8 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 



the disposal of a man tied, as I am, to the cares and 

 anxieties of business and even an angler might 

 well shirk the patient labour which it involved 

 so, after entertaining the idea for some time, I let 

 it drop. 



But in October, 1884, my brother anglers did me 

 the very undeserved honour of placing me in the 

 chair at the dinner of Yorkshire Anglers, held at the 

 Queen's Hotel, in Leeds ; and, during the course of 

 the evening, an esteemed friend, who was aware of 

 my former intention, again suggested the opening 

 there was for a sufficiently comprehensive work on 

 trout flies. A few days later the subject was again 

 mentioned at a meeting of anglers, and, finding a 

 unanimous opinion on the matter, I set to work. 

 From that time to this every moment of my leisure 

 has been steadily employed, with what amount of 

 success my readers and my brother anglers are the 

 only judges. 



It would be at once idle and unfair, on my part, to 

 pretend that all that is set down in this book is the 

 result of my own observation, knowledge, and ex- 

 perience ; for much of it I am indebted to older 



