II 

 EARLY BURN FISHING 



TT ALF a mile of pleasant lane, beneath the bud- 

 * ding trees, and between the budding hedges, 

 leads to my favourite burn. It is just such a path 

 as one is tempted to linger in ; especially when the 

 birds are in full song, and every other one seems 

 to have a feather in its mouth. The beat of the 

 water-wheel is audible half the way. 



There is an advantage in having the burn thus 

 near. It is so irritating, after a walk of eight or ten 

 miles, with the prospect of a similar distance back, 

 to find that the meal miller shuts down the sluice, 

 w T ith the view of nursing the water in the dam, 

 just as the rise is coming on; and keeps you sitting 

 on the bank, among the buttercups and daisies, for 

 a good two hours, until he sees fit to lift it again. 



I watch my opportunity after a little rain has 

 freshened, without unduly raising or dirtying the 



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