CHAPTER LXV 



THE CREE 



Drains one hundred and seventy-two square miles, and, rising in 

 Loch Moan, in Kirkcudbrightshire, its upper waters form the 

 march with Ayrshire, while the lower ones define the Wigto\vnshire 

 boundaries, and after a run of twenty-five miles it faUs into the 

 long and wide estuary of Wigto^^Ti Bay, five miles below Ne\\'ton- 

 Stewart. It has many tributaries, some of which flow from lochs, 

 while the river itself, five miles above Ne\\i:on-Stewart, flows through 

 Loch Cree, two miles in length by about a quarter broad. A short 

 distance beyond the head of this loch the Minnock, or Jlinnick, 

 faUs in, and becomes the larger and better angling stream, as it 

 receives the waters of Loch Trool, which covers three hundred and 

 twenty acres. 



The very deep outlet of this loch is through a narrow gorge 

 of some twenty feet wide, and here sluices have been placed by Lord 

 Galloway so as to heighten the surface of the loch, and thus an 

 artificial spate can be created when desirable. This has answered 

 well, and has been the means of stocking the river and providing 

 sport in times of drought. 



About three miles above the junction the jMinnick is obstructed 

 by the Lynn of Glencaird ; but as in the three miles below it there 

 are nice spawning grounds, and no less than twenty-seven good 

 pools, the opening up of this Lynn is not a matter of very great 

 importance. On the Cree proper there is also the Lynn of Bar- 

 grennan, which to a great extent bars fish from the ten miles of 

 water above it, and also from Loch Moan. A certain number of 

 fish get past, but not a great many ; while as the Lynn Pool, where 

 fish congregate in numbers, ofi'ers every facility to the stroke 

 hauler, it is to be regretted that they are not helped up this obstacle 

 by a ladder, if only to take them out of harm's way. 



The Earl of Galloway owns all the Cree fishing from the mouth 

 up to its junction with the Minnick, and also all that stream as far 

 as the Glencaird LjTin. He also owns the left bank of the Cree from 

 the junction up to Loch Moan, while on the right bank there are 

 several proprietors. At the commencement of 1900 this river, 

 together with the Minnick, was taken on a twenty-one years' lease 

 by an association of six gentlemen, viz. the Duke of Bedford, Mr. 

 John Cobbold, Mr. Alfred Gilbey, Mr. Alfred Harmsworth, Sir 



Herbert Maxwell, and the late Sir Greville Smyth. Each season 



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