236 AN ANGLER'S RAMBLES 



In the case of the Timah and Rankle-burn, its chief feeders, the 

 month named is, properly speaking, their season, and the trout 

 then found in them are much better conditioned than those of 

 May, June, and July. This is the case in many of our hill 

 burns ; but, at the same time, it must be admitted that the con- 

 dition arrived at in autumn by the finny population of the higher 

 and strictly pastoral districts of country is very inferior, at the 

 best, to that attained by the trout of our cultivated valleys in 

 the spring months. 



It was about the time of my visit to Thirlstane that intelli- 

 gence was brought to Professor Wilson of the serious illness of Mr. 

 Blackwood, the eminent publisher, whose name is still retained 

 in the designation of the firm. This illness, which terminated 

 fatally, was the occasion of great anxiety to the Professor, betwixt 

 whom and Mr. Blackwood, independent of their connexion as 

 conductors of the Magazine, there had existed a friendship of 

 long standing. It involved him also in an extra amount of edi- 

 torial labour, so that it was but seldom he could find heart or 

 leisure to take an active part in those out-of-door recreations 

 which the heights of Ettrick invite to. He showed, however, a 

 strong interest in them, and was usually present at the emptying 

 of the game-bags or fishing-creels on the conclusion of the day's 

 sport. On these occasions the variety and condition of the 

 feathered, furred, and scaly spoils became themes of lively com- 

 ment. The glossy plumage of this or that old blackcock, the 

 rich pedal feathering of some male grouse struck down among 

 the hags of the Ward Law, the bright colouring of the mallard ; 

 such points of attraction as the snipe, the golden plover, the part- 

 ridge, the landrail, the hare, the trout, the pike, and the perch 

 presented, were all and severally made subjects of remark, which, 

 in point of felicity, bore a kind of resemblance to the master- 

 strokes of a Landseer or other great animal painter. Our after- 

 dinner discourse, also, was frequently directed by him into the 



