148 DAYS AND NIGHTS OF SALMON FISHING. 



No. 6. 

 Meg in her Braws. 



Wings - - - Light brown, from the wing of a bit- 



tern. 



Head. - - - Yellow wool. 



Next the head - - Mottled blue feather from a jay's 



wing. 



Body - - - Brown wool mixed with bullock's hair. 



Towards the end of body Green wool; next to that crimson wool. 



Tail - - - Yellow wool. 



Bound the body - Gold twist; over that cock's hackle, 



black at the roots and red at the 

 points. 



Concerning these flies I will note one thing, which 

 is, that if you rise a fish with the Lady of Mertoun, 

 and he does not touch her, give him a rest, and come 

 over him with the Toppy, and you have him to a cer- 

 tainty, and vice versa. This I hold to be an invaluable 

 secret, and is the only change that during my long 

 practice I have found eminently successful. 



Having now named all things necessary for the sport, 

 I must now advise all fishermen, Cocknies in particular, 

 to provide themselves with plenty of spare tackle 

 before they go felicity hunting ; for in the wilds of 

 Scotland it is not easy to replace any loss that inex- 

 perience and ill fortune may occasion. 



A friend of mine told me a circumstance, by which 

 it appeared that a very worthy person was considerably 

 embarrassed for want of this due precaution. This said 

 friend had been fishing in the river Shiel in Inverness- 

 shire, and was seated on a bank with a large salmon be- 

 fore him that he had just caught. He was eyeing the fish 

 with complacency, and smoking a cigar in all the enjoy- 



