THE ALLAN THE SLITRIGG. 149 



runs daily each way between these places ; we fear, 

 however, it is not so timed as to be of much use to the 

 angler, as it passes down the Teviot in the morning 

 and up early in the afternoon. HAWICK, and its suburb 

 Wilton, make together a town of nearly 10,000 inha- 

 bitants, the head-quarters of the manufacturing in- 

 dustry of the south of Scotland. It is a place of great 

 antiquity. In its inns there is of course ample accom- 

 modation for travellers. It has yet to be decided by 

 Parliament whether a railway to unite Hawick with 

 Carlisle shall go by the Slitrigg and the Liddel, in 

 continuation of the North British line, or by the Teviot, 

 Ewes, and Esk, forming a branch from the Caledonian. 

 Either way, a railroad through the district will be of 

 advantage to the angler ; but undoubtedly the former, 

 opening up the Liddel, which as an angling-stream 

 is greatly superior to the Esk, will be much the pre- 

 ferable. 



The Slitrigg enters the Teviot just at Hawick, in- 

 tersecting the upper part of the town. The course of 

 this stream is about ten miles, in greater part very 

 hilly and rocky. Near its source its banks are bare ; 

 and though there are fine woods around Stobbs Castle, 

 a seat of the Elliots, it is chiefly to its ruggedness 

 that it owes its picturesqueness. It is a rapid water, 

 and is well stocked with fish; but they seldom attain a 

 large size. It is greatly frequented by bull-trouts in 

 spawning-time. It becomes a mill-lead, like the Teviot 

 itself, as it approaches Hawick, the bed of both streams 

 being often perfectly dry, with the exception of little 

 pools here and there. 



Below Hawick the vale of the Teviot expands, and 



