188 SOME WRITERS ON THE GENTLE CRAFT 



been in the habit of making wild bags. " The one 

 blazes thoughtlessly away, committing, time after time, 

 the same errors ; while the other carefully notes every 

 miss, and endeavours to correct it next opportunity. 

 There is also no doubt that both the angler and the 

 shooter who have to work and think for their sport 

 acquire a self-command and nerve only to be obtained 

 in this school." 



Among the liveliest of Mr. Colquhoun's cheery 

 reminiscences are those that associate themselves with 

 his summer quarters on the Lyon in Perthshire ; and 

 for a picture of fishing under extreme difficulties, there 

 is nothing better than a description of his to which we 

 have already referred, of working one of those High- 

 land burns that come brawling down over the rocks 

 beneath a tangle of underwood. But perhaps the most 

 dramatic adventure he has put on record is the fight 

 of one of his sons with a heavy salmon, hooked late in 

 the day in a pool of the Stinchar. The action began 

 with a " vindictive plunge " on to the hook, which 

 augured ill for the ultimate success of the fisherman. 

 For 



" To my dismay, I now saw that my son had chosen, by mistake, 

 the lightest reel line in my possession, only intended for sea-trout 

 or grilse, in the clearest water of July ! Its length, however, was 

 one hundred yards ; and having perfect confidence in the skill of 

 the fisherman, I resolved not to flurry him with a warning, but to 

 wait in patience until the prize was either lost or won. 



" The fish neither dashed round the pool in terror, nor refused 

 to move in sullen indifference, but with a degree of calm dignity 

 steered along the opposite bank, giving fitfully a revengeful toss 

 which made my heart flutter. Higher, higher, he rowed himself, 



