74 THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



called the Slugs of Achrannie, about 2 miles below the 

 Reekie Linn. Taking it all over the Isla is more famous for its 

 trout than for its salmon, but at the " back end " of the year a 

 fair number of fish are sometimes got in the lower reaches. 

 At the " Bonnie House of Air lie " the river, which to this 

 point has been running south, is deflected gradually to the 

 west ; but there is not any very marked separation between 

 the Isla at this point and the South Esk river which, in Glen 

 Clova a short distance to the east, has been running parallel 

 to the Isla, but which is carried now to the eastward, while the 

 Isla begins its tortuous and sluggish course through the alluvial 

 plain between Meigle and the Tay. 



The Ericht is as long as the Isla above Meigle, and like the 

 upper division of that river, flows south from the hills on the 

 northern limits of Perthshire. Two streams, the Ardle and the 

 Blackwater, which is the lower Shee, join at Strone, 5 miles 

 north of Blairgowrie, to form the Ericht. The head streams 

 of the Ardle drain the southern and western slopes of Ben 

 Vrackie, Ben Vuroch, and Ben-y-Gloe. The Shee rises from 

 high streams on either side of Glas Thulachan, 3,445 feet. The 

 Spital of Glen Shee road from Braemar to Blairgowrie follows 

 the course of the river. 



The Isla has not, unfortunately, the making of a really good 

 salmon river. The physical conditions are against it ; yet if 

 salmon had a better lead into it, there is no reason why they 

 should not enter fairly early in the season. When one looks 

 at the fine running waters of the Tay at Meikleour, however, 

 one realises that, even with a greatly improved mouth, the 

 Isla must always take a very subordinate place. At present 

 the Isla is so uniform and canal-like in character that the 

 creation of a more attractive mouth is a matter of some 

 difficulty. If a contraction of the mouth were resorted to in 

 order to concentrate the current, some precaution would also 

 have to be taken to prevent this simply resulting in a further 

 deepening of the river and an ultimate return to the present 

 sluggish character. 



RIVER TUMMEL 



If a glance be taken at the catchment basin of the Tay, and 

 the disposition of the chief lines of water-flow noted, the central 



