The Compleat Angler

, Venato

ve stretched my legs up Tottenham Hill to overtake you, hoping your business

esden; and I think not to rest till I come thither, where I have appointed a friend or two to meet me: but for this gentleman that you see

s Theobalds, and there leave you; for then I turn up to a fri

pier in the others' company. And, Gentlemen, that I may not lose yours, I shall either abate or amend my pace

m you, that both look and speak so cheerfully: and for my part, I promise you, as an invitation

, Sir, I pro

on a boldness to ask you, Sir, whether business or pleasure caused you to be so early up, and walk s

in hunting the Otter, which a friend, that I go to meet, tells me is much pleasanter than any other chase whatsoever: howsoever, I mean to try it; for to-mo

or I hate them perfectly, because they love fish so well, or rather, because they destroy so much; indeed so much, that, in my judgment all men tha

n, would not you as willingly have them destroyed?

not so much to me and my fraternity

t fraternity are you, that you a

er: for you are to note, that we Anglers all love one another, and therefore d

wed many a pack of dogs many a mile, and heard ma

ve heard many grave, serious men pity them, it

with ill nature, confidence, and malice, will do it; but though they often venture boldly, yet they are

illed in scoffin

ur folly, which y

oft, void both

er, when your

nation to mankind," let him that thinks fit scoff on, and be a Scoffer st

scontented: for these poor rich-men, we Anglers pity them perfectly, and stand in no need to borrow their thoughts to think ourselves so happy. No, no, Sir, we enjoy a contentedness above the reach of such dispositions, and as the learned and ingenuous Montaigne says, like himself, freely, "When my Cat and I entertain each other with mutual apish tricks, as playing with a garter, who knows but that I make my Cat more sport than she m

m too, let him be never so grave, that hath not heard what Anglers can say in the justification of their Art and Recreat

lmost amazed me; for tho

speak it without offen

t, and more simple men,

to

men as lived in those times when there were fewer lawyers; when men might have had a lordship safely conveyed to them in a piece of parchment no bigger than your hand, though several sheets will not do it safely in this wiser age; I say, Sir, if you take us Anglers to be such simple men as I have spoke of, then myself and those of my profession will be glad to be so understood: But if by simplicity you meant to

er of Hounds, I shall be most glad to hear what you can say in the commendation of that recreation which each of you love and practice; and having heard what you can say, I shall be glad to exercise you

with all my heart; and to testify it

evations; in the Air my troops of Hawks soar up on high, and when they are lost in the sight of men, then they attend upon and converse with the Gods; therefore I think my Eagle is so justly styled Jove's servant in ordinary: and that very Falcon, that I am now going to see, deserves no meaner a title, for she usually in her flight endangers herself, like the son of Daedalus, to have her wings scorched by the sun's heat, she flies so near it, but her mettle makes her careless of danger; for she the

ture that hath life in its nostrils, stands in need of my element. The waters cannot preserve the Fish without air, witness the not breaking of ice in an extreme frost; the reason is, for that if the inspiring and expiring organ of any animal be stopped, it suddenly yields to nature, and dies

with their choice bodies, and refresh him with their heavenly voices. I will not undertake to mention the several kinds of Fowl by which this is done: and his curious palate pleased by day, and which with their very

e earth, and sings as she ascends higher into the air and having ended her heavenly employment, grows the

bid welcome to the cheerful Spring, and in their fixed months

asons, as namely the Laverock, the Tit-lark, the little Linnet

He that at midnight, when the very labourer sleeps securely, should hear, as I have very often, the clear airs, the sweet descants, the natural rising and falling, the doubling and

he ruins of which are yet to be seen in Rome, and is still so famous there, that it is reckoned for one of thos

relates it to be done betwixt Aleppo and Babylon, But if that be disbelieved, it is not to be doubted that the Dove was sent out of the ark by Noah, to give him notice of land, when to him all appeared to be sea; and the Dove proved a faithful and comfortable messenger. And for the sacrifices of the law, a pair of Turtle-doves, or young Pigeons, were as well accepted as costly Bulls and Rams; and

wn commonwealth, I might say much, as also of their several kinds, and how useful their honey and wax are both for meat and medicines to mankind; but I will leave them to thei

ote, that they are usually distinguished into two kinds; namely, the long-winged, and th

alcon an

n and Tas

er and

erel and

er and

n and Jac

bby an

he Stellet

red Rook f

ite from

s of short-

gle an

hawk an

hawk and

h Pye of

note and worth; but we hav

yel, the

en, the

Kite, the B

and others that

and then come to their rare stories of practice; I say, if I should enter into these, and many other observations that I could make, it would be much, very much pleasure to me: but lest I should break the rules of civility with you, by taking up more than the proportion of time allotted to me,

gins to betray the very vermin of the earth; as namely, the Fichat, the Fulimart, the Ferret, the Pole-cat, the Mouldwarp, and the like creatures that live upon the face, and within the bowels of, the Earth. How doth the Earth bring forth herbs, flowers, and fruits, both for physick and the pleasure of mankind! and above all, to me at least, the fruitful vine, of which when I drink moderately, it clears my brain, cheers my heart, and sharpens my wit. How could Cleopatra have feasted Mark Antony with eight wild Boars roasted whole at one supper, and other meat suitable, if the earth had not been a bountiful mother? But to pass by the mighty Elephant, which the Earth breeds and nourisheth, and descend to the least of creatures, how doth the earth afford

his Cyrus, that he was a hunter of wild beasts. Hunting trains up the younger nobility to the use of manly exercises in their riper age. What more m

and in, the water, and into the earth! What music doth a pack of dogs then make to any man, whose heart and ears are so happy as to be set to the tune of such instruments! How will a right Greyhound fix his eye on the best Buck in a herd, single him out, and foll

on, approach nearest to the completeness and understanding of man; especially of those creatures, which Moses in the Law permitted to the Jews, which have cloven hoofs, and chew the cud; which I shall forbear to name, because I will not be so

pe so too, thoug

to him: if others use it vainly in the midst of their recreations, so vainly as if they meant to conjure, I must tell you, it is neither our fault nor our custom; we protest against it. But, pray remember, I accuse nobody; for

and, even all creatures that have breath in their nostrils, must suddenly return to putrefaction. Moses, the great lawgiver and chief philosopher, skilled in all the learning of the Egyptians, who was called the friend of God, and knew the mind of the Almighty, names this eleme

re made of water, and may be reduced back again to

red pound weight more than when it was first rooted and weighed; and you shall find this augment of the tree to be without the diminution of one drachm weight of the earth. Hence they infer this increase of wood to be from water of rain, or from dew, a

ed and thrive by the water; and the very minerals are fed by streams that run under ground, whose natural course carries them to the tops of many high mountain

ng off of Lent, and other fish days, which hath not only given the lie to so many learned, pious, wise founders of colleges, for which we should be ashamed, hath doubtless been the chief cause of those many putrid, shaking intermitting agues, unto which this nation of ours is now mor

Romans, in the height of their glory, have made fish the mistress of all their entertainments; they have had musick to usher in their Sturgeons, Lampreys, and Mullets, which they would purchase at

with a most learned physician, Dr. Wharton, a dear friend, that loves both me and my art of Angling. But, however, I will wade no deeper into these mysterious arguments, but pass

aily traffick, without which we could not now subsist. How does it not only furnish us with food and

ents of Livy, the choicest of the historians; of Tully, the best of orators; and to see the bay trees that now grow out of the very tomb of Virgil! These, to any that love learning, must be pleasing. But what pleasure is it to a devout Christian, to see there the humble house in which St. Paul was content to dwell, and to view the many rich statues that are made in honour of his memory! nay, to see the very place in which St. Peter and he lie buried together! These are in and near to Rome. And how much more doth it please the pious curiosity of a Christian, t

h, but never to a beast; that he hath made a whale a ship, to carry and set his prophet, Jonah, safe on the appointed shore. Of these I mi

st part with you at this park-wall, for which I am very sorry; but I assure you, Mr. Piscator, I now part wit

neither want time, nor my attention to hear

rfect art, and an art not easily attained to; and you have so won upon me in your former disc

ossessed with the same high and happy thoughts that now possess me of it; not only of the antiquity of Angling, but

diligent attention shall not be wanting. And if you shall make that to appear which you have undertaken, first, that it is an art, and an art worth the learnin

kfast: doubt not therefore, Sir, but that angling is an art, and an art worth your learning. The question is rather, whether you be capable of learning it? angling is somewhat like poetry, men are to be born so: I mean, with inclinations to it, though both may be heightened by discourse and practice: but he that hopes to be a

xpectation, that I long much to have you p

: and some others say, for former times have had their disquisitions about the antiquity of it, that Seth, one of the sons of Adam, taught it to his sons, and that by them it was derived to posterity: others say that he left it engraven on those pillars which h

ll content myself in telling you, that angling is much more ancient than the incarnation of our Saviour; for in the Prophet Amos mention is made of fish-hooks; and in the book

tors; and yet I grant, that where a noble and ancient descent and such merit meet in any man, it is a double dignification of that person; so if this antiquity of angling, which for my part I have not forced, shall, like an ancient family, be either an ho

their opinion of the first; by saying, that the nearer we mortals come to God by way of imitation, the more happy we are. And they say, that God enjoys himself only, by a contemplation of his own infiniteness, eternity, power, and goodness, and th

th for the ease and prolongation of man's life; by which each man is enabled to act and do good to others, either to serve his country, or do good to particular persons: and they s

myself contented in telling you, my very worthy friend, that both these meet together, and

nd this seems to be maintained by the learned Peter du Moulin, who, in his discourse of the fulfilling of Prophecies, observes, that when God intended to reveal any future events or high notions to his prophets, he then carried the

musick from their pensive hearts, and having hung up their then mute harps upon the willow-trees growing by the r

er of the first, yet give me leave to free myself from the last, by offering to you a short contemplation, first of rivers, and then of fish; concerning which I doubt not but to give you many observations that will ap

them, and of the several creatures that be bred and live in them, and those by

of no less credit than Aristotle, tells us of a merry river, the river Elusina, that dances at the noise of musick, for with musick it bubbles, dances, and grows sandy, and so continues till the musick ceases, but then it presently returns to its wonted calmness and clearness. And Camden tells us of a well near to Kirby, in Westmoreland, that ebbs and flows several times every day: and he tells us of a river in Surrey, it is called Mole, that after it has run seve

es, there be Eels of thirty feet long. He says there, that these monsters appear in that sea, only when the tempestuous winds oppose the torrents of water falling from the rocks into it, and so turning what lay at the bottom to be seen on the water's top. And he says, that the people of Cadara, an island near this place, make the timber for their houses of those fish bones. He there tells us, that there are sometimes a thousand of these great E

nd others added by my friend Elias Ashmole, Esq., who now keeps them carefully and methodically at his house near to Lambeth, near London, as may get some

l sorts of Barnacles, of Solan-Geese, the Bird of Paradise, such sorts of Snakes, and such Birds'-nests, and of so various forms, and so wonderfully made, as may beget wonder and amusement in any beholder; and s

ive it a sweet conclusion out of that holy poet, Mr. Geor

raise enough, na

thy works, but he

ow thy works, t

e, but only he

edge both thy

transcendan

rangely and so

have their end,

sacred Spirit!

l my fellows,

, that I shoul

benefit ac

ing the sea, the rivers, and the fish therein contained! And the great naturalist Pliny says, "That nature's great and wonderful power is more demonstrated in the sea than on the land ". And this may appear, by the numerous and various creat

in the sea, an

hes of so m

ters we may se

on the earth a

d were in deep

l as skies-have

-Swallows, Roo

h-Vines, Roses,

, Gilliflowers,

more rare, more s

hes, living

alves, Horses,

s, Lions, Elep

ids, and, which

shop and the

ples, but a fe

e Norway and P

ubt them. Nor are the number, nor the various shapes, of fishes more strange, or more fit for contemplation, than

es some little fish come near to her; and the Cuttle-fish, being then hid in the gravel, lets the smaller fish nibble and bite the end of it; at which time she, by little a

l, and, like a hermit, dwells there alone, studying the wind and weather and so turns h

g and innocent fish, a fish that hurts nothing that hath life, and is at peace with all the numerous inh

l and chaste fishes; of whi

I shall give you in his own words, supposing it shall not have the less credit for being verse; for he hath gathered

Sargus doth n

in the deep strea

oney of sea

fice his rang

she-goats on t

usbands that ha

ning the Cantharus, that which yo

y, the const

ant to his fa

ies, spending

any but his

tle longer, an

ink fit, for your discourse seems to b

th, and marry; and that then the survivor scorns, as the Thracian women are said to do, to outlive his or her mate, and this is taken for a truth; and if the sur

men that violate the law affirmed by St. Paul to be writ in their hearts, and which, he says, shall at the Last Day condemn and leave them without excuse-I pray hearken t

love the Mull

sher hath surp

wo, to shore

t him, both in

s, though they perish. And it is considerable, that the Hen, which, because she also takes any Cock, expects it not, who is sure the chickens be her own, hath by a moral impression her care and affection to he

ermin or other fishes. But other fishes, as namely the Barbel, take such care for the preservation of their seed, that, unlike to the Cock, or the Cuckoo, they mutually l

known by divers, both of wisdom and experience, to be a truth; and indeed are, as I said at the beginning, fit for the contemplation of a most serious and a most pious man. And, dou

we are sure, he chose four that were simple fishermen, whom he inspired, and sent to publish his blessed will to the Gentiles; and inspired them also with a power to speak all languages, and by their powerful eloquence to beget faith in the unbelieving Jews; and themselves to suffer f

plation and quietness; men of mild, and sweet, and peaceable spirits, as indeed most Anglers are: these men our blessed Saviour, who is observed to love to plant grace in good natures, though indeed no

ould have a priority of nomination in the catalogue of his twelve Apostles, as namely,

ation, that those three were all fishermen. And it is to be believed, that all the other Apostles, after they betook themselves to follow Christ, betook themselves to be fishermen too

self hath appointed to write his holy will in holy writ, yet to express his will in such metaphors as their former affections or practice had inclined them to. And he brings Solomon for an example, who, before his conversion, was r

fore writ the book of Job, and the Prophet Amos, who was a shepherd, were both Anglers; for you shall, in all the Old Testa

nt style of the prophet Isaiah, though they be both equally true, may easily believe Amos to be, not only a shepherd, but a good-natured plain fisherman. Which I do the rather believe, by comparing the

a king and several priests a-fishing. And he that reads Plutarch, shall find, that Angling was not contemptible in the days of Mark Antony and Cleopatra, and that they, in the midst of their wonderful glory, used Angling as a principal recreation. And let me tell you, that in the Scripture, Angling is always taken in the best sense; and that though hunting may be someti

nd great a practiser of it, our learned Dr. Whitaker was; as indeed many others of great learning have been. But I will conten

uce: and his custom was to spend besides his fixed hours of prayer, those hours which, by command of the church, were enjoined the clergy, and voluntarily dedicated to devotion by many primitive Christians, I say, besides those hours, this good man was observed to spend a tenth part of his time in Angling; and, also, for I have conversed with those which have conversed with him, to bestow a tenth part of his revenue, and usually all his fish, amongst the poor that inhabited near to those rivers in which it was caught; saying often, "that charity gave life to religion ": and, at his return to his house, would praise God he had spent that day free from worldly trouble; both harmlessly, and in a recreation that became a churchman. And this good man was well content, if not desirous, that posterity should know

robation of Angling were sufficient to convince any modest censurer of it, this man was also a most dear lover, and a frequent practiser of the art of Angling; of which he would say, "it was an employment for his idle time, which was then not idly spent"; for Angling was, after tedious study, "a rest to his mind, a cheerer of his spirits, a diverter of sadness, a calme

ty years of age, he made this description of a part of the present pleasure that possessed him, as he sat quietly, in a summer's evening, on a bank a-fishing. It is a des

me Nature s

sap bega

id stir th' e

d drawn thei

trout, tha

well-dis

Friend, with

f his tremb

re the eav

ft pilgrim's

already d

l's triump

ere short, th

fresh, the e

r neat-rubb'd

o milk the

me sturdy foo

s a syllabu

and gardens

ps, crocu

ugh late, th

n half a blu

ks gay, and

the new-liv

that then possessed th

u hear the wish of an

py life, which he also

rs,

rmlessly, and

Avon have a

e my quill, or

e of Perch, or

orld and my

trive ill-gotten

nd their time

orse, in war

st, these pastim

asing fancies f

s and meadows

fresh river

sies and the

h, and yell

sus like the

rass, and azu

igher pleasu

compass of t

st thereof, li

riot of the wor

uds that in th

inds of paint

ora, lifting

, rise from ol

ountains raised

tended level

divided into

s'd with rivers

ing way through

course, into t

a, beneath th

d rills, and ri

s, the forests

ves and branches

wers the birds w

their quire th

ir, where Flor

with verdant

aled fish tha

brook's crystal

d many more o

eavens, the Ang

in no little

trange, how wo

of an inward

art from othe

ooks on these w

rapt above t

d I am glad your patience hath held out so long as to hear them and me, for both together have brought us within the sight of the Thatched House. And I m

od company makes the way seem short"; for trust me, Sir, I thought we had wanted three miles of this house, till you s

Sir, and we'll drink

hat are to meet

ve put on new thoughts both of the art of Angling and of all that profess it; and if you will but meet me to-morrow at the time and place appointed, and bestow one day with m

Sir, I will not fail yo

orrow morning be

seco

tter and