CHAPTER VIII. 



THE LAW OF SCOTLAND AS TO TROUT-FISHING. 



IT must be admitted that a legal disquisition 

 seems somewhat out of place in a book devoted 

 to sport, but the rights and grievances of anglers 

 have of late received so much attention that a 

 brief statement of the law relating to trout-fish- 

 ing may prove both interesting and useful. As 

 this chapter is not written for members of the 

 legal profession, the simplest possible language 

 will be used, and the pages will not be cumbered 

 with references to authorities. To prevent con- 

 fusion it may be well to state at the outset that 

 we only propose to deal with the law of Scotland, 

 and that what we have to say does not apply to 

 salmon-fishing. 



In what are termed public navigable rivers, 

 trout may be captured by every one ; and this 

 is, however, not so certain it is thought that the 

 same rule applies to lochs " forming great channels 

 of communication in a district of country/' In 



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