22 A YEAR OF LIBERTY ; OR, 



even now, on many mountain streams, so seducing in August and 

 September, if the angler wishes to be near his water he must expect 

 to rough it, nor hope to find all the blessings of Arcadia in a 

 highland glen. 



Suppose us now, however, at our comfortable breakfast in Lady 

 Headley's Hotel. Above us towers a lofty hill, clad to the summit 

 with larch and Scotch fir ; round its base murmurs the little Beigh ; 

 from the window of our room Dingle Bay is seen in all its beauty, 

 and in front, the road only separates the house from the heather, 

 which stretches miles away, as far as the eye can follow it. In the 

 winter the neighbourhood offers good duck and snipe shooting, and 

 in summer, sea-fishing, boating, and bathing are perfect. 



The angling is varied and extensive, and, from what I have seen at 

 different times, by no means crowded in fact, a man might work 

 here for a week and meet no face, except his own, reflected in the 

 grand mirror before him. 



The lake is free ; Mr. Winn rents a portion of the river near the 

 bridge, and sub-lets it at thirty shillings per month for each rod. 

 Mrs. Shea is, I believe, in treaty for that portion of the river extend- 

 ing from the lake to Mr. Winn's right; and Corney Clifford and young 

 McCarthy are the professionals. 



The Beigh it is but a brook runs close by the house, and 

 during autumn spates contains a capital assortment of trout, in size 

 rather above the average of such waters. Many a happy, careless 

 hour I have whiled away on its banks. Now, this little stream holds 

 nothing but spent fish and brown trout, on which a good Catholic 

 might dine any day in Lent, to the certain mortification of the flesh* 

 A walk of twenty minutes in an opposite direction brings us to 

 Carrabridge. This water is said, and I believe with truth, to be one 

 of the earliest in the county. In November, December, and January, 

 clean fish enter in considerable numbers ; and, as all impediments to 

 their passage are then removed, they either settle in the upper pools, 

 locate in the lake, or lodge in the Blackstones river. In the latter 

 part of June come the grilse, which are soon followed by the trout 

 night fishing for which is much practised here in low water. These 



