_Piscat_. Wel met brother _Peter_, I heard you & a friend would lodg
here to night, and that has made me and my friend cast to lodge here
too; my friend is one that would faine be a brother of the _Angle_: he
has been an _Angler_ but this day, and I have taught him how to catch a
_Chub_ with _daping_ a _Grashopper_, and he has caught a lusty one of
nineteen inches long. But I pray you brother, who is it that is your
companion?
_Peter_. Brother _Piscator_, my friend is an honest Country man, and
his name is _Coridon_, a most downright witty merry companion that met
me here purposely to eat a _Trout_ and be pleasant, and I have not yet
wet my line since I came from home: But I wil fit him to morrow with a
_Trout_ for his breakfast, if the weather be any thing like.
_Pisc_. Nay brother, you shall not delay him so long, for look you here
is a _Trout_ will fill six reasonable bellies. Come Hostis, dress it
presently, and get us what other meat the house wil afford, and give us
some good Ale, and lets be merrie.
_The Description of a_ Trout.
[Illustration]
_Peter_. On my word, this _Trout_ is in perfect season. Come, I thank
you, and here's a hearty draught to you, and to all the brothers of the
Angle, wheresoever they be, and to my young brothers good fortune to
morrow; I wil furnish him with a rod, if you wil furnish him with the
rest of the tackling, we wil set him up and make him a fisher.
And I wil tel him one thing for his encouragement, that his fortune
hath made him happy to be a Scholer to such a Master; a Master that
knowes as much both of the nature and breeding of fish, as any man; and
can also tell him as well how to catch and cook them, from the _Minnow_
to the _Sammon_, as any that I ever met withall.
_Pisc_. Trust me, brother _Peter_, I find my Scholer to be so sutable
to my own humour, which is to be free and pleasant, and civilly merry,
that my resolution is to hide nothing from him. Believe me, Scholer,
this is my resolution: and so here's to you a hearty draught, and to
all that love us, and the honest Art of Angling.
_Viat_. Trust me, good Master, you shall not sow your seed in barren
ground, for I hope to return you an increase answerable to your hopes;
but however, you shal find me obedient, and thankful, and serviceable
to my best abilitie.
_Pisc_. 'Tis enough, honest Scholer, come lets to supper. Come my
friend _Coridon_, this _Trout_ looks lovely, it was twenty two inches
when it was taken, and the belly of it look'd some part of it as yellow
as a Marygold, and part of it as white as a Lily, and yet me thinks it
looks better in this good fawce.
_Coridon_. Indeed, honest friend, it looks well, and tastes well, I
thank you for it, and so does my friend _Peter_, or else he is to
blame.
_Pet_. Yes, and so I do, we all thank you, and when we have supt, I wil
get my friend _Coridon_ to sing you a Song, for requital.
_Cor_. I wil sing a Song if anyboby wil sing another; else, to be plain
with you, I wil sing none: I am none of those that sing for meat, but
for company; I say, 'Tis merry in Hall when men sing all.
_Pisc_. I'l promise you I'l sing a Song that was lately made at my
request by Mr. _William Basse_, one that has made the choice Songs of
the _Hunter in his carrere_, and of _Tom of Bedlam_, and many others of
note; and this that I wil sing is in praise of Angling.
_Cor_. And then mine shall be the praise of a Country mans life: What
will the rest sing of?
_Pet_. I wil promise you I wil sing another Song in praise of Angling,
to-morrow night, for we wil not part till then, but fish to morrow, and
sup together, and the next day every man leave fishing, and fall to his
business.
_Viat_. 'Tis a match, and I wil provide you a Song or a Ketch against
then too, that shal give some addition of mirth to the company; for we
wil be merrie.
_Pisc_. 'Tis a match my masters; lets ev'n say Grace, and turn to the
fire, drink the other cup to wet our whistles, and so sing away all sad
thoughts.
Come on my masters, who begins? I think it is best to draw cuts and
avoid contention.
_Pet_. It is a match. Look, the shortest Cut fals to _Coridon_.
_Cor_. Well then, I wil begin; for I hate contention.
CORIDONS Song.
_Oh the sweet contentment
The country man doth find!
high trolollie laliloe
high trolollie lee,
That quiet contemplation
Possesseth all my mind_:
Then care away,
and wend along with me.
_For Courts are full of flattery,
As hath too oft been tri'd;
high trolollie lollie loe
high trolollie lee,
The City full of wantonness,
and both are full of pride_:
Then care away,
and wend along with me.
_But oh the honest countryman
Speaks truly from his heart,
high trolollie lollie loe
high trolollie lee,
His pride is in his Tillage,
his Horses and his Cart_:
Then care away,
and wend along with me.
_Our clothing is good sheep skins
Gray russet for our wives,
high trolollie lollie loe
high trolollie lee.
'Tis warmth and not gay clothing
that doth prolong our lives_:
Then care away,
and wend along with me,
_The ploughman, though he labor hard,
Yet on the_ Holy-day,
_high trolollie lollie loe
high trolollie lee,
No Emperor so merrily
does pass his time away_:
Then care away,
and wend along with me.
_To recompence our Tillage,
The Heavens afford us showrs;
high trolollie lollie loe
high trolollie lee,
And for our sweet refreshments
the earth affords us bowers_:
Then care away, &c.
_The_ Cuckoe _and the_ Nightingale
_full merrily do sing,
high trolollie lollie loe
high trolollie lee,
And with their pleasant roundelayes
bid welcome to the_ Spring:
Then care away,
and wend along with me.
_This is not half the happiness
the Country man injoyes;
high trolollie lollie loe
high trolollie lee,
Though others think they have as much
yet he that says so lies_:
Then come away, turn
County man with me_.
_Pisc_. Well sung _Coridon_, this Song was sung with mettle, and it was
choicely fitted to the occasion; I shall love you for it as long as I
know you: I would you were a brother of the Angle, for a companion that
is cheerful and free from swearing and scurrilous discourse, is worth
gold. I love such mirth as does not make friends ashamed to look upon
one another next morning; nor men (that cannot wel bear it) to repent
the money they spend when they be warmed with drink: and take this for
a rule, you may pick out such times and such companies, that you may
make your selves merrier for a little then a great deal of money; for
_'Tis the company and not the charge that makes the feast_: and such a
companion you prove, I thank you for it.
But I will not complement you out of the debt that I owe you, and
therefore I will begin my Song, and wish it may be as well liked.
The ANGLERS Song.
_As inward love breeds outward talk,
The_ Hound _some praise, and some the_ Hawk,
_Some better pleas'd with private sport,
Use_ Tenis, _some a_ Mistris _court:
But these delights I neither wish,
Nor envy, while I freely fish.
Who_ hunts, _doth oft in danger ride
Who_ hauks, _lures oft both far & wide;
Who uses games, may often prove
A loser; but who fals in love,
Is fettered in fond_ Cupids _snare:
My Angle breeds me no such care.
Of Recreation there is none
So free as fishing is alone;
All other pastimes do no less
Then mind and body both possess;
My hand alone my work can do,
So I can fish and study too.
I care not, I, to fish in seas,
Fresh rivers best my mind do please,
Whose sweet calm course I contemplate;
And seek in life to imitate;
In civil bounds I fain would keep,
And for my past offences weep.
And when the timerous_ Trout _I wait
To take, and he devours my bait,
How poor a thing sometimes I find
Will captivate a greedy mind:
And when none bite, I praise the wise,
Whom vain alurements ne're surprise.
But yet though while I fish, I fast,
I make good fortune my repast,
And there unto my friend invite,
In whom I more then that delight:
Who is more welcome to my dish,
Then to my Angle was my fish.
As well content no prize to take
As use of taken prize to make;
For so our Lord was pleased when
He Fishers made Fishers of men;
Where (which is in no other game)
A man may fish and praise his name.
The first men that our Saviour dear
Did chuse to wait upon him here,
Blest Fishers were; and fish the last
Food was, that he on earth did taste.
I therefore strive to follow those,
Whom he to follow him hath chose.
W.B.
_Cor_. Well sung brother, you have paid your debt in good coyn, we
Anglers are all beholding to the good man that made this Song. Come
Hostis, give us more Ale and lets drink to him.
And now lets everie one go to bed that we may rise early; but first
lets pay our Reckoning, for I wil have nothing to hinder me in the
morning for I will prevent the Sun rising.
_Pet_. A match: Come _Coridon_, you are to be my Bed-fellow: I know
brother you and your Scholer wil lie together; but where shal we meet
to morrow night? for my friend _Coridon_ and I will go up the water
towards _Ware_.
_Pisc_. And my Scholer and I will go down towards _Waltam_.
_Cor_. Then lets meet here, for here are fresh sheets that smel of
Lavender, and, I am sure, we cannot expect better meat and better
usage.
_Pet_. 'Tis a match. Good night to every body.
_Pisc_. And so say I.
_Viat_. And so say I.
* * * * *
_Pisc_. Good morrow good Hostis, I see my brother _Peter_ is in bed
still; Come, give my Scholer and me a cup of Ale, and be sure you get
us a good dish of meat against supper, for we shall come hither as
hungry as _Hawks_. Come Scholer, lets be going.
_Viat_. Good Master, as we walk towards the water, wil you be pleased
to make the way seeme shorter by telling me first the nature of the
_Trout_, and then how to catch him.
_Pisc_. My honest Scholer, I wil do it freely: The _Trout_ (for which I
love to angle above any fish) may be justly said (as the ancient Poets
say of Wine, and we English say of Venson) to be a generous fish,
because he has his seasons, a fish that comes in, and goes out with the
_Stag_ or _Buck_: and you are to observe, that as there be some _barren
Does_, that are good in Summer; so there be some barren _Trouts_, that
are good in Winter; but there are not many that are so, for usually
they be in their perfection in the month of _May_, and decline with the
_Buck_: Now you are to take notice, that in several Countries, as in
_Germany_ and in other parts compar'd to ours, they differ much in
their bigness, shape, and other wayes, and so do _Trouts_; 'tis wel
known that in the Lake _Lemon_, the Lake of _Geneva_, there are
_Trouts_ taken, of three Cubits long, as is affirmed by _Gesner_, a
Writer of good credit: and _Mercator_ sayes, the _Trouts_ that are
taken in the Lake of _Geneva_, are a great part of the Merchandize of
that famous City. And you are further to know, that there be certaine
waters that breed _Trouts_ remarkable, both for their number and
smalness--I know a little Brook in _Kent_ that breeds them to a number
incredible, and you may take them twentie or fortie in an hour, but
none greater then about the size of a _Gudgion_. There are also in
divers Rivers, especially that relate to, or be near to the Sea, (as
_Winchester_, or the Thames about _Windsor_) a little _Trout_ called a
_Samlet_ or _Skegger Trout_ (in both which places I have caught twentie
or fortie at a standing) that will bite as fast and as freely as
_Minnows_; these be by some taken to be young _Salmons_, but in those
waters they never grow to bee bigger then a _Herring_.
There is also in _Kent_, neer to _Canterbury_, a _Trout_ (called there
a _Fordig Trout_) a _Trout_ (that bears the name of the Town where 'tis
usually caught) that is accounted rare meat, many of them near the
bigness of a _Salmon_, but knowne by their different colour, and in
their best season cut very white; and none have been known to be caught
with an Angle, unless it were one that was caught by honest Sir _George
Hastings_, an excellent Angler (and now with God) and he has told me,
he thought that _Trout_ bit not for hunger, but wantonness; and 'tis
the rather to be believed, because both he then, and many others before
him have been curious to search into their bellies what the food was by
which they lived; and have found out nothing by which they might
satisfie their curiositie.
Concerning which you are to take notice, that it is reported, there is
a fish that hath not any mouth, but lives by taking breath by the
porinss of her gils, and feeds and is nourish'd by no man knows what;
and this may be believed of the _Fordig Trout_, which (as it is said of
the _Stork_, that he knowes his season, so he) knows his times (I think
almost his day) of coming into that River out of the Sea, where he
lives (and it is like feeds) nine months of the year, and about three
in the River of _Fordig_.
And now for some confirmation of this; you are to know, that this
_Trout_ is thought to eat nothing in the fresh water; and it may be the
better believed, because it is well known, that _Swallowes_, which are
not seen to flye in _England_ for six months in the year, but about
_Michaelmas_ leave us for a hotter climate; yet some of them, that have
been left behind their fellows, [view Sir Fra. Bacon exper. 899.], have
been found (many thousand at a time) in hollow trees, where they have
been observed to live and sleep [see Topsel of Frogs] out the whole
winter without meat; and so _Albertus_ observes that there is one kind
of _Frog_ that hath her mouth naturally shut up about the end of
_August_, and that she lives so all the Winter, and though it be
strange to some, yet it is known to too many amongst us to bee doubted.
And so much for these _Fordig Trouts_, which never afford an Angler
sport, but either live their time of being in the fresh water by their
meat formerly gotten in the Sea, (not unlike the _Swallow_ or _Frog_)
or by the vertue of the fresh water only, as the _Camelion_ is said to
live by the air.
There is also in _Northumberland_, a _Trout_, called a _Bull Trout_, of
a much greater length and bignesse then any in these Southern parts;
and there is in many Rivers that relate to the Sea, _Salmon Trouts_ as
much different one from another, both in shape and in their spots, as
we see Sheep differ one from another in their shape and bigness, and in
the finess of their wool: and certainly as some Pastures do breed
larger Sheep, so do some Rivers, by reason of the ground over which
they run, breed larger _Trouts_.
Now the next thing that I will commend to your consideration is, That
the _Trout_ is of a more sudden growth then other fish: concerning
which you are also to take notice, that he lives not so long as the
_Pearch_ and divers other fishes do, as Sir _Francis Bacon_ hath
observed in his History of life and death.
And next, you are to take notice, that after hee is come to his full
growth, he declines in his bodie, but keeps his bigness or thrives in
his head till his death. And you are to know that he wil about
(especially before) the time of his Spawning, get almost miraculously
through _Weires_ and _Floud-Gates_ against the stream, even through
such high and swift places as is almost incredible. Next, that the
_Trout_ usually Spawns about _October_ or _November_, but in some
Rivers a little sooner or later; which is the more observable, because
most other fish Spawne in the Spring or Summer, when the Sun hath
warmed both the earth and water, and made it fit for generation.
And next, you are to note, that till the Sun gets to such a height as
to warm the earth and the water, the _Trout_ is sick, and lean, and
lowsie, and unwholsome: for you shall in winter find him to have a big
head, and then to be lank, and thin, & lean; at which time many of them
have sticking on them Sugs, or _Trout_ lice, which is a kind of a worm,
in shape like a Clove or a Pin, with a big head, and sticks close to
him and sucks his moisture; those I think the _Trout_ breeds himselfe,
and never thrives til he free himself from them, which is till warm
weather comes, and then as he growes stronger, he gets from the dead,
still water, into the sharp streames and the gravel, and there rubs off
these worms or lice: and then as he grows stronger, so he gets him into
swifter and swifter streams, and there lies at the watch for any flie
or Minow that comes neer to him; and he especially loves the _May_
flie, which is bred of the _Cod-worm_ or _Caddis_; and these make the
_Trout_ bold and lustie, and he is usually fatter, and better meat at
the end of that month, then at any time of the year.
Now you are to know, that it is observed that usually the best _Trouts_
are either red or yellow, though some be white and yet good; but that
is not usual; and it is a note observable that the female _Trout_ hath
usually a less head and a deeper body then the male _Trout_; and a
little head to any fish, either _Trout, Salmon_, or other fish, is a
sign that that fish is in season.
But yet you are to note, that as you see some Willows or Palm trees bud
and blossome sooner then others do, so some _Trouts_ be in some Rivers
sooner in season; and as the Holly or Oak are longer before they cast
their Leaves, so are some _Trouts_ in some Rivers longer before they go
out of season.