CHAPTER XX 



ON DUNEATON WATER 



OF all the tributaries of the Clyde none appeals 

 to us quite so much as does the Duneaton, 

 which, rising in Cairntable, on the borders 

 of Ayrshire and Lanarkshire, falls after a long 

 and varied course into the main river about a 

 mile below the village of Abington. We find it 

 difficult to give a satisfactory reason for our prefer- 

 ence, which is none the less decided on that account. 

 It is true that we have always had and can depend 

 on having better sport on Daer Water, but we 

 look upon that delightful stream not as a tributary 

 but as the Clyde itself. 



The Duneaton is a typical moorland stream, 

 winding through a broad strath bounded by smooth 

 rolling heights, slipping along between high grassy 

 banks, chattering over gravelly shallows, gliding 

 through long flats. No sound breaks the silence of 

 the holms save the song of the sky-larks^above, the 

 bleating of the sheep, the lone far cry of the restless 

 curlew, the music of the water, or the sudden 

 shriek of triumphant reel. 



It is a place where we may spend pleasantly 

 and contentedly a long summer day with rod in 

 hand and bag on back casting a questing fly as 

 fancy directs, and every minute is one of enjoyment, 



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