THE DON 127 



are passed where bends and loops of the river have been cut 

 off, where now there are deep stagnant pools, and muddy 

 marshes choked with iris and horsetails. Within a few miles 

 of the mouth the banks again become steeper, and the river 

 passes through woods of beech and plane trees, while rocks 

 frequently show up in the river bed. Before the old Bridge 

 of Balgownie is reached, near Old Aberdeen, the river becomes 

 much contracted, deep and still. Emerging from the old 

 bridge it flows freely in an open stony channel through the 

 tidal Bridge of Don, and, breaking through great banks of 

 sand, enters the sea. 



The estuary of the Don, as prescribed by the Salmon Act of 

 1868, is a portion of a circle of 400 yards radius drawn from 

 the centre of the river. Since the estuary of the Dee is arranged 

 in precisely the same way, it follows that fixed engines may be 

 set pretty close to the river mouth and between the Don and 

 the Dee. A constriction of sand occurs where the river joins 

 the beach line, and beyond this, when the tide is out, the river 

 flows directly across the sandy beach to the sea. A barrier of 

 posts and stones has been erected at some early date, along 

 the south side of this channel, which appears to have preserved 

 the course of the river mouth. What the age of this barrier 

 is I have been unable to ascertain ; but the present straight 

 course of the mouth seems to have persisted for at least a 

 hundred years. Above the Bridge of Don and below the old 

 Brig o' Balgownie, the concentration of the water-flow is 

 secured by stone barriers, that on the right bank being shaped 

 like the letter L standing out from the river bank, the hori- 

 zontal part of the letter being made to point upstream. The 

 arrangement is peculiar, but apparently most efficient. A 

 large water cushion must be formed against the shaft of the 

 letter, so to speak, thus protecting the whole structure during 

 floods. 



The Brig o' Balgownie, with its high and pointed arch, is a 

 venerable and interesting structure. The narrow roadway 

 takes a curious angle as it crosses the bridge, and the paving 

 and parapet savour of the middle ages. Large rings are fast- 

 ened to the sides of the masonry for the purpose apparently 

 of closing the passage. A bevy of plumed knights disputing 

 the crossing, with lances in rest, would be quite in keeping. 



