of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



373 



strong breeze strikes the water, and also, in the autumn, sea-trout, though 

 there is a gravel bar at the mouth of the stream, which impedes, though 

 it does not entirely prevent their ascent. We returned to the boat by the 

 other side of the Ward Hill, passing the Dwarfie Stone, immortalised in 

 the Pirate. The boat was lying near the Bays of Quoys and Cruck- 

 land, two of the best places in the Orkneys for taking sea-trout in the sea. 

 The most killing fly is said to be one dressed to imitate a sand-hopper, 

 and the sand-eel is at times a deadly bait. 



After leaving Stromness, I went to Kirkwall, the Orcadian capital, and 

 had an interview with Mr Macrae, Clerk of Supply, who, like Mr Heddle, 

 stated that as yet the application of the Salmon Fishery laws to Orkney 

 has done but little good to the fishing, as no steps have been taken to 

 enforce them. From Kirkwall I visited Kirbister Loch, which is about 

 3 miles in circumference, and is connected with Waulkmill Bay by a 

 pretty little stream with good pools and runs. Waulkmill Bay is a 

 famous place for sea-trout, and so is the stream from the Loch of Kir- 

 bister. Some persons I examined stated that in this stream salmon had 

 been occasionally, though rarely, killed. Just above the road, and close to 

 the mill, several rocky shelves stretch across the bed of the stream, 

 constituting a series of small falls, which must seriously interfere with the 

 passage of sea-trout. There are no hecks at the intake or tail-lades connected 

 with the mill, and no heck below the wheel. In fact, throughout the 

 whole of Orkney, the provisions of the Bye-law (Schedule G), regulating 

 the construction and alteration of mill-dams, or lades, or water-wheels, 

 are systematically ignored.* This is the more inexcusable, because the 

 validity of the provisions of that Bye-law were recognised and decided 

 in the case of Kennedy v. Murray, 8th July 1869,. in which it was held — 



1. That the Salmon Fishery Commissioners, acting under the Act of 1862, 

 have power to make Bye-laws applicable to lades, dams, &c, whether in process 

 of being constructed or repaired or not. 2. By a majority of the consulted 

 Judges, that the Commissioners have also power to impose an obligation on the 

 owners or occupiers of mills to execute at their own cost the works embraced in 

 the Bye-laws so made. 



As both the Salmon Fishery Acts of 1862 and 1868 contain a provision 

 that- 

 All offences under this Act may be prosecuted, and all penalties under this 

 Act may be recovered, before any Sheriff, or any two or more Justices acting 

 together, and having jurisdiction in the place where the offence was committed, 

 at the instance of the Clerk of any District Board, or of any other person — 



it seems somewhat strange that the Orcadian proprietors have never as 

 yet taken any steps to enforce the provisions of the above-mentioned 

 Bye-law. The Loch of Kirbister seems at one time to have been well 

 stocked with sea-trout, as in Sir John Sinclair's Statistical Account of 

 Scotland, published nearly 100 years ago, it is stated that it 'is well 

 ' stored with sea-trout of an excellent quality.' At present, it contains 

 plenty of yellow trout, running about four to the pound. 



Grsemeshall House and Loch lie rather more than 6 miles to the south- 

 east of Kirkwall. A considerable stream, which rises about 3 miles from 

 Kirkwall, and in which there is good spawning ground, runs into and 

 through the loch and discharges itself into the sea not far from the mansion- 

 house. Sea-trout ascend into this loch and burn in November. There is 

 another loch on the Kirkwall road about a mile from the house. It is 

 connected with the sea, and contains excellent trout, which occasionally 

 attain a weight of 2 lbs. In a small bay near the mouth of this burn, 

 the best day's rod-fishing for sea-trout that I ever heard of in the Orkneys 

 * This Bye-law will be found printed in full in Note III. 



