INTRODUCTION. 111. 



holiday, he consults the guide-book and notes the historical associa- 

 tions of his chosen ground. It is not sufficient for him that some 

 beetling turrets, decayed and storm-beaten, rear themselves above 

 the crumbling, ivy-wrapt ruins of a one-time noble castle ; he must 

 know the history and the secret of the stricken, gloomy pile. And, 

 whilst gazing upon its decayed estate and compassionating its de- 

 parted magnificence, he peoples it in fancy with the picturesque 

 and stately figures which enhanced the martial glamour of its prime 

 and splendour. 



Sometimes, after an exceptionally dour day when misfortune 

 has dogged his every effort, the keenest angler entertains serious 

 thoughts of " giving up " fishing. However, at the bottom of his 

 heart, he knows this can never be. In reality, blank days, even 

 of the blankest kind, serve but to make the angler the more of an 

 enthusiast fanatic, if you will in his art. He burns to atone for 

 his late inglorious performance to show that his hand has not lost 

 its cunning. Moreover, he is deeply aware that once again he will 

 hear and follow the seductive song of the reel, whose true inward- 

 ness and mystery those only who are anglers do know. 



