1894 Brewer’s / W / Walton
An Izaak Walton. One devoted to “the gentle craft” of angling. Izaak Walton wrote a book called The Complete Angler, or Contemplative Man’s Recreation. (1655.)
⁂ “Gentle” is a pun. Gentles are the larvæ of flesh-flies used as bait in angling.
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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.