BRITISH SPORT PAST AND PRESENT 



baud ycr hand, and let her faw doon again : hey, but I see him 

 the noo afore me ; — ou, what an awfu' beast ! " 



' So saying, Charhe drove his leister furiously at him ; but 

 whether one of the prongs struck against the edge of the rock 

 above him, which prevented its descent to the bottom, or from 

 whatever other cause, the stroke was unsuccessful, and as he 

 lifted the barren weapon out of the water, there arose a merry 

 shout and guffaw from the spectators on the shore. 



' " Cap ! cap ! " cried Charlie, " now baud yer hand ; gie 

 me up the boat ; — od, but I '11 hae him yet ; he 's gone amangst 

 thae hiding stanes." 



' So saying, Charlie brought the head of the boat to the 

 stream, pushed her higher up, and pulled her ashore ; he then 

 landed, and seizing a brand out of the fire, put it into 

 Jamieson's hand, who preceded his eager steps like a male 

 Thais, or one of the Eumenides in pantaloons. He now stood 

 upon a rock which hung over the river, and from that eminence, 

 and with the assistance of the firebrand, examined the bottom 

 of it carefully. His body was bent over the water, and his 

 ready leister held almost vertically ; as the light glared on his 

 face you might see the keen glistening of his eye. In an instant 

 he raised up his leister, and down he sprang from the rock right 

 into the river, and with that wild bound nailed the salmon to 

 the channel. There was a struggle with his arms for a few 

 seconds ; he then passed his hands down the pole of the weapon 

 a little way, brought himself vertically over the fish, and lifted 

 him aloft cheered by shouts of applause from his friends on the 

 shore. 



' Two or three more fish were taken amongst the stones at 

 the tail of the cast, and the sport in the Carrywheel being now 

 ended, the fish were stowed in the hold of the boat, the crew 

 jumped ashore, and a right hearty appeal was made to the 

 whisky bottle. It was first tendered to the veteran, Tom 

 Purdie, to whom it was always observed to have a natural 

 gravitation, but to the astonishment of all, he barely put his 

 lips to the quaigh, and passed it to his nephew. 



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