REALLY OLD FLIES

Circa 1862 from a fly wallet that accompanied the sixth edition of Alfred Ronalds' 'Fly-Fisher's Entomology'

Many years ago I purchased a sixth edition of The Fly-Fishers' Entomology, Alfred Ronalds, 1862. The reason I was keen to pay around one hundred dollars more than its market value at the time was because secreted between its pages were three very old flies. The book store owner, whom I knew well, told me that the history behind the flies was that they were placed in the book by its original owner and they were very old then.


Well, that is the story from the family who owned this book when they sold it off with a number of other works at the time. The story they told was that their Great-Grandfather brought it out from England in the very late 1800s and it had been handed down to them. Good salesman, or a true story, I don't know but those flies had been sitting in that book for a very long time. You can easily see the rust and gut impressions they have left on the pages. Take note of the bottom fly, No.31 Dark Mackerel, as it is not unlike one of those set between these pages.



Can you just imagine how that old fly tyer would feel knowing that his flies are now featured on a website in Australia nearly two hundred years or more after they were tied?

Just think of the things he would not know about; Websites, The House of Hardy, Graphite fly rods, breathe-able waders, plastic bags or mobile phones, or telephones for that matter and on that list would go. But I think the first thing that would come into his mind is that he must have tied them well to last so long.

I suppose the reason for posting this topic is to see if there is any older out there. At a guess, by the style of the tying, I would say these flies were around the very early 1800s, maybe even earlier. The big question is; if you have older, please forward a picture and I will gladly post it on this blog.