PERCH-FISHING. 247 



A story is told in a newspaper lately that a clergyman on 

 his way to church on Sunday came upon two of his parishioners, 

 lads, by the side of a pond, fishing. The good man, though 

 himself a devotee of the gentle art, felt it due to his cloth 

 to rebuke the 'Sabbath breakers.' 'Boys,' said he, sternly, 

 ' do you know what day this is ? Have you not been taught 



that it is a sin to ' At this point down went one of the 



floats with a jerk. ' Pull him up, pull him up,' shouted the 

 parson, ' you young fool ! Don't you see that you have got a 

 bite?' 



The excitement of the ' quivering quill ' communicates itself 

 apparently by a sort of magnetic attraction to the fisherman's 

 four-footed companion. Dogs have been known to become so 

 carried away by their feelings in watching the capture of a big 

 fish that they have at last plunged headlong into the river 

 with a sort of idea, it may be presumed, of being ' in at the 

 death.' 



A water spaniel belonging to the miller at Braemore, on the 

 Avon, whose feats have also been chronicled by Mr. Buckland, 

 was a wonderful performer and has been known to bring out a 

 2-lb. roach in his teeth. This unexpected interruption must 

 have been very interesting, though, if frequently repeated, slightly 

 unconducive to sport. 



Some of the perch, however, which I have taken below 

 Braemore Mill would prove a very awkward subject for the 

 miller's water spaniel if he happened to get the spines in his 

 mouth the wrong way upwards. The Avon perch are not 

 numerous, but what there are are splendid, both as to colour 

 and size, and some I have taken still lower down the Avon in 

 Lord Normanton's water have averaged 4 lbs. a brace right 

 through. 



The size to which perch will attain is somewhat doubtfuL 

 The largest specimen that I ever remember to have met with 

 was preserved in a small inn in Perthshire. It was very im- 

 perfectly stuffed, and had no doubt shrunk considerably in the 

 operation ; but the label stated that it weighed 7 lbs. when 



