390 THE COMPLETE ANGLE11. [PART II. 



downwards which grew uppermost before, upon the back of 

 the hook, leaving so much only as to serve for the length of 

 the wing of the point of the plume lying reversed from the 

 end of the shank upwards : then whip your silk twice or 

 thrice about the root-end of the feather, hook, and towght. 

 "Which being done, clip off the root-end of the feather close 

 by the arming, and then whip the silk fast and firm about 

 the hook and towght, until you come to the bend of the 

 hook : but not further, as you do at London, and so make a 

 very unhandsome, and, in plain English, a very unnatural 

 and shapeless fly. "Which being done, cut away the end of 

 your towght, and fasten it. And then take your dubbing 

 which is to make the body of your fly, as much as you think 

 convenient ; and, holding it lightly with your hook betwixt 

 the finger and thumb of your left-hand, take your silk 

 with the right, and twisting it betwixt the finger and 

 thumb of that hand, the dubbing will spin itself about the 

 silk, which when it has done, whip it about the armed-hook 

 backward, till you come to the setting on of the wings. And 

 then take the feather for the wings, and divide it equally 

 into two parts ; and turn them back towards the end of the 

 hook, the one on the one side, and the other on the other of 

 the shank, holding them fast in that posture betwixt the fore- 

 finger and thumb of your left hand. Which done, warp 

 them so down as to stand and slope towards the bend of 

 the hook ; and having warped up to the end of the shank, 

 hold the fly fast betwixt the finger and thumb of your left- 

 hand, and then take the silk betwixt the finger and thumb 

 of your right hand, and, where the warping ends, pinch or 

 nip it with your thumb-nail against your finger, and strip 

 away the remainder of your dubbing from the silk ; and 

 then, with the bare silk, whip it once or twice about, make 

 the wings to stand in due order, fasten, and cut it off: after 

 which, with the point of a needle raise up the dubbing 

 gently from the warp ; twitch off the superfluous hairs of 

 your dubbing ; leave the wings of an equal length, your 

 fly will never else swim true ; and the work is done. And 

 this way of making a fly, which is certainly the best of all 

 other, was taught me by a kinsman of mine, one Captain 

 Henry Jackson, a near neighbour, an admirable fly-angler ; 

 by many degrees the best fly-maker that ever I yet met 



