10 • THE BORDER ANGLER. 



evil, and to whom the remedy was of the greatest 

 importance. Salmon-angling with the rod had, as 

 we have said, become almost a delusion — save for 

 foul fish in spring or in the last weeks of October ; 

 and the annually decreasing returns at the lower net- 

 fishings showed that time would in all probability 

 make things worse rather than better. The annual 

 rental of the Tweed had fallen, within a few years, 

 from £20,000 to about £3,300 ; the annual take of 

 salmon from 40,000 to 9,000, and of grilse from 

 80,000 to 15,000. The upper proprietors, therefore, 

 came forward with a proposal to amend the law — to 

 shorten the season of fishing, and to abolish some of 

 the more obnoxious modes of capturing salmon. Instead 

 of being met in a fair spirit by the lower proprietors, 

 the proposal was strongly opposed, and a counter- 

 movement was made, actually intended to withdraw 

 some of the few privileges which the owners of the 

 upper waters possessed. The result was, that in the 

 1857 session of Parliament two Bills were brought 

 in — the one being the embodiment of the original 

 proposals of the upper or rod-fishing proprietors, the 

 other the counter- effort of the net-fishers. A large 

 amount of evidence for both sides was given before a 

 Parliamentary Committee, presided over by Mr. Fen- 

 wick the Member for Sunderland. On the side of the 

 Berwick net-fishers were Mr. Paulin, the manager of 

 the Berwick Shipping and Fishing Company, Mr. 

 James Paxton, the intelligent superintendent of their 

 fisheries, Mr. Hogarth of Aberdeen, Mr. Eobertson 

 of Ladykirk, and others. As one of the objects of 

 the upper proprietors' Bill was to abolish stell-nets. 



