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CHAPTER XIX. 



FORTH AND ITS TRIBUTARIES. 



THE FORTH, or BODOTRIA of the Romans, has its foun- 

 tain-head on the north side of Ben Lomond, and 

 traverses Stirlingshire for about ten miles, under the 

 name of Duchray. Its current during this part of its 

 course, is sluggish, and the banks, which are formed of 

 black moss, possess no features to attract or interest the 

 tourist. It then enters Perthshire, and receives, near 

 Aberfoyle, a large accession to its streams in a river 

 issuing from Loch Ard. At its junction with this water, 

 it takes the name of Avondow, and after running five 

 miles in Perthshire, again passes into the county of 

 Stirling, and obtains the name of Forth. Still, until in 

 the vicinity of Stirling itself, it is not much distinguished 

 either for its size or beauty; and only after having 

 pursued a course of thirty-four miles, and receiving 

 accessions from the Teith and Allan waters, does it be- 

 come entitled to the rank of a first-class river. The 

 surface which it drains, as it proceeds, has been esti- 

 mated at five hundred and forty- one square miles, and 

 it conveys to the sea about one-fourth of the quantity 

 of water carried down through the channel of Tay. 



In the Forth are found salmon, grilse, trout, pike, 

 perch, sparlings or smelts, along with eels and flounders, 

 and occasionally sturgeon. The salmon-fishings in the 

 vicinity of Stirling belong principally to the town and 



