TROUT FLIES. 79 



feather from various birds (say the body feather of 

 the grouse, of a lightish fine freckle, stripped off the 

 right side), and rolled round the head, or rather neck 

 of your fly, in the manner of a hackle. This imi- 

 tates the dishevelled wings of the natural fly, and is 

 technically called a spider fly, and some aver that 

 with it they have great success, of which I have no 

 doubt, as I have long known it much in vogue. 



I discovered my imitation of the Pale Yellow 

 Dun to be a killer thirty years before I really ascer- 

 tained its proper archetype or its name. At that 

 time, fishing along with a dear companion, now long 

 in his grave, on opposite sides of the Tweed, a little 

 above the Doup Roads, on the head of Mertoun 

 water, we, to prevent entanglement, took cast about, 

 our flies (though contrariwise) both alike sweeping 

 the same centre spot of heavy water ; and, in a circle 

 of within twenty yards diameter, he caught three 

 trouts, while, with one of the flies of my pair, I caught 

 fifty-four, which weighed twenty-four pounds. We 

 then examined that individual fly, which, in the 

 dressing up, I had accidentally varied from the rest 

 of our early spring flies, and we afterwards adopted 

 it as a first favourite a successful one. It was 

 nearly thirty years afterwards ere I learned that this 

 fly (accidentally on my part) proved to be the 

 " Pale Yellow Dun" of English anglers. 



