The Fishing of Burns with the Wet Fly 19 



same trout, and the burn in spate, peaty 

 rather than muddy, the lure a worm on a 

 single bait-hook tied upon gut thick enough 

 to land a salmon, and skill nowhere ; that 

 wretched trout skulldragged out of the 

 drumly water, and thrown on the bank 

 by sheer force. And there, in a nutshell, 

 you have my idea of sport and of murder. 



I shall not touch on the latter subject 

 again. 



Such is the poetry of angling, and its 

 prose. 



My young friend, make your choice early. 

 It is surely enough to be a true disciple 

 of old Izaac Walton, to love angling for its 

 own sake, and to be content therewith. 



Believe me, for it is the truth, that 

 many "a record - breaker " is that, and 

 nothing else. He is " a miserable dog " if 

 he returns home unsuccessful, and quite 

 spiteful, if even his dearest friend has 

 " licked his head off," however fairly. 



Let me not be mistaken. Some of the 

 noblest and most unselfish of men and of 

 " fishers " (I love the old word) are also 

 record-breakers, at least occasionally. The 

 combination means the blue ribbon. 



And now to my hill-burn again. There 

 is but the one linn, and one other large, 



