134 THE SALMON 



large establishment to go to his October quarters at 

 Kelso, and take ' his ease at his inn ' with his old 

 friend and companion. No school-boy escaping from 

 Dotheboys Hall could have taken greater pleasure in 

 the prospect of a holiday, or enjoyed it more when it 

 came. He was an excellent performer on many 

 streams — the Lochy, the Spean brawling through its 

 rocky course, the slow Add meandering across Crinan 

 Moss, were all thoroughly familiar to him ■ but in his 

 eyes no water could compare with Makerstoun, with 

 the Troughs, the Red Stone, and other famous casts. 

 There he would fish with his attendant, George Wright ; 

 and when ' she ' was in order, no start was too early 

 and no day too long for him ; but he never prolonged 

 his holiday quite to the close of the Tweed season, as 

 he had an invincible prejudice against catching salmon 

 which had been any time in the water, and scorned 

 the red kippers or teeming baggits which were good 

 enough for less particular sportsmen. I wish I could 

 have a shorthand note of some of the conversations 

 between him and Alfred Denison during those nodes 

 Ambrosiance, for I am sure many wrinkles worth 

 recording might have been collected from their expe- 

 riences as they fought their battles over again. It is 

 curious that Mr. Denison's best day should have been 

 upon his companion's water, the Lower Makerstoun 



