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TO THE READER OF THIS DISCOURSE,
BUT ESPECIALLY
TO THE HONEST ANGLER.
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I THINK fit to tell thee these following truths, that I did neither undertake, nor write, nor publish, and much less own, this Discourse to please myself; and, having been too easily drawn to do all to please others, as I propose not the gaining of credit by this undertaking, so I would not willingly lose any part of that to which I had a just title before I begun it, and do therefore desire and hope, if I deserve not commendations, yet I may obtain pardon.
And though this Discourse may be liable to some exceptions, yet I cannot doubt that most readers may receive so much pleasure or profit by it, as may make it worthy the time of their perusal, if they be not too grave or too busy men. And this is all the confidence that I can put on, concerning the merit of what is here offered to their consideration and censure; and if the last prove too severe, as I have a liberty, so I am resolved to use it, and neglect all sour censures.
And I wish the reader also to take notice, that in writing of it I have made myself a recreation of a recreation; and that it might prove so to him, and not read dull and tediously, I have in several places mixed, not any scurrility, but some harmless, innocent mirth, of which, if thou be a severe, sour-complexioned man, then I here disallow thee to be a competent judge; for divines say, there are offences given, and offences not given but taken.
And I am the willinger to justify the pleasant part of it, because though it is known I can be serious at seasonable times, yet the whole Discourse is, or rather was, a picture of my own disposition, especially in such days and times as I have laid aside business, and gone a fishing with honest Nat and R. Roe; but they are gone, and with them most of my pleasant hours, even as a shadow that passeth away and returns not.
And next let me add this, that he that likes not the book should like the excellent picture of the trout, and some of the other fish; which I may take the liberty to commend, because they concern not myself.
Next let me tell the reader, that in that which is the more useful part of this Discourse, that is to say, the observations of the nature and breeding, and seasons, and catching of fish, I am not so simple as not to know that a captious reader may find exceptions against something said of some of these; and therefore I must entreat him to consider, that experience teaches us to know that several countries alter the time, and I think almost the manner, of fishes' breeding, but doubtless of their being in season; as may appear by three rivers in Monmouthshire, namely, Severn, Wye, and Usk, where Camden (Brit. Fishes, 633) observes, that in the river Wye, salmon are in season from September to April; and we are certain that in Thames and Trent, and in most other rivers, they be in season in the six hotter months.
Now for the art of catching fish, that is to say, how to make a man---that was none---to be an angler by a book; he that undertakes it, shall undertake a harder task than Mr. Hales, a most valiant and excellent fencer, who, in a printed book called "A Private School of Defence," undertook to teach that art or science, and was laughed at for his labour---not but many useful things might be learnt by that book, but he was laughed at because that art was not to be taught by words, but practice; and so must angling. And note, that in this Discourse I do not undertake to say all that is known, or may be said of it, but I undertake to acquaint the reader with many things that are not usually known to every angler; and I shall leave gleanings and observations, enough, to be made out of the experience of all that love and practise this recreation, to which I shall encourage them. For angling may be said to be so like the mathematics, that it can never be fully learnt; at least not so fully, but that there will still be more new experiments left for the trial of other men that succeed us.
But I think all that love this game may here learn something that may be worth their money, if they be not poor and needy men; and in case they be, I then wish them to forbear to buy it, for I write not to get money, but for pleasure, and this Discourse boasts of no more; for I hate to promise much, and deceive the reader.
And however it proves to him, yet I am sure I have found a high content in the search and conference of what is here offered to the reader's view and censure: I wish him as much in the perusal of it, and so I might here take my leave; but will stay a little and tell him, that whereas it is said by many that in fly-fishing for a trout the angler must observe his twelve several flies for the twelve months of the year: I say, he that follows that rule shall be sure to catch fish, and be as wise, as he that makes hay by the fair days in an almanac, and no surer; for those very flies that use to appear about and on the water in one month of the year, may the following year come almost a month sooner or later, as the same year proves colder or hotter; and yet, in the following Discourse, I have set down the twelve flies that are in reputation with many anglers, and they may serve to give him some observations concerning them. And he may note, that there are in Wales and other countries, peculiar flies, proper to the particular place or country; and doubtless, unless a man makes a fly to counterfeit that very fly in that place, he is like to lose his labour, or much of it; but for the generality, three or four flies, neat and rightly made, and not too big, serve for a trout in most rivers all the summer. And for winter fly-fishing---it is as useful as an almanac out of date! And of these, because as no man is born an artist, so no man is born an angler, I thought fit to give thee this notice.
When I have told the reader, that in this fifth impression there are many enlargements, gathered both by my own observation and the communication with friends, I shall stay him no longer than to wish him a rainy evening to read the following Discourse; and that, if he be an honest angler, the east wind may never blow when he goes a fishing.
I. W.
...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... . COMMENDATORY VERSES.
..............................
TO MY DEAR BROTHER IZAAK WALTON
UPON HIS
"COMPLETE ANGLER."
-----------------
- ERASMUS in his learned Colloquies
Has mixt some toys, that by varieties
He might entice all readers: for in him
Each child may wade, or tallest giant swim.
And such is this Discourse: there's none so low
Or highly learn'd, to whom hence may not flow
Pleasure and information; both which are
Taught us with so much art, that I might swear,
Safely, the choicest critic canot tell
Whether your matchless judgment most excell
In angling or its praise: where commendation
First charms, then makes an art a recreation.
'Twas so to me: who saw the cheerful spring
Pictur'd in every meadow, heard birds sing
Sonnets in every grove, saw fishes play
In the cool crystal springs, like lambs in May;
And they may play, till anglers read this book;
But after, 'tis a wise fish 'scapes a hook.
Jo. Floud, M.A.
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TO THE
READER OF THE "COMPLETE ANGLER."
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- FIRST mark the title well: my friend that gave it
Has made it good; this book deserves to have it.
For he that views it with judicious looks,
Shall find it full of art, baits, lines, and hooks.
(The world the river is; both you and I,
And all mankind, are either fish or fry.)
If we pretend to reason, first or last
His baits will tempt us, and his hooks hold fast.
Pleasure or profit, either prose or rhyme,
If not at first, will doubtless take in time.
Here sits, in secret, blest theology,
Waited upon by grave philosophy
Both natural and moral; history,
Deck'd and adorn'd with flowers of poetry,
The matter and expression striving which
Shall most excell in worth, yet seem not rich.
There is no danger in his baits; that hook
Will prove the safest that is surest took.
Nor are we caught alone,---but, which is best,
We shall be wholesome, and be toothsome, drest.
Drest to be fed, not to be fed upon:
And danger of a surfeit here is none.
The solid food of serious contemplation
Is sauc'd, here, with such harmless recreation,
That an ingenuous and religious mind
Cannot inquire, for more than it may find
Ready at once prepared, either t'excite
Or satisfy a curious appetite.
More praise is due: for 'tis both positive
And truth---which, once, was interrogative,
And utter'd by the poet, then, in jest---
Et piscatorem piscis amare potest.
CH. HARVIE, M.A.
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TO MY DEAR FRIEND MR. IZAAK WALTON;
IN
PRAISE OF ANGLING; WHICH WE BOTH LOVE.
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- DOWN by this smooth stream's wand'ring side,
Adorn'd and perfum'd with the pride
Of Flora's wardrobe, where the shrill
Aerial choir express their skill---
First, in alternate melody;
And, then in chorus all agree---
Whilst the charm'd fish, as extasy'd
With sounds, to his own throat deny'd,
Scorns his dull element, and springs
I' th' air, as if his fins were wings.
'Tis here that pleasures sweet and high
Prostrate to our embraces lie:
Such as to body, soul or fame,
Create no sickness, sin or shame:
Roses, not fenc'd with pricks, grow here;
No sting to th' honey-bag is near:
But, what's perhaps their prejudice,
They difficulty want and price.
An obvious rod, a twist of hair,
With hook hid in an insect,---are
Engines of sport would fit the wish
O' th' epicure, and fill his dish.
In this clear stream, let fall a grub;
And, straight, take up a dace or chub.
I' th' mud, your worm provokes a snig;
Which, being fast, if it prove big,
The Gotham folly will be found
Discreet, ere ta'en she must be drown'd.
The tench, physician of the brook,
In yon dead hole expects your hook;
Which, having first your pastime been,
Serves for meat or medicine.
Ambush'd behind that root doth stay
A pike; to catch---and be a prey.
The treacherous quill in this slow stream
Betrays the hunger of a bream.
And that nimble ford, no doubt,
Your false fly cheats a speckled trout.
When you these creatures wisely choose
To practise on, which to your use
Owe their creation,---and when
Fish from your arts do rescue men,---
To plot, delude, and circumvent,
Ensnare and spoil, is innocent.
Here by these crystal streams you may
Preserve a conscience clear as they;
And when by sullen thoughts you find
Your harassed, not busied, mind
In sable melancholy clad,
Distemper'd, serious, turning sad;
Hence fetch your cure, cast in your bait,
All anxious thoughts and cares will straight
Fly with such speed, they'll seem to be
Possest with the hydrophobie.
The water's calmness in your breast,
And smoothness on your brow shall rest.
Away with sports of charge and noise
And give me cheap and silent joys.
Such as Actaeon's game pursue,
Their fate oft makes the tale seem true.
The sick or sullen hawk, to-day,
Flies not; to-morrow quite away.
Patience and purse to cards and dice
Too oft are made a sacrifice:
The daughter's dower, th' inheritance
O th' son, depend on one mad chance.
The harms and mischiefs which th' abuse
Of wine doth every day produce,
Make good the doctrine of the Turks,
That in each grape a devil lurks.
And by yon fading sapless tree,
'Bout which the ivy twin'd you see,
His fate's foretold, who fondly places
His bliss in woman's soft embraces.
All pleasures but the angler's bring
I' th' tail repentance like a sting.
Then on these banks let me sit down,
Free from the toilsome sword and gown;
And pity those that do affect
To conquer nations and protect.
My reed affords such true content,
Delights so sweet and innocent,
As seldom fall unto the lot
Of scepters, though they're justly got.
1649. THO. WEAVER, M.A.
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TO THE READERS
OF
MY MOST INGENIOUS FRIEND'S BOOK, "THE COMPLETE
ANGLER."
.........................................
- HE that both knew and writ the Lives of men,
Such as were once, but must not be again;
Witness his matchless Donne and Wotton, by
Whose aid he could their speculations try:
He that conversed with angels, such as were
Ouldsworth and Featly, each a shining star
Showing the way to Bethlehem; each a saint,
Compar'd to whom our zealots, now, but paint.
He that our pious and learn'd Morley knew,
And from him suck'd wit and devotion too.
He that from these such excellencies fetch'd,
That he could tell how high and far they reach'd;
What learning this, what graces th' other had;
And in what several dress each soul was clad.
Reader, this he, this fisherman, comes forth,
And in these fisher's weeds would shroud his worth.
- Now his mute harp is on a willow hung,
With which when finely touch'd, and fitly strung,
He could friends' passions for these times allay,
Or chain his fellow anglers from their prey.
But now the music of his pen is still,
And he sits by a brook watching a quill:
Where with a fixt eye, and a ready hand,
He studies first to hook, and then to land
Some trout, or pearch, or pike; and having done,
Sits on a bank, and tells how this was won,---
And that escap'd his hook, which with a wile
Did eat the bait, and fisherman beguile.
Thus whilst some vex they from their lands are thrown,
He joys to think the waters are his own;
And like the Dutch, he gladly can agree
To live at peace now, and have fishing free.
April 3, 1650. EDW. POWEL, M.A.
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TO MY DEAR BROTHER MR. IZAAK WALTON
ON HIS
"COMPLETE ANGLER."
..............................
- THIS book is so like you, and you like it,
For harmless mirth, expression, art and wit,
That I protest, ingenuously 'tis true,
I love this mirth, art, wit, and you.
ROB. FLOUD, C.
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CLARISSIMO AMICISSIMOQUE
FRATRI, DOMINO ISAACO WALTON
ARTIS PISCATORIAE PERITISSIMO.
______
- UNICUS est medicus reliquorum piscis, et istis,
Fas quibus est medicum tangere, certa salus
Hic typus est salvatoris mirandus Jesu,
Litera mysterium quaelibet hujus habet.
Hunc cupio, hunc cupias, bone frater arundinis, [piscis]*
Solverit hic pro me debita, teque Deo.
Piscis is est, et piscator, mihi credito, qualem
Vel piscatorem piscis amare velit.
HENRY BAYLEY, A.M.
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*Greek: IXOYE, Jesus, Christus, Dei, Filius, Salvator.
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AD VIRUM OPTIMUM ET PISCATOREM PERTISSIMUM,
ISAACUM WALTONUM.
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- MAGISTER artis docte piscatoriae,
Waltone, salve! magne dux arundinis,
Seu tu reducta valle solus ambulas,
Praeterfluentes interim observans aquas,
Seu forte puri stans in amnis margine,
Sive in tenaci gramine et ripa sedens,
Fallis perita squameum pecus manu;
O te beatum! qui procul negotiis,
Forique et urbis pulvere et strepitu carens,
Extraque tubam, ad lene manantes aquas
Vagos honesta fraude pisces decipis.
Dum caetera ergo poene gens mortalium
Aut retia invicem sibi et technas struunt,
Donis, ut hamo, aut divites captant senes,
Gregi natantum tu interim nectis dolos.
Voracem inescas advenam hamo lucium,
Avidamve percam parvulo alberno capis,
Aut verme ruffo, muscula aut truttam levi,
Cautumve cyprinum, et fere indocilem capi
Calamoque linoque, ars at hunc superat tua,
Medicamve tincam, gobium aut esca trabis,
Gratum palato gobium, parvum licet,
Praedamve, non aeque salubrem barbulum,
Etsi ampliorem, et mystace insignem gravi.
Hae sunt tibi artes, dum annus et tempus sinunt,
Et nulla transit absque linea dies.
Nec sola praxis, sed theoria et tibi
Nota artis hujus; unde tu simul bonus
Piscator, idem et scriptor; et calami potens
Utriusque necdum et ictus, et tamen sapis.
Ut hamiotam nempe tironem instruas!
Stylo eleganti scribis en Halieutica
Oppianus alter artis et methodum tuae, et
Praecepta promis rite piscatoria,
Varias et escas, piscium, indolem et genus.
Nec tradere artem sat putas piscariam,
(Virtutis est haec et tamen quaedam schola
Patientiamque et temperantiam docet,)
Documenta quin majora das, et regulas
Sublimioris artis, et perennia
Monimenta morem, vitae et exempla optima,---
Dum tu profundum scribis Hookerum; et pium
Donnum ac disertum; sanctum et Herbertum, sacrum
Vatem; hos videmus nam penicillo tuo
Graphice, et perita, Isace, depictos manu.
Post fata factos hosce per te Virbios.
O quae voluptas est legere in scriptis tuis!
Sic tu libris nos, lineis pisces capis,
Musisque litterisque dum incumbis, licet
Intentus hamo, interque piscandum studes.
..............................................
AD ISAACUM WALTONUM,
VIRUM ET PISCATOREM OPTIMUM.
............................................
- ISAACE, Macte hac arte piscatoria;
Hac arte Petrus principi censum dedit;
Hac arte princeps nec Petro multo prior,
Tranquillus ille, teste Tranquillo, pater
Patriae, solebat recreare se lubens
Augustus, hamo instructus ac arundine.
Tu nunc, amice, proximum clari es decus
Post Caesarem hami, gentis ac Haleuticae:
Euge O professor artis haud ingloriae,
Doctor cathedrae, perlegens piscariam!
Nae tu magister, et ego discipulus tuus,
Nam candidatum et me ferunt arundinis,
Socium hac in arte nobilem nacti sumus.
Quid amplius, Waltone, nam dici potest?
Ipse hamiota Dominus en orbis fuit!
JACO. DUP. D.D.
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