THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 109 



of speckled fowl, I say, having those with him in a bag, * and 

 trying to make a fly, though he miss at lirst, yet shall he at last 

 hit it better, even to such a perfection as none can well teach 

 him. And if he hit to make his fly right, and have the luck to 

 hit, also, where there is store of Trouts, a dark day, and a right 

 wind, he will catch such store of them as will encourage him to 

 grow more and more in love with the art of fly-making. 



Venator. But, my loving master, if any wind will not serve, 

 then I wish I were in Lapland, to buy a good wind of one of 

 the honest witches, that sell so many winds there, and so 

 cheap. 



Piscator. Marry, scholar, but I would not be there, nor 

 indeed from under this tree : for look how it begins to rain, 

 and by the clouds, if I mistake not, we shall presently have a 

 smoking shower ; and therefore sit close ; this sycamore tree 

 will shelter us : and I will tell you, as they shall come into my 

 mind, more observations of fly-fishing for a Trout. 



But first for the wind : you are to take notice, that of the 



filmert ; a hare, from the neck, where it is of the colour of withered fern ; 

 and above all, the yellow fur of the martern, from off the gills or spots 

 under the jaws. All these, and almost every other kind of fur, are easily 

 got at the furrier's. 



Hackles are a very important article in fly-making- ; they are the long 

 slender feathers that "hang from the head of a cock down his neck ; there 

 may also be fine ones got from near his tail ; be careful that they are not 

 too rank, which they are when the fibres are more than half an inch long, 

 and for some purposes these are much too big ; be provided with these of 

 the following colours, namely, red, dun, yellowish, white, orange, and 

 perfect black ; and whenever you meet, alive or dead, with the cock of the 

 game breed, whose hackle is of a strong brown-red, never fail to buy him : 

 but observe, that the feathers of a cock chicken, be they ever so fine for 

 shape and colour, are good for little, for they are too downy and weak to 

 stand erect after they are once wet, and so a're those of the bantam cock. 



Feathers are absolutely necessary for the wings and other parts of flies : 

 get therefore feathers from the back and other parts of the wild mallard, 

 or drake ; the feathers of a partridge, especially those red ones that are in 

 the tail ; feathers from a cock pheasant's breast and tail ; the wings of a 

 blackbird, a brown hen, of a starling, a jay, a land-rail, a throstle, a field- 

 fare, and a water-coot ; the feathers from the crown of the pewit, plover, 

 or lapwing ; green and copper-coloured peacock's, and black ostrich, 

 herle ; feathers from a heron's neck and wings. And remember, that, in 

 most instances, where the drake's or wild mallard's feather is hereafter 

 (in the text) directed, that from a starling's wing will do much better, as 

 being of a finer grain, and less spongy. 



Be provided with marking silk of all colours ; fine, but very strong, 

 flaw-silk ; gold and silver flatted wire, or twist ; a sharp knife ; hooks 

 of all sizes; hog's bristles for loops to your flies; shoemaker's wax; a 

 large needle to raise your dubbing, when flatted with working; and 

 a small, but sharp pair of scissars. 



And lastly, if any materials required in the subsequent lists of flies may 

 have been omitted in the foregoing catalogue, be careful to add them to 

 your former stock, as often as you shall find any such omissions. 



Remember, with all your dubbing, to mix bear's hair and hog's wool, 

 which are stiff, and not apt to imbibe the water, as the fine furs and most 

 other kind of dubbing do j and remember also, that martern's fur is tin- 

 best yellow you can use. 



* To be purchased at the tackle shops. J. R. 



