COUNTRY TALES: OLD GILLIES. By Tom Quinn.

(1991) 1998 new edition. 8vo paperback (128 x 196mm). Pp158. B/w illustrations from old advertisements, etc.

A pocket version of "Tales from the water's edge"". The lives of these professional fishermen have always held a fascination for the angler, and for all those interested in the countryside. Tom Quinn has gathered a range of evocative recollections from some of Britain's longest-serving gillies and riverkeepers, including interviews with the Queen Mother's gillies on Royal Deeside. The picture which emerges from their stories is one of change, from the great brass reels of fifty years ago to the ultra-light carbon rods of today's game fishermen, but there also remains a sense of tradition and craftsmanship which has not faded with the passing of the years". Contents include: Sixty years a gillie - Joe Taylor; An angler in the watermeadows - David Morris; The royal gillies - Alec Ogilvie, Jim Ewan and Charlie Wright; Something of a diplomat - Tom Waites; A meticulous recorder of life - Allan Cooke; Battles with the poachers - Gordon Rogers; Enchanted by the river - Jim Smith; Fishing with Biggles - George Smith; A wonderful companion - Bernard Aldrich; Riverkeeping's greatest dynasty - Mick Lunn; Rendering the streams fit - Tom Ellis; Fifty years a gillie - William Fraser; Angling in the archives. The final chapter, Angling in the Archives, consists of extracts from various books and journals from the late 15th to the early 20th centuries.