ioo DAYS AND NIGHTS OF SALMON FISHING 



' Well, Sandy," said he to his piscatorial friend, 

 my new acquaintance, " what luck the morn ? " 



' I canna speecify that I hae had muckle ; for 

 they hae bin at the sheep-washing up bye, and she 

 is foul, ye ken. But I hae ta'en twa saumon ane 

 wi' Nancy,* and the ither wi' a Toppyf baith in 

 Faldon-side Burn fut." 



And twisting round a coarse linen bag which was 

 slung at his back, and which I had supposed to 

 contain some common lumber, he drew forth by the 

 tail a never-ending monster of a salmon, dazzling 

 and lusty to the view ; and then a second, fit con- 

 sort to the first. Could you believe it ? One proved 

 to be fifteen pounds, and the other twelve ! At the 

 sudden appearance of these whales I was shivered 

 to atoms : dumb-foundered I was, like the Laird 

 of Cockpen when Mrs. Jean refused the honour of his 

 hand. I felt as small as Flimnap the treasurer in 

 the presence of Gulliver. Little did I say ; but that 

 little, I hope, was becoming a youth in my situation. 



I was now fairly vaccinated. By dint of snuff and 

 whiskey, I made an alliance with the tenant of the 

 water ; and being engaged for that year to join 

 my friends at Edinburgh, and go on a shooting 

 excursion to the Hebrides and the north of Scotland, 

 I resolved to revisit the Tweed the summer following. 



It was the above incident that regulated my 

 residence, in a great measure, for above twenty 

 years of my life. 



* A fly so called from Nancy Dawson, who was born on the 

 Tweed, near Little Dean Tower. 



f The Toppy will be described hereafter. 



