T1IE YA.EEOW THE ETTEICK. 129 



High up the source of the Tweed and Annan there are 

 streams which, when flooded, find their way partly into Tweed 

 and Annan, and partly into Clyde. It is by these water- 

 courses, as has been supposed, that the smolts, which in some 

 rare instances have been found in the Clyde above the falls, 

 have reached the Clyde. I have no experience in the matter. All 

 I know is, that neither parr, .nor smolts, nor salmon, have ever 

 been taken by the most experienced angler above the falls of 

 Clyde. Their accidental appearance there can only be explained 

 in the way I have mentioned, or by the still easier method of 

 carrying the fish about to spawn above the highest fall. 



"Among these wild mountains 



Shall still be my path ; 

 Each stream foaming down 



Its own green mountain strath." 



CHAPTER IX. 



THE YAEEOW THE ETTEICK 'ST. MAEY'S LOCH LOCH OF 

 THE LOWS. 



"The hills whence classic Yarrow flows." 



THE Gordon Arms, and the cottage kept by a lone widow in a 

 romantic spot between the Loch of the Lows and St. Mary's 

 Loch, have ever been favourite haunts of anglers, young and old, 

 honest and false, for they are of both sorts. I had never the 

 good fortune to fish the Yarrow or the Ettrick when in proper 

 condition, and can therefore say but little concerning these, no 

 doubt, excellent streams. The lochs just named contain numerous 

 trout, and some exceedingly large ones have at times been taken. 

 Parr also abound, and it was with parr, caught in Yarrow, that 

 the Ettrick shepherd attempted to prove the parr to be a young 

 salmon, by cutting off a portion of the mort fin, or otherwise 

 marking them, and watching their return from the ocean as 

 grilses and salmon. The farmhouse he occasionally occupied 



