TRENT FISHING. ^ 21 



under-Line. At first it makes a circular turn towards the 

 south-east, bending to the south, as far as within ten miles 

 of Tamworth, where it receives the Tame, flowing through 

 that town. Afterwards the Trent runs north-east, towards 

 Burton-upon-Trent, a little beyond which it is enlarged by 

 the waters of the Dove, which flow from a north-west direc- 

 tion. After this the Trent receives the Derwent, which 

 descends from the mountainous parts of Derbyshire, and the 

 whole of these waters collectively flow towards the north by 

 Nottingham and Newark to the Humber. The Trent has 

 an entire course of two hundred and fifty . miles, and is 

 navigable for one hundred and seventy miles from the 

 Humber, and, by means of canals, has a communication with 

 many of the most important rivers of the kingdom. This 

 long river flows through a country rich in natural beauty and 

 splendid scenes. None but a contemplative angler can tho- 

 roughly enjoy the beauties of its landscapes, and the river 

 itself, flowing along in its silent majesty, except where it 

 tumbles and boils over some weir, or dashes along over the 

 stones of the shallows, suggests to the mind of the angler 

 some of those delicious trains of thought which all who have 

 practised this glorious art experience. 



How the Trent obtained its name has been a question 

 that has been discussed many times, and never, I think, 

 satisfactorily explained. The origin of the name seems to 

 me to be a long way back, and to be nearly, if not quite, 

 lost in the mists of antiquity. An old legend connects the 

 name Trent with " Trente," meaning thirty ; and perhaps 

 that solution of the question may be the correct one ; for we 

 are told that " thirty streams flow down the Trent ; " that 

 " thirty abbeys used to stand upon the banks," and that 

 *' thirty different fish are found in its waters;" and perhaps 

 with these thirties staring us in the face we may come to 

 the conclusion that it really does mean "thirty." I will not, 



