Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 12.djvu/431

 9* s. xii. NOV. 28, 1903.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

423

happened to see a trout standing still in the water, and, as it would seem, basking in the sun. I do not remember how it came into my mind to try to catch it, but the fact is that, having put off my nether garments, I stepped into the water and began to approach it most warily. But in vain ; quick as lightning it shot off and took refuge under the root of an alder tree, that grew with many others just on the brink of the water. There it stood with its head hid, but the tail distinctly visible, and the trick was to advance my hand imperceptibly so as finally to get a solid grip round the gills. It dia not succeed the first time, nor indeed for many other times, and I had much trouble with the fellow, for all this while he shot off betimes, crossing the river and hiding under another alder-root. I remarked that he always placed himself with the current, and so I thought that perhaps he might mistake the slightest touch possible for a bubble of water. This stratagem turned out well, so that literally tickling him I at last brought him into the position desired, and he was caught. I repeated the experiment more or less successfully, and such was the attraction of the sport that for five consecutive summers it was my greatest pleasure to take trout with the hands. True it is that my best capture at a time did not exceed the number of six in a whole forenoon, and that curving one's back so much was rather fatiguing to a man in his thirties ; but then the zest of it !

Possibly every urchin on the banks of the Avon could tell you just the same thing, but since none has been found to do so (as far as I know, at least), perhaps this little notice will call forth further confirmation of the fact that, under given circumstances, a trout will suffer itself to be tickled. Whether the assertion of fish generally being taken in this manner is correct goes beyond my experience, though I must confess that to me it seems very doubtful ; and, on the other side, the capture being commonly limited to only few individuals, it is difficult to conceive why this practice should have been called " deadly " and " destructive."

Let me acid that there is a Spanish proverb ('D. Q.,' ii. 71), "No se toman truchas a bragas enjutas" : *' There is no taking trout with dry breeches "from which we may perhaps infer that Sancho Panza and his countrymen practised the same manner of taking trout with the hands, wading in the water and tickling them. The Italians also say, " Non si pu6 aver pesci senza immol- larsi," but here the tenor is too general to admit of its being referred to the practice

which has been the subject of this little note. EDWARD LIDFORSS.

Stockholm.

[We have in early youth caught trout in the fashion indicated.]

With almost all the holy vows of heaven. The worlds ''almost" and "holy "of the Quarto do not appear in the Folio, and Rolfe remarks that u except for the measure [they] might well be spared." The word " almost is essential as marking the feature objection- able to Polonius. The father realizes that the difference in their rank renders it un- likely that his daughter will be married to the prince, and Ophelia is not so carried away by the force of love as to fail to see that certain vows those peculiar to the actual marriage ceremony have not been uttered. There might have been a promise, but the vows could not be made before the marriage. I was struck with the significance of " almost " before learning that its import- ance had been denied. E. MERTON DEY.
 * HAMLET,' I. iii. 114.

'HAMLET,' I. iv. 36-8 (9 th S. xii. 323). MR. V. ST. CLAIR MACKENZIE has overlooked a note by E. S. A. at 8 th S. x. 70, in which eisel is proposed as a substitute for eale in this pas- sage. At the same reference DR. FURNIVALI* says that all these conjectural emendations are unnecessary, as the passage is perfectly good sense as it stands. I think that if MR. MACKENZIE reads DR. FURNIVALL'S note he will at any rate agree that his own suggestion does not improve the passage. C. C. B.

A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ACCOUNT OF THE

WORKS OF CHARLES DIBDIN. (See 9 th S. viii. 39, 77, 197, 279; ix. 421 ; x. 122, 243;

xi. 2, 243, 443 ; xii. 183,283.)

1803. The Professional Life of M r Dibdin, Written by Himself. Together with the words of six hun- dred Songs selected from his works, and sixty small prints taken from the subjects of the songs. And invented, etched, and prepared for the Aqua Tinta by Miss Dibdin. Embellished also with an elegant engraving by M r Smith, From a Portrait of M r Dibdin, a striking Likeness, and an admirable Picture painted by M r Devis. In Four Volumes. Vol. 1. [II., III., or IV.] London: Published by the Author, at his Music- Warehouse, Leicester Place, Leicester Square ; and may be had of Longman and Rees, Paternoster Row ; and also of the principal Booksellers throughout England and Scotland ; whose names will be severally inserted in the provincial Papers. 1803. J. Cundee, Printer, Ivy- Lane. 8vo.

Portrait " Painted by Mr. Devis. Engraved by Mr. Smith." Plates as described in title (but some copies appear to have been issued without these) ; pp. xxvi, 229, and index to