THE SOLWAY DEE 399 



the catching of them. A spring run still continues, grilse are 

 unusually heavy, and large fish enter at " the back end." There is 

 plenty of opportunity for the development of a sound policy of 

 improvement. 



Like the Cree, this river rises from two head streams ; one the 

 Black Water of Dee, which rises from Loch Dee, near Loch Trool, 

 and receives water from a still higher source in the Cooran Lane, 

 which descends a steep glen in the Khinns of Kells, the other is the 

 Water of Ken. Now the Water of Ken has a surprisingly long 

 course, and a great number of small burns go to its making. Two 

 sources are, however, sufficiently distinct from all others, viz. the 

 burns at the head of the Water of Deugh, rising from the south 

 side of Wedder Hill, close to the Ayrshire border, and not far from 

 the source of the Nith, the other across a range of hills to the 

 eastward rises within quarter of a mile of the point where the 

 shires of Kirkcudbright, Ayr, and Dumfries meet, and where the 

 Scaur Water, a tributary of the Nith, rises. This latter series of 

 burns really forms the Water of Ken, but the Water of Deugh has 

 a longer course. The water-way from the source of the Deugh to 

 the mouth of the Dee at Kirkcudbright is 46 miles. The Deugh 

 joins the Ken about seven miles north of New Galloway, and before 

 the junction is made the stream plunges over a fall which com- 

 pletely shuts off salmon from those upper waters, when a couple of 

 miles south of New Galloway the river flows into Loch Ken, the 

 commencement of a long stretch of still water which winds, with 

 occasional intervening runs, for well nigh eight miles, and forms a 

 well-marked feature in the Dee district. Loch Ken itself is four 

 miles long, and presents views of very great beauty. The railway 

 crosses the sluggish stream which flows from it before it again 

 expands into the wide diverticula of the so-called river. Kenmure 

 Castle, the ancient seat of the Gordons of Kenmure and Lochinvar, 

 who are of the same stock as the Gordons of the north, stands at 

 the upper end of the loch. 



Just below where the railway crosses, at Parton Station, the Ken 

 joins the Dee. The junction is only 150 feet above sea-level, and there 

 are 14 miles to the estuary at St. Mary's Isle, so it will be readily 

 understood that the gradient is easy. The slack loch-like water 

 between Parton and Cross Michael is a stronghold of pike, which 

 reminds me that Loch Ken is reported to have yielded the largest 

 pike on record. A systematic war should be waged against these 

 wretched fish when they spawn amongst the weeds in spring, and all 



