Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1886-10-22

JOCK, by-theway. was tame heron
"a craigt heron"--z~ called from the
length OF his meek. wncI y0I could have
tied knot upon wltuoi5 putting the
bird to much Inconvenience. A long
legged stupid, old bird he was, who
used to catch minnows and trout for
himself till he muddled all the stream,
then go to sleep for an hour, with the
water up to his knees, till it got clear
again"
While Willie went away to get Jack
and his best jacket, we stood at the
blacksmith'S door, and watched the
sturdy burn the winds putting red-hot
tire on a new cart wheel, then pouring
buckets of water over it to cool it and
make it fresh. This was always great
fun to us.
By-and-by, back came Willie, dressed
for the occasion, and carrying the great
heron, precisely as a mother carries her
baby, only he could not get it to keep its
long legs doubled up, which made mat
tiers look awkward. Willie put Jack
down at his feet, and took snuff out of a
sheep-horn null, and handed the box to
us, and we all took snuff.
Our complement was now complete,
SO off we all went, whooping for joy,
along the road that led to the wood
through which the Den burn ran. And
after neutrality-suspicious., and help
ing himself along with his wings-came
daft Willie's heron in the most ridicul-
Gus manner imaginable. No wonder
several people on the road drew rein to
gaze after us; we were a queer pack of
sportsmen.
That dear old Den burn, as it used to
be in days of yore; fancy I can see it
now, even as l write. Alas thirty
years have fled since the date of this
little sketch, and the romance has fled
from the bonnie burn. 1t has been i'm
proved out of all its beauty.
But then-well it rose in peat moss
"a marshy, DOGGY, dismal swamp
through which it flowed silently and
sluggishly, and here we caught many a
lordly eel. Escaping at last, it rushed
merrily along by the side of road, over
a sandy, pebbly bottom, bordered by
long slips of watercress; then it went off
to the left, and became the marsh" be-
twixt my fathers land and neighbour
ing farm. And here even was good gud-
ding ground, and many lusty
trout l have hauled to bank from
beneath the green overhanging banks.
The the Den burn went whipping away
through haughs and green meadows,
and under many rustic bridge, till it
reached at last the dark and rocky
wooded glen of Maidencraig. Here its
waters feed those mill-dams, and turned
a monster mill wheel that seemed always
to roll round and round, night and day;
its black wet sides glancing in the sun
S inc, or glittering when the moon
shone. Onward it dashed for another
mile and then flowed sullenly past the
foot of a gloomy pine-wood, where, ira
dition alleged. more than one farmer had
been robbed and killed while returning
late at night from the market; where "A
mother had hanged herself, and where,
even in our day, little Sammie Stuart,
when looking for birds nests, found a
murdered BARN.
Close by this wood was to be our gud-
ding ground to-day, nevertheless.
Little we cared for tradition. 1t was
lovely day-a day that would have
made an old man young again. Spring
was on the trees-spring was every
where. In the woodland glades the
scented furze was all in golden bloom; the
feathery larches were green-green, and
draped with little crimson tassels; while
pink-white fingers protruded from the
81 81 4 L.
Spring was in the hearts of the birds
the mellow futing merle, the saucy,
mocking mavis, the modest sispin, the
bold, bright chaffie, the bonnie, wee
rose-linnet that sang on the thorn.
And spring was in our hearts, ay,
even in Jocks, though the green heather
was high enough almost to bury him.
But here is the Den burn. 1t is bright
and clear, and not too full-just in fine
condition for guddling.
And now my English reader will be
initiated into the mysteries of guddling;
that is, if he does not already know
what guddling is.
Off goes every jacket; then our sleeves
are rolled up to the very shoulders, and
Jul eiouocio ii6h uPoNOi VIC hhoco' w
are bare-legged, bare armed, and ready
for action. We begin by building a
strong wall of green turf, which we
tear up from the burns bank at each
side of the stream; then we make heap
of extra big turfs close to the burn, and
dashing them and beating them down,
speedily complete our dam.
Hurrah! the burn is almost dry be-
meath the dam; only in the pools the
water still abides, and into these go
nearly all the trout. Beautiful yellow
trout, speckled with red!
We wade in the water; the two Will
les wade, and Davie wades, and Jock
wades; Jock uses his bill; we thrust our
bare arms in under the green banks,
needless of eel bites, needless of the
presence of ugly water rats. We seize
the trout by the round, slobbery heads,
after working them into a corner, and
pitch them out on to the bank, and
laugh to see them leap and dance, their
bodies shimmering white and golden in
/ II