Part 3
++THe barbyll is a swete fysshe / but it is a quasy meete & a peryllous for mannys body. For comynly he yeuyth an introduxion to y^e Febres. And yf he be eten rawe : he maye be cause of mannys dethe : whyche hath oft be seen Thyse {16} be his baytes. ¶ In Marche & in Apryll take fayr fresshe che | se : and laye it on a borde & kytte it in small square pecys of the lengthe of your hoke. Take thenne a candyl & brenne it on the ende at the poynt of your hoke tyll it be yelow. And then̄e byn | de it on your hoke with fletchers sylke : and make it rough lyke a welbede. This bayte is good all the somer season. ¶ In May & Iune take y^e hawthorn̄ worme & the grete redde worme. and nyppe of the heed. And put on your hoke a codworme before. & that is a good bayte. In Iuyll take the redde worme for cheyf & the hawthorn̄ worme togyd^r. Also the water docke leyf wor | me & the hornet worme togyder. ¶ In August & for all the yere take the talowe of a shepe & softe chese : of eche ylyke moche : and a lytyll hony & grynde or stampe theym togyd^r longe. and tempre it tyll it be tough. And put therto floure a lytyll & make it on smalle pellettys. And y^t is a good bayte to angle wyth at the grounde And loke that it synke in the water. or ellys it is not good to this purpoos.
++THe carpe is a deyntous fysshe : but there ben but fewe in Englonde. And therfore I wryte the lasse of hym. He is an euyll fysshe to take. For he is soo stronge enarmyd in the mouthe that there maye noo weke harnays holde hym. And as touchynge his baytes I haue but lytyll knowlege of it And me were loth to wryte more than I knowe & haue prouyd But well I wote that the redde worme & the menow ben good baytys for hym at all tymes as I haue herde saye of persones credyble & also founde wryten in bokes of credence.
++THe cheuyn is a stately fysshe & his heed is a deyty morsell. There is noo fysshe soo strongly enarmyd wyth sca | lys on the body. And bi cause he is a stronge byter he ha | the the more baytes / whiche ben thyse. ¶ In Marche the redde worme at the grounde : For comynly thenne he woll byte there at all tymes of y^e yere yf he be ony thinge hungry. ¶ In Apryll the dyche canker that bredith in the tree. A worme that bredith betwene the rynde & the tree of an oke The redde worme : and the yonge frosshys whan the fete ben kyt of. Also the stone flye the bobbe vnder the cowe torde : the redde snaylle. ¶ In May y^e {17} bayte that bredyth on the osyer leyf & the docke canker togyd^r vpon your hoke. Also a bayte that bredyth on a fern̄ leyf : y^e cod | worme. and a bayte that bredyth on an hawthorn̄. And a bayte that bredyth on an oke leyf & a sylke worme & a codworme togyder. ¶ In̄ Iune take the creket & the dorre & also a red worme : the heed kytte of & a codworme before : and put theym on y^e hoke. Also a bayte in the osyer leyf : yonge frosshys the thre-fete kitte of by the body : & the fourth by the knee. The bayte on the hawthorn̄ & the codworme togyder & a grubbe that bredyth in a dunghyll : and a grete greshop. ¶ In Iuyll the greshop & the humbylbee in the medow. Also yonge bees & yonge hornettes. Also a grete brended flye that bredith in pathes of medowes & the flye that is amonge pysmeers hyllys. ¶ In August take wortwormes & magotes vnto Myghelmas. ¶ In Septembre the redde worme : & also take the baytes whan ye may gete the | ym : that is to wyte / Cheryes : yonge myce not heeryd : & the hon | ie combe.
++THe breeme is a noble fysshe & a deyntous. And ye shall angle for hym from Marche vnto August wyth a redde worme : & then̄e wyth a butter flye & a grene flye. & with a bayte that bredyth amonge grene rede : and a bayte that bre | dyth in the barke of a deed tree. ¶ And for bremettis : take mag | gotes. ¶ And fro that tyme forth all the yere after take the red worme : and in the ryuer browne breede. Moo baytes there ben but they ben not easy & therfore I lete theym passe ouer.
++A Tenche is a good fyssh : and heelith all manere of other fysshe that ben hurte yf they maye come to hym. He is the most parte of the yere in the mudde. And he styryth moost in Iune & Iuly : and in other seasons but lytyll. He is an euyll byter. his baytes ben thyse. For all the yere browne bree | de tostyd wyth hony in lyknesse of a butteryd loof : and the gre | te redde worme. And as for cheyf take the blacke blood in y^e her | te of a shepe & floure and hony. And tempre theym all togyder somdeale softer than paast : & anoynt therwyth the redde worme : bothe for this fysshe & for other. And they woll byte moche the better therat at all tymes. ¶ The perche is a daynteuous fysshe & passynge holsom and {18} a free bytyng. Thise ben his baytes. In Marche the redde wor | me. In Aprill the bobbe vnder the cowe torde. In May the slo | thorn̄ worme & the codworme. In Iune the bayte that bredith in an olde fallen oke & the grete canker. In Iuyll the bayte that bredyth on the osyer leyf & the bobbe that bredeth on the dung | hyll : and the hawthorn̄ worme & the codworme. In August the redde worme & maggotes. All the yere after the red worme as for the beste. ¶ The roche is an easy fysshe to take : And yf he be fatte & pen | nyd thenne is he good meete. & thyse ben his baytes. In Marche the most redy bayte is the red worme. In Apryll the bobbe vnder the cowe torde. In May the bayte y^t bredyth on the oke leyf & the bobbe in the dunghyll. In Iune the bayte that bredith on the osyer & the codworme. In Iuyll hous flyes. & the bayte that bredith on an oke. and the notworme & mathewes & maggotes tyll Myghelmas. And after y^t the fatte of bakon. ¶ The dace is a gentyll fysshe to take. & yf it be well refet then̄ is it good meete. In Marche his bayte is a redde worme. In Apryll the bobbe vnder the cowe torde. In May the docke can | ker & the bayte on y^e slothorn̄ and on the oken leyf. In Iune the codworme & the bayte on the osyer and the whyte grubbe in y^e dunghyll. In Iuyll take hous flyes & flyes that brede in pysmer hylles : the codworme & maggotes vnto Mighelmas. And yf the water be clere ye shall take fysshe whan other take none And fro that tyme forth doo as ye do for the roche. For comyn | ly theyr bytynge & theyr baytes ben lyke. ¶ The bleke is but a feble fysshe. yet he is holsom His baytes from Marche to Myghelmas be the same that I haue wryten before. For the roche & darse sauynge all the somer season asmo | che as ye maye angle for hym wyth an house flye : & in wynter season w^t bakon & other bayte made as ye herafter may know. ¶ The ruf is ryght an holsom fysshe : And ye shall angle to him wyth the same baytes in al seasons of the yere & in the same wi | se as I haue tolde you of the perche : for they ben lyke in fysshe & fedinge / sauynge the ruf is lesse. And therfore he must haue y^e smaller bayte. ¶ The flounder is an holsom fisshe & a free. and a subtyll byter in his manere : For comynly whan he soukyth his meete he {19} fedyth at grounde. & therfore ye must angle to hym wyth a gro | unde lyne lyenge. And he hath but one manere of bayte. & that is a red worme. whiche is moost cheyf for all manere of fysshe. ¶ The gogen is a good fisshe of the mochenes : & he byteth wel at the grounde. And his baytes for all the yere ben thyse. y^e red worme : codworme : & maggotes. And ye must angle to him w^t a flote. & lete your bayte be nere y^e botom or ellis on y^e gron̄de. ¶ The menow whan he shynith in the water then̄ is he byttyr And though his body be lytyll yet he is a rauenous biter & an egre. And ye shall angle to hym wyth the same baytes that ye doo for the gogyn : sauynge they must be smalle. ¶ The ele is a quasy fysshe a rauenour & a deuourer of the bro | de of fysshe. And for the pyke also is a deuourer of fysshe I put them bothe behynde all other to angle. For this ele ye shall fyn | de an hole in the grounde of the water. & it is blewe blackysshe there put in your hoke tyll that it be a fote wythin y^e hole. and your bayte shall be a grete angyll twytch or a menow. ¶ The pyke is a good fysshe : but for he deuouryth so many as well of his owne kynde as of other : I loue hym the lesse. & for to take hym ye shall doo thus. Take a codlynge hoke : & take a roche or a fresshe heering & a wyre wyth an hole in the ende : & put it in at the mouth & out at the taylle downe by the ridge of the fresshe heeryng. And thenne put the lyne of your hoke in af | ter. & drawe the hoke in to the cheke of y^e fresshe heeryng. Then̄ put a plumbe of lede vpon your lyne a yerde longe from youre hoke & a flote in mydwaye betwene : & caste it in a pytte where the pyke vsyth. And this is the beste & moost surest crafte of ta | kynge the pyke. ¶ A nother manere takynge of him there is. Take a frosshe & put it on your hoke at the necke bytwene the skynne & body on y^e backe half : & put on a flote a yerde ther | fro : & caste it where the pyke hauntyth and ye shall haue hym. ¶ A nother manere. Take the same bayte & put it in Asa fetida & cast it in the water wyth a corde & a corke : & ye shall not fayll of hym. And yf ye lyst to haue a good sporte : thenne tye the co | rde to a gose fote : & ye shall se god halynge whether the gose or the pyke shall haue the better.
++NOw ye wote with what baytes & how ye shall angle to euery manere fysshe. Now I woll tell you how ye shall {20} kepe and fede your quycke baytes. Ye shall fede and kepe them all in generall : but euery manere by hymself wyth suche thyngꝭ in and on whiche they brede. And as longe as they ben quycke & newe they ben fyne. But whan they ben in a slough or elles deed thenne ben they nought. Oute of thyse ben excepted thre brodes : That is to wyte of hornettys : humbylbees. & waspys. whom ye shall bake in breede & after dyppe theyr heedes in blo | de & lete them drye. Also excepte maggotes : whyche whan thei ben bredde grete wyth theyr naturell fedynge : ye shall fede the | ym ferthermore wyth shepes talow & wyth a cake made of flou | re & hony. thenne woll they be more grete. And whan ye haue clensyd theym wyth sonde in a bagge of blanket kepte hote vn | der your gowne or other warm̄ thyng two houres or thre. then̄ ben they beste & redy to angle wyth. And of the frosshe kytte y^e legge by the knee. of the grasshop the leggys & wynges by the body. ¶ Thyse ben baytes made to laste all the yere. Fyrste been flou | re & lene flesshe of the hepis of a cony or of a catte : virgyn wexe & shepys talowe : and braye theym in a morter : And thenne tem | pre it at the fyre wyth a lytyll puryfyed hony : & soo make it vp in lytyll ballys & bayte therwyth your hokys after theyr quan | tyte. & this is a good bayte for all manere fresshe fysshe. ¶ A nother take the sewet of a shepe & chese in lyke quantyte : & braye theim togider longe in a mortere : And take thenne floure & tempre it therwyth. and after that alaye it wyth hony & make ballys therof. and that is for the barbyll in especyall. ¶ A nother for darse. & roche & bleke. take whete & sethe it well & thenne put it in blood all a daye & a nyghte. and it is a good bayte. ¶ For baytes for grete fyssh kepe specyally this rule. Whan ye haue take a grete fysshe : vndo the mawe. & what ye fynde therin make that your bayte : for it is beste.
¶ Thyse ben the .xij. flyes wyth whyche ye shall angle to y^e tro | ught & grayllyng / and dubbe lyke as ye shall now here me tell.
¶ Marche.
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++THe donne flye the body of the donne woll & the wyngis of the pertryche. A nother doone flye. the body of blacke woll : the wynges of the blackyst drake : and the Iay vnd^r the wynge & vnder the tayle. ¶ Apryll. ¶ The stone flye. the body of blacke wull : & yelowe vnder the wynge. and vnder the tayle & the wynges of the drake. In the begynnynge of May a good flye. the body of roddyd wull and lappid abowte wyth blacke sylke : the wynges of the drake & of the redde capons hakyll. ¶ May. ¶ The yelow flye. the body of yelow wull : the wynges of the redde cocke hakyll & of the drake lyttyd yelow. The blacke lou | per. the body of blacke wull & lappyd abowte wyth the herle of y^e pecok tayle : & the wynges of y^e redde capon w^t a blewe heed. ¶ Iune. ¶ The donne cutte : the body of blacke wull & a yelow lyste after eyther syde : the wynges of the bosarde bounde on with barkyd hempe. The maure flye. the body of doske wull the wynges of the blackest mayle of the wylde drake. The tan | dy flye at saynt Wyllyams daye. the body of tandy wull & the wynges contrary eyther ayenst other of the whitest mayle of y^e wylde drake. ¶ Iuyll. ¶ The waspe flye. the body of blacke wull & lappid abowte w^t yelow threde : the winges of the bosarde. The shell flye at saynt Thomas daye. the body of grene wull & lappyd abowte wyth the herle of the pecoks tayle : wynges of the bosarde. ¶ August. ¶ The drake flye. the body of blacke wull & lappyd abowte wyth blacke sylke : wynges of the mayle of the blac | ke drake wyth a blacke heed.
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¶ Here folowyth the order made to all those whiche shall haue the vnderstondynge of this forsayde treatyse & vse it for theyr pleasures.
++Ye that can angle & take fysshe to your plesures as this forsayd treatyse techyth & shewyth you : I charge & requyre you in the name of alle noble men that ye fysshe not in noo poore mannes seuerall water : as his ponde : stewe : or other necessary thynges to kepe fysshe in wythout his lycence & good wyll. ¶ Nor that ye vse not to breke noo mannys gynnys lyenge in theyr weares & in other places due vnto theym. Ne to take the fysshe awaye that is taken in theym. For after a fysshe is taken in a mannys gynne yf the gynne be layed in the comyn waters : or elles in suche waters as he hireth / it is his ow | ne propre goodes. And yf ye take it awaye ye robbe hym : whyche is a ryght shamfull dede to ony noble man to do y^t that the | uys & brybours done : whyche are punysshed for theyr euyll de | des by the necke & otherwyse whan they maye be aspyed & taken. And also yf ye doo in lyke manere as this treatise shewyth you : ye shal haue no nede to take of other men̄ys : whiles ye shal haue ynough of your owne takyng yf ye lyste to labour therfo | re. whyche shall be to you a very pleasure to se the fayr bryght shynynge scalyd fysshes dysceyued by your crafty meanes and drawen vpon londe. ¶ Also that ye breke noo mannys heggys in goynge abowte your dysportes : ne opyn noo mannes gates but that ye shytte theym agayn. ¶ Also ye shall not vse this for | sayd crafty dysporte for no couetysenes to thencreasynge & spa | rynge of your money oonly / but pryncypally for your solace & to cause the helthe of your body. and specyally of your soule. For whanne ye purpoos to goo on your disportes in fysshyng ye woll not desyre gretly many persones wyth you. whiche my | ghte lette you of your game. And thenne ye maye serue god de | uowtly in sayenge affectuously youre custumable prayer. And thus doynge ye shall eschewe & voyde many vices. as ydylnes whyche is pryncypall cause to enduce man to many other vyces. as it is ryght well knowen. ¶ Also ye shall not be to raueno | us in takyng of your sayd game as to moche at one tyme : whi | che ye maye lyghtly doo yf ye doo in euery poynt as this present treatyse shewyth you in euery poynt. whyche sholde {23} lyght | ly be occasyon to dystroye your owne dysportes & other mennys also. As whan ye haue a suffycyent mese ye sholde coueyte nomore as at that tyme. ¶ Also ye shall besye yourselfe to nouryssh the game in all that ye maye : & to dystroye all suche thyn | ges as ben deuourers of it. ¶ And all those that done after this rule shall haue the blessynge of god & saynt Petyr / whyche he theym graunte that wyth his precyous blood vs boughte.
¶ And for by cause that this present treatyse sholde not come to the hondys of eche ydle persone whyche wolde desire it yf it were enpryntyd allone by itself & put in a lytyll plaunflet ther | fore I haue compylyd it in a greter volume of dyuerse bokys concernynge to gentyll & noble men to the entent that the for | sayd ydle persones whyche sholde haue but lytyll mesure in the sayd dysporte of fysshyng sholde not by this meane vtterly dys | troye it.
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE :
Original spelling and grammar have been generally retained, with some exceptions noted here. Long s (“ſ”, Unicode character u+017f) have been replaced by “s”. Words that were broken at the end of a line using a word continuation mark, either hyphen or double oblique hyphen (u+2e17), have been rejoined. Supposed words that were broken at the end of a line, but without a word continuation mark, have been rejoined by inserting a vertical line (u+7c) with thin spaces between the two parts of the supposed word. For example, the word “whiche” was often broken after the _i_, and would then be transcribed as “whi | che”. I produced the cover image and hereby assign it to the public domain. In the text edition, italic text is marked with low lines (“_”, u+5f); small capitals text is made uppercase; superscripted text is marked with “^” (u+5e). Original page images are available from archive.org—search for “treatyseoffysshy00bern”.
The blackletter pages of the original book had no printed page numbers. Page numbers have been inserted into these ebook editions. If a page number would properly lie within a broken word or a supposed broken word, then the whole word was moved just below the page number.
There were throughout the blackletter part of the printed book instances of a symbol that resembled a y with a smudge over it. These are likely variously e over y or t over y, i.e. abbreviations for _the_ and _that_. These symbols have been transcribed according to context as y^e or y^t. On page 16 there was what looks like a “d” with a smudge over it, which has been transcribed as “d^r”. Other abbreviations that include a smudged small letter include “wy^t”, “w^t”, “togyd^r”, etc. In all these instances, the superscripted mark is a guess based on context.
Paragraphs or sections in the blackletter part were variously marked. Sections were indicated by either _capitulum_ or else drop cap. Sparsely supported capitulum (u+2e3f) is replaced by pilcrow (u+b6) in all editions. The text was justified, and sometimes a capitulum would be preceded by white space on the right end of a line of text and a line-break, sometimes by only a single space. Sometimes vertical white space preceded a capitulum or drop cap; sometimes not. There are three instances (see pages 3 and 9) of white space on the right end of a line of text followed by a new sentence on a new line, but without either capitulum or drop cap. In these ebook editions, either printed vertical space or a drop cap is transcribed as the beginning of a new paragraph, i.e. as a new _< p >_ element in the html edition. Drop caps are indicated in the text edition by “++” preceding the letter.
The colon (u+3a) is used liberally throughout the blackletter part of the book. It was usually printed with no space on either side; less often with a space only on the right side; and rarely with a space only on the left side. Examples of the latter occur at page 4 line 4 and at page 8 line 2. In this transcription, the colon spacing has been standardized in the blackletter part of the book to narrow space on both sides.
Likewise, the glyph we would call _period_ or _full stop_ (u+2e) was variously printed with no space on either side, or space on one or both sides. These have been standardized to modern usage: space on right side only. This glyph seems to have been used variously in the ways we would use full stop or comma. In addition, roman numerals are transcribed with the full stop as in, for instance, “wyth .xij. heeres” (example is from page 10). In many places full stops seem to be missing from the end of a sentence; these have not been corrected.
In the following sentence from page 1, “Salamon in his parablys sayth that a good spyryte makyth a flourynge aege / that is a fayre aege & a longe.”, the “ / ” is our transcription of a glyph shaped somewhat like an abundantly distorted “3”, compressed horizontally. This glyph has been interpreted herein as punctuation, similar to our modern comma or virgule. The glyph was variously printed with no space on either side, or with space on both sides, or with space on the right side. In this ebook, the glyph has been transcribed as solidus (u+2f) with thin space on both sides.
There is one exception. On page 20, line 1, the following sentence appears: “Ye shall fede and kepe them all in generall : but euery manere by hymself wyth suche thyngꝭ in and on whiche they brede”. In the html/epub/mobi editions, the mark after _thyng_ is shown as an image of the original mark. This mark strongly resembles the glyphs that have been elsewhere transcribed as solidus, but is bolder and more angular. The text edition transcribes this instance as “ꝭ” (u+a76d, Latin small letter IS)
Page 2. The following sentence appears: “The seconde is labour not outrageoꝰ.” In the text edition, the mark following _outrageo_ has been transcribed as “ꝰ” (u+a770, modifier letter US). This character occurs only once in the text.
Page 7. The phrase “For is is lyke y^e wedys” was changed to “For it is lyke y^e wedys”. In the phrase rendered herein as “that it woll desyre ynough”, it has been suggested that the penultimate word should perhaps be “befyxe” instead.
Page 8. In “And gretter hokes ye shall mabe in the same wyse”, “mabe” should perhaps be “make”?
Page 10. In the illustration caption, “Pln̄be : Corke” should perhaps be “Plūbe : Corke”.
Page 12. In “the more he smymmyth aboue”, the word should perhaps be “swymmyth”.
Page 13. In “in ony other placys where ye may se ony fyssh houe or ha | ne ony fedynge”, “ha | ne” should perhaps be “ha | ue”?
Page 17. In the phrase rendered herein “heeryd : & the hon | ie combe.”, “hon | ie” was originally printed as “hou | ie”.
Page 18. A smudge after the ampersand was ignored in the phrase “on the osyer & the codworme”.
Page 19. In “cast it in the water wyth a corde & a corke ”, the illegible mark ahead of “cord” has been transcribed “a ”. Also, the phrase “or ellis on y^e gron̄de” possibly should be “or ellis on y^e groūde”.
Page 20. In “But whan they ben in a slough”, the original print looked like “ben|in”, with a thick black line between “ben” and “in”. In the phrase “¶ A nother take the sewet”, there was a smudge after “nother” that might be taken for a comma, removed from this ebook edition. There were no other commas in the blackletter section of the book.