Glory (and confusion) of Greenwell

Taupo Times, Volume 23, Issue 46, 11 June 1974, Page 5

Glory (and confusion) of Greenwell

Someone onee asked me wbat was the most successful trout fly of all time. I w^asn't sure such a fly ever existed, although one or two names did spring to mind. I said Td try to find out. And I did. A clergyman exhausted by a miserable day's trout fishing, together with a friend who is numbered among the best fly-dressers the world has known, created the pattern that has received more angling accolades than any other. And it wasn't the Parsons' Glory. It was the Greenwell's Glory. . In the early years of its fame it was tied as a wet fly. Inevitably, dry versions evolved, too. Both have caught trout consistently all over the world, especially in New Zealand, where, according to one respected angler writing in the 1950s — although somewhat jocularly, I suspect — "we rarely usC any other fly." Some authorities argue that the Greenwell is a 'fancy' pattern, that is, based on no known natural insect. But according to one noted telling of the origins of the fly, the celebrated pattern was tied from a natural olive dun. The story goes that on the day our exhausted Canon Greenwell returned from his fruitless labours on the Tweed he brought back with him to Sprouston one diminutive catch — an olive that the trout had been freely taking. His renowned fly-dresser friend James Wright at onee sat down and tied an imitation, which proved so successful the following day that a party was arranged in the fly-dresser's workshop to celebrate it. N4embers of the Wright family suggested the narn^" Greenwell's Glory, and it was duly so christened that night in Kelso whisky, according to Eric Taverner. Authorities differ a little on the year^of the wonderfly's debut, but most favour 1854. Certainly this was the year prefixing William Henderson's short account of Canon Greenwell's initial successes. What has drawn trout so consistently to the Greenwell's Glory for 120 years? Most trout-fishermen in the early days did not know the dressing used by James Wright until 1879, 25 years after the fly was invented. Apparently William Henderson, writing in that year, was the first to make the dressing public. And all he said in his hook was: ". . . -^Qies dressed of feathers takehT' from the blackbird's wing, the bodies being formed of coch-y-bonddhu hackles." This gave no satisfactory guide to the body-dressing really, and it was generally agreed, and later confirmed

by the canon himself, that yeiiow typing silk waxed with cobbler's wax to give a greeny-yellow appearance, was used, and that this could he rihhed with gold thread if wished. A. Courtney Williams says there is reason to helieve that the wings, "tied in a hunch and split, were more or less upright and not sloped hack over the hody as is now customary." Certainly, upright wings are shown for the Greenwell in one of the exquisite coloured plates of H. H. Edmonds and N. N. Lee's hook on hrook and river trouting, puhlished in 1916. Oddly, hoth A. Courtney Williams and E. M. Tod declare in their hooks that they have listed the authentic dressing for the Greenwell's Glory. But the two differ. Williams, possessine a letter written hy the canon himself, dated June 1, 1900, says that the writer refers to the following dressing as "the original and hest edition of Greenwell's Glory." Wing: Inside of a hlackhird's wing. Body: Yellow silk. Hackle: Coch-y-hondhu. ' Hook: 14. !!^n his own hook, E. M. Tod claims that the following dressing is authentic hecause he ohtained the pattern direct from the Rev. Canon Greenwell himself. Body: The yellow tying iilk. waxed with cohhler's wax, to impart to the hody

a greenish-yellow hue. This is rihhed over with yellow gimp, or finest gold wire. Hackle: Coch-y-hondhu. Wings: Blackhird, tied in a hunch, and split. Edmonds and Lee's dressing of the wet version is helpful to the uninitiated. They make a point of specifying a hen hlackhird's primary quill feather for the wings, and ' coch-y-hondhu hen. hackle: accent . heing on the hen in each case for hetter movement under water — although possibly the original dresser, James Wright, would have used secondary rather than primary. feathers. Note that in none of these dressings are whisks included. 1 have heen at pains to give the fullest details 1 can find of the original dressing hecause 1 have a feeling that if only we could huy the Greenwell's Glory nowadays as it was originally dressed we would prohahly catch more fish with it. At least we'd fish the pattern with contldence — which is half the hattle. References: "Trout Flies in New Zealand", Keith Draper, 1971; "Brook and River Trouting", H. H. Edmonds and N. N. Lee, n.d. (1916); "My Life as an Angler", W. Henderson, 1879; "The Angler's Weekend Book", Eric Taverner and John Moore, n.d. (1946); "Wet-Fly Fishing", E. M. Tod, 1907; "A Dictionary of Trout Flies . A. Courtney Williams, 1961.