IRISH LOACH-TROLLING. 11 



could long remain undetected. If the rivalry of con- 

 temporary anglers be potent to conceal, the jealousy 

 of their brothers of the rod is equally powerful to dis- 

 cover, the quality of a favourite lure. The veil, con- 

 sequently, with which it was sought to guard the art 

 of loach-trolling from the knowledge of the unin- 

 itiated was not long in being penetrated. The 

 following account of the event is derived from the 

 principal actors in the transaction, with whom the 

 writer, in his youth, was long and intimately ac- 

 quainted. He merely uses the author's privilege to 

 reduce the information he received to a more con- 

 nected form. 



It is, then, about fifty-five years si rite remetior 

 astra since two men met on the high road which 

 tangentially touched the northern extremity of Lough 

 Lane a lake of moderate extent in Westmeath, but 

 famed at that time for the number, excellence, and 

 sporting qualities of its trout. One of these men 

 belonged to the old Irish constabulary, the other was 

 the occupant of some twenty or thirty acres of land, 

 overlooking the lake. They were proceeding in 

 opposite directions, and might have passed on with- 

 out further recognition than that implied in the usual 

 salutations of Irish peasants on such occasions. But 

 both being anglers and old friends, the meeting led 

 to a more protracted interview. The elder of the 

 two carried in his right hand a two-piece rod and a 



