120 THE BORDEE ANGLER. 



In a summer flood, there is perhaps no limit to the 

 numbers that may be taken with the worm in the up- 

 per parts of the stream and the burns that enter it, 

 except that of the angler's ability to pull out the fish, 

 bait, and drop in again; and further down, better trout 

 may be taken with nearly equal rapidity with either 

 fly or worm. Not that to every angler, or on all occa- 

 sions, the Meggat will yield such " store of trout;" for 

 many a one has gone out only to be disappointed, and 

 to break his shins fruitlessly amongst the rocks at the 

 linns, or sink to the knees in Winterhope moss. But 

 a proficient angler may always make certain of a full 

 basket in the Meggat, from the first of May to the end 

 of the season ; and will not grudge the labour of 

 climbing the hills or venturing through the morasses 

 to get to the lonely and mossy moors at the head of 

 Meggatdale. If he intends to take advantage of a 

 flood when the waters are thick, he ought to make at 

 once, in the early morning, for Winterhope-burn, and 

 fish down ; if he intends to practise ordinary worm- 

 fishing in clear- water, he should begin at Henderland 

 and fish up to the linns, below which lie large trout, 

 and then, missing a mile or two, pursue the lonely 

 stream as far as time or fatigue will permit him. Fine 

 trout from the loch enter the Meggat during floods, 

 and basketsfull may be taken with minnow, worm, 

 and fly, one being used after the other as the water 

 gradually clarifies. In all the burns that join the 

 Meggat, trout are in remarkable abundance. 



Leezy made them out forty dizzen, and Girzy forty-twa-aught ; 

 sae a dispute ha'in' arisen, and o' coorse a bet, we took the 

 census owre again, and may thae be the last words I shall ever 

 speak, gin they didna turn out to be Forty-Five ! " 



