374 THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



short distance below this a new sort of obstacle has recently been 

 added in the form of an immense iron pipe on the bed of the river. 

 The interests of the salmon have here again, however, been attended 

 to. 



A couple of miles above this the second weir exists at Overmills. 

 Up till 1898 no pass existed here, and as the river is very wide, the 

 uniform and smooth dyke was commonly covered by a thin flow of 

 water impassable to fish. A pass has now been provided, which is 

 reported to allow fish to ascend freely when the river is in running 

 order. 



The course of the river now makes a great loop northwards as we 

 ascend, past the terraced banks and sloping gardens of Auchincruive. 

 At the upper extremity of this loop the lowest tributary, the Water 

 of Coyle, enters from the south. Above this the general trend of 

 the river is north-east, past Stair to Montgomerie, then round 

 several moderate loops to Barskimming and Catrine. 



Just above Barskimming the largest tributary, the Lugar, enters 

 from the south-east. This stream drains 86 square miles of country, 

 which is only 10 square miles less than the whole of the neighbouring 

 river Girvan. It rises at " The Martyrs' Grave," about three-quarters 

 of a mile from the side of the river Ayr, and about five miles west 

 of Muirkirk, and describes a crescent-shaped course past Lugar village 

 with its ironworks, Cumnock, and Ochiltree, and so back to the main 

 river. It is an important spawning stream, and, I fear me, a happy 

 hunting ground for not a few from the villages named. 



There is no obstacle to the ascent of fish in the main river from 

 Overmills to Ballochmyle, a distance of 14 miles. Here a couple of 

 wooden dam dykes are thrown across the river which require, and, I 

 am glad to say, are likely to receive, attention. At Catrine, two 

 miles further up, a double obstacle, if it may be called so, has entirely 

 prevented further ascent of fish till lately. The lower was the more 

 serious, and has apparently been erected purely in order to protect 

 the scouring of the river banks in a way which might undermine the 

 long and carefully pitched apron of the upper dyke. This lower 

 dyke is practically 5 feet high, has an iron sill, and a smooth concave 

 cement face terminating in a second iron beam. Immediately below 

 is a deep pool. About 150 yards above this is the main weir for the 

 supply of water to Catrine Mills. This is an easy-sloping weir with 

 a bad, and probably pretty recently added sill which materially adds 

 to the height. During last year a pass has been constructed at each 

 of these weirs, and the upper waters of Ayr, extending to about 15 



