94 AXGLING SKETCHES 



to our Doctor: many a bad da}- have I had on Clear- 

 burn Loch, and never a good one. But one thing 

 draws me ahva}-s to the loch when I have the luck 

 to be within twenty miles of it. There are trout 

 in Clearburn ! The Border angler knows that the 

 trout in his native waters is nearh" as extinct as 

 the dodo. ]\Iany causes have combined to extir- 

 pate the shy and spirited fish. First, there are 

 too many anglers : 



Twixt Holy Lee and ClovenfordSj 

 A tentier bit ye canna hae, 



sang that good old angler, now with God, Air. 

 Thomas Tod Stoddart. But between Hoh' Lee 

 and Clovenfords \-ou ma}- see half a dozen rods on 

 every pool and stream. There goes that levia- 

 than, the angler from London, who has been 

 beguiled hither b}- the artless 'Guide' of Mr. 

 Watson Lyall. There fishes the farmer's lad, and 

 the schoolmaster, and the wandering weaver out 

 of work or disinclined to work. In his rags, with 

 his thin face and red ' goatee ' beard, with his 

 hazel wand and his home-made reel, there is 

 withal something kindl}- about this poor fellow, 



