THE TAY 299 



Below Stanley and opposite the Scone Estate comes Benchill, 

 where, high above and almost overhanging the river, is the pretty 

 house of Summerhill, rented for several years past, with a beat on 

 Stobhall and another on Benchill, by the Hon. Louis Greville, and, 

 oddly enough, twice during his tenancy has the last day of his season 

 proved the best. On one of these occasions fourteen fish were 

 landed by himself and a friend. On the other, he gave the day to 

 Lord Cairns, who had sixteen fish, weighing 266 lb. Benchill, 

 though not a very lengthy stretch, is from start to finish of the 

 highest quality. Especially is it endowed with some fine bank 

 casts, from which many heavy fish have been taken by wading. 



Next is the Redgorton Upper water, in some seasons second 

 to none, its top pool, the Black Craig, just above the Stormontfield 

 Breeding Ponds, offering a fine piece of bank casting from either 

 side, and when they have both been covered, the middle of the 

 stream can be cast from the boat. It is easy to put away three or 

 four hours at this one pool, never without desirable occupants, and 

 where, early in August 1895, I had some good sport by the aid 

 of the natural minnow. 



A little above the Ferry, near Luncarty Station, Mr. Burt 

 Marshall has about three hundred yards of the river, below which 

 the Redgorton Lower water continues down opposite Scone to 

 Almond Mouth. Here also are some good casts, both from bank 

 and boat. This Redgorton stretch is sometimes called the Battleby 

 water, as both upper and lower beats go with the house of that 

 name. 



As Stobhall ends there follows the still lengthier reach of the 

 Scone water, belonging to the Earl of Mansfield, who is himself 

 a very keen, hard-working angler, in which respect, however, he 

 but follows in the footsteps of his father, the late Viscount Stormont, 

 one of the best men, not only with rifle, rod, and gun, but in every 

 sense of the term, that it has ever been my good fortune to know. 

 Strong as a horse, active as a stag, hardy to a degree, in the terms 

 of the old song, " A rum one to follow, a bad one to beat," Lord 

 Stormont had the gift of winnmg the hearts of rich and poor alike, 

 and the recollection of his good-natured, kindly ways and pleasant 

 smile is little likely to fade from the memory of anyone who had 

 the privilege of knowing him. 



Opposite to this splendid stretch of river, of which there are 

 about eight miles, run the anglings of Benchill, Upper and Lower 

 Redgorton, Luncarty, Bertha, Woody Isle, and Inch. From the 

 top of the Scone water down to above the Woody Isle the Earl 

 keeps the angling in his own hands, and many and heavy are the 

 spring and autumn iish that have come out of it. From Woody 

 Isle to below Perth he generously gives permission to all who ask 

 it, and it was on this stretch, two years ago, that Captain A. G. 

 Goodwin had the luck to take a fish of 55* lb. with a prawn. He 

 hooked it just below Woody Isle, a little before six o'clock in the 

 evening of the 28th of September. The fight that followed was 



