54 
THE FIELD. 
[Saturday, 
t r Charles Liloy has given 
racing Nombnclaturi * ^ Now two years old : 
the foliowingnamestol <<Abord „ FiUy bv Orlando 
ColtbyIago. 0 iitolTreaew, rfi i tt bv Cowl> Qut of 
out of iodine s da Fffl bv Don John, Cmsar, 
Memmcnt Venus, by Arnadis, “Triple." Now 
vJS Colt by Don John, out of Fringe, “ Infringer; 
cXbv^on W.n! out of Jorct. Horn*, “ *>«* Do"-" 
T ' London Club.— A t a general meeting convened 
f,r the purpose on Saturday last, a committee was elected of 
twelve gentlemen of known standing in all sporting circles, 
towhoin the management of this prosperous club will bo 
C nfided. One of their first resolutions arrived at is, on and 
after the 1st of May next, to levy an entrance fee of five 
liaeas, from which members elected in the m^vemng 
period will be exempted. In the evening a large partj 
vat down to an excellent repast, under the presidency 
of E. E. Clark, Esq., to commemorate the auspicious 
occasion. . , 
To Metropolitan Sportsmen.— V e have 'much 
pleasure in 
foxhounds. South Essex Westland farm, 
His Stables are well situated for the above hunts, his 
horses good, and terms moderate. 
Great Leinstf.r Stebple Chases— T he above 
meeting will come off over a well-laid-out cour.e m the 
neighbourhood of Navan, about the end of March. The 
different stakes will have large money added to them, and as 
the meeting is to be got up on a most extensive scale, large 
ea«»^Kt-d»%por t may be booked a. a carta.n.. 
The Marquis Conyngham has kindly consented to act as one 
of the stewards, and has given a munificent donation to ho 
race fund. “ Young Brunette," a daughter of the far-famed 
steeple-chase mare of the same name, will mako her debut 
on this occasion. 
Sale of Blood Stock at Dtcers, Dublin. -T he 
grand annual auction of thorough-bred stallions, brood 
mares, and voung stock, took place at Dycer s, Dublin, on 
Saturday last. There was an immense attendance of pur- 
chase!*, who came from far and near; but in consequence 
of the frost in the country, and the great distance several 
of the horses had to travel, “ The Primate, Gunter 
“ The Miser ” and several others did not arrive in time for 
the sale, which will he continued this day. The following 
are the prices obtained for some of the principal lots :— 
“Johnstown," a dark brown stallion, G yrs ol.l, by Tear- £ s. d. 
awav, outof the Maid of Ardreagh, by Napoleon, out of 
Pioneers diiin, by Gauntlet «••• n*j 
- Frederick," a bay' stallion, aged, by greoman, out of Red 
Rose, by Seymour, dam by T oung W hUkey . . . . . . • ■ - ••• 
Chestnut yearling colt, by Burgundy, out of Pinwlre, by 
Grev m C ar C e, r by feVr'a'w'ay,' out' of'Rcd 'prec'ip'iunV/by'MVr' 
curv, out of Ennui, by Humphrey Clinker 
ti yiaria Day." a brood mare (in foul to Harkaway ), by Ph> - 
« pinwir^" a° brood mare\in foal to Eagle), by Retriever, 
° Btockfooh" a bay stallion, aged, by 6id Bl’acklock, out of 
The Kitten, by the Sligo Waxy • 
“John Day." a bay colt, 3 yrs old, by The l gly Buck, out 
« AtfredDay/’ a'bay colt, nslDg 2 yrs oldi own brother to 
J ulin Day 
210 0 0 
201 15 0 
121 0 0 
100 0 0 
70 0 0 
65 0 0 
52 10 0 
ANCLINC. 
PISCATORIAL PROLUSIONS. — No. L ENTOMOLOGY. 
Bt tub Hampshire FLT-rcsnEn- 
I dare say there is no fisherman who has not in his 
perambulations heard of some wonderful personage— not 
uncommonly some veteran pensioner, or it may bo some 
broken-down scion of a good bouse, fallen into decay of for- 
tune, and now become half gentleman, half gamekeeper, or 
some jolly landlord of a snug public-house near the river 
side, or weather-beaten poacher — whose knowledge of the 
piscatory art, or rather, whose achievements, are said to be 
something miraculous. In Scotland, not unfrequenlly the 
village “ dominie,” or younger brother of the laird, lays 
claim to this distinction. In Ireland, it may be the tailor or 
the carpenter, perhaps more often the cobbler; but in 
Ireland yon will not find a gossoon as high as your knee 
that will" not be after killing a trout. And it is no wonder if 
such a one has loads of admirers, by whom he is described 
a* a sort of magician, — a water sprite— his wand a hazel rod 
b is line the coarsest that caa be described — and his flies 
the oddest combination of fur and feather that can be 
imagined — but withal exercising a species of supernatural 
influence over the finny tribe, which no other angler, how- 
ever costly his equipments, is believed to attain. Nay, 
further, there is generally some truth in these stories. But 
the great secret is soon found out ; it is simply this, — such a 
one has been a constant and careful observer of Nature, and 
his acquired an accurate knowledge of the locality in which 
he exercises his art— “ VoileL tout." In ninety -nine cases 
out of a hundred, beyond this he has not ventured. His ex- 
perimental or empirical knowledge is limited to his own 
observation of certain facts, and stopping there, it is ne- 
cessarily very circumscribed. He commonly trusts impli- 
citly to his experience of these facts so acquired, without 
inquiring into their origin or their connection with, or 
influence on others. Thus his choice of flies, his selection 
of baits, is guided by the same rule. Of the history, habits, 
or nature of the insects or other animals of which they are 
meant to be representations he knows nothing. For instance, 
in the month of April, he secs myriads of small yellow flies 
on the water, which trout take greedily. He copies this 
insect to the best of his ability with a little martin fur, or 
yellowish mohair, for the body, a young starling’s feather 
for the wing, and a ginger hackle for the legs. He is not 
particular about the shape or size. The colour, he says, is 
everything, and, practically speaking, he is not very far 
wrong ; for with tins nondescript he succeeds in killing fish. 
II is observations have taught him their favourite haunts, 
and the usual time of their feeding. These, then, are two 
great points in his favour. Add to this, that the best fishing 
weather is when the waters are ruffled, if not in a state of 
actual violent commotion — that the object is presented to 
the eye of the trout, or grayling, or salmon, in a state of 
motion ; that to see and to seize is necessarily an almost 
simultaneous act ; and it is not difficult to conceive how the 
deformities of a bait escape observation, and how a hungry 
fish eagerly rushes at and greedily seizes an object, which in 
colour at least, if not in other respects, approximates to that 
which instinct tells him the Creator has provided for him at 
such times as his natural food. 
It not ^infrequently happens, too, that each P e *®°“ 8 . 
a sort of mystery in nil that pertains to then nit, which ad 
to it on imaginary and unreal importance. It is a common 
failing with vulgar and selfish minds. They are proud of 
any fancied superiority, and love to make a se wet of that 
which they believe they exclusively possess. but w ch, ^ 
all, is, in most cases, open to any person gifted with powers 
of ordinary apprehension and observation. Old O ver 
llonley, the noted trout and salmon fisher— as immortalieo 
bv Izaak Walton — and his mysterious worm-box, belonged 
to this class. And wo ourselves have known a i s mUar 
character, who boasted to have one particular flv, which he 
never could be prevailed upon to show, till old ago came on 
and ho was obliged by increasing infirmities to discover the 
much-prized secret to younger and more generous eyes, an 
it soon became common. It was, in fact, what every 
had or might havo known had ho taken the trouble i of using 
his eyes— an imitation of a little fly that is o be found on 
the water nearly all the year round, and that .not few in 
numbers, or in few places, but in millions and tens of mil- 
lions, and in most, if not all, the rivers in England I t s 
not to be wondered at if such personages look with well 
affected contempt, at least, at the more costly and elaborate 
equipments, and more especially on the infinite vanetiM of 
the artificial fly, that swell the book of the woalthiei and 
scientific fisherman, to say nothing of an ilLsuppi^ed or 
ill-concealed feeling of envy. ‘ The end of flshin , they 
argue, “is to kill fish ; and wliat need can there bo for all 
this glmcrackery and fal-lals when wo can attain the same 
object with the simple materials which are within our own 
command ? " Now, there is one great fallacy in this cy mca 
mode of reasoning. If, indeed, it were carried into general 
practice, it would put a stop to every species, either of 
moral, social, political, or artistic advancement. It presents 
an insuperable barrier to every branch of improvement. 1 lie 
true argument is lhis-“ If I, with the knowledge and 
experience I enjoy, can do so much with the rude and 
imperfect implements I possess, how much more shall I be 
able to achieve, with improved and enlarged means . But, 
in the next place, I will never grant that tbo killing of fish 
is the true ultimate end and aim of the real urtistic fisher- 
man. It may be so to the pot-lmnter or the poacher— men 
in whose pockets or baskets, when equipped for trout-fislnng, 
were you to search them you would find a box of worms, or 
salmon-roe, or some unhappy beetles or grasshoppers, with 
their legs to be pinched off according to the most approved 
recipe fordaping, or the live May-fly in the season ; to say 
nothing of the carefully concealed wire, to be used in very 
hot weather, when large fish have run up drains and water- 
courses, and nobody is near to see. To such as these, indeed, 
the actual capture'of the fish, either as an article of com- 
merce or consumption, is the end of what they profanely 
call sport. But to men of this class I havo nothing to say— 
I'll not march through Coventry with them — I repudiate 
their practices, and langh at their pretensions both to 
philosophy and science. They are the St. Johns and v an 
Butchells of the noble art, as opposed to the Halfords, the 
Davys, and the Coopers. Far higher is my standard of a 
fisherman. To be a really accomplished Fly-fisher (and lie 
is the highest graduate in the science) requires a combination 
of many rare moral, physical, and intellectual qualities— a 
quick eye, a ready hand, a nimble finger, a steady nerve, a 
patient equanimity of temper, readiness and accuracy of 
observation and imitation, closeness of analysis, a mastery 
of inductive reasoning— the very ground-work of all experi- 
mental science— a love for the pure, the beautiful and good, 
an open heart and a free hand. Add to this that your perfect 
Piscator should have the eye of a painter to note the never- 
ending, still-beginning variety of beautiful forms, and 
glorious harmony of colours, and contrasts of light and 
shade, which Nature, at every step, spreads before his eye. 
He should have the ear of a musician to drink in the har- 
monies with which the carol of sweet birds, the rustling of 
the foliage as it plays and wantons with the light breeze of 
summer, or the dash of many waters at every moment 
serenades him,— the soul of a poet, ready at each interval of 
bodily rest or inactivity, to shake off the cold and chilling 
thoughts and calculations of daily life, and to plunge into 
the glowing and gorgeous realities of imagination ; to call 
before his mind’s eye, bright visions of all that is noble and 
good ! to people the realms of his fancy with godlike 
creatures, all beautiful, all perfect, — and lastly, he should 
have the gratitude of a Christian, to render due thanks to 
the Great Creator, who has prepared for him on earth such 
rich delights. These are among some of the characteristics 
of a genuine accomplished Fly-fisher, and embodied in more 
than one trusty friend whom I could name. Such a one 
must dear old Izaak have been— such a one his scholar, the 
penile Cotton. I have often regretted that Gilbert Whito of 
Sclborne was not an angler, and located in one of the beau- 
tiful valleys of the Test, Itchen, or Anton, instead of on the 
side of the chalk hills of the N.F.. of Hampshire. Wliat an 
infinitude of precious observations should wo have had, not 
only of fish, but of the insect tribe, of the changes and 
effects of weather, of the influences of the moon (for some 
do say that when the moon is risen the pike will never feed), 
and ten thousand other interesting phenomena which now 
break upon us at rare intervals, which are commonly 
unnoticed, or if brought to light are remembered only by a 
few— only think of these as of many fresh-gathered pearls 
enshrined in the chaste and beautiful setting of his simple 
and elegant English. What a treat would it not have been 
to the man of letters ! — what a treasure to the quiet and 
contemplative brother of the angle! 
“ My dear-—,” cries a friend, who has been looking over 
ray shoulder for the lust ten minutes, “ wliut is the meaning 
of all this rhodomontadc ? What do you suppose the readers 
of ‘ The Field,’ who look for a good practical article on 
their favourite art, will say to such jargon 89 this you have 
been stringing together — what is the meaning of it all ? ” 
Patience, good Critic; there is a meaning in what I am 
writing, and a sound one. I want, if I can, to distinguish 
and delineate our favourite art in its true light. I want to 
put to silence the filthy rollers, that old growling mumbo- 
jumbo of literature, Johnson at the head of thorn, who have 
from time to time run down “ the gentle science,” became, 
good sooth, they have neither talent to understand, clever- 
ness to excel, nor taste to enjoy it. There is another class, 
too, of piscatory heretics that 1 long to full ioul of, that 
seem to us to have studied (?) angling and “ the Humanities ” 
together in the venerable halls of St. Andrew, or, it may be, 
in the fragrant haunts of “ Auld Reekie,” rather than on the 
bosom of the mighty lakes and majestic rivers of their own 
beautiful country, or among the rapid sparkling burns, 
leaping and flashing in the light as tlioy rush down from 
their springs among the mountain rocks over their pebbly 
beds of brown cairngorm. And tlioso havo tlioir theories, 
and talk of “ Palmers” and “Hackles as if they were 
familiar in their mouths ns “ household words. But Ephe- 
mera, in his “ Handbook of Angling,” has, I should think, 
given thorn their quietus. At all events, I will leave them 
to him, “ wussing term weol ” for the present. Still 
•< Semper ego auditor tftndom, nunquam no voponain 
Ycxatus totlesf " 
And sure enough it would vox a saint to hear such babblers 
gravely set forth a theory, that in order to deceive the more 
auichsiahted of animals, to tempt the most dainty of 
epicures, you aro studiously to present him objects the most 
Jus pieious-loohuuj, and to tempt his palate with the very 
opposite to those dainties which Nature has provided for 
him, and which his instinct urges him to select for his food. 
But as I have already said, for the present at least, it will 
bo as well to leave those to the mercies of Ephemeras 
shillaelaeh. I will only beg him not to spare them out of any 
regard to my feelings. And now, kind and patient reader- for 
you must bo kind and patient if you have waded through 
all this — I am coming to tbo real pith of the matter. It is 
to give you an inkling into wliat I consider the real mysteries 
of Fly-fishing ; to instruct you in tbo arcana of your craft. 
Hut before you can be admitted thereto, you must solemnly 
pledge yourself and your allegiance to Nature. Nature, 
indeed, is the real goddess of a Fly-fisher* idolatry . fiom 
her ho draws all his inspiration, to her he owns all his 
triumphs. Demostheues, when asked to particularise the 
most important requisites for forensic triumph, is said to 
havo answered, “Action! Action!! Action !! VVoro 
such a question put to any roul good fisherman with 
reference to his craft, he would say, Nature. Natuie . 1 
Nature!!!” 
YACHT1NC. 
HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. 1854. 
MOR.1. KVIX, 
II. m. u. M. 
Jan. 51. Saturday G-J7 6.49 
22, Sunday 7.12 <33 
as, Monday »■ 5 ^3. 
21, Tuesday 2-14 
wonx. kvex. 
ii. u. «. u. 
Jan. 21, Wednesday....™. a? 7 
„ a!, T hurt day 11.4 ' 
27, Friday U.30 0.54 
„ 28, Saturday !•** *■#* 
To fixdHioh Water at the subjoined places, take tho above Hm® London 
Bridge, and add or subtract the tunc in the following 1 able. 
SUBTRACT FROM LOXDOX BRIDOK. 
ADD TO LOXDON BRIDOK. 
U. M. 
Brighton — 3 0 
Boulogne..... 2 41 
Calais 2 IS* 
Chester Bar.. 3 37 
Cowes 3 32 
Dublin 2 55 
Dover Pier.. 2 57 
Dunnoso .... 4 22 
OraTesend... 0 37 
Greenock..... 2 22 
Greenwich.. 0 20 
Havre 4 15 
Harwich 2 37 
Ipswich 2 7 
Lowestoft 3 87 
II. M. j 
Amsterdam.... 0 53 Humber, mth. 
Antwerp 2 18 I of .•■-•••• J *» 
Brest 1 39 I Land » End. . . 2 2.1 
Needles 4 23 
Noro 0 &S 
intend. 1 12 
Portsmouth . . 2 27 
Ramsgate 2 47 
Shoreham 2 52 
Southampton 2 27 
Spithcad. 4 37 
2 2 Bridport 3 53 
Ipoi - 
.Cherbourg .... 8 23 
Cardigan. 4 83 
'Cork 2 23 
Downs 3 3S 
Ivxmouth 4 18 
Fowey 3 23 
Guernsey 4 23 
Hamburgh. . .. 3 53 
•■villi «1» 
Milford Havon 3 33 
Plymouth 3 28 
Rotterdam .... o 03 
Torbay 3 65 
Weymouth 4 23 
Whitby 1 38 
Wisbcaeh 5 23 
Youghal 2 53 
COMMODORE TUCKWRLL'S YACHT, BLUE- EYED MAID, L.M.Y.O. 
Feb. I, 
3, 
4, 
6, 
15, 
17, 
.. 20, 
Mur. 1, 
3, 
4, 
7, 
16, 
17, 
20 , 
April 1, 
6, 
CLUB MEETINGS, 1854. 
Wednesday. Meetings of the Royal Thames Yacht Club, and 
of the Birkenhead Model Yacht Club, 
Friday Meeting of the Prince of Wales' Yacht Club. 
Saturday ..Meeting of the Royal Harwich Yacht Club. 
Monday . . . Meeting of the London Model Yacht Club, at tho 
Essex Head, Esscx-strcot, Strand. 
Wednesday .Annual Ball of the Royal Thames Yacht Club. 
Friday . . . .Lecture before the Prince of Wales' Yacht Club. 
Monday Meeting of the Royal London Yacht Club. 
Wednesday .Meetings of the Royal Thames Yacht Club, and 
Birkenhead Model Yacht Club. 
Friday . . . .Meeting of the Prince of Wales' Yacht Club. 
Saturday . . Meeting of the Royal Harwich Yacht Club. 
Tuesday - ..Meeting of the Royal Mersey Yacht Club. 
Thursday, Ball of the Royal London Yacht Club. 
Friday . . . .Lecture before the Prince of Wales Yacht Club. 
Monday ....Meeting of the Royal London Yacht Club. 
Saturday . . Meeting of the Royal Harwich Yacht Club. 
Wednesday .Meeting of the Birkenhead Model Yacht Club. 
In “The Field,” of December ‘24th, page 007, we gavo 
at length the rules of tho “London Model Yacht 
Club," with which wo had been kindly furnished in MS., 
and which tho Club will not themselves publish in a book- 
form till May next. We have now tho pleasure to offer an 
illustration of Commodore Tuckwell’s yacht, drawn by Mr. 
T. G. Dutton, and we havo tho authority of tho Commodore 
himself for saying that the likeness is wonderfully corroet. 
The Blue-eyed Maid is an iron vessel, mid though u small 
one, none tho worse for that. Indeed some of our smartest 
yachtsmen, those who “ salloriso” by themselves and not by 
tho hands of others, aro but the owners of small craft. So 
they begin, till in the end wo find them treading tho quarter- 
deck of°8choonora largo enough to be bought into tho Royal 
Navy. 
Tho Bluo-eycd Maid was launched on the Dili of July, 
1853, and sailed and won her first mutch on tho 15th of tho 
very same month, and slio again won on the 20th of August, 
tlm prizes being on tlioso two occasions a silver snuff-box 
and o purse of sovereigns. Slio is now u “ flag yacht,” and 
we fool certain, in the coming season, will bout many vussols 
of double her tonnage. Indocd, her owner is now prepared 
to challenge any yacht not exceeding that size. The Irre- 
sistible, Undine, and Ida* havo already succumbed to tbo 
Bluo-eycd Maid; and the Julia, of 7 tons, bout her but by 
four minutes. Designed, built, and sailed by her present 
owner, perhaps her chief visible peculiarity Is that she bus 
no hollow lines In her entrance. Slid was built and luunchcd 
