102 THE BORDER ANGLER. 



quarters at Tusliilaw Inn, where there is admirable 

 accommodation, provided, in great^measure, for the 

 convenience of anglers. There is a good road np the 

 whole vale of Ettrick from Selkirk ; and there is also 

 a road from Hawick to Tushilaw, the distance being 

 about fifteen miles. 



The Ettrick, for the first few miles of its course, 

 receives but insignificant accessions, the burns that 

 pour in from the hills being short in their courses and 

 small in volume. Its first important tributary is the 

 Timah, which is almost its equal in size, and enters it 

 a mile below Ettrick Kirk. " Moorland Rankleburn" 

 enters about a mile above Tushilaw, and just opposite 

 to the ruins of the old Tower of Tushilaw, a strong 

 fortress of a branch of the Scotts, the last of whom, 

 Adam Scott, commonly called King of the Borders, 

 was hanged on an old tree — which we believe still 

 stands in the court-yard — by James V. in one of his 

 celebrated expeditions against the lawless chiefs of the 

 borders who refused to remain at peace or to recognise 

 his authority. The fishing in all these waters is ex- 

 cellent, the trout in the upper part of the Ettrick, and 

 in Timah and Eankleburn, being very numerous, al- 

 though of a small average size. We have heard that 

 the Hawick netters make raids to the Ettrick, but can 

 hardly think that they can be frequent ones, or can 

 materially affect the fishing. The waters here, how- 

 ever, are late — indeed we may say that both Ettrick 

 and Yarrow are altogether later than the majority of 

 the border streams. The best fly-fishing is to be had 

 in ]\Iay ; and about the middle of that month, during a 

 flood, great quantities may often be taken. For sum- 



