THE FINDHORN 165 



Thurso (vide p. 249). Lord Moray does not now allow the 

 Sluie pool to be netted, but it is only 7^ miles by the river from 

 the head of Findhorn Bay, and to confine early fish to this 

 seems a pity. The opening of the falls would not be matter 

 of great difficulty, and would, I certainly think, be in the best 

 interests of the river. The woods of Darnaway and Altyre 

 and the Meads of St. John below Sluie now expand more broadly, 

 as the defile opens out into the more pastoral and agricultural 

 part of the country. The names recall the many romantic 

 incidents woven by Sir Thomas Dick Lauder into his " Wolf of 

 Badenoch." 



Below the suspension bridge which carries the Forres-Nairn 

 road, the river widens out into a rather shallow straggling 

 expanse, but opposite the town of Forres it becomes again a 

 steady swinging river of fine pools ere it enters the Bay of 

 Findhorn. This so-called bay is in reality a wide triangular 

 lagoon or tidal basin, 2 miles in length, bounded towards 

 the mouth on the west side by the famous Culbin Sands huge 

 hills of piled wind-blown sand, which form a landmark for 

 many miles out in the Moray Firth, and can be clearly seen 

 from the Sutherlandshire coast. The actual mouth of the river 

 is comparatively narrow and has, on the right or east side, 

 the village of Findhorn, where a great peninsula of sand turns 

 out in a north-westerly direction into the sea, and suffers 

 constant washing away and rebuilding as the action of river 

 or sea predominates. Two other Findhorn villages have 

 existed in the past. The first was some 2 miles to the west, 

 on the opposite side of the river mouth as it now exists. This 

 was entirely buried by the drifting of the Culbin Sands already 

 referred to. The second Findhorn stood about a mile to the 

 north-west, on ground now covered by the sea. It was 

 swamped by a great inundation which occurred in 1701. It 

 is an uncanny region this between " The Bar " some 10 to 15 

 miles along the coast to the west, where the river had its mouth, 

 I suppose, in early days, and the present village of Findhorn. 

 Some folks would not give much for the permanency of the 

 present village. I don't know if Insurance Companies take 

 the vagaries of sea and sand into account, but the salmon 

 fishers are bound to do so. 



Much uncertainty has arisen in the past as to how netting 



