in this respect 

 is already fully occupied ; and if any one wishes to 

 have all the joys of angling set forth in genuine old 

 English style, let him read Izaak Walton, " being 

 a discourse on fish and fishing not unworthy the 

 perusal of most anglers."" Here may be found a 



