tyers five centuries ago, having only the Treatyse as reference, would have tied the flies differently. The same applies to the other ancient flies illustrated in this section.
In the following, medieval spellings have been modernised.
FOR MARCH
THE DUN FLY
The body of dun wool and the wings of the partridge.
ANOTHER DUN FLY
The body of black wool; the wings of the blackest drake and the jay under the wings and under the tail.
FOR APRIL
THE STONE-FLY
The body of black wool and yellow under the wings and under the tail, and the wings of the drake.
IN THE BEGINNING OF MAY
A GOOD FLY
The body of red wool and ribbed with black silk; the wings of the drake and of the red capon’s hackle.
MAY
THE YELLOW FLY
The body of yellow wool, the wings of the red cock’s hackle and that of the drake dyed yellow.
JUNE
THE BLACK LOUPER
The body of black wool and ribbed with the herl of the peacock’s tail and the wings of the capon with a blue head.
THE DUN CUT
The body of black wool and a yellow band along either side; the wings of the buzzard tied on with barked hemp.
THE MAURE FLY
The body of dusky wool; the wings of the blackest mail of the wild drake.
THE TANDY FLY AT ST WILLIAMS’S DAY
The body of tandy wool and a pair of wings of the whitest mail of the wild drake.
JULY
THE WASP FLY
The body of black wool and ribbed with yellow thread; the wings of the buzzard.
THE SHELL FLY AT ST THOMAS’S DAY
The body of green wool and ribbed with the herl from the peacock’s tail; wings of the buzzard.
AUGUST
THE DRAKE FLY
The body of black wool and ribbed with black silk; wings of the mail of the black drake with a black head.
Today we rarely tie and use flies that were devised over a hundred years ago. However the flies contained in the Treatyse were reprinted and recommended by several other writers up to and including Izaak Walton in The Compleat Angler (first published over 150 years later, in 1653).
A DOZEN EARLY FLIES FROM SWITZERLAND
In 1558 Conrad Gesner of Zurich published a large tome called Historia Animalium, the fourth volume of which was De Piscum et Aquatilium Animatium Natura, or Of Fish and of Aquatic Animal Life. He began his section on fishing flies with: ‘Certain skilful fishers fabricate diverse kinds of worms and winged insects from the feathers of birds in various seasons of the year …’ (trans. Andrew Herd). ‘Worms’ probably included all subsurface forms including larvae and nymphs. As in the Treatyse there were twelve patterns for catching trout and grayling. They lacked names, but were tagged to the months in which they were most effective, the first for each month being a grayling fly, the second a trout fly.
APRIL
Body: White [thread or wool?].
Wings: Whitish feather from the partridge belly.
Body: Red silk.
Wings: Red cock hackles.
Head: Green [thread?].
MAY
Body: Segmented black and white by twisting together black and white thread before winding down the hook shank [see DARK WATCHETT, (see here); FOOTBALLER MIDGE PUPA, see here].
Wings: Varied (i.e. hooded) crow back feather.
Head: Blue.
