THE TWEED AT DRYBURGH. 287 



who, among other devices, caused to be erected in the 

 way of ornamentation to the Dryburgh estate a 

 huge ungainly statue in honour of the Scottish hero 

 Wallace, and a dome or temple dedicated to and 

 graced by the figures of the muses ; not an unclassical 

 work of art by any means, but sadly out of place, 

 and in consequence reduced to a ruinous condition, 

 partly through want of means on the part of the 

 possessor, and also I feel pained to add of pro- 

 priety on the part of visitors. The bridge, which is 

 contiguous in its way to these curiosities, has not 

 been used as such for forty or fifty years, and the 

 skeleton portion which remains had better be removed 

 altogether than left as it is, to call forth queries and 

 emotions of a painful nature. Immediately under 

 this dissolving structure, some years ago, I hooked, 

 played, and after a severe run of nearly half-an-hour, 

 landed a fish of 19 Ibs. weight. Above the Bridge 

 Stream occurs a salmon-cast, known by the designa- 

 tion Munsey. I recollect educing from under the 

 shadow of an ash-tree, on the north bank of the 

 river, by virtue of the snipe-wing, an immense kelt 

 from this piece of water ; and out of its superintend- 

 ing flow, which is really magnificent salmon-ground, 

 I have, once and again, taken fish of great mettle. 

 The highest salmon-stream on the Dryburgh water, 

 and perhaps on the whole one of the most likely for 

 a clean fish to take up quarters in, is termed the 



