THE LEADER AND ITS FEEDERS. 133 



milarly divided ; and as they are all about a size, it is 

 difficult to say which is the proper source of the Leader. 

 The fishing in them is good, and the trouts of excel- 

 lent quality, sometimes of very good size. 



From Carfrae-Mill for about three miles downwards 

 the Leader is open to the public, and the trouting is 

 excellent. The trout, however, are small, the streams 

 being rapid and thin ; but if the angler does not object 

 to an average of five or six to the pound, he may find 

 good sport here. A mile above Thirlstane Castle, the 

 seat of the Earl of Lauderdale, his lordship — the son, 

 we believe, of the man who was so strong a Jacobin 

 and advocate of equality and fraternity — claims posses- 

 sion of the river, and strictly preserves it for about two 

 miles to Lauder Bridge. Some of the profane vulgar, 

 however, who have penetrated into his lordship's sacred 

 preserves, inform us that the trout, although very 

 numerous in this piece of water, are very small, from 

 the fact of there being too many of them for the food 

 that is to be had. A little more fishing would have 

 the effect of increasing their size, and would thus make 

 the sport better. A little below Carfrae, the Wharp- 

 law-burn, a small hill-stream, enters the Leader, and 

 in the middle of the Thirlestane preserve, Earncleuch- 

 water also comes in. The latter stream is reputed to 

 be worth angling in. Below Lauder Brig there is a 

 stretch of nearly four miles of water in which the pub- 

 lic may enjoy their sport uninterruptedly, and in the 

 greater part of this the fishing is very good. Below 

 St. Leonard's Mill, a mile and a half from Lauder brig, 

 the trout are rather scarcer than in the water above, 

 but they average five or six ounces in weight, and will 



