Every since I bought a copy of Tom Stewart's 'Two Hundred Popular Flies' back in 1984, I have been fascinated by the history of flies, some of the materials we used to use, and how some of them got their names. So, what's in a name?
From the simple to the obscure
Fly names can range from the simple to the obscure, the funny to the bizarre. Names vary immensely and the history behind some even more interesting.
Snipe and Purple, Partridge and Orange, Mallard and Claret and Pheasant Tail. All obvious names and relating to the materials used to tie them. Simple names, very effective patterns. The names don't need 'blinging' up to catch fish, all these flies do it easily.
What about Greenwell's Glory? The fly was first tied by James Wright of Sprouston, Roxburghshire back in 1854 but it doesn't bear his name. The reason behind this is because it was Canon Greenwell of Durham who picked a natural fly off the water and gave it to James Wright to copy. Wright then showed the fly to Mr. Brown, the schoolmaster in Sprouston, who named it Greenwell's Glory. Several other flies have also taken the names of the inventors of various flies, such as Peter Ross, Wickhams Fancy (Dr. T C Wickham), Pope's Nondescript, Lunn's Particular and the famous salmon fly dating back to 1850, the Jock Scott, named after the keeper on the Makerstoun stretch of the Tweed invented it for his boss Lord John Scott
Other fly names aren't quite as simple or obvious. Take the Ke-He, a great fly to use on the Orkney lochs. The origins of this fly can be traced back to 1930 when a reader of Trout & Salmon magazine, Mr. R Windwick, wrote in to explain how the fly got its name. According to Mr. Windwick, a certain David Kemp and his friend Bernard Heddle, who regularly fished Harray Loch in the Orkneys, noticed that when the wind blew fresh from the west, the loch was covered with great numbers of small black bees. At such times few other flies interested the fish, so Messrs. Kemp and Heddle set about creating a pattern to match the bees, which had shiny black bodies and brownish wings. They named the pattern Ke-He by using the first two letters of their surnames. The bees no longer fall on Harray Loch, but the Ke-He is still a very effective fly on the loch, and many other northern lochs.
The classic salmon fly, the Thunder & Lightning also has an intriguing name. The inventor of this fly has been lost in the mists of time but it was mentioned in the salmon section of Mary Orvis Marbury’s 1892 book Favorite Flies and Their Histories, so the fly is now in excess of 130 years old. Once called the 'Great Storm Fly' it was believed it was best fished on a rising, coloured water after a storm as the salmon and grilse where believed to be more keen. Nowadays the fly is found to be effective in both coloured and clear water and one that most salmon anglers wouldn't be without in their box.
The list is endless!
I could type for hours an hours on the origins of the names of flies, others such as Butcher, Gary Dog, Alexandra, Hairy Mary, Baby Doll, Cats Whisker, Medicine fly and many more.
Fly tyers are imaginative folk and new names for flies, from the simple to the obscure, the funny to the bizarre, will continue to intrigue, interest and entertain fly anglers for generations to come.
What's you favourite fly name? (Keep it clean, we know there are some 'not so' clean names out there!!!)
On a final note, only one fly ever had its name trademarked, but which one was it?
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