400 SALMON AND TROUT. 



deep sluggish water. This is a characteristic which especially 

 belongs to the Lugg, more particularly in the higher portions of its 

 course, and in no part more so than in the water from and above 

 Aymestry to Kingsland and downwards. You find the smaller, or 

 \vhat are locally termed the shett or ' shut ' grayling, abounding in 

 the scours or runs ; the larger fish keeping to the pools and deep 

 still lanes of water. 



There are, or were, two, if not more clubs on this river : viz. 

 at Leominster and Kingsland. To the latter club I formerly be- 

 longed, and although the members were professedly limited, yet 

 there was not much difficulty in procuring admission. The sub- 

 scription was a guinea a year with a gratuity to the keeper of the 

 water, and each member of the club was entitled to give permission 

 to a friend, should the latter accompany him. The club water 

 extended from Kingsland for about two miles, and all, or nearly all, 

 the water was sufficiently open along the banks for the purposes of 

 the angler. At the village inn there is room for two or three 

 anglers, and if further accommodation is required, private lodgings 

 in the village can be obtained. 



A mile or two further on from Kingsland, on the road to 

 Wigmore and Presteign, we come to Mortimer's Cross, so called 

 from a famous battle fought in the vicinity, between the adherents 

 of the Houses of York and Lancaster. This village contains an 

 old-fashioned but comfortable inn, and being in the immediate 

 vicinity of the Lugg, is conveniently situated for the fisherman. 

 There is excellent fishing-ground from Kingsland to Aymestry, but 

 it is necessary to obtain leave ; for particulars we should advise 

 inquiries being made at Mortimer's Cross. Aymestry, further on, 

 is the beau ideal of a fisherman's home, in short perfection. 

 Formerly, there stood near the bridge a very comfortable inn, con- 

 sisting of a roomy parlour, and two or three bed-rooms, clean, 

 although homely, with great civility and good fare. Since my 

 sojourn there, however, I have heard that the inn is shut up, and 

 whether there is now any accommodation for the fisherman at 

 Aymestry, I am unable to say. 



The scenery here, especially in autumn, is exquisite, the banks 

 of the Lugg being beautifully wooded, and the branches in many 

 places weeping over and even into the water. From hence to 

 Kingsland by road is about three miles. The Aymestry water 

 extends above bridge for about one mile. Above that the Lugg is 

 strictly preserved by Lord Bateman. 



There is one drawback to the angler : at the fall of the leaf the 



