24 THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



260 lb., and in his 13 fish included the heaviest Tweed fish of the 

 year a 43 pounder. 



To show what Sprouston Water alone has produced in recent 

 years we have to add the results obtained from the Floors Fishing 

 Book to those from Hendersyde Park : 



1903 - 592 



1904 - 234 



1905 - 258 



1906 - 502 



1907 - 198 



1908 - 278 



Below Hendersyde water comes Birgham, the property of the 

 Earl of Home. Here at the top of the water we have another 

 famous dub the Birgham Dub, followed by twenty-eight good 

 pools. In the south bank, Carham shares the water, and Carham 

 Burn is the boundary between Scotland and England on this side. 



Many fishings in Scotland, especially in the Lowlands, have re- 

 markable names for some of the casts. The Birgham fishings are, 

 I think, as peculiar in this way as any I have come across. Here 

 is a selection : Corbie-nest, Jean-my-lady, Long-ship-end, Flummery, 

 Dritten-ass, Glitters, Bloody -breeks, Mark's -shilling -head, Shaw's 

 mare. 



The field of Flodden is only about six miles from Coldstream, and 

 the spot where the Scottish king fell only some three miles. It is 

 reported that at a Cistercian nunnery which used to exist at Cold- 

 stream, many of the " Flowers of the Forest " were quietly interred. 

 Another matter of interest to which we may refer in passing, is that 

 Coldstream was formerly the Gretna Green of the Tweedside Border. 

 I do not know if it was a blacksmith who here married the run- 

 away couples, but I have no doubt the place was the cause of sorrow 

 to many an Englishman. Carham Burn, which enters Tweed 

 opposite the Birgham fishing about half-a-dozen miles above Cold- 

 stream Bridge, is the boundary of England and Scotland on the 

 south bank, so that to cross Coldstream Bridge is to cross from 

 England into Scotland. I doubt if Coldstream ever had the full- 

 blown reputation of Gretna, yet the bridge must have been a useful 

 place to hold up the enraged parent who followed. The ford pre- 

 vious to the building of the bridge was, however, a dangerous source 

 of delay, and Gretna, no doubt, had the preference then. 



About two miles and a half below Coldstream Bridge, the wholly 

 English tributary of Till enters opposite Tweed mill fishings. The 

 Till is a sluggish river of many windings, and is reported to hold a 

 lot of pike, eels, and perch, base fishes one does not care for in a 

 salmon river. A considerable number of salmon and sea-trout 

 (including a lot of whitling) enter the river, however, and the salmon 



