THE EWE, LOCHS MAREE, CLARE, AND COULIN 289 



land is disclosed. On every hand the eye and the imagination are 

 captivated. 



It is rather striking that the chief river should be called the Ewe, 

 that the loch from which it flows should be called not Loch Ewe 

 (which name is given to the sea loch into which the river flows), but 

 Loch Maree ; and further, that the place at the head of Loch Maree 

 should be called, not Kinloch Maree but Kinlochewe. This name 

 Kinlochewe is, however, believed to be a survival from the time 

 when the fresh-water loch was called Loch Ewe. I am informed 

 that on ancient maps this nomenclature may still be seen. No 

 doubt the sea once came up to Kinlochewe ; prominent beaches can 

 there be noticed, but one can scarcely think that there were any 

 human beings about in those days who told their children's children 

 that the water was called Loch Ewe. 



The limits of the estuary are not drawn across the entrance to 

 Loch Ewe, but about three miles in from the entrance and before 

 the loch widens out at Mellon Charles to enclose the Isle of Ewe. 

 The limits laid down in the schedule of the 1868 Act are " a straight 

 line drawn from Ru-na-Gavann on the west shore to Ru Con on the 

 east shore," and the bye-laws of the Act setting forth those limits 

 carne into force in 1865, and of course have remained unchanged, 

 since no power exists for any alteration. About ten bag nets are 

 fished at the mouth of Loch Ewe, just outside the limits of the 

 estuary. This number does not seem to have varied much since 

 those nets were first introduced. On other parts of the coast of the 

 district it would appear, however, that since 1896 the netting has 

 been rather reduced. 



When Hogarth had those fishings the practice was to boil the fish 

 not only of Loch Ewe but also from Gairloch and Aultbea, at 

 Poolewe : and before 1865, when the bye-law respecting the limits 

 of the estuary came into force, bag nets used to be fished on either 

 side of the upper loch, and just opposite the mouth of the river at 

 Inverewe. Between 200 and 300 salmon were then commonly boiled 

 and packed at a time, and this number might be treated twice or 

 even thrice a week in July. 



There seems no manner of doubt that thirty or forty years ago 

 the district produced a lot of fish. 



RIVER EWE. 



It is a little difficult to tell where the river begins, for Loch 

 Maree at its low end is prolonged into a narrow channel, which only 



T 



