THE DEE 117 



Opposite Lower Glentana is Aboyne Castle Water, and both 

 terminate at the suspension bridge at Aboyne, or more 

 correctly, I believe, at the middle of the island above the 

 bridge. The Lorren is, perhaps, the favourite pool, a fine, if 

 broad, piece of water with gravel beach. 



Below the hotel water, on the left bank, is the Upper and 

 Lower Dess Water, and the Kincardine and Borrowstone 

 Waters, opposite which Carlogie and Ballogie Waters come in. 

 This brings us down to Potarch Bridge, where the river is rocky 

 and somewhat confined. An extraordinary incident which 

 occurred at Potarch Bridge was reported * in an article on 

 " Some Indelible Riverside Incidents," by Arthur Francis 

 Paterson. The angler was Mr. Duncan Davidson of Inchmarl. 

 He hooked a fish in the pool above the bridge, had to follow 

 the fish downstream till it went through the bridge and broke 

 him. " Naturally much disappointed, he retraced his steps 

 and began again. Almost immediately he was in another, 

 which made out of the pool and forced him down to the bridge, 

 where he again held and broke." Again the angler returned 

 to his pool, and again hooked another fish, and a third time 

 he was taken down to the bridge where the fish broke away. 



1 expect it was just a little difficult to be quite cheerful after 

 that. Lord Granville Gordon's account of how a similar 

 danger is served on the Galway River is worth recalling. 2 

 " There, whenever a fish was hooked and made off down- 

 stream between the arches of the bridge, the gillie would pull 

 out a pocket-knife and hand it to you with a, quick ' Cut when 

 he runs you out.' Armed with a long-handled gaff, he would 

 next dash for the bridge, stoop over the parapet at the far 

 side, and catch the line on the gaff hook. When you had cut 

 the line and informed him of the fact, he would haul in quickly, 

 jump over the parapet at the side, and then run down the 

 bank and handline the fish if still on." I should think this 

 expedient is not possible at every bridge, and that Potarch is 

 certainly too high for it. 



Ballogie runs below the bridge on the right bank and is 

 succeeded by Commonty and Blackball, the former with about 



2 miles and the latter with about 5 miles, faced by Wood- 



1 The Field, March 13, 1909, p. 446. 



2 Sporting Reminiscences, p. 101. 



