SOME WRITERS ON THE GENTLE CRAFT 185 



times was by no means an enviable place of residence 

 for a nervous man. Of course, Colquhoun liked it. 

 Yet the young Scot, though generally popular with 

 a peasantry and gentry who delighted in sport, has 

 to tell of more than one hair-breadth escape, when 

 duels were affairs of every-day occurrence, and soldiers 

 were likely to be shot at on account of the colour of 

 their cloth. We may say of young Colquhoun, 



"Alike to him . . . 

 . . . the brand, the bridle, and the oar " ; 



as he was as much at home in a boat as in the saddle, 

 and has more than one memorable feat in sea-racing 

 to tell of, when he and his elder brother were pulling 

 in company. But so far as fishing goes, his auto- 

 biographical recollections are scattered broadcast over 

 the pages he has consecrated to that branch of sport. 

 We trace him through Lowlands and Highlands, from 

 fishing quarter to fishing quarter and stream to stream ; 

 from the Stinchar in Ayrshire to the Dee in Aberdeen, 

 and the smaller rivers of the more northerly Highland 

 counties ; and as for the lochs, he seems to have tried, 

 in his time, most of those that have more than local 

 reputation. A pleasanter companion no man need 

 desire ; and those stirring exploits of his, which he so 

 vividly records, have been photographed on a singularly 

 retentive memory. But the comprehensiveness and 

 clearness with which he handles his favourite subjects 

 give his volumes a very practical value. As for 

 comprehensiveness, the angler will find hints that may 



