DAYS STOLEN FOR SPORT 205 



the bridge that always holds fish to stay the idler's 

 footsteps while he rests, with his arms upon the 

 wall, and peeps down to watch their doings. It's 

 seldom a village bridge that spans a river remains 

 unoccupied for long and it was so with this one. 

 No matter what the weather was, its coping stones 

 were being polished at all hours of the day by a 

 row, sometimes long and at others short, of sleeves, 

 given weight to by chins that seemed to rest on 

 them heavily while the owners solved problems. 

 Sea-trout were numerous here but very shy until 

 the day was almost gone and then they fell ready 

 victims to quite large flies. 



Above this is a pool called "The Half- Pool" 

 just below the junction of the Shiel and the " Big 

 Burn." This can be fished from either side and 

 holds a rushing deep, a holding run and an eddying 

 shallow. 



Opposite the schoolhouse is the long "Captain's 

 Pool," a good length of capable-looking water, 

 easily fishable over the low-boughed alders or from 

 the schoolhouse side. 



Then comes the narrow " Inkpot Pool," hemmed 

 in by dangerous weeds, from which I was told 

 salmon were often taken, but I got none. 



Loch Shiel comes next, about which I have 

 already written. The reeds are thickly growing 

 round it and you will need the boat. Above this 

 is the last of the fishing, a good deep slowly 

 running length of water, in which were a large 

 number of sea-trout, and where only a breeze was 

 needed to keep us busy. At times the surface of 

 the water in this pool was as a sheet of glass 

 beneath which shoals of sea-trout passed close to 



