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THE

ART OF ANGLING,

AS PRACTISED IN

SCOTLAND.

By THOMAS TOD ^^TODDART, Esq.

AUTHOR OF " THE DEATH WAKE/' AND OTHER POEMS.
SECOND EDITION.

EDINBURGH :

W. & R. CHAMBERS, 19, WATERLOO PLACE;

AND ORR AND SMITH, LONDON.

1836.

EDINBURGH : PRINTED BY VV. AND R. CHAMBERS,
19, WATERLOO PLACE.

ssi-

INTRODUCTION.

The very limited number, if not total want, of disserta-
tions upon the subject of Angling in Scotland, and the
necessity for having something like an index to our lochs
and streams, have induced us to throw together the fol-
lowing chapters. In character and produce, our waters
differ very essentially from those of England ; we have
clear and rapid rivers — torrents black with mosses, or pel-
lucid as diamond — lakes large, and gleaming — tarns deep,
still, and terrible, and of these, some are stored with prime,
subtle trout, and others are frequented by the active salmon,
** the monarch of the flood."

On the other hand, the English waters are generally
flat and muddy, affording few fish, except those which de-
light in dead, calm places, such as pike, carp, roach, bream,
and perch. The trout they may happen to contain are also^
very unlike those in Scotland, becoming large and lazy,
dainty in their tastes, and capricious as to their feeding
hours. Accordingly, a very different and more ingeniously
varied method of capturing them, is employed by the south-
ern angler from that practised by us. The fancy is ex-
ercised to compound tackles and artifices, which appear
altogether superfluous to the eyes of Scotsmen. Insects
also are constructed, which, however closely they resemble
nature, are seldom if ever preferred by our countrymen to
their own simple undazzling materials.

M84643S

IV INTRODUCTION.

These facts point out the necessity for a short manual
upon the northern systems of angling, and it is to be hoped
this small treatise will be found completely to answer the
purpose.

We have attempted in its pages to confine our remarks
as much as possible to the practice of the gentle art ; ac-
cordingly, what may be termed its poetry is somewhat cau-
tiously excluded, except in as far as, by the introduction
of a few angling songs, it may assist in relieving the more
dry and methodical portions of the treatise.

As some information is in demand from various quarters
respecting the raising of fish in artificial ponds, we have
incorporated a chapter upon this subjeet, restricting our
observations entirely to Scotland. We have also subjoined
a list of the angling districts, throwing into it such direc-
tions as will most readily assist the intending sportsman.
An abstract of the existing statutes by which our salmon
fisheries are regulated, will likewise be found appended to
the volume. From the more special part of the treatise, we
have excluded as much as possible all technical analysis of
the specific nature of fishes, venturing only here and there
to scatter our handful of ideas, as we have reaped them,
from the track of personal experience and investigation.

THE

SCOTTISH ANGLER

CHAPTER I.
RIVERS.

Taking them all in all, there are few streams equal to
those of our own land. They have a glad, free mu-
sic in their sound, accordant with the freshest feelings
of our nature, and a bright, Hving purity, which gives a
measure of its complexion to the thoughts of such as

" Wander among blossoms and meek flowers
That strew their margins."

Many, very many are the rivers of old Scotland ; and
of these, none is without its attractions, whether scenic,
historical, or otherwise.

Tay, for instance, can boast of its Scone, the for-
mer abode of royalty — of Perth, too, and Dunkeld,
and the Breadalbane's Tower ; Tweed is skirted by
the abbeys of Melrose and Dryburgh, by Abbotsford
and Ashiesteil ; Clyde hath its celebrated falls ; Nith
is sanctified to the memory of Burns, and Forth to that
of Wallace, the champion of our liberties. But why
speak of more and lesser streams, that have all and
each their hold upon the heart — endeared to us whe-
ther by some old melody, or grateful recollection ?

2 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

We would talk at present, not as philosophers but
anglers, as those who cultivate the solitary art, and
value by its finny treasures

" The tuneful brook, that to the birchen tree,
Chimes as it wanders with a merry strain —
The thoughtful river sweeping solemnly
Toward the surges of the distant main."

In this chapter upon Scottish rivers, we shall en-
deavour briefly to give our idea of what constitutes a
good angling river, which may be done best by means
of contrast.

In rocky waters, where the bottom is without soil
and channel, having at most but a thin layer of the
latter, good trout never abound ; and the reason is ob-
vious : there is no proper food necessary to their mul-
tiphcation and growth. The banks, which in such
streams are generally undetachable, provide neither
worm nor slug. Frogs, horse-leeches, minnows, wa-
ter-insects, and many species of fly, are extremely rare.
Floods, although they enlarge and colour the water,
do not create aliment, but are the means merely of al-
tering its position ; hence, if it doth not exist in any
one spot, there can be no transference thereof to any
other. In such waters, no doubt, there are often to
be met with certain temporary adaptations for nourish-
ing fish, as in the case of much wood overshadowing
them, and thereby, during warm and summer months,
raining down great store of tree-flies ; also, if fern or
sweet thyme crowd the banks, small beetles and grass-
hoppers are bred ; but these form altogether a provi-
sional subsistence, withdrawn by the rigid hand of
winter. The fact is proved by many examples : for
instance, let us pitch upon a known stream, after this
sort. We take the Coe or Cona of Ossian, which
runs through Glencoe into Loch Leven, an arm of the

RIVERS. 3

sea in Argyllshire. A small loch or lake is its proper
source, called thereabouts, in the Gaelic tongue, Tre-
achten. After issuing from this, it proceeds with con-
siderable rapidity over shelving masses of rock, itself
pellucid as diamond, and formed in many places into the
most enticing pools, which one would naturally imagine
were the resort of large and well-fed fish ; on the con-
trary, however, a few tiny individuals are all that in-
habit them. We could mention many streams of like
character, the contents of which are precisely similar.
It is, however, worthy of remark, that salmon, grilses,
white and sea trout, ascend such waters in great num-
bers, preferring them even to better provided but more
sluggish courses ; which shows that their sole object is
to spawn with advantage, not to alter their mode of
living.

A second reason why trout of considerable size are
not met with in rocky rivers, is, that among them there
are seldom any direct places of shelter. Weeds, nicely-
disposed stones, and shallow banks, are wanting, from
which they might watch their prey, elude human ob-
servation, and be protected both during the frosts of
winter and the floods of autumn and spring. A rocky
channel is thus proved prejudicial to the growth and
increase of trout, and we shall now observe what ef-
fect a slow muddy bottom produces where food and
cover are found in great plenty. Of this nature are
most English rivers, excepting those in the northern
counties and most mountainous districts. Fish (we
speak of river trout) spawn seldom in such waters ;
nay, they grow so fat and lazy as to be unable to re-
move for this purpose ; besides, the shallows are few
among which they may suitably lie during the unclean
season. These matters, however, are of small conse-
quence, for it is marvellous to observe how the roe of

4 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

even one fish, if properly cultivated and shed, will re-
plenish an emptied stream ; nor would a seemingly
meagre spawning fail of this object, were it not for
other causes and impediments. One of these is dis-
covered in the unnatural voracity of large fish, which
prompts them to devour their own young, as well as
eat each other's roe — a passion which in streams of
this sort is easily gratified, whereas in bottoms composed
of loose stones, &c., the young fry find refuge so ad-
mirably adapted to their size, that it would be idle folly
in a huge trout to attempt seizing them, " with all its
appliances and means to boot." And it may be noted,
that even in a sluggish water provided with such pecu-
liar shelter, the fish thrive more abundantly than in
one where the cover is under banks and among weeds,
both of which can be worked into by a strong active
fellow. Nor let any one be too credulous of the fact
until witnessed, what amazing power the chin and snout
of a milter possess. We have seen, hollowed by a
single fish, such prodigious cavities as would lead one
to imagine that a plough had actually been driven un-
der water, and these, too, in the course of a single night.
What havoc, then, must be made in a loose embank-
ment by like monsters in search of their prey during
the summer months ! An additional reason may here
be stated, why slow-running rivers, like those in Eng-
land, are prejudicial to the multiplication of trout ; and
it is this, that such places are greatly adapted to the
growth of their natural enemies. Of these, the otter
and the pike are the most formidable — perch and eels
moderately so. We shall discourse in due order con-
cerning them : meanwhile, let us revert to our original
intention, which was to describe our idea of a good
angling river.

There are only three kinds of streams, properly

RIVERS. 5

speaking, unless we include as a fourth the moor burn,
of which hereafter. Two of the three we have just
now discussed, showing in what and wherefore they
fiiil. It remains only to show those grounds upon
which we give precedence to the third class of streams,
and our best method of illustration is to be drawn from
example. The Tweed, comparing it with the other
Scottish rivers, is by no means rapid. The Dee, the
Spey, the Lochie, and many parts of the Tay and
Clyde, proceed with greater swiftness, and on the
whole are infinitely more broken and interrupted. Of
all rivers, this quality belongs solely to it, namely, that
it is from head to foot beautifully proportioned and
justly meted out. There is an evenness and impar-
tiahty about it, which distinguish no other stream ; its
pools and shallows are harmoniously arranged —

" It murmurs and pauses, and murmurs again."

Here we perceive no rocky shelves, no impertinent
cataracts, saying to ascending fish, *' Hitherto shalt
thou come, and no farther ; and here shall thy proud
fins be stayed." Nothing of the kind. Nor is there,
on the other hand, any inert tendency ; no long, dead,
sleeping levels, in which pike may secure themselves.
The whole is planned according to an angler's taste ;
every inch of water accessible to the wader, without
danger or interruption. Its banks, also, are in keeping
with its other advantages — not naked and barren, nei-
ther spongy and overgrown with rushes, nor yet crowded
with close and impervious wood, but mostly dry and
inviting, fringed in many parts with oak, ash, elm, and
beech, and in others hung over with the pleasant alder,
among the roots of which is often harboured a goodly
and well-grown trout, impatient for some dropping fly
or incautious worm. Most to our favour, however, is

6 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

its choice formation of bottom or channel, fertile in
food, provided with shelter, and admirably fitted to the
purpose of spawning. A medley it is of gravel and sand,
interspersed with largeish stones, just capable of being
removed by the hand. Now and then, it is true, these
latter assume more considerable dimensions ; nay, oc-
casionally, a point of rock may be discovered, yet so
judiciously arranged as not at all to cause prejudice to
any one stream. Clay you seldom meet with ; it is a
barren unprofitable substance, impervious to every spe-
cies of water animalculae; we mean not by it, the
muddy refuse which is often found even in Tweed,
proceeding from vegetable decomposition, and not in
the le^t unfavourable to the support of fish, but that
hard yellowish till of which the agriculturist complains,
as drawing off no moisture, and harbouring no nourish-
ment.

Another leading feature of the Tweed is, that its
whole developement is gradual, its extension almost
imperceptible. It proceeds not, like the Tay or Lochie,
from the womb of a large reservoir, supplied but scantily
during its course, but commences in more modest and
humble style, emergent from slender and silvery foun-
tains, without show or vaunt, or any symbol of its pro-
gressive greatness. Yet anon it maketh considerable
gains from surrounding hills, assuming a more dilated
and goodly aspect ; rivulet after rivulet adds to its
breadth, as it widens up gently and unconsciously with
the valley through which it flows : nor is each petty
feeder without its use — a nursery for the young fry, it
annually sends forth shoal on shoal, to disport among
roomier waters in the leading stream. As it descends,
these resources become larger, often contending for
the precedence, and yet in nowise worthy of such dis-
tinction. The Tweed itself preserves the superiority

RIVERS. 7

in depth and directness, as well as length of course and
travel.

We thus, by illustration, have described our idea of
a good fishing river ; and now, as to the moor burn,
out of which many Scottish streams are produced, and
angling in whose waters is not an unpleasant recreation.
The moor burn breeds a darkish variety of trout, not
assuredly the most beautiful to gaze upon, and yet here
and there of enticing hue. It looks well rising at a
fly, having a fine yellow appearance, the gleam of which
causes its bulk to seem greater. Heaths and mosses
are not destitute of aliment for fish, although the kind
they provide is unusual in other soils. They nourish
the moss worm, a small species of insect or reptile in-
habiting the least barren parts : also on the surface va-
rious flies abound during summer, uncommon among
the more fertile regions of the valley. Yet doth the
same rule apply to these waters as that which governs
other streams respecting rocky bottoms and dead levels,
which, as aforesaid, do not greatly swarm with life. So
far in respect to the quality of rivers.

We shall afterwards give a list of the principal streams
in Scotland, along with their natures and suitableness
for anghng ; concluding at prcL ^nt this rambling chap-
ter with a few rhyming stanzas.

TO THE TWEED.

Twined with my boyhood, wreathed on the dream
Of early endearments, beautiful stream !
The lisp of thy waters is music to me,

Hours buried, are buried in thee !

Sleepless and sinless, the mirth of thy springs !
The light, and the hmpid, the fanciful things,
That mingle with thine the gleam of their play,'
And are lifted in quiet away !^

4THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

River ! that toyeth under the trees,

And lurest the leaf from the wandering breeze,

It glides over thee, like the gift of the young.

When he rock'd at the bough where it hung.

The voice of the city, the whisper of men,
I hear them, and hate them, and weary again
For the lull of the streams — the breath of the brae,
Brought down in a morning of May.

Go ! hush'd o'er thy channels, the shadow'd, the dim.
Give wail for the Stricken and worship to him.
That woke the old feats of the outlaw'd and free.
The legends, that skirted on thee.

Broken the shell ; but its lingering tone
Lives for the stream of his fathers — his own ;
And the pale wizard hand, that hath glean'd out of eld.
Is again on thy bosom beheld.

He hears not, but pilgrims that muse at his urn.
At the wailing of waters all tearfully turn.
And mingle their mourning, their worship in thine,
And gather the dews from his shrine.

Tweed ! winding and wild ! where the heart is unbound,
They know not, they dream not, who linger around.
How the sadden'd will smile, and the wasted re-win
From thee — ^the bliss withered within.

And I, when to breathe is a burden, and joy
Forgets me, and life is no longer the boy.
On the labouring staff, and the tremorous knee.
Will wander^ bright river, to thee !

Thoughts will come back that were with me before ;
Loves of my childhood left in the core.
That were hush'd, but not buried, the treasured, the true,
In memory awaken anew.

And the hymn of the furze, when the due-pearls are shed.
And the old sacred tones of thy musical bed.
Will close, as the last mortal moments depart,
The golden gates of the heart !

LOCHS.

CHAPTER 11.
LOCHS.
Lochs ! — we love the word Lochs, as applied to those
hill-girdled expanses which decorate our native land.
Lake is too tame a designation — a shallow epithet. It
has nothing to do with mountains and precipices,
heaths and forests. Beautiful it may be, very beauti-
ful ! Winandermere is very beautiful ; Derwent water
is very beautiful ; Buttermere, Ullswater, and Conis-
ton, are very beautiful ; nay, in truth, they are of a
higher nature than beautiful ; for these all lie among
hills — but not Scottish hills ; not the unplanted places
— dwellings of the storm and the eagle.

What is of all things on earth the most changeable
appears so the least — we mean water, taken in a wide
sense, as the sea, or a loch. There is no mountain
in the land which we can certify as presenting the same
aspect it did five centuries ago. Forests then grew
where the bare turf lies, and what is now wooded may
have been naked and desert. So with valleys : the
ploughshare hath altered Nature, and mansions occupy
the lair of the brute and the resort of the robber ; but
waters, seas, lochs, and many rivers, are still the same.
Our forefathers saw them, calm or agitated, as we be-
hold them. The olden names are as appropriate as
ever. Looking on them, we see histories verified, le-
gends enhanced ; we descry the fording of armies, the
flight of queens, the adventures of forsaken princes,
hunted hke wolves in their own shackled realm — a
price on their anointed heads —

" The sleuths of fate unbound
To track their solitary flight
O'er the disastrous ground !"

10 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

Loch Lomond ! Loch Awe ! Loch Laggan ! Loch
Ericht ! Loch Rannoch ! Loch Tay ! Loch Earn !
Loch Lubnaig ! Loch Achray ! Loch Ketturin ! —
why need we name more ? — and yet hundreds there
are, wild and magnificent as these, which we love as
well, wherein all day long we have angled, with an
angler's hope and patience, with a poet's thoughts ex-
panding within us, fearless of the world's contempt,
and speaking of Nature as we speak not to men, but
guilelessly, having no distrust, and eloquently, dread-
ing no rebuke. St Mary's Loch, of all, is our best
beloved — Yarrow's nurse — a sheet of water, not su-
blime, nor yet singularly beautiful, for it wants a fringe
of wood and a few islets, and those swans, described
by Wordsworth so poetically, but strangers ever, un-
less in the depth of a severe winter, to its bright and
quiet surface ; yet, truly, there is a winning something
about it — a ** pastoral grace," that lures the angler's
heart. Nor does it want substance for pastime ; well
adapted to the nurture of trout, it is altogether a favour-
ite resort. Yet the fish caught therein, if we except
one variety, are in general soft and flabby, not agree-
able to the taste, and very far from equalling those
found in the Highland lochs or in Loch Leven. The
fact is, its very fitness is the cause of its being over-
stocked. There are in the neighbourhood too many
breeding streams, and the outlet by which the young
fry would naturally descend, being difficult to discover,
they are compelled in great shoals to remain in the
loch, until directed in their escape by some heavy flood,
which is felt throughout the whole mass of waters.
Salmon also, and sea trout, which find their way up in
winter, are, owing to the same circumstance, necessi-
tated to spend the summer months in this prison. Wie
have taken them with a trout fly in June, seemingly

LOCHS. 11

quite clean and silvery, but large-headed, and worn
down to half their proper thickness ; nay, at that time
we have beheld twenty or thirty of those huge fish
leaping about in different parts of the loch, unable, we
allege, to make good their exit. Such, also, is the
case in Loch Tay, and we suspect in every loch ap-
proachable from the sea, as Loch Awe and others,
although in these two the body of effluent water is much
larger than that which leaves St Mary's.

Connected with lochs, we may here mention what
varieties of trout are generally to be found in them,
compared with rivers. We have detected more than
a dozen sorts after one day's angling, all perfectly dis-
tinct, and individually marked. In St Mary's Loch
this fact is particularly observable, but we shall devote
more appropriately to this matter a succeeding chapter,
although induced at present to show some reason why
and how this variety is produced.

Streams, by their continual motion, cause in many
parts a sameness at the bottom or channel, upon which
account the different feeding grounds are alike as to
what they yield : hence, the trout are naturally similar
and of one appearance ; still, as often is the case, es-
pecially in slow waters, if there be a variety of feeding
grounds, you find also a proportionate variety of trout,
t It seldom happens, however, that above three or four
sorts are to be discovered in the same river, owing, as
we have just mentioned, to the general sameness of
the channel. Lochs, on the other hand, which are
stationary and unimpaired below, contain, according to
their extent and the soil which they cover, so many
beds or feeding grounds of a separate nature, produc-
ing each its variety of fish. The streams and burns
also which they receive are often widely different, some
rocky, some passing through rich and fertile valleys,

12 ^ THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

Others over black and barren moors, to which (their
native abodes) fish, when swept into a huge reservoir,
are unable to return, being bewildered as to the en-
trance back, or more possibly induced to remain in a
wider though foreign sphere.

Recurring to the subject of this chapter, we shall
extend our observations on lochs by a few remarks upon
their suitableness for angling. Now, we think river
sport far more agreeable, and requiring greater inge-
nuity ; besides, it is a healthier exercise. You are
kept in more rapid motion — a great preventive to the
wader against colds and rheumatisms, which standing
middle-deep in a still and freezing water is likely to oc-
casion. Streams are both warmer and shallower ; they
harbour less vermin, and are not nearly so dangerous
as to footing. No doubt, lochs may be boated or fished
from the banks ; a poor fisher in general he is who
adopts the latter method ; nay, a craven angler, and
effeminate ; nevertheless, we make no reference to
unfordable places. Foolhardiness and cowardice are
equally to be despised. A pretender to the gentle art
ought, however, not to hesitate upon a shallow, but
boldly to plunge forward, should go6d sport be the
probable result. Yet, we do confess, this is often a
disagreeable duty, owing sometimes to the bogginess and
irregularity of the soil beneath, sometimes to the cold-
ness of the water, and, as we have once or twice ex-
perienced, to its poisonous nature. This latter quality
may be observed in a small loch near Kinghorn in Fife,
inhabited by pike only. It is covered with weeds and
water plants, which so taint and violate its contents,
as to render wading therein absolutely in its effects
frightful and dangerous. The part of the body im-
mersed becomes covered with scarlet eruptions. No
doubt this may be the work of a minute insect, capa-

LOCHS. 13

ble of penetrating a closely-knit stocking; at all events
it is unpleasant, and not to be courted. Upon the
whole, we are advocates of the wading system, in
streams especially, and in all weathers. We shall give
our reasons more fully in an after chapter ; at present,
a few words upon boating may not be amiss, as con-
nected with loch fishing.

One very great objection to this mode of angling is
the dependent state in which the angler is placed.
Unable at the same moment himself to manage both
oars and tackle, he must needs either have a companion,
who soon tires of the toilsome occupation, or else a
hired boatman, who pretends superior sagacity, and
provokes one by obstinate self-will, and everlasting
jabber. Besides, trout seldom, except at feeding hours,
rise in very deep water ; on the contrary, they keep
to the margin, where all the ground food is generated,
and are commonly accessible within a dozen or two
yards of it. From hence, also, they are drawn out
without loss of time, nor are thus so liable to escape
after being hooked. *

In trolling, however, for large fish, as is practised in
Loch Awe and other places, a boat, we allow, is ne-
cessary ; nor do its other inconveniences detract from
the pleasure of such delicious sport : nevertheless, in
ordinary angling, we love the pedestrian style ; none
of those are we -who practise the art cavalierly, or on
horseback, as some vaunt.

And now to speak of an abomination in loch fishing
lately introduced. Let every true angler abjure the
lath ; it is a poacher's instrument ; killing, no doubt,
alarmingly fatal ; so is lime in a narrow brook, or vitriol,
or the pock-net. Pretty means these for an honest
angler to use I — ingenious and crafty contrivances
wherewith to kill time and make merriment ! This

14 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

engine of death and torture, appropriately called the
Otter by James Hogg of Altrive, on account of the
similarity of its movements to those of that animal,
consists of a thinnish board of wood, thirty inches long
by ten broad, shaped in the form of a boat, and loaded
below with a narrow stripe of sheet lead. This, when
placed lengthwise in water, presents an upright posi-
tion, sinking to within a short distance of its top. Near
the extremities of this board are several holes, to which
is attached a cross band or string of cord, as to a paper
kite. In fact, the whole affair acts upon the same
principle. To this cross band the line is fastened, ge-
nerally made of oiled silk, and very strong : along it, at
regular intervals, are hung a score or two of fly-hooks
of all sizes, also baited minnow tackles, the whole occu-
pying about thirty yards. More line is, however, neces-
sary, but wound upon a pirn, and held off the ground by
a remarkably stout rod. Two individuals are required
to bring this engine into action ; one of whom holds
the rod, and the other at the distance of the line oc-
cupied by the tackle, sets the boaf d adrift. The for-
mer person, who stands also at the margin to windward,
then moves forward. The lath sails out, carrying with
it the whole train of flies, until almost at right angles
with the flsher. Still he proceeds, kept pace with by
this singular apparatus, which it requires some degree
of skill to manage. When one fish is hooked, there
is no necessity for drawing it ashore immediately. The
beauty is to drag in a dozen at a time, although, from
durance vile and lengthy, many are taken in a dying
and exhausted state; others escape with injured mouths
to become thin, sickly, and shy, and of these not a few
expire in this condition. Such is angling by means of
the lath, a system in practice on the English lakes, and
gradually creeping northwards to the extinction of that

LOCHS. 15

nicer and more gentlemanly craft, where skill and talent
take the precedence of brutality and ignorance. The
harm is incalculable, far beyond even its profits; for
the fish thereby injured and deteriorated greatly exceed
the number taken.

And now, speaking of lochs and the mode of angling
therein, from \^hich we have made a tedious diver-
tisement, it is notable that they breed less cunning fish
than rivers do, on which account the fly used may be
larger and more gaudy. Worms, unless at night, are
generally an unsuccessful bait ; the gut to which the
hook is attached being readily discernible in standing
waters, unless itself in motion. Minnows are a good
evening morsel, especially to large trout on the look-
out. From a boat, small par or trout themselves do
rare execution, when used on a sunny day with a long
line and lead. In this manner the biggest fish are
taken, some weighing as much as thirty pounds. But
of these monsters we shall treat hereafter.

LOCH .

A mountain shadow lieth on

Its mirror dark and massy ;
The red late sunray streams across
O'er solemn wood and quiet moss,
O'er sward and hillock grassy.

It tinges with a crimson light

The water sleeping under ;
That calm, clear water seldom wakes —
Calm when the forest pine-tree quakes —
Calm 'mid the very thunder.

A ruin on its islet stands,

The walls with ivy pendant ;
Its grey stones crumbling underneath
Peer thro' the arbitrary wreath
Of that untrain'd ascendant.

16 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

But glancing from the record rude

Of the remoter ages,
Behold the image of a stag,
Timorous of the water-flag.

Its eager thirst assuages !

The stately antlers branching free,

Above its forehead tragic —
The form of animated grace.
One kindred to the quiet place,
A portion of its magic !

And there the wild-duck, like a skiff.
Shoots from the reeds horrescent ;

Its yellow paddles in their wake

Leave on the solitary lake
The traces of a crescent.

The peerly water-heron too.

Where the faint sunray trembles,
Drooping its ever graceful head
Above the floating lily-bed,
A poet-bird resembles.

And yonder on the distant marge.

Behold an angler eager.
With taper wand and arm of skill.
Under the shadow of the hill,
A solitary figure !

But falling from the quiet air

The mist and shades together,'
Glideth away the sad sweet show.
The mountain and the lake below,
The forest and the heather !

And night, with dewy forehead bent,

Holdeth her vigil solemn.
Till the red architect of morn.
Upon a cloud-car slowly borne.
Erects his amber column.

TACKLE. 17

CHAPTER III.

TACKLE.

As anglers, we pay considerable attention to our tackle,
and it is proper we should ; for ill-contrived tackle
either frightens the fish by its clumsiness, or loses them
by its want of strength. The quality of the hook used
is of primary importance : good hooks ought neither
to break nor bend easily. It is no test of a proper de-
scription of hook to be able to haul in half-pounders
and moderate sized fish ; the moment of trial is when
you are playing a large trout or salmon, which exerts
its full vigour, and does justice to the metal. The least
tendency to brittleness or want of nerve will be detected
to your cost and disappointment. Many a fine fish
have we lost in the very act of landing .him, by the
snapping of a thin ill-tempered wire. O'Shaugnessy's
Limericks, which have been much eulogised, are not
always exactly the thing, excepting those used for
salmon, and of a larger description, which are really
excellent. We can recommend with confidence such
as are sold by Martin Kelly, Lower Sackville Street,
Dublin. They present the best specimen of the Irish
hook, as now manufactured.

As least exceptionable, however, the hook we prefer
is the Kendal circular bend. It is of a much lighter
make than the Limerick, and its shape in the smaller
sizes more suitable for hooking trout. We advise pur-
chasers always to try the strength of the wire before
laying in a store of hooks, which they may do by twist-
ing it with the fingers. When purchased, let them be

18 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

kept dry, for the least moisture cannot fail to create
rust. Hooks for dressing flies ought to be thinner at
the shank than such as are intended for bait-fishing.
The Kendal hooks used in Scotland generally number
upwards from 00, the smallest midge, to No. 20, the
largest salmon size. The Limerick are denoted by let-
ters, commencing with A.

There are various methods employed in order to
temper and prepare hooks. After the wire is barbed
and sharpened, it is commonly steeled through means
of fire and charcoal — then the hook thus prepared is
placed upon a smoothing iron, heated 580 degrees of
Fahrenheit, until it acquires a blue colour ; and last
of all, it is immersed, while hot, in tallow, in order to
prevent rust.

Now, as to lines and gut ; and, first, the pirn-line :
This, for trouting, should be spun from twelve to
fifteen hairs* thickness, of the best fresh horse hair,
properly cleaned and soaked. The salmon hne ought
to be much stronger, and contain from eighteen to four-
and-twenty hairs. Thirty yards of the former will
suffice ; the latter should be at least twice that length.
Some prefer a few threads of silk interwoven, and to
this we have no objection, although by them the wet
is retained longer, and the line said to become, sooner
useless. The great merit of a good line is its lightness.
Many anglers, however, and the Ettrick Shepherd among
the rest, give the preference to one that is heavy ; upon
what principle we are unable to discover, except for
the purpose of beating down the wind. Second, the
casting- line : This maybe formed either of gut or horse
hair ; if of the latter, the very choicest material ought
to be used, taking care to soak it previously for an hour
or two in cold water. Five lengths are sufficient, the
uppermost composed of eight hairs, and so on, gradually

TACKLE. 19

diminishing the thickness till you arrive at three or four.
These ought to be regularly spun and carefully fastened
between the lengths by a single knot. A strong series
of gut should be similarly attached to the lowermost
length. The upper end ought to be looped, so as to
conjoin easily with the pirn-line, the extremity of which
should be provided with a small noose of the same de-
scription. Loops of all kinds, however, ought to be
avoided below this point, as they both disturb the water
and perplex the tackle. As for the gut casting- line,
three threads are a sufficient maximum, although four
may be used in the upper part to render the tapering
more harmonious. This latter sort we ourselves pre-
fer, yet many anglers abjure it on account of its heavi-
ness. Hair casting-lines often prove faithless, especially
when half wetted, and not equally spun. Perhaps a
mixture of the two materials might be recommended,
as best combining the requisite qualities, strength and
lightness. While on casting-lines, we may remark that
the common practice of securing the various knots and
joinings with silk thread is a bad one, since it gives them
the appearance of insects when drawn through the
water, and induces the fish to rise without advantage
to the angler.

We shall now treat briefly of gut. This article, ori-
ginally imported from the East, and now brought in
considerable quantities from Spain and Italy, is, as far
as we have been able to learn, fabricated from the male
silk- worm in a state of decomposition. The operation
is principally conducted by children, and consists in
removing the external slough of the worm with the
fingers, elongating at the same time the gluey substance
which composes its entrails. To do this properly re-
quires some care and attention. Should the worm be
kept too long, a hard crust forms itself over it, in de-

20 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

stroying which, the application of the nail is necessary ;
hence the gut becomes flattened, and loses much of its
value. The sinews of herons and other birds are also
manufactured in Spain into a sort of gut, and are much
used, although unwittingly, by our salmon fishers.

Worm-gut varies in length from nearly two feet and
downwards. We have seen, however, an article very
closely resembling it from the Archipelago, which mea-
sures at least a yard and a half. This is not to be con-
founded with sea- weed, although a vegetable fibre, and
drawn out of a plant. It is much stronger and better
suited for angling. The inhabitants of the Greek islands
use it for catching mullet, and will often toss a fish
some pounds weight over their heads by a thread or
two. We ourselves have found it excellent for the
larger sorts of tackle. Animal gut is, however, more ge-
nerally used, and better adapted for trouting. It ought
to be small, round, and transparent, without any flaw
or roughness. When worn or disordered, the appli-
cation of a piece of India rubber will at once renovate
it. In joining threads together for the purpose of ^
making casts, the single knot properly drawn is quite
sufficient. One should avoid clipping the useless ex-
tremities too closely in this operation, as in that case
the knot is somewhat hable to give way. Gut to keep
well should be moistened with fine oil, and stored in
oiled paper. Gut fly-casts with three flies should mea-
sure at least nine feet, from where they join the casting-
line to the lowermost fly. The hooks ought to be a
yard distant or more from each other ; the two bobs
or droppers depending three or four inches from the
main line. These droppers should be the smaller flies,
if different sizes are used, in order that the hne may
fall properly without frightening the fish. Angling for
sea trout, in places where the other kinds abound, we

TACKLE. 21

employ only one large hook as our trail-fly, regulating
the droppers accordingly. Many anglers foolishly place
the heavier hooks foremost, to the disturbance of those
following, and the causing of many mischances.

We shall devote another chapter to flies, and what
concerns them, using the remainder of this in descrip-
tions of other tackles — and first of all, the worm-tackle.
For this, sizeable hooks, short in the shank and dressed
upon fine round gut, are generally preferred — Nos. 9,
10, and 1 1. Some bait-fishers, however, use the smaller
sorts ; but these, we think, are apt to miss the trout,
especially when covered with a largeish worm. The
bait-tackle ought to be loaded about ten or twelve inches
above the hook with a pellet or two of lead, in order
that rapid streams may not carry it away too quickly,
or on the surface, since trout in general seize worm
near the bottom, and take no pains to catch at a swift
bait. Salmon-roe fishing may be practised with the
single hook, although more successfully when a double
or even treble-brazed one is used, which better secures
the ova and loose paste. This, however, should be
small and short in the shank, so as to deceive the
fish.

Minnow-tackles are of various kinds, according to
the fancy of the angler. The most simple, and in some
places the most deadly, is a common single bait hook.
This we insert through the back of the minnow, and
drawing it out, run below the gill, allowing the barb to
protrude from the mouth ; we then tie up the tail
along the gut, either with a piece of silk thread, or
more expeditiously with the gut itself, hitched over the
part. This is angled with in the same manner as the
worm, allowing plenty of time for the fish to gorge. A
tackle similar to it may be used in standing pools or
lochs. Here, however, the shank of the hook (a long

22

THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

one) is loaded, and the bait allowed to descend rapidly
towards the bottom.

^^^^=^:^

Large cautious fish are sometimes taken by this method
of angling. In order to give its proper arrangement
to the minnow, the angler will find a needle or pointed
wire necessary. This is notched at one end, so as to
apply readily to a small loop on the gut, to which the
plunge-apparatus is attached. Of all minnow-tackles,
that with swivels is the commonest and most agreeable
to employ. There are many ways of constructing it.
Two of these we shall mention as preferable to all
others. One is simply a large hook, No. 11 or 12,
fastened to good round gut with two smaller ones, No.
7, tied back to back above, and looped in the dressing,
so as to sUde along, and shorten or lengthen the tackle
to the dimensions of the bait.

In using it, enter the lowermost hook through the
mouth, and bring it out near the tail of the minnow ;
insert one of the hooks on the slider through its lips.

TACKLE. 23

noticing that the fish be slightly curved, so as to spin
properly. The other tackle is composed of six hooks,
No. 7, dressed in pairs, and is angled with only when
the trout are in a taking mood.

Two or more swivels are required for both of these
contrivances — the lowermost fastened about two feet
or so above the bait. Leaden pellets may also be used,
but many think them unnecessary. Some anglers at-
tach behind the whole apparatus an extra hook. No.
12 or 13, dressed upon a hog's bristle, which, should
the trout miss the minnow, is apt to catch him, when
retiring, by the middle or other part of the body. This
is a superfluity, and, like many superfluities, does more
harm than good, alarming the fish without securing
them.

Tackle for trolling with par or small trout ought to
be constructed on the same principles as the minnow-
tackle ; only the hooks should be larger, and dressed
upon gimp, instead of gut. Snap-hooks also are in
use for this kind of angling. Small silk cord oiled will
be found the best trolling-line. The reel should carry
from eighty to a hundred yards at least, in such places
as Loch Awe, where the water is deep and the fish
move strong.

We come now to treat of rods. A trouting rod
ought to be from twelve to fifteen feet in length, and a
salmon one from sixteen to twenty. We prefer the
medium. Its first virtues ought to be lightness and
elasticity. It requires, also, to be nicely and accurately
tapered, from a circumference of three, four, or five

24 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

inches, to one the thickness of a crow quill. In the
hand its very proportions should be felt. A movement
of the wrist ought to determine it, detecting every ten-
dency to top-heaviness — every want of perfect equality.
The common materials of a rod in Scotland are ash,
hickory, and lancewood. Of the first of these, the
butt-piece is made ; the other two are used indiscrimi-
nately for the upper parts. We have seen fir butts
employed ; but, though lighter, they will not bear hol-
lowing as ash does, and, moreover, are easily broken.
Still, for a long salmon tie rod we greatly recommend
them, if made within a third of the whole length. A
good rod ought to bend easily, and revert at once to
its original straightness ; its ferrules should be strongly
fixed on, and carefully fitted together. A single knot
in the wood condemns it ; let all the lengths, therefore,
be diligently seen to. Notice also the colouring matter,
for some rod-makers use vitriol, which devours the
wood, and takes from its pliability. Vegetable sub-
stances make the best dyes for rods, which are gene-
rally finished off with a coat of varnish. The rings
should be large, and extend gradually, in number from
fourteen to eighteen. Of Scottish rods, we prefer
such as were made by the late Mr Phin of Edinburgh,
whose relict still carries on the manufacture ; also those
of Mackenzie and Ancill of Perth. We have likewise
seen good serviceable rods made by Mr Thomas Grieve
of Peebles. London and Dublin furnish by far the
finest make of all sorts of fishing gear. The most ce-
lebrated shops are, in London, those of Chevalier,
Templebar ; Bond, Cannon Street ; Ustonson and
Willingham: in Dublin, Martin Kelly, and Murray.
The manner of disengaging the ferrules of rods when
tight and swollen in the wood with rain or moisture,
is not generally known. The appUcation of a hghted

TACKLE. 25

candle to the brass around the swollen part, will so
contract it, by drawing out the wet, as to make the
farther unscrewing easy. This method will save many
an idle fretting, and prevent those hasty acts, whereby
good rods are often destroyed after the first services.

Next, with regard to reels : They ought to be made
of brass, and, in our opinion, always simple. Some
anglers prefer the complex kind, by which the line is
wound up with much greater rapidity ; but to it our
objection hes chiefly in its tendency to become disor-
dered. As to the fastening of reels on the rod, every
man will exercise his taste in that matter. After all,
we ourselves are in no wise particular, either as to
rods or reels. The art lies more in the man than his
instrument. All the stores of tackle in the wide world,
gossamer gut as strong as whip-cord, flies the image of
life, and a rod that might throw them twenty fathoms'
distance, unless fitly managed, are no more likely to
ensnare trout, than an oak tree and a cable.

And now, as to the rest of an angler's equipment.
Let him have a creel or basket of the usual shape, ra-
ther large than small. We hate to be seen with such
provoking baskets as hardly hold a dozen half-pound-
ers. Allow room at least for two stone weight offish
and upwards.

Lastly, let the angler carry a pocketbook for his
tackle, a round tin box for his casts, and a small flask
of spirits for his refreshment ; a gaff also, if he be a
salmon fisher, and a box for bait ; and as to the pocket-
book, let it be of a good breadth, so as not to compress
the gut-lines too narrowly. Parchment is the best
material, although leather is often in use ; twelve di-
visions or so are suflScient, with four pockets, in which
gut, silk, rosin, scissors, flynippers, hooks, swivels,
hare's ear, and feathers, may be placed. The more

26 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

open spaces should be filled with hooks already dressed,
artificial flies of various descriptions, together with
bait and minnow tackles. As to the tin box, it should
be about five or six inches in diameter, and two in
depth. This is useful for carrying about such casts of
flies, or other tackle, as have been aforetime assorted
and made up, preventing that trouble which a well-
crammed pocketbook creates, where confusion is apt
to be bred, and loss of time occasioned. Of the flask,
no Scotsman will deny the utility.

So much for the different sorts of angling apparatus ;
and let us advise all tyros in the gentle art to be on
their guard against cheap and useless materials. To
such as practise the kindly pastime of angling, we re-
commend diligently the manufacture of their own flies,
which, unless the angler be fully up to, he had better
handle his rod no longer ; for we consider the dressing
of artificial flies to be a requisite accomphshment in
every brother of the craft.

FLIES. 27

CHAPTER IV.

FLIES.

A GREAT deal has been offered upon this matter by va-
rious writers, which we deem absurd and unnecessary.
Trout are no doubt nice and capricious feeders ; but
any pretensions in anglers to classify and distinguish
their favourite flies, according to the month, are almost
tot^ally without reason. The colours of water and sky
are the only indicators which can lead us to select the
most killing hook, and even these are often deceptive.
We have fished in one stream where dark, and, in the
next, red flies, took the lead. There is no trusting to the
fancy in certain places. On Tweed, we have seen it
veer about, like the wind, in one moment, without a
note of preparation. Most rivers, however, are more
steady ; and when the water is of a moderate size, may
be relied on with at most two sorts of flies all the year
round. For ourselves, our maximum in every Scottish
stream is reduced to only four descriptions of artificial
flies, with one or other of which we engage to catch
trout over all the kingdom. Knowledge and practice
have convinced us of the needlessness of storing up
endless and perplexing varieties, which some do, to
look knowing and scientific.

Foremost is the fly commonly called the Professor's,
after Professor Wilson of Edinburgh. The wings are
formed of a mottled, brown feather, taken from the
mallard or wild-drake ; the body is of yellow floss silk,
rather longish, and wound about close to the head with
a fine red or black hackle ; tails are often used, but we

28 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

think them unnecessary. Instead of a yellow silk-body,
we sometimes adopt one of pale green, especially in
loch fishing. Our next fly is of a sombre cast. The
wings are formed of the woodcock, snipe, or lark
feather, it is no matter which ; the body is of hare's
ear, darker or lighter, as it pleases the fancy. Our
third fly is dubbed with mouse or water-rat hair, and
hath wings of the starling or the fieldfare. Our last is
a plain hackle, black or red, without wings, and called
commonly the Palmer. These flies are almost our only
sorts for trouting with, and we have them of all sizes,
down to the minutest midge.

And now, as to the manner of dressing them, we
shall be fitly brief, inasmuch as careful instructions on
this point are to be met with in most works upon
angling. These, however, are over-complex and re-
fined to be readily understood and followed, and there-
fore we shall unfold in a few sentences our more simple
method. Practice alone can bestow neatness and ex-
pedition in this kind of manufacture, which, we opine,
is needful for all zealous anglers. Our materials for
the making up of flies are as follow : — Hooks, and small
round gut ; a pair of brass nippers for twisting hackles ;
a point for dividing the wings ; a pair of fine scissors ;
orange, yellow, and green silk thread of all sizes ; good
cobblers' wax enclosed in a piece of soft leather ; a hare's
ear ; some brown wild-drake, teal, and pheasant fea-
thers ; the fur of a mouse, squirrel, and water-rat ; a
few wings of lark, snipe, landrail, and starling ; and
lastly, red and black hackles, taken from the neck and
head of an old cock at Christmas ; these should be fully
formed and free from softness. Plovers' herls, and
those of the peacock, are used by some ; yet we deem
them superfluous, as also tinsel, except for large flies.

Commencing your operations, the first step is to lay

FLIES. 29

out the intended wings and body before you ; wax
your silk, and applying one end of it to the gut and
hook together, wrap them both round four or five times,
commencing a little below the end of the shank, and
proceeding downwards ; you then fasten, by drawing
the disengaged end of the thread through under the last
turn of the wrapping. Work the silk upwards to where
you commenced, then take your wings, which are still
unseparated, and lay them along your hook, so that
their extremity or tips shall reach its curve ; twirl the
thread twice round the upper part, which lies along the
shank top ; then, taking it under, press firm, and clip
off the unnecessary portion of the feather ; divide with
your point or penknife, so as to form the two wings ;
take up the silk betwixt them, and wrapping again round
at the head, bring it back crosswise ; then lift your
hackle, and lay the root of it down along your hook ;
whip the thread over, as far as your first fastening ;
seize the top of the hackle with your nippers, and whirl
it round in the same manner ; fasten and lengthen the
body to your liking with fresh floss silk ; fasten once
more, and your fly is made. This last fastening ought in
our opinion to be the same as that used in arming bait-
hooks, for which we quote Hawkins's directions : —
*' When you are within about four turns of the bend
of the hook, take the shank between the fore-finger and
thumb of the left hand, and place the silk close by it,
holding them both tight, and leaving the end to hang
down J then draw the other part of the silk into a large
loop, and with your right hand turning backwards, con-
tinue the whipping for four turns, and draw the end of
the silk (which has all this while hung down under
the root of your left thumb) close, and twitch it off."
When the body of your fly is required to be of hare's
ear or mouse skin, pull out a small quantity of the fur.

30 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

and lay it along- the silk, after the wings are formed ;
twist together, and then wrap as if the thread were
bare, and fasten as above. In making flies, keep all
tight, guard against heavy wings and much dubbing ;
the fibres of your hackle ought to be short and lie near
the head of the fly ; they are intended to resemble legs,
which in the real insect are always so placed. Such
is our method of fly-dressing, commendable both for its
simplicity and expedition. It differs, we find, some-
what from that generally practised, being in a manner
self-taught, and not encumbered with any unnecessary
display.

And here let us notice what we have seen broached
concerning artificial flies, namely, that they are seized
by trout for no likeness that they possess to any living
insect, but merely because of their motion and seeming
self-existence. We can barely see what is meant by
this distinction. The illustration, however, follows.
Anglers may observe, say these theorists, that when
fish rise well, they will not refuse your most maimed
and torn imitation ; nay, a bare hook, with hardly a
vestige of feather upon it, will entice them as readily
as your most carefully dressed fly. This we admit, for
we are of opinion that colour and size alone cause the
allurement needful to raise trout, and that shape is of
small matter. Still we have no doubt that the artifi-
cial fly is taken as a known and particular insect ; some-
times in a drowning and sometimes in an active condition ;
since, be it observed, in many rivers the caprice of trout
is truly remarkable on this point, and they will reject
at times, and on clear water, where every insect is vi-
sible, those very flies which shortly before were seized
with avidity ; and this rejection is owing, as may be
seen, to a new succession of ephemerae, occasioned by
an atmospherical change, at which period the imitation

FLIES. 31

alone, as far as concerns colour and size, is the proper
persuasive wherewith to ensnare fish. Yet, with regard
to the artificial salmon fly, we pretend not to guess for
what it is taken, as, from the manner of using it, its
motions are altogether unlike those of any insect exist-
ing, and very unlike those of the dragon fly, which it
is made to resemble. We therefore agree with the
theorists as to it, that it is taken by hungry fish foolishly
and ignorantly, and on account merely of its seeming
existence.

While on salmon flies, we may notice some of the
most effective kinds for Scottish rivers. These may
be reduced to three or four ; and first, the professor's
on a large scale, with its mallard wings, yellow silk
body, and red or black hackles, only let the hackles be
brought down somewhat farther on the hook than is
done on the trouting fly.' Second, wings of a mottled
turkey or pheasant tail feather, with brown or lemon-
coloured mohair body, thread of gold tinsel, and light
brown or cinnamon -coloured hackle; the upper part,
to resemble the head, may be varied with a httle dark
mohair or a black hackle. Third, a dark fly, winged
with deep brown turkey feathers, and white tips ; the
body of black or purple mohair, black hackle and silver
tinsel, with a scarlet or crimson tuft at the tail, and
yellowish head. Somewhat similar to this is what is
called the Maule fly, after Mr Maule of Edinburgh,
a keen and successful salmon fisher. The wings of
this very effective insect should be formed of mottled
turkey feather, its body of camlet wool surmounted
with silver twist, and a black-edged brown hackle ; a
tip formed of light orange or lemon-coloured wool under
a small portion of drake's feather, ought likewise to be
added. We have always found this a very killing fly,
use it where we might.

32 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

Next to these may be classed the gaudy Irish fly,
of which Sir Humphry Davy has given a full descrip-
tion. There are no special rules for the composition
of this fanciful lure. A general one seems to enforce
the introduction of the golden pheasant's feather under
the wings. It is erroneously supposed, both on Tweed-
side and in the north, that the Irish and other gaudy
flies are all a hum ; accordingly, such as use them are
not a little ridiculed by the prejudiced clodhoppers of
those districts, who insist upon their own sagacity and
experience. Now, we inform all who wish to angle
successfully, that there is no dependence to be placed
upon stubborn prejudice ; and we further advise them
to be shy of being advised by a downright ignoramus.
Truly, as for ourselves, we can say without boast, that,
in the matter of Irish flies, we have upset before their
eyes the doctrines of such as pertinaciously held them
to be useless on our Scottish waters. Nay, we feel
assured that salmon will rise at them, when unwilling
to stir a fin towards a duller and less glaring morsel —
and that too, strange to say, not when the stream is
large, thick, and rapid, but rather when it is greatly
reduced and clear. Sea trout, especially, are fond of
something gaudy. A blue or green silk body and gold
tinsel, with wings of the Guinea-fowl or teal feather, is
very killing among them — at times, however, they pre-
fer a plain black hackle. It may be remarked as ge-
nerally the case with regard to our northern waters,
that such as run eastward are by many degrees more
deep and dark-coloured than those running towards
the west, and that their salmon are more shy and ca-
pricious, although ensconced in deeper and better shel-
tered pools. Take as an instance two rivers in Ross-
shire, the Conan falling into Cromarty Firth, and the
Carron into Loch Carron, opposite Skye. Of this

FLIES. 33

there is no doubt, that the former, which we allow is
by much the larger stream, contains at all seasons ten
times as many fish as the latter ; nay, a single mile of
its water is worth the whole length of Carron ; not that
it produces in proportion a higher rental, for, from its
nature, it cannot be netted with such advantage ; but
this we affirm, that it is more plentifully stocked with
fish, and offers a succession of pools seemingly far better
adapted for angling in, and yet there is no dependence
upon itf as upon Carron, where with the rod one is
more certain to kill salmon grilses and sea trout in any
weather and state of the river. And it may be noted
as singular, that the flies used on Carron are particu-
larly uninviting to a Conan fish, being too bright for its
dark massy waters, although not so for the clear limpid
streams of western Ross-shire. We might have con-
trasted in the same manner the Shin and Ewe waters
— but we proceed rather to close our remarks upon sal-
mon flies. Among other combinations, yellow wings
and hackles, although forming a glaring fly, we have
seen used on Clyde with great success. Peacock fea-
thers sometimes make excellent wings and tufts for our
Scottish stream fishing. Salmon flies are of different
sizes, according to the seasons, and are not always re-
gulated in this respect, as some aver, by the mood of
the water. A large hook ought to be used when the
fish first begin to ascend, and especially near the sea.
This, however, is no strict rule, but a mere general
principle, which circumstances should be allowed to
govern. Smaller hooks are most successful high up,
and during close time. After the salmon have spawned,
they become less shy, and, on their return to the salt
water, will leap almost at any sort of insect.

And now, let us notice how the changes of water
and sky influence fish in their choice of flies : and first,

34 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

as to the water. When a stream is small and clear, a
hare's ear body, especially during spring, kills well ;
also the dun or mouse-body fly, and small black hackles,
at a later season. If large and brown, the red profes-
sor suits best : next to it a plain palmer, both of which
are efficient all the year over. When in ordinary
trim, we angle with any sort, being more nice concern-
ing the size than the colour of our flies ; and this we
remark, that in much-used rivers the trout reject large
insects, and rise freest at midges and the smaller ephe-
merae. This is particularly visible on the Clyde about
Lanark, where a very minute fly is requisite ; and yet
on this river, during summer, large fish are caught with
the green-drake and May-flies, in opposition to the ge-
neral liking. In Highland streams trout are by no means
so sagacious a fish as in those of the south. You may
catch them with bread and cheese at the end of a cable,
they are so wrapt in greed and ignorance. Treat them
invariably to large hooks, for their gullets are won-
drously capacious, and they make no objections to ho-
nest rations. Give them red and black flies in abun-
dance, the most tough, indigestible morsels you canr
well invent ; they have no false appetites about them,
and scorn your tit-bits and nail-lengths. As to the in-
fluence of the sky in determining the food of fish, let
it be noted that artificial flies are taken best on dull
windy days, when natural ones are rare ; also in the
mornings and evenings, during bright hot weather. A
powerful sun, however, is unfavourable for fly-fishing,
as it breeds huge swarms of insects for trout to feed
on, and also relaxes their inclination to stir freely.
Close weather, portending thunder or rain, white
clouds, and a storm, all hinder fish from rising well.
During such times they remain near the bottom, or in
their usual hiding-places. Warm summer nights bring

FLIES. 35

good sport if the fly angled with be large and black.
A crow's feather wrapt round a bait-hook may be used
successfully, especially in deep still waters and lochs,
near the side, where the hugest fish prowl in search
of food. White flies in imitation of moths are next
thing to useless, though many anglers advise them.
Recommend us always to pitch-black flies for night
fishing. Many is the fish we have hooked, not a
yard's distance from the shore, with this expedient.
What they are taken for, nobody knows ; beetles or
mice, it is of little consequence. Loch flies in gene-
ral should be large, and in spring of a dark colour,
progressively becoming lighter the nearer you approach
autumn. Green bodies and grasshoppers we have
found excellent in many places, especially in Highland
lochs. A killing fly may be constructed from a hen*s
feather and a twitch of wool taken out of an old car-
pet, when no other materials are at hand. We re-
member having successful recourse to this expedient,
while on an anghng excursion in Inverncss-shire. Some
anglers greatly use the natural fly at certain seasons,
and no doubt it is a killing bait, but somewhat trouble-
some to collect. The May-flies are those best adapted
for this kind of angling. They ought to be gathered
previously from under stones by the water-side, and
kept in a small flannel bag. When used, transfix two
on your hook at the same time, and angle as you would
with worm, only nearer the surface, and with a short
line. Two varieties of the wild oats, avena fatua and
avena sterilise which closely resemble a natural fly, are
employed in the northern districts of Scotland by trout
and salmon fishers.

To conclude our chapter upon flies, we must again
express an absolute contempt for all pedantry upon
this matter. We like systematic anglers, but not

36 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

such as talk learnedly of the art, who classify and ex*
tend their artificial entomology into so many varieties
of the Phryganidae, Ephemeridae, Philopotomidae,
and Leptoceridae, as some do ; calm, sober souls, who
fetch out their whole dressing apparatus to the river-
side, beat up the reeds and alders, and then squat down
leisurely the best part of the morning to make their
humble imitations ; while we, keener and less fasti-
dious, are diverting a huge salmon down the stream,
hooked at the first throw with a common trout hackle.
Let your supply of flies be small and fresh, and the
means of replenishing it always at hand ; thus you will
save useless expense, and remedy interminable con-
fusion.

SONG.

Bring the rod, the line, the reel I
Bring, oh bring the osier creel !
Bring me flies of fifty kinds,
Bring me showers, and clouds, and winds,
AH things right and tight,

All things well and proper,
Trailer red and bright.

Dark and wily dropper— ^
Casts of midges bring.
Made of plover hackle,
» With a gauzy wing.
And a cobweb tackle.

Lead me where the river flows.
Show me where the alder grows,
Reeds and rushes, moss and mead,
To them lead me, quickly lead,
Where the roving trout

Watches round an eddy.
With his eager snout

Pointed up and ready,
Till a careless fly

On the surface wheeling.
Tempts him rising sly
From his safe concealing.

FLIES. 37

There, as with a pleasant friend,
I the happy hours will spend,
Urging on the subtle hook,
O'er the dark and chancy nook,
With a hand expert

Every motion swaying,
And on the alert

When the trout are playing ;
Bring me rod and reel,

Fhes of every feather.
Bring the osier creel.

Send me glorious weather !

To purchasers of tackle and flies in Edinburgh, we
recommend the shops of Mrs Phin, North Bridge, and
of EUis, Prince's Street, whose stocks of Kendal hooks
are generally well chosen, and their other sort of fish-
ing gear excellent.

38 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

CHAPTER V.

FLY FISHING.

Fly fishing is by far the most exquisite department
of the gentle art. There is, generally speaking, a greater
degree of skill necessary to complete*he adept, more
nice calculation, and a superior style of arrangement.
The advantages of the fly over the ground fisher are,
however, not a few : he avoids the trouble of collect-
ing and preparing his bait, the filth and cruelty of at-
taching it to his hook, and those numerous uncertainties
accompanying water and weather, w^hich fall oftener to
the other's lot. We shall not, however, attempt any
disparagement to the merits of the honest bait fisher,
since, to our knowledge, he is often a nobly gifted and
scientific craftsman, a good and worthy man, zealous
in behalf of the art, and in nowise to be underrated.
We ourselves, in our younger days, were bait fishers,
no great hands we allow, but still tolerably successful ;
and if we live on till our arm and eye fail, we shall be
bait fishers once more, tottering in second infancy to
the river-side, content with a few humble minnows, as
fortune directs, or a chance salmon, which pities our
age, and is willing, to his own cost, to sound our lead-
in*]:- strings.

We are now come to treat of the method of fly fish-
ing in use with excellent anglers. Your rod and tackle
being ready, the wind in your favour down the river,
draw out with your left hand a few yards of line from
your reel, dip the top of your rod in the water, and
with a rapid jerk, you will lengthen as you wish, that

FLY FISHING. 39

part you intend for throwing. A thirteen-foot wand
will cast from six to seven fathoms of line. With a
large double-handed rod, you may manage a much
greater length. Always, if you can, angle from a dis-
tance. Trout see you, when you least imagine, and
skulk off without your notice. Noise they care little
about ; you may talk and stamp like a madman, without
frightening them ; but give them a glimpse of your per-
son, and they won't stay to take another. Some ich-
thyologists attribute to them an acute sense of hearing.
This we are disposed to question ; for how happens it,
that the most obstreperous rattling of stones when
wading, causes no alarm, although conveyed to them
through the medium of water, a good conductor of
sounds ? We remember angling one still night by St
Mary's Loch, when our movements were heard dis-
tinctly by some shepherds from the distance of a mile,
and yet the fish rose eagerly at our very feet, following
our fly to the shallowest parts of the margin ; a fact
which, if it does not prove the obtusity of hearing, at
any rate renders it a matter of little consequence to the
angler. We shall enter more at large upon this subject
in a future chapter — and to proceed, —

It requires some art to throw a long line. The be-
ginner should commence with a short one, and with-
out flies ; lengthening it gradually as he improves. The
best method of casting, is to bring the rod slowly over
the right or left shoulder, and, with a turn of the wrist,
make the line circle behind you ; then, after a pause,
fetch it forward again in the same manner, and your
flies will descend softly upon the water. All jerks are
apt to whip off your hooks or crack your gut. A fly
fisher may use two, three, or four flies on his casts, ac-
cording to pleasure. When angling with small hooks,
we adopt the medium number. Large ones ought to

40 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER,

be fished with in pairs, and well separated. In throw-
ing the cast, the lowermost, or trail fly, should be made
to alight foremost ; its fall ought to be almost impercep-
tible ; it should come down on the water hke a gossa-
mer, followed by the droppers. The moment a fly
touches the surface, it is ten times more apt to raise a
fish, than during the act of drawing it along. At no
time are we stanch advocates for the system of leading
our hooks, either against or across the stream; our
method is rather to shake them over it for a moment,
and then repeat the throw. A trout will discover
your fly at the distance of several yards, if feeding, and
will dart at it like lightning. Always, if you can, fish
with the wind, and do not concern yourself, as some
do, from what quarter it comes. In spring, no doubt,
a south-west breeze is preferable to all others ; yet we
have seen even easterly winds not the worst, on many
waters, especially during summer months, when the
natural fly is apt to become over-plenty.

Trout will sometimes take in the most unlikely
weathers, so that the angler should not despair at any
time. Hunger causes them to feed at least once in
the twenty-four hours, and generally much oftener. If
the wind blows down the river, commence at the pool
head, and fish every inch of good water ; you may pass
over the very rough and very shallow parts, also those
which are absolutely dead, calm, and clear, unless you
see fish rising in them, when, should your tackle be
light, there is no harm in taking a throw or two. Dead
water, however, when rippled or discoloured, may be
angled in with great success. When you raise a good
trout, strike slowly, or hardly at all, only continue
the motion of your hand without slacking it ; the fish,
if large, will hook itself. Small trout and par may be
whipped in with rapidity : *tis folly to play or use cere-

FLY FISHING. 41

mony with such trifles. Should the fish miss your fly
ahogether, give him another chance, and a third if that
will not do; a touch of your barb, however, will
sharpen his wits, so as to prevent him from again ris-
ing. He prefers flies without stings. When you hook
a trout, if you can, turn his head with the stream, and
take him rapidly down. Thus you will exhaust him in
the shortest time, whereas, by hauling against the cur-
rent, you allow him to swim freely in his natural direc-
tion, and also exert three times more strength upon your
tackle than is really needful. A good-sized fish, han-
dled in this foolish manner, can never be taken ; it is
impossible to tire him out, and the strongest line will
give way to his resistance. We have observed, that
some trout, when they find themselves hooked, push
towards the bottom, and attempt to cut or perplex the
tackle among stones or weeds. To prevent this, keep
a tight high line, and allow none of it, if possible, to
the fish. When your victim is exhausted, draw him
gently ashore, upon the nearest channel, or most level
part of the margin. He will come in sideways, and
generally lie motionless for a few seconds, during which
time you will be able to run forward and seize him.
Beware of catching hold of your hne, until he is pro-
perly banked. Many a famous trout have we seen
lost by this inadvertence on the part of anglers, who
think so to save time and labour. One should remem-
ber, how the spring of the rod is thus removed, and
how there remains no proper curb to the strength of
the fish, which easily breaks a single gut, or tears itself
from a sharp hook, and wishes the astonished angler
better sport farther on.

In playing a large fish, especially if it be a salmon,
always keep opposite the head, and never allow your
line to slacken for an instant ; if you do, be not sur-

42 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

prised if it should come back to your hand again, evi-
dently without any thing. A salmon fly should be
angled with, in short jerks, among the most rapid parts
of the stream : the fish lie mostly near the head or bot-
tom of a pool, and seldom about the middle. In run-
ning them, use your legs as well as your line, but al-
w^ays keep the latter on the qui vive, letting it out
somewhat charily, with the assistance of the hand, and
taking every opportunity to wind it up again. The
fish, when hooked, generally ascends or strikes across
the current ; after a fair heat, he will often spring fu-
riously out of water, striving to disengage the barb from
his mouth, or shiver the hne with his tail. At such
times, considerable skill is required to prevent him from
accomplishing his purpose. When he becomes calm,
he will take matters more philosophically, and not sel-
dom refuse any further resistance by attaching himself
firmly to the bottom. Rouse him immediately, as you
best can ; for he meditates the snapping of your line by
a sudden effort, when you are off guard. Either wade in
and kick him, or, if the pool be too deep, throw stones
cautiously near the spot where he lies. He will soon start
again in beautiful style, as if for the sea ; when he be-
comes exhausted, drag him to the edge, gaff, and secure
him. In order to rouse a sulky fish, many employ a
small ring of iron or lead, which is made to slide along
the line upon its snout. This apparatus, however, is
apt to disengage the tackle from its mouth, and may be
dispensed with. A salmon, hooked by the back-fin,
will play ten times more vigorously than one hooked by
the mouth. You may as well bridle a horse by the
middle, and attempt to turn him, as manage a large fish
so fastened. We have known anglers occupy a whole
day in securing a moderate sized grilse.

There is, we believe, a very singular instance on

FLY FISHING. 43

record among the inhabitants of the lower part of the
Tummel, with respect to the capture of a huge salmon
with the rod. The time occupied was so great, that
we shall not forfeit our title to veracity by mentioning
it, but leave the curious reader to inquire for himself.
We remember also another instance of this kind, which
we had from good authority in the south of Scotland,
how a salmon, hooked by the side-fin below Elibank
wood on the Tweed, took the angler down to Yair
bridge, a distance of several miles, and at length made
its escape with his tackle, after several hours' play.
Even when hooked by the mouth, the salmon is no
contemptible animal to deal with. We ourselves were
compelled to work one for some hours in St Mary's
Loch, on a common trouting fly, and at length secured
him, before he was nearly exhausted, by enclosing him
in a small bay, and then preventing his escape from be-
hind.

So much for the strength of this fish, and yet,
strange to say, with such small means may its prodi-
gious power be kept under by eminent anglers, that a
single horse- hair has been known to master a full-grown
salmon. The feat of capturing one with such slender
tackle was, we believe, some time ago performed by
the Reverend Mr Paterson, lately clergyman at Gala-
shiels, now in Glasgow.

In angling with the fly, whether for trout or salmon,
it will be remarked, how, at certain times, they will
rise in great numbers towards your hook, without your
being able to secure a single fish. This is owing some-
times to their state of repletion, and sometimes to the
colour of the water or the quality of the atmosphere.
On these occasions, it is truly tantahsing to behold the
most desirable fish mocking your fly with repeated
plunges, seemingly aware of your presence, and defying

44 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

your nicest ingenuity. There is, however, no proper
help for it, although we have observed that a change
in the size or colour of the hook will sometimes work
wonders ; also, when trouting, a small, white, flesh
maggot, toughened in bran, and attached to your fly,
is no bad remedy. The fine perception which trout
possess in their smell often causes them to quit your
artificial insect when just on the point of seizing it.
This faculty of theirs is so powerful as to enable them
to discern the approach of a worm some ^^ards off, al-
though prevented from seizing it by the interposition
of a stone or other obstacle. If you throw a handful
of salmon roe into a calm clear pool, which seems for
the time almost evacuated, except by a few stragglers,
and watch it cautiously, you will be surprised at the
number of fish smelling their way from all quarters to
the baited spot ; many of these will swim up from the
distance of two or three hundred yards, directed merely
by the flavour carried down to them ; the smallness of
which may be imagined more easily than calculated.

In general, however, trout trust more to their sight,
in seizing flies, than to their sense of smell. They
dart at them with a velocity too great to be easily
checked by any sudden discovery. Like men, they
find the deceit when there is no remedy, and gain the
most valuable lesson at the precious cost of life. We
have even caught trout in very turbid water, angling
with the artificial fly in the manner of worm, so fool-
ishly are they sometimes taken with appearances.
Maggots on a smallish fly are found to be very success-
ful during the summer months on many waters. Large
trout, however, are careless about seizing them, and will
not be seduced by so trifling a tit-bit from any distance.
Still, when on the feed, a well- sized fish will rarely
refuse the delicately offered lure. Besides the flesh

FLY FISHING. 45

maggot, the caddis worm, or, as it is termed in the
neighbourhood of Edinburgh, the wooden man, from its
singularly constructed lodgement or bark case, will be
found a successful appendage to the fly, during warm
evenings in June and July.

Double-rod fishing has got into practice on some
rivers ; it is poachers' work, and ought to be prevented
by law. This method of raking the water requires no
art, and affords little amusement. A line stretched be-
tween a couple of rods, and hung with flies, is taken
down the stream by two individuals on its opposite
sides, so that every inch of water is gone over, and
every feeding trout raised. As by the lath, immense
numbers of fish are wounded, as well as taken, getting
detached from the hook after a long-continued struggle,
and then pining away for months at the bottom, un-
able either to feed or spawn. We hope soon to see
an effectual check put upon this manner of depopula-
tion.

Fly fishing in Scotland was wont to commence about
the end of March, or early in April, although of late
years our spring weather has been so unusually mild as
to add even part of February to the angler's calendar.
Nay, we have seen, during Christmas, trout rise freely,
especially near the mouths of streams. In some rivers,
great quantities of kelts, or spawned salmon, are taken
in the month of March, on their descent to the sea.
We have known of forty or fifty of these useless fish
being captured with a single rod in one day, certainly
a most unnecessary slaughter. April, May, and June,
are undoubtedly the best months in the season for
anghng with the fly, not that in them you will catch
the greatest number of trout, but such as you do catch
are generally of a larger size than those taken at a later
period. July and August are mostly too hot and dry ;

46 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

the waters are then clear and covered with food ; the
fish lazy, and the angler tormented by multitudes of
gad-flies and other insects. Par, however, and small
trout, may be captured in great quantities, especially in
the mornings and evenings ; nor are the brandhng and
other worms rejected by the larger sort offish ; white
maggots also are esteemed at this time. In the High-
land districts of Scotland, however, the anghng is now
at its prime, especially among such streams as are fre-
quented by the sea trout. Slight floods of course are
necessary to insure good sport. If rainy, September
and October vie with the spring months for the heart
of the angler. Salmon are now ascending our Low-
land rivers, and seize eagerly at the fly ; common trout
become more active, and move about in quest of roe,
with which they may be destroyed in huge numbers.

SONG THE TAKING OF THE SALMON,

A birr ! a whirr ! a salmon's on,

A goodly fish ! a thumper !
Bring up, bring up the ready gaff,
And if we land him, we shall quaff
Another glorious bumper !
Hark ! 'tis the music of the reel,

The strong, the quick, the steady ;
The line darts from the active wheel-
Have all things right and ready.

A birr ! a whirr ! the salmon's out.

Far on the rushing river ;
Onward he holds with sudden leap.
Or plunges through the whirlpool deep,
A desperate endeavour !
Hark to the music of the reel !
The fitful and the grating :
It pants along the breathless wheel,
Now hurried— now abating*

FLY FISHING.

A birr ! a whirr ! the salmon's oflf !—

No, no, we still have got him ;
The wily fish is sullen grown,
And, like a bright imbedded stone,
Lies gleaming at the bottom.
Hark to the music of the reel !

'Tis hush'd, it hath forsaken ;
With care we'll guard the magic wheel.
Until its notes rewaken.

A birr ! a whirr ! the salmon's up.

Give line, give line and measure ;
But now he turns ! keep down ahead,
And lead him as a child is led.
And land him at your leisure.
Hark to the music of the reel !
'Tis welcome, it is glorious ;
It wanders through the winding wheel,
Returning and victorious.

A birr ! a whirr ! the salmon's in,

Upon the bank extended ;
The princely fish is gasping slow,
His brilliant colours come and go,
All beautifully blended.
Hark to the music of the reel.

It murmurs and it closes ;
Silence is on the conquering wheel,
.Its wearied line reposes.

No birr ! no whirr ! the salmon's ours.

The noble fish, the thumper :
Strike through his gill the ready gaff,
And bending homewards, we shall quaff
Another glorious bumper !
Hark to the music of the reel.

We listen with devotion ;
There's something in that circling wheel
That wakes the heart's emotion !

48 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

CHAPTER VI.

BAIT FISHING.

We borrow some of our notes on this method of
angling from tried craftsmen of our acquaintance, whose
experience leaves our own in some measure behind.
Looking to the success of their practice, we are inclined
to believe that much skill is required in order to be-
come a first-rate bait fisher, and yet it is true that the
veriest bungler may hit upon good sport with worm
and minnow, while, with the fly, he is unable to cap-
ture a single trout. The reason of this is plain. A
beginner in fly fishing is apt rather to frighten than al-
lure with his clumsy throwing ; he knows nothing of
the likeliest places — nothing of insects or their move-
ments ; while, in worm angling, the bait is only to be
appended, dropped, carried forward by the stream,
and, when seized by a fish, drawn up ; and this is ge-
nerally done by the beginner in swollen and muddy
water, where no concealment is necessary; whereas
fly fishing can alone be pursued where all is either
tolerably clear, or absolutely transparent. Practised
bait fishers, however, we allow, are not so capricious,
and handle their rods across the most dwindled and
crystal streams, with as much success as over those
which are thoroughly heightened and discoloured.

The first object of the ground angler is to obtain and
prepare his worms. These reptiles are to be found in
greatest quantities on a rich moist soil. Clay, sand,
and peat-moss, afford them in very small numbers.
They will generate quickly under all sorts of manure

BAIT FISHING. 49

and decayed substances, vegetable as well as animal.
Four or five different varieties are known in this coun-
try ; among which we find the large lob or dew worm,
an excellent bait for salmon and sea trout. These
may be picked up in any garden, by a ready hand, dur-
ing the summer twilights, when they crawl out upon
the surface in search of food. They are a beautiful
and subtle worm, and require to be seized with some
address. Secondly, we have the common earth worm, a
smaller and more inactive sort. Thirdly, the brandling,
a -beautifully streaked variety, found only in very rich
and warm soils, among hot beds, near common sewers,
and at the side of tan pits ; the red worm also breeds
along with it, and both are highly esteemed by anglers.
We, however, reckon the brandling a soft bait, and
disagreeable to handle, being filled with a yellow liquid,
which issues out on the slightest pressure. This rep-
tile generates with wonderful rapidity ; a dozen or two
of them, in the course of a few days, when placed
among warm manure, sufficient in quantity, will pro-
duce many myriads, as we have witnessed. The red
worm is certainly superior as a bait, although some-
what small and clear. After these may be mentioned
a greenish reptile, the favourite food of many trout, yet
not often angled with. It resembles the slug in its
movements, and seldom grows to a large size.

Worms may be dug up with a spade, or grape (a
three-pronged instrument), such as is used for raising
potatoes. We, however, prefer another method of
taking them. Insert a thickish stick or dibble into the
soil, eight or ten inches deep. Move it backwards and
forwards with tolerable quickness, so as to agitate the
earth round about. After a minute or so, every worm
within the circle of agitation, which may extend seve-
ral feet, will appear at the surface. The reason of

D

50 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

this is, that some mole is imagined to be near at hand
by these reptiles, who, accordingly, attempt their es-
cape by shooting upwards, and then travelling over the
top instead of working their way out of reach, through
a stubborn mass of earth, which their natural enemy
might penetrate much faster. This method of captur-
ing worms has the advantage of bringing them into
your hands in a purified condition, free from filth and
injury, both of which your delving instrument is apt to
occasion.

In taking your worms, have a flannel bag near you,
filled with fresh clean moss, into which drop them
when seized. They should be kept two or three days
in a cool place, before used, in order to be thoroughly
purged and toughened. Take care that the moss be-
come neither too dry nor too wet; a spoonful of cream
or sweet milk is a good remedy for the former defect —
a better, is to change it every other day, for some newly
plucked. In preparing worms, a common flowerpot
is a good recipient. Some anglers redden theirs with
a mixture of pounded brick, oatmeal, and water : the
effect of this composition is nevertheless entirely fan-
ciful.

In a former chapter, we treated of the size of the
hook used in bait fishing, and noticed that the best
craftsmen prefer a large one. As sold in Scotland, our
bait hooks are all too long in the shank, a defect which
the file or fingers will easily remedy. The manner of
attaching the bait is of some importance. Many
anglers have a notion, that, by merely concealing the
hook, they achieve all that is requisite. Nothing can
be more erroneous. A stiff unbending curve is any
thing but the natural shape of a worm, which, espe-
cially in water, is given to twist itself and perform nu-
merous evolutions — all of them attractive to the eye of

BAIT FISHING. 51

a trout, and without which he will scarcely be induced
either to smell or nibble. It is necessary, therefore, so
to append the bait as to preserve to it those expressive
motions and generic attitudes which are most taking to
the cunning perceptions of fish. In doing so, select
such worms as are liveliest and free from knots. If of
a large kind, one will be quite sufficient to bait with,
although two of moderate size are preferable. Hold-
ing the worm betwixt the fore-finger and thumb of your
left hand, insert the hook, which is retained in the
right, at about one-fourth of its whole length's distance
from the head of the reptile, and bring it out near the tail.
The second wornj should be appended in the same
manner, the first being previously drawn up over the
shank of the hook, and brought down again upon it,
so as to form one bait. Some anglers insert the worm
from the tail upwards, but this mode of applying it is
erroneous, at least it possesses no direct advantages ;
on the contrary, the reptile is thereby apt to get disen-
gaged, or at any rate to overt wist and separate itself.
The manner of baiting described, leaves the barb of
the hook bare, a matter to be attended to more in some
waters and states of water than others ; for among shy
trout and clear streams, even the minutest portion of
the hook, when visible, will frequently occasion dis-
trust ; it is therefore necessary at times to conceal care-
fully your wire, and allow no measure of it tQ project;
still, in general, this is a useless piece of caution, and
prevents the proper striking of the fish. In angling
with the worm, it is of little consequence whether you
do so moving up or down the stream, provided, when
adopting the latter plan, you employ a short line ; for
with a long one it is impossible to hook the trout aptly,
unless you stand below them.

Some anglers permit their worm to be carried fgr*

52 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

ward by the current ; others move it across with a
heavy sinker appended, so as to keep it near the bot-
tom. And as to the manner in which trout take the
bait, it may be noticed, that at the first dart they en-
gross the whole hook within their mouths ; wherefore,
many, knowing this, strike at the moment : the fish
then let the bait go, and commence upon the worm
more leisurely, kiUing it with repeated bites before it is
finally swallowed.

For quick striking, a very short line is necessary,
not above the length of the rod; this ought always to
be kept at its full stretch, and moved in a half circle
with the angler. It requires some degree of perception
to know the exact instant when the fish first seizes
your bait ; it does so with such softness, and with no
likeness of a tug, as one is apt to imagine ; nay, it
merely closes its jaws upon the hook, as a gaping oys-
ter would do upon one's finger. Then is your oppor-
tunity for striking ; if you neglect it, you allow the trout
its more leisurely process of nibbling, and its chances of
escape. In striking with the short line, do it sharply,
and never against the current, but rather with it, in a
diagonal direction, and not too high. The reason of
this advice is obvious, for all fish feed with their heads
pointing up the stream, kindly giving you the choice of
puUing the hook into or out of their mouths ; the latter
of which purposes you accomplish, to a dead cer-
tainty, by striking against the current. This whip-
jack manner of bait-fishing is very deadly with an ex-
perienced hand. The long-line anglers make nothing
of their method comparatively ; and yet, among clear
waters, and where fish are £ew, or bite shyly, patience
and a long line will carry the day. Remarkably fine
gut ought to be used by all ground anglers, whatever
be the practice. Trout are a suspicious distrustful set.

BAIT FISHING. 53

and three in general slink off for one that nibbles, ter-
rified, no doubt, by those singular accompaniments of
your worm, a line and hook. During July and August,
when our waters are more than ordinarily clear, a
small red worm, slenderly attached to a fine hook, No.
7, is known to be very deadly for two or three hours
after sunrise.

To all bait fishers, Scotland affords excellent sport ;
her rivers run so strongly, and are maintained by so
many sources in the shape of mountain burns. These
romantic streamlets abound in trout ; every stone shel-
ters its inhabitant, and the meanest pool is peopled
with numbers. Burn fish, however, are generally of a
small size ; they seldom exceed a pound in weight, ex-
cept in the spawning season, when larger ones ascend
from broader streams, or lochs at a distance. Still
the taking of them is a pleasant pastime, especially
when they bite eagerly at your worm, as they do dur-
ing rain and in discoloured water. At such times you
have only to drop your bait without art, and the fish
will manage its own ruin.

In ground fishing for salmon, use lob-worms, fresh
from the earth, and not toughened or prepared in any
way. These will be found greatly preferable to such
as have undergone the purging process, especially when
the fish are newly run ; and also near the mouths of
rivers, sea trout and whitlings will seize them greedily.
Angle for salmon with a long line and a large hook.
No. 12, giving the fish a few moments to gorge, before
you strike.

Worms are taken greedily at night, and early in the
morning ; also, when the sun is very powerful, at mid-
day. After rain, when the waters begin to swell, one
is likeliest to meet with great success ; for at such
times, everv individual fish is on the look-out for food.

54 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

During, however, the'subsiding of a flood, fly and min-
nows are infinitely more killing.

Akin to this sort of angling is roe fishing, concerning
which we remark, that in autumn it is the most fatal
method of capturing trout, and is growing much into
practice in the south of Scotland. The roe is procured
generally from the grilse or salmon, and used either in
a raw state, made into paste, or salted entire. We
give the following receipt for salting roe: — Procure
some pounds of the freshest — notice that it be red and
firm — take off the membrane and broken parts — wash
the spawn in lukewarm milk and water, carefully sepa-
rating the individual particles — ^beat together three
parts of fine salt and one of saltpetre, and rub the
whole carefully with the mixture, in the proportion of
an ounce and a quarter to the pound of roe. Spread
it, thus prepared, over a flannel cloth, until quite dry
and tough ; then stow it in pots, and run the top over
with lard, to exclude the air. This preparation will
keep good for a long time. One great object is to pre-
serve and heighten the natural colour of the spawn, a
somewhat difficult matter we confess, and yet seem-
ingly known better in England than here, where it is
more angled with, and procured in greater quantities.

In angling, cover the point of your hook with a piece
of roe cut with a knife, as large as a horse bean, taking
care, while attaching it, not to crush the ova ; and em-
ploy a short line, striking quickly. Always fix upon
one stream, and keep to it ; you are not diminishing
the number of fish near you, catch them as rapidly as
you may. Some anglers previously bait the ground by
throwing in a handful or two of spawn. This attracts
and keeps the fish to the spot. Turbid and swollen
waters are the best for roe fishing, and your likeliest
month is October.

BAIT FISHING. 66

At Peebles, in the neighbourhood of Hawick, and
many others of our southern districts, parties of twenty
are not unfrequently engaged on the same part of the
river at a time, angling with the salmon roe ; the indivi-
dual who is foremost, after having finished the stream,
taking his place again behind the others ; for it is one
of the singularities of roe fishing, that the longer a cer-
tain confined space of water is gone over, and the more
numerous those employed, the better to each angler the
sport becomes. Trout, it may be observed, when tak-
ing roe, feed in the manner of carp, and suck in the
bait without biting it. This is not their method with
the worm or minnow, which they always attempt to
kill before swallowing ; accordingly, in roe fishing, as
the bait is seized, the strain upon the line is scarcely felt,
unless by an experienced hand, and when the weather
is calm. A gentle run, rather than a violent tug, is
generally perceptible, and it may be held as a rule to
strike with the current when the line stops.

In the north of Scotland, roe fishing, if at all, is very
unfrequently practised ; and what is singular, we have
remarked that fish, of the Salmon kind especially, refuse
many baits they are known to snatch at greedily on the
Tweed. Among these are the par-minnow and par-
tail, along with the roe. Sea trout and herlings we
allow will at times be tempted to seize them, but the
larger fish, unless kelts, always regard them with in-
difference, and prefer flies instead. It is to us a mat-
ter of surprise, that the salmon-curers in the north are
so totally ignorant of the high prices obtained in Eng-
land and the lower districts of Scotland for the roe of
the fish ; since it is a notable fact, that this commodity,
so valuable to the southern angler, is by many fishing-
holders regarded as useless, and absolutely thrown away,
along with the entrails of the salmon before boiling.

56 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

Were it properly preserved, we have no doubt consi-
derable profits might be made by the sale of it.

We now come to treat of minnow fishing, by far the
pleasantest method of capturing trout, next to angling
with the fly. Provide your minnows by means of a
small" drag-net or hook. Select those of a moderate
size, and which shine whitest. Such as have been
taken from a different water, have, it is worthy of re-
mark, always been found more killing than those pecu-
liar to the one fished in. They may be salted, but are
best perfectly fresh. The tail of a small trout or par
is no bad substitute, if minnows cannot be had. In
fact, it is believed by some worthy anglers that the
par-tail has a virtue of its own, and is not taken merely
on account of its similarity to the minnow ; be this as
it may, we have often found it a deadly and effective
bait, although somewhat ill to manage. Our only rea-
son for preferring the fresh to the salted minnow is,
that by its silvery appearance and more rational form,
it better attracts the fish ; at the same time, it is well
known that a trout loves a salt bait, and will repeat its
attack upon a minnow of that description, while it re-
fuses to do so upon one newly taken. [For manner of
baiting with minnows, and description of tackles, see
pages 21 and 22.] Fish in rapid streams, also in deep dis-
coloured pools, and during a smart curl. Manage the
minnow as you would your fly, throwing it down, and
across, as far as you are able ; bring it towards you
about six inches or more below the surface, spinning
rapidly by the aid of several swivels. When a fish
rises, give him time before you strike ; let him turn
and gorge the bait, then strike sharply, and he is yours :
all fly fishers are apt to strike too soon, and miss the
fish.

Trout seize a minnow by the middle or near the

BAIT FISHING. 57

head, and you generally hook them on the upper hooks.
In rivers, where numbers of minnows are found, you
must angle with the very smallest, not above an inch
in length, and use a proportionate tackle. The trout
in such waters love delicate tit-bits, and are absurdly
nice in their feeding. Artificial minnows are some-
times employed by anglers, but generally fail, except
in muddy waters and lochs. Mother-of-pearl makes
the best imitation — ^there is a virtue in it which few
fish can resist. The natives of the South Sea Islands
fabricate their hooks of this substance, and use it as a
bait at the same time.

We have heard it observed by practised minnow-
fishers, how a trout will sometimes dash at their maimed
and unnatural bait, while in the very act of dragging
it through a swarm of its own species. This singular
circumstance can be accounted for through the instinct
belonging to all predatory animals ; which instinct in-
duces them to hold in pursuit that which is wounded
and incapable of escaping, in preference to what is vi-
gorous and in good health ; wherefore we doubt not
but that the spinning minnow is taken for an injured
and stray fish, which a clever dart, although thrown
away upon its banded and more active brethren, will
readily secure.

TroUing with par for large trout is a glorious pastime,
especially on a Highland loch, circled with mountain
scenery — the craft of nature by incantation wrought,
when the morning stars sang together. It needs in-
tellect to enjoy it well, and a poet's heart to know its
luxury. Take with you some choice and idle spirit,
a rower he must be, that can manage your airy shallop
as the winds do a weathercock — can chant a ballad of
yore, of ladye and chieftain, and pranksome elf and
kelpie wild — can speak to the echoes and to yourself,

58 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

cheering you with wit and wisdom, and admiring your
science and skill, and the gorgeous fish you are play-
ing, twenty fathoms off, with a strong and steady hand ;
your heart *'high fluttering the while, like woman's
when she loves."

Tackle for trolling should he dressed upon tried gimp.
Bait as you do with a minnow : use a strong rod, heavy
lead, and a long line of oiled cord, wound upon an easy
reel. Choose a sunny day, with a stiflSsh breeze, and
troll near, but not among the weediest parts of the loch.
Plant yourself at the boat stern, and get rowed gently
at the rate of three miles an hour, letting out from
twenty to thirty yards of hne betwixt you and your
bait. Trout from six to nine pounds weight cause the
best sport when hooked : a larger one seldom leaps or
makes any violent exertion to escape ; he swims sul-
lenly, and at ease, regarding the angler with a sort of
sovereign contempt. You must row after him, and turn
him if you can before he gets among weeds ; never slack
your line for an instant, and look well about you. Land
as soon as you are able, and play him from the shore.
Your companion will assist you at the death.

So much for the different kinds of bait fishing prac-
tised in Scotland. We esteem it folly to talk of the
less popular baits used by the virtuosi — of frogs, grubs,
and leeches, water-rats, and mice ; all which animals
trout will devour. It might be asked, may fish not be
taken with any thing? They have been known to
swallow money, rings, and many other marvels ; never-
theless, they seem to have no pleasure in snapping at
the bait of the unskilful angler, and refuse to die under
his hands.

BAIT FISHING. 59

THE angler's song.

A jolly craft have we, huzza !

The brethren of the streams !
In joy we pass the welcome day,

And close it under dreams.
We wander by the river side.

And by the gentle rill ;
They roll along the valley wide —

They gambol on the hill.

It is a manly one and free,

This pleasant sport of ours ;
Above us is the shady tree.

And under us the flowers :
And in our hands the pliant rod

Is waving to and fro ;
The salmon lies upon the sod.

Glittering like the snow !

We love the angler's quiet lot.

His meditative art ;
The fancies in his hour of thought.

That blossom from his heart.
All other things we'll cast behind,

Let busy toil alone,
And, flinging care unto the wind,

Will angle, angle on.

60 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

CHAPTER VII. .

THE PIKE.

The pike inhabits many of our waters, and affords to
the angler no small sport. In some parts of Scotland,
it grows to an immense size, having been repeatedly
killed upwards of sixty pounds weight, in Lochs Ven-
nachar and Lomond, as also in the south-west of Scot-
land, and, we believe, at Lochmaben. Where trout
abound, this fish thrives in style ; acquiring a peculiar
delicacy of flavour, foreign to the dry coarse jacks met
with in English rivers. It also shows a strength and
vigour, when hooked, very different from its usual in-
difference and want of activity. We have seen it leap
about, like a fresh-run salmon, in order to get quit of
the hook, and in some instances it has made away
with our faithless gimp, while in the very act of bring-
ing it to land.

It has been insisted on among naturalists that the
pike is not native to Great Britain, but introduced into
the country about three centuries ago. Whether this
be true or not, is of little consequence, although we
are very apt, judging from appearances, to question it.
There are many places, in Rosshire for instance, where
this fish is found, to which no one would ever dream
of fetching it, and where its existence is fearfully pre-
judicial to the increase of that more valuable fish, the
salmon. We have no doubt, that on the Conan, and
Black Water, one of its branches, at least half of the
salmon fry are annually massacred to satiate the appe-
tite of this destroyer ; on Tay, too, it does infinite mis-

THE PIKE. 61

chief, as well as on Earn and other rivers, where it
breeds.

In rod angling for pike, we adopt three methods —
employing the gorge tackle, the swivel tackle, and the
fly. Our gorge-hook is double brazed, and armed
upon brass wire. A par or small trout inverted, is the
usual bait. We insert the wire of our tackle through
the fish, bringing the upper end of it out at the tail,
and allowing the two barbs of the hook to protrude
from its mouth. In angling, we both throw and drop
the bait, as the nature of the water demands, moving
it slowly towards the surface. When a pike seizes it,
there is at first no perceptible tug ; one feels as if he
heard the shutting of a pair of jaws on the bait ; and
if you can manage to see your fish, you will observe
him holding your trout by the middle, as if crushing
the life out of it Keep a tight line, but do not pull
or strike. Too much resistance places your intended
victim on his guard ; a Httle, however, sharpens his
appetite. For this purpose also, some employ an irri-
tator or small hook hanging apart from the bait, which,
on coming into external contact with his head or body,
has the virtue of inciting him to swallow readily, out
of pure wrath and impatience. This is a refinement
scarcely worth practising. In common, after a few
seconds, the pike will begin to move towards his den,
still grasping your bait betwixt his teeth, and intending
to bolt it immediately. Let out hne with your hand
from the reel ; and now, he is fixed, and darts off Hke
a tiger, shaking his chain, and with open mouth toss-
ing himself out of the water at thirty yards' distance —
the worst is over, and he turns revengefully towards
the shore ; wind up — ha ! he is out again, and again
he makes for the shallows ; but the monster is ex-
hausted and moves heavily ; lead him with caution to

62 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

the edge, lay down your rod, and lift him upon the
bank. In order to disengage your hook from the en-
trails of this formidable fish, the gills should be forced
open, and a knife introduced for the purpose, taking
care previously to thrust it through the spine-bone of
your victim, and so prevent the possibility of your
catching a Tartar. Unfasten your hook from the wire,
before drawing the latter through the mouth of the
pike, as otherwise it is again apt to catch among the
teeth, from which it may be somewhat difficult to ex-
tricate it, without incurring a few scratches.

Should a fish, after having bitten, abandon your
gorge-hook, try him with a running bait upon swivels,
and let this be a fresh trout of a smaller size than your
other, and fixed upon a gimp tackle, with the tail
downwards, as in minnow fishing. See that it spins
judiciously, and when the pike rises, let him turn with
the bait before you strike. River pike, it may be re-
marked, seldom play so well as those in lochs. They
push generally below the banks instead of striking
across, and look out for old stumps upon which to en-
tangle and break your line. One ought, therefore, to
make quick sport with such rascals — running them down
upon level banks in a twinkling, and before they are able
to get under weigh.

The third method of angling for pike is with the fly
— a kind of fishing not much in use, but still on some
waters very deadly. The pike-fly should be large and
gaudy, fabricated of divers feathers and tinsels to re-
semble the king-fisher, or a huge dragon-fly. Use it in
a strong warm wind, upon water from six to two feet
deep, and near weeds. You will kill with it fish of
various sizes, from ten inches in length and upwards ;
very heavy ones, however, refuse to take it, on ac-
count probably of the exertion necessary in order to

THE PIKE. 63

come to the surface. We have always noticed that
the biggest pike are caught during close sultry weather,
with a ground bait, and at those times when trout re-
fuse food altogether ; also at night, with set lines, in
the summer months, when they leave the weeds and
bulrushes in quest of food.

Although the pike is often nice and suspicious, in
places where trout abound, still, when provoked, he
becomes very bold and unwary, treating your presence
as no constraint upon his temper and appetite. He
will follow the bait to your very feet, and, should it
escape him, retire a yard or two, waiting eagerly for its
reappearance. When angry, he erects his fins in a
remarkable manner, as the lion doth his mane, or the
porcupine his quills ; moreover, the pike appears care-
less of pain, if, indeed, fishes in general feel it to any
great degree. We have actually landed one of these
fish, cooped him alive in our creel, and when by some
negligence of ours he made his escape into the water,
have succeeded a second time in securing him. On an-
other occasion, we remember having part of our tackle,
consisting of a large double gorge-hook, dressed upon
brase wire, carried off by a pike : and yet upon renew-
ing it, the aggressor returned to the charge, and was
taken. The former hook we discovered, gorged by him
in such a manner as must, we thought, not only have
suffocated any other animal, but done so by the me-
dium of the most exquisite internal agony.

Judging from these facts, and others we shall pre-
sently relate, it seems to us, that, according to the ar-
rangements of Nature, fishes are possessed of no very
acute sense of pain, and are generally defective in that
structure of emotions, upon which suffering and plea-
sure are separately dependent. Those who hold
angling to be a cruel sport, are, we maintain, without

64 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

argument, until they discover to us the clue by which
to trace those capabilities in fish enabling them to en-
dure the great extremes of heat and cold to which
water is hable. Should it be answered, they are cold-
blooded—that is the best reason why they are not easily
affected by any other sort of pain, such, for instance,
as is inflicted by the hook. It will be asked, however,
why do fish struggle so vehemently, and make such vi-
gorous efforts to escape? Merely from a love of
freedom and impatience of control, which desire after
liberty is common to all breathing creatures, from the
fly upwards.

And as to trout, we may mention, that the same in-
sensibility to pain has been practically proved to us to
be theirs, in common with the pike. We have caught
them with large hooks, and even minnow-tackles, en-
cased in their mouths and stomachs ; nor did they
seem to suffer any great inconvenience, seeing that
their appetites were not impaired, nor their condition
rendered less healthy. On one occasion, we remem-
ber losing a small fly hook upon some willows which
overhung the water, and on the evening of the same
day, angling near the spot, we caught a trout with our
identical fly sticking in his jaw. We remember also,
when lashing the Yarrow behind a companion, he hav-
ing lost his cast of hooks upon a fish, we were so for-
tunate as to entrap it, and recover his flies, not ten
minutes after. The trout had the tackle fastened to
his body, dragging after him at least five yards of gut.
Instances of this sort are of no uncommon occurrence,
and all industrious anglers must have occasionally met
with them.

In our attempts to prove that fish experience little
actual pain, we have said enough : it is a matter upon
which men ought to be content with their ignorance,

THE PIKE. 65

and not throw up against anglers the charge of cruelty
without reason or argument, as many have done.

To revert to the pike, we may mention, what we
have gathered from various quarters, that it is found
sometimes in the Baltic and the Mediterranean — a sin-
gular circumstance, which may be confirmed to the cu-
rious upon inquiry. Great injury has of late years been
done by the transference of the pike to many of our
best trouting lochs, where a single individual has been
known to consume nearly its own weight of fish daily.
This was the case on Loch Turit, near Crieff, where
the trout, formerly abundant, were, till lately, greatly
reduced by the hostile and merciless depredations of
their natural enemies. These in their turn, from the
circumstance of their being diligently netted out, have
become scarce, and the others are gradually regaining
the ascendancy.

The best associates of the pike are perch and such
spine-protected and thick-scaled fish as can defy its
attacks. In fact, we generally notice that these sorts
are found together naturally ; although it may be
worthy of mention that we know at least of one coun-
ty in Scotland where the pike is particularly nume-
rous, and where hardly a single perch exists. This is
Ross-shire, northward of which both these fish become
unfrequent, as well as the minnow. The pike at table
is reckoned by some a coarse dry fish, and so in general
they are ; yet to our knowledge, in certain lochs, for
instance, that of the Lowes, in Selkirkshire, they al-
most rival the turbot, and should be cooked somewhat
in a similar manner. They are none the worse for
being kept a few days, especially if of any size. A
good eating pike ought to weigh at least from five to
twelve pounds — the smaller ones being, without ex-
ception, bad.

£

66 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE TROUT.

Although we have stated in a former chapter that
the external appearance of trout is derived, in a great
measure, from the nature of their feeding places, and
that one soil will cause one manner of fish, and an-
other a different one, yet we mean not to say but
that every variety may be generated from the same
spawn : for it is surprising to notice the changes which
food, water, and ground, will each of them effect.
Some kinds of food redden, while others whiten, the
flesh ; some make it soft, flabby, and ill-tasted ; others
impart a curd and firmness to it ; and a third sort causes
it to become rich, oily, and fine-flavoured. Also, in
certain waters, and over certain soils, trout externally
become white or yellow, grey, black, or purple ; they
grow fat, lean, or large, just as they are provided for.

We believe, however, that, truly speaking, there are
only five or six distinct species of fresh-water trout in
our Scottish lochs and streams, which, although they
may alter in appearance, do not, as far as can be
avoided, cross or intermingle their breeds. And here
we may observe, that many naturalists judge of the
species and variety by the number of spines or rays in
the different fins of the fish ; the pectoral fin of the
trout containing generally from twelve spines and up-
wards, the anal ten or eleven, &c. ; which method, we
are of opinion, is greatly liable to error, inasmuch as
we have observed a considerable difference with regard
to the number of rays in trout, obviously of the same

THE TROUT. 67

variety and even the same spawning. The species of
fresh- water trout in Scotland may be reduced to the great
lake trout or salmoferox, the gillaroo or gizzard trout,
the great river or bull-trout, and the common trout,
which last species admits of an infinite variety from the
causes above stated. We omit mentioning at present
the sea trout, whitling, and herling, the guiniad or pol-
lac, the vendace, and the char, as also the greyling,
which is not properly a Scottish fish.

Before disserting upon these kinds of trout, it is
worthy of remark, that within the last sixty years our
waters have undergone considerable changes as regards
their inhabitants ; that, in fact, some streams and lochs
contain at this moment sorts and sizes of fish very un-
like those which peopled them half a century ago.

For example, let us take St Mary's Loch, and the
small one connected with it, called the Loch of the
Lowes. There are many living in the Forest (a name
given to that part of Selkirkshire which formerly con-
stituted the far-famed forest of Ettrick) who remember
when this considerable sheet of water scarcely con-
tained a single trout, whereas, in the present day, it is
completely filled with them. Pike, however, abounded
at that time, in proof of which fact, there are a few
deep holes adjoining St Mary's at Meggat-foot, which
retain the name of the Ged-lake — the word Ged bein^
the Scotch for pike. A further confirmation of this
singular circumstance will be found in Sir John Sin-
clair's Statistical Account of the parish of Ettrick,
written by the present Dr Russell of Yarrow. It is
affirmed, moreover, that in the Loch of the Lowes,
trout, which are now scarce, were then found in great
numbers, and that a mutual and voluntary change of
quarters between them and the pike gradually brought
about matters as they now exist.

68 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

We consider this to be a strong and remarkable
proof of revolutions among fish ; yet we cannot refrain
from alluding to what has happened under our own
eye with regard to this very point, and assigning some
sort of cause for such extraordinary changes.

About six years ago, when we first angled in Yar-
row and the lochs above mentioned, we were accus-
tomed to kill very large and strong trout ; they are now
greatly diminished, both in size and in quantity. In
Tweed, since 1827 and 1828, the fish have become
more numerous. Near Edinburgh, on the Water of
Leith, they have also increased greatly in every respect.
On the Almond, again, in some parts, they have fallen
off, as also on the Esk near Roslin.

We need not introduce further instances of this kind,
but state our belief that they are universal, and can
be traced partly to the cultivation of the country and
the draining of mosses, partly to variations in the cli-
mate, which of late years have been somewhat extra-
ordinary ; and in the case of a deterioration in the
numbers and size of trout, it may be accounted for by
the more prevalent systems of poaching, and the wider
introduction of water machinery and chemical poisons
employed in various manufactories.

And here we shall allude briefly, as connected with
the changes which some waters undergo, to several
curious illustrations of the breeding of trout, which
took place in an artificial reservoir belonging to the
Edinburgh Water Company, and built to compensate
the leading off of the Crawley springs on the Pentland
Hills, a short way above Glencorse. A small burn
running from Habbie's Howe, the supposed scene of
the Gentle Shepherd, supplies this pond. Two or three
years after its formation, some enormously lengthy trout
were captured with minnow and worm in different parts

THE TROUT. 69

of it. We happened to see several of these ; one
measured nearly two feet and a half, but was not much
thicker than a man's arm, and could not weigh above
three pounds ; the rest were similarly proportioned.
They were white, like a spring kelt, large headed, and
scaly. During the following winter, when ascending
the burn to spawn, the whole parent breed seem to
have been exterminated by some fellows with leisters,
for in the years succeeding, down to the present day,
not a single fish of this description has been captured.
In 1826, the pond contained a considerable number of
common-sized, well-fed trout ; in 1828, these had all
disappeared, and a very small and numerous breed suc-
ceeded. Although then poor hands at anghng, we
generally managed to take from four to six dozen, and
that summer there were often twenty individuals fish-
ing on the pond at the same time. The breed of that
year seems to have been the proper stock-breed, which
is now confirmed and well grown. But the most sin-
gular circumstance connected with this pond is, that
along with the breed of common fresh- water trout,
there remains another precisely uniform with the sea
trout, or the whitling, which were wont, some years
ago, to ascend Glencorse burn, above where the pond
now stands, and spawn there. The Esk, which re-
ceives this small stream, has since been so dammed be-
low, as to hinder these fish from running up to any
distance from the sea.

We have thus a series of facts clearly demonstrated :
1, That the sea is not necessary to the existence of the
whitling. 2, That the want of salt water, although it
deteriorates the breed, does not remove its faculty of
reproduction ; and, 3, That the par is not the male of
the whithng, neither a cross between it and the com-
mon trout, since it is not found in the place alluded to.

70 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

We now come to speak upon the different species
of fresh- water trout, and primarily upon the great lake
trout, or salmo ferox of the naturalist. This fish is
erroneously supposed by some to be confined, in Scot-
land, entirely to Loch Awe. But it exists in very
many Highland lochs. It is found in Lochs Laggan,
Quoich, Monar, Garry, and Shin. It has been caught,
over and over again, in Rannoch, Tummel, and Ly-
doch; nor is it unfrequentin places of less note — mere
mountain tarns and nameless gorges, where it is wont
to rove at leisure, the terror of small and unprotected
fish..

To a Mr Morrison, from Glasgow, is attributed the
merit of having first discovered the salmo ferox in Loch
Awe, about half a century ago. We doubt very much
the strength of his claims to this discovery ; and from
the inquiries made by us at Dalmally, Cladish, Inver-
aw, and other parts of the surrounding country, we
are led to believe that this species of trout has been well
known there from time immemorial ; nay, it is impos-
sible but that individuals of the kind must have been
taken centuries ago, during the spawning season, in the
Urchay, Awe, and other rivers, by the ancient method
of destroying fish with the leister, unless we suppose,
what is not probable, that it is entirely a recent species
of trout.

This fish acquires prodigious dimensions. One was
caught in Loch Rannoch, by the late Baron Norton,
weighing thirty pounds. In Loch Awe, they have
frequently been taken by Mr Maule of Edinburgh, and
others, betwixt twenty and twenty-eight pounds; while
on the Continent, in Norway and Switzerland, it is
not uncommon to meet with them weighing nearly four
stone. In America, trout have been captured of a still
more incredible size. The salmo ferox, like the pike.

THE TROUT. 71

is a strong, fierce figh, and when attaining the weight
of two pounds, begins to despise your flies, and becomes
a sort of cannibal, preying upon its own species with
much rapacity. Its proportions, when large, are some-
what singular, the depth of the fish being astonishingly
great when compared with the length. A thirty pound
lake trout seldom measures a single yard, while a sal-
mon of equal weight is considerably larger. The great-
est number of these fish known to be captured by the
rod in one day was thirteen. These were taken on
Loch Awe, as early as March, or the beginning of April,
some years ago, by a party of English gentlemen,
among whom was a Mr Lavrock, from Keswick, and
weighed altogether above ninety pounds. Since that
time, they have gradually become shyer ; it is now a
matter of difficulty to procure a single specimen.
Early in spring, however, before small trout leave their
winter retreats, these monsters will dash after your
spinning bait with great avidity, should the weather be
fine and clear. The external appearance of the great
lake trout, when newly taken, undergoes, like that of
the dolphin, a rapid process of change. The beautiful
orange tint, which, when alive, is spread over the lower
parts of the fish, is converted by degrees into a dingy
colour ; the spotted surface loses much of its briUiancy,
the gloss is diminished, and the whole body becomes
altered.

The gillaroo, or gizzard trout of Ireland, has of late
years been discovered to be an inhabitant of many of
our northern lakes, especially those bordering on the
coasts of Sutherland and Ross-shire. This species of
trout attains to a considerable size, although still very
inferior in average weight to the salmo ferox of Loch
Awe. The leading singularity of the gillaroo is the
possession of strong digestive powers, and a thick coated

72 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

stomach, in which are generally found numbers of small
shell-fish. This circumstance, however, does not pre-
vent it from rising at the fly, of which also it seems pe-
culiarly fond.

We come now to treat of the great river trout, pro-
perly called the bull-trout, which species is imagined
by many anglers to be nothing more than an overgrown
individual of the common sort. This we are greatly
inclined to believe ; for it is noticeable, that although
killed during the spawning season in rapid streams, it
properly inhabits deep still places, such as nourish fish
easily and quickly. Besides, there is no detecting of
any thing like what is called the bull-trout under several
pounds weight; unless, then, it be the overgrown com-
mon river trout, what has become of its own species in
a smaller state ? For, be it observed, it has no ne-
cessary connection with salt water, like the salmon,
but, as in Clyde, is often found above lofty linns and in-
surmountable waterfalls.

We lately saw a fish sent to a gentleman in Edin-
burgh from one in Peebles, weighing eighteen pounds,
and reckoned to be a fine specimen of the bull-trout.
It was evident, however, that it had lately left the sea,
also that it was singularly small in the head, and
marked precisely like the salmon on either gill ; in fact,
that it totally belied the usual characteristics of a large
bull-trout, covered over with an extraordinary num-
ber of spots, and was neither more nor less than a
fine specimen of the salmo trutta. Another of the
same sort we since saw taken from the Carron in Ross-
shire, weighing above twenty pounds. It was de-
cidedly a very different fish from the common salmon,
being broader in the shape, coarser in the texture, more
wormy about the gills, and furnished with a boar-snout
singularly turned up. This, of course, had come di-

THE TROUT. 73

rectly from the salt water, and was, without a particle
of doubt, an overgrown sea trout, erroneously termed
bull-trout. As classed with this rendered doubtful
species, we may mention, that, at Newton Bridge on
the Clyde, an individual was taken with the minnow,
some years ago, weighing fifteen and a half pounds.
There was also exhibited in Edinburgh, the other sum-
mer, a trout between seven and eight pounds weight,
captured with the fly at Coltbridge, on the somewhat
diminutive and well-known Water of Leith. The
neighbour of this fish is still in the pool, and gene-
rally hes within twenty yards of the arch. He makes
himself welcome to any angler who is able to catch him.
We ourselves have often attempted in vain, although
we have noted more than once his monstrous snout
beUing up not a foot's distance from our seemingly ir-
resistible flies. A fish equally large and cautious, we
knew some years ago under Tyne Bridge at East Lin-
ton. It has possibly been killed ere this, by means of
a net or leister, as the water where it generally lay was
not remarkably deep.

We are aware, that, although it is stated by us that
the bull-trout has no necessary connection with salt
water, there are many, both of Tay and Tweed anglers,
who think otherwise ; yet, judging from their specimens
of this fish, we are led to conclude that they confound
it with the salmo eriox and the hucho of Lower Ger-
many ; to the latter of which fish it is very unlike,
both in its habits and appearance.

It seems to us a matter of strange fatuity, why na-
turahsts will insist upon the stupid misnomers of ig-
norant fishermen, and persist in confounding what is
really and truly a fresh-water fish, with one that belongs
to the salmon species. We assure them that the real
bull-trout — the bull-trout of Tarras — has no connection

74 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

with salt water — that it is absolutely a river fish, ac-
quiring its size entirely from its feeding. Why then fix
the venerable name of bull-trout upon another variety
of fish which possesses not even one of its character-
istics ?

Now, as to the common trout, to which we opine
the above sort properly belongs. This species, as be-
fore stated, admits of many varieties, according to the
food and haunts of the fish. The best are those which
resist the touch, are yellow or cream-coloured on the
sides, have the back curved and the head small. Such
as are grey, flabby, and large in the upper part, are ge-
nerally poor fish at table, and give little play to the
angler. Loch trout are superior to those caught in
rivers ; the latter seldom acquire the fine salmon colour
which often characterises the former ; they want their
rich curdiness and flavour, are leaner and less beauti-
ful. A slow stream also affords better fed fish than
one that is clear and rapid.

And here we would venture to assert, concerning
most fishes, and trout in particular (seeing that we
now intend to discourse a little upon their various phy-
sical perceptions), that they possess no sense of hearing
whatsoever. This theory may appear a bold one, but
it proceeds upon good and incontrovertible grounds.
The organ of hearing, it is well known, is primarily in-
tended by nature to receive those impressions produced
by another organ, that of speech, or the faculty of mak-
ing sounds through the mouth, which, be it noticed, is
competent to almost all animals except fishes. Of
what use, then, to them is the sense of hearing, if it
cannot be exercised in reciprocal communications, such
as even birds and dogs hold? But we further main-
tain, that fishes have no ears of any kind, and that
such indications are not to be discovered upon them

THE TROUT. Id

as are necessary for the conveyance of sounds ; nay,
it is known to all anglers, that no precautions or
mufflings are required by the wader, who splashes on
among rocks and stones in the midst of one of the most
accurate conductors of noises, namely, water, without
alarming the fish in any degree, provided he is not ob-
served with the eye.

And, as to the sight of trout, it is not over perfect ;
they are a remarkably near-sighted fish, and cannot
behold any object distinctly, however large, unless
within the range of eight or ten yards. The human
eye placed in the same situation as theirs, and through
the medium of clear water, could easily discern the
clumsy imitations of flies used by anglers, at which they
leap so fi-eely and greedily. One perception, however,
trout have to a nicety, and that is smell ; through this
they discern their food at a singular distance, and will
track it, like the sleuth, for many yards. Their sense
of taste, also, is excellent, for they immediately endea-
vour to spit out what is false and artificial, when seized
inadvertently.

So much for the perceptions of trout ; and here we
may observe, how, of all fishes, they are the most sub-
ject to disease and deformity. We have caught them
humpbacked and covered with sores, blind of one eye,
wanting a gill or a fin, and crooked up in all shapes.
On the Tay we once took an individual with a short
round upper head, like that of a bull-dog, and the
lower lip projecting beyond it. We understand that
a variety of this kind is to be found in Loch Dow, in
Inverness-shire. On the Water of Leith, we saw a
friend capture three successively, out of one stream,
during spring, all of which wanted the tail ; this defect
was most probably occasioned in winter, the water
from which they were taken happening to be extremely

76 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

shallow, and the frosts shortly before somewhat se-
vere.

Although generally a dehcate fish, trout at times
will evince a great tenacity of life, when exposed to
pernicious influences, and become accustomed to places
where, even to the naturalist, it would seem impossible
they could exist : for instance, in the immediate neigh-
bourhood of tanneries and bleach-fields, where large
quantities of lime and other sickening ingredients are
daily let loose upon them, as at Colt Bridge, near Edin-
burgh, and farther up the stream, below Slateford aque-
duct. Also, they will thrive and abound within tide-
mark, and where the water is brackish, as on the
Almond, at Cramond, where we have caught them
again and again, in places daily flooded over by the sea,
and above which they could not ascend, owing to the
intervention of a high dam.

SONG.

Angling on a summer night,

When the moon ray met the fairy,
Tripping down a bank of hght.

To the sweet Loch of St Mary ;
Music floated, sad and holy,

Every wild flower lent its tone.
And the sullen trout swam slowly.

Like the shadow of a stone.
From the bank on Meggat stream.

Where a quiet fountain gushes.
And the undulating gleam

Glances through a tuft of rushes,
There I threw the silv'ry palmer.

With a meditating arm —
For the crystal pool lay calmer

Than a sea beneath a charm.
W'as it but a fancied fin.

O'er the glassy water gliding.
As I dropt the feather in.

Like an insect, half confiding.

THE TROUT. 77

Gently moved and lightly shaken,

Near'd a little, wiling out.
Till the fatal hook was taken

By a huge and gleaming trout ?

Quick as thought the line unwound.

Flew along the streamlet narrow.
With the sharp and rapid sound

Of a solitary arrow ;
But a gentle effort leading.

On the bank the captive lay.
Tired, and quivering, and bleeding,

In his starry, rich array.

Proudly gazed I to the lake.

And the moonshafts, slant and slender,
On its bosom lay awake,

Like an armoury of splendour ;
Proudly gazed I to the mountain —

Voices floated far and wide.
From the breeze, the flower, the fountain.

Blessing me on every side !

THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

CHAPTER IX.

THE SALMON, CHAR, AND VENDACE.

A FEW brief and general remarks upon the salmon and
its varieties may now be ventured. The salmon and
sea trout, on leaving our rivers, do not, as is supposed
by some, wander to any great distance from their
mouths, but generally lie off, near at hand, and within
perception of the fresh water. Should stake-nets
stand in their way, they will evince great natural sa-
gacity in avoiding them. We have been informed by
the holders of this kind of fishery, that salmon are only
to be taken in any quantity during dark weather, and
moonless nights. Moreover, that in a clear sea, shoals
of them will gather not twenty yards from the nets,
without a single fish attempting to cross ; and that they
will rise and play round about them, seemingly with-
out alarm. This latter fact we ourselves have often
noticed near Queensferry, on the Forth, where we may
mention that they are not unfrequently taken with the
rod, although in salt water, and at a good distance from
shore.

We refer those who question this circumstance to
Mr Macqueen, the lessee of the stake-fisheries in that
quarter. And as to the food of salmon at sea, we are
of opinion, along with Dr Knox, that they live on small
insects and animalculae, which sort of subsistence is
proved to be greatly more nourishing than worms or
minnows.

An interesting experiment was made with trout some
years ago, in the south of England, in order to ascer-

THE SALMON, CHAR, AND VENDACE. 79

tain this point. Fish were placed in three separate
tanks, one of which was supplied daily with worms,
another with live minnows, and the third with those
small dark-coloured water-flies, which are to be found
moving about on the surface, under banks and sheltered
places. The trout fed with worms grew slowly, and
had a lean appearance ; those nourished on minnows,
which, it was observed, they darted at with great greed
and voracity, became much larger ; while such as were
fattened upon flies only, attained, in a short time, pro-
digious dimensions, weighing twice as much as both
the others together, although the quantity of food swal-
lowed by them was in nowise so great.

It is evident, from this and similar experiments, that
a very minute species of food is best adapted for the
growth of trout, and we do not see why salmon also
should not thrive upon a similar subsistence, found
in the salt water among marine weeds and shells,
and too small to be easily discovered in their stomachs
with the naked eye.

We may notice, while treating of the salmo salax,
that the doctrine which holds the grilse to be a distinct
variety of that fish is now nearly exploded ; and it is
maintained instead, that both fish are of one and the
same sort, although in different stages of maturity.
This has been proved by practical experiments, and is
now beyond dispute. See the evidence of Murdoch
Mackenzie, William Stephens, and George Hogarth,
taken before the committee of the House of Commons
in 1825, on salmon fisheries.

Yet, as to the herling, admitting it to be altogether
distinct from the white and sea trout (the salmo albus,
and salmo trutta^, it is still with some a matter of con-
troversy whether it be a young salmon or not. We
have heard it alleged by anglers from Dumfriesshire,

80 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

that this fish is peculiar to the rivers in that county,
and that it is not found in the northern districts of
Scotland. This we take upon us to deny, for on the
Tay and Earn we have captured it repeatedly, and
noticed that it differed in many points from the sea
trout and whitling, especially in the formation of the
tail, which in the salmo trutta is not forked as it is in
the herling. It is our opinion with regard to it, judg-
ing from the many characteristics which it possesses in
common with the salmo salax, that it is undoubtedly
that fish in a progressive stage ; and in this we are the
more confirmed, because we have noticed that it does
not, like the sea trout, ascend our rivers for the pur-
pose of spawning, but merely from natural instinct^ or
to get rid of the sea-louse. We shall not extend our
remarks upon this subject, but leave it to the discus-
sion of more practised ichthyologists, merely remark-
ing, that as to the sea trout, whitling, and grey sewin,
technically called by naturalists the salmo trutta, salmo
albus, and salmo eriox, they are merely varieties of one
species, as the salmo salax itself has its varieties, and
these more strikingly marked, and easier distinguished
one from another, than the above-mentioned fish. For
instance, the river Shin, in Sutherlandshire, hath its
three varieties of salmon, one ascending the main branch,
another its tributary, the Orrin, and the third its tribu-
tary, theRasay — for a further description of which, con-
sult the evidence before the Parliamentary Committee
on salmon fisheries.

Among the rarer sorts of fish which inhabit our
Scottish waters, have been found the char, both the
case and torgoch, or red char, the vendace, and the
guiniad, or pollock.

The first of these, the char, although we have class-
ed it with the more unfrequent kinds of fish, is only

THE SALMON, CHAR, AND VENDACE. 81

SO in as far as the ignorance of anglers as to the method
of taking it renders it no subject for their sport ; for,
as we are informed, it exists in very many of our north-
ern lochs, and, indeed, is taken in some quantities with
the net from Lochs Tay and Laggan^ especially the lat-
ter, where it acquires a larger size, and is altogether
a finer fish than we meet with in other parts of Scot-
land. Our char, however, is in general by no means
equal in weight to that of Windermere, seldom equal-
ling a pound, and averaging only a few ounces. It is
known to take the fly, which should be well sunk,
and leisurely angled with. On Loch Achilty, in Ross-
shire, we lately captured with the fly no less than eight-
een of these fish during a forenoon in July, besides nu-
merous trout. These measured in general, with one
marked exception, about eight inches ; they were thick
in proportion to their breadth, very red in the belly
and fins ; and although rising dully to the fiy, yet, when
hooked, lively and active. The one excepted was
nearly double the weight of the rest, and we have no
doubt that much larger ones exist in the loch. The wa-
ter of Loch Achilty is very unhke that of the neighbouring
lakes, being particularly clear and deep, and, although
fed by several small streams, possessing no visible out-
let. Its bottom, which seems covered with old wood,
is rich and slimy, and contains a very sparing propor-
tion of rock and large stones. Loch Bruiach, in In-
verness-shire, also possesses char ; but here they are
shy of the fly, and, except during the month of Sep-
tember, are only to be captured by means of the net.

The char of the English lakes, although occasionally
slaughtered with the minnow, abstains, we believe, al-
together from insects. One of the great drawbacks to
the capture of this delicate fish is its predilection for
deep water, where neither net nor angler's tackle can

F

82 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

be used with advantage. In autumn, however, as
might be expected, the shoal leaves its impenetrable
haunts, and visits the rivers and shallows in order to
deposit its spawn.

The next of the rarer species of Scottish fish, upon
which we are briefly treating, is the vendace of Loch-
maben, a full account of which is given by Sir W.
Jardine, in one of the numbers of the Edinburgh Phi-
losophical Journal, edited by the late Mr Cheek.

THE VENDACE,

This beautiful, delicate, and singular specimen of the
genus Coregonus, salmo marenulttf is entirely confined,
in Great Britain, to one of the small lakes in the pa-
rish of Lochmaben, near Dumfries, although supposed
by some to inhabit Switzerland, Silesia, and other parts
of the Continent. It measures generally from four to
ten inches, and resembles the herring in its appearance,
being green on the back, and covered below with sil-
ver scales. The forehead of the vendace is very pel-
lucid, and bears upon it the shape of a human heart.
This fish is, in fact, remarkably transparent through-
out ; so much so, that one may detect the bones when
holding it up before the sun.

The vendace swims about in shoals, and is much

THE SALMON, CHAR, AND VENDACE. 83

hunted down by the pike. As a bait to these fish, it
is irresistible, and greatly preferred to a small trout or
par. The flavour of the vendace is highly delicate,
resembling that* of the spirhngs caught in the Forth.
Its food is a very minute species of shell-fish, or water
insect, peculiar to the castle loch, as has been ascer-
tained by Dr Knox and other naturalists ; it refuses
all the lures of the angler, and is only to be taken with
the net.

Confounded, till of late years, with the vendace, is
the guiniad, or pollock, of Loch Lomond, a fish com-
mon to Wales and some of the Irish lakes. The gui-
niad, salmo lavaretuSy is both much larger and deeper
formed, attaining sometimes to the weight of two pounds
and upwards. It is found in UUswater, and known
there by the name of the schelley — an appellation si-
milar to that which is given in Dumfriesshire to the
chub and roach.

SONG.

Let ither anglers chuse their ain,

An' ither waters tak' the lead,
O' Hielan streams we covet nane,

But gie to us the bonnie Tweed
An' gie to us the cheerfu' burn,

That steals into its valley fair —
The streamlets that, at ilka turn,

Sae saftly meet an' mingle there,

The lanesome Tala an' the Lyne,

An' JManor, wi' its mountain rills,
An' Etterick, whose waters twine

Wi' Yarrow, frae the forest hills ;
An' Gala, too, an' Teviot bright,

And mony a stream of playfu' speed.
Their kindred valleys a' unite,

Amang the braes o' bonnie Tweed.

84 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

There's no a hole abune the Crook

Nor stane, nor gentle swirl aneath,
Nor drumhe rin, nor faery brook.

That daunders through the flowery heath,
But ye may fin' a subtle troot,

A' gieamin' ower wi' starn and bead ;
An' mony a saumont sooms about

Below the bields o' bonnie Tweed.

Frae Holylee to Clovenford

A chancier bit ye canna hae,
So, gin ye tak' an angler's word,

Ye'd through the whuns and ower the brae,
An' work awa, wi' cunnin' hand,

Yer birzy heckles, black and reid ;
The saft sugh o' a slender wand

Is meetest music for the Tweed.

Oh, the Tweed ! the bonnie Tweed !

O' rivers it's the best —
Angle here, or angle there,
Troots are sooming every where,

Angle east or west.

I

THE PAR. 85

CHAPTER X.

THE PAR.

From what has come under our personal notice, we
consider we may be able to throw some light upon a
matter as yet uncertain, namely, the true nature of the
par. This small fish abundantly frequents our Scot-
tish rivers, and, as is well known, is never found ex-
cept in streams accessible to the sea trout and salmon.
We are aware that Pennant and other writers have
disputed this fact, and attempt to prove upon their
own observation (certainly not the most accurate) that
par are to be caught in some waters which salmon
are unable to ascend. Pennant mentions a stream in
Inverness-shire in support of his assertion ; the upper
part of which is separated from the rest by an insur-
mountable waterfall, and yet contains par in consider-
able numbers. We have inquired into the truth of this
statement, and find that it must have originated in
some mistake of the learned tourist, who confuses with
this fish, a very small variety of trout, inhabiting ra-
pid and stony streams, and which, in external appear-
ance, somewhat resembles the par, without possessing
any of its fixed and characteristic developements. Like
it, it is white and silvery, active for its size, and, in
many cases, marked on the side with those bluish im-
pressions, as of depending finger points, which are er-
roneously supposed to be the leading distinction of the
other ; we say erroneously, because anglers must have
observed, how even common and good-sized trout are
often set off with this peculiarity.

S6 THE SCOTTIStt ANGLER.

Nor do we wonder much at Mr Pennant's statement,
since we have known observing and scientific crafts-
men fall into a similar error, and hold out to be the par,
what a little examination has proved to be the common
river trout.

What, then, it may be asked, are the points which
distinguish this fish ? And first, let it be noted, how
the par, with very few, if any exceptions, hath only
one row of scarlet spots or stars extended on either side
from the gills to the tail ; whereas, the common trout
has always two or more of such rows, more varied in
colour, and less equahsed in their dimensions. Again,
the pectoral fin of the par is broader, and contains a
greater quantity of spines, than that of the common
trout. Thirdly, the gills are more silvery and clear of
marks, being at no time impressed with more than one
or two ; while, in the trout, they have a yellowish ap-
pearance, and are studded over with a larger number of
dark spots. The tail of the one, also, is more nicely forked
than that of the other. In fact, there is in the whole
aspect of the par, when narrowly examined, a singular
difference from that of the trout. It is, besides, a
nimbler and less cunning fish, and never seems to in-
crease beyond a certain size, although well known to at-
tain that maximum in the course of two or three months,
from its first appearance during the angling season. And
this is a fact to which we beg attention, as it will shortly
go some way to support our theory concerning the par,
that it is the young of the salmon in a certain state.

In order to prove this, it will be granted to us, or
we shall boldly assume, that Pennant's assertion is er-
roneous, and that this fish is only found in waters vi-
sited by the salmon — that, in point of fact, it has some
sort of connection, whether direct or indirect, with the ,
sea. This postulate has been a,llowed by almost everyj

THE PAR. 87

writer on the subject, and yet has done little towards
settling the question at issue.

Three theories, barring the one of its being a distinct
species, are abroad concerning the par. The first and
most general opinion is, that the par belongs both to
the trout and salmon species, and is a sort of mule be-
twixt them ; the second theory maintained by some,
reckons it to be the male of the sea trout, whitling, or
finnock ; and the third, which is by far the soundest,
is held, certainly, we confess, upon suspicious premises,
by the Ettrick Shepherd, and assumes that the par is
nothing else than the fry of the salmon. We shall
consider these three opinions individually, and give our
reasons for supporting the last.

First, then, as to the par being a mule betwixt the
salmon (under which term we here include grilse, sea
trout, &c.) and common river trout. How happens
it that two such comparatively large fish produce so
attenuated a breed, when we know that the cross be-
twixt beasts, such as that of the horse and ass, is pro-
portioned to the respective sizes of these animals, and
that the four-footed mule is so much less than the one,
and larger than the other ; neither does the crossing
of different birds, such as the goldfinch with the bull-
finch, diminish their offspring in any degree : yet the
par produced by one fish a yard in length, with another
most probably not exceeding a foot, never attains half
the weight of its smaller parent, and measures at most
six or seven inches.

Again, it is singular, that in rivers where par lie,
they muster as ten to one compared with the common
trout — a most extraordinary proportion of mules ! which,
if we consider the well-known precautions of salmon
while spawning, could not possibly be produced. These
fish, in ascending our streams, pair off as spawner and

88 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

milter, the female to deposit her roe, and the male, not
merely to impregnate, but guard the spawn against the
attacks of trout and smaller fish, which naturally, in-
stead of doing the same office, molest and devour it :
and in the case of trout roe, the reverse happens ; it is
a favourite food of the salmon, and not hkely to be im-
pregnated by him, who is known to watch so devoutly
the operations of his own spawner. Hence, a very
meagre portion indeed of the ova can possibly, and that
by chance, when the water is heavy, be so crossed as
to produce mules, if such a production were the con-
sequence. How, then, is the fact of par being found
in such large numbers reconcileable (supposing them
to be mules) with the other fact of the comparatively
accidental crossing which takes place between the
salmon and trout? We submit the question to the
maintainers of this theory for a solution. Again, what
is the ground upon which the opinion is founded, that
par are a sort of mules ? Simply this, that they are
incapable of breeding, that they have no spawners
among them, and are all possessed seemingly of the
same sexual structure. But is this the case with the
mules of other animals ? For instance, in those of
quadrupeds, are not the male and female generative
parts as individually developed as in the two sexes from
whose crossing the mules originated ? The seeming
identity of sex, coupled of course with the incapacity
of the par to extend its species, can form no argument
in favour of its being held as a mule. Besides, they
who reckon the par to be without roe, are, if we mis-
take not, greatly in error ; for we have noticed again
and again, what to us certainly appeared an incipient
spawn lying under the back-bone of many of these fish
— which substance has a yellowish colour, and is long
in the shape like the roe of the salmon. We were led

THE PAR. 89

to remark this through the experiments of a Clyde angler
we met with during a ramble some summers ago, who
cut up in our presence several par, and pointed out the
various distinctions betwixt the male and female fish.
He likewise assured us of a fact, which during the ex-
perience of thirty years he had carefully noted, but
whether worthy of credit or not, we ourselves are un-
able to decide, namely, that the par in Clyde every
fifth year are both fewer and much larger than they
are in the other four : if the case, this proves nothing ;
but still it is singular, and no doubt every angler must
have observed in most rivers, that one season often
presents him with different sized fish from those of
another, and that they are few or numerous according
to their size.

But leaving the mulists as sufficiently handled, we
proceed to the opinion held by some, and by the author
of an article in the Edinburgh Encyclopaedia — that par
are the males of the sea trout, whitling, or finnock.
This theory is at once overturned by the well-known
fact, that these fish have the tail straight, or nearly
so, while the par and salmon have theirs fully and
beautifully forked. But supposing, as we grant is pos-
sible, that the growth of the fish changed in some mea-
sure the appearance of that appendage, still we are by
no means at a loss for another argument, to be taken
from open and conclusive facts, which readily expose
the error of this opinion.

In the Rochil, a respectable stream, which join^ the
Earn, opposite to Comrie, in Perthshire, there are few
par, except in the lowermost parts, where they are
pretty abundant during the summer months* Two or
three miles up, above a point where salmon generally
halt, owing both to the uncertainty of the floods, and
likewise to the interruption of a small but ill-assorted

90 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

waterfall, in overcoming which, a large fish runs the
risk of falling either among bare rocks or shallows, par
are seldom or never caught : and yet the sea trout and
whitling run up without danger, and spawn in im-
mense numbers many miles on, through the whole ex-
tent of Glenartney ; nay, it is well known throughout
Perthshire, that the Rochil is the best stream in the
whole county for these fish, and that a dozen or more,
averaging three pounds each, may be taken by a single
rod among the highest pools in a proper season. If,
then, par are the males of the sea trout and whitling,
or mules betwixt them and the common trout, of which
there are vast quantities in this stream, why are they
not to be found among the innumerable spawn beds
along its course ? A few, surely, might remain above,
as well as under the point alluded to, and yet we our-
selves have never been able to capture one individual,
although we have angled there over and over again.

But a fact somewhat similar may be noted, nearer
Edinburgh, on the stream which runs into the Forth,
below Cramond, and also on the Esk, close to Mus-
selburgh, both of which are visited by a variety of sea
trout and whitlings. From the former stream we have
taken them in considerable numbers ; and, although
angling with a small fly, we never caught or saw a single
par. Also, at Musselburgh, the same thing has hap-
pened to us. Salmon, however, are said sometimes to
ascend these waters ; we have heard of one being caught
with the rod above Kirkliston. This, however, on
further inquiry, turned out to be a large common trout,
bred in the long still pools below that village, and where
overgrown fish are not unfrequently taken with the
leister, near the head of Almond, during the spawning
season. Salmon have certainly been caught close to
the sea, and in the neighbouring bays, but we doubt

THE PAR. 91

very much their breeding in either stream. The fry
of these fish have not been discovered of late years in
any shape, whether as common smelts or par.

We have thus disproved two theories respecting the
par : — 1, That it is a mule between the salmon and
common river trout ; and, 2, That it is the male of the
sea trout, whitling, and finnock. We are now narrowed
to the following conclusions — either that it forms a se-
parate and distinct species of fish, or is the real fry of
the salmon in a certain condition. In disposing of one
of these points, we prove the other.

Now, as to its being a separate species of fish, we
need only refer to the facts alluded to above, in order
to refute this notion — namely, its known relation to the
sea, along with its want of any thing hke a fully deve-
loped roe. But, besides these, we may further remark,
that the par is known to grow rapidly, and that the
same individuals do not remain in our rivers above a
single season, because, as will be observed, the supply
of every succeeding year is a supply of young and fresh
formed fish, without any intermixture of a former breed.
What, then, has become of the vast quantity left in
our rivers during the bygone season ? The fact is,
they all proceed naturally to the sea, there to undergo
those processes which submit them back to us in the
shape of grilse and salmon.

Nay, there is no other refuge for our opponents in
this discussion to take to, unless they revert, as we
once heard an angler do, to the cross system, and
maintain the par to be a breed betwixt the minnow and
trout, both of which fish exist in waters inaccessible
to the salmon : moreover, the folly of the cross system
is here re-exposed, because we imagine it more likely
for the minnow and trout to produce a mule than a
half sea-fish with one absolutely fresh-water.

92 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

We have proved, then, upon undeniable premises,
that the par can be nothing else than the fry of the
salmon ; and we will now discover a few points of simi-
larity in these fish, and relate a singular circumstance
which, about a year ago, turned our attention to this
subject. And first, as to the similarity between them.
Both have the tail forked, the gills marked in the same
manner ; the pectoral fins of a dark blackish colour,
while in trout they are pale or yellowish, also more
extended than in the latter fish : they have both an
activity mutually proportioned to their sizes, and an
equal affection for rapid streams. The external shape,
although not fully developed in the par, is yet similar
to that of the salmon ; it wants the proportions of a
grown fish, no more thap the foal those of the horse.
Its head, indeed, is somewhat rounder, requiring elon-
gation ; the back, too, straight, and displaying a want
of strength; but still the principal points are alike, dis-
covering an intimate and mutual kinship.

And here an objection will be taken to the colour
of the par, and its want of those silvery scales which
belong to the salmon ; but, let it be remembered that
as yet it is, in a manner, an unclean fish, not having
proceeded to the sea ; how, then, can it be expected to
retain this brilliant covering, when salmon themselves,
in ascending rivers, throw it aside, and become, in some
cases, undistinguishable from a large, common, ill-fed
trout ? We believe, however, that the young fry, when
first produced, exhibit a coat of scales, which lies on
them till spring, when many descend in shoals to the
salt water, and the others remaining cast it off; nor does
it grow again until the end of autumn, when they are
prepared to journey seaward with the floods, which
happen about that season.

It has. been asked, why in many of our Highland

THE PAR. 93

Streams near the coast, few par comparatively are found,
although salmon ascend them in great quantities ? We
answer, that these waters, situated in hilly districts,
where the snow lies long, are more liable to be flooded
in spring than our southern rivers : accordingly, larger
numbers of the young fry are carried to the sea, in their
first stage, than from the more equal currents of Tay
and Tweed.

Nor is our hypothesis altogether imaginary, for we
come to the relation of a circumstance, the happening
of which grounded our behef in this theory ; and no
assailable one it is, if our eyes, which are good, did not
deceive us. Last spring, after the time when smoults
generally descend, we chanced to capture a few of them
in St Mary's Loch, the streams about which are a fa-
vourite breeding-place for salmon. These were of a
large kind, and had been prevented from joining the
spring shoals, by their inability to discover the outlet
to the lake ; they were soft and loose in the scale, but
seemingly an enticing bait fo? pike which frequent a
smaller sheet of water immediately above St Mary's.
In the afternoon, happening to use one of these smoults
on our pike tackle, we remarked how its scales came
off in great numbers, discovering beneath a perfect par,
not to be mistaken in any one respect. This acciden-
tal discovery we further confirmed by repeated experi-
ments, and are now convinced beyond a doubt of the
fact, that par are the young of salmon in a certain state.

Nor have we availed ourselves in the minutest de-
gree of the observations of our friend the Ettrick Shep-
herd, in the Agricultural Journal; for we esteem his
method of proof as somewhat fallacious, and at war
with the established doctrine of chances ; yet we have
conversed with those who have asserted the accuracy
of Mr Hogg's statement, and we know it to be the con-

94 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

stant practice of the bard of Altrive, to mark the tail
fin of his par with a peculiar incision, not difficult to
recognise. We confess, however, that it is wonder-,
ful, first, that Mr Hogg should be able to catch the ten
thousandth portion of the par frequenting Yarrow :
second, that out of a few hundreds that he might catch
and mutilate, such a number should reach the sea, un-
dergo the many chances of disaster on their way thi-
ther, the more hideous perils of that element; that
they should ascend to the exact stream of their birth,
in preference to many others ; and that, when of good
size, and liable to be taken on ever so many occasions
by human means, they should, escaping net and hook,
otter and leister, arrive uninjured at Mr Hogg's feet,
and allow him to transfix them through and through,
in order to discover their personal identity. All these
circumstances combined, it seems as if Fortune were
peculiarly gracious to the poet, in overcoming what is
next to a physical impossibility, in invahdating the ori-
gin of evidential law, and throwing the calculating sys-
tem of philosophers back among the rubbish of igno-
rance and error.

We have avoided upholding Mr Hogg's method of
supporting this theory, for no other reason than that
we find ourselves unable to answer the many objections
which it calls forth ; but we think, notwithstanding,
that the theory is a good one, that it is worthy of ge-
neral credit, and that such a manner of support might
prove no small advantage to our salmon fisheries in
Scotland.

We call not for the interference of an act of legisla-'
ture, in order to prevent the destruction of par — such
a measure would fall too severely upon the brethren of
the streams — it would rob our countrymen of a kindly
and quiet privilege ; but we would submit it to every

THE PAR. 95

able angler, as a principle he ought to adopt, to com-
mit again to the waters those tiny fish which come ig-
norantly to his hook, and, at best, are but a meagre
morsel, and give small proof of his skill in the gentle
craft. There are unprincipled poachers enough, who
make it a glory to harass our waters with net and lath,
who annually diminish by some millions the healthiest
fry of our salmon, who depopulate many a river by
means of their nocturnal enginery ; but we wish not to
see classed with these, the humane and virtuous, the
true and patriotic angler, who should always be above
employing his energies on such indiscriminate slaughter,
caring not to check the growth of some future salmon,
by the unprofitable and childish act of destroying the
infant fish.

96 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

CHAPTER XI.

LEISTERING SALMON.

Among the amusements of the lower orders in Scot-
land, that of spearing, or, as it is more popularly termed,
leistering the salmon, is by far the most exciting. It
is, we allow, a matter of no doubt, that this method
of destroying fish is greatly prejudicial to their increase ;
that by it vast numbers of salmon loaded with spawn
are annually slaughtered, at a time when they can be
turned to very little profit : but we are by no means
prepared, without very sohd reasons, sweepingly to
condemn a practice permitted by immemorial usage,
and which obtains the character of a manly and vigor-
ous sport.

We have too great a love for our national amuse-
ments,- to wish them altogether deranged by the un-
seasonable interference of the law ; and with respect
to the use of the leister as a method of killing fish, we
would rather see it encouraged, within certain limits,
than tyrannically suppressed, which we know, in the
south of Scotland, it never can be, as long as exists the
old spirit of the Border.

A short description of this national mode of salmon-
taking cannot fail to be interesting to our readers. We
shall accordingly attempt to sketch off as graphically as
possible a leistering on one of our waters. The months
most suitable for this amusement in the southern dis-
tricts of Scotland, are those of October and November,
about and immediately after close time.

On the subsiding of a heavy flood, which, during

LEISTERING SALMON> ^7

these months, brings into the tributaries of Tweed a
considerable number of salmon, grilses, and sea trout,
a party is generally formed, composed of the male in-
habitants of the parish or district, from old men of
threescore down to boys in their earliest teens. For
several days previous, the blacksmiths, miles about,
are employed in sharpening up and repairing the leis-
ters or salmon spears, which are commonly three or
four pronged, and have long slender shafts formed of
ash or fir. Torches also of pitch, rosin, old ropes,
and flax, are made ready — the state of the water is dis-
cussed— and a mimickry of the bustle prevalent before
a foray, or martial adventure, is enacted among the
petty villages or farm-houses bordering upon the stream.

On the afternoon of the intended operations, and
immediately previous to their setting forth, every pub-
lic-house contains a number of small and select groups,
talking over their former feats and fortunes. Here is
no less a personage than the Ettrick Shepherd, a good
hand both at the rod and leister ; on his right sits Wat
Amos, and David TiimbuU, landlord of the Gordon
Arms, below Benger Knowe ; to the left of the poet
are seated Thorburn of Juniper Bank, and Forster of
Coldstream, without question the ablest anglers on
Tweedside ; at another corner you may discern Wal-
ter Brydon of Ettrick, surrounded by a bevy of Scotts,
Laidlaws, and Andersons. *' Wee Jamie," as Mr
Hogg terms his only son, lingers impatiently outside,
and, though a boy, is by no means unlearned in the
art of transfixing a salmon. Here, too, is old " Jock
Gray," the Edie Ochiltree of Sir Walter Scott, the
veriest gaberlunzie man in broad Scotland, and one of
the best mimics alive.

But the sun is now gone down, and a star or two
peer out from the eastern bend of heaven. Yarrow,

98 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

chafing her banks, is listened to by the eager band who
are assembled outside the Gordon Arms, some armed
with leisters, others waving red and gleaming torches,
which cast their far reflections into the core of twilight.
At length the order to march is given by the Ettrick
Shepherd, and in the space of five minutes, our gallant
group of Borderers are waist-deep in the bridge pool,
on the look-out for a salmon.

One who has not witnessed it, will be surprised at
the effect of a torch held over a stream during a dark
night. Without being magical, it is astonishixig : every
pebble is revealed, every fish rendered visible in places
even where the water is some fathoms deep. None
of these, however, occur in Yarrow ; in its most un-
fordable parts, you will seldom meet with any very
profound or dangerous abysses. It is one of those
rarely wrought waters which blend harmony with va-
riety ; an almost uniform depth of channel, with a
pleasant mutability in the aspect and formation of its
banks.

But, ho ! a salmon is discovered ; and the rapid
plunge of a leister from the arm of a brawny shepherd,
followed by an exclamation of disappointment, indi-
cates that it has escaped his too eager and agitated
aim ; yet its fate is fixed — there is cooler blood, and a
more practised hand, present, than that of this untried
youth : for there stands Thorburn, his nicely poised
leister directed, as if from his eye, upon the broad flank
of the silvery fish, as it rushes, arrow-like, up the cur-
rent. A shout, not loud, but joyous, proclaims the
success of the blow, and, fast pinned by the unerring
spear, writhes a fine new-run grilse in four feet water,
unable to break from the firm hold of its relentless cap-
tor, who soon drags it ashore and completes its destruc-
tion. '

LEISTERING SALMON. 99

And, now, two other fish are under inquiry ; for
Wee Jamie, who is prowling about the banks, avers
that he disturbed some enormous monsters, which
swam leisurely down towards the next pool : and there,
to be sure, they are, milter and spawner, large, unclean,
copper-coloured salmon.

Immediately, almost the whole group are mingled
closely together, in some confusion ; for each one is
anxious to strike, however imperfect the glimpse he
obtains of his object. Aloof, however, from the rest,
stand the Ettrick Shepherd and Wat Amos, calculat-
ing upon the return of at least one of the fish to the
former pool. Nor are they in error ; for, though vigi-
lant, those below have strangely mismanaged, and spoilt
their opportunity — one of them extinguishing with the
end of his leister the torch-light which directed his eye
to the salmon ; another losing his balance in the very
act of striking, and so\ising himself head over heels in
water not over-highly tempered ; and a third, after
having hit one of the fish, allowing it to dash upwards
towards Mr Hogg, who, in true style, brings it to land,
transfixed to the spine, and scarcely able, ere it expired,
to make any thing like a struggle to escape.

The party in a short time passing Altrive, move up
towards Douglas Burn, near the mouth of which three
or four other fish are killed, one of them a large yel-
low trout, weighing above five, the rest, grilses, under
ten pounds.

To a spectator at a short distance, not previously
aware of what is going on, a group of salmon leisterers
must possess a singular and romantic appearance, as-
sociating itself strongly with tlie olden times of Border
adventure. The torches, with crimson flare, search-
ing the hill-walled heaven, and hurrying, in all direc-
tions, fire and shadow over a dark mass of waters ; the

100 THE SCOttlSH ANGLER.

figures, some fully exposed, others dimly visible, and
thrown suddenly into view by the intervention of a
stream of red hght ; the surrounding extent of moorland
and pasture, embellished with a few gaunt trees and a
mouldering tower ; here a solitary sheep-fence, there a
quiet hut ; and, with these, the strange intermixture of
human voices — all necessarily must work upon the ima-
gination with a power and vividness which is seldom
experienced among the more ordinary elements of poetry
and romance.

But here is a gallant chase, worth fifty fox-hunts.
No tiny fish have they started, or we mistake, but a
twenty pounder at least, judging from the huge tail,
which is helming it along the shallows. How it scuds,
like the dolphin bark of Arion, or a rainbow rocket,
throwing up ruby sparks ! What a brilliant track of
fire is there in its rear ! And now it has escaped the
ford, and the discharge of not a few leisters from the
stragglers above ; and here it is, in a long, dark, nar-
row pool, with a hollow bank of clay at one side, the
other a flat layer of pebbles ; it swims now more at its
ease, in a sort of fancied security, although still rest-
less, and every now and then probing with its chin the
indentations and cavities of the left-hand embankment.

And now it is concealed from notice by the agitated
state of the water, into which, through means of its
snout, it has shaken down no inconsiderable quantity
of clay ; but the random search of Wat Amos's leister
has again compelled it to trust to its fins, and it dashes
up, in fine style, through a series of pools, followed by
the whole group of sportsmen. A slight contortion of
the tail indicates that it has received some small in-
jury, but its speed is scarcely diminished, and it slips,
almost miraculously, from under the shower of leisters
with which again it is rapidly assailed.

LEISTERING SALMON. 101

As yet, Thorburn has held back ; but now, although
third in the attack, one may observe, hung in air, his
fatal spear, thrown from the steadiest hands among
modern Borderers, and down, at the very feet of the
Ettrick Shepherd, it falls unerringly upon the head of
the devoted fish, which, hard pressed, is employing
every means to escape.

In leister fishing, allowance must always be made
for the refractory nature of the water ; and it is neces-
sary, where the pool is of any depth, to strike below,
and not at the fish. Salmon are rattier attracted than
frightened by the torch, and will often, if not otherwise
disturbed, move slowly up towards it, or balance them-
selves steadily upon their fins within reach of the eager
sportsman.

Sometimes an otter is killed by the leister, for that
animal is as keen a hunter as man himself, and knows
well the season when salmon spawn, and in what mood
of water they can be captured with the greatest ease.
A chase of this kind surpasses all other sports — the
power and sagacity generally displayed by the otter in-
creasing not a httle the fervour and interest of the pur-
suit. One of these creatures, transfixed by the salmon
spear, has been known to twist itself round the shaft,
and divide it by the mere strength and sharpness of its
teeth. Its great cunning, also, will enable it sometimes
to escape, after being severely, if not mortally, wounded.

But our group of hunters are now somewhat wearied.
The torches, one by one, are consumed. A cold frost
settles down over the atmosphere, and even works itself
into the wet garments and plaids of the satisfied Low-
landers. Above a score of fish have they immolated
— salmon, grilses, sea trout, and yellow-fins — and here
they lie in a goodly heap, to be shared out among the
whole party. The best, a fresh-run salmon, is allotted

102 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

to Mr Hogg, who, with his true Border hospitality,
invites his friends to wash it down with a sober jug of
that true preventive of colds and rheumatisms, whisky
t)ddy. The more rustic groups repair, some to the
Gordon Arms, and others to their own dwellings, to
enjoy the comforts of a huge fire and hot supper.

Leistering in Scotland, in broad rivers like the
Tweed, is sometimes practised from a boat ; and, in
the Solway Firth, where the tides run rapid and the
water is shallow, a horse was wont to be employed.
We believe the method of spearing fish from the saddle
is still in vogue, and can easily believe, that, although
followed for profit, it affords no small or ignoble amuse-
ment among such perilous and unsteady sands as those
which occur in the south-western districts of Scotland.

THE LEISTER SONG.

F' ashes the blood-red gleam

Over the midnight slaughter,
Wild shadows haunt the stream,

Dark forms glance o'er the water.
It is the leisterer's cry !

A salmon, ho ! oho !
In scales of hght the creature bright

Is glimmering below.

Murmurs the low cascade,

The tall trees stand so saintly,
Under their quiet shade

The river whispers faintly.
It is the leisterer's cry !

The salmon, ho ! oho !
A shining path the water hath,

Beliind the shape of snow.

Glances the shining spear

From harmless hands unheeded ;
On, in its swift career,

The dream-hke fish hath speeded.

LEISTERING SALMON. 103

It is the leisterer's cry !

The salmon, ho ! oho !
Along its wake the torches break,

And waver to and fro.

Wildly the eager band

Closes its fatal numbers ;
Across its glistering sand

The wizard water slumbers.
It is the leisterer's cry !

The salmon, ho ! oho !
And, lightning like, the white prongs strike

The jaded fish below.

Rises the cheering shout,

Over the rapid slaughter ;
The gleaming torches flout

The old, oak-shadow'd water.
It is the leisterer's cry !

The salmon, ho ! oho !
Calmly it lies, and gasps and die«,

Upon the moss bank low !

104 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

CHAPTER XII.

ON THE RAISING OF FISH AND CONSTRUCTION
OF FISH PONDS IN SCOTLAND.

The observations introduced into our initiatory chap-
ters on Scottish rivers and lochs, with regard to the
soils best calculated for the breeding of good trout, will
apply, not without reason, to our present remarks. In
these we have shown, that a constant and plentiful
provision is essential to the growth and increase of fish,
and that certain dispositions of channel, or bottom, will
furnish, more readily than others, the various kinds of
sustenance required. Now, in treating of the construc-
tion of artificial ponds, whether intended for the rais-
ing or fattening of fish, we hold it to be of primary
consequence, that some means be taken to secure a
steady supply of food, otherwise the object of the ex-
perimentalist is defeated at its very outset.

To do this successfully must depend very much upon
the natural conveniences of soil and situation. No one
can rationally expect to find worms and insects under
a dry, poor earth, or flies in any plenty apart from
shrubs and trees. Undoubtedly those places which
are, to a certain extent, fertile, and in the neighbour-
hood of wood, also mosses and moor ground, arising as
they do from vegetable decay, are to be preferred be-
fore arid and unproductive lands for this purpose.

The most natural and effective situations, however,
are small valleys and glens, pervaded by rivulets, and
exposed in some degree to the sun. By throwing a
strong bank across the lower part, or entrance, these

ARTIFICIAL FISH PONDS. 105

•

are easily transformed into reservoirs of water, well
calculated to nourish many sorts offish, especially those
native to Scotland. This simple method of construct-
ing a preserve is very common in our hilly districts,
where Nature, the head architect, provides the greater
requisites ; yet on level grounds, with no such inherent
advantages, it is, we confess, a matter both of expense
and nicety to complete a pond well adapted for the
breeding of fish.

Before we discuss the plans most approved of for
fish enclosures, we shall briefly notice what sorts of fish
thrive best in our northern climate, in order to point
out the absurdity of introducing into preserves those
more delicate kinds which require a warmer tempe-
rature. Of fresh-water fishes, naturalised in, or native
to Scotland, the principal are the salmon, char, trout,
pike, and perch, with their varieties; our southern dis-
tricts afford the bream, roach, and vendace ; but these
are confessedly localised, and, except in a few instances,
do not exist north of Dumfriesshire,

The carp, also, and tench, fish much esteemed for
stocking waters in England, are met with only as curio-
sities among our preserves ; they are rarely known to
breed here, and require too much severe attention to
repay the trouble of cultivating them to any extent for
our tables. In a small pond at Redbraes, adjoining
Edinburgh, seven or eight carp have been maintained
for several years, along with numbers of perch ; and
though of both sexes, no disposition to shed spawn has
as yet become apparent ; in fact, it may safely be as-
serted by us, judging from what we have heard on the
subject, that the carp will not thrive in Scotland, until
some means be discovered for ameliorating the climate,
and giving a soft quality to our waters.

In a paper by Mr Whyte, land-surveyor at Mintlaw,

106 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

which obtained one of the Highland Society's prizes,
it is stated, that in some ponds belonging to Mr Fer-
gusson of Pitfour, in Aberdeenshire, the tench thrives
well ; and the carp, although not very prolific, breeds.
This is owing, we imagine, to a particular softness in
the quality of the water where these fish exist : in fact,
it is allowed by Mr Whyte, in allusion to the carp
ponds, that they are wholly kept up by rain water — a
very different fluid from the hard springs which natu-
rally supply our preserves.

It comes to this, that the 6nly fish we possess, ca-
pable of being bred and fattened in artificial ponds to
any extent, are the trout, the pike, and the perch, along,
of course, with eels and minnows ; the former of which,
namely, the eels, strange as it may a,ppear, would al-
most seem to be produced spontaneously, or from the
soil itself. We were lately present at the cleansing of
an artificial pond at Powderhall, close to Edinburgh,
which pond was constructed several years ago, and
stocked only with perch, and a few trout ; yet, although
it possessed no connection with any other water where
eels were, we witnessed the capture of numbers of these
animals, thrown up by the spades of the workmen. No
eel had ever been placed in the pond, and such as were
found there must either liave travelled some distance
overland, or else have sprung up of their own accord.
The latter is assuredly an unphilosophical idea, and
we leave scientific men to clear up the mystery. At
all events, it may be put to those who have opportu-
nities of judging, if such instances as this are not com-
mon, incredible as they may seem to others. It is ne-
cessary, however, we maintain, that springs should ex-
ist in the ponds.

A good deal of interesting discussion has taken place
among naturalists with regard to the generation of eels

ARTIFICIAL FISH PONDS. 107

— some holding them to be viviparous, others ovipa-
rous. Although, by late experiments, some light has
been thrown upon this question, it may scarcely be said
to be set at rest.

Very singular stories have also been told of the over-
land migrations of eels, which, if true, may possibly
account for the circumstance of their being discovered
in artificial ponds and other places, into which they
were not originally put. Those, however, who as-
sert the fact of such migrations, unite in allowing that
they are made for the purpose of reaching the salt water
in the autumn months, and that eels are never found on
land unless with their heads turned toward the sea.
On considering the matter, we question very much if
even its well-known tenacity of life would enable an
eel to exist and move forward for a period of half an
hour at most, upon a hard surface, and out of its ele-
ment ; and it also strikes us as not a little singular, that
of the many who give credit to these overland migra-
tions, so few should actually have witnessed them ;
nay, of these few, almost all allow the migrating eels
to be not above three inches in length, and on every
occasion found within a rood or two of tlie water-side.

But to return to the fish best adapted for artificial
waters in Scotland. It may be asked, why is the char
excluded ? If a native fish, and for food so dainty and
delicate, may not the experiment be hazarded, with
some chance of success, of bringing it under the care
and keeping of man ? This we doubt; for be it noted,
how the char is found only in lochs which are very deep
and very clear — qualities that artificial fish ponds in no
one instance combine. Moreover, for aught that na-
turalists have discovered, the common food of char may
be entirely local, as we are of opinion it is ; for in some
districts, where there are numbers of small lochs of the

108 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

same make and features, this fish will be noticed to
exist in one and not in another. Nay, it is well known
that, on Windermere, the char, in order to spawn, as-
cends only one of two streams at its head, the Rothay
and Brathay, although, seemingly, there is no difference
in the sizes and natures of these waters. Mr Whyte
mentions, that at Pitfour the raising of this fish was
attempted, but without success. We assume, then,
that the char cannot be forced, like many other fish.
And now we go on to treat of the stocking and raising
of the perch, the pike, and the trout, along with the
nature of the ponds necessary for them.

And first, as to the perch. This hardy fish may be
transported with great ease, being very tenacious of
life. Even in wet moss, it can be carried ahve from a
considerable distance. Perch, if well fed, breed quickly
in dead, dull waters. Their spawning time is March
and part of April. There are two methods of stock-
ing a pond with them ; one, and by far the surest, is
to obtain the live and grown fish ; another is to collect
the impregnated deposit, and lay it along the shoals of
your preserve for the sun to hatch. A microscope
will enable you to detect the proper state of the ova,
which you will find in large beds along the margin of
any tank where perch abound. When properly im»
pregnated, these will appear slightly discoloured, and
open or cleft on one side.

Ponds intended solely for perch do not require to
be made large ; they should slope gradually down to-
wards the middle, from a depth of six inches to one of
five or six feet. Water weeds ought not to be greatly
encouraged. A series, or chain, of small basins, at
different elevations, is preferable to a single large re-
servoir for this fish. These basins should be connected
by a sluice and flood-gate, so that one may be readily

ARTIFICIAL FISH PONDS. 109

emptied into another for the mutual convenience of
cleaning and repairing. Also, the uppermost ought to
be shallower than those below, and more exposed to
the sun, so as to serve for a nursery and breeding pond.
Bream live well with perch in a warm situation ; they
are not, however, obtained readily in Scotland. Perch
ponds should be let off and paved with channel stones
every four or five years ; many allow them to remain fal-
low for some months, and others sow them with grass
and oats ; a conceit laboriously encouraged by whimsy
and theoretical writers of bygone days. We are no
sticklers for antiquated and idle absurdities, and believe
that many fish, for whose benefit they are performed,
will thrive as well without them, provided you afford
sweet, fresh water, and a plentiful allowance of food.
Perch in some preserves have been known, although
rarely, to attain the weight of three or four pounds,
averaging, when well fed, from twelve to twenty ounces.

PERCH PONDS.

a. Upper, or breeding pond.

b. Lower pond.

c. Covered sluice, with moveable gratings.

d. Sluice with flood-gate.

e. Small feeder.

We proceed next to give a few directions how to
raise and improve the pike ; and we may notice, that

110 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

some old writers, Izaak Walton among the rest, assert,
strangely enough, that this fish is the produce of the
pickerel weed — a belief grounded upon the fact, that
the pike often attaches its spawn to this plant, which,
being transferred in a state of impregnation to an un-
stocked pond, of course the infant fish are brought out.

The pike pond, if for breeding and fattening to some
extent, ought to be large, covering from eight to twenty
acres ; its mean depth, six or seven feet. One end,
however, should be much shallower, and sown with
bulrushes, or other water-plants. Previous to stock-
ing it with this fish, a sub-stock of perch or trout
should by all means be introduced, otherwise, with-
out a great supply of such sustenance, pike will not
only become thin and ill-tasted, but quarrel and devour
each other. Nay, we would recommend that both of
these sorts offish be, if possible, made subservient for
their use ; although, of course, as we shall shortly dis-
cover, it is in vain to attempt raising a proper propor-
tion of trout without the aid of a stream, directed
through the pond. To facilitate, however, a steady
supply of perch, small tanks should be constructed along-
side of the leading preserve, with connecting sluices
and flood-gates, so as to expel, when necessary, a shoal
of live food.

Pike, for stocking, should be caught with a drag-net
— of one size, and below two pounds weight. Although
termed solitary fish, they are not so, but swim in small
companies. No less than sixty-seven have been taken
at one haul from the river Tay, near Almond mouth.

When stocking your pond, do not overdo it, by
putting in more pike than is absolutely necessary : of
fish under two pounds weight and above one, eight for
•the acre of water is quite sufficient. When construct-
ing your preserves, include as many natural springs as

ARTIFICIAL FISH PONDS. Ill

possible : they both help to keep the water pure, and
suppfy the bottom with eels, upon which reptiles pike
fatten prodigiously.

PIKE POND.

a. Pike pond. e. Field of water plants.

h. Sunken mound. /. Sluice to lead off water,

c. Perch tank attached. with flood-gate.

d. Small feeder.

Next, as to the raising of trout. The error most
prevalent with regard to this fish is, to suppose that,
by providing an esteemed sort to breed from — for in-
stance, of Loch Leven — you thereby secure to your
table a first-rate stock, without calculating how to fur-
nish proper^ food, and prevent the degeneracy of the
fish. Very indifferent and badly flavoured trout will,
it is ascertained, greatly improve when transferred into
waters where food is plenty ; also white-fleshed fish,
if one may use* the expression, will become red over
certain soils. What, then, is to hinder a naturally
good trout from losing its flavour and firmness when
imported into a poor, artificial water, from one that is
rich in sustenance, and well gifted with shelter ?

We cannot but point out the inutility of sending
many miles for a pitcherful of one variety of fish, when
another, which v/ill probably turn out better, may be

112 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

taken from the very nearest brook. As an instance
how fish of an ordinary sort can be meliorated, we re-
fer our readers to the changes undergone in Compen-
sation Pond, alluded to in a former chapter. No one
now, examining the trout taken from this reservoir,
would conceive that they are all, or any of them, pro-
duced from those inhabiting Habbie's Howe or Glen-
corse Burn ; and yet this is assuredly the case, although
many of the pond trout have already acquired a reddish
tinge in the flesh, and, externally, are very different in-
deed from the variety found in the burn — being thick,
clear, and thinly spotted, while the others are lank,
dirty, and covered with a great show of stars. This
metamorphosis is entirely owing to superior feeding,
the reservoir we allude to covering a large extent of
valley ground, and, among other places, an ancient
churchyard.

Now, if what we state be the fact (and nothing is
easier for those who are sceptical than to make the ex-
periment), of how httle necessity are the troublesome
methods in use to obtain a good stock of finely flavoured
trout, provided the pond for breeding and improving
be according to rule I And, if otherwise, even the
goodliest fish in the universe must indubitably fall off.

As to the arrangements to be pursued in the plan-
ning of a good trout preserve. Let the primary matter
be tlie choice of your ground, in which, should you be
exceedingly narrowed, and at a loss for -good materials,
then give up altogether the idea of a fish pond. If,
however, you can discern the quahties of soil and neigh-
bourhood recommended by us at the outset of this
chapter, and, besides these, are able to command a
small stream or brook, then set about and prepare your
ground, as follows : —

Choose from four to ten acres, less or more, of an

ARTIFICIAL FISH PONDS. 113

oval shape, but indented with small bays. Cast a long
trench through the middle, from head to foot ; noticing
that you can readily divert along it the stream just
mentioned, which stream is intended as a spawning
place, seeing that trout never shed their roe in dead
water. Let this trench deepen gradually as the ground
descends ; so that, at the intended foot of the pond,
it should sink nearly three yards, while the upper part
thereof is kept shallow. Dig from either side of your
trench, keeping it slope and level, until within four fa-
thoms of the intended margin of the fish pond. When
this is done, turn your attention to what is called the
dam-head, at the outlet or lowest part of the pond.
From it, continue your trench for a short distance in
the form of a paved sluice. Build stones, grass-sods,
and clay, along the bank on each side, if needful, and
drive in a few piles to strengthen it. Then set a flood-
gate at the outlet, and another to serve as a check in
case of accident, three yards farther down, where your
paved sluice terminates. A few cart-loads of coarse
channel, not from the sea, ought to be emptied over
the earthy parts of your pond, which, otherwise, are
apt to get covered with weeds, or else to encourage
eels, the marked enemies of trout in all stages. After
this is done, let loose your stream, and form your pre-
serve, introducing trout of about six inches in length,
eight or ten to every acre. Raise also at the head a
small nursery of minnows, connecting it by distinct
sluices both with the pond and its feeder. These are
a favourite food of trout, and fatten them at a quick
rate.

Some throw a sunken mound across the pond, rising
to within a yard or so of the water-surface. By the
assistance of this embankment, the fish are preserved
from injury, at those times when you require to repair

H

114

THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

your preserve ; since you thereby are enabled to expel
only one-half of its contents at a time, keeping the
other occupied daring your cleiijnsing operations.

TROUT PRESERVE.

«. Trout preserve. e. Feeder.

h. Sunken mound. /. Channel of diversion.

c. Enclosure for minnows, g. Waste wear.
t/. Tank, or stew-pond, with h. Outlet of pond, with gate-
grating, i. Alders and willows.

The first, or parent breed, in an artificial fish en-
closure, generally grows to a great size, and with as-
tonishing rapidity. As an instance of this, we may
mention, that some years ago, several trout, weighing
each about three or four ounces, were transferred from
Loch Skene, in Dumfriesshire, to a newly constructed
pleasure pond, belonging to Mr Younger of Craiglands,
near Moffat, and that, in the course of eighteen months,
they attained, individually, the weight of as many
pounds ; although Loch Skene itself produces no fish
above twelve inches in length. The present breed from
these trout is much inferior in size, owing, of course,
to the increase of their numbers, and the minuter pro-
portion of food attainable by each individual. We

ARTIFICIAL FISH PONDS. 115

could mention other instances of a like nature, con-
nected with the planting of natural hill tarns near Loch
Alsh in Ross-shire ; in which the original stock them-
selves, although mere burn trout, attained very consi-
derable dimensions, leaving behind them a numerous
but dwarf progeny.

In our opinion, although not generally the practice,
part of the parent or stock breed ought to be carefully
preserved, in order to serve as a check upon the too
plentiful spawnings which are apt to occur, and to de-
vour, as their great size and appetites will enable them
to do, the superabundant fry. Nay, in some places
we would introduce a pike for this purpose, and believe
him to do more good than harm.

On commencing this chapter we remarked how the
neighbourhood of trees was of advantage to fish ponds :
here, however, we do not wish to be misunderstood.
By the neighbourhood, we mean not the contiguity or
actual overshadowing of wood ; for nothing can be
more deleterious to dead waters than the autumnal ef-
fusion of some sorts of leaves ; also the barring of the
sun's heat is any thing but agreeable to fish, who love
to doze in the shallows, and nap luxuriously at noon-
day. Still we maintain that woods at a short distance
are favourable to the growth of trout, furnishing them
with many varieties of insects ; and even at the margin,
to a certain extent, willows and alders ought to be en-
couraged, for on them the most esteemed flies breed,
and under their roots the largest trout delight in lurk-
ing.

Many, alongside of their main preserves, employ
smaller ones, in which trout can be fattened readily,
and made to grow to any size. These stews should
connect with the principal pond, and have moveable
gratings in front to keep in the fish.

116 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

Besides the leading sluice for directing the feeder,
another, termed a waste wear, should be formed, espe-
cially in places where floods are frequent, diverging from
any convenient recess, in order to draw off quickly
the superfluous and prejudicial element. This in dry
weather should be kept closed by means of a gate.

During strong frosts in winter, the fish in artificial
ponds are apt to suffer greatly, especially the young
fry. To prevent this there is no proper remedy. A
becoming disposition of large stones at the bottom of
your reservoir, will, nevertheless, serve in part the
purposes of shelter ; although it is very true that the
greater damage done by severe frosts results from the
exclusion of air. Wherefore, order holes to be made
in the ice that the fish may breathe properly, which most
certainly they will attempt to do, coming up in great
numbers to your vents, and by the agitation they make
sometimes preventing them from re-freezing.

Perhaps the finest sheet of artificial water in Scot-
land is that at Drummond Castle, on the estate of
Lord Willoughby D'Eresby. It covers a large extent
of ground, and is stocked among other varieties with
Loch Leven trout. These, however, owing to the soft
quality of the water, and the want of a sufficient feeder,
multiply indifferently. They are also subject to the
attacks of perch, with which (in our opinion improperly)
they are allowed to consort. Still they preserve much
of their original flavour and size, being abundantly sup-
plied with their favourite food. And as to the cus-
tom of introducing perch into trout preserves, we may
remark, that it is greatly prejudicial, not only to the
spawn of the latter, but the grown fish themselves, see-
ing that a well-armed, thick-scaled perch will not hesi-
tate to attack the ill-defended trout, if provoked while
feeding, and either injure him with his spines, or inti-

ARTIFICIAL FISH PONDS. 117

midate him from taking his natural quantity of suste-
nance.

We have thus briefly given our ideas concerning the
raising of fish in Scotland, repelling, as we allow, the
introduction of those which require a milder tempera-
ture and more lenient waters ; for it must be observed,
that the mere quality of the water is a great matter,
and that a Thames ditch, though it will raise carp, will
not breed trout ; so, in like manner, a Scottish enclo-
sure where trout thrive well, will prove any thing but
friendly towards the carp, tench, bream, and barbel.

Before concluding this chapter, we are led to notice
the very singular and successful experiments lately
made, in order to introduce sea fish into artificial salt-
water estuaries. These, it seems, are hollowed out to
a considerable depth, and kept subject in a degree to
the influence and changes of the tide ; although, at its
lowest ebb, they still retain a large inland body of wa-
ter. In fact, their only connection with the sea is by
a gulf or strait, which, with the tides themselves, is
formed alternately into an influx and reflux current.
Upon this gulf is placed a wire grating to prevent the
escape of such fish as the estuaries are stored with.
The cod, haddock, hng, whiting, flounder, and even
salmon, along with many other sorts of salt-water
tribes, are thus maintained and kept within reach, at
all seasons and in all weathers.

A very remarkable pond of this kind has existed for
some years back at Portnessock, in Wigtonshire, on
the south-west coast of Scotland, in which not only
have fish been provided for, but actually domesticated ;
so much so, indeed, as to recognise their keeper, and
even take their food out of his hand.

Also, at Valleyfield, on the Firth of Forth, near
Culross, there is a salt-water preserve of this sort, be-

118 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

longing to Sir Robert Preston, in which are fed stores
of fish of various kinds. Of these, the turbot, briH,
salmon trout, cod fish, skate, flounder, smelt, sole, and
herring, are the most distinguished. The sustenance
given to them consists chiefly of offals and broken shell-
fish, &c. Upon these, many of them thrive well ;
others, however, as might naturally be expected, lose
much of their flavour and firmness.

It is a matter of some uncertainty, whether ponds of
this description will eventually become available, or
remain as matters of mere curiosity and amusement.
We believe, however, that to some who have great lo-
cal conveniences within reach, the expense of con-
structing such estuaries can be attended with no mighty
loss ; at any rate, there is, to a certain extent, a satis-
faction in possessing them, which amply repays no in-
considerable degree of outlay.

RECOLLECTIONS AND ADVICES. 119

CHAPTER XIII.

RECOLLECTIONS AND ADVICES.

We think it proper, in this part of our treatise, to in-
sert a few anecdotal notices, if they may so be termed,
respecting such animals as are naturally the enemies of
fish, and help not a little to diminish their numbers.
Among these the otter stands foremost. The voracity
of this creature is well known, and the uncommon mas-
sacres it will often effect among the choicest of our
trout and salmon, render it greatly obnoxious to anglers.
There are in Scotland comparatively few waters abound-
ing in fish, which are not haunted to some extent by
the otter, which, although naturally shy, and no lover
of daylight, will at times, when in the pursuit, show
a bold front, and has been known to contest its prey
with man himself.

As an instance, we have heard it asserted by a gen-
tleman, on whose word we place the most perfect re-
liance, that when angling for pike on the Loch of the
Lowes, and about to land a fine fish of ten or twelve
pounds weight, he was surprised to observe a large otter
swim ferociously towards it ; nor did it cease its attack,
until it had succeeded in carrying away the pike, hook,
and all, to the astonishment of those present.

Another individual informed us, that, when angling
in St Mary's Loch at night, he has frequently been fol-
lowed at a short distance by an otter, ready to pounce
upon such fish as he might happen to hook, although
generally, by his presence, deterring any from rising.
The same person, lately a resident at the head of the

120 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

loch, close to Corsecleugh, once observed one of these
animals lying asleep upon a piece of meadow-ground,
close to the water, and on attempting to kill it, was
forthwith assailed in return, and compelled to sound a
retreat.

While angling in the still part of Tummel, immedi-
ately above Loch Tummel, we lately stumbled upon
an otter, amusing himself under some bushes. Although
within reach of our fishing-rod, the fellow raised him-
self boldly in the water to gaze at us, and seemed, like
an upstart keeper, to question our right of angling so
near his retreat. After a minute or so, he began to
be satisfied with our appearance, and leisurely retired
under water.

An otter catcher once informed us of a rare variety
of this animal he had taken in a trap, and which he
termed the king of the otters. According to his ac-
count, it was considerably larger than one of the com-
mon sort, and strangely spotted over with whitish spots.
The capture of this specimen he considered a great
achievement, as, although known, it was reckoned by
most otter catchers extremely rare.

Those who employ night lines for pike, will some-
times observe, how even the strongest are unaccount-
ably broken ; this we ourselves have remarked, and can
attribute it to nothing else than the interference of one
of these creatures, whose nocturnal depredations help
not a little to destroy the finest fish in our waters. It
has been said, that when an otter sets its eye upon a
particular trout or salmon, it never loses sight of it,
and after a few minutes' chase, is certain to secure its
victim.

Besides the otter, the angler has two accomplished
enemies in the heron and the water ousel. The for-
mer, however, confines himself to small fish, such as

RECOLLECTIONS AND ADVICES. 121

par and minnows, and is not able to master the stronger
inhabitants of the flood ; as for the latter, its object of
attack is the spawn or roe, both that of the salmon
and the trout. On this it preys with great voracity,
devouring more than its own weight in the day, and
searching even at the bottom of deep pools, in order
to appease its appetite. The dainty manner in which
the heron feeds upon the perch is worthy of remark.
Being prevented by the thick, indigestible coat of scales,
and sharp spines of this fish, from swallowing it entire,
the bird manages with its bill to take off the skin, and
so get at the edible parts. We have started herons
at this work, and examined with minuteness the half-
flayed victim left behind.

Our Scottish waters are sometimes visited by thcr
wild swan. St Mary's Loch, to which that bird is
poetically transported by Wordsworth, is, however, a
very rare place of resort. About four years ago, a
large one was shot at the foot of Corsecleugh Burn,
and at the same time two smaller ones were wounded
and taken. One of these was sent by the person who
captured it, to the late Sir Walter Scott of Abbotsford,
and, we believe, lived for some time.

The large black-backed gull, esteemed a rare bird,
we have frequently seen about St Mary's, as well as
a fine specimen of the blue falcon, inhabiting the rocks
at the Grey Mare's Tail, a few miles off. The nest
of this latter is annually robbed, and yet, what is sin-
gular, the parent birds always return ; nay, it is asserted,
that if one of these should happen to be shot, the sur-
vivor provides itself with a mate before spring, although
necessarily from a great distance.

We once saw what we should suppose to be a great
curiosity, passing over our head while angling on the
Earn in Perthshire. This was a white eagle, of a large

122 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

size, and holding a steady flight, as if at a considerable
distance from its nest.

While on birds, we may remark, what is well known
to anglers, that the more familiar sorts are frequently
captured with the fly. We once took a snipe by this
means at Meggat Foot, while in the act of throwing
our line over a trout which we had just raised. Also,
on the Tyne, in East Lothian, we landed a bat, of
which, at the moment, there were five or six playing
about our tackle. At another time, we got hold of a
wild duck, which sprang up at our feet when lashing
the Machony, a small stream near Muthill, in Perth-
shire. The bird somehow proved too strong for us,
and carried away our cast of flies in a twinkling. We
luckily, however, found left behind it a full-grown flap-
per whereon to revenge ourselves. '

A friend of ours also brought in, near the Water of
Leith, several swallows in succession, one windy after-
noon, on small midge flies, which, on passing, they
darted at eagerly. On Lochnanean, Spittal of Glen-
shee. Colonel Macdonald of Powderhall happened,
while fishing from a boat, to run in among a flock of
sea-gulls, and actually captured a score of them with
his tackle, notwithstanding a most vigorous resistance.

Besides birds, the angler sometimes chances to hook
other creatures of various sorts — for instance, water-
rats and frogs : and we know of one brother of the
rod, residing in Edinburgh, who happened to strike his
huge salmon fly into the flank of an ox grazing behind
him. The animal, of course, took to its heels, dragging
after it the astonished fisher, who, in order to save
his pirn-line, which was soon run out, " forthwith ex-
erted himself to keep pace with the rapid brute, al-
though compelled at last to submit to the necessity of
losing his tackle.

RECOLLECTIONS AND ADVICES. 123

In pursuing this train of miscellaneous observations,
we may notice, what has not escaped the remark of
many, that mostly all dogs discover a singular antipathy
or indifference towards live fish ; yet we know of one be-
longing to the landlady of the St Mary's Loch club cot-
tage, by name Gipsy, a cross breed betwixt the coUey,
or sheep-dog, and the Scotch terrier, which loves no-
thing better than to take its station on the shallow run
betwixt the upper and lower lochs, in order to watch
the shoals of perch which, during the months of March
and April, congregate to spawn in this place ; and when
an opportunity occurs, Gipsy will be observed to make
a sudden dash towards the bottom with its head, and
generally secure a fish, which it carries to land, and
forthwith kills. There is no race of beings this ani-
mal appears to esteem better than anglers ; and it never
forgets, even at the distance of two or three years, one
who has permitted it to accompany him to the stream
side. When there, it seems almost to take as much
interest in the landing of a fish as the performer him-
self; and, if ordered to go in and seize the trout while yet
in the water, will comply with the utmost alacrity. Of
pike and eels, Gipsy is somewhat shy, and approaches
them with considerable caution. Although fond of
fish when cooked, he rejects them, like other dogs, in
a raw state.

We shall devote now a portion of this chapter to the
feats of anglers ; and in order to impose silence upon
vaunters, and undeceive the credulous, we allow it to
be known plainly, in spite of the marvellous relations
of Sir Humphry Davy and others, that no Scottish
trout-fisher with the fly ever did, upon an entire ave-
rage, manage to capture one trout, upwards of a pound
weight, for every hundred falling short. We talk of
common yellow unforced fish, not those which ascend

124 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

from the sea, or are bred in artificial ponds. As for
numbers, we believe that, in some places and weathers,
a good hand at the rod may take, in a day's angling,
from twelve to six-and-twenty, or even thirty dozen.
A friend of ours, Mr John Wilson jun., captured, in
the space of six or seven hours, no less than fourteen
score some odds, from a small loch situated in the
Caledonian Forest, near Loch Laggan ; and this on a
close sultry day, without a breath of wind. Thirty
pounds weight of trout is considered a good day's work
on Tweed, and few anglers are able to take so much.

On this river, it is of great importance not to over-
look the feeding hours of the large fish, which are com-
monly for the fly from half-past ten to half-past one
during the day, in spring, and in the afternoons, from
five to seven, or eight, if the weather be warm. The
summer feeding hours are of course both earher and
prolonged later. The best Tweed anglers confine
themselves at most to a couple of pools, unless the wa-
ter be very much reduced, and so rendered capable of
being quickly fished over. Few rivers, however, will
bear a perpetual scrutiny of this sort, without their in-
habitants becoming shy and cautious. One of the best
takes on the Innerleithen district of the Tweed, was
achieved by George Graham Bell, Esq. advocate, a
couple of springs ago, with minnow, at a time when the
water was flooded, and full of snow-brew, as it is termed.
The largest yellow trout taken by him on that occasion
weighed five pounds, and the entire quantity betwixt
forty and fifty pounds, all of which were killed in the
short space of four hours.

The St Ronan's or Border Club, established to en-
courage the athletic exercises among the Lowlanders
of Scotland, adds anghng to its other amusements, and
gives an annual spring medal to the most successful of

RECOLLECTIONS AND ADVICES. 125

its competing members. This trial of skill and patience
commonly takes place about the end of April or the
beginning of May. The attendance, however, is sel-
dom numerous, and chiefly local. Edinburgh anglers
engaging in the contest, have of course very limited
advantages in many respects, compared with such as
are resident on the spot, and acquainted with every
pool in the river. The first medal given was gained
by Mr Thorburn, Juniper Bank, without very much
competition. On the following year, he was succeeded
by Colonel Macdonald, and after that by other anglers
of celebrity. The inconvenient time when this com-
petition takes place, renders it a matter of great indif-
ference to those distant from the scene of action.

A salmon medal was likewise offered by the club,
but we believe only once contested. On that occa-
sion, unless we recollect wrongly, the Ettrick Shep-
herd carried off the prize, by killing the only salmon.
Tliis fish, a large one, weighing twenty-seven pounds,
he captured almost without the assistance of his reel,
having unfortunately dropt its handle. By great good
chance, however, the fellow leapt out of the water in
his endeavours to escape from the hook, and fell upon
the bank.

Some of the best Tweed salmon-fishers are found
below Melrose, about Kelso and Coldstream, where the
fish are more plentiful. During the month of March,
should it prove mild, and the river be clear of snow, a
good angler sometimes captures above a score, or even
two score, of salmon-kelts. As many, at certain times,
might probably be taken on some of our northern rivers.
These, however, especially such as run westward, yield
a greater sufficiency of sea trout and whitlings than
full-grown salmon. We have heard that when the
late Sir Humphry Davy angled in the Tweed, he hap-

126 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

pened, by good fortune, to hit upon an immense fish,
weighing about forty-two pounds, immediately above
Yair Bridge, and captured him, after a severe struggle.
This feat he makes no mention of in his Salmonia, al-
though, certainly, worthy of some notice. Few fish
above twenty pounds' weight are ever taken in Tweed;
and yet we believe the salmon of this river are generally
as large as the Tay fish, and much more so than those
of our other rivers.

The best craftsmen in Scotland are perhaps to be
found among the lower orders, despite of their clumsy
rods and rough tackle. We have met with such as
were loading their creels at every throw, and yet seem-
ingly without effort or science. In fact, the best proof
of a good angler is his abihty to conceal his skill. An
indifferent-looking fisher often proves better than one
who is all method and nicety, and wishes to let you
know it. Our custom, when a brother angler heaves
alongside, is to act our worst, and so prevent him from
spoiling the water out of spite, which he is very apt to
do, for the benefit of one he considers more skilful
than himself.

And here we would advise, among other things, al-
ways to give the precedence to him who seems deter*
mined to take it from you, by his rapid advances towards
the pools you are engaged on ; for, be assured, he is at
once vulgar, ignorant, selfish, and upstart, and demands
only your silent contempt. Even rustic anglers respect
the rights of those before them, and consider it unlucky
to pass each other, unless from necessity, or mutual
understanding. Never refuse to show another the
contents of your creel, should he ask you ; but do not
blazon them abroad to every one you meet, for vaunters
gain no respect by their readiness to chagrin others.
If you can help a brother angler in a difiiculty, do it,

RECOLLECTIONS AND ADVICES. 127

whether by the gift of a few hooks, which cost you al-
most nothing, or by assisting to mend his rod when
broken. Any such small service you will generally
find well repaid. Do not grudge a mouthful of what
was intended for your own refreshment, to one, al-
though a stranger, who seems to require it as well as
yourself. Be more civil to the gamekeeper than the
squire, if caught in a trespass, but always put on a
good-humoured face in order to get easily out of the
scrape. When attacked by a watch-dog, give him
across the head with the butt of your rod, and send a
stone after him to keep him company to his kennel.
Should a bull attack you, trust to your heels, or, if
too late, stand steady, and jerk yourself out of the way
the moment he lowers his horns ; he will rush on se-
veral yards, as if blindfold, and take a couple of minutes
before he repeats his charge ; use these to your advan-
tage. Never carry another man's fish, nor part with
your own to adorn an empty creel ; in the one case
you are tempted to bounce, and in the other you act
the tempter. Should you hook a large fish and lose
him, there is no need to publish your misfortune ; sym-
pathy in such a case is out of the question ; and if you
gain credit, you do more than you deserve. When en-
gaged to compete with another angler, set about it si-
lently ; a boast on your part is an advantage to him,
which you may understand the better on the close of
the contest. When crowed over by a very indifferent
angler, take it good-humouredly ; it is easier to depre-
ciate skill than to possess it. Beware of tackle-puffers,
and of such especially, of whom there is at least one
in Edinburgh, who can afford to sell real Limericks at
one-fourth of the cost at which they can be fabricated
in Ireland. Had King Solomon been an angler, he
would have added another chapter to his book of Pro-

128 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

verbs, and Dr Johnson, out of respect for the wise man,
would have spared his ill-judged sarcasm. The greatest
losses an angler can sustain are those of his patience
and good temper ; they are worth a cart-load of salmon.
While crossing a rapid ford, expose as httle of your-
self as possible to the force of the water ; keep the legs
close, your side towards the stream, and one calf cover-
ing the other ; should you feel yourself losing ground,
plant the butt end of your rod firmly above you, but
do not rest a single second in any one position without
protection from the strength of the current. When
angling, always keep one eye upon Nature, and the
other upon your hooks, and ponder while you proceed.
Never fall in love with one' you meet by the water-
side ; there are situations when every woman looks an
angel. And, last of all, keep up the fraternity of the
craft. Anglers are a more gifted and higher order of
men than others, in spite of the sneers of pompous
critics, or the trumpery dixit of a paradoxical poet.
In their histories, there are ghmpses snatched out of
heaven — immortal moments dropping from Eternity
upon the forehead of Time. As a gift of his calling,
poetry mingles in the angler's being : yet he entreats
for no memorial of his high imaginings — he compounds
not with capricious Fame for her perishing honours —
he breaks not the absorbing enchantment by any out-
cry of his, but is content to remain ** a mute, inglorious
Milton," secretly perusing the epic fiction of his own
heart.

Blame him not that he hoards up the pearls of his
fancy — that his forehead is unbared for no honour —
that he hath buried his virtues in a lowly place, and
shrunk from the gaze and gathering of men — that he
courts no patron smile, and covets no state prefer-
ment— that he is barely heedful of crowns and their

RECOLLECTIONS AND ADVICES. 129

creatures, of party struggles and party declensions —
that he wills for no privilege but that of his meditative
pastime, and runs not headlong among the meshes of
care, in which are so intricately entangled the wealthy,
the ambitious, and the powerful. He is happier in the
nook of his choice, than the usher of sovereign man-
dates on the throne of his inheritance.

And when he quits his humble heritage,
It is with no wild strain — no violence ;
But, wafted by a comely angePs breath,
He glides from Time, and on immortal sails
Weareth the rich dawn of Eternitv.

130 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

CHAPTER XIV.

ANGLING DISTRICTS.

The following list of fishing districts in Scotland may
seem to many not sufficiently specific ; the task, how-
ever, would be endless, and the advantages very un-
certain, were we to describe with particular accuracy
the features and contents of every Scottish water, the
varieties of trout it produces, the baits and flies most of
service, and all the minutiae connected with it. There
is attached to every county, or series of counties, a
general character, which amply supplies the necessity
of so doing ; and we would only burden our treatise
with an unnecessary appendage, did we not deem it
sufficient merely to jot out rapidly the principal points
of attraction to the angler, and not to enter into any
elaborate analysis of their virtues, which his own skill
will render him best able to appreciate.

There are few districts in Scotland where sport is
not to be met with in some shape or other, improving,
no doubt, as it retires among Grampian recesses, or the
less frequented valleys of Ross-shire and Sutherland.
Of our Lowland rivers, the leading advantages are their
better provision in point of accommodation, the facility
with which they can be reached, and, above all, the im-.
mense superiority they give to the finished and able
angler, over the unpractised noodles which frequent
their banks ; and this is a great drawback to our northern
waters, that the fish they contain have little subtlety,
and are too easily captured. One wearies of constant
success, obtained without any opportunity of exercis-.

ANGLING DISTRICTS. 131

ing his skill, and is glutted with the continual vision of
huge heaps of fish slaughtered for no earthly purpose.

In the Highlands, the angler ought to confine him-
self almost entirely to trolling for large trout, along with
salmon and sea trout fishing. He will find these far
more exciting sports than the tossing out of a few dozens
of par or such trash, which every village urchin could
do as readily as the best rod in Britain.

We shall here sketch out what we reckon to the
zealous lover of anghng will prove as pleasant a tour as
he can well take over Scotland. Let him be at Kelso,
or Coldstream on the Tweed, at the beginning of March.
Salmon are then in the river, and may be taken in large
quantities. These, however, with few exceptions, are
newly spawned, lean, and ill tasted ; they show but
poor fight compared with fresh-run fish, but still there
is amusement at this early season in taking them, when
one is keen and in good temper.

Before April, let the angler take his leave of this part
of Tweed, and proceed upwards by Melrose to Cloven-
ford and Innerleithen. Should the weather be cold,
he must not expect first-rate trouting ; if warm, and
what is termed in England the March brown fly be upon
the water, depend upon it he will cram his creel. St
Mary's Loch is nine or ten miles from Innerleithen,
and at all events a trip should be taken in that direc-
tion. Yarrow and Meggat are both good streams, and
in the loch itself the spring trout rises freely at a large
dark fly. The angler may also try the Lyne and Biggar
waters, and, crossing over to Clyde, fish down to Hamil-
ton. A salmon or two maybe killed in this month be^
low Stonebyres.

From Hamilton we would proceed to Glasgow, and
descend by the daily steamer to Inverary. Loch Awe
is only nine miles distant from that town. There are

132 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

plenty of inns in its neighbourhood ; at Dalmally, Cla-
dish, Portsonachon, and other places. To fish Loch
Awe properly, a boat will be required, which can be
obtained for a reasonable hire. The boatman employed
is always competent to instruct one upon the likeliest
feeding grounds, and other such matters. We may
state that the best part of Loch Awe for the salmoferox
is above where the river Awe issues, and directly be-
low Ben Cruachan. In the rivers Awe and Urchy,
salmon abound ; the former, also, is much frequented
by whithngs. When inclined to leave this district,
the angler may strike in upon the mihtary road, pass-
ing Queen's house and leading through Glencoe. Tliis
he may do by proceeding up Loch Etive, and the
stream which falls into it, or in many other ways — but
none certainly so romantic as this. Glencoe leads to
Loch Leven, an arm of the sea, and one from it may
proceed to Fort William, either by Ballychuhsh, or
by a mountain path through Glen Nevis, well worthy
to be preferred by the lover of nature. At Fort- Wil-
liam let him try the Lochy : he will find it, if slightly
swollen, a first-rate river, especially for sea trout and
grilses. From thence, he should proceed to Inverness
by steamer, and cross over about July to Sutherland,
or else strike aside to Loch Laggan, by the course of
the Spean. He will find near the head of the loch a
good inn, and a strange fish of a landlord. Dalwhin-
nie, above Loch Ericht, and Dalnacardoch on the
Garry, a short distance from Loch Garry, should also
be visited ; and passing through Blair Athol, the angler
may follow the stream down to where it meets with the
Tummel ; he should then hold up the vale of Tummel
to Loch Tummel, where large strong trout are to be
taken from a boat. At Kinloch Rannoch, a few miles
farther on, there is a good inn, and the angling on some

ANGLING DISTRICTS. 133

parts of the loch is reckoned excellent, as it also is on
the Gawin, and Loch Lydoch. Crossing the hills to
the south, a forenoon's walk will bring hira to Glen
Lyon, down which he should angle his way to Fortin-
gal, and in the evening settle himself at Kenmore on
Taymouth. Instead, however, of following the course
of Tay towards Dunkeld, we would advise him to pro-
ceed by the loch side to Killin, from thence to Loch
Earn Head, the Trosachs, Lochs Chon and Ard, Stir-
ling and Edinburgh. Should he, however, prefer visit-
ing Sutherland and Ross-shire, by Inverness, we would
leave him to select his own route, aware that he can
scarcely go amiss after good sport among the numerous
waters of these northern districts. The Shin, Oikel,
Ewe, Carron, and others, are all, in their season, good
salmon rivers, and the salmoferox inhabits many of the
large reservoirs and lochs. Good humour and perse-
verance are the angler's two good angels, and without
these his pastime becomes a torment, and our advice
of no value.

CAITHNESS.

The extreme north of Scotland will not disappoint
the venturous angler, provided he meet with favourable
weather and flooded rivers. Without rain, he must
confine himself wholly to loch fishing, which, during
summer, is certainly the most satisfactory. Caithness,
like the neighbouring counties, is well watered, both by
streams and reservoirs. Of the former, the more im-
portant are the Forss, Thurso, Wick, and Berry dale
waters, all of which are frequented by salmon. The
lesser streams are Dunbeath, Langwall, a tributary of
Berrydale, Wester water, and the burn of Rattar from
Loch Sciste. The lochs in this shire are Lochs Hallen,
Watten, Lochs More, Scirach, Sciste, Calder, Ruard,

134 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

Stemster, Toftingall, Calam, and Shurery. These in
general abound in trout, and several of them are access-
ible to the salmon. There are small towns and inns
at the mouth of every considerable river and along the
coast, although the inland districts are but scantily
supplied with accommodation for the angler. The
number of fish killed in the river Thurso and bay,
amounted, in 1822, to 5908 ; in 1823, to 8067; and in
] 824, to 5767, salmon and grilses.

SUTHERLANDSHIRE.

Although little frequented by the angler, this county
offers a variety of sporting waters, unequalled by any
other in Scotland. It teems with lochs and rivers, the
former abundantly stored with fine trout and char,
while the latter are much visited by salmon and whit-
lings. The gillaroo and salmo ferox of Loch Awe are
found in many places. Of streams in Sutherland, the
principal are the Naver, from a loch of the same name
faUing into the sea at the bay of Torresdale; the Helms-
dale, from Loch Baden, in which salmon abound ; the
Halladale, the Brora, from Loch Brora, where the
angling is first-rate — Shiberscross water is its principal
feeder ; the Fleet, the Strathy, and the Shin, a good
salmon river, where the fish run large, and are killed
in great numbers at a linn and waterfall some way up ;
near it are the Cassly, remarkable for the clearness and
small size of its salmon ; and the Oikel, a water of con-
siderable size, which joins the Shin above Dornoch.
The chief lochs are Shin, Naver, Assynt, Baden, Hope,
More, Layghal, Brora, and Ulaball. Loch Shin, the
tamest and least romantic of the lochs in Sutherland,
is a large expanse of water, about twenty-four miles in
length ; many of the others are of a considerable size,
and most of them contain trout in great quantities.

ANGLING DISTRICTS. 135

Such, also, as are connected with the sea by means of
rivers, are well stocked with salmon. Lochs Craggie
and Beannached, or the loch of blessing, in the parish
of Rogart, are remarkable for the superior angling they
afford. Almost the sole proprietor in this shire is the
present Duke of Sutherland, who holds the soil in right
of marriage. A strange and unconstitutional, not to
talk of illiberal system of policy, seems to be gaining root
in Sutherland, countenanced no doubt by his present
Grace, but proceeding in a great measure from the im-
perious underlings to whose advice he is subject. Will
it be believed, that one of the most extensive counties
in Scotland, situated almost on the extreme north of
Great Britain, as wild in part as when it came out of
the Creator's hands, with all its boasted improvements
at this very moment a natural desert, and likely to con-
tinue so for centuries — will it be beheved that the whole
of this territory is virtually excluded from his Majesty's
dominions ; that the subjects of this free realm, at the
beck of its influential proprietor and his haughty repre-
sentatives, are denied access to its remotest corner; that
without special permission (a thing not to be obtained
by mere application, but granted, if granted at all, to
suit the personal interests of certain hangers-on of his
Grace) no one may throw a feather across the most
insignificant of its countless pools, or finger a blade of
mountain grass, or lift a single stone from its dragon-
guarded soil? There are pretty comfortable inns at
Dornoch and Clashmore; at Golspie, not far from
Brora; at Bonar Bridge, and Culrain Inn, command-
ing the Carron, Shin, and Oikel rivers ; also at Oikel
Bridge ; Lairg, near the foot of Loch Shin ; Altnaharra,
head of Loch Naver ; Bettyhill of Farr on the Naver ;
Kirkabole Inn, near Loch Layghal ; Innisindamff,
at Loch Assynt ; and at Lochs Eribole and Inver ;

136 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

near all of which good fishing is to be had, especially
during a rainy season. The fisheries on the Naver,
the Helmsdale, and the Brora, draw an annual rental
of about L.I7OO, their produce averaging in value
L.6800. The produce of Brora and Shin in 1806,
amounted to 44,811 salmon and grilses.

KINCARDINE.

The rivers in this shire, if we except the Dee and
North Esk, which partly water it, are small, although
well stocked with fish. The Cowie, the Carron, and
the Bervie waters, deserve notice*; they are ascended
during floods by salmon and sea trout. The Dye and
its tributaries, the Feugh and Avon, enter Dee oppo-
site Banchory. The Luther also runs through the
county, falling into the North Esk, and contains num-
bers of small trout. There are no lochs within the
county worthy of the angler's attention. The rental of
the North Esk is estimated at L.2400 annually ; that
of the other waters in this county does not exceed
L.300.

ROSS-SHIRE.

The investigations of the angler have as yet been
very partially extended to this county. Such, how-
ever, as have visited it, allow a good repute to the nu-
merous streams by which it is intersected — the outlets
many of them of lochs and tarns, where the trout are
large and well conditioned, feeding, as they do, over
rich and weedy soils. Among the more important wa-
ters, we may mention the Oikel, which bounds Ross-
shire on the north-east ; the Conan, running into the
Cromarty Firth, near Dingwall ; the Ewe, from Loch
Maree ; and the Carron from Loch Leven ; which two
waters, along with the Shiel, Croe, and others of minor
note, belong to the western coast. Conan is a dark»

ANGLING DISTRICTS. 137

massy river, of considerable size and depth, well fre-
quented by salmon, and containing pike and yellow
trout. Its tributaries are the Meig and Orrin, along
with the Black Water, an excellent but severely pre-
served salmon stream. Its proprietor appears to have
singular notions with regard to his fishings, letting them
under strange limitations, and at a great disadvantage to
himself. It is remarkable of the Black Water, that the
fish ascending it, owing to its inky nature, in a couple
of days become quite dark- coloured and seemingly un-
clean. There are fine falls both on it and the Conan,
above which the salmon is seldom caught. The Ewe,
esteemed by Sir Humphry Davy the best salmon water
in Scotland, is of very inconsiderable length, reckoning
only two or three pools. These, however, when the
water is in trim, are literally alive with fish ; at times
you may raise one every other throw in. They do not,
it must be allowed, fasten readily, being fresh from the
sea, which appears to have some effect upon their
visual organs, as it is a matter of difficulty to secure
one out of five that offer themselves. This is a strictly
preserved water, as also is the Carron, which likewise,
in favourable weather, abounds with salmon, grilses,
and sea trout. The Shiel and Croe, in the district
of Kintail, enjoy the same reputation. Small flies
should be generally used in these waters. Among the
lochs in Ross-shire which claim our notice, is Loch
Maree, a superb expanse of water, extending from
head to foot sixteen miles, studded with wooded islets,
and walled in with magnificent mountains. Salmon
frequent its waters, along with abundance of trout.
The best angling lochs in Ross-shire are, however, of a
smaller size, although still very considerable in their di-
mensions. These are Loch Monar, in Strathorrin;
Lochs FannichandLuichart, at the head of Conan river;

138 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

Loch Rosk, near Achnasheen ; Lochs Ledgowan,
Achnanault, and CuUen, near Achnanault ; Loch na
Feigh, Badienoch, and others, near Grudie Bridge ;
Lochs Garve and Achilty, where char are found ;
Nech Van, Dramee, and Loch-an-Dhu, near Contin ;
Loch Bennachan, in Strathconan ; Loch Bran, &c. &c.
Many of these contain great quantities of pike, which
do great injury to the trout, by reducing their numbers,
although tending materially to increase their size. In
Lochs Monar, Ledgowan, and Badienoch, trout, weigh-
ing from two or three to ten pounds, are not unfre-
quently taken with the fly. We have captured them
of a like size on the upper part of the Black Water,
angling with a piece of a trout for pike. In Loch Ba-
dienoch, a small hill tarn, we took a fish, with the red
professor, weighing nearly seven pounds, its length
not more than twenty-two inches, and, when cooked,
cutting redder than a salmon. There are inns at
Strathgarve, Contin ; an excellent one at Achnanault,
at Kinlochewe, Jean Town, Craig, Shiel House, &c.
There is also a good public-house on the rivers Farrar
and Glass, running into Loch Monar.

NAIRN.

Findhorn crosses this shire, running towards the
north-east. It abounds in salmon, as does also the
Nairn, a considerable stream rising in Inverness-shire,
on the mountainous district of Badienoch, and falling
into the Moray Firth. Loch-an-Dorb is the principal
sheet of water in the county.

CROMARTY.

No rivers of note water this county ; one of its dis-
tricts, however, contains a number of lochs, the prin-
cipal of which are Laurger, Ankynoch, Baddagyle,
Skinaskiuk, and Battachan.

ANGLING DISTRICTS. 139

ELGINSHIRE OR MORAY.

Spey washes the south-east boundary of this county.
As a salmon river, it has no equal in Scotland ; the
fishing, belonging to the Duke of Gordon, at its mouth,
is rented for considerably more than L.6000 a-year.
It affords also capital rod-fishing. Findhorn runs pa-
rallel to it, on the north side, and is reckoned an ex-
cellent salmon stream, being large and rapid. Lossie
is the only other water worthy of notice in this shire ;
it rises from the hills of Dallas, and, as a good angling
river, is not behind Spey and Findhorn. The lochs
in this county are not numerous : Spynie and Loch-na-
Bee form the principal, both containing pike, the latter
some trout. The salmon flies in use among the nor-
thern counties are very similar to those employed in
the south of Scotland, although perhaps of a larger
size, and somewhat more fanciful.

The fisheries in this county, taken in connection
with those of Nairn, are valued at L.25,000 annually.

BANFFSHIRE.

Banffshire is watered by numerous streams, contain-
ing salmon and trout in considerable quantities. At the
head of these is the river^Spey, rising in the county of
Inverness, from the western district of Badenoch. Its
tributaries, in Banffshire, are the Avon, the Fiddich,
and the DuUan. Avon receives the Livet and the
Tervie, and many smaller waters empty themselves into
Spey from the south. Besides these, we find the De-
veron, an excellent angling stream, falling into the sea
at Banff. It is joined, above Rothiemay, by the Isla,
and farther up by the Bogie, both good trouting rivers.
There is an inn at Tomantoul on the Avon,' where the
angler may put up ; also on the Spey, at Ballindalloch,
Aberlour, Rothes, and Fochabers. Keith on the Isla,

140 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

and Huntley on the Deveron, are also well provided
with accommodation.

ABERDEENSHIRE.

Although possessing several distinguished waters,
Aberdeenshire is barely entitled to the praise of the
angler. Some of its streams, the Dee especially, are
rocky and rapid — prime haunts of the salmon, but fre-
quented indifferently by good-sized river trout : others,
however, the lower parts of the Don and the Ythan,
are reckoned excellent, flowing, as they do, through a
richer soil. Salmon, in any quantity, ascend Don only
a short distance. The Urie, which falls into it at In-
verury, with its tributaries, the Gadie, Shevock, and
Lochter, is a sluggish water, running through a pastoral
country, and contains a fair allowance of fish. The
other leading streams in this shire are the Ugie, formed
of the Strichen and Deer waters, and the Deveron.
The tributaries of Dee are principally Luchar and Gor-
mack burns, the water of Gairden, the Muick, the
Ouich, Lui, and water of Geauley.

Its lochs are Loch Muick, containing numbers of
small trout, Loch of Skene, well provided with pike
and perch. Loch Cannord, Loch Callader, and Brota-
chan.

The best fishing stations are at Ballater on the Dee,
about forty-two miles from Aberdeen, also at Castleton
of Braemar.

The average annual number of salmon and grilses,
taken betwixt the years 1813 and 1824, amounted to
52,862 on the Dee, and 40,677 on the Don.

FORFARSHIRE.

The North and South Esks, in Forfarshire, are
reckoned good salmon streams. The former flowing

ANGLING DISTRICTS. 141

from Loch Lee, is joined in its course by the Luther,
Cruick, West- water, and Tarf; which, along with nu-
merous smaller streams, afford excellent trouting. South
Esk, a larger water, receives the Noran and Prosen,
Lemno and Carity, entering the sea at Montrose. Be-
sides the Esks, we find, belonging to this shire, several
streams of less importance, among which may be no-
ticed the Lunan, Finny Burn, Dighty, and Elliot :
joining Isla on the west, we discover the Dean, a dull
running water, abounding in very large red-fleshed
trout ; it should be fished early in March, before the
rushes, which grow plentifully in its course, appear
above the surface ; also the Kerbet, and Glammis Burn,
both of which are well stored with fish, and merit the
angler's attention. A few small lochs are to be met
with here and there. Among others. Loch Lee con-
tains large trout : Lochs Brandy and Churl also abound
with fish. Perch are found in the Loch of Forfar ; and
Rescobie, along with the Balgavies, is not without its
scaly inhabitants.

STIRLINGSHIRE.

The Forth, as we find it at Stirling, is only suited
for the net and coble. Higher up, salmon may be taken
with the rod : they are not, however, very plentiful,
preferring to ascend its tributary the Teith, a more rapid
and transparent stream. Pike and perch are found in
abundance, and many good trout frequent its sources.
Of tributaries, besides the Teith and Allan Water, it
has the Kelty and Duchray below Loch Ard, also the
Goodie from the Lake of Monteith. These are respect-
able angling waters, but by no means greatly stocked with
fish. Carron and Bannockburn run through this shire
— ^the former, like the English rivers, slow and winding,
without many trout, being injured by numbers of bleach-

142 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

fields and machinery of various kinds. To the west
of the county flows the water of Endrick, with the Blane
its tributary, which falls into Loch Lomond, and is well
filled with trout and roach. The scenery on its banks
is highly romantic. Kelvin Water, with Allander,
border Stirlingshire, but are not possessed of any great
attractions to the angler : Avon also divides it from
West Lothian on the south-east. A few small lochs
are to be met with, but none of any note or interest.
Stirlingshire and its angling districts are of easy access,
and inns are plentifully scattered about the county.

PERTHSHIRE.

To the angler, Perthshire offers a choice field, if we
may so call it, for the exercise of his art. Its rivers
and lochs are numerous, of various dimensions, and
well stored with trout, salmon, pike, and perch. The
inns and fishing stations are generally good and accom-
modating. The principal river in this county is the
Tay, a noble salmon stream : its many fisheries, how-
ever, confine the use of the rod to the most rapid parts,
which cannot be approached with the net. The Linn
of Campsie, betwixt Perth and Dunkeld, and the stretch
of water running from Loch Tay towards Aberfeldy,
are undoubtedly the best resorts for the angler. The
chief tributaries of Tay are the Earn, Almond, Ordie,
Islay, Bran, Tummel, and Lyon Water. The Earn
is a favourite stream with the sea trout and grilses : it
runs in general somewhat sluggishly, and contains
numbers of pike. Its sources are the May, a first-rate
angling burn, the Machony, the Turit, and the Rochil
— the last, passing through Glenartney, is much fre-
quented by the smaller sort of sea trout, or whithngs,
during the months of July and August. Almond, which
falls into Tay immediately above Perth, flows in the

ANGLING DISTRICTS. 143

upper part through one of the most remarkable passes
in Scotland, and teems, where it is uninjured by mills,
&c. with small lively trout. An expert angler may
take from eight to sixteen dozen in the course of a
day. The Islay is reckoned an excellent salmon
river ; it meets Tay on the left betwixt Dunkeld and
Perth, and is well adapted, along with its tributaries
the Ardle, &c. for rod-fishing. Braan and Ordie con-
tain trout in considerable numbers. The Tummel,
which joins Tay at Logierait, may be reckoned among
the more tolerable waters in Perthshire. Some parts,
however, excel and contain large trout. Salmon sel-
dom ascend above the falls. Into Tummel, and above
Pitlochrie, flows the Garry, a tolerable fishing stream.
The Tilt meets Garry at Blair Athol, and farther up
enters the Bruar, both affording fine sport to the angler.
Lyon Water, falling into Tay below Kenmore, contains
salmon and trout in considerable plenty. The districts
of Perthshire through which Tay and its tributaries
flow, are beautifully varied and marked with fine natu-
ral scenery. Lochs are scattered in all directions, filled
with fish of various sorts and quahties. The princi-
pal of these are Loch Tay, into which fall the Dochart
and Lochie, good angling streams ; Lochs Bha, Ly-
doch, Aich, Rannoch, and Tummel, connected in a
series by the Gawin and river Tummel ; Lochs Ericht,
Garry, Earn, Turit, Freuchie, and Broom, all well
stored with fish. Loch Tummel contains very large
trout and pike ; of the former, six or seven may be killed
in a day, from two to twelve pounds weight each : a
large red fly or small trout are the best lures, and a
boat, of which there are several on the water, is ne-
cessary ; the outlet is reckoned by us the surest ground,
especially in the evening. Loch Turit produces, be-
sides pike and perch, a fine red trout, which grows to

144 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

an immense size. Lochs Freuchie and Broom abound
in red trout, reckoned at the table superior to char ;
both are much netted. Besides these we could men-
tion fifty others ; many of them first-rate, and abounding
in fish ; these, however, are generally small, averaging
a quarter of a pound, and may be captured in triplets.

The best quarters for anglers are Dalnacardoch, si-
tuated on the Garry, some miles above Blair Athol ; .
Dalwhinnie on Loch Ericht, Kinloch Rannoch, Cu-
shiville. Bridge of Tummel, Auchinleck on Erichty,
Monlinearn on Tummel, Amulree on Loch Freuchie,
Fortingall and Killin : at all of which places, good rea-
sonable accommodation maybe had, and sport expected.

Teith is the principal river in the western district
of this county, falling into the Forth above the Bridge
of Allan. It abounds in salmon, and in some parts
the trouting is good. Keltic is its largest tributary.
Immediately below Teith, Allan Water joins the Forth,
on the whole a sluggish stream, containing pike in great
abundance. The lochs near the head of Teith are
numerous, some of them very indifferent for angling in,
although highly beautiful. Those properly bordering
on Stirlingshire, and united with its leading river, afford
the choicest sport, namely, Lochs Chon, Dhu, Ard,
Arklet, and Voil. At them good accommodation can
be obtained ; boats also can be procured, out of which,
with moderate success, the angler may take no scanty
weight of fine well-flavoured trout, red in the flesh,
and of uncommon strength and vigour. The others,
excepting Loch Lubnaig, are considerably impaired by
the quantities of pike they contain. Vennachar and
Katrine, however, produce some beautiful red trout,
to be caught by trolling with minnow from a boat.
Good inns are to be met with near most of the lochs
in this district of the county.

ANGLING DISTRICTS. 145

ARGYLESHIRE.

The Argyleshire river is more famous for its small
salmon and whitlings than its yellow trout. The lat-
ter seldom attain any size among the rocky and barren
streams of this county. They are lean, large-headed,
and weak, very different from those bred in its lochs,
which mostly possess rich weeded or channelled bot-
toms, favourable to the growth of fish. We shall not
attempt to classify the vast numbers of waters scattered
over this wild and mountainous region, nor is it neces-
sary. The angler has only to be there ; and if the
weather be favourable, he cannot go amiss for sport,
whether he seeks it among the lochs or streams.

The likeliest months, especially during rain, are July
and August, when the white trout ascend in great
quantities. Many of the tarns in this shire are literally
chokeful of fish, and a very indifferent hand may easily
capture from six to fourteen dozen. The principal
rivers in Argyleshire are the Awe, which flows from
Loch Awe into Loch Etive, an arm of the sea ; the
Urchayfrom Loch Tulla, the Avish, the Creran, Etive,
the Euchanin Morven, and the Coe. The Shira, Ary,
and Douglas Water, fall into Lochfine ; the Lochy,
Druiskie, Cona, Scadle, and Gour, into Loch Eil. In
Islay are the Anaharly, Laggan, and Lorn rivers. In
Arran, Scordale and lorsa ; the Aros on the Isle of
Mull, &c. &c. A green fly made so as to resemble the
grasshopper is reckoned very killing on all of these
streams. The principal lochs are Awe, Eck, Tulla,
Treachtan, Avich, Conich, na-Chiurn, Sulemore,
Dulate, Camloch, Dowloch, Scamadale, Curhary,
Uisk, Ardglash, Assapol, Glasken, and Garrasdill.
There are good quarters for the angler in some parts
of Argyleshire, especially near the neighbourhood of
Loch Awe, where, besides the inns at Dalmally, Cla-

K

346 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

dish, and Portsonachon, a comfortable lodging-house
has lately been erected nearly opposite to Kilchurn
Castle, and boats provided expressly for lovers of the
sport. At Bunaw, also, beds can be procured. Oban
and Inverary, along with many places of minor note,
furnish excellent accommodation ; and the angler will
hardly be at a loss for lodgings, should he apply at the
numerous boat-houses and cattle farms scattered in
all directions over the county.

INVERNESS-SHIRE.

. We may extend the remarks we have made upon
the rivers in Argyleshire, to many of those in this
county. They are mostly too rocky to breed good
yellow trout, while they abound in salmon and whit-
lings. Ness is the largest river, running through the
shire, and teems with fine fish. Contending with it,
the Spey, on entering Elgin, takes the lead. The
smaller, but by no means inconsiderable waters, are,
the Lochy, running into Loch Eil at Fort William,
the Beauly, the Sheil, the Foyers, the Garry, the
Coiltie, the Glass, the Morriston, the Enneric, and
the Kinnie, all of them choice streams, and affording
excellent sport to the angler. The Findhorn and
Nairn have their sources in this county. A large red
professor with gold tinsel is taken with avidity by the
sea trout in these waters. Green silk bodies we have
found also to be very killing, especially in the lochs
which are every where scattered throughout Inver-
ness-shire. The principal are. Lochs Ness, Oich,
and Lochy, Laggan, Ericht, and Treag, in the south ;
Ashley, Affairie, Dundelchalk, Bruiach, Benevran,
Clunie, Luing, Ruthven, Garry, and others, with
Lochs Quoich, Arkaig, and Shiel, lying to the west. .
Loch Laggan and others contain char and a very fine

ANGLING DISTRICTS. 147

variety of red trout, of a beautiful orange appearance,
which grows to a large size, and fights well. There
are good quarters in many parts of Inverness-shire, at
Fort William, Roy-Bridge, and Loch Laggan head;
the General's Hut near Foyers, Fort Augustus, Cluany,
Don-an-Down, Invergarry Inn on Loch Oich, Inver-
moriston on Loch Ness, Loch Hourn head. Lochs
Aylart and Arisaig, with Glenfinnan Inn at Loch Shiel ;
also, in the eastern districts the angler can be accom-
modated at Moy on Loch Moy, near the Findhorn,
at the bridge of Carr over the Dulnain, and on the
Spey at Aviennore and Pitmain. Many of these places
are attainable by the steam-boat, others can be reached
by public coaches in the summer time.

Tlie salmon fisheries in the county are farmed an-
nually for about L.3000. Those most valuable are on
Loch Ness and Loch Beauly. A singular method of
capturing fish is practised at Invermoriston, where there
is a salmon leap of some height. Individuals are sta-
tioned with harpoons or small spears on each side of
the fall, which instruments being fastened to a line of
some length, they dart at such fish as attempt, by
throwing themselves into the air, to reach the upper
part of the river. Many salmon are transfixed in this
way, and hauled ashore by the fishermen. The num-
ber of salmon killed on the Ness fishings in 1822, was
684, and 76 grilses ; in 1823, there were captured 192
salmon, and 466 grilses ; and in 1824, 587 salmon, and
1601 grilses,

FIFESHIRE,

The rod is not much in use among the few and
sluggish waters of this shire. Some of these, how-
ever, breed large and strong trout, which afford excel-
lent play. The principal rivers are the Eden, which
passes Cupar, and the Leven, with its tributary the

148 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

Ore. Tliese are all of the same character, level and
rich bottomed ; the two latter containing pike and perch
in considerable numbers, with a few heavy trout to be
taken most readily during an east wind, and sprinkling
of rain. A large red fly we found our best lure, but
minnows may be used with great success. Sea trout
are to be caught at the mouth of the Leven, during
spring and autumn. The few small lochs situated in
Fifeshire produce pike and other dead-water fish. In
a burn running from Kilconquhar Loch, near the vil-
lage of Elie, we have killed good trout.

KINROSS-SHIRE.

The far-famed Loch Leven lies in this county. It
belongs to various proprietors, and is let to a tacksman,
by whom, during the open season, it is daily netted.
A consideration will give strangers the privilege of
angling in it. The trout are of several varieties, ge-
nerally red, and many of them large. They rise badly
at a fly, but may be taken with the minnow and troll-
ing line. The North and South Quaichs and the Gair-
ney run into this loch, which waters abound in small
fish ; the loch trout also ascend them, during the Sep-
tember and October months, for the purpose of spawn-
ing ; lobworms are a good bait at that season. The
fishings on Loch Leven are said to have been greatly
injured by the late drainings carried into operation
over the shallow part of its surface. It is perfectly
natural they should be so. The abstraction of the best
feeding-grounds must evidently injure the quality, re-
duce the size, and diminish the numbers of the fish.
In a very short period this celebrated trout-preserve
will become entirely worthless. Kinross-shire seems
a dull tame-looking shire, and, excjept Loch Leven
Castle, contains no place of any interest. Pike and

ANGLING DISTRICTS. 149

perch abound. A few small tarns lie above Cleisli,
but their produce is very indifferent. On the whole,
this county is no residence for the angler.

THE LOTHIANS.

The streams in our metropolitan county are the
Water of Leith, or Currie Water, the North and South
Esks, and part of the Almond, which divides it from
Linlithgowshire. The first of these is full of trout, shy
in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, but rising freely
a few miles up, especially at the grey and dun midge.
The Esks are poor angling waters, much poisoned by
manufactories, and too rocky to breed good fish. Those
parts of them, however, which are under restrictions,
abound in small trout. * The Almond is better, and
the small burns of Linhouse and Gogar, which run into
it, contain some fair-sized fish. We have caught re-
markably fine ones at Kirkliston, and farther down ;
also sea trout and small grilses in the neighbourhood of
Cramond. Trout are found in considerable quantities
among the Pentland burns, and especially in Compen-
sation Pond above Glencorse, where we have killed
betwixt five and six dozen in the course of a day. Co-
binshaw Bog is also a good piece of water, containing
large fish. Gala and Heriot run southward through
this shire, and afford excellent sport. Torsonce Inn is
the most conveniently situated for these waters.

In the county of Haddington, we find the Tyne, a
sluggish rich-bottomed stream, producing large well-
fed trout, somewhat shy and tender mouthed. A black
midge forms the best lure, and they rise freest when the
wind is easterly. A few salmon and sea trout are
found below East Linton. Beal Burn is almost the
only other angling stream in this district, and abounds
with nice trout. The Avon borders upon Linlithgow-

150 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

shire, and is, upon the whole, a tolerable angling water.
The Canal and Linlithgow Loch contain pike, perch,
and some beautiful trout, to be caught with the dead
minnow and worm.

PEEBLESSHIRE.

Tweed runs through this county, gathering its tri-
bute from numerous small streams, all of which breed
shoals of trout and salmon. Of these, the principal are
the Fruid, Tala, Biggar Water, Lyne, Manor Water,
Eddlestone, Leithen, and Quair. Each of these, but
especially the Tala, abounds in fish. Lyne also, al-
though much deteriorated of late, was at one time con-
sidered a good water. The best stations on this the
upper part of Tweed, are the Crook Inn, the Inn at
Rommanno Bridge, situated on the Lyne, West Lin-
ton, Peebles, and Riddel's Inn, Innerleithen.

Belonging properly to this shire, the Meggat, which
flows into St Mary's Loch, recommends itself to the
fly fisher. We have heard it reckoned the best stream
in the south of Scotland, and have ourselves often taken
numbers of fine heavy fish out of it, in the course of a
morning, when the water was slightly flooded, and the
trout ascended from the lake in quest of food. Into
Meggat fall the Winterhope and Glengaber Burns, both
well stored with fish. The black and red professor,
along with the blue and hare's ear bodies, are the most
killing flies for this county, and may be used with suc-
cess in all its streams.

The upper part of Tweeddale may be easily reached
from Edinburgh, by the coaches to Dumfries.

SELKIRKSHIRE.

There are many good stations for the angler in this
county. It is watered by Yarrow and Ettrick, con-
siderable streams. The primest part of Tweed also runs

ANGLING DISTRICTS. lol

through it, stretching from Juniper Bank towards Ab-
botsford. The Ettrick joins Tweed near Selkirk ; and
Gala Water, which bounds the county to the north-
east, enters it a few miles farther down. The Ettrick has
a number of tributaries, all of them excellent. The
principal are Timah, Rankle Burn, Back, Faahope,
and Kirkhope Burns. On Yarrow, are Douglas and
Altrive Burns, both filled with trout. Selkirkshire
contains several lochs, among which St Mary's is the
choicest. The Loch of the Lowes produces good pike.
The other lochs are Clearburn, Hell Moor, Ale Moor,
Shaw's Loch, King's Moor, Oaker Moor, and Windy
Loch, some of them containing trout, others pike and
perch.

The best fishing quarters are Clovenford Inn, on
the Cadon Water, and Riddel's Inn, Innerleithen. At
St Mary's Loch, good lodgings are easily procured,
especially at the upper end, where -there is a nice
cleanly cottage, provided with every requisite for the
angler, and kept by an industrious and obliging land-
lady, Mrs Richardson, the Tibby Shiels of one of the
Noctes in Blackwood. The Gordon Arms, and other
stations on Yarrow, along with the inn near the Hope-
houses, Ettrick, may also be recommended. Thescenery
in Selkirkshire is chiefly pastoral ; descending from the
hilly country, it assumes a more varied aspect, enchant-
ing the eye with the beauty and positions of its land-
scape.

The most killing flies for St Mary's Loch, are black
hackles, and wings of the woodcock, teal, or mallard
feather ; a smallish fly, with hare's ear body, takes well
in calm weather ; red hackles are most efficient in au-
tumn, or after a heavy flood. Coaches from Edinburgh
pass through Selkirk at least twice in the day.

152 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

ROXBURGHSHIRE.

Tweed waters this county, receiving the Leader op-
posite Melrose, the Teviot at Kelso, and still farther
down the Edon. Teviot, the leading stream, has many
tributaries ; of these the principal are the Borthwick,
Slitrig, Rule Water, Ail, Jed, Oxnam, and Kail. The
character of their channels is generally alike, and they
all contain numbers of trout ; few of which, however,
exceed a pound or two in weight, although salmon
and sea trout are to be caught during the late autumn
floods, and in spring, of a size sufficient to give con-
siderable play to the angler. Teviot itself is much ha-
rassed by poachers from Hawick and its neighbourhood,
who use close time as the season of their depredations,
and employ for apparatus, leisters, lime, and nets,
T\'ithout ceremony ; hence, no fish of size, except such
as ascend from Tweed, are to be found in this river.
Jn Roxburghshire, good accommodation for the angler
will be found at Melrose and Kelso, on the Tweed ;
also at St Boswell's, Jedburgh, and Hawick, along with
the smaller villages scattered up and down the shire.

AYRSHIRE.

The angler will find in Ayrshire a few excellent
trouting waters. The leading ones are the Rye Wa-
ter, Lugton, and Caaf, falhng into the Garnock ; the
Irvine increased by the Kilmarnock, Carmel, and An-^
noch Waters ; the Water of Ayr, a very clear stream,
abounding in trout ; the Doon, from Loch Doon, con-
taining salmon, red and w^hite trout, and char ; the
Girvan and the Strichen, into the last of which fall
the Asshill, Duck, and Feoch Burns. A number of
small lochs are situated in Ayrshire, among which may
be mentioned, Lochs Doon, Finlass, Bredenholm,
Cornist, and Ballochipg. Loch Doon contains a very

ANGLING DISTRICTS. 153

singular sort of trout ; the length of the fish being in
nowise great, while it possesses a remarkable thickness
and breadth, and is of a blackish colour. Dalmelling-
ton on the Doon is not a bad station for the angler.

BERWICKSHIRE.

The Blackadder, which flows tlu'ough this shire, has
few equals in the south of Scotland for the fineness of
its trout. These are large and red-fleshed, being nou-
rished upon a mossy soil, well known to impart a high
colour to fish. Blackadder is mostly preserved ; salmon
seldom or never ascend it, preferring to its somewhat
sluggish water a quicker and morehmpid stream. The
trout are capricious, and vary their food often, seemingly
without reason. Whitadder receives this water at Al-
lanton, a small village where the angler may obtain a
bed, and is well stored with trout, although much fished
and netted in the lower parts. The Leader, Eden,
and Leet, are within the shire, and afford, as all the
tributaries of Tweed do, excellent sport. Ey is the only
other river in Berwickshire which is worthy of notice :
it abounds in small trout, which cannot fail of pro-
ducing amusement to some anglers during the season.
Dunse, Greenlaw, and Coldstream, are the best quar-
ters for resort. There is an excellent inn also at Elm-
ford, on the Whitadder, and one or tw^o on the Ey Wa-
ter. Besides these, the angler may have good quarters
at Lauder, Carfrae Mill, and Earlston, on the Leader.

KIRKCUDBRIGHT.

The Stewartry of Kirkcudbright abounds in streams
and lochs. Among the former, the Dee, the Ken, the
Cree, and the Urr, take the lead. These offer in
some parts excellent sport to the angler, containing
trout, salmon, and herhngs in considerable quantities.
Of the lesser rivers, the Fleet, Tarf, Deugh, and Clu-

154 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

den, are worthy of mention, being nowise insignificant,
either as regards their size or quality. Like the others,
they are frequented by the salmon and sea trout, and
breed numbers of fresh -water fish. The lochs within
the stewartry, although not extensive, are very nume-
rous, many of them well stocked with trout and char,
and others filled with pike. The principal are. Lochs
Ken, Grannoch, Rutton, Milton, Auchen-reoch, Loch-
invar, Loch Dee, Moan, Enoch, Dungeon, Trool,
Greenoch, Skerrow, Whinyan, and Glentoo.

DUMFRIESSHIRE.

The Nith, Annan, and Esk, are the principal rivers.
Nith rises in the county of Ayr, entering Dumfries-
shire at Corsincon ; it is reckoned, in some parts, a
good salmon water. Of tributaries it has the Euchan,
which falls into it near Sanquhar, the Minnick, Carron,
Scarr, and Cluden ; most of these, especially near their
sources, abound in trout ; salmon and herlings also as-
cend them during spring and autumn.

Annan rises from a hill betwixt Peeblesshire and
Dumfriesshire. Its character is pretty much the same
as that of the Nith, although, perhaps, it offers along
with its feeders more choice angling. Below Moffat,
Evan and the Moffat Water are its first tributaries ; the
latter is much lashed, and contains few yellow trout of
any size, although the par and such small fish are very
abundant. The Wamphray, Kinnel, and Ae, the
Dryfe, Milk, and Mien Waters, successively enlarge
the Annan before it enters the Sol way Firth.

The Esk of this county is formed by an union of the
Black and White Esks, at Kingpool, in the parish of
Westerkirk. It is afterwards increased by a number of
streams, not unworthy of attention. Of these, the
principal are, the Meggat and Stennis, the Ewes,

ANGLING DISTRICTS. 155

Waucliope, and Tarras, along with Byre Burn and the
Liddle, all of which are stocked with fish. To Tarras,
the well-known Hnes,

And Tarras for the good bull-trout.
If it be ta'en in time,

are still applicable. The Esk enters Cumberland, after
receiving these waters, and runs into the Solway Firth.
Besides the principal rivers and their tributaries, there
are in this county a few minor streams, not to be over-
looked by the angler ; of these, the Lochar, Pow, and
Kirtle, are the most worthy of his attention. The
Lochar, from Locharmoss, is a dark sluggish stream,
somewhat dangerous to angle in, owing to the unsteady
nature of its margin, but containing large fine trout.
The waters in Dumfriesshire are much harassed by
poachers. Large trout are seldom allowed to remain
unmolested, and should any chance to escape notice,
they become shy of the hook, and confine themselves
to the deep and inaccessible pools, feeding at night,
and with great caution. Few lochs are found in this
shire. Those worthy of remark are, Loch Skene, in
the northern district, which produces a very fine tasted
trout, to be caught in great plenty only during a warm
south-west or south wind, and with small black flies.
The lochs at Lochmaben contain trout, bream, fine
pike, and a remarkable fish termed the vendace, which
resembles in size, shape, and appearance, the common
herring. This species is only to be taken with the net.
The pike, roach, and chub, or, as it is called there,
the skelly, abound in many of the rivers of this county,
especially the Annan. They also are generally famous
for the numbers of herlinss and sea trout bv which
they are visited, during the months of July and August.
The salmon fisheries on the Solway Firth, Annan, and
other waters, yield a rental of L.1400 a-year. There

156 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

are good stations for the angler at Beatock Inn on the
Annan, and Mosspaul on the Esk. Accommodation
also may be had at Lochmaben.

WIGTONSHIRE.

Many of the streams which flow in the south-west
of Scotland partake, in the lower districts, and as they
approach the sea, of the character of English waters.
They are deep and sluggish, containing pike and other
dead-water fish in considerable abundance, although
in most of them trout and salmon are to be found. Of
rivers in Wigtonshire, the Cree, Bladenoch, Tarf, Luce,
and Cross, are the principal. Cree is well stocked with
salmon during the spawning season ; trout and smelts
are also to be caught in this water. A few salmon and
herhngs frequent Badenoch and Tarf; besides these,
the latter breeds pike and trout in great numbers.

This shire abounds in lochs. Those at Castle Ken-
nedy produce pike, perch, roach, and trout, along with
a few carp and tench. The other principal lochs,
mostly of the same nature, and containing the same
sorts of fish, are Maberry, Ochiltree, Castle Loch,
Mochrum, Ronnald, Dowalton, Appelby, and Eldrich.

RENFREWSHIRE.

The extensive encouragement given to manufactures
in this county has considerably injured the great pro-
portion of its rivers. In the lower districts of the shire,
fresh-water fish have become comparatively scarce, al-
though trout in some places are still to be found. The
chief streams in Renfrewshire are the White and Black
Carts, along with the Gryffe Water. Besides these,
we find the Earn, Calder Water, Shaw's Burn, Ard-
gowan, or Kipp Water, and the Rotten Burn, all of
which contain fish. Of lochs, the principal is that of
Castle Semple.

ANGLING DISTRICTS. 157

DUMBARTONSHIRE.

Loch Lomond is the chief point of attraction in this
county. It measures from north to south twenty-three
miles, and is reckoned, as is well known, the finest
sheet of water in Great Britain. Pike, trout, and
perch, abound in all parts of it. The salmon also
ascends by the river Leven during floods. It af-
fords, however, no remarkable temptations to the rod-
fisher, although at certain times he may manage to fill
his creel without trouble. The Falloch, Luss, Fruin,
Uglass, and Snaid, are its principal tributaries from the
north and west sides. Endrick is received on the
south-east of the loch, and at the foot it discharges it-
self towards Dumbarton by the river Leven. These
streams abound in small trout, and the latter occasion-
ally contains salmon. In Glenfalloch we have caught
twelve dozen easily during a dry summer and unfavour-
able day. Besides Loch Lomond, a few small lakes
are to be found in Dumbartonshire, but none of these
are worthy of much notice. There is accommodation
for the angler at Auldtarnan Inn, on the Falloch Water,
at the head of the loch ; also, at Luss and Balloch,
on the lower extremity.

CLACKMANNAN.

The upper part of Devon, north of the Ochils, is
well stored with trout : farther down there are some
fine hnns, but too rocky to contain good fish, and net-
ted not a little by the inhabitants of the district. We
remember, however, filling a large basket in the course
of a forenoon with the red professor, some years since,
above the Rumbling Bridge. The scenery in many
places is fine — here pastoral, and there beautifully
wooded. There are inns at Muckart and Glendevon,
where the angler may reside. Salmon and sea trout

158 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

ascend the Devon to some length during close time,
but seldom sooner. Except Gartmorin Dam (an ar-
tificial sheet of water two or three miles from Alloa,
from which we have taken numbers of pike and fine
perch), there are no lochs in this shire. A small burn,
called the Black Devon, passes the town of Clackman-
nan, and is inhabited by a few trout.

LANARKSHIRE.

Clyde flows from a mountainous range, at no great
distance from the sources of its rival, Tweed. The
angling some miles above Biggar is good ; the trout,
however, are capricious, and attached to small flies.
Those preferred are winged with the blue feather of
the fieldfare, and have red hackles, or dark fox hair
for the body : a second kind used is the woodcock wing,
and hare's ear fly ; and a third, the common black
hackle. Below the falls at Stonebyres, a midge with
wings of the blue jay feather, and dark body, is very
deadly. Gaudy salmon flies for this part of Clyde are
sometimes used — ^^^ellow and scarlet feathers, mixed
with tinsel. Of tributaries, Clyde has many, and they
are generally good angling waters. Among them we
find — the Duneaton, Elvan, Daer, Blackwater, Mid-
lock, Gonnar, Culter, and Douglas Waters — the Mouse,
Nethan, Avon, and four Calders. Duneaton water
is reckoned the best for trouting in. There are good
inns at Abbington, Crawfurd, and Elvan Foot, in the
southern parts of the shire, and no want of them far-
ther north, as you proceed down the Clyde. Very
large trout are sometimes taken above the falls. One
weighing fifteen pounds was captured some years ago
at Roberton Ford. Salmon, also, which is singular,
have been killed at the head of Clyde, proceeding, as
some have asserted, during high winter floods, from the

ANGLING DISTRICTS. 159

Tweed, which is closely connected with one of its
feeders. A variety of trout, termed the Duchess Ann,
after Ann Duchess of Hamilton, by whom it was im-
ported from England, is found in the lower parts of the
river, some miles farther down than Stonebyres. It is
of a silvery hue outside, with bright scarlet spots, and
cuts red, growing to a large size. The best rod-fishing
for salmon Hes betwixt the lowermost Fall and Hamil-
ton, a stretch of several miles.

ACTS REGULATING FISHERIES. 161

ACTS REGULATING THE SALMON

FISHERIES IN SCOTLAND.

By an act, passed in the ninth year of George the Fourth,
A.D. 1828, for the preservation of the salmon fisheries in
Scotland, and repealing that of 1424, it was enacted, that
no salmon, grilse, sea trout, or other fish of the salmon
kind, shall be taken in or from any river, stream, lake,
water, or estuary whatsoever, or on any part of the sea-
coast, between the 14th day of September and 1st day of
February.

II. That such person, or persons, as take, fish for, or
attempt to take, one, or any of the fish above mentioned,
during close time, shall forfeit and pay any sum not less
than one pound sterling, and not exceeding ten pounds ;
also, that the net or engine employed by the offender shall
be included in the forfeiture.

III. That a trespass with intent to kill fish shall be pu-
nished with a penalty of from ten shillings to five pounds.

IV. That such as sell, or have in possession, smoults,
or the young fry of the salmon, or disturb the parent fish
while spawning, shall be fined in sums not exceeding ten,
nor under one pound sterling.

V. That those who take or expose to sale fish of the
salmon kind, captured betwixt the 14th of September and
the 1st of February, shall pay for each fish so exposed from
one to two pounds, as shall be thought proper.

VI. That such person, or persons, as make use of lights
to assist in killing fish, shall, for each oft'ence, forfeit not
less than the sum of two, and not exceeding that of ten
pounds.

VII. That the sum of five pounds, ordained by the act
1477) as a penalty for using cruives during the forbidden
season, shall be raised to a fine of not under five pounds,
nor above twenty pounds.

VIII. That the occupiers of fisheries must secure, re-
move, or put to some other use, their boats, oars, and tackle,
for the period prohibited, or otherwise incur a penalty of
from two to ten pounds.

\0'2 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

IX. Provides that the penalties above mentioned shall
go to the informer, and be recoverable before the Sheriff
and Justice of Peace courts.

X. That it shall be lawful for any two proprietors of
fishings to call meetings of the other proprietors, by three
several advertisements ; at which meetings it shall be held
lawful to assess one and all of the said proprietors for the
purpose of enforcing the said act, and appointing clerks,
bailiffs, and other officers.

XI. That it shall be lawful to detain offenders against
the above provisions of the act, without any warrant, and
to bring them before Justice of Peace or other competent
courts.

XII. That Justices of Peace, although interested, if not
parties, may act against offenders, or give evidence against
them.

XIII. That no prosecution, unless instituted within six
months of the offence, shall hold good against parties.

XIV. That this act shall not extend to Tweed and its
tributaries, nor to those rivers lying in the counties of
Dumfries, Wigton, and the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright.

A local act was also passed in the 11th year of George
the Fourth, chapter liv. for the effectual preservation and
improvement of salmon fisheries on the Tweed and its
tributaries, rescinding all former statutes, and providing
new regulations in their stead ; which provisions are, in
some respects, similar to those enforced by the general sta-
tute on our northern rivers, with this leading exception,
that the opening of Tweed does not take place until the
15th of February, nor does it close before the 15th of Oc-
tober ; moreover, it is allowed on this river to angle with
the rod until the first day of November.

The minor provisions of this act are, perhaps, somewhat
too tyrannical and destructive of public liberties ; for we
hold it to be at the option of none to increase the value of
their landed property by impairing the natural rights of
usage, which, on contrasting the statute of May 29th,
1830, relative to the Tweed fisheries, with other previous
enactments, appears to us to have been the case.

By the act regulating the salmon fisheries in Dumfries-
shire, the rivers in that county running into the Solway
Firth, open on the 10th of March, and close on the 25th
of September.

With regard to the act of 1828, for the preservation of our

ACTS REGULATING FISHERIES. 163

salmon fisheries north of the Tweed, we take upon us to
hazard a single remark. This act, the result of those ex-
aminations which commenced in 1825 before committees
of both Houses of Parliament, is a piece of ingenuity which
does no great credit to its contrivers. It seems to be or-
ganised entirely out of a mass of local statements, of the
most interested and contradictory nature. We are not
prepared to assert that its effects upon our fisheries are
hurtful in the extreme ; but that by them others equally
beneficial have been supplanted, it requires no discernment
to perceive. The great error of the act of 1828, consists in
the regulation with respect to close time, or the fence season.
By allowing our rivers to open as early as the 1st of Feb-
ruary, a very palpable omission seems to have taken place
on the part of the inquiry committees, as to the time when
our salmon finish spawning, also whether the number of
running exceeds that of return fish during spring, and
whether it be not the case, that the balance against the
clean of those newly spawned and useless is in the propor-
tion of twenty to one, or to that efifect. We do not speak
of such salmon as are caught in the salt-water estuaries,
or with stake nets along the sea-shore ; for these, no doubt,
iare generally in good condition even during February, but
we allude to those taken inland, whereof by far the greater
part are fish that have rotted for months in fresh water ;
and this leads us to suggest, as a first amendment to the
present act, that some leading distinction be made, in point
of time, betwixt the opening of fisheries situated at or be-
yond the mouths of rivers, namely, in bays or estuaries, and
those which exist on their banks, at some distance from
the mouth. And as to the periods themselves, it might
be recommended, that the stake net, or sea fishing, com-
mence on tEe 15th, not the 1st of February, and that the
drag net, or river fishing, begin at least a fortnight later.
Also, a material change should take place on some counties
with regard to the termination of the open season, and some
provision be made for the benefit of such as angle with the
line, whose privileges, under the existing statute, are not
a little confined. Also we confess freely to an opinion en-
tertained by us, that cruive fishings for salmon should be
entirely abolished, as by them immense injury is done on
many of our northern rivers ; firstly, by the hindrance
they present to unmarketable fish in ascending to spawn ;
secondly, by their rendering even well-conditioned salmon

164 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER.

(which, Avhen captured, are not immediately taken out of
the box) perfectly soft and useless ; thirdly, by the oppor-
tunities they afford to the tacksman to avoid many speci-
fications of the act, and especially the one ordaining the
use of what is termed the Saturday slap ; and, fourthly,
by their interference with the natural rights of upper pro-
prietors on the river. Nay, we would go further, and also
have a veto placed upon net fishings, excepting those on
the sea-coast and at the mouths of rivers, ordaining the
use of the rod only. Nor would such an arrangement, if
carried into effect, prove in the least degree prejudicial to
the proprietors of fisheries, who might still farm their
waters with advantage, in the same manner as shootings
are let.

Apart, however, from this view of matters, we think it
expedient that many of our waters north of the Tweed,
especially the Tay and its tributaries, should remain open
to rod fishers until the middle of October ; all other me-
thods of destroying salmon being prohibited from the 14th
of September, as they are at present, and we have no rea-
son to believe that such a provision could be productive
of any material injury to our Scottish fisheries.

THE END.

Edinburgh : Printed by W. and R. Chambers,
19, Waterloo Place.

/& /3- "^^