of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 
57 
NOTE VII. 
REPORT BY THE INSPECTOR OF SALMON FISHERIES TO THE 
FISHERY BOAR] ) FOR SCOTLAND ON THE CRUIVES ON 
THE RIVER EARN. 
22nd April 1890. 
I have the honour to report that, as directed by the Fishery Board, I 
inspected the cruive dike at Dupplin, and the other cruive dikes on the 
River Earn, on the 7th and 8th of April 1890. 
The Earn is one of the largest and most important tributaries of the 
Tay. It has its source in Loch Earn. Its length, measured along the 
windings, is 46J miles — 13| from Loch Earn to Crieff Bridge; 24J from 
Crieff Bridge to Bridge of Earn j and 8J thence to its junction with the 
Tay. In many places it winds greatly, especially from Forteviot to 
Bridge of Earn. It receives a good many tributary streams, such as the 
Ruchill, the Leduoch, the Turret, the Machany, the Ruthven, and the 
May. 
There are several obstructions in the course of the Earn, three of them 
being cruive dikes belonging to proprietors who have titles to fishing by 
means of cruives. These cruives seem to have attracted the attention of 
the Tay District Board a long time ago ; as in a ' Note of Particulars 
' requiring attention in any new Salmon Fisheries Act, agreed to at a 
1 meeting of the Tay District Board of 13th May 1870,' which is printed 
in the Appendix to the Report of 1871 by Messrs Buckland and Young, 
on the effect of recent legislation on the Salmon Fisheries in Scotland, 
there is the following paragraph : — 1 The Board recommend to the Com- 
' missioners to take into consideration the subject of cruives, which is at 
' present in an unsatisfactory state.' 
All cruives — and I have inspected all the cruives in Scotland — confer 
more or less of a monoply of the fishings on their possessor, and, more or 
less, injure the fishings of the proprietors above them ; and these pro- 
prietors are entitled to insist that the provisions of the Bye-law (Schedule 
F) which regulates the construction and use of cruives, shall be strictly 
observed ; and it is the duty of the District Board, where there is one, 
to see that these provisions are enforced. 
On the other hand, it should be remembered that the right to cruive 
fishing, when legal, is held by such ancient and special titles, and has 
been so often recognised and sanctioned by statute, that it cannot be done 
away with without giving compensation to the owner or owners of the 
cruives. 
Where the title to cruive fishing exists and is generally recognised, the 
question with regard to it is a very simple one. The right exists, and 
the only restraints upon it are the provisions of Schedule F, which forms 
part of the Salmon Fishery Acts of 1862 and 1868, and which regulates 
the construction and use of cruives. Given the right of cruive fishing, 
no one can interfere with it, provided it is carried on in conformity with 
the provisions of the Bye-law. But if it is not so carried on, then the 
owner renders himself liable to the penalties for the contravention of a 
Bye-law, in terms of the 15th section of the Salmon Fisheries Act of 
1868. 
The lowest and most important cruive dike on the Earn is that at 
Dupplin. The dike here is very long and very old, stretching across the 
river in a curved form, and having a length of about 200 yards. It has 
