THE PIKE. 5 



get among the philologists, and I will only give one illustra- 

 tion from Nobbes, who has been called the father of trolling, 

 to show how much, notwithstanding the proverb, can be 

 made out of how little. This remarkable author suggests 

 that the name ludus is derived ' either i lucendo, from shining 

 in the waters, or else (which is more probable) from lukos, 

 the Greek word iox lupus: for as,' says he, 'the wolf is the most 

 ravenous and cruel amongst beasts, so the pike is the most 

 greedy and devouring amongst fishes. So that lupus piscis, 

 though it be proper for the sea wolf, yet it is often used for the 

 pike itself, the fresh-water wolf 



The pike is mentioned in the works of several Latin authors, 

 and is stated to have been taken of very great size in the 

 Tiber ; but it has been doubted by naturalists whether this fish 

 — the Esox of Pliny — is synonymous with the Esox, or pike, 

 of modern ichthyology. One of the earliest writers by whom 

 the Pike is distinctly chronicled is Ausonius, living about the 

 middle of the fourth century, who thus asperses its reputation : 



Lucius obscuras ulva coenoque lacunas 

 Obsidet. Hie, nullos mensarum lectus ad usus, 

 Fumat fumosis olido nidore popinis. 



The wary Luce, midst wrack and rushes hid, 

 The scourge and terror of the scaly brood, 

 Unknown at friendship's hospitable board. 

 Smokes midst the smoky tavern's coarsest food. 



It seems as if from the earliest times the character, so to 

 speak, of the pike has commended itself especially for treat- 

 ment both in prose and verse, and the number of quaint 

 anecdotes, mythical legends, and venerable superstitions which 

 have clustered round it give the pike a special and distinct interest 

 of its own. I confess that to myself there has been always 

 something singularly attractive in the very qualities which have 

 made its chroniclers more often detractors than panegyrists. 

 The downright, unadulterated savagery of the brute attracts me ; 

 he is no turncoat, vicious one day and repentant the next. 



