(5) 
REPORT. 
I have the honour to report that on the 4th and 5th of June last, in Obstructions 
company with the Vice-Chairman of the Fishery Board, Mr White, ^ ver 
Solicitor, Forfar, and Mr Malloch, of Perth, the inventor and patentee of tween Blair- 
Malloch's Automatic Fish-pass, I carefully inspected the obstructions on the gowrie Bridge 
River Ericht between Blairgowrie Bridge and Westfield dam which prevent and Westfield 
salmon from having access to what was, early in the present century, one Slower in 
of the best salmon-fishings in Scotland, and also to the rivers Ardle and portions of 
Shee, which unite to form the Ericht a few miles above Blairgowrie. the Ardle and 
That the salmon-fishings in the Ericht, for 2 miles downwards from the Shee. 
rapid and fall termed the Keith, were at one time excellent — though that 
fine stretch of water is at present salmonless — there can be no doubt 
whatever. 
In Sir John Sinclair's Statistical Account of Scotland, published between 
1790 and 1800, the following occurs in the description of the parish of 
Blairgowrie : — ' The Keith, a natural cascade, considerably improved by 
' art. It is so constructed that the salmon, which repair in great numbers 
' to it, cannot get over it unless when the river is very much swelled. 
' . . . Many gentlemen from all quarters repair to this river for amuse- 
1 ment. From the Keith, for about 2 miles down the river, there is the 
1 best rod-fishing to be found in Scotland, especially for salmon.' 
In the account of the parish of Eattray it is stated that ' sportsmen 
' look upon the Water of Ericht as one of the finest rivers for rod-fishing, 
* both for trout and salmon.' It is also stated that ' sometimes salmon 
' are caught in the Ardle, and it abounds in trouts.' 
So recently as 1835, as can be shown from the Valuation Roll of the 
county of Perth, these fishings were worth .£164, 16s. annually. At 
present no one would give £1 a year for them, so utterly are they ruined 
by obstructions and pollutions, and the abstraction of almost all the 
water when the river is low by the enormous lades which supply the 
mills and manufactories at Blairgowrie. 
In his well-known work, The Angler's Companion to the Rivers and 
Lochs of Scotland, published in 1845, Mr Stoddart writes as follows : — 
' The Ericht is formed by the junction of the Shee or Blackwater with 
' the Ardle, and is received into the Isla about 2 miles below Blairgowrie. 
' Neither the Ericht or Isla are much esteemed as trouting streams, and 
1 in regard to Salmon, ivith which at one time they abounded, these are 
{ now, comparatively speaking, scarce, .at least during the open season. 
1 The whole rental of the Ericht, from Keith to Blairgowrie, amounts 
' only to <£21, 12s. ; whereas, in 1804, no fewer than 336 salmon and 
' grilse were taken at one haul close to the above-mentioned village.' 
In 1 870, Mr Stoddart wrote me as follows about the Ericht : — ' Your 
