214 SALMON FISHING IN THE TWEED 



doon the throat tap water, an I wad ha' lost my 

 waster an' lyams, or pu'd it out o' his back. That 

 I had nae mind to dae. 



" I never was feard for drownin' in my life ; at 

 ony rate never in the Queed. I strack into the 

 water breast deep, an' wonder sin syne how I keepit 

 my feet ; but I had on a pair o' gude clouted shoon. 

 The kipper tired o' the trade o' gaun against the 

 strength o' the throat, an' tralin' the lyams, turned 

 down the deep side of the water 'atween me an' the 

 brae. I got haud o' the shaft o' the waster, but to 

 try to grund him was needless, sae I keepit down 

 the shank, an' that made the force o' the water 

 raise the fish to the tap, an' I push'd him to the 

 side, following as I best could, an' pressed him to 

 the brae, when I lifted him out. Wi' the help o' 

 Sandie (who had, when he saw the blood, gotten 

 rid o' his fear o' the deil) I carried him to the head 

 o' the rack, and when I got him on my back, my 

 certie I was a massy man ! I was aye vext I 

 didna' weigh him, but my belief was he was forty 

 gude pounds, Dutch weight. As I waded the 

 water wi' him, leadin' Sandie by the hand, his neb 

 was aboon my head, an' his tail plash'd in the water 

 on my heels. 



" My father was than miller o' Bold JMiln, an' I 

 took him down to be reisted in the kiln ; but we 

 were a' sae thrang wi' talkin' about his size, that 

 we forgot to lay him on the broads, and that, as I 

 was sayin', vexes me to this day." 



leister : it is coiled on the left arm at the other end in such a manner 

 as to go freely off when the leister is thrown. Jamieson in his 

 dictionary derives the word from the French lien. 



