NOVEMBER 273 



three centuries it was the policy for the legislature of 

 both Scotland and England to permit the utmost havoc 

 to be wrought on fish swimming in streams with 

 both Scottish and English banks. That is the reason 

 why to this day Tweed and Solway have each their 

 special Acts of Parliament, distinct from the rest of 

 Scotland. 



There will be some grumbling among lessors and 

 lessees of rod-fishing if the close time for rods is ex- 

 tended as proposed, for the nets will still reap the chief 

 benefit. But that must be so always ; and most candid 

 sportsmen will admit that the majority of the fish 

 taken after the middle of November, even as low down 

 as Sprouston and Birgham, are in a condition to be 

 treated with mercy. It is true that Tweed salmon 

 differ from those of most rivers in respect that many 

 of them, even in an advanced gravid state, retain their 

 silvery coats until they are actually on the spawning 

 ' redds ' ; a boat-load of November fish does not present 

 the unsightly appearance which those of any river 

 except the Tweed would do. It is true, also, that the 

 heaviest fish leave the sea latest, and there is a better 

 chance for the angler to immortalise himself by the 

 capture of a forty or fifty pounder in November than 

 in any other month. But sportsmen can afford to be 

 generous; and when they compare the dull, sluggish 

 movements of a November salmon with the gallant 

 resistance offered earlier in the season, when fish are in 

 fighting trim, surely most of them will be content to 

 exercise a chivalrous forbearance. 



