91 



shook his Carrick spear." Here also was the farm 

 of Shanter, belonging to Douglas Grahame, the hero 

 of " Tarn o' Shanter/' which the Ayrshire bard has 

 rendered familiar all over the world. 



As an angling river, the Girvan is a pleasant 

 water to perambulate with the rod. The streams are 

 well adapted for throwing the line with ease and 

 dexterity ; and in the spring months they are com- 

 monly in very high condition for sport. Attention 

 ought to be paid to the size of the flies used for this 

 water ; colour is not of so much importance. 



The Doon and its feeders are classic waters in this 

 section of the Scottish kingdom. Their streams 

 have been immortalised by the fascinations of song. 

 Its sources lie on the borders of Kirkcudbright, and 

 it is connected with a chain of lochs, of which Loch 

 Doon is the principal. The river has a run from 

 this spot to the sea of about eighteen or twenty 

 miles, and is altogether a very fine and interesting 

 angling stream. Salmon, salmon-trout, the yel- 

 low and common trouts, and pike, are found in its 

 waters. Its bed is very rocky ; and we every now 

 and then meet with narrow gullies through which the 

 watery element makes its way with irresistible im- 

 petuosity. The angling with fly is good nearly all 

 the entire route, from Loch Doon to where the river 

 joins the ocean. It is much frequented by numbers 

 of anglers from the town of Ayr and its neighbour- 

 hood, by whom its higher waters are generally more 

 warmly eulogised than those portions nearer the 

 coast. Good fishing tackle is to be had in this town. 



