176 THE BORDER ANGLER. 



I 

 him — they fought — and both fell ; when it was dis- 

 covered that each had slain his twin brother ; where- 

 upon the Cairns were erected to commemorate the fra- 

 tricidal catastrophe, and hence the name of the hill or 

 law. But while miles of water are spoiled by the 

 straightening of the water-course, there are occasional 

 places where trout still remain. From a hole below 

 Wadderlee, left somehow, or wrought out somehow, in 

 the straight bed that had been cut, we once took a 

 trout considerably more than a pound in weight, and 

 never did fish fight more gallantly for his life. Except 

 for curiosity, however, the Blackadder is not worth fol- 

 lowing above its junction with a water about its equal 

 in size, that comes in from the direction of Westruther, 

 of the angling capabilities of which we cannot speak. 

 It is here, indeed, that the stream begins to assume its 

 peculiar character, and that long sluggish pools termi- 

 nate and give rise to short lively streams, into which 

 large trout move at feeding-time. There is no long 

 rippling channelly flow of water in the Blackadder, 

 there being more slow pools than fast streams. In 

 these pools, save when fly-fishing with a wind, or 

 minnow-fishing after a flood, it is of no use to angle ; 

 so attention should be chiefly directed to the runs and 

 occasional by-places. The district is lonely : with the 

 exception of a single farm-house and a herd's cottage 

 or two, for five or six miles above Greenlaw there is 

 no sign of human life. But if the fishing life is not 

 so exuberant as in the AYhitadder and its other tribu- 

 taries, the size of the trout makes ample amends. No 

 water, however, requires greater care on the part of 

 the angler. Small flies and the very finest tackle, or 



