17 



three pounds weight, skeggers? I do not 

 think there is a single skegger amongst 

 them. 



Bell. There you are wrong and prove 

 that you are better acquainted with Izaak 

 Walton than with the trouts of the Coquet, 

 notwithstanding the numerous visits you 

 have paid to this part of the country. 

 The trout which Walton describes as the 

 samlet, or skegger, is the small brandling 

 trout of the Coquet ; but the trout which 

 we here call the skegger is a large one, 

 almost like a bull trout, and the name is 

 derived from an old word, " to skug" to 

 seek covert or shelter; for these trouts are 

 mostly found under the shadow of a bank or 

 projecting rock, and they are by some called 

 alder or alter trouts, in consequence of their 

 haunting the roots of alder trees, that grow 

 by the side of the stream. Since I have 

 alluded to etymologies, I must go one step 

 farther to notice that " skug" is most 

 probably derived from the Mceso-Gothic 



