10 ANCIENT ANGLING AUTHORS 



true title, in these words, " Here in thys boke afore ar 

 contenyt the bokys 0/"haukyng and huntyng with other 

 plesuris dyuerse as in the boke apperis and also of 

 Cootarmuris, a nobull Werke. And here now endyth 

 the boke of blasyng of annys translatyt and compylyt 

 togedyr at Seynt Albons the yere from thincarnacion 

 of owre lorde Jhit Crist MCCCCLXXXVI. ... It 

 seems not, that Bale or Pits ever saw this original 

 edition, because they also mention with it, a book of 

 Fishing as of this Lady's writing ; which is not to be 

 met with, but in the second edition of these tracts, 

 printed by Wynkin de Worde at Westminster, in 

 folio 1496 ; and therein it is neither ascribed to her, 

 nor to any body else ; but only printed in this larger 

 volume of those subjects relating to the Gentry and 

 Nobility ; that every idle and ordinary person might 

 not be able to purchase it, as they would if it had 

 been published in a little pamphlet by itself." (" And 

 for by cause that this present treatyse sholde not 

 come to the hondys of eche ydle persone whyche 

 wolde desire it yf it were enpryntyd allone -by itself, 

 & put in a lytyll plaunflet therefore I haue compylyd 

 it in a greter volume of dyuerse bokys concernynge 

 to gentyll & noble men, to the entent that the 

 forsayd ydle persones whyche sholde haue but lytell 

 mesure in the sayd dysporte of fysshyng sholde 

 not by this meane utterly destroy e it") Treatyse of 

 ffysshynge. 



Kippis further ridicules the idea that Mrs Barnes 

 was " sister to Richard Lord Berners," and concludes 

 his attack as follows : 



And indeed, such a contrast of characters in one 

 person, is apt to raise very contesting ideas. One 

 cannot reconcile the notions those subjects inspire, 

 of their authors being so expert and so practised 

 in those robust and masculine exercises, with the 



