April 1, 1893] 
THE EISHING GAZETTE 
233 
would obey my orders, and all of them agreed to 
do so. 
The seine was put aboard the largest boat, with 
two men at the oars, and a netsman to pay it out 
over the stern ; the other boats were manned, and 
close to the entrance of the cove we made a 
successful shot, and rowed the net ashore, with 
unmistakeable signs that the mackerel had not 
been missed. As we got to smoother water 
within the cove, the seine became every minute 
more contracted, the fish, like a dark blue cloud, 
were -wildly darting about; the net was soon in 
shallower water, and being drawn through the 
breaking land-wash to the shelving beach, where 
the cork line was held iip and the foot-line kept 
down, so that none of our “ haul ” escaped, and 
wo successfully landed over 0000 mackerel, a 
sight I shall never forget—a heaving, quivering 
mass of silver and blue, u^hich, dipped up in 
baskets out of the net, were emptied high and dry 
on the sands above reach of the water. 
Four thousand of the best and finest fish were 
sorted out at once, and, for want of baskets or 
barrels, were packed on a layer of clean straw in a 
waggon; then more straw, and a tarpauling 
secnred over them. Then driven to Wool, the 
nearest station, sis miles off, L. & S. W. Rail., the 
wheels taken off and the body of waggon slung 
on to a truck, and despatched that night to 
Billingsgate Market, where I had already tele¬ 
graphed to J. R. Sayer and Co., who next day 
remitted twenty-five pounds, the amount realised 
from the sale. The other 2000 were sold amongst 
neighbouring villages and farms, and brought the 
men another ten or twelve sovereigns. 
(To he continued.) 
By Mac. 
ti. M. ]\I., UEEsrnE, -writes: “The pools are 
literally teeming with fish in the higher mid¬ 
reaches, but nothing of the order of Hy, Phantom, 
minnow, dace, prawn, or worm, will move 
them well till a thorongh (Jiange sets in. 
Disease has made its appearance. For the past 
three or four years it has been on the increase, 
iluch of the sport reported in our River column 
from the Dee has been obtained after 6 p.m. 
Dace is making headway as a killing lure. It is 
the most fatal evening bait yet tried. I saw 
a salmon only 6llb. killed the other evening with 
a dace fully four inches in length. We laughed 
when the gillie put it up ; we laughed louder when 
he essayed his first cast, and could scarcely 
believe our eyes when, a few minutes after, he had 
his fish on the bank. Then he laughed at us 
when we paid off the bet at “ Pottie’s.” The 
returns from the netters fell away considerably 
last week, and this in the face of fine weather. 
As a consequence the price of salmon rose to 2s. 2d. 
per pound in the Aberdeen market. The Easter 
holiday will be a busy time on Deeside. Guests 
have been arriving by the half-dozen daily. 
The hotel stretches might command extra 
premiums for the first fortnight of April from 
Braemar to Culter, while private houses are 
already full. Weather prophets anticipate a 
pleasant time. Kincardine O’Neil section (in¬ 
cluding Lower Dess, Ballogie, Carlogie, the 
Lodge, Sluie. Borrowstone, and Wooden beats) 
has yielded 230 fish up to date, and of this num¬ 
ber Lower Dess—the smallest section but one— 
has sixty-three to itself. On the Cairnton, Mr. 
T. Turner Parley has a record of ninety-five fish 
for season up to date. Lord Strathallen 
arrived the other day with his cousin, Mr. 
Edward Drummond, lessee of the Ballogie 
fishings, and on Friday and Saturday had two 
beauties of 71b. and 91b. each. Mr. George 
Davidson, Wellwood, has taken the remaining 
No"th-Lower beat of the Glen Tana water for 
pr 1 and May. Mr. Barry^, Keiss Castle, has 
ah the other sections.” 
_ Mr. Arcitd. Harper writes :—“ It is the inten¬ 
tion of the Thurso Anglers to remove from Brawl 
Castle to Strathmore Lodge on Tuesday the 28th 
March. The fine weather of last week brought 
the river down to a low level, so that Loch more 
had to be fished daily, instead of the river beats, 
which are getting too low. Lochmore as usual is 
giving good sport, but it is now pretty certain 
that the number of fish forward is not equal to 
that of last year, and the month of April -will 
depend very much on the number of fish that will 
come up next spate, which cannot come a day too 
soon. It was fully expected that the number of 
early springers would have increased, seeing that 
the nets at the river mouth were removed for the 
past three years. Such, however, is not the case, 
although a marked increase of summer and autumn 
run salmon and grilse were in the river the last 
two years. It appears to me that it takes a good 
many years to restock an eai'ly river like the 
Thurso with early fish, when the old stock had 
been almost entirely run out, by overnetting and 
otherwise, which unfortunately was done in the 
Thurso. The improvements which were so wisely 
commended three years ago will be persevered 
with until the stock of fish is materially increased. 
It is sport and sport alone that is now wanted on 
the river, o.nd nothing short of a surplus stock 
would induce the owners to nse the nets again. 
The weather has been quite warm and bright 
during the -whole of last week. Anglers -v\'ere 
obliged to “ strip to the sark ” while casting over 
heavy water. The six I’ods scored on Friday—No. 
7 had five ; No. 8, three; No. G, one; No. 3, one. 
Lochmore gave one to each of the two rods.” 
Ouu Lairg correspondent writes: “Following 
the very sharp storm of last week genial season¬ 
able weather has again set in. The shaded 
minimum thermometer registered IGdeg. of frost 
on Thursday night, 9deg. on Friday night, and 
lldeg. on Saturday night. Mr. Butters, Lairg 
Hotel, has, with the view of furnishing first-cla^s 
sport for his guests, had sent from Howietoun 
Hatchery, Stirling, nearly 1000 two-year-old Loch 
Levenites. The little strangers arrived on 
Friday last, and were safely and expeditiously 
conveyed to their new homes—Loch Beannoch and 
Shinness Bay, Loch Shin; the former receiving 
seventeen tanks, the latter seven. Two years ago 
2000 yearlings were added to Beannoch’s stock. 
The experiment has proved a success, as several 
of these weighing up to a pound were killed last 
season. Mr. Roderick Finlayson, son of the 
genial host of the Royal Hotel, Tain, succeeds 
Mr. Feltham, of the Scourie Hotel.” 
McBouncer writes:—“As a further instalment 
of Gaelic proverbs dealing with fish and fishing, I 
may mention that ‘ Oeann deirgair na bhiel a 
mu'gh ’—Red head on all that’s out—used always 
to be said for luck when the first fish was caught. 
What originated the phrase or what its meaning 
is I cannot explain. The selfish expression, ‘ Bidh 
mionach ar n-eisg aig air n-eoinfhein ’—Let the 
guts of our fish be given to ourown birds—has its 
counterpart in the Lowland Scotch ‘ Oor ain fish 
guts to oor ain sea-maws.’ ‘ Ceann enodain, ’s 
ceann sgadain, s ceann goibhr’ air dhroch fhean- 
nadh—tri cinn nach fhiach itheadh ’—A gurnet’s 
head, a herring’s head, and a badly flayed goat’s 
head—three heads not fit to eat—is one of the few 
Gaebc proverbs having an air of fastidiousness 
about them. ‘ Bu mhath an cudaig far nach 
faight an saoidhean ’—The cuddy would be good 
where no saithe could be got—probably means the 
same as ‘ A small fish is better than none.’ If 
the following proverb is correct it must have 
taken the Caledonians thousands of years to make 
out the calculation by personal observations :— 
‘ Tri aois coin, aois eich ; 
Tri aois eich, aois duine ; 
Tri aois duine, aois feidh ; 
Tri aois fi-idh, aois firein ; 
Tri aois firein, aois craoible-dharaich.’ 
Thrice dog's age, age oflior.se ; 
Thrice In rse s age, age of man ; 
Thrice, man’s age, age of deer : 
Thrice deer’s age, age of eagle ; 
Thrice eagle’s aye, age of oak tree. 
By estimating a dog’s age at only ton years, 
this -u’ould give the stag—if allowed to live— 
270 years, and the eagle over 800 years, while the 
oak tree would stand the tempests 2-iOO years. 
Gaelic poetry, as well as proverbs, has frequent 
reference to fish and fishing. The following 
sublime verse descriptive of the salmon is from 
a famous poem called ‘ Coire Cheathaich.’ com¬ 
posed last century by Duncan Ban Macintyre, one 
of the foremost of Gaelic bards. Duncan, who 
for many years acted as gillie or forester to the 
then Earl of Breadalbane, was an ardent out-and- 
out sportsman with both rod and gun. T1 e vers"! 
alluded to runs as follows :— 
‘ Tha bradantarra- 3 :heal aa choire gharbhUioh, 
Tha tig-h’n o’n fhairge bu ghailbheach tonn, 
Le luinneis mheatnnach a ceapa mheanbhc'iu.blea j 
Gu neo-chearbach le cham-ghob crom : 
Air bhuinne borb is e leum gu foirmeil, 
Na eideach colgail bu ghorm-ghlas druiin, 
Le shoilseam airgead, gu h-iteacli nieana-bhrcac 
Gu lannach dearg-bhallach earr-gheal shorn.’ 
It has been translated by the late Thomas 
I’attison as follows :— 
‘ The salmon, leaving the wild wared ocean, 
JVithin the rough dell his white breast shows ; 
There darts rejoicing and snaps the small Jlii s-—' 
So truly steers he his crooked nose ; 
On fierce whirled eddies his pompotis leaping 
Displays his splendid and hlue-grey mail; 
His silver spangles, his fins, his speckles. 
His outstretched wing-like transparent tail. 
Although I cannot improve upon it, I must .say 
that this translation of the word-painting of a 
salmon by the celebrated bard, gives but a faint 
idea of the grandeur of the original.” 
Oua Spey correspondent writes:—“The river 
continues to la.g sadly behind with sport, and 
prospects for a good spring season are dull as 
ditchwater. Another Spey case has arisen, in 
which David Edward, of Craigellachie, has 
obtained interdict against John Henry and 
William Henry, both of Craigellachie, for fishing 
on his water of the Spey. John Henry is the 
same as was defender in the Arndilly case 
recently tried in the Court of Session, Edinburgh, 
before Lord Kyllachy.j Lord Kyllachy’s decision 
was founded on by Mr. Edward, the pursuer, and 
tl e Sheriff of Banffshire gave interdict as crave 1.” 
“WESTWARD HO!” 
By Cot.swold Is^s. 
1 . 
Hail Columbia ! we of England to Chicago come. 
Holding forth a hand maternal, i.or to welcome 
dumb. 
Giving back responsive echo to thy cilling drum. 
o 
Pilgrim-fathers, mothers, daughters, sons again 
are we; 
“ Westward Ho! " our cry, not fleeing now from 
tyranny. 
But as free as Sheba’s Queen, to harn, acmire, 
and see. 
3. 
Mo.ther runs to daughter gaily with a fond 
embrace, 
Proud to see her grown so stately, with so fair a 
face. 
Strong with Freedom’s step elastic, worthy of her 
race. 
4. 
In our mutual greetings Shakespeare’s mxgic 
tongue is heard. 
Old affections leap and kindle round each spoken 
word ; 
With what memories sweet and olden breast of 
both is stirr’d I 
5. 
Not to wigwam on the prairie doth the daughter 
lead. 
Rather to a princely- palace on a floral mead ; 
Garner of the wealth of nations, not of war or 
greed. 
6 . 
Purple streams of kinship sundered by' the years 
and sea 
Rush together coalescing, evermore to be 
Pulse of one great Anglo-Saxon heart unitedly'. 
7. 
Stars and Stripes and Union Jack blent over it 
unfurl’d. 
Need not fear to face the hostile bolt by Rurope 
hurl’d. 
But may fearless front, united, the confederate 
world ! 
8 . 
Oh ! should baser sons of either, discord strive to 
sow. 
Let indignant daughter, mother, lay such traitors 
low. 
And thus save this fair creation from its latest 
woe! 
