More Fishing By Kings

November 27, 2008 By: Marshall Cutchin

“Angler of the first order” is how a 1917 French newspaper described the then-current king of England, King George V. With the passage of time, the behavior described makes us cringe, but then in the early 20th century serving as Emperor of India was considered magnanimous by some and shooting over 1000 pheasants in six hours only marginally excessive.
“In due time the salmon comes to approach himself to the bank. Aha. The king has cast aside his rod. He hurls himself flat on the ground on his victim. They splash and struggle in the icy water. Name of a dog. But it is a braw laddie! The gillie, a kind of outdoor domestic, administers the coup de grace with a pistol. ‘The king! Hip-hurrah.'”