AND ANGLING SONGS. 45 



MORAYSHIRE. 



A RESIDENCE at Nairn, extending over twelve months, in 1836- 

 1837, made me fully acquainted with the lower portions of the 

 river bearing the same name, on which the town stands. Nairn 

 is rendered interesting by its contiguity to the sporting grounds 

 traversed by Charles St. John and John Sobieski, and by its 

 relations to the geological field on which quarried, with zeal and 

 ability, the late Hugh Miller. The proximity of Cawdor Castle, 

 and of the ' blasted heath ' on the way to Forres, associate it, as 

 a halting-place for the ambitious usurper, with the tragedy of 

 Macbeth, and lead to the belief that the Swan of Avon had at one 

 time waved dramatic wing among the wild swans that continue 

 to pay periodical visits to the shores of the Moray Firth. 



In point of size, the Nairn, or river of Alders, as the term 

 signifies, is a third-class stream. Its waters, which have their 

 sources near Loch Ruthven, on the heights of Inverness-shire, 

 are remarkably pure and inviting ; the process of filtration they 

 undergo through sand and gravel in the lower division of their 

 course, removing all mossy impurities, and imparting to them a 

 sparkling freshness which does not belong to the general run of 

 our northern rivers. At the same time, like its neighbour, the 

 Findhorn, with which it maintains a parallel direction, the Nairn 

 is readily acted on from the upland districts ; and with startling 

 suddenness, the contents of the thunder-cloud, or meltings of the 

 snow in spring, frequently find their way through the strath, dis- 

 turbing the existing relations of pool and ford. This river is 

 visited by salmon as well as sea-trout ; but the sport is preca- 

 rious, depending much upon the character of the weather, in 

 July and August. During the first four weeks of my acquaint- 

 ance with it, I found its streams swarming with orange-fin smolts, 

 to such an extent, that it was quite impossible to cast the trouting- 



