THE WHITADDER. 171 



by following a rough road over the hills, the pedestrian 

 comes upon the Whitadder after four miles walking, 

 at Abbey St. Bathan's, three miles below Ellemford, 

 to which place he can fish up. 



From the mouth of the Dye to Abbey St. Bathan's 

 — a distance of nearly four miles — ^is the part of the 

 water most fished by visitors, but it swarms with trout, 

 some of them of large size. There are several pools 

 in this part of the river, where, when a clear day and a 

 low condition of the water enable one to get a glimpse 

 into their secrets, the number of trout that may be 

 seen is truly astonishing. With minnow or May-fly a 

 very satisfactory average weight may be had ; and the 

 recollection of the satisfaction with which, after Geor- 

 die Hamilton had given us our first lesson in minnow- 

 fishing, we landed a trout approaching closely to 2ibs. 

 in Greenhope Weil, still remains after many days. A 

 few sea-trout find their way up so far by every flood 

 after the middle of June, and, when they are in the 

 water, the Black Weil and Greenhope are sure to have 

 their share, so that a cast for them in those places 

 with a special lure — a whitling or very small grilse- 

 fly — is sometimes worth trying. They are often, how- 

 ever, taken by the trout-fisher with fly or worm. The 

 last tenant of Ellemford Inn used to capture them, 

 after the water had got so clear as to let him know 

 their " haulds," by working three large hooks, tied 

 together, back to back, and leaded so as to sink 

 them under the fish, and by a sudden jerk hooking 

 it by the body — when of course it made great play. 

 Monnynut-burn comes in a little above Abbey St. 

 Bathan's, and contains considerable store of trout. 



