74 A SONG FOR SALMON-FISHERS 



! mark him rinnin' frae the tide, 

 In blue and silver braw, man ; 

 The ticks upon his gawsy l side 

 Shew him a new-rin saumon. 

 And though he 'scape the Berwick net, 

 The Duke at Floors 2 an' a', man, 

 There's mony a chance remainin' yet 

 To catch that bonnie saumon. 



Across the pool the fisher's flee 

 Fa's light as might a straw, man, 

 Soops 3 doon the stream, and syne a wee 4 

 Hangs trem'lin o'er the saumon. 

 A moment mair ! the line is stent, 6 

 A rug, 8 and then a draw, man ; 

 And now the soople tap-piece bent 

 He 's taigled wi' his saumon. 



Frae aff the birling 7 reel the line 



Like lichtnin' spins awa', man ; 



The fisher lauchs, for he kens fine 



He's heuked a guidly saumon. 



He's up he's doon, he's here he's there 



Wi' mony a twist and thraw, 8 man ; 



Noo deep in Tweed, noo in the air, 



My troth ! a lively saumon. 



But stren'th and nature for a while 

 Can warstle 9 against a', man ; 

 Yet nature aft maun yield to guile, 

 As weel in man as saumon. 

 And sae the merry fish that rose 

 To tak' that flee sae braw, man, 

 Noo sidelins 10 sooms at his life's close, 

 A worn and deein' saumon. 



1 Gawsy, plump, well-fed. 



* The Duke of Roxburghe, whose fishings on the Tweed at Floor 

 contain some of the best casts on that river. 



3 Soops, sweeps. 4 Syne a wee, in a short time. 5 Stent, taut. 

 8 A rug, a tug. 7 Birling, whirling. 8 Thraw, a wrench. 

 8 Warstle, to wrestle or struggle. 

 10 Sidelins, sideways, broadside on. 



