88 ANGLING SKETCHES 



or so has no chance on a trolling-rod. This 

 method is inimical to fly-fishing, but is such a 

 consolation to the inefficient angler that one can 

 hardly expect to see it abolished. The unsuccess- 

 ful clamour for trolling, instead of consoling them- 

 selves, as sportsmen should do, with the con- 

 versation of the gillies, their anecdotes of great 

 trout, and their reminiscences of great anglers, 

 especially of the late Mr. Russell, the famed 

 editor of the ' Scotsman.' This humourist is 

 gradually ' winning his way to the mythical.' All 

 fishing stories are attached to him ; his eloquence 

 is said (in the language of the historian of the 

 Buccaneers) to have been ' florid ' ; he is reported 

 to have thrown his fly -book into Loch Leven on 

 an unlucky day, saying, ' You brutes, take your 

 choice,' and a rock, which he once hooked and 

 held on to, is named after him, on the Tweed. In 

 addition to the humane and varied conversation of 

 the boatmen, there is always the pure pleasure of 

 simply gazing at the hillsides and at the islands. 

 They are as much associated with the memory of 

 Mary Stuart as Hermitage or even Holyrood. On 



