68 



THE ANGLER'S SOUVENIR. 



bristle-bsarded coalheavers is a feminine employ- 

 ment. I cannot bear a female barber or a male 

 "chamber-maid." Do many ladies angle in Scot- 

 land, Tweddell ? 



TWEDDELL. Not to my knowledge. I have 

 known a lady once or twice try a few casts with a 

 gentleman's rod, and hook a trout too, but I cannot 

 say that I ever knew one who was a professional 

 fly-fisher. I, however, once saw a woman kill two 

 salmon, with a fly, in the Tweed, about a mile 

 above Kelso, in March 1832. She fished from a 

 boat, which was also managed by a female com- 

 panion. I was out with a friend the same day, and 

 though we had several rises, we both failed in kill- 

 ing a single salmon. 



FISHER. Gedant braccae stolae, " Fie, Sandy, 

 yield the breeks to Meg ! " What kind of sport 

 have you had in trout- fishing in your part of the 

 country this season ? 



TWEDDELL. Not very good, except in the early 

 part. In such a dry summer as this has been there 

 is not much sport after sheep-washing begins, unless 

 there be a good spate shortly after to purify the 

 streams. During sheep-washing, and for a fort- 

 night or three weeks afterwards, trout are very shy 

 of rising, more especially if the water be low. I 

 have often spoken with old anglers about the cause 

 of this, and have heard different reasons assigned 

 for this shyness of the trout. One says that they 

 are sick, in consequence of the water being im- 





