This was really going to be easy. All I had to do was contact Marvin Nolte up in the windswept plains of Wyoming because I knew he had the Hodgson book and I'd have all the pattern recipes I needed. But wait, that's not what happened at all. Maybe I'd better start at the beginning and tell this story in chronological order.

Each winter I get stimulated by John Alevras' efforts in putting together a plate of Salmon or Steelhead flies that he then donates to a Trout Unlimited auction. This year was no different and I set about trying to come up with a collection of flies that would make a nice plate. I was thumbing through Fishing Atlantic Salmon - The Flies and the Patterns, by Joseph D. Bates and Pamela Bates Richards when I came to Plate 80, The Doctors. The eight flies on this plate really caught my attention and I decided that a plate full of Doctors - Blue, Silver, Black, Red, White and Helmsdale - would become my project. I could find pattern recipes for all of these with the exception of the Red Doctor.

The text of Bate's book on page 212 states "Even more unusual but certainly interesting is the Red Doctor; it is included (as dressed by P.D. Malloch) in the color plates of Hodgson's Salmon Fishing." Looking at Plate 80, here's the pattern as I see it:

Tag: Oval gold tinsel and yellow floss.
Tail: Topping and Indian Crow.
Butt: Red Berlin wool.
Body: Red floss.
Rib: Oval gold.
Throat: Red hackle fronted by guinea fowl.
Wing: Tippett in strands; married red and blue swan and golden pheasant (bottom to top); teal to the middle of the tail, and a topping.
Sides: Jungle cock.
Head: Red followed by black thread.

Not all materials are clearly visible in Plate 80. It appears that a dark feather is employed in some manner in the wing. With the possibility that this unknown material plays an important part, I moved on to the next step.

I know that Marvin Nolte has a copy of Hodgson's book so I dropped him a note asking for the pattern recipe. Marvin's reply was short and pointed.-He said "Red Doctor? I don't have a pattern recipe for the Red Doctor. I've never heard of the Red Doctor". A subsequent note said, "The Red Doctor has me befuddled yet. I looked in Hodgson. There is no Red Doctor in the plates (or text). The plates have Silver, Black and Blue Doctors; Red Drummond, Red Rover, and Red Ranger. But the Red Doctor is conspicuous by its absence". Marvin also searched over three dozen other reference books including P.D. Malloch's Salmon Flies and How to Make Them without success.

Marvin suggested that since the fly pictured in Plate 80 of the Bate's book was dressed by Belarmino Martinez and since it couldn't be located in any of the old reference books that it might be a modern pattern invented by Martinez. Thus started my search for the pattern and genesis of the Red Doctor.

First, I contacted Wayne Luallen to see if he had ever heard of this pattern. Wayne said that he had not, but he had a friend located in Southern California who has an extensive collection of classic salmon flies including flies dressed by Martinez. Wayne contacted his friend and related the following. "He pulled a plate of flies tied by Martinez off the wall and described a Red Doctor tied by him that was included in that plate, though he said that he was confident that Martinez did not originate the fly. Here is how he described what he saw:

Tag: Oval silver tinsel, pale blue floss.
Tail: Topping, Indian Crow over.
Butt: Red Berlin wool.
Body: Red floss, not heavy or tapered - rather sparse seemingly.
Rib: Oval gold, 7-8 winds.
Hackle: Red beginning at the 4th wind of tinsel.
Wing: Yellow, red, blue and bustard (bottom to top); 1/4" wide teal next to 1/8" wide woodduck to the bend of the hook, woodduck a bit longer than the teal; brown mallard and a topping.
Head: Red followed by black thread.

Wayne concluded by saying "I pressed him re: who he thought might have tied the original, and he had not a clue".

Wayne also suggested that I contact Alex Simpson and see if he had any information. So, I drafted a letter to Alex and simultaneously fired off an e-mail message to Richard Whorwood up in Canada asking for information.

To my joy I received a long letter from Alex and an e-mail from his son Colin (via Richard) that shed a great deal of light on this subject. Alex's letter says, "The pattern was found in a notebook belonging to my son's first fly-tying teacher. She tied flies for Wm. Brown and Chas. Playfair while she was alive. My son and I got to know her when I was enquiring about the dressings of salmon flies mentioned in Wm. Brown's catalogue dated around 1900. After her death, her personal note-book on patterns just disappeared as did most note-books of fly-tyers; a sad loss to the history of fly dressing and the art. Anyhow, here is the dressing I have of the Red Doctor

Tag: Oval silver and yellow floss.
Tail: Topping and chatterer.
Butt: Scarlet wool.
Body: Light red floss.
Rib: Oval silver.
Hackle: Light red from the second turn of tinsel.
Throat: Guinea fowl.
Wing: Tippet fibers; married yellow swan, black turkey, red and blue swan, golden pheasant tail; bronze mallard, teal, topping, sides jungle cock.
Head: Light red wool.

This is the only information I have on the Red Doctor and I haven't seen Joe Bate's new book published along with his daughter although the book has been in existence for two or three years."

Colin Simpson verified the above recipe and added the following information "My first teacher was Winnie Marowski - her maiden name being Winnie Fraser. Winnie was the inventor of the tube fly and worked in Wm. Browns around the late 1920's. She lived in Aberdeen.

William Brown started the business in 1840. The only William Brown catalogue known to exist or I have seen is the one belonging to my Dad, which dates from around 1900.

William Brown was a friend of George Kelson and fished together often." Since most of us think "Pink" when we see a color called "Light Red" I asked Colin to describe the color. Colin replied "Regarding Light Red, the colour is more of a pale crimson - not as bright as scarlet but definitely not pink". Other information that I've dug up includes a reference to Wm. Brown in T.E. Pryce-Tannatt's book How to Dress Salmon Flies when he is discussing turkey feathers for wings "For cinnamon and white I know of no better firm to apply to than Messrs. William Brown, of 54, Union Street, Aberdeen, who also supply fly-tying materials of all sorts and of first-class quality." A friend of mine in Aberdeen writes that this shop is no longer in business.

1 personally have a copy of a hook size chart from C. Playfair & Co., Fishing Rod & Tackle Manufacturers, Union Bridge, Aberdeen. I obtained this chart from Richard Walker & Son, 35 Belmont St, Aberdeen, while I was in Scotland on a business trip in 1984. I no longer have the original hook chart because I gave it to Ray Smith to add to his hook collection.

Well, where does this all lead? I'm convinced that the pattern given by Alex and Colin Simpson is the correct dressing for the Red Doctor. Further, since this pattern appears in a 1900 catalog we can assume that it is not a modern pattern but one that was developed in the late 19th century. Since William Brown and George Kelson were friends and fishing partners, maybe the pattern is the result of their collaboration. The pattern as dressed by Martinez is not significantly different especially in the body and main wing colors.