THE SOLWAY DEE 417 



the fish are in countless thousands, but to bale fish out of 

 rocky pools in a Scottish river, where salmon are all too scarce, 

 seems to me a most improvident sort of operation. It will be 

 noticed that neither Doachs nor the shoulder net are expressly 

 referred to in the quotation given above. 



The Doachs of Tongueland have been the subject of a good 

 deal of litigation. The late Mr. Archibald Young, when 

 Inspector of Salmon Fisheries, referred to the matter in the 

 following way 1 when speaking of the regulations governing 

 cruive fishing, and whether or not the Doachs were cruives : 

 " With reference to the above, I may mention that at the time 

 I inspected the ' Big Doach ' and the deep pool called the 

 ' Black Pot ' below it, the sill or bottom of the Doach was at 

 least 4 feet 6 inches above the level of the pool, and there was 

 no paved floor or apron of any kind as prescribed in the bye-law. 

 I may further mention that Mr. Stewart, in his well-known 

 Treatise on the law of Scotland relating to Rights of Fishing, 

 states that fishing by means of Doachs is subject to the pro- 

 visions of the above-quoted bye-law. ' A method of fishing,' 

 he says, ' not exactly the same as, but similar to, cruive fishing, 

 was subjected by the Court to the regulations which affect 

 cruives.' The case he alludes to is that of Peter Johnston and 

 others, Trustees of James Murray, Esq., of Broughton, against 

 the Messrs. Stott of Kelton and their commissioners, decided 

 in the House of Lords, 18th February, 1802. In this case an 

 action was originally raised by the Messrs. Stott, who were the 

 proprietors of lands and salmon fishings about a couple of miles 

 above the Doachs, to have it found and declared that these 

 Doachs were really cruives, and must be constructed and 

 worked subject to the rules and restrictions regulating that 

 mode of fishing. It was found proved that the fishings at 

 Tongueland had been carried on as far back at least as the 

 middle of the seventeenth century by means of Doachs, as 

 shown by an old valuation of 1642 and other documents. The 

 Lord Ordinary found that ' cruives or doachs must be regulated 

 in terms of the laws regarding cruive fishings, and that the 

 blind eyes and other artificial obstructions or barricades to 

 intercept the run of the fish in the river, within the bounds of 

 defender's fishings, must be removed as illegal.' On reclaiming, 



1 Second Annual Report Fishery Board for Scotland, Appen., p. 109. 



DD 



