166 THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



can be lawfully carried on by opposing interests from foreshores 

 which are liable to alteration. A question of very material 

 importance was settled some years ago by the case of Hogarth 

 v. Munro Ferguson and Grant, and as a result netting may be 

 continued in the mouth of Findhorn Bay so long as the spit 

 of sand on the east side of the mouth remains uncovered by 

 the tide. The very valuable netting held by the late Mr. 

 Hogarth has now been purchased by Mr. Sellar, who fishes 

 upwards from the mouth a distance of 3| miles to a point in 

 the river about a mile above the suspension bridge, called the 

 Red Craig. Judging by the price which was given for these 

 fishings they should yield a substantial revenue. 



The estuary of the Findhorn, as laid down by the schedule 

 of the 1868 Salmon Act, secures a rectangular space at the 

 mouth of the river 1| miles long, measuring westwards from 

 the outermost of the " two shipping piers of the town of Find- 

 horn," and extending to 200 yards below low- water mark of 

 equinoctial spring tides. Beyond the limits of this estuary 

 a pretty formidable array of fixed nets immediately crop up. 



With regard to the take of fish by fixed net on the coast of 

 the district (about 22 miles), sweep net in the river and estuary, 

 and rod, I find that the returns published in the recent Fishery 

 Board Reports and sent in to the Inspector by the District 

 Board, show that approximately the fixed nets catch from 

 13,600 to 18,600 fish, the sweep nets from 3.600 to 6,060, and 

 the rods from 150 to 206. July is the month when by far the 

 largest catches are made, but the nets get fish from the opening 

 to the closing of the season. There is rod fishing below Sluie 

 in spring, but fish do not run the narrows just above Sluie till 

 May, so that all the upper water can be fished only in summer 

 and autumn. 



The Findhorn was one of the rivers which caused greatest 

 damage at the time of the Moray floods in 1829. The gorge 

 hemmed in the flood to such an extent that at Dulsie Bridge 

 the level rose 40 feet, and at the narrow part already referred 

 to called Randolph's Bridge, " from Earl Randolph, the Regent 

 having had a bridge here for crossing from his castle of 

 Tarnawa," the water rose right out of the gorge altogether and 

 flooded the Haugh of Rannoch (Randolph), the rise of the 

 flood here being 50 feet. The phenomenal rains which caused 



