198 AN ANGLER'S RAMBLES 



where Adam the reiver, king of the Borders, as he was called, 

 reigned and robbed, until tucked up by the provost -marshal of 

 his lawful sovereign James the Fifth, over his own gateway ; not 

 to mention Thirlstane, another Scott stronghold, now belonging 

 to Lord Napier. These, the antiquities of the valley, are auxi- 

 liarized and enhanced, as attractive objects, by the occurrence 

 of several fine scenic points of regard, which only require the 

 exertion of a great artist's powers to command general attention. 

 Besides all this, the Ettrick, as an angling resort, swarming with 

 nice lively trout, and free to every one (the ducal policies of 

 Bowhill, which extend from the confluence of the two rivers up 

 to Ettrick Bridge, a stretch of six or seven miles, excepted), has 

 its store of attractions, rivalling, in some respects, those possessed 

 by its sister stream. But then the latter leads to St. Mary's 

 Loch. Its associations with the hunting days of the Royal 

 Stuarts, with Outlaw Murray, and with Mary Scott, the flower 

 of Yarrow, awakened by the remains of Newark, Hangingshaw 

 and Dryhope Towers, not to talk of the field of Philiphaugh and 

 tragedy of ' the Dowie Dens," are deepened in interest as we 

 approach the Forest Mirror, out of which glides in its fulness one 

 of the sweetest of Tweed's tribute-bearers. 



But Tibby Shiels who is Tibby Shiels ? and what connexion 

 has Tibby with St. Mary's Loch ? Considering her sphere of 

 life and action, Tibby is perhaps, be it chronicled, one of the 

 most noted and notable women alive. For forty years she has 

 been the occupant of a cottage which consisted, when I first 

 knew it, of little more than a butt and a ben, along with garret 

 accommodation ; but, circumstances requiring and means per- 

 mitting, it has, since then, undergone many alterations, and affords, 

 in its present state, comfortable night-quarters to a large party 

 of anglers. This rural retreat is situated on a piece of meadow 

 land which divides St. Mary's Loch from a small sheet of water, 

 aptly called, from its position, the Loch of the Lowes or Lochs. 



