SALMON LEGISLATION. 14*7 



by one or other of the Houses of Parliament, or witli- 

 flrawn by their promoters in weariness and despair. 



It was in 1857, and more decidedly in 1859, that 

 the tide of battle in the Legislature was turned. That 

 change was brought about not least by the fallacy and 

 failure of the then existing system having become too 

 apparent and too severely felt to be longer doubted or 

 denied. But if the time liad come, the man had come 

 too. That man was the Duke of Roxburghe, who was 

 strongest and foremost, especially as to finding the 

 sinews of war, in leading a series of successful assaults 

 upon the old and decaying system, in the cause, not 

 truly speaking of upper proprietors against lower, but 

 of preservation and increase against waste and decay. 

 Without seeking eclat, or claiming merit, or even getting 

 much assistance, the Duke gave to this good work years 

 of troul^le and thousands of pounds ; to him the owners 

 of salmon-fisheries, low and high, owe more than they 

 know of, and certainly very much more than they have 

 acknowledged; and if anglers are ever joyful and some- 

 times grateful, his is the name that will for ever 



"Be in their flowing cnjis freshly remembered." 



The melancholy fact that war between upper and 

 lower seems to be the natural state of salmon pro- 

 prietors, though their interests are ultimately and sub- 

 stantially identical, may require a few further words of 

 exposition, previous to describing the more recent legis- 

 lation, especially for Scotland and the Tweed. The 

 chief points to be noted are — 1st, That the parts of a 



