72 



THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



and between this, his best season, and a take of but eight in his worst 

 season, there is a very wide margin. In April, Mr. Lake has varied 

 from twelve to fifty-nine fish in 1896. Sir James Ferguson Davie in 

 May used to vary from thirty to fifty, averagm 11 lb. June gives 

 from twenty to thirt}- ; July from ten to twenty salmon, and from 

 twenty-five to forty' grilse. In August 1S94, Mr. Lewds D. Hall 

 had nine salmon and twenty-two grilse, and September gave him 

 six salmon and sixteen grilse ; but from " the twelfth" the rod 

 was often discarded for the gun. The following are the takes for 

 the seasons of 1892 to 1899 : — 



For many vears Lord Bra}-brooke had the month of Julv, but 

 in the season of 1S89, which was very dry, he did not get a single fish 

 in the whole month, the river being at the lo3vest point ever 

 remembered ; and as the Julys that followed were not much better, 

 his lordship gave up his rod in 1S93. 



Other successful anglers on the Shin at various times have been 

 Sir Percival He\-\vood, Sir Archdale Palmer, Colonel Haggard, F. 

 Bibby, H. Gair, I. Usher, and General Gunter. 



The late Sir John Ferguson Davie told me his acquaintance 

 with the river dated back to 1S69, at which period the Little Falls 

 were not blasted ; and General Marriott, who then had the angling 

 from the opening to the ist of I\Ia3-, informed Sir James that he 

 had never caught a fish above the Little FaU before the middle of 

 April. 



After these falls v/ere blasted fish were got in " Fir Dam," 

 above the Lrttle Falls, at the end of March, and at the present 

 time they are caught e\-en at an earlier date. The heaviest fish 

 Sir James actuaUy landed in his thirty seasons was 32 lb. He 

 also had a lively reminiscence of a long fight with a " v,-hopper " 

 on the 24tli of ^lay 1896, hooked in Fir Dam at 12.30 and eventually 

 lost at 7 p.m. — a contest of six and a half hours. This fish only 

 showed hmiself twice after being " on " for some hours, and on 

 each occasion he rolled over " like a muckle big pig," as old Simon 

 Frazer the ghillic described it. 



