Mr Piers seems to have been a somewhat pessimistic angler, and to have fully appreciated the difficulties and disappointments of the art of angling.

A man that lovith ffisshyng and ffowlyng bothe,
Ofte tyme that lyff shall hym be lothe,
In see in ryver in ponde or in poole,
Off that crafte thowe he knowe the scole,
Thought his nett never so wide streiche,
It happith full ofte hym naught to ketche.
What fisshe is slipperer than an ele?
Ffor whan thow hym grippist and wenest wele
Too haue hym siker right as the list,

Than faylist thou off hym, he is owte of thy fyst.
Diches sumtyme there samons used to haunte,
Lampreyes lucys or pykys plesaunt,

Wenyng the ffissher suche fisshe to ffynde ;
Than comyth there a noyous north west wynde

And dryveth the ffisshe into the depe,

And causeth the draught nat worthe a leeke;
But in steide off sturgeon and lamprons
He draweth up gurnard, and goions,
Codlyng cungur, and such coisy fisshe,
Or wulwiche rochis, nat worthe a rysshe.
Suche fortune ofte tymes on fisshers fallys,
Though they on Petir prayen and callys.

The poem is too long to give in full, but I quote the two couplets following to show that the poet was possessed of some sportsmanlike instincts:

And ete the olde fisshe, and leve the yonge,
Thought they moore towgh be uppon the tonge.

But stynkkyng fisshe, and unsesonable,

Latte passe, and taake such as be able.

Some anglers, when they return an undersized fish to the water cut off a small portion of the caudal fin, in

Moralizatus.

[To face page 5.

order that they may be able to identify it, if they should happen to catch it again: other fishermen condemn this practice, stating that it is unsportsmanlike to mutilate fish in this manner, and also that these marks are not sufficiently distinctive for the purpose of identification. In relation to this an

extract from an old and a very rare work may prove interesting. In 1480 a Latin book, entitled Dialogus creaturarum optime moralizatus, was published, and of this a translation appeared about the year 1520, entitled "The Dialoges of Creatures Moralysed. Applyably and edificatyfly, to euery mery and jocunde mater, of late translated out of latyn into our Englysshe tonge right profitable to the gouernaunce of man."

The forty-eighth dialogue treats

OF A FISSHER AND A LYTYLL FISSH.

A fissher as he fisshed he cawght a lytell fissh and whan he wolde haue kylled him he spake and sayde. O gentyll Fissher haue mercye uppon me, for yf thou kyl me thou shalt haue but lytel auauntage of me. But & if thou wilt suffre me to go fre and delyeuer me from this daunger & captuitye I promise to God and to the, that I shall cawse the to haue greate wynnynge, for I shal retourne unto the daylye withe greate multitude of fisshes and I shall lede them in to thy nettis. To whom the fissher sayd. How shall I mowe knowe the emonge so many fisshes. Then sayd ye fissh. Cut of a lytell of my tayle that thou mayst know me emong al othir. The fissher gaue credence to his woordis and cut of his tayle & let him go. This lytel fisch was

cuer uncurteys, for contrary to his promyse he lettyd the fissher as oftyn as he shuld fissh, and withdrewe ye fisshes from him and sayd. faders and worshipfull senyours be ye ware of that deceyuar for he deceyuyd me, & cut of my tayle, and so shall he serue you if ye be not ware. And, yf ye beleue not me, beleue his workis that apere upon me. And thus saynge the fissh shewyd them his tayle that was cut. Wherfor the fisshes abhorryd ye fyssher and fled from him in al possible haste. The fissher usid no more fysshinge, wherfore he leuyd in great pouerte. Of fortune it happid so that a longe while aftir the fissher cawght agayne the same fissh emonge othir. And whan he knew him he kylled him cruelly and sayde

He that hath a good turn and is uncurteys agayn
It is veray rightfull that he be therfore slayne.

Among many other woodcuts in this book, there is the earliest known illustration of an angler fishing with a float. A photographic reproduction of this illustration, taken from a copy of the first edition of this work in the Bodleian Library, is given. Beneath this woodcut the following didactic dialogue appears :

OF A LUCE AND A TENCHE (Dialogo xliiii.)

Vppon a tyme ther was a Fissher that fisshed, and hydde his hookis sotellye, and shewid unto the fissh the delycyows bayte. A Luce and a Tenche beholdynge the pleasaunte bayte, desyrid it greatlye. But the Luce was wytty, and sayd to the Tenche. This mete semyth very good and delicate, but neuerthelesse I trowe that it be putte here to