THE GRUINARD, EWE, AND CARRON 295 



times the sun strikes hot, the sheltered waters of the Atlantic 

 lose their long-lifting swell in the quiet lochs and bays, and 

 glitter peacefully along the boulder-strewn shores, and the 

 little rivers merely trickle through amongst the stones. 



The Gruinard belongs to, and is fished from, Dundonnell, a 

 small iron lodge being erected a short distance from the little- 

 used road, where it crosses the river by a bridge rather less 

 than a mile from the mouth. Right of fishing for one rod goes 

 with Gruinard House, which is now the property of Sir A. Gibb, 

 and which stands facing the bay to the right of the river 

 mouth. The Craig Pool, just below the bridge referred to, is 

 the favourite, since from it have been taken surprising scores 

 in the past. It is deep at the left side where the " Craig " 

 slants straight down into the water. On the other side the 

 channel is almost choked with great boulders. It is quite a 

 little place, but 21 fish have been taken from it in a day, and 

 a round dozen have been taken frequently. The river below 

 this point has a steep course, with little cascades here and 

 there, but with inviting pools the Pot and the Garden at 

 intervals. Above the bridge the course becomes much natter, 

 and seems to occupy the floor of an old lake basin, a 

 prolongation, no doubt, of the present more restricted Loch- 

 na-Sheallag. There are about a score of pools in all, " Baring's 

 Flat Pool " being the name of one which may be mentioned, 

 since it recalls the name of a tenant long associated with the 

 river. 



No regular record is kept of the fish taken, and the sport is 

 reported to have fallen off greatly of late years. With the 

 commencement of season 1909 a limitation of the bag nets in 

 the bay was inaugurated with a view to improving the stock. 

 In 1908 only about 30 salmon and about 900 sea-trout are 

 believed to have been taken in the river and Loch-na-Sheallag. 



About midway between the Great and Little Gruinard is a 

 fishing station called Fisherfield, close to a tidal peninsula or 

 island called Eilean Mor. Here a net used to be worked. I 

 counted thirteen nets on the southern bend of Gruinard Bay in 

 July 1908, which is a rather smaller number than formerly. 



The beach just west of the mouth of Little Gruinard is of 

 an unusual kind. It is clearly a glacial moraine, but some of 

 the boulders are of great size, and all are packed so thickly, 



