24 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER. 



inches, to one the thickness of a crow quill. In the 

 hand its very proportions should be felt. A movement 

 of the wrist ought to determine it, detecting every ten- 

 dency to top-heaviness every want of perfect equality. 

 The common materials of a rod in Scotland are ash, 

 hickory, and lancewood. Of the first of these, the 

 butt-piece is made ; the other two are used indiscrimi- 

 nately for the upper parts. We have seen fir butts 

 employed ; but, though lighter, they will not bear hol- 

 lowing as ash does, and, moreover, are easily broken. 

 Still, for a long salmon tie rod we greatly recommend 

 them, if made within a third of the whole length. A 

 good rod ought to bend easily, and revert at once to 

 its original straightness ; its ferrules should be strongly 

 fixed on, and carefully fitted together. A single knot 

 in the wood condemns it ; let all the lengths, therefore, 

 be diligently seen to. Notice also the colouring matter, 

 for some rod-makers use vitriol, which devours the 

 wood, and takes from its pliability. Vegetable sub- 

 stances make the best dyes for rods, which are gene- 

 rally finished off with a coat of varnish. The rings 

 should be large, and extend gradually, in number from 

 fourteen to eighteen. Of Scottish rods, we prefer 

 such as were made by the late Mr Phin of Edinburgh, 

 whose relict still carries on the manufacture ; also those 

 of Mackenzie and Ancill of Perth. We have likewise 

 seen good serviceable rods made by Mr Thomas Grieve 

 of Peebles. London and Dublin furnish by far the 

 finest make of all sorts of fishing gear. The most ce- 

 lebrated shops are, in London, those of Chevalier, 

 Templebar ; Bond, Cannon Street ; Ustonson and 

 Willingham : in Dublin, Martin Kelly, and Murray. 

 The manner of disengaging the ferrules of rods when 

 tight and swollen in the wood with rain or moisture, 

 is not generally known. The application of a lighted 



