THE AWE 345 



accounted for a good number of large fish. He used to fish about 

 six weeks from 25th June to 7th August, and Mr. Grimble says 1 

 that in that period the average was from 70-100 salmon and grilse, 

 the weight of the salmon averaging never less than 16 lb., and being 

 in some seasons 21 lb. A fair number of sea-trout would also be 

 taken. 



A short distance above Inverawe House there is a cruive which 

 is of interest since it is the only structure of the kind in Scotland 

 which does not present a complete barrier across the river in which 

 it has been constructed. In other words, it conforms to the old 

 requirements for a " mid-stream," since the central flow of the river 

 is unimpeded by the cruive dyke. This old requirement was never 

 repealed by any statute, but it has happened that in cases brought 

 before the Courts with reference to cruive fishings in Scotland, 

 witnesses have been unable to point to any cases in which " mid- 

 streams " still existed, and for this reason, apparently, the Courts 

 have considered that in process of time and these structures are all 

 very ancient the requirement for a mid-stream has fallen into 

 desuetude. 



The Inverawe cruive dates from 1480, in the reign of James III., 

 and the structure has never been modified since that time, except 

 that an iron heck was substituted for a wooden one in 1839. There 

 is one cruive-box, measuring approximately 11 ft. across and 7 ft. 6 in. 

 high at the heck. The up and down stream measurement of the box 

 is 9 feet. There is a considerable drop in the gradient immediately 

 below the box, so that the ascent for fish is steep. As a matter of 

 fact, the cruive does not yield many fish in the year, and now, by 

 agreement, it is not fished during the night. 



The only other artificial structures of note in the Awe are the plat- 

 forms from which, more especially in the autumn, many of the casts 

 are fished. Owing to the broken nature of the water-flow, the river 

 has in it many spots where the art of reaching the proper lie is 

 difficult, and some spots where a lie on the opposite side cannot be 

 reached, or cannot be fished properly if reached. Under these condi- 

 tions many pools are much more satisfactorily negotiated by the aid 

 of planks run out to iron frameworks fixed in rocks. With the 

 rapid flow of the stream some of these casting places are somewhat 

 " airy," and not a few fishers new to the Awe have found that they 

 require to cultivate a little confidence in themselves before they can 

 make use of the stagings with much pleasure. Gradually, I suppose, 



1 Salmon Hirers of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 24. 



