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tretyse of fysshynge wyth
an Angle
(treatise on fishing with
a hook and line)
This drawing appeared in Dame Juliana's original "tretyse of fysshynge wyth an Angle" (1496) and is probably the first illustration of a fisherman ever printed. It is called a "woodcut" because it was printed from an engraved block of wood.
In 1496 Dame Juliana Berners, Prioress of the Benedictine Nunnery of Sopwell (near the City of St. Albans) outside London, wrote the first work on fishing. It was written in the Middle English of the time, and entitled "Here beginneth a tretyse of fysshynge wyth an Angle." Today it's known as "A treatise on fishing with a hook and line"---one of the most famous works ever written on fishing.
Prior to Dame Juliana's "treatise" other writers had touched, briefly, on fishing: Homer (c.8th century BC), Theocritus (3rd century BC), Martial (1st century AD), Aelian (1st or 2nd century AD), and Richard de Fournival (13th century AD).
But it was Dame Juliana who, in her "treatise," first wrote extensively on every aspect of fishing (with rod, line and hook) including tackle making and angling techniques. She also invented Aquatic Entomology, Fishing Ethics and Conservation.
The word "angler" is derived from the word "Angle" as used in the original title of Dame Juliana's "tretyse of fysshynge wyth an Angle." It meant fishing with a rod, line and hook. Literally, it referred to the actual angle made by an extended fishing rod with line hanging down.
Dame Juliana began her "treatise" by stating it was important for a man to have a "mery spyryte" (happy disposition) in order to enjoy a long and pleasant life. And, the way to acquire a happy disposition, she claimed, was by participating in outdoor sports (try telling that to one of today's "golf widows").
Those outdoor sports were, in 15th century England, "huntynge (hunting), "haukynge (hawking or falconry), fysshynge (fishing), and fowling (snaring or trapping birds)." Dame Juliana explained precisely why all of these outdoor activities---except angling (fishing with rod, line and hook)---were worthless in leading to a happy disposition:
"Hunting," she claimed, "left a man sweating, lips blistered from blowing on his hunting horn, soaked through, scratched, his clothes torn, his feet wet, covered with mud, one hound lost and the other crippled." Dame Juliana averred there were even more disadvantages to hunting but she was not going to mention them for fear of displeasing hunters. (Apparently she did not believe she had already done so.)
And "falconry is laborious and noisy," said Dame Juliana, adding "The falconer often loses his hawks as the hunter loses his hounds, then his sport is gone. When he wants his hawk to fly to game it flies to a branch. The falconer cries and whistles until his throat is parched. Without proper care the falconer's birds will die."
"But the sport of fowling," Dame Juliana wrote, "seems to me to be the worst because the best fowling is in the coldest weather which makes it difficult to maintain traps and snares. And when he does, they are rarely productive. After tending his traps and snares the fowler is wet." Dame Juliana claimed she could say more about the disadvantages of fowling but would not lest she "upset" fowlers.
Therefore, Dame Juliana reasoned, "hunting, falconry and fowling are so tiresome and unpleasant that none of them give a man a happy disposition. Doubtless then, it follows that the winner should be the sport of fishing with a hook." But, Dame Juliana noted, there were some kinds of fishing which were as "tiresome and unpleasant" as hunting, falconry and fowling because they made "folks wet and cold, which many times has been the causes of great illness." I'm guessing Dame Juliana was referring to netting, seining and trotline fishing---which have never been considered "angling" or sport fishing.
Dame Juliana was adamant. Only fishing---and just one kind of fishing (with rod, line and hook)---will give a man a happy disposition.
It was also important, Dame Juliana mentioned, to have (1) happy thoughts, (2) a job that was not back-breaking, and (3) a good diet. Is there a modern health-care professional who would disagree with her 500-year-old prescription for good mental and physical health?
Dame Juliana extolled the virtues of fishing---and the many pleasures one derived from being outdoors---157 years before Izaak Walton did in his book The Compleat Angler. Walton's book was published in 1653 and became the best-selling book on fishing ever written. And Walton became known as the "patron saint" of angling---an honor which, unquestionably, belongs to Dame Juliana Berners.
After her introductory comments on the merits of outdoor sports (or, at least on the merits of one outdoor sport), Dame Juliana began explaining how to make one's "harneys" (fishing tackle). Remember, this was 1496 and there were no stores selling fishing gear, nor would there be for another 200 years.
The fishing tackle Dame Juliana taught her readers how to make are the same ones we use today---rod, line, hook, bobber, sinker, artificial bait, and artificial insects (called "flies" by modern fly fishers). The only difference is that today we use different designs and materials---not available 500 years ago---to make the same fishing tools Dame Juliana described in 1496. The only item of tackle she did not mention was the reel. Although the fishing reel had been in use as early as the 12th century in China, it was not introduced to England until about 1651.
Dame Juliana did not "invent" fishing tackle. The Egyptians of 2000 BC were using fishing rods, lines and copper (later bronze) hooks. And even artificial insects (flies) had been used as early as the 1st century AD when the Roman poet Martial noted the "fraudful flies" used by anglers of that time.
One of Dame Juliana's contributions to angling was her detailed explanation of how to craft fishing tackle, beginning with the rod. She listed the best kinds of wood to use for the butt section of the rod, and how to hollow out a length with a wire heated in a charcoal fire. She then listed the best kinds of wood to use for the tip section, and how to prepare the tip for insertion into the hollowed-out butt section. Dame Juliana made two charming comments regarding her newly-completed fishing rod:
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She observed that since the tip section was concealed in the butt (similar to our modern "telescoping rods" that have each section housed within the following section) no one would know where the angler was going. Perhaps her fishing rod resembled a "walking staff." A question, please, Dame Juliana: Why would an angler care if anyone knew he was going fishing?
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Dame Juliana said her fishing rod "wyll be very lyght & nymble to fyshe with at your pleasure..." That lovely line needs no translation from Middle English to modern. And, doesn't it read like the advertising copy of a present-day fly-rod maker? Some things never change.
Next, Dame Juliana explained how to make fishing lines by taking the longest, round hairs from the tail of a white horse, dividing them into six bunches, dying each bunch a specific color (each color was for use in a different fishing situation, or month), how to prepare the six different dyes, and how to plait the six bunches of dyed horsetail hairs into six lines using a specific tool ( a drawing of which is in her "treatise").
When fishing for the smallest fish the angler would use a line made of consecutive, single horse-tail hairs. When fishing for larger fish the angler would use lines plaited from several horsetail hairs, up to a fifteen-horsetail-hair line used when fishing for salmon.
Making fish hooks, Dame Juliana said, was the "hardest art in making your tackle." Several tools were needed, drawing of which were included in her "treatise." These early fish hooks were made from needles---from small sewing needles to large embroider's, tailor's and shoemaker's needles. Fish hooks were made in much the same way a blacksmith heated and shaped his ironware. The needle was heated in a charcoal fire, bent into the fish-hook shape, reheated, then plunged into water for tempering.
These early fish hooks had no "eyes" through which the angler could thread his line. Instead, the fish-hook shank was beaten flat before tempering so the horsetail-hair line could be tied directly to the shank with "fine red silk." There are drawings of these early fish hooks in the "treatise." "Eyed" fish hooks were not invented until about 1660 in Europe. The first illustration of an "eyed" hook in England was about 1760.
Floats (bobbers) were made from round or egg-shaped pieces of cork, with holes (made with a small, hot iron) through the length of the float through which the horsetail-hair line could pass. The thinnest, one-horsetail-hair fishing line required a small float, with a small hole through it. The thicker (for larger fish) horsetail-hair lines required larger floats with larger holes in them.
"Now," Dame Juliana wrote, "I have taught you to make all your tackle. Here I will tell you how you shall angle." She stated "there are six ways of angling." The sixth way, "with an artificial fly for the trout and grayling," is of special interest to fly fishers.
Dame Juliana cited many important angling techniques, including:
"And for the first and principal point in angling, always keep away from the water, from the sight of the fish: either keep back on the land or else hide behind a bush, so the fish can't see you. For if they do, they will not bite. Also, take care that your shadow does not fall upon the water any more than it might, for such a thing which will soon frighten the fish. And if a fish is frightened, he will not bite for a long time."
Reading the above paragraph engenders this apperception: The validity of Dame Juliana's ancient instructions on the "first and principal point in angling" has not changed after 500 years of fishing. The instructions given by today's fly-fishing experts on the proper way to approach fish in a stream are exactly the same as those given so long ago by Dame Juliana.
Dame Juliana also tells us when to "strike," how to "play" a fish, to "keep a fish under the rod and always hold him there," what kinds of water to fish, best types of shoreline to fish, value of surface weed cover, to fish near where the current runs close by, what time of day to fish during the various months, best weather conditions, best and worst wind conditions, and to fish behind obstructions in the water. She instructs us to open the stomach of the first large fish we catch and find out what it has been feeding on. "Whatever you find therein, make that your bait, for it is best," she wrote.
Again, Dame Juliana's 500-year-old instructions on angling techniques are the same as those given by modern fishing authorities to their readers. Her insights on many aspects of fishing are as sound today as when she first described them in the 15th century.
Dame Juliana cited "twelue manner of impedymentes which cause a man to take no fysshe..." A modern English translation would be something like this: "Here are twelve excuses you can use for not having caught any fish today." Her list included: "The fish weren't biting. It was too hot. It was too cold. It was raining. An east wind came up while I was fishing. I didn't have the right tackle with me. I didn't have the right bait." Of all the information in her "treatise" these lines have probably been the most quoted by anglers during the past 500 years.
Dame Juliana advised anglers about the best baits, times to fish, preparation of artificial (home-made bait), type of water preferred by each species and how to fish for them. In discussing which baits the various species prefer, Dame Juliana penned a line that is charming in its humility. She was not certain of the best bait for "Carpe" and wrote: "And as touchying his baytes I haue but lytle knowledg of it, and I were lolthe to wryte more than I knowe." A poor translation of that lovely line is: "I don't know the best bait for carp so I won't write about what I don't know."
After writing about live and artificial baits (such as the "doughball" modern anglers still make), Dame Juliana described "the twelve flies with which you shall angle for the trout and grayling; and dub (construct) them like you will now here me tell:"
In naming the twelve flies, the materials used to imitate them, and the months when they should be used, Dame Juliana invented Aquatic Entomology and Fly-Tying Instruction.
Most of the materials Dame Juliana used to tie her flies are still used by modern fly tyers: different colored wool, silk, thread, peacock tail feathers, hackle (feathers) from partridge, rooster and duck. A few, such as jay and buzzard, aren't used much nowadays, if at all.
Of course, modern fly tyers have the tremendous advantatge of being able to use dozens of man-made materials, excellent vises and other tools, and the benefit of having access to five centuries of aquatic entomology and fly-tying progress. We have Dame Juliana to thank for getting us started half a millennium ago.
After carefully and lovingly explaining how to make fishing tackle, how to fish, and how to tie flies, Dame Juliana talked about our responsibility as anglers. She invented Outdoor Ethics when she wrote:
"I charge you and require you in the name of all noble men that you do not fish
in any man's private water...without his license and good will...Also I charge
you, that you break no man's hedges in going about your fishing: nor open any
man's gates but that you shut them again."
It is interesting to note that Dame Juliana "charged" us to respect the property of others---but she does not talk to us about respecting other anglers. Why is that? My guess is because in 1496 there were not many fishermen about---nor were there many Englishmen, either. The population of England in 1500 AD has been estimated at between 5-7 million---compared with 50 million today. "Back then" fishermen were not fishing "shoulder to shoulder" as they sometimes now do. In 15th century England an angler probably had a whole lake or pond or mile of river all to himself. Indeed, he may have had the entire river to himself.
Dame Juliana also talked about our responsibility to protect future fishing. She invented Conservation when she instructed us:
"...you must not fish for covetousness or to save money, but principally for your
solace and to promote the health of your body and specially of your soul...Also
you must not be too greedy in catching game by taking too much at one time...
Which could easily be the occasion of destroying your own sport and other
men's also. When you have enough to eat you should covet no more at that
time. Also you shall help yourself to nourish the game in all that you may..."
Dame Juliana was truly a remarkable person---born 500 years before her time.
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The last paragraph in Dame Juliana's "treatise" is a revelation! If there were such designations as "Top Secret" or "Most Secret" in 1496 Dame Juliana would certainly have had the "treatise" so stamped. She was determined not to let her "treatise" fall into the hands of those who would use the valuable information it contained for selfish reasons. (This is James Bond stuffe in 1496.)
She took two steps to prevent this from happening:
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Dame Juliana wrote she would not have her "treatise" printed "alone by itself and put in a little pamphlet," thus preventing "idle persons" from reading it and using the valuable information it contained to "utterly destroy" fishing.
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"Therefore," Dame Juliana wrote, "I have compiled it (the "treatise") in a greater volume of diverse books concerning gentle and noble men, to the end the aforesaid idle persons which should have but little measure in the sport of fishing should not by this means utterly destroy it."
That is the last sentence in Dame Juliana's "treatise." By having it included in a book with other works it would be impossible for these "idle persons," who seem to be anathemas to her, to obtain a copy of her "treatise" because books were, as we know, very expensive in the 15th century---and even much later.
It was first published in the second edition of the Boke (Book) of St. Albans (1496). This was the "greater volume of diverse books" to which Dame Juliana was referring in the last sentence of her "treatise." The "Boke" contained three works (or books or sections): "Huntynge (hunting), Haukynge (hawking or falconry), and Fysshynge (fishing)." Dame Juliana's "Here beginneth a tretyse of fysshynge wyth an Angle," mentioned in the first paragraph of this report, comprised the "Fysshynge" portion of that ancient volume.
This second edition of the "Boke" was printed by early English printer and typographer Wynkyn de Worde, who had been apprenticed to William Caxton, called the "father of English printing" because he had brought printing (from moveable type) to England from Germany where he had learned the art in about 1471. In about 1491, on the death of Caxton, Wynkyn de Worde "took over the business," so to speak.
There was a first edition of the Boke of St. Albans that had been printed ten years earlier, in 1486, by William Caxton himself. That "Boke" also contained three works---but they were not the same three that appeared in the later (1496) edition. The first edition (1486) contained works on hunting, falconry and heraldry---but no work on fishing. Dame Juliana's "treatise," therefore, was not included (if it had even been written at that time) in the 1486 edition of the "Boke."
There was a third edition of the Boke of St. Albans printed in 1518 by Wynkyn de Worde, who had also printed the second (1496) edition. And, like the second edition, contained the same three works, including Dame Juliana's "treatise."
A rare copy of the third (1518) edition of the Boke of St. Albans The Boke of Hawkynge and Huntynge and Fyshuynge, which included Dame Juliana's "treatise," was sold in the summer of 2005. It had been appraised for auction at between 50,000 - 70,000 British pounds. It was sold at Bloomsbury Auctions in London for 110,000 pounds (about $194,000.00 in US currency).
To put this time period (1496) in historical perspective, it was about 44 years after printing from movable (wood blocks) type had been invented by Johann Gutenberg in Germany, four years after Christopher Columbus discovered the "New World," and about 35 years before Pope Clement VII excommunicated English King Henry VIII because of the latter's marital excesses and the monarch seized control of the Roman Catholic Church in England.
History is seldom a clearly-defined record of past events. Consider, for example, Columbus's "discovery" of the New World. Some historians now believe Norsemen (Scandinavians) landed on the eastern shore of North America centuries before Columbus "discovered" our continent.
And so it is with the history of Dame Juliana and the "treatise on fishing with a hook and line." There are some students of history and literature who insist a woman could not have written that work. One writer refers to her as the "semi-mythical Dame Juliana Berners." Another refers to authorship of the "treatise" as being "attributed to Dame Juliana Berners." Some writers claim the author of the "treatise" was unknown and authorship of that work merely ascribed to Dame Juliana Berners.
There are further disagreements as to the spelling of her given name (Julyans, Julian, Juliana), the spelling of her surname (Barnes, Bernes, Berners), her position (Abbess [head] or Prioress [second in charge] of the nunnery), the name of the nunnery (most accounts say "Sopwell," a few say "Topwell"), and publication date of the "treatise" (given in various accounts as 1461, 1486, 1496).
In preparing this report I have used the most commonly-accepted (by writers on the subject) names, dates, titles, "facts" and spellings.
I would encourage those wishing to read the "treatise" download the modern English translation unless he or she is a student of history or literature, or a masochist.
Lastly, may I say "Thank You" for having shared with me these notes on one of history's unforgettable women.
Jerry Belfer
Original "tretyse:" http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~rbear/berners/berners.html
Translation of "tretyse" from Middle English to modern English:
http://personal.riverusers.com/~flyfishing/fishing.html
http://www.farreaches.org/fishing/treatise/onetreatise.html
Historical information:
http://www.flyfishinghistory.com/hooks.htm
http://www.orcaonline.org/fishing.html
http://www.farreaches.org/fishing/mystery.html
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