98 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. PART i. 



knew carps come to a certain place in a pond, to be fed, at the 

 ringing of a bell, or the beating of a drum ; and however, it shall 

 be a rule for me to make as little noise as I can when I am fish- 

 ing, until Sir Francis Bacon be confuted, which I shall give any 

 man leave to do. 



And, lest you may think him singular in his opinion, I will 

 tell you, this seems to be believed by our learned Dr. Hake will, 

 who, in his Apology of GocPs Power and Providence ', fol. 360, 

 quotes Pliny to report that one of the emperors had particular 

 fish-ponds, and in them several fish that appeared and came 

 when they were called by their particular names ; and St. James 

 tells us (chap. iii. 7) that all things in the sea have been tamed 

 by mankind. And Pliny tells us (lib. ix. 35) that Antonia, the 

 wife of Darsus, had a lamprey, at whose gills she hung jewels or 

 ear-rings; and that others have been so tender-hearted as to 

 shed tears at the death of fishes which they have kept and loved. 

 And these observations, which will to most hearers seem wonder- 

 ful, seem to have a further confirmation from Martial (lib. iv. 

 Epigr. 30), who writes thus 



"Piscator^fiig ; ne nocens" etc. 



" Angler ! wouldst them be guiltless ? then forbear; 

 For these are sacred fishes that swim here, 

 Who know their sovereign, and will lick his hand; 

 Than which none's greater in the world's command : 

 Nay more, they've names, and, when they called are, 

 Do to their several owners' call repair." 



All the further use that I shall make of this shall be, to advise 

 anglers to be patient and forbear swearing, lest they be heard, 

 and catch no fish. 



And so I shall proceednextJto^Jej^^Uj^it^ is certain, that 

 certain fields near Leominster, a town in Herejjordshire, are 

 observed to make. the sheep that graze upon them more fat than 

 the next, and also to bear finer wool ; that is to say that that 

 year in which they feed in such a particular pasture, they shall 

 yield finer wool than they did that year before they came to feed 

 in it, and coarser again if they shall return to their former 



