IN THE MIDLANDS. 



99 



the bones had been extracted, and which was served up 



yellowish brown with some description of savoury herb 



sauce. Having eaten every flake, upon inquiry I fo^ind it 



was the bream I had on the previous night so execrated. 



But I freely confess frequent trials since have utterly failed 



to make the bream a decent edible. Yet I do not forget 



that the French proverb says, " He who hath bream in his 



pond may bid his friends welcome," and that Chaucer, who 



may be said to have known a thing or two, wrote : — 



" Full many a fair partrich hadde he in mewe, 

 And many a breme, and many a luce in stewe." 



A recital of a little personal experience of bream-fishing 

 will give some insight into the habits of the bream. Having 

 at odd visits to John Bunyan's pretty and interesting old 

 country town seen Howard's workpeople returning home 

 staggering beneath burdens of fish taken from the bank in 

 the meadows near Cardington Mill, I resolved to lay ray- 

 self out seriously for rivalry : but unfortunately it was 

 October before I could carry out my intention. This I did 

 not require to be told was fully a month or six weeks too 

 late ; but a celebrated professional bream-catcher at Bed- 

 ford, nevertheless, got his boat ready and took me a couple 

 of miles down the river. We tied ourselves to the reeds 

 with fourteen feet of sluggish water beneath us, and to our 

 ■dismay found the surface smooth and clear as glass. The 

 bream angler in July should be at his post on the river 

 and quiet as a mouse by daybreak, for the chances are that 

 he will have finished all his work by breakfast time. But as 

 later in the season it is necessary to let the morning chills 

 evaporate, eleven o'clock had struck before we began. 



Balls of mingled slime and brewers' grains the size of 



H 3 



