SCOTCH SALMON AND SCOTCH LAW* 



BEING lately at an Edinburgh dinner-party, abund- 

 antly supplied with all the delicacies of the season, we 

 were struck by the very decided preference for roast 

 mutton evinced by a gentleman from the country. In 

 answer to the invitation of the courteous hostess to 

 "take a little bit of this fine turkey," our friend observed 

 " Poultry is no rarity with me ; but mutton is so 

 scarce and so dear in my neighbourhood, that ~ere long 

 I hardly expect to meet with it. Another slice, if you 

 please, sir, in case that be the last leg of mutton I may 

 see for a while." 



We have learned by doleful experience that there is 

 reason for our friend's anticipation as to the increased 

 price of butcher-meat. Three weeks ago, in a certain 

 county town, beef and mutton were selling at 8d. per 

 Ib. The price is now lOd. ; and our butcher threatens 

 speedily to raise it to a shilling a calamity to house- 

 keepers evidently at our door, seeing that this price is 

 already demanded in a neighbouring town. If the fail- 

 ing produce of the land impel us to the cultivation of 

 those never-failing harvests furnished by the ocean, and 



* 'View of the Salmon Fishery of Scotland. "With Observations 

 on the Nature, Habits, and Instincts of the Salmon; and on the 

 Law as affecting the Eights of Parties,' &c. By the late Murdo 

 Mackenzie, Esq. of Ardross and Dundonnell. With Appendix. 

 William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh and London. 1860. 



