iET. S3-] LIFE OF IZAAK WALTON. xli 



It is remarkable that no other allusion should occur in Walton's 

 works to his having resided at or in the neighbourhood of Stafford, 

 than a line in the song called " The Angler's Wish," before men- 

 tioned, wherein he says that one of his desires is to 



" Loiter long days near Skawford brook," 



the name of the part of the river Sow, about five miles from Stafford, 

 which runs through the land bequeathed by Walton to the cor- 

 poration of that town for charitable purposes ; but as this wish \ 

 may have been formed at a distance from the locality, it is no 

 proof that the writer was habitually indulging in the gratification, 

 at the time when the desire for it was expressed. That Walton 

 visited Stafford occasionally is however indisputable. 



On the nth of March 1648, and probably in London, Mrs 

 Walton was delivered of a daughter, who received her mother's 

 name of Anne. This event is recorded in Walton's handwriting, 

 with many other entries of a similar nature, in a copy of his 

 prayer-book ' formerly belonging to Dr Hawes ; and as it is a 

 very interesting relic of the original owner, and has been celebrated 

 by Mr Bowles,^ it is proper to state that the book in question is 

 a small folio edition of "The Book of Common Prayer and 

 Administration of the Sacraments and other Rites and Ceremonies 

 of the Church of England," printed by Barker in 1639 ; and that 

 it has always remained in the possession of his descendants. 



Before the year 1650 Walton took a house in the parish of 

 Clerkenwell, where Mrs Walton gave birth to a son, who was 

 baptized in St James's Church by the name of Isaak, on the loth 

 of February 1650 ; but this child lived only a few months, and 

 was buried at Clerkenwell on the loth of June following.* The 

 disappointment which Walton had frequently experienced in not 

 having a son to inherit his good name, was however happily com- 

 pensated in the ensuing year, when his wife was again delivered 

 of a boy, of whose birth the annexed account was written by his 

 father in the family prayer-book, which agrees with the parish 

 register of Clerkenwell : ^ " My last son Isaac, born the 7th of 

 September 1 65 1, at half an hour after two o'clock in the afternoon, 

 being Sunday, and so was baptized in the evening by Mr Thrus- 



6 " My doghter Anne borne the eleventh of March 1647." [1647-8.] 



7 Life of Ken, vol. i. passim. 



8 ** Isaacke Sonne to Isaack Walton and . . . ux. x'pened loth February 1649.".^ 

 Register of St James's, Clerkenwell. 



**Isaacke sonn to Isaack Walton, [buried] loth June 1650." — Ibid. 



9 " Isaack son to Isaack Walton and . . . xpened 7th September 1651.'' — Register 

 of the parish of Clerkenwell, which also contains the following entrv of a son of George 

 Walton : " Abraham son to Geo. Walton, [buried] i8th March 1653. * 



