AND ANGLING SONGS. 185 



of the judicial office ; never wilt thou compare the dry handling 

 of musty precedents in law, and the determination of petty con- 

 tentions, to the exercise of the higher intellectual powers and that 

 strife of thought which ennobles all who engage in it ! 



In the border games H. G. B. excelled as a quoit-player. He 

 took part also in the foot-races with the men of speed ; among 

 whom shone conspicuously the flying tailor of Ettrick and the 

 then celebrated Samuel Nibbs. As a fishing competitor, angling 

 being among the sports encouraged by the St. Ronan's Club, he 

 never, as far as I can recollect, presented himself. The fishing 

 meetings were held apart from the general summer gathering, in 

 May and October. Attendant on them there was always a select, 

 but, numerically speaking, not a strong muster of members. It 

 comprised a bevy of anglers, several of whom were, in their day, 

 the pride and prime of our craft. As a fly and minnow fisher, 

 foremost in rank stood W. Macdonald of Powderhall, one of 

 the keenest and readiest sportsmen that ever waved a wand or 

 handled a fowling-piece. As a proof of his skill in the use of the 

 rod, I may mention that, on one occasion, when we were angling 

 together on the Teviot, he encreeled betwixt eleven A.M. and five 

 P.M. the enormous weight of fifty-seven pounds of common river- 

 trout ; the part of the river from which these were taken, running 

 through the heart of a poaching district. Second, perhaps, to 

 Powderhall, ranked the then secretary of the club, Robert Boyd 

 of Innerleithen, and David Thorburn, Juniper Bank. Sam 

 Nibbs, too, and Scougal were but a short way behind them. Had 

 the competitions been fixed to take place in June or July, Sam 

 would, no doubt, have beaten the whole of the entrants put 

 together ; for he was, unquestionably, their master at worm- 

 fishing in clear, sunny weather, and up to all the dodges con- 

 nected with this branch of the art. In a contest held in October 

 1828 for the salmon medal of the club, the Ettrick Shepherd was 

 the successful competitor. The only fish, in fact, produced on 



