76 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 



some breed only in the earth, as the earth-worm ; others of 

 or amongst plants, as the clung- worm ; and others breed either 

 out of excrements, or in the bodies of living creatures, as in 

 the horns of sheep or deer; or some of dead flesh, as the 

 maggot or gentle, and others. 



Now these be most of them particularly good for particular 

 fishes : but for the trout, the dew- worm, which some also 

 call the lob-worm, and the brandling, are the chief; and 

 especially the first for a great trout, and the latter for a less. 

 There be also of lob-worms some called squirrel-tails, a worm 

 that has a red head, a streak down the back, and a broad tail, 

 which are noted to be the best, because they are the toughest 

 and most lively, and live longest in the water : for you are to 

 know that a dead worm is but a dead bait, and like to catch 

 nothing, compared to a lively, quick, stirring worm : and for 

 a brandling, he is usually found in an old dunghill, or some 

 very rotten place near to it : but most usually in cow-dung, 

 or hog's dung, rather than horse- dung, which is somewhat too 

 hot and dry for that worm . But the best of them are to be 

 found in the bark of the tanners, which they cast up in heaps 

 after they have used it about their leather. 



There are also divers other kinds of worms, which for 

 colour and shape alter even as the ground out of which they 

 are got ; as the marsh-worm, the tag-tail, the flag-worm, the 

 dock-worm, the oak-worm, the gilt-tail, the twachel, or lob- 

 worm,'* which of all others is the most excellent bait for a 

 salmon ; and too many to name, even as many sorts as some 

 think there be of several herbs or shrubs, or of several kinds 

 of birds in the air ; of which I shall say no more, but tell you 



* To avoid confusion, it may be necessary to remark, that the same kind of 

 worm is, in different places, known by different names ; thus the marsh and 

 the meadow-worm are the same ; and the lob-worm or twachel is also called 

 the dew-worm, and the garden-worm ; and the dock-worm is, in some places, 

 called the flag-worm. 



The tag-tail is found in March and April, in marled lands or meadows, 

 after a shower of rain ; or in the morning, when the weather is calm, and not 

 cold. 



To find the oak-worm, beat on an oak-tree that grows over a high- way or 

 bare place, and they will fall for you to gather, 



To find the dock-worm, go to an old pond or pit, and pull up some of the 

 flags ; shake the roots in the water; and amongst the fibres that grow from the 

 roots you will find little husks, or cases, of a reddish or yellowish colour ; open 

 these carefully with a pin, and take from them a little worm, pale yellow, or 

 white, like a gentle, but longer and slenderer, with rows of feet down his belly, 

 and a red head : this is the dock or flag-worm. An excellent bait for grayling, 

 tench, bream, carp, roach, and dace. H. 



