1 8 THE PIKE 



weight, caught in 1784 in the month of June in Loch 

 Petuliche, Scotland, by Colonel Thornton. That is 

 definite so far as it goes, but the entire story is sur- 

 rounded with suspicion, though a drawing of the fish 

 appeared in the ' Sporting Magazine ' of the year men- 

 tioned. The Colonel, however, was not quite the man 

 to swear by in matters of sport. It is stated in the 

 Inverurie list that the fish was caught by trolling ; but 

 I have read in another place that it was taken on a 

 night line, and in yet another that it was caught with a 

 fly. As the gallant Colonel, however, states that from 

 Lochaber a pike of 146 Ib. was taken, we may put 

 down his authority as doubtful. 



A very much discussed monster is the famous 

 Kenmure pike immortalised by a succession of writers, 

 and worthy of some consideration. The fish was 

 started at 72 Ib., was reported from Loch Ken in 

 Galloway, a not unlikely water for a big fish, and is 

 referred to rather strangely by Stoddart as having 

 been taken with a rod and fly. The head of the fish 

 was, and probably is still, preserved in the castle 

 at Kenmure, and Mr. Cholmondeley Pennell made 

 personal inquiries into the records. The Hon. Mrs. 

 Bellamy Gordon forwarded to him an interesting 

 account of the pike and its record, written on the 

 spot by the Rev. George Murray, of Balmaclellan, and 



