50 THE SONG OF THE REEL. 



The Kennet, the Lambourn, the Itchen, and the Test are the 

 first streams to arrest our attention, and on these is obtained the 

 cream of the southern grayling-fishing. Then \ve pass on to the 

 waters of the Welsh borders the Wye, the Teme, the Lugg, and 

 the Arrow which are noted for their grayling and the charm of 

 their peaceful valleys. Next we come to the classic rivers of 

 romantic Derbyshirethe Derwent, the Wye, and the far-famed 

 and almost incomparable Dove ; also the Staffordshire stream, the 

 Manifold. In imagination we traverse the broad acres of York- 

 shire, where we find that " her ladyship " abounds in many a river, 

 chief among which are the Wharfe, the Ure, the Swale, the Nidd, 

 the Rye, and the Derwent. The pride of the Ure is its grayling- 

 fishing ; and we also recall other streams for this fish renowned, such 

 as the Costa, the Pickering Beck, the Dove, and the Cover. Still 

 further north, we turn, among other waters, to the Kibble, Eden, 

 Tweed, Till, Glen, and Teviot. Over this kingdom of Thymallus 

 our thoughts are carried so rapidly that there is no time for' them to 

 dwell upon the more remote and less famous haunts of the grayling, 

 in Somersetshire and elsewhere. 



Incidentally, however, we vainly seek reasons to account for 

 the grayling's absence from the Thames a water seemingly most 

 suitable for her, especially since she thrives in more than one of 

 this great river's tributaries. And this is also by the way we 

 have heard of a veteran angler who, not so very many years ago, 

 frequently brought home to breakfast a basket of Trent grayling. 

 But it is obvious that pollution has driven " the flower of the fishes" 

 from the river once termed by Michael Drayton " the crystal Trent." 

 However, it is interesting to note that, in November 1913, a 

 remarkably fine grayling was landed in the neighbourhood of Gun- 

 thorpe, this being the second specimen of this fish caught in the 

 vicinity during the last twenty years. 



We have found the streams of the south to yield much larger 

 grayling than those of either the Midlands or the North ; a pounder 

 or thereabouts from the latter waters is considered a good fish, 



