COQUET SIDE. 



be found in rivers that run through cultivated grounds, but the num- 

 ber is amazing, and now and then you get hold of a bull trout, or, if 

 you have extraordinary good luck, a salmon, even with the minnow 

 trout fly, or dew-worm, a fact which many anglers are not convinced 

 of. Many noble mountain-streams fall into Coquet hereabouts, the 

 Usway and Alwin in particular, which will richly reward the angler 

 for an hour or two's sauntering with his rod up their banks. 



Passing the village of Harbottle, with the ruins of the old castle 

 looking down upon the river, we now enter a more cultivated 

 country, and one richer in antiquities than perhaps any other on the 

 borders. The remains of the towers of the troopers are now more 

 frequent ; the ruins of monastic buildings occur here and there, and 

 there is scarcely a hill whose summit does not bear marks of the 

 Celtic inhabitants. 



Rothbury forest bears the records of three different races of people 

 on its scathed and rude bosom. The quantities of scoria which have 

 been found prove that iron and lead have been procured here at one 

 time ; and it cannot be doubted that the Romans, who wasted so 

 much blood and treasure to procure supplies of the useful metals, 

 must formerly have wrought these rich mines. Circular entrench- 

 ments, with fosses and rampiers, bear witness to many places having 

 been fortified by the ancient Britons ; and the strong holds of the 

 later inhabitants still (as has been said) stand in great numbers, and 

 in many places in excellent preservation. Whitton Tower, near 

 Rothbury, the residence of the rector, is perhaps the most perfect of 

 all the old border-keeps, and well worthy the attention of the anti- 

 quary. 



At Rothbury, one of the most romantic of ^border villages, sur- 

 rounded by rocky hills on every side, and having the Coquet flowing 

 pleasantly past, the rambler may with infinite satisfaction spend a 

 few days in examining the records of the olden time, which abound 

 in the neighbourhood, or in trying the splendid streams below and 

 above the village. Numbers of odd characters are there about Roth- 

 bury sly, shrewd, sporting originals, such as can only be bred upon 

 the banks of a good fishing stream, and amonghills abounding v/ith foxes. 

 If cleanliness, attention, and good feeding, with the pretty daughter 

 of the dame to look after his comforts, can make the rambler pleased 

 with himself and all about him, let us advise him to put up at Mrs. 

 Dors' inn, at the west end of the village, for there assuredly he will 

 find all this. Moreover, if the time hangs heavy on his hands, or he 

 wishes to have some sensible sporting conversation, his excellent 

 landlady can procure two or three good fellows to help him to pro- 

 nounce upon her whiskey,, and to enlighten him on all things relating 

 to the river. 



Low down in a woody vale, about four miles from Rothbury, stand 

 the romantic remains of Brinkburn Abbey, with the river washing its 

 feet. Within the body of the building, against the north wall, stands 

 the coffin of the last abbot, who from the date can scarcely have been 

 laid in his grave ere the robbery of his house was committed by the 

 ferocious and unprincipled Henry. 



It has been said that the finest streams in Coquet are between 

 M.M. No. 107. 3 U 



