Our mixed breed, or chapmen's horses, are best calculated to excel in this way. Perhaps, there never was an instance of a bred horse being a capital trotter, or of performing more than fourteen miles in one hour; or if such instances have been, they are so rare as not to affect the general principle. TROTTING. No arguments | this depends on the nature of the need be expended in proving the water from which it is taken, as in trot to be the most useful of all small mountain streams they begin the paces. Fast trotting, too, is to show their bright colours earlier equally contributory to sport as to than they do in heavier waters. business, and affords the amateur, When the crimson spots are vivid, or him who rides for exercise' sake, the belly pure white blended into every day opportunities of gratifica- the yellow sides, which are graduated tion which cannot so conveniently towards the back with a pearly lilac or frequently be obtained on the hue that merges into brown, such apturf. pearance decides the fish to be in season. Trout differ in colour when cooked: some are white as a roach; but the best flavoured are of a fine salmon tint. Both white and red are taken out of the same stream; though we have heard of some brooks wherein the trout are entirely white, and others whose fish are all red. Trout vary in size: those of the Thames and other large rivers have frequently been taken from seven to ten or twelve pounds weight. These may be considered very large fish, though trout of larger size have been taken. Trout of four or five pounds are superior in flavour to the larger: they are very short lived. The time of shedding their spawn generally is about October and November, before which they often force a passage against the stream, through wears and flood-gates: and how they overcome some of these obstacles has been the subject of much conjecture. The renowned Blank may be looked upon as the father of trotters, since from Old Shields (his bastard son) and from Scott, the trotting stallions, have proceeded the best and the greatest number of horses of that qualification; and to Shields and Useful Cub, the Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, and Norfolk, are in a great measure indebted for their fame in the production of capital hackneys. Fast trotters, whether for a single mile or for distance, are always scarce, and command high prices we know that Mr. John Bond, of Cowston, Norfolk, has sold six colts, got by his roan stallion called the Norfolk Phenomenon, for eight hundred and forty-six pounds. TROUT. This is one of our most sporting and delicious fish, : and very beautiful in its appearance when in prime season, which generally is about the end of June; but There are many varieties of the trout tribe, as the Fordige trout, from the name of the town near which it is usually caught; it is accounted a rare fish, and many of them are nearly as large as a salmon; there are also the Amerly trout, the bull trout of Northumberland, and several others; and if we are to believe what has been written on the subject, there are trout taken in the lake of Geneva three cubits long. The female trout is most esteemed, having a smaller head and a deeper body than the male. The red and yellow trout are the best; and when trout, as well as fish in general, are in season, it may be known by their long back and small head. In certain lakes of Galway, in Ireland, there is another variety, called the gillaroo trout, whose stomachs are so excessively thick and muscular as to bear some resemblance to the gizzard of a fowl; and these stomachs are sometimes served up to table under the appellation of gillaroo. In the common trout the stomach is remarkably strong, for though these fish feed principally on small fish and aquatic insects, they will also devour the shell-fish of the fresh waters, and even take into their stomachs gravel or small stones, for the purpose, in all probability, of assisting in the comminution of the testaceous parts of their food. are the most desirable, and a small fly with slender wings is the most appropriate. 4. The line should be about twice the length of the rod, except where trees, or other intervening objects, preclude the possibility of a successful throw at any distance. 5. The fly should suit the season. After a shower, when the water is of a brown appearance, the orange-fly is best; in a clear day the light-coloured fly; and in a gloomy day, in overshadowed streams, a dark fly. In angling with the fly it is important to strike on the first rise of the fish. The trout may be caught at the top, the middle, or the bottom of the stream. In angling for him at the top with a natural fly, use the green drake-fly and stone-fly, at least durThe SEA TROUT migrates like the ing the months of May and June. salmon up several of our rivers, This mode of angling is called dipspawns, and returns to the sea. The ping or daping. If there be no shape is more thick than the com- wind, use a line half the length of mon trout; the irides silver; the the rod; but if there be a wind head thick, smooth, and dusky, with increase the length of the line. Let a gloss of blue and green; the back the line fly with the wind up or of the same colour, which grows down the stream, and when you fainter towards the side line. The see a fish rise, guide the fly over back is plain, but the sides, as far him. In case of striking a fish, as as the lateral line, are marked with you have no length of line with large distinct irregular-shaped spots which to weary him, the capture of black; the lateral line straight; must be effected by force. At midthe sides beneath the line and the water, angling for the trout is perbelly are white; tail broad and even formed by means of small minnow, at the end. The flesh when boiled caddis, grub, or worm. If a minnow is of a pale red, but well-flavoured. be used, the moderately sized and Trout are generally found in ed-whitest are the best, and should be dies, where they remain concealed placed upon a large hook, that it behind a stone, or a log, or a bank may be able to turn itself about that projects into the stream. In when drawn against the stream. the latter part of the summer they The hook may be inserted in the are frequently caught in a milltail, mouth and drawn out at the gills. and sometimes under the hollow of a bank, and under the roots of a tree. In angling for trout, observe, 1. That the day be a little windy and the sky partially overcast; the south wind is the most desirable. 2. The angler should stand at a proper distance from the stream, and fish it downwards, the line never touching the water lest it should disturb the fish. 3. Clear streams It should be again drawn through the mouth with the point to the tail of the minnow, and the hook and tail neatly tied together, that the evolutions of the bait may be more naturally performed. The slack of the line should then be pulled back, that the body may be nearly straight on the hook. If he do not turn nimbly enough, let the tail be turned to the right or left, which, by enlarging the orifice made in the body of the minnow, will greatly facilitate its movements. In angling with a worm or caddis, the finest tackle must be employed and a cork float. The lob-worm is the best in muddy water, and in clear streams the brandling. The first is used for large trout, the second for smaller ones. There are two methods of angling at the bottom, with the float or with the hand. The latter is effected by means of a ground bait and long line, having one hair next the hook, and a little higher one small shot for a plumb. The brandling should be well secured and always in motion, drawn toward the person who is fishing. Only one worm is to be fastened on the hook at a time. To angle at the bottom with a float use the caddis, two or three of which may be put upon the hook at a time. It is often joined to the worm, and sometimes to an artificial fly. Fine tackle must be employed; and this mode of angling will afford diversion and success at all seasons of the year. In fishing with the caddis at the top of the water, the insect may be imitated by forming the head of black silk, and the body of yellow chamois leather; but the trout will seldom rise at the caddis when the stream is at all muddy. These observations are drawn from the most usual habits of successful fishermen, and are made with a view to practical convenience. The father of anglers tell us, that "In the night the best trouts come out of their holes; and the manner of taking them is on the top of the water with a great lob or gardenworm, or rather two, which you are to fish with in a place where the waters run somewhat quietly, for in a stream the bait will not be so well discerned. In a quiet or dead place near to some swift, there draw your bait over the top of the water to and fro, and if there be a good trout in the hole, he will take it, especially if the night be dark: for then he is bold, and lies near the top of the water, watching the motion of any frog or water-rat or mouse, that swims betwixt him and the sky; these he hunts after, if he sees the water but wrinkle, or move in one of these dead holes, where these great old trouts usually lie, near to their holds; for you are to note, that the great old trout is both subtle and fearful, and lies close all day, and does not usually stir out of his hold, but lies in it as close in the day, as the timorous hare does in her form: for the chief feeding of either is seldom in the day, but usually in the night, and then the great trout feeds very boldly. "You must fish for them with a strong line, and not a little hook, and let him have time to gorge your hook, for he does not usually forsake it, as he oft will do in the dayfishing: and if the night be not dark, then fish so with an artificial fly of a light colour, and at the snap; nay, he will sometimes rise at a dead mouse, or a piece of cloth, or any thing that seems to swim across the water, or to be in motion: this is a choice way, but I have not oft used it, because it is void of the pleasures that such days as these, that we two now enjoy, afford an angler." In fishing a river with which the angler has no previous acquaintance, the most approved practice is to try the eddies which are frequent at the corners of streams, and where the circular movement of the current throws out a frequent sustenance for the finny race. There the larger trout often lie; and it must consist with the experience of every angler, that an excellent capture is TURF ABBREVIATIONS. ... Duke. Lord. horse. ... gelding. ..... m. ............... mare. .. .... ........ colt. pony. brown. chestnut. dun. sometimes made repeatedly from ............... p. p. recd. .... ......... ............ gray. aged. . forfeit. play-or-pay. serves that they are "sometimes R. C. See HORSERACING. Clermont-Course. Y. C. ............ Ditch-Mile. ......... Two-Years-Old Course. Yearling-Course. TURTLE DOVE. See DOVE, TURTLE U UDDER. The breasts, paps, | Leominster; also in some of the rivers of the north. The umber is very common in Lapland; the inhabitants make use of the entrails instead of rennet, to make the cheese which they get from the milk of the rein-deer. It is a voracious fish; rises freely to the fly, and will very eagerly take a bait. It is a very swift swimmer, and disappears like the transient passage of a shadow, whence its name-" the umbra swift escapes the quickest eye."-See GRAYLING. purse, or milk bag of a cow or other animal. ULCER. A purulent wound or running sore, accompanied with putrefaction, being a preternatural discharge of matter. Generally a bad habit of body is the cause of ulcers, as well as of their continuance, in which case no cure can be performed before the constitution is mended. See FISTULA, GLANDERS, POLL EVIL, QUITTOR. UMBER (Salmo thymallus). This fish is generally called a grayling, according to Mr. Salter, until full grown, then it is entitled to the name of umber: it haunts clear and rapid streams, and particularly those that flow through mountainous countries. It is found in the rivers of Derbyshire; in the Tame, near Ludlow; in the Lug and other streams near VARISSE (in Horses). An imperfection on the inside of the ham, separate from the curb, but at the same height. It injures the sale of the horse, by growing to an unsightly magnitude, but may be kept down by the application of spirits of wine. VARNELS (in Falconry). Small silver rings around the hawk's legs, on which the name of the owner is engraved. VENERY. The sport of hunting. Spenser. The hare, hart, hind, boar, and wolf were called beasts of the forest, or beasts of venery: the buck, doe, fox, roe, and marten, beasts of chase: and the hare, coney, pheasant, and partridge, beasts and fowls of warren: to these last, Lord Coke adds, the quail, woodcock, water fowl, &c. VERDERER. An officer of a V UMBLES, HUMBLES, or NUMBLES. Part of the entrails of a deer. UNSEALING (in Falconry). The taking away the thread that was passed through the hawk's eyelids to obstruct her vision. URINES. Nets for catching hawks. forest, &c. whose principal duty is to look after the vert, or green hue, and to see that it be maintained: he is further described to be a judicial officer of the king's forest, chosen by the king's writ, in the full county court of the shire where the forest is, by the freeholders, and sworn before the sheriff to maintain and keep the assizes and laws of the forest, and also to review, receive, and enrol all the attachments and presentments of all manner of trespasses relating to vert and venison. as a The office of a verderer much resembles that of a coroner: coroner, upon notice of a person slain, is to view the dead body, and to make inquiry, by the oath of twelve men, how and by what means the person came by his death, so it is the duty of the verderer to look |