ANGLING IN IRELAND FIFTY YEARS AGO. IN On Lough Neagh's bank, as the fisherman strays, He sees the round towers of other days In the waves beneath him shining. Thus shall Memory often, in dreams sublime, -Moore. N a mood somewhat kindred to the spirit of these beautiful verses, it occurred to us, to "catch a glimpse of the days that are over;" and to rescue from "the waves of time" a few recollections of Irish angling half a century ago. Though originating in mere sentiment, the thought, we conceived, might be brought within the pale of the utilitarian philosophy of the age, which requires even trifles light as air to serve some useful purpose. Following up this new aspect of the subject in its various bearings, we could scarcely resist the temptations offered by the theme, and the pleasure of contributing our mite, however small, to the genial pages of a Magazine devoted to the pursuits of angling. Indeed, while the press, almost daily, resounds with the praises of the marvels effected in all the arts of social life, it could hardly be inopportune to attempt to measure the advances made in that department of knowledge in which the angler is more immediately interested. As one of the earliest resources of the sustenance of the human race, the history of fishing, in a comprehensive form, would be at once amusing and instructive. But we must confine our flights within narrower limits of time and space; leaving to those who have the necessary leisure and qualifications for the task, to trace the progress of the art from the rude contrivances of the savage, to the more refined inventions of civilized man. Though we must not launch into this wide expanse of research, or aspire to realize "in dreams sublime" the "long-faded glories" of Irish angling in our retrospect, we may venture to record in plain prose, our personal experiences within the term of our own observation. When a young gentleman, rising perhaps from the perusal of one of the old popular treatises on angling, goes to a tackle-shop to procure an "outfit" for his first excursion, two illusions are apt to take possession of his mind. Recollecting the absurd engravings and the equally absurd instructions contained in his late manual, he can hardly refrain from exclaiming while looking "on this picture and upon that" displayed before him on the counter, How inferior must have been the old fishing-gear to that manufactured at the present day! And as a natural inference from the comparison, he fondly believes that he has only to use the glittering treasures he has just acquired, on lake or river, to insure success. A glance into the "vacua et inania regna" of his new creel, at the end of a day's fishing, would perhaps be the only argument that would shake his faith in modern improvements. The conclusions of our young and ardent friend would be undoubtedly inapplicable to Irish waters and Irish tackle at the date of these manuals. At the time one of these curious compilations now before us was published in London some sixty years ago, fishing-tackle of the best description was made and in general use in Ireland. But whether for the good or evil repute of the native manufacture, no "book-maker" represented or caricatured it, in plates or print. It is certainly remarkable that in a country to which angling is indebted for some important inventions, no author even of the manual school, should have written on the subject. No Walton appears to have drawn inspiration from the waters of Ireland. Of the many who angled on their banks, not one, that we are aware of, has left a record of the means and the emotions with which the art was pursued. Like the music of the country, it existed independent of manuscript, and was preserved only in the affections and traditions of the people by whom it was practised. The exceptional state of the country would perhaps serve to explain this anomaly; but without having recourse to this forbidden ground, the gradual and silent progress of other arts to perfection would remove the difficulty. We need only refer to the most esteemed of these, sculpture and painting, which arrived at a high degree of excellence, long before it was thought necessary to reduce the practice or methods of their professors into theories and systems. So true is this, that it has been justly observed that an age of criticism has seldom been distinguished by originality, or the superiority of its productions. It is certain at least that the art of manufacturing fishing-tackle followed this silent law of progress in Ireland, and that the ingenuity of the native anglers supplemented the absence of theoretical instruction. The Limerick hook as originally made, but now seldom to be seen in that form except in the collections of the curious, serves to illustrate how untutored talent attains its ends without other assistance than its own lights. When O'Shaughnessy conceived in his mind the best shape of hook for striking and holding a salmon in the Shannon, he was quite innocent of a technical knowledge of the rules of mechanics. Like his own hook, he went keenly and directly at his object, and solved the problem he proposed to himself at starting. His own common sense, and the end in view, sufficed to guide his hand in the accomplishment of his design. Of the many modifications which that hook has since undergone, none excel, while some are undoubtedly inferior to the original invention. Its only fault was its excess of metal; but in shape and temper, it has never been surpassed. We fished with some of these hooks in our early days of angling, till by frequent use and re-mounting with flies, they became bright by wear and loss of varnish, and never found them wanting in their work. To the inventor of this form of an indispensable item of the fisherman's gear, and who may well be called the father of hook-making, this tribute to his ingenuity may not be uncalled for; more particularly when we recollect that the hook is to the angler pretty much what the anchor is to the mariner. Before introducing the subject of the Irish rod, it may not be out of place to preface our remarks by a few words on a question which we have often heard discussed with more national susceptibility than sound knowledge of the case. The reader will probably foresee that we allude to the oft mooted question of the comparative merits of the Irish and English rod. Indeed from the warmth of the controversies we have witnessed on the topic, we consider it quite necessary to guard against the suspicion of any undue bias in the matter. We have angled with both classes of rods in both countries; have lived a somewhat cosmopolite life; and survived, we hope, the prejudices of youth and country. We may not, therefore, be charged at least of writing without knowledge of the point at issue, or from one side of the "Channel" only. Our object, in fact, in alluding to the matter at all, is not so much to pronounce any opinion on the disputed question, as to explain the causes of the form assumed by the Irish rod at a very early date; and to show its adaptation to the purposes and circumstances for which it was given its present shape. As most anglers are aware, the principle of construction in these rods, is somewhat different. In the Irish lake-rod the weight of the work it is intended to perform, is made to fall on its middlethird chiefly. With this view the lower and central parts are designedly reduced by the workman. By this means the strain is divided nearly equally along its whole length; and the stronger are made to save the weaker parts. In the English rod, as made up to a recent period, the lower half was left much stronger, which necessarily threw a greater, if not an undue proportion of the work on the upper and weaker half of the rod. It consequently felt lighter in the hand, and drooped less perhaps at the point than the normal model of the Irish lakes. Now if the objects for which these rods were respectively made, and the circumstances under which they were to be used, are duly considered, no question of their comparative merits could ever have arisen. In England, river fishing and light fish were the rule-lake fishing and large trout, the exception. For the former, the English rod was perfectly competent. It was seldom exposed to the strain of heavy trout, stiff breezes, and other conditions to which a lake-rod is often subjected. If, for instance, it was used in a gale of wind on Lough Sheelan, or other large Irish lake, to bring a six or "seven-pounder" within landing distance of the gunwale of the boat, great difficulty, and no small risk to the rod itself and to the safe netting of such a fish, would be undoubtedly experienced. The rod in such cases would necessarily have to be held nearly perpendicular (entirely so if the angler land his own fish, which an "expert" ought to be able to do), the weight thrown chiefly on the point, and great danger of its snapping incurred. The deficiency of bearing power in the point, would also be sensibly felt in keeping the nostrils of a heavy fish. above water, a condition which as every lake angler is well aware, is indispensable for the safe landing of large trout. From the construction of the Irish lake-rod, to which we have adverted, these objections, it is obvious, do not so forcibly apply. The Irish rod, besides its greater and more equal power of bearing sudden and heavier strains, was also supposed by those who used it to cast flies with more ease and precision—to withstand better the “wear and tear" of rough winds and waters, than any other form of rod which they employed. Rods consequently, as it appears to us, were made to suit the circumstances and conditions under which they were employed; and to discuss their comparative merits without keeping this fact in view, is simply a waste of time, and can lead to no just conclusion. It should be observed, therefore, that our remarks have reference solely to lake-rods and Irish lake angling. To return from this digression to the date at which the Irish rod assumed its present form. Upon this archæological question, we regret, we cannot write with certainty. It would be gratifying to that class of readers who are not wholly interested in angling but with its literature also, to know the precise time when, and the artist by whom, this great boon was conferred upon Irish fishers. But we fear these historic desiderata are beyond the reach of research; and the identity of the illustrious inventor must be considered even more shadowy than a nominis umbra. We only know that some fifty years ago, or thereabouts, a rod was presented to us, which in form and every other accessory was identical with the best rods now made in Dublin. So far as our recollection serves us, our belief is that it was made ten or fifteen years previously. The present Irish rod is consequently an "institution" of a good round age in the country. It was a two-piece rod, united by a simple splice-joint when in work, as all Irish lake-rods were at that time. The butt was of ash; the top of hickory. In graceful proportions and perfect finish we have not seen it since excelled. It long remained a model after which we made many rods with our own hands. In writing of Irish rods of this date, it is necessary to discriminate between those made in Dublin by skilled workmen, and those made in the interior of the country by the native anglers themselves. As might be expected, the finish of the former was more perfect; but the form of both was the same. They were constructed precisely on the same principle, and answered the same ends. The tools and materials with which these rustic artizans worked were of the simplest and rudest kind. The bench was often a door taken off the hinges; the tools, a rusty old handsaw, a wretched smoothing plane, and some sand-paper. The material was confined to the indigenous wood of the country. For the butt, ripe old ash well-seasoned was selected; for the top, holly grown in an exposed situation, and of sufficient girth to be sawed into plank was preferred. For all practical purposes these woods made excellent rods, when carefully chosen, as some kinds of both are wholly useless for rod-making. Of the virtues of greenhart, hickory, lance, and other foreign woods they were of course ignorant. The rings or runners as they called them, were hard soldered with silver on a live peat-coal from the hearth with the aid of a tobacco pipe used as a blow-pipe. They were well aware of the use of borax, as a flux, in the operation. A knot of red or yellow silk from the next market town, sufficed with shoemaker's wax to lap on (as they called it) these runners quite as neatly, as if applied by one of Kelly's best workmen. Boiled linseed oil with one or other of the varnish "gums" served to protect the whole and make the work waterproof. In any number of rods made by the same individual, the same forms and other qualities 66 |