166 A SCOTTISH FLY-FISHER 



can he implicitly rely. While there may be some 

 justification for the boon he craves, he will find, not 

 infrequently, the bright presence of the sun still more 

 favourable to his interests. Early in the season, if the 

 water be sufficiently disturbed to aid him in concealing 

 the unreality of his lure, he may hope to achieve a 

 greater success under a cloudless than under a veiled 

 sky. 



The east wind is the bugbear of the fisherman. For 

 years, since before Dame Juliana Berners' days indeed, 

 it has been thought destructive of his hopes. But 

 though an ill wind, " nae maitter," as the old woman 

 said, " whitna airt it blaws frae," it is better than its 

 reputation. There is a soul of good in all things evil, 

 and even it is not without a saving- o-race. It is the 

 favourite wind on Loch Leven, and, did we do it the 

 justice it deserves, it would be held in equal estimation 

 elsewhere. Why it does not prejudice the success of 

 the angler on the historic loch which holds such melan- 

 choly interest for the Scot, we learn from Mr. W. Earl 

 Hodgson. It seems that when it first impinges on our 

 shores, the east wind is relatively mild and temperate, 

 and that the cold, harsh character for which it is so 

 justly infamous, is gradually acquired as it sweeps across 

 the country towards the west. In forced obedience to 



