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Lines in Pleasant Places Being the Aftermath of an Old Angler By: William Senior (1839?-1920) |
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Being the Aftermath of an Old Angler by WILLIAM SENIOR ("Red Spinner") [Frontispiece: "Red Spinner"]
Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co. Ltd.,
4 Stationers' Hall Court
London, E.C. 4 Copyright
First published 1920
INTRODUCTION
The half a dozen or so of Angling books which stand to my name were
headed by Waterside Sketches , and this is really and truly a
continuation, if not the end, of the series. They were inspired by my
old friend Richard Gowing, at the Whitefriars Club, of which he was for
many years the well remembered honorary secretary, and of which I still
have the grateful pride of being entitled to the name of father. Gowing had become editor of the Gentleman's Magazine in 1874, and in
his sturdy efforts to give it new life he looked round amongst the
youngsters who seemed likely to serve him. The result was that he
invited me to try my hand at something. He had read my Notable
Shipwrecks , which the house of Cassells was at that time bringing out,
and said that its author, known to the public as "Uncle Hardy" only,
ought to be able to offer a suggestion. The Stoke Newington reservoirs had about that time given me some good
sport with pike, large perch, chub, and tench, and I had long been an
angling enthusiast. Out of the fullness of my heart I spoke. I told
him that fishing was my best subject; that if he would accept a series
of contributions the direct object of which was to make Angling
articles as interesting to non anglers as to anglers themselves, I
would be his man. Verily I would not wonder if, in showing how botany, agriculture,
out of door life generally might be woven into the warp and woof of the
fabric, I became eloquent; for, as I have said, out of the heart the
mouth spoke. So it was agreed, and for a while "Red Spinner's"
articles graced the pages of the magazine, and they were by and by
republished in Waterside Sketches . They afterwards gave me entrance
to Bell's Life and to the Field , and a name at any rate amongst the
brethren of the Angle, as to which I must not gush, but which is very
dear to the musings of an old man's eventide. How much I owe to "Red
Spinner" I shall never know. The name has followed me, and my brothers
of the Highbury Anglers have adopted it, but last year, in honour of
their always loyal, but I feel sure no longer useful President. I was
much amused to find how it had also followed me to Queensland. During
one of the Parliamentary recesses I went up country, the guest of a
squatter who was afterwards in the Ministry, and he introduced me to a
fellow squatter member in my surname as an officer of Parliament.
Neither the name nor office meant anything to him. But when we were
smoking in the veranda, and my friend mentioned, as an aside, that I
was "Red Spinner," the visitor leaped to his feet, came at me with a
double grip, and shouted a Scotch salmon fisher's welcome, turning to
my host and furiously demanding, "Why the dickens didn't you tell me so
at first?" On another Bush visit an officer in the Mounted Police showed me
amongst his curiosities a copy of Waterside Sketches half devoured by
dingoes, and found with the scraps scattered around the skeleton of a
poor wayfarer left at the foot of a gum tree. To fly fishers the name
had an intelligible story of course, and it puzzled those non anglers
for whom I tried always to write. The scores of times I was asked
"What does 'Red Spinner' mean?" by ladies as well as gentlemen, told me
how well I had kept the promise to the good Richard Gowing when those
articles were arranged. Journalism proper, now and henceforth for the rest of my life claimed
me. It became my profession in fact; but it was always fishing that
kept the longing eye turned towards the waterside. Somehow for a time
the water was all round me, but I had not the means of learning the art
at that time, nor of practising it. Somehow I was always being
reminded that the fishing rod was to obtain the mastery by and by, but
I had to wait a long while for the opportunity... Continue reading book >>
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