AWE DISTRICT 341 



the south, and the south-west point of Garbhart on the north." The 

 old Dunstaffnage for in some period of the Middle Ages an almost 

 new castle seems to have been built the original of the present 

 ruin, was one of the very early fortresses in Scotland. It is believed 

 to have been built by a monarch of these parts, who was contempor- 

 aneous with Julius Caesar. It was a fairly old place when the 

 Vikings came cruising about in the ninth century. Eobert the 

 Bruce captured it in 1308 from the Lord of Lorn after his victory in 

 the Pass of Brander ; and in the same year, it is believed, he held a 

 parliament in Ardchattan Priory opposite Achnacloich. In quite 

 recent days Dunstaffnage has, from a legal point of view, once more 

 become a causus belli. 



EIVER AWE. 



The characteristics of this river may be said to be its broken and 

 impetuous course, its clear water, its boulder-strewn banks and 

 steep wooded slopes. The Awe is a splendid type of a Highland 

 river; it has that dash and swirl about it, at once courageous and 

 full of purpose. It has no time to meander amongst meadows or 

 rest in rocky caverns. When it glides out of the Pass of Brander 

 below towering Ben Cruachan, it has barely four miles to go, at the 

 nearest, to Loch Etive, and down its widening glen it goes with a 

 gladsome rush and sparkle. A hundred and sixteen feet or so it 

 runs down in those four miles, so id doesn't turn often to look 

 behind. 



The Awe salmon seem to partake of the spirit of the river. They 

 are lusty fellows, deep-keeled and fine in the lines ; hard fighters that 

 will cut you if they can, and perhaps rush for the sea if they cannot. 

 Men who have had far more experience fishing salmon in various 

 parts of the world than I, say the Awe fish are amongst the very 

 finest to catch. I can believe this, in spite of the fact that men who 

 fish other districts have no doubt that their particular salmon are the 

 finest in the world. I recollect venturing some remark about the fine 

 appearance of some Ness fish to an Inverness fishmonger. He was 

 positively ashamed of my ignorance, and informed me that it was 

 well known that Ness fish are the handsomest in Scotland. I was 

 buying one of the ugliest kelts I ever saw in a shop at the time. 

 It interested me because it had been taken from the Ness in July. 



The Awe used to be pretty heavily netted, and this netting dated 

 from an early period. In recent years, and probably for a very long 



