THE WATEB OF LEITH. 15 



burgh, a stream of which I shall speak presently. It is probable, 

 therefore, that in the mouth of the Ammond, and within the range 

 of those waters "into which the tide ebbs and flows," these 

 hiding and sea trout as well, may readily enough be taken, espe- 

 cially with sand eels, a bait of which the sea trout and hirling 

 greedily partake, although they prefer more delicate food when 

 they can get it. Favoured by a strong wind, whether easterly 

 or westerly, and an ebbing, or perhaps still better, a flowing tide, 

 a determined angler might have a day or two's good sport at the 

 mouth of the Ammond water. He ought to have acquired the 

 art of fishing " under hand," for trees abound. 



The surrounding grounds belong in part, if I recollect aright, 

 to the noble and liberal family of Torpichen ; kind and hospitable 

 to strangers, and claiming their descent from "the Reformer," 

 who truly deserved that name : the man to whom Scotland owes 

 her liberty, freedom of conscience, exemption from tithes and 

 bishops, popery and prelacy, alike abhorred by Scot. See 

 how Burns writes on this great question the greatest of all 

 questions national independence 



" Scots, wha ha'e wi' Wallace bled, 

 Scots, wham Bruce has often led, 

 On to glorious victory !" 



Scotland, by her own act, has been blotted out of the list of 

 nations. The loss of national independence is a melancholy sub- 

 ject for reflection, and so I turn from it and from the Ammond 

 water to other scenes and other streams. 



THE WATER OE LEITH. 



High on the north-western slope of the Pentland, the angler 

 will find at the distance of a morning's walk from the capital, a 

 small stream making its way through heath and dark knolls, 

 onwards towards the ocean. It is one of the sources of a charming 

 stream, whose banks present the most varied and beauteous 

 scenery ; it is a tiny stream where I speak of it, that is, high on 

 the shoulders of the Pentland range. This source of the water 

 of Leith (for it is not the only one), crosses an uneven plain on 

 which there are no bushes nor trees to interrupt the sport of the 



