THE SALMON 



That passage suggests the subject of kipper, a 

 delicacy by no means confined to the cotters or 

 shepherds, thanks to a process by which the fish is 

 conserved for use through the close season. In the 

 introductory epistle to ' The Monastery,' where the 

 honest landlord of the 'George' at Kennaquhair 

 comes to wile Captain Clutterbuck out of his 

 lodgings late at eve, to sup with the learned Benedic- 

 tine, David dresses the hook with a lure he knows will 

 take. ' That's right, Captain ; button weel up, the 

 night's raw, but the water's clearing for a' that ; we'll 

 be in't next night wi' my Lord's boats, and we'll hae 

 ill luck if I dinna send you a kipper to relish your 

 ale at e'en.' But there is kipper and kipper. The 

 first thing is to select the best material, and then 

 there are secrets in the scientific smoking and drying, 

 only known to the elect. Morell's branch estab- 

 lishment in Inverness used to be an intelligent and 

 munificent patron of the local industry. But the 

 most renowned artist in kippers was a hairdresser of 

 Dingwall, whose wares always fetched the highest 

 prices in every shooting-box and forest lodge between 

 the Garve and Strome Ferry. 



We remarked that, rich as it is, and speaking per- 

 sonally, salmon does not easily pall on one. But 

 then with the palate, as in graver matters, free will 



