6 



Appendices to Seventeenth Annual Report 



Young {Joe. cit.), referring to a book by William Gloag, Deputy 

 Collector of Cess, says that it is there stated that the fishings at the 

 Keith — which is situated between the present mills of Ashbank and West- 

 field — were worth ,£164 16s. annually, at so recent a date as 1835, and, 

 he adds, no doubt with truth, that no one would now give £1 a year for 

 them. The mills were all working at the time of my visit, yet the water 

 ran clear, and I understand that it is never polluted by the flax mills. 

 The river seems well suited to salmon, and I have no doubt they would 

 enter it in numbers and ascend to the impassable weirs above Blair- 

 gowrie, if the river Isla formed a greater attraction to the salmon and 

 sea-trout of the main river Tay. 

 Isla. It seems certain that in former times salmon entered the Isla 



earlier in the season, and were numerous in the river. Where the 

 more rapidly flowing Ericht joins the Isla several fine streams give 

 life to the latter river; and in the neighbourhood of Meigle other streams 

 exist; but for twelve or thirteen miles upwards from the junction of 

 Isla with Tay, at Meiklour, the Isla is a sluggish canal-like river, 

 except for the localities mentioned. It does not appear that when the 

 fishings were more prosperous the chief features of the river were 

 different, and on this account I was anxious to inspect carefully the 

 junction of Isla and Tay at Meiklour. On 3rd November 1891, a 

 committee of the District Fishery Board reported to the Board at Perth 

 that the rumour of the existence of a gravel bank at the mouth of the 

 Isla was without foundation, that no gravel bank had accumulated at 

 the mouth of the river, and that there was sufficient water for fish to 

 enter the tributary at all times and seasons. The report of the com- 

 mittee contains no suggestion as to the cause of the decline in the fish- 

 ings in Isla. 



The Tay, at Meiklour, sweeps round in a bow-shaped course, the 

 greatest force of the current being towards the east or Isla side. The 

 current impinges with some force above the mouth of the Isla, and the 

 fact that the point between the two rivers, as well as the bank for some 

 distance up the Tay, is strengthened by solid masonry, inclines one to 

 suppose that the encroachment of the water on the lands of Meiklour 

 had become marked, and that building was resorted to in order to pre- 

 vent a further denudation of the point which separates the two rivers. 

 If this supposition is correct, we have only to restore, in imagination, 

 the point and the left bank of the Tay above the point, to see that the 

 "lead" into the Isla has been rendered much less direct by the process 

 of denudation than it formerly was. It may not be possible at this date 

 to restore the banks so as to give a greater chance for ascending fish to 

 enter Isla, but the other alternative remains of attempting to increase 

 the sluggish flow of Isla at the point, by concentrating the water, by 

 means of a croy or imperfect dam, so as to increase the current. Such 

 an attempt has recently been made at the mouth of the Teviot by means 

 of a barrier or imperfect dam. At present the current of the Tay may 

 be said to be quite unaffected by the entrance of the Isla water. I 

 would venture to suggest, however, that the projection of the point of 

 land is likely to produce the best results for the Isla. At present the 

 fishings of this river have sunk to so low an ebb, during the best of the 

 season, that no attempt is made to maintain them, nor is any assessment 

 levied upon the proprietors. Pike have become too numerous, and 

 attempts which have been made to net them out have not resulted in 

 much success. The characteristics of the Isla seem to be favourable 

 to grayling fishing, yet graylings are not taken in numbers. This fish 

 seems to me to deserve more attention than is commonly given to it. 

 The introduction of grayling into the Clyde at Abington, in 1855-56, 

 formed the first attempt to acclimatise the species,. and $he .experinient 



