CHAPTER XI 

 THE FINDHORN 



ANGLING SEASON : February llth to October 10th. 

 NETTING SEASON: February llth to August 26th. 



District Fishery Board meets in Forres. 



The Findhorn is an interesting example of successive stages 

 of erosion in its long course of 62 miles, and eventually of the 

 combat of sand, sea, and river in nature. It rises on the 

 northern slopes of Carn Mairg, the highest hill of the Mona- 

 dhliath range, situated about 6 miles north-west of Newtonmore 

 in Inverness-shire. The source is 2,800 feet above sea-level, 

 and the first descent of the head streams is rapid to the lonely 

 upper part of Strathdearn. Many side streams drain a wide 

 ellipse of hills, all of them over 2,500 feet in height, which, as 

 far down as Glen Mazeran, form the skyline of this mountain- 

 valley tract. The name Strathdearn is applied to the greater 

 portion of the Findhorn course, and in it seems to lie the origin 

 of the present name of the river. The early name used in thir- 

 teenth century charters was Earn, which sufficiently explains 

 the name of the Strath, while Findhorn is thought to be a cor- 

 ruption oifionn-Ear-an, signifying the easterly flowing stream. 



Some distance below the new railway viaduct of the Highland 

 line, as it leaves Moy estate the river enters a rocky gorge and 

 the county df Nairn. This gorge tends to deepen and become 

 more precipitous as the river proceeds, and at length becomes 

 a veritable canon of magnificent beauty, which forms the 

 dominating character of the river. When one thinks of the 

 Findhorn one naturally pictures this great winding and wooded 

 defile, which continues some 23 or 24 miles to Darnaway. 

 Near Dulsie Bridge the river forms a succession of black and 

 deep pools, linked together by swirling and tortuous rapids, 

 where, 'in autumn, salmon may be seen leaping and plunging 

 as they make their ascent. 



162 



