44$ THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 



then open him, and having taken out his guts and all the 

 blood, wipe him very clean within, but wash him not, and 

 give him three scotches with a knife to the bone, on one 

 side only. After which take a clean kettle, and put in as 

 much hard stale beer (but it must not be dead), vinegar, and 

 a little white wine and water, as will cover the fish you in- 

 tend to boil ; then throw into the liquor a good quantity of 

 salt, the rind of a lemon, a handful of sliced horse-radish 

 root, with a handsome light faggot of rosemary, thyme, and 

 winter savory. Then set your kettle upon a quick fire of 

 wood, and let your liquor boil up to the height before you 

 put in your fish ; and then, if there be many, put them in 

 one by one, that they may not so cool the liquor as to make 

 it fall. And whilst your fish is boiling, beat up the butter 

 for your sauce with a ladleful or two of the liquor it is boil- 

 ing in. And being boiled enough, immediately pour the 

 liquor from the fish; and being laid in a dish, pour your 

 butter upon it ; and strewing it plentifully over with shaved 

 horse-radish and a little pounded ginger, garnish the sides 

 of your dish, and the fish itself, with a sliced lemon or two, 

 and serve it up. 



A grayling is also to be dressed exactly after the same 

 manner, saving that he is to be scaled, which a trout never 

 is ; and that must be done either with one's nails, or very 

 lightly and carefully with a knife, for fear of bruising the 

 fish. And note, that these kinds of fish, a trout especially, 

 if he is not eaten within four or five hours after he be taken, 

 is worth nothing. 



But come, Sir, I see you have dined ; and therefore, if 

 you please, we will walk down again to the little house, and 

 there I will read you a lecture of angling at the bottom. 



