CHAPTER LXXV 



THE TWEED 



The second largest river of Scotland, with a drainage area of 

 one thousand nme hundred and twenty-five square miles, and a 

 course of nearly a hundred, rises some five miles to the north of 

 Moffat, m the range of high hills dividing the county of Dumfries 

 from those of Peebles and Selkirk. For the first twenty-five miles 

 of its course it is purely a trouting stream, salmon not ascending 

 much above Peebles ; while, as those that do arrive in the upper 

 waters are never in any great numbers, or of any account for the 

 table, serious angling— that is, angling which it would be worth 

 while to rent at a good round sum — can hardly be said to commence 

 before Ashiestiel Bridge is reached, some twelve miles below Peebles. 

 About four miles below that town, at Cardrona, there are a couple 

 of good catches, and lower down two others on the EUbank section, 

 at the end of which Miss Mount Stuart Russell's Ashiestiel property 

 begins, opposite to that of Laidlawstiel, belonging to Lady Reay. 



The best cast hereabouts is the Gullets, just above Ashiestiel 

 Bridge. Another pool — Gleddie's Wheel — is famous for the 

 ducking got in it by Sir Walter Scott, Hogg, and some of their 

 friends, by the breaking up of the boat whilst they were salmon 

 spearing. The Yair water of Mr. Alexander Pringle then follows 

 down for some distance to Russell's Rock, half a mile below Yair 

 Bridge ; on this stretch there are some seventeen good autumn 

 casts, of which Neidpath and the Yair Boat Pool are the best. 

 Opposite Yair are the Torwoodlee fishings of Mr. J. T. Pringle, and 

 those of Fairnalee, owned by Professor Pattison. Here the north 

 side, both above and below Ashiestiel Bridge, is rented by the old 

 and well-known Edinburgh Angling Club, who have their head- 

 quarters on the banks of the Tweed in a charming cottage called 

 " The Nest." 



The anglings hereabouts are not of much good until the middle 

 of October, when fish usually begin to arrive, and from then to 

 the end of the season it is just a matter of luck whether the angler 

 hooks a " nigger," who has rested for long in the lower waters, or 

 gets hold of "something" that has come pretty straight from 

 the sea. 



Next, on both banks, Jlr. C. H. Scott-Plummer's Sunderland 

 Hall water commences, and goes to Tweed Bridge at Ettrick Foot, 

 where there is a fair cast, in addition to four others lying above it. 



