356 THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



landed at Crubeg, i.e. from the top to the bottom of what 

 previously was the Taynuilt Hotel water. Mr. Augustus 

 Grimble describes this famous run, having seen part of it. He 

 says that in following the fish from the Otter Pool into the 

 Stepping- Stones the schoolmaster was up to his chin, and that 

 the man was fortunately tall. Well, I have heard of an Irish 

 angler swimming down through a bridge with his rod rather 

 than allow a good fish to break him. 



In 1907 the heaviest fish was a 51-pounder, I believe. I 

 do not recollect who caught it, but a 50-pounder was also 

 landed by Dr. Childs, a photograph of which he has kindly 

 allowed me to see, as an example of a large Awe fish. It was 

 51| inches long and 28| inches in girth, breadth of tail 15 inches. 

 I understand that a photograph of this fish appeared in Country 

 Life. 



Lord Breadalbane's Awe water used to be fished by the late 

 Colonel Murray of Polmaise, who, with his 20-foot rod, also 

 accounted for a good number of large fish. He used to fish 

 about six weeks from 25th June to 7th August, and Mr. Grimble 

 says 1 that in that period the average was from 70-100 salmon 

 and grilse, the weight of the salmon averaging never less than 

 16 lb., and being in some seasons 21 Ib. A fair number of sea- 

 trout would also be taken. 



A short distance above Inverawe House there is a cruive 

 which is of interest since it is the only structure of the kind in 

 Scotland which does not present a complete barrier across the 

 river in which it has been constructed. In other words, it 

 conforms to the old requirements for a " mid- stream," since 

 the central flow of the river is unimpeded by the cruive dyke. 

 This old requirement was never repealed by any statute, but it 

 has happened that in cases brought before the Courts with 

 reference to cruive fishings in Scotland, witnesses have been 

 unable to point to any cases in which " mid- streams " still 

 existed, and for this reason, apparently, the Courts have 

 considered that in process of time and these structures are 

 all very ancient the requirement for a mid-stream has fallen 

 into desuetude. 



The Inverawe cruive dates from 1480, in the reign of James 

 III., and the structure has never been modified since that 

 1 Salmon Rivers of Scotland, vol. ii., p. 24. 



