ae 
XH. PREFACE, 
praise of such an authority and such an angler would 
indeed have been deemed by old Michael a fitting 
reward for what he terms, in his closing remarks, the 
work of the idle hours casually spent during fifty sea- 
sons. Theakston was himself a born angler—a man 
who did not pursue the art for the sake of gain or the 
force of imitation, but purely for the love of the sport; 
his chapters upon the creepers of the various Browns, 
Duns, and Drakes (as he terms them), and the “ Extracts 
from Note Books,” amply prove the immense amount 
of research necessary to arrive at such conclusions, 
whilst some of his comments upon the various months 
breathe forth a freshness and simplicity which stamp 
him at once as a fervent admirer of the works of Nature. 
None of the original text of the book has been interfered 
with in the least—even the remarks on smelt fishing, 
which is now illegal, being allowed to stand as in 
former editions ; as previously stated, any alterations 
or comments that I have deemed necessary having been 
made by means of foot notes. As the author appears 
to have devoted more attention to the capture of trout 
than grayling, and as a number of killing patterns for 
grayling flies have been invented during the past twenty 
years, I have thought it better to add a separate chapter 
upon that subject, and also one touching briefly upon 
the various rivers and angling stations throughout 
Yorkshire. The two concluding chapters, “A Day on 
the Yore,” and “In Memoriam,” will no doubt be old 
friends to many of my readers, having been contributed 
to an angling paper some time ago; I introduce them 
