From the N.Y. Times, Friday, September 13, 1996, By Barbara Lloyd:
Elizabeth Greig, one of the country's most accomplished women at tying
fly-fishing lures who was known for her adeptness and her unusual
technique, died last Saturday at Highlands Lake Center-Genesis
Eldercare in Lakeland, Fla. She was 93.
An expert known for tying flies with her hands instead of with a
conventional vise, Mrs. Greig was a innovator in fly-fishing at a time
when mostly men participated in the sport. In the late 1930's, Mrs.
Greig was a founder of Angler's Roost, a popular
fly-fishing shop situated in the Chrysler Building in New York City.
Her skills were pervasive, from knowing where to wade into the
fly-fishing streams of the Catskills, to the important task of choosing
the feathers and other materials that made the difference between a
quality or inferior fly. Scotty, as she was called, encouraged the fish
tales that floated in and out of the conversations at her shop in New
York. ''There were more fish caught in my shop than on most streams,''
she was once quoted as having said.
Mrs. Greig was born in Peebles, Scotland, on Sept. 10, 1902. Her
father, a stone mason, taught her how to fly-fish on the shores of the
River Tweed by day, and how to tie flies at the kitchen table by night.
This is one of those flies that just looks "fishy" to me,
and there is no doubt in my mind that it will do very well in a variety
of circumstances. I've done this one in-hand in the interest
of historical accuracy, but it just makes the fly more time consuming
to tie. I'm not sure why, but the winging becomes much easier to do
in-hand on these flank wing flies. I just doubled a wood duck feather
over along the stem, and tied it on, grasping the shank and doubled
feather in my left hand, wrapping with my right. Pulling the loop tight at the
end of the whip finish turned out to be the hard part. I'll have to
work on that. Some tiers of old would have a button attached to their
bench that the thread could be wrapped around to aid with that process
and others. Here's the recipe for Elizabeth Greig's Quill:
Greig Quill
Tail: Dark badger hackle
Body: Peacock herl
Hackle: Dark badger
Wing: Wood duck flank
Credits: N. Y. Times article "Elizabeth Greig, 93, Fly-Fishing Expert And Sport Innovator"
By Barbara Lloyd ~ EA
About Eric:
Eric lives in Delaware, Ohio and fishes for brown trout in the Mad River, a beautiful
spring creek. More of his flies are on display here:
traditionalflies.com -- Classic salmon and
trout flies of Europe and the Americas.
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