THE GARRY 83 



In the Garry below this point some attractive casts occur 

 before Killiecrankie is reached, then the channel narrows and 

 has broken rocky banks. " The Soldier's Leap " is a well- 

 known object of local interest, and the large and deep pool 

 below, which can be well seen from the passing train, forms the 

 head of the Pass of Killiecrankie. The famous battle was 

 fought in 1689 in the immediate vicinity of Urrard House, not 

 far from where the railway station now stands. It was perhaps 

 the shortest battle on record, for, from all accounts, the charge 

 of the Highlanders was so impetuous, and the defence of 

 General Mackay's royal forces so weak-kneed, that the whole 

 thing was over in two minutes of hard slaying. Mackay 

 himself galloped right through the Highland force and, finding 

 himself clear, turned round to find, as he himself expressed it, 

 that " in the twinkling of an eye in a manner, our men, as well 

 as the enemy, were out of sight, being got down pell-mell to 

 the river where our baggage stood." " All was over ; and the 

 mingled torrent of red-coats and tartans went raving down the 

 valley to the gorge of Killiecrankie." 



The angler's battle with his fish is generally a longer struggle 

 than that just referred to, unless the fish is a wild one and goes 

 downstream where the angler cannot follow. The usual 

 practice is to hold him very hard, because in this rocky and 

 steep gorge one's movements are necessarily restricted. In 

 moving from pool to pool one has to clamber up to the path 

 above, move along, and then slide down again. One gets a 

 lot of exercise. 



I recollect a friend of mine recounting how he took out a 

 man just invalided home from India. It was the Fast Day, 

 and the people going to church saw the invalid hooked to a 

 sulking fish. His tackle was of the lightest, and the fish kept 

 deep down. Some folk did not go on to the church, and some 

 who did, found the man still fast to the sulking fish when they 

 came out. A long-handled gaff could only reach the fish's tail. 

 Eventually victory was secured by suddenly releasing all 

 strain. Whereupon the fish immediately assumed the hori- 

 zontal position, which just brought it above the gaff point. 



The water runs rapidly over a stony bottom where, on 

 occasion, salmon can be seen like ghosts, for so well disguised 

 are they that one almost seems to see the stones through them. 



