AND ANGLING SONGS. 331 



Under such circumstances it was, the jiggers working merrily, 

 that the large saithe referred to were taken ; the more common 

 and less acceptable assailants are dog-fish. On the occasion of 

 these saithe being entangled on the jigger-hooks, the advice I 

 received from the fishermen was to employ main force, and take 

 my chance of sacrificing both fish and tackle to the exigency of 

 the moment. Neither the one nor the other was of much con- 

 sideration ; but I had no notion of parting with them so uncere- 

 moniously ; and as there was plenty of spare line, I tried the 

 experiment, in both cases, of allowing the fish a little of their own 

 way, the bottom being clear of tangles. I had armed the hooks 

 on my jigger with stout pieces of salmon -gut, instead of bristles, 

 so that I could keep a pretty tight rein on the movements of 

 the saithe. After a few strong pushes, like those of a kelted 

 salmon in dead water, I succeeded in bringing them to the top, 

 within reach of the gaff-hook. 



The chief nuisance, in the shape of predatory fish, met with on 

 the east coast of Scotland, is the picked dog-fish (Galeus acan- 

 thias sive spinax). It is impossible to estimate the enormous 

 amount of damage done annually, both by it and the coal-fish, to 

 our herring and salmon fishings. All the mischief proceeding 

 from seals and porpoises is a mere trifle in comparison. The 

 instincts of the coal-fish lead them to watch for the descent of the 

 smolts at the mouths of our rivers, into the estuaries of which 

 they press in great numbers, the dog-sharks carrying on their 

 depredations further out to sea. To the ravages committed by 

 the black pollacks, the fishermen at Tweedmouth can bear tes- 

 timony, as scarcely a day passes during the smolt season in which 

 they fail to secure quantities of them. The examination of a 

 single specimen on these occasions will often excite surprise ; 

 four or five smolts undergoing the digestive operation, being fre- 

 quently abstracted from a podley not two pounds in weight. It 

 would dishearten as well as astonish our friends at Stormontfield, 



