TRENT FISHING. 19 



scenes. None but a contemplative angler can thoroughly 

 enjoy the beauties of its landscapes, and the river itself, flow- 

 ing 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, 

 however, commit myself on this subject, but leave it an open 

 question. 



As this little book more particularly relates to the Not- 

 tingham style of fishing, it may be as well here to describe 

 the method and the various appliances required for its suc- 

 cessful practice. In the first place we will take the rod. 

 Now, a Nottingham bottom fisher's rod is an article on which 

 he very much prides himself. It has to be tapered, from 

 the butt to the point, to a nicety, and be as light as possible, 

 with a spring in it that will hook a roach by a single turn of 

 the wrist. No heavy clumsy rod is found in the hands of a 

 first-rate Nottingham fisher ; it has to be nicely balanced, or 

 else he discards it at once and selects another. My favourite 

 rod was made expressly for me, so if I explain its construction 

 you will see at once the sort of rod used by a Nottingham bot- 

 tom fisher. It is made in three joints ; the butt is of the best 

 red deal, the middle piece of the same wood and lancewood, 

 spliced together about one-third the distance from the top 

 ferrule, and the top piece is made entirely of lancewood. It 

 is a little over twelve feet in length, and it combines light- 



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