THE TWEED 15 



perty, close to Yair Bridge, was the time-honoured base, as it 

 is lovingly referred to in many a song of the club. Ultimately 

 a change had to be made, and a new home was found two or 

 three miles away, 



"Where Ashiestiel looks on the Tweed, 

 And Tweed rolls broad by Caddonlee." 



The water rented is fished from the north or left bank both 

 above and below Ashiestiel Bridge, but salmon are not expected 

 before October, unless the summer has been an unusually wet 

 one. 



The river Tweed and the various tributaries above this point, 

 with the exception of the Leithen, must therefore be regarded 

 at the present time as spawning ground. Fortunately it 

 is spawning ground of exceptionally high quality. It is 

 unnecessary, and indeed it would be well-nigh confusing, to 

 describe in detail the positions of the various fisheries from 

 this point downwards. These will be found marked in the maps 

 of the river. 



The Tweed now passes into Roxburghshire, where in the 

 Boldside Water good results are obtained " at the back end," 

 if cpnditions have been favourable. The 1908 season was 

 poor with only 47 fish. From Abbotsford the distance is 

 not far to Melrose, with its famous twelfth century abbey. 

 The entrance of the Gala from the north between those two 

 points has already been touched upon. We must be thankful 

 that Melrose does not stand on a tributary, else no doubt the 

 woollen industry would have taken root here also, and the 

 beautiful old pile would have been frowned upon by such 

 monsters of utility as we see at Galashiels, and blackened by 

 the smoke of belching chimneys. It is sadly jostled already 

 by crowding houses, but the old town remains unchanging. 

 At Melrose there is a cauld which is none too easy for ascending 

 fish, but at the time of writing it has been very admirably 

 breached by the action of a mighty flood. 



A beautiful run of river now goes on to Leaderfoot, spanned 

 by the high bridge which takes one from Melrose to Earlston. 

 The Leader, or Lauder, rises in the Lammermoors, and flows 

 through its dale with many a beautiful bend amidst woods and 

 pastures. It is obstructed near its mouth, but the trout are 

 finer than those of Tweed. A considerable discussion recently 



