24 THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



in the case of Teviot mouth. The sluggish nature of the stream 

 is in strong contrast to the swinging force of Tweed at the 

 junction. 



" Tweed said to Till, 



What gars ye rin sae still ? 



Till said to Tweed, 



Though ye rin wi' speed, 



And I rin slaw, 



Yet where ye drown ae man 



I drown twa ! " 



There are four weirs in Till, the first at Twizel being of little 

 moment. At Heaton Mill, which is not now worked, there is 

 a heavy rush of water from a bye-wash which has formed a 

 basin below the weir, and fish find difficulty in ascending the 

 rush. At Etal, which is about six miles and a half up the river, 

 there is a still more obstructive weir. It is reported that few 

 salmon are taken in the upper Till because of this weir. Sea- 

 trout seem to find less difficulty in ascending, and penetrate 

 to the river Glen and the Bowmont and College waters above, 

 which drain the eastern slopes of the Cheviots. From Wooler 

 to the mouth of Till is about 17 miles. The entire length of 

 Till is about 30 miles. 



Below Till mouth the two Bendibus fishings are passed before 

 old Norham Castle is reached. This picturesque and massive 

 old pile was founded as early as 1121, and seems originally to 

 have been attached to the See of Durham. It played a con- 

 spicuous part in most of the frays and battles of this region, 

 but although James IV. of Scotland used it, the battle of 

 Flodden was independent of it. At a survey of the castle nine 

 years after Flodden, in 1522, the inner keep was considered 

 quite impregnable. The great square tower rises 70 feet, and 

 the view as one looks down the river, over masses of trees, 

 from the Scottish side, is peculiarly striking. 



Three miles and a half by the river below Norham, at Horn- 

 cliffe, is the Union Bridge, a suspension bridge constructed by a 

 Captain Samuel Brown, R.N. This bridge practically marks 

 the top of tide reach in Tweed, and has before now been spoken 

 of as the point at which netting might end. I will have occasion 

 to refer to it again, when dealing with the future of the salmon 

 fisheries. 



The netting stations are now very numerous, for the value 



