CHAPTER III. 



ANGLING AS A MEDICINE. 



Yf a man lacke leche or medicyne he fhall make thre 

 thynges his leche and medicyne : and he fhall nede neuer no 

 moo. The fyrfte of theym is a mery thought. The feconde is 

 labour not outrageo. The thyrde is dyete mefurable. Fyrfte 

 that yf a man wyll euer more be in mery thoughtes and have 

 a glad fpyryte, he mult efchevve all contraryous company, and 

 all places of debate where he myghte haue any occafyons of 

 malencoly. And yf he woll haue a labour not outrageo 

 he muft thenne ordeynehim to his hertys eafe and pleafaunce, 

 vvythout ftudye, penfyfneffe or traueyle, a mery occupacyon, 

 which may rejoyce his herte : and in vvhyche his fpyrytes may 

 haue a mery delyte. And yf he woll be dyetyd mefurably, he 

 muft efchewe all places of ryotte whyche is caufe of furfette 

 and fykneffe: and he muft drawe him to places of fwete ayre 

 and hungry : and ete nourifhable meetes and dyffyable alfo. 

 \Treatife of Fyfjhynge with an Angle, 1496. 



CONCUR with those who speak 

 of the pastime of angling as a 

 medicine, not alone from my own 

 experience, although that may 

 count for something, but from 

 the great number of strong men 

 with whom I have been brought 

 in intimate contact during my 

 more than thirty years of out- 

 door life, and who, from their 

 youth up, have found nothing so invigorating as 

 the pure air of the mountains ; nothing so sooth- 



