dog with this portion Take an ounce and a half of Cassia fistularis well cleansed two drams and a half of Stavesacre pulverized and the like quantity of Scammony prepared in White-wine-vinegar and four ounces of Oyl-olive temper these and warm them over the Fire and give it your dog In the morning put him into this bath fasting as followeth Put into six pails full of water ten handfuls of Mugwort of Rosemary of red-Sage of the roots or leaves of Marsh-mallows of the roots or leaves of Wall-wort of the roots or stalks of Fennel of the leaves or stalks of Elecampane Baulm and Rue Sorrel Bugloss and Mellilot let these boil together in two thirds of water and the other Wine until one third be consumed the bath being no hotter than your dog can endure it bathe him therein for the space of an hour then taking him out put him in some warm place for sear of catching cold Do this four or five times in the same bath and it will cure Of the Sleeping Madness The fourth Madness is called the Sleeping Madness and is caused by some little Worms breeding in the mouth of the Stomack from corrupt Humours the vapours and sumes whereof ascending into the head make the dog sleep continually and frequently he dieth sleeping For the cure you must take five ounces of the juice of Wormwood with two ounces of the powder of Harts-horn burned and two drams of Agarick mingle these together and if they be too thick thin them with White-wine and give it your dog to drink Of the Rhcumatick or Slavering Madness This Madness is called so because when a dog hath got it his head swelleth his eyes are as yellow as a Kite's-foot and he commonly slavereth at the mouth The Cure is thus Take six ounces of the juice of Fennel-roots and the like quantity of the juice of Misseltoe four ounces of the juice of lvy four ounces of the powder of the roots of Polypodie boil these in White-wine and give it your dog to drink as hot as he can suffer it Here note that when a dog hath any of these kinds of Madnesses he will have no desire to eat fasting frequently eight or nine days and so starving to death Nay if they are troubled with any distemper they will refuse their meat nay the daintiest bit you can give them until they have eaten grass and have cleared their stomack of what did offend it and then they will eat Concerning the Madness of Dogs and their Venomous Bitings I think no reasonable man ought to question why the teeth of a mad dog should do more harm than those of a sound one because in rage and anger the teeth of every beast and creature receive venome and poison from the head whereby when they bite at that time they do much more harm Against the simple biting of a dog take the urine of a dog which is sufficient since there is but little venome in those wounds To lay the hair of the same dog thereon though so much talkt on I look upon as a meer foppery Or being bit by a dog take vinegar and with your hand rub the wound very well then pour into it vinegar mixed with water or Nitre then wet a spunge in the same liquids and so let it remain bound up three days then take Pellitory of the wall mingled and beaten with Salt or any other plaister for green wounds Divers are the cures and remedies for biting of mad dogs which I omit in this place as belonging not to my subject but to Physick A Remedy against the common Mange This distemper befalls a dog frequently for want of fresh water to drink when he desires it and sometimes by foul kennelling and sometimes by foundering and melting his greace You may cure it in this manner Take two handfuls of wild Cresses two handfuls of Elecampane and as much of the leaves and roots of Roerb and Sorrel and two pound of the roots of Frodels make them all boil well in lye and vinegar having strained the decoction put therein two pound of gray soap and when it is melted therein then rub your degs with it four or five days together and it will cure them A brief Discourse of the Cure of Maladies belonging to Spaniels with other accidents happening HOw necessary a thing a Spaniel is to Faulconry and for those that delight in that noble recreation keeping Hawks for their pastime and pleasure I think no body need question as well to spring and retrive a fowl being flown to the mark as also divers other ways to help and assist Faulcons and Goshawks Now since they are subject to many diseases and casualties I shall endeavour to propound a suitable cure for them and first I shall begin with the Mange as the capital enemy to the quiet and beauty of a brave Spaniel wherewith poor creatures they are often grievously tormented and as frequently infect others For the cure of this distemper take a pound of Barrow-flick common Oil three ounces Brimstone well pulverized foar ounces Salt well beaten to powder Ashes well sifted and searced of each two ounces boil all these in a kettle or earthen-pot and when they are all well incorporated together anoint your Spaniel with this thrice every other day either against the Sun or Fire having so done wash him all over with good strong Lye and this will kill the Mange Remember you shift his kennel and litter often If the Spaniel lose its Hair as it often happens then bathe your Spaniel in the water of Lupines or Hops and anoint him with stale Barrows-flick This ointment besides the cure maketh his skin look slick and beautiful and kills the fleas the dogs disquieters and enemies to his ease If this be not strong enough to destroy this malady then take two quarts of strong vinegar common oil six ounces brimstone three ounces soot six ounces brayd salt and searced two handfuls boil all these together in the vineger and anoint your dog as aforesaid This receipt must not be administred in cold weather for it may hazard his life in so doing If a Spaniel be not much troubled with the Mange then it is easie to cure him thus Make bread with wheaten-bran with the roots leaves and fruit of Agrimony beating them well in a mortar and making it into a paste or dough bake it in an oven and so made give thereof to your Spaniel giving him no other bread for some time letting him eat as long as he will Cure of the Formica In the summer-time there is a scurvy malady which very much afflicts a Spaniel's ears and is accasioned by flies and their own scratching with their feet We term it a Mange the Italians Formica and the French Fourmier For the cure take Gum-dragaganth four ounces infused in the strongest Vinegar may be gotten for the space of eight days and afterwards bruised on a marble-stone as painters do their colours adding unto it Roch-allum and Galls
their own Feather to stoop but but also Hawks and Birds of Prey to swoop into your Nets Remember to keep the first half dozen you take alive for Stales and to that end have a Cage or Linnen-bag to put them in The rest squeez in the hinder-part of the head and so kill them And thus do every day Of taking small Birds which use Hedges and Bushes with Lime-twigs THe great Lime-bush is best for this use which you must make after this manner Cut down the main Arm or chief Bough of any bushy Tree whose branches or Twigs are long thick smooth and straight without either pricks or knots of which the Willow or Birch-tree are the best when you have pickt it and trimm'd it from all superfluity making the Twigs neat and clean take then of the best Bird-lime well mixed and wrought together with Goose-greace or Capon's-greace which being warmed lime every Twig therewith within four fingers of the bottom The body from whence the branches have their rise must be untouch'd with Lime Be sure you do not dawb you Twigs with too much Lime for that will give distaste to the Birds yet let none want its proportion or have any part left bare which ought to be toucht for as too much will deter them from coming so too little will not hold them when they are there Having so done place your Bush on some Quick-set or dead Hedge neer unto Towns-ends back-yards old houses or the like for these are the resort of small Birds in the Spring-time in the Summer and Harvest in Groves Bushes White-thorn-trees Quick-set-hedges neer Corn-fields Fruit-trees Flax and Hemp-lands and in the winter about Houses Hovels Barns Stacks or those places where stand ricks of Corn or scattered Chaff c. As near as you can to any of these haunts plant your Lime-bush and plant your self also at a convenient distance undiscovered imitating with your mouth the several Notes of Birds which you must learn by frequent practice walking the Fields for that very purpose often observing the variety of several birds sounds especially such as they call one another by I have known some so expert herein that they could imitate the Notes of twenty several sorts of Birds at least by which they have caught ten Birds to anothers one that was ignorant therein But if you cannot attain to it by your industry you must then buy a Bird-call of which there are several sorts and easie to be framed some of Wood some of Horn some of Cane and the like Having first learned how to use this Call you shall sit and call the Birds unto you and as any of them light on your Bush step not to them till you see them sufficiently entangled Neither is it requisite to run for every single Bird but let them alone till more come for their fluttering is as good as a Stale to entice more This Exercise you may use from Sun-Rising till ten a clock in the Morning and from one till almost Sun-set You may take these small Birds with Lime-twigs onely without the Bush. When I was a boy I have taken two or three hundred small Twigs about the bigness of Rushes and about three Inches long and have gone with them into a field where were Hemp-cocks upon the tops of half a score lying all round together I have stuck my Twigs and then have gone and beat that field or the next to it where I saw any Birds and commonly in such fields there are infinite numbers of Linnets and Green-birds which are great lovers of Hemp-seed I say they fly in such vast flocks I have caught at one fall of them upon the Cocks eight dozen at a time But to return there is a pretty way of taking Birds with Lime-twigs by placing near them a Stale or two made of living Night-baits placing them aloft that they may be visible to the Birds thereabouts which will no sooner be perceived but every Bird will come and gaze wondering at the strangeness of the sight then they having no other convenient lighting-place but where the Lime-twigs are you may take what number you list of them But the Owl is a far better Stale than the Bat being bigger and more easily to be perceived besides he is never seen abroad but he is followed and persecuted by all the birds near adjacent If you have not a living Bat or Owl their skins will serve as well being stuffed and will last you twenty years There are some have used an Owl cut in Wood and naturally painted with wonderful success It is strange to me that this Bird above all others should be so persecuted by all Birds whatsoever especially by the Goose and therefore some arch Cracks in Lincoln-shire and other places where are great quantities of Geese observing their tempers have made great advantage of them for by only throwing a live Owl among a flock of Geese they got as many Quills as they knew what to do with for the Geese endeavouring to beat the Owl with their wings never left till they did beat the Quills out of their wings and commonly the best which are Seconds How to make the best sort of Bird-lime and how to use it TAke at Midsummer the bark of Holly and pill it from the Tree so much as will fill a reasonable big Vessel then put to it running Water and set it over the fire and boil it till the grey and white bark rise from the green which will take up sixteen hours in the boiling then take it from the fire and separate the barks after the water is very well drain'd away then take all the green bark and lay it on the ground in a close place and moist floor and cover it over with all manner of green Weeds as Hemlock Docks Thistles and the like thus let it lie ten or twelve days in which time it will rot and turn to a filthy slimy matter Then take it and put it into a Mortar and there beat it till it become universally thick and tough without the discerning of any part of the bark or other substance then take it out of the Mortar and carry it to a running Stream and there wash it exceedingly not leaving any more or foulness within it then put it up in a very close Earthen pot and let it stand and purge for divers days together scumming it as often as any foulness arises for four or five days when you perceive no more Scum you shall then take it out of that Pot and put it into another clean Earthen Vessel cover it close and keep it for your use When you are about to use your Lime take what quantity you think fit and put it into a Pipkin adding thereto a third part of Goose-greace or Capons-greace finely clarified and set them over a gentle fire and there let them melt together and stir them continually till they are well incorporated then take it from the fire and stir it till it be
come to feed and then stand at a distance and you will see most excellent sport for as soon as Rooks Crows or Pigeons come to peck out any of the Corn it will hang upon his head and he will immediately fly bolt upright so high that he shall soar almost out of sight and when he is spent come tumbling down as if he had been shot in the Air. You may take them at Ploughing-time when the Rooks and Crows follow the Plough but then you must put in Worms and Maggots of the largest size How to take Birds with BAITS either Land or Water-fowl IF you have a desire to take House-doves Stock-doves Rooks Coughs or any other-like Birds then take Wheat Barley Fetches Tares or other Grain and boil them very well with good store of Nux vomica in ordinary running water when they are almost boil'd dry and ready to burst take them off the fire and set them by till they be throughly cold Having so done scatter this Grain in the Haunts of those Birds you have a mind to take and as soon as they have tasted hereof they will fall down into a dead swound and shall not be able to recover themselves in a good while And as you take these great Land-fowl with this drunken device so you may take the middle and smaller sort of Birds if you observe to boil with what food they delight in a quantity of this Nux vomica Some instead of Nux vomica use the Lees of Wine the sharper and quicker they are the better boiling their Grains in these Lees also Seeds or any other food and strewing them in the Haunts of those Birds you would surprize These do as effectually as Nux vomica and it 's the cleanlier and neater way there being not that poysonous quality in them You may chuse whether you will boil your Grain or Seed in the aforesaid Lees for they will be every whit as effectual if onely steeped a considerable while therein giving them leave to drink in the Lees till they are ready to burst before you use them Others having neither Nux vomica nor Wine-lees take the Juice of Hemlock and steep their Grains therein adding thereto some Henbane-seed or Poppy-seed causing them to be infused therein four or five days then draining the Grain or Seed from the Liquor strew them as aforesaid The Birds having tasted hereof are immediately taken with a dizziness which will continue some hours so that they cannot flie but they will recover again if you kill them not If you intend them for food let them be first recovered Thus much for the Land now let us speak of the Water-fowl The ready way by Bait to take such Fowl as receive part of their food by land and part by water as Wild-geese Barnacle Grey-plover Mallard Curlew Shoveler Bitter Bustard with many more I say the best way my experience hath found out is to take Bellengeleaves Roots and all and having cleansed them very well put them into a Vessel of clear running Water and there let them lie in steep twenty four hours then never shift them from the Water but boil them together till the Water be almost consumed then take it off and set it a cooling Then take a quantity hereof and go to the Haunts of any of the aforesaid Fowl and there spread of this Bait in sundry and divers places and those that shall taste hereof will be taken with the like drunken dizziness as the former To make this Confection the more effectual it will be requisite to adde a quantity of Brimstone thereunto in its boiling How to recover Fowl thus entranced If you would restore any of these entranced Fowl to their former health take a little quantity of Sallet-oyl according to the strength and bigness of the Fowl and drop it down the Throat of the Fowl then chafe the head with a little strong White-wine-Vinegar and the Fowl will presently recover and be as well as ever And thus much for taking Fowl of all sorts by Baits A most excellent and approved way how to take the HERN A Hern is as great a devourer of Fish as any is nay some dare affirm ten times as much as an Otter and shall do more mischief in one week than an Otter shall do in three months for I have been told by one that hath seen a Hern that hath been shot at a Pond to have had seventeen Carps at once in his Belly which he will digest in six or seven hours and then betake himself to fishing again I have been informed by another that he saw a Carp taken out of a Hern's Belly which was nine Inches and an half long Several Gentlemen that have kept Herns tame have put Fish in a Tub and tried the Hern how many small Roaches and Dace he would eat in a day and they have found him to eat about fifty in a day one day with another One Hern that haunts a Pond in a Twelvemonths time shall destroy a thousand Store Carps and when Gentlemen sue their Ponds they think their Neighbours have robbed them not in the least considering an Hern is able to devour them in half a years time if he put in half as many more Now since this ravenous Fowl is so destructive to Ponds and Fish of the River it will be very necessary to find out a way to destroy that that destroys so many which may be done in this manner Having found out his haunt get three or four small Roaches or Dace and have a strong Hook with Wyre to it draw the Wyre just within the skin of the said Fish beginning without side of the Gills running of it to the Tail and then the Fish will live five or six days Now if the Fish be dead the Hern will not meddle with him Let not your Hook bee too rank then having a strong Line with Silk and Wyre about two yards and a half long if you twist not Wyre with your Silk the sharpness of his Bill will bite it in two immediately and tye a round Stone about a pound-weight to the Line and lay three or four Hooks and in two or three nights you shall not fail to have him if he comes to your Pond Lay not your Hooks in the water so deep that the Hern cannot wade unto them Colour your Line of a dark green for an Hern is a subtile Bird. There are several other Fowl devourers of Fish as Kings-fisher More-hens Balcoots Cormorant c. but none like the Hern for Ponds and small Rivers How to take PHEASANTS several ways THe taking of Pheasants is to be performed three several ways by Nets by Lime-bush or else by other particular Engines which shall be discours'd of hereafter The taking of Pheasants with Nets is done either generally or particularly generally when the whole Eye of Pheasants is taken that is the old Cock and old Hen with all their Powts as they run together in the obscure Woods or particularly
twist them over again Some intermingle Silk in the twisting but I cannot approve of it but a Line of all Silk is not amiss also a Line made of the smallest Lute-string is very good but that it will soon rot by the Water The best colour for Lines is the sorrel white and grey the two last for clear waters and the grey for muddy Rivers neither is the pale wacry green to be contemned which colour you may make after this manner Take a pint of strong Ale half a pound of Soot a small quantity of the juice of Walnut-leaves with the like quantity of Alum put these into a Pipkin and boil them together about half an hour Having so done take it off the fire and when it is cold put in your Hair Or thus Take a pottle of alum-Alum-water somewhat more than a handful of Marigold-flowers boil them till a yellow scum arise then take half a pound of green Copperas with as much Verdegreece and beat them together to a fine powder put these with the Hair into the alum-Alum-Water and let it lie ten hours or more then take the Hair out and let it dry In the making your Line leave a Bought at both ends the one to put it to and take it srom the Rod the other to hang your lowest link upon to which your Hook is fastned and so you may change your Hook as often as you please Of the Hook Flote and other things worth the Observation YOur Hook ought to be long in the shank somewhat round in its circumference the point standing even and straight and let the bending be in the shank Use strong but small Silk in the setting on of your Hook laying the Hair on the inside of your Hook for if it be on the outside the Silk will fret and cut it a sunder As for the Flotes there are divers way of making them Some use your Muscovy-Duck-quills which are the best for still Waters but for strong streams take good sound Cork without flaws or holes and bore it through with a hot Iron then put into it a Quill of a fit proportion then pare your Cork into a Pyramidal form of what bigness you think fit after this grind it smooth To plum your Ground you must carry with you a Musquet-bullet with a hole made through it or any other sort of Plummet tying this to a strong twist hang it on your Hook and so you will find the depth of the Water And that you may not incommode your Tackle it will be very requisite to make several partitions in pieces of Parchment sowed together by which each Utensil may have a place by it self In any wise forget not to carry a little Whetstone with you to sharpen your Hooks if you find them blunt and dull I need not advise you how to carry your BOB and PALMER or put you in mind of having several Boxes of divers sizes for your Hooks Corks Silk Thread Lead Flies c. or admonish you not to forget your Linnen and Wollen Bags for all sorts os Baits but let me forwarn you not to have a PAUNDER that is heavy for it can never be light enough those which are made of Osiers I think are the best Lastly forget not carry with you a small Pole with a Loop at the end thereof to which you may fasten a small Net to land great Fish withal There is another way much better and that is by the Landing-hook which hath a Screw at the end of it to screw it into the Socket of a Pole to which Socket may be fitted also two other Hooks the one to pull out Wood and the other sharp to our away Weeds Of Flies Natural and Artificial and how to use them NAtural Flies are innumerable there being as many kinds as there are different sorts of Fruits to avoid prolixity I shall onely name some of them viz. the Dun-fly the Stone or May-fly the Red Fly the Moor-fly the Tawny-fly the Shel-fly the Cloudy or Blackish-fly the Flag-fly the Vine-fly also Caterpillers Canker-flies and Bear-flies with Thousands more which frequent Meadows and Rivers for the contemplation of all but particularly the recreation of Anglers These come in sooner or later according to the season of the year that is sooner or later according to the forwardness or backwardness of the Spring for Flies being bred of Putrefaction commence their being according as the Heat doth further their seminal vertue unto animation I cannot prescribe you Rules to know when each Fly cometh in and is most grateful to every sort of Fish and therefore I shall leave the knowledge hereof to your own observation Moreover there are several sorts of Flies according to the several natures of divers Soils and Rivers or diversity of Plants yet some there are common to all although but few All Flies are very good in their seasons for such Fish as rise at the Fly but some more peculiarly good as being better beloved by some sort of fish Fish generally rise at these Flies most eagerly when most sorts of Flies resort to the Water-side hanging in a manner in clusters on Trees and Bushes delighting themselves to skip thence and play upon the water and then do the fish shew their craft in catching them To the intent you may the better know what kind of Fly the Fish then most covet observe thus to do coming in the Morning to the River-side beat the Bushes with your Rod and take up what variety you may of all sorts of Flies and try them all by which means you will quickly know which are in greatest estimation among them Not but that they will change their Fly sometimes but then it is when they have glutted themselves there with for five or six days together which is commonly upon the going out of that Fly for Fish never covet that Fly more than when there is greatest plenty contemning them at their first coming in There are two ways to fish with these natural Flies either on the surface of the water or a little underneath it Now when you angle for Chevin Roach or Dace with the natural Fly move it not swiftly when you see the Fish make at it but rather let it glide spontaneously towards it with the Stream If it be in a still and slow water draw the Fly slowly sideways by him that will make him eager in pursuit of it whereas if you should move it swiftly they will not follow it being a lazy fish and slow of motion These fish delight to shew themselves in a Sun-shiny-day almost on the very surface of the Water by which means you may pick and choose The Artificial Fly is seldome used but in blustering weather when by the Winds the Waters are so troubled that the Natural Fly cannot be seen nor rest upon them There are according to the opinion of Mr. Walton a very ingenious man and an excellent Angler twelve sorts of Artificial Flies to angle with on the top of the Water
onely made of the crums of sine White-bread moulded with a little water and the labour of your hands into a tough Paste colour'd not very deep with Red-Lead with which you may mix a little sine Cotten or Lint and a little Butter these last will make it hold on and not wash off your Hook With which you must fish with much circumspection or you lose your bait In like manner in Winter you may angle for Roach with Paste but Gentles are then the better bait Take these next Observations experimentally tried by some of us viz. There is another excellent bait either so Winter or Summer and that is this Take an handful of well dried Malt and put it into a Dish of Water and then having grubbed and washed it betwixt our hands till it be clean and free from Husks put that water from it and having put it into a little fresh water set it over a gentle Fire and let it boil till it be pretty fest then pour the Water from it and with a sharp Knife turning the sprout-end of the Corn upward take off the back-part of the Husk with the point of your Knife leaving a kind of inward Husk on the Corn or else you spoil all then cut off a little of the sprout-end that the white may appear and also a very little of the other end for the Hook to enter When you make use of this bait cast now and then a little of it into the water and then if your Hook be small and good you will find it an excellent bait either for Roach or Dace Another good bait is the young brood of Wasps or Bees if you dip their Heads in Blood So is the thick blood of a Sheep being half dried on a Trencher and then cut into such small pieces as will best fit your Hook a little Salt will keep it from turning black and make it the better Or you may take a handful or two of the largest and best Wheat you can get boil it in a little Milk till it be soft then fry it gently with Honey and a little beaten Saffron dissolved in Milk The Roach spawns about the middle of May and the general baits by which he is caught are these small white Snails Bobs Cad-baits Sheeps blood all sorts of Worms Gnats Wasps Paste and Cherries The way of fishing for Roach at London-Bridge is after this manner In the Moneths of June and July there is great resort of those Fish to that place where those that make a trade of it take a strong Cord at the end whereof is fastned a three-pound weight a foot above the Lead they fasten a Packthread of twelve foot long to the Cord and unto the Packthread at convenient distances they add a dozen strong Links of Hair with Roach-Hooks at them baited with a white Snail of Perriwinkle then holding the Cord in their Hands the biting of the Fish draweth the Packthread and the Packthread the Cord which admonisheth them them what to do whereby sometimes they draw up half a dozen sometimes less but commonly two or three at one draught Of the STICKLEBAG THis fish is small prickly and without Scales and not worth the consideration but that he is an excellent bait for Trouts especially if his Tail on the Hook be turned round at which a Trout will bite more eagerly than at Penk Roach or Minnow The Loach is every whit as good a bait as the Sticklebag provided you place either aright on the Hook To the intent you may do it take this observation the nimble turning of the Penk Minnow Loach or Sticklebag is the perfection of that sort of fishing That you may attain thereunto note that you must put your Hook into the Mouth of any the aforesaid Baits and out at his Tail tying him fast with white thread a little above it in such manner that he may turn after this sow up his mouth and your design is accomplished This way of baiting is very tempting for large Trouts and seldome fails the Angler's expectation This fish in some places is called a Banstickle Of the SALMON THE Salmons evermore breed in Rivers that are not brackish yet discharge themselves into the Sea and spawn commonly in August which become Samlets in the Spring following The Melter and Spawner having both performed their natural duty they then betake themselves to the Sea I have known that when they have been obstructed in their passage they have grown so impatient that clapping their Tails to their Mouths with a sudden spring they have leapt clear over Wear or any other obstacle which stood in their way Some having leapt short have been taken by that means If they are so obstructed that they cannot find their way to the Sea they become sick lean and pine away and die in two years If they spawn in the mean time from thence proceeds a small Salmon called a Skegger which will never grow great It is the Sea that makes them grow big but it is the fresh Rivers that makes them grow fat and so much the farther they are from the Sea up in the River the fatter they grow and the better their food From a Samlet which is but little bigger than a Minnow he grows to be a Salmon in as short time as a Goslin will grow to be a Goose. A Salmon biteth best at three of the clock in the Afternoon in the Moneths of May June July and August if the water be clear and some little breeze of Wind stirring especially if the Wind bloweth against the Stream and near the Sea Where note that he hath not his constant residence like a Trout but removes often coveting to be as near the Spring-head as he may swimming generally in the deepest and broadest parts of the River near the ground and he is caught like a Trout with Worm Fly or Minnow The Garden-worm is an Excellent bait for the Salmon if it be well scoured and kept in Moss about twenty days after which time those Worms will be very clear tough and lively There is a way of fishing for Salmon with a Ring of Wyre on the top of the Rod through which the Line may run to what length is thought convenient having a Wheel also near the hand I have been told that there is no bait more attractive of and eagerly pursued by the Salmon and most other fish than Lob-worms scented with the Oil of Ivy-berries or the Oil of Polypodie of the Oak mixt with Turpentine nay Assa Foetida they say is incomparably good The Artificial Fly is a good bait for a Salmon but you must then use a Trowl as for the Pike he being a strong fish As the Salmon is a large fish to must your Flies be larger than for any other with Wings and Tails very long You shall observe when you strike him that he will plunge and bounce but doth not usually endeavour to run to the length of the Line as the Trout will
do and therefore there is less danger of breaking your Line If you will angle for Salmon at ground then take three or four Garden-worms well scoured and put them on your Hook at once and fish with them in the same manner as you do for Trouts Be sure to give the Salmon as well as all other fish time to go gorge the Bait and be not over-hasty unless your bait be so tender it will not endure nibbling at Much more may be said of Salmon-fishing which I shall pass by leaving the rest to your own practice and observation Of the TENCH I Shall now discover an approved way how to take Tench and Carp in a muddy Pond but know I do not make publick this following Secret to teach Knaves how to rob Gentlemens Ponds but that the proper Owners may be able upon cases of necessity to supply themselves with Fish without being put to so much trouble and charge as to sue their Ponds But to the purpose In the first place you must provide your self with a very good large Casting-net well leaded let not the Meshes from the Crown to a full yard and a half be too small for then if the Pond be any thing of a depth the fish will strike away before the Net comes to the ground the whole Net ought to have a large Mesh well leaded and deep Tucked The second thing to be done is to make the place clean from Stakes and Bushes and try with the Net before you intend for the sport if your Net happen to hang then all your pains will prove ineffectual therefore you must be sure before you cast in your Net that you clear and cleanse the place very well twice or thrice with a Rake Then take a quarter of a peck of Wheat baking it well in an Oven putting in near three quarts of Water when it is well baked take five pints of Blood and incorporate the Wheat and Blood together adding thereto as much Bran as is sufficient to make a Paste thereof and that it may the better hold together put some lay to it after this knead it well together with a quart of Lob worms chopt in pieces and worked into Paste as aforesaid then roll it into balls as big as a Goose-egg and throw it into the Pond within the circumference of your Casting-net and between whiles throw in some Grains and when you think the fish have found out the Baiting-place then come in the close of the Evening having baited very early in the Morning and cast your Net over the baited-place then take a long pole with a large Fork made for the purpose and stir all about the Net for the Carps and Tench are struck up beyond their Eyes in Mud and stand exactly upon their Heads let the Net lie near an half hour still stirring with your Pole if the place be not too deep when you have covered the Fish you may go into the Pond and take them out with your hands but if the water be deep when you find the Carps begin to stir for they cannot stand long on their heads in the Mud then lift up the Crown of your Net bolt upright with a long Staff that so the fish may play into the Tuck of the Net Here note that should you draw up your Net suddenly after you have cast it in it is an hundred pound to a penny whether you should take one Carp or Tench but letting the Net lie the Mud will choak them if they remove not out of it Now here I cannot omit a very pleasant story in my opinion A Gentleman having special Carps in his pond but not knowing how to take one of them unless it were by chance with Hook and Line I desired him that we might taste of his Carps and modestly told him a brace of them would serve our turns He answered I might freely have them if I knew how to catch them Hereupon I prepared some ingredients and having baited a convenient place very early in the Morning at the dusk of the Evening we came with a Casting-net and at the first throw covered a great quantity of fish as hereafter will appear but not one seem'd to stir a jot under the Net being all struck into the Mud. Hereupon the Gentleman fell a laughing heartily saying Sir If I had no other provision to trust to but what fish you shall catch this night I believe I shall go supperless to Bed Hearing him say so I desired that he would have a little patience for the fish were asleep and I was as yet loath to disturb them but half an hour hence if he would stay so long I should make bold to awake them with a witness So the Gentleman having smoaked a pipe of Tobacco a Carp began to play in the Net and after this in a very little time a great many more began to dance and skip whereupon I lifted up the Crown that they might play in the Tuck and when I thought they were all got out of the Mud I began to draw and at one draught drew up in the Net Seventy odd Carps great and small to the admiration and great satisfaction of the Owner and the rest of the company having in all their life-time not seen the like before The Tench hath but small Scales and they smooth yet very large Fins with a red Circle about his Eyes and a little Barb hanging at each corner of his Mouth The Slime of a Tench is very medicinal to wounded Fishes and therefore he is commonly called the Fishes Physitian The Pike is so sensible of his vertue that he will not injure the Tench though he will seize on any other fish of his size that comes in his way And when the Pike is sick or hurt he applies himself to the Tench and finds cure by rubbing himself against him The Tench hath a greater love for Ponds than clear Rivers and delights himself amongst Weeds and loves to feed in very foul Water and yet his food is nourishing and pleasant The time of Angling for him is early and late both morning and evening in the moneths of June July and August or all night in the still parts of the River He is a great lover of large red Worms and will bite most eagerly at them if you first dip them in Tar. The Tench loves also all sorts of Paste made up with strong-sented Oyls or with Tar or a Paste made of brown Bread and Honey He will bite also at a Cad-worm a Lob worm a Flag-worm green Gentle Cad-bait Marsh-worm or soft boyled Bread-grain Of the TORCOTH THe Torcoth is a fish having a red Belly but of what estimation I know not for that let the Welshmen speak who best know him for as I have heard he is only to be found in the Pool Lin-peris in Carnarvanshire I only name him that you may know there is such a fish Of the TROUT IT is observed that the Trout comes in and goes out
your Hawks the quantity of a Bean thereof with their meat If they will not take it so put it into a Hens Gut tied at both ends and let him stand empty an hour after Of the Formica This is a Distemper which commonly seizeth on the Horn of Hawks Beaks which will eat the Beak away and this is occasioned by a Worm as most men are of opinion You may perceive it by this the Beak will grow rugged and it will begin to separate from the Head To remedy this Malady you must take the Gall of a Bull and break it into a Dish and adde thereto the powder of Aloes-Succatrine mingle these well together and anoint the Clap or Beak of your Hawk therewith and the very place where the Formica grows twice a day but touch not her Eyes or Nares continue thus doing till your Hawk be perfectly cured and bathe her with Orpiment and Pepper to keep her from other Vermin Of the Frownce The Frownce proceedeth from moist and cold Humours which descend from the Hawk's Head to the Palate and root of the Tongue by means whereof they lose their appetite and cannot close their Clap. This by some is called the Eagles-bane for she seldom dieth of age but of the over-growing of her Beak You may know if your Hawk be troubled with this Distemper by opening her Beak and seeing whether her Tongue be swoln or no if it be she hath it There are several ways to cure this Distemper but the best that ever yet I could find for it is onely to take the powder of Alume reduced to a Salve with strong wine-vinegar and wash the Hawk's Mouth therewith To cure the dry Frownce Take a Quill and cut it in the shape of a Pen and at the other end tie a fine little Rag with one end scrape off the white Skin which you will see in the Mouth or Throat of your Hawk until it bleedeth then with the other end wash it with the juice of Lemon or White-wine-Vinegar very clean then take a little burnt Alume and some of a Shoe-soal burnt upon Wood-coals and beaten to powder mix them and lay them on the place or places but let your Hawk have no meat above nor be ready to be fed by this I have cured many Of the Pip. The Pip frequently troubleth Hawks as it doth Chickens and proceedeth from cold and moistness of the Head or from feeding on gross meat not well washt in warm Water in the Winter and cold Water in the Summer The Symptoms of this Distemper are the Hawk's frequent Sniting and making a noise twice or thrice in her Sniting For the Cure hereof you must cast your Hawk gently and look upon the tip of her Tongue and if you find the Pip there you must scour her with a Pill made of Agarick and Hiera picra given two or three days together with her Casting at night this will cleanse her Head and the sooner if she be made to tire against the Sun in the Morning Then bind a little Cotton to the end of a Stick and dipping it in good Rose-water wash her Tongue therewith after this anoint it three or four days with Oyl of sweet Almonds and Oyl-olive well washed as aforesaid Having so done you will find the Pip all white and soft then take an Awl and with the point thereof lift up the Pip softly and remove it as Women pip ther Chickens but remove it not till it be throughly ripe and wet her Tongue and Palate twice or thrice a day with the aforesaid Oyl till she be throughly cured How to remedy that Hawk which Endeweth not nor Putteth over as she should do This happens either by being foul within or by a Surfeit or else when she was low and poor her Keeper over-gorged her by being too hasty to set her up and she being weak was not able to put over and endew and surfeited thereupon The Cure whereof is this You must feed her with light meats and a little at once as with young Rats and and Mice Chickens or Mutton dipt in Goats-milk or otherwise or give her a quarter of a Gorge of the yolk of an Egg. If you feed her with the flesh of any living Fowl first steep it well in the blood of the same Fowl so shall your Hawk mount her flesh apace if you also scour her with Pills made of Lard Marrow of Beef Sugar and Saffron mixed together and given her three mornings together giving her also a reasonable Gorge two hours after How to make a Hawk feed eagerly that hath lost her Appetite without bringing her low A Hawk may lose her Appetite by taking too great Gorges in the Evening which she cannot well endew or by being foul in the Pannel or sometimes by Colds To remedy which take Aloes Succotrina boil'd Sugar and Beef marrow of each alike onely less of the Aloes incorporate these and make them into Balls or Pills as big as Beans and give of them to your Hawk and hold her in the Sun till she hath cast up the filth and slime within her then feed her not till noon at which time give her good meat and three days after for the same Disease it is good tiring on Stock-doves small Birds Rats or Mice How to raise a Hawk that is low and poor The Poverty of a Hawk happens several ways either by the ignorance of the Faulconer of some latent lurking Distemper or by her soaring away and so being lost four or five days in which time finding little or no Prey she becomes poor and lean To set her up you must feed her a little at once and often with good meat and of light digestion as small Birds Rats Mice c. Or thus take two spoonfuls of Honey four of fresh Butter and boil them together in a new earthen pot of Water then take Pork well washed and steep it in that Water giving your Hawk a reasonable Gorge thereof twice a day warming the said Water when you intend to feed your Hawk and get some Snails that breed in running Waters and give them her in the morning and they will not onely scour away the gross slimy humours which are within but also nourish her exceedingly How to remedy a Hawk that is slothful and is averse to flying A Hawk frequently hath no minde to fly either by reason of her ill keeping that is when she is kept by those who know not how to give her her Rights as bouzing bathing c. or because the Hawk is too high and full of grease or too poor and low by the first she becomes proud and coy and by the latter so weak that she wants strength and spirit to perform it For the curing of which Distemper she ought to be thoroughly view'd by some skilful Faulconer by whom such Remedies should be administred to her as are needful for her but above all there is nothing like giving her in a morning three or four Pills of
cold When your Lime is cold take your Rods and warm them a little over the fire then take your Lime and wind it about the tops of your Rods then draw your Rods a sunder one from the other and close them again continually plying and working them together till by smearing one upon another you have equally bestowed on each Rod a sufficient proportion of Lime If you lime any Strings do it when the Lime is very hot and at the thinnest besmearing the Strings on all sides by folding them together and unfolding them again If you lime Straws it must be done likewise when the Lime is very hot doing a great quantity together as many as you can well grasp in your hand tossing and working them before the fire till they are all besmear'd every Straw having his due proportion of Lime having so done put them up in cases of Leather till you have occasion to use them Now to prevent the freezing of your Lime either as it is on Twigs Bushes or Straws you must adde a quarter as much of the Oyl called Petroleum as of your Capons-grease mix them well together and then work it on your Rods c. and so it will ever keep supple tough and gentle and will not be prejudiced should it freeze never so hard The best and most Experienced way of making Water Bird-lime BUy what quantity you think fit of the strongest Bird-lime you can procure and wash it as long in a clear Spring-water till you find it very pliable and the hardness thereof removed then beat out the water extraordinary well till you cannot perceive a drop to appear then dry it well after this put it into a Pot made of Earth and mingle therewith Capons-grease unsalted so much as will make it run then adde thereto two spoonfuls of strong Vinegar a spoonful of the best Sallet-Oyl and a small quantity of Venice-Turpentine This is the allowance of these Ingredients which must be added to every pound of strong Bird-lime as aforesaid Having thus mingled them boil them all gently together over a small fire stirring it continually then take it from the fire and let it cool When at any time you have occasion to use it warm it and then anoint your Twigs or Straws or any other small things and no Water will take away the strength thereof This sort of Bird-lime is the best especially for Snipes and Felfares In what manner a man may take Snipes with this Bird-lime TAke what number you shall think most expedient for your purpose of Birch-twigs and lime fifty or sixty of them very well together After this go and seek out those places where Snipes do usually frequent which you may know by their Dung In very hard frosty or snowy Weather where the Water lies open they will lie very thick Having observed the place where they most feed set two hundred of your Twigs more or less as you please at a yard distance one from the other and let them stand sloaping some one way and some another then retire a convenient distance from the place and you shall find there shall not one Snipe in ten miss your Twigs by reason they spread their Wings and fetch a round close to the ground before they light When you see any taken stir not at first for he will feed with the Twigs under his Wings and as others come over the place he will be a means to entice them down to him When you see the Coast clear and but few that are not taken you may then take up your Birds fastning one or two of them that the other flying over may light at the same place If there be any other open place near to that where your Twigs are planted you must beat them up The reason why they delight to haunt open places and where Springs do gently run is because they cannot feed by reason of their Bills in places that are hard and stony and about these Plashes in snowy Weather they very much resort The manner of taking Felfares by Water-Bird-lime ABout Michaelmas or when the cold Weather begins to come in take your Gun and kill some Felfares then take a couple of them or one may serve and fasten them to the top of a Tree in such manner that they may seem to be alive Having so done prepare two or three hundred Twigs take a great Birchen-bough and therein place your Twigs having first cut off all the small Twigs then set a Felfare upon the top of the bough making of him fast and let this bough be planted where the Felfares do resort in a Morning to feed for they keep a constant place to feed in till there is no more food left By this means others flying but neer will quickly espie the top-bird and fall in whole flocks to him I have seen at one fall three dozen taken How to take Pigeons with Lime-twigs PIgeons are great devourers and destroyers of Corn wherefore when you find any ground much frequented by them get a couple of Pigeons either dead or alive if dead put them in such a stiff posture as if they were living and feeding then at Sun-rising take a quantity of Twigs as many as you think fit let them be small but I judge Wheaten-straws are better for this purpose and lay them up and down where your Pigeons are placed and you shall find such sport at every fall that is made that you may quickly be rid of them without offending the Statute If there come good flights you may easily take four or five dozen of them in a morning How to take Mag-pies Crows and Gleads with Lime-twigs WHen you have found any Carrion on which Crows Pies Kites c. are preying upon over night set your Lime-twigs every where about the Carrion but let them be small and not set too thick if otherwise being subtile Birds they will suspect some danger or mischief designed against them When you perceive one to be fast advance not to him presently for most commonly when they are surely caught they are not sensible thereof You may take them another way and that is by joyning to a Packthread several Nooses of Hair up and down the Packthread and peg it down about a yard from the Carrion for many times when they have gotten a piece of Flesh they will be apt to run away to feed by themselves and if your Nooses be thick it is two to one but some of the Nooses catch him by the Legs How to take Rooks when they pull up the Corn by the Roots TAke some thick Brown-paper and divide a sheet into eight parts and make them up like Sugar-loaves then lime the inside of the Paper a very little let them be limed three or four days before you set them then put some Corn in them and lay threescore or more of them up and down the ground lay them as near as you can under some clod of Earth and early in the Morning before they
You must also use words of cherishing to give him encouragement when he does well and in all these words you must be constant and let them be attended with spitting in his mouth or cherishing of the hand There is also a word of Advice instructing him when he does amiss Having made him understand these several words you must next teach him to lead in a string or Collar orderly not running too forward nor hanging backward After this you must teach him to come close at your heels without leading for he must not range by any means unless it be to beat Fowl from their Covert or to fetch the wounded In the next place you must teach him to fetch and carry any thing you throw out of your hands And first try him with the Glove shaking it over his Head and making him snap at it and sometimes let him hold it in his mouth and strive to pull it from him and at last throw it a little way and let him worry it on the ground and so by degrees make him bring it you where-ever you throw it From the Glove you may teach him to fetch Cudgels Bags Nets c. If you use him to carry dead Fowl it will not be amiss for by that means he will not tear or bruise what Fowl you shoot Having perfected this Lesson drop something behind you which the Dog doth not see and being gone a little way from it send him back to seek it by saying Back I have lost If he seem amazed point with your Finger urging him to seek out and leave him not till he hath done it Then drop something at a greater distance and make him find out that too till you have brought him to go back a mile Now may you train him up for your Gun making him stalk after you step by step or else couch and lie close till you have shot Many more necessary Rules there are which for brevity sake I must omit The last use of the Water-dog is in moulting-time when Wild-fowl cast their Feathers and are unable to fly which is between Summer and Autumn at this time bring your Dog to their Coverts and hunt them out into the stream and there with your Nets surprize them driving them into them for at this time sheep will not drive more easily And though some may object that this sickly time is unseasonable yet if they consider what excellent food these Fowl will prove when cramm'd the taking of them may be very excusable I have eaten of them after they have been fed a while with Livers of Beast Whey Curds Barley Paste scalded Bran and such-like they have proved exceeding fat and have tasted not so fishy as they do by their natural feeding but exceeding sweet and deserve to be preferred before any Fowl whatever How to take preserve and keep all sorts of Singing-birds that are commonly known in England Giving also an account of their Nature Breeding Feeding Diseases of the same with their Remedies IN the preceeding Discourse I have given you a Summary account of the several ways and artifices which are used to take either Land-fowl or Fowl properly belonging to the Water Upon second thoughts I look upon this Third part of the Gentlemans Recreation called a Treatise of Fowling imperfect if I add not now what I omitted before a small Essay as to the Taking Preserving and Keeping all sorts of Singing-birds commonly known in these his Majesties three Kingdoms They are thus called The Nightingal The Black-bird The Wood-lark The Linnet The Chaff-finch The Rob. Red-breast The Starling The Tit-lark The Bull-finch The Canary-bird The Throstle The Skie-lark The Gold-finch The Green-finch The Wren The Red-start The Hedgesparrow Lastly their Diseases and Cures Of the NIGHTINGAL ACcording to the judgment of most men the Nightingale carries the Bell from all other Singing-birds opening her charming Mouth not onely sweetly but with much variety of pleasant Notes It is but a small Bird yet hath a loud voice which made the Poet call her ----- Vox praeterea nihil They are so well known a description of them would be needless and are not onely esteemed of here but in Italy and other parts They appear to us at the latter end of March or beginning of April and very few know where they inhabit all the Winter some think they sleep all that season She makes her Nest commonly about two foot above ground either in thick Quick-set-hedges or in Beds of Nettles where old Quick-set hath been thrown together She hatcheth her young ones about the beginning of May and naturally delights to frequent cool places where small Brooks are garnished with pleasant Groves and Quick-set-hedges are not far distant That Nightingale which in my opinion is the best to keep is he that is the earliest Bird of the Spring for he will sing the better having more time to hear the Old one sing than those that are hatched later The young Nightingales must be taken out of their Nests when they are indifferently well fledg'd in a mediocrity for if well feathered they will become sullen and if too little they are so tender the cold will kill them For their meat give them lean Beef Sheeps-heart or Bullocks-heart taking away first the fat Skin that covereth it and take away the Sinews after this soak the like quantity of white Bread in water and squeeze out some of the water then mince it small then feed them with a Stick taking upon the point thereof the quantity of a Grey Pea and give every one of them three or four such gobbets in an hour as long as they shall endure to be in the Nest when they are able to flie out of the Nest then put them into a Cage with several Pearches for them to sit upon and line them with some green Bays for they are very subject to the Cramp at first and at the bottom of the Cage put in some Moss or Hey as well for other Birds as the Nightingale it is safe to line their Cages against Winter or keep them in some warm place When they are first Caged continue for a while to put some of their Meat by them mingled with Ants which will induce them to feed themselves In the Summer you must feed them every day with fresh Meat otherwise it will quickly grow stale or stink When they begin to moult give them half Egg hard boiled and half Sheeps-heart mingled with Saffron and Water Here note Duck-eggs will kill them you may give them sometimes red Worms Caterpillars and Hog-lice Meal-worms make them familiar suffering them to take them out of your hand The way of taking Old and Young is thus For the Young observe where the Cock sings and if he sings long the Hen is not far from that place who oftentimes betrays her Off-spring by being too careful for when you come near her Nest she will Sweet and Cur if notwithstanding this you cannot find her Nest stick a