Evening star., 1898-12-31
AFTER BIG SALMON
A Single Days Sport That Melted
Ninety-Eight Pounds.
IS OF FISHING ON TEE TWEED
here Historic Memories Fill the
Mind Of the Angler.
FAMOUS PRES SERVE

S. H,fbcrt Maxwell VI. p. in the LONDON Mail.
The whole armament is iooped and waved
with delicate gray cloud. save where, on
TIE south. a low band of pale yellow throws
The horizon into relief Although it is with
in an hour Of noon. a kind of twilight, pc
uar to November in the north, renders
even the near Landscape indstinct, but the
oaks Of Carham. slOping to the stream,
burn like red gold. and the river reach in
the foreground CLEANS like beaten silver.
Every hill and hollow. every crag and
shaw. is full Of historic meaning. for his
tory IS made up Of strife. and nowhere do
people strive so fiercely-nowhere do they
hate each other so bitterly-as on the banks
Of a great river. THAT fellow on the
other side''-why. the old meaning of
rivals" a dwelIer on a river bank. is
quite forgotten in our use of the modern
term rival Such a position implies fight
ing Just as surely As lettering at crossways
trivia '-engenders gossip-what is "tri-
vial"
This Tweed is a river of rivers across
which there hurtled to and fro warfare OF
. at woeful wasteful sort that only
! de UP their quarrel now, and look back
,nderinS what on earth it was made them
II out.
4 Historic Dispute.
Vie birthplace of the great dispute is
b.. at hand-onIy a couple of fields off.
Those few gray roofs. scattered on yonder
green ridge. are all that mark the site
of once famous Birgham-on-Tweed, where.
on July IL. 1890, the four guardians of Scot
land. forty-fOur ecclesiastics. twelve earls
and forty-seven barons, set their seals to
the treaty defining the relations which
should exist between their country anu
gland after the approaching marriage
Efvard Of CarnaTyon. first Prince OF
II to Margaret, the child Queen of
the maid OF Norway. Even at
Sl'' nee of six centuries it is difficult
without chagrin On the shattering
fair project by the untimely death
lie maid. Fighting. doubtless. there
would have been in any case, so many
vere the facilities for that pastime afford
td by the feudaI system. but not three hun
dreI years nf butchery between people of
the same race and language
When Alexander III died in 1235 the best
A,uE that ever sat on the throne of Scot
land. ne left his realm rich his subjects
busy and prosperous. and in perfect amity
with the subjects Of his nephew. Edward l.
When, in 1903 James VI assumed the
crown OF both kingdoms. three centuries of
perpetual warfare had strained and drain
81 the resources of his northern realm TO
such a pitch that the name of Scot had
passed into a bywor5 FOR poverty among
al the nations of the earth.
Wealth of the Tweed.
How different it all might have been
sua 81 bona norint; and Vet, morals and
economies apart. who thar knows and loves
the bcrders would have it otherwise-wouId
Exchange for ages Of cumulative prosperity
- store Of legend and ballad which cOnSe-
tes the valley of the Tweed? Who can
ring himself To deplOre the stern. sharp
-' -Olin@ which has left such lasting traces
en- the character. physical and intellectual,
Il is one Of the chief charms Of angling
especially for salmon-that. in the inter
walls OF action. ones thoughts are free to
gather up all that the rr;Glborhocd has to
lTpart OF lis story: and so this morning. as
the bOatnan. standing afar on the Scottish
hank. allows NE al the end of his rope to
uI1p fu0t by foot down one of the most
renowned casts in Tweed. and the wave
lrts tinkle drOwsily against the cOble my
mind Is fun Of far-OG days I am in Scot
land. but ne building he furt her bank
+ not "a kirk. but an English parish church.
Every cast that I make sends my fly across
the frontier where two Kingdoms meet-a
line in mid-current imaginary as that
y hirh once So sh-rply severed people of
the SANE rGCe and speech. Does it not
E--n-> Ny thoughts are smartly
switched off upon another course. As the
fly sweeps round the stream there is
sudden stoppage, the rod IS quickly raised,
the good green beart bends Ike a strip Of
steel. and the reel pays out slowly as a
| Eeavy fish dives among the rocks Of the
kirkend
Play SIugEishIy.
There is no rush or furry: imagina ton
has a good deaf to do with the description
anglers are so fond Of giving Of the racing
md desperate struggles Of heavy fish.
Truth 20 tell. these late autumn fish play
s,uEgishly ,nough with considerable Wis
inertiae. At nearly all times the speed of a
salmon on the line depends very much on
The strength Of the current. an eight-pound
fish in "A swift stream Will afford his captor
far more excitement than an eght-and-
twenty poundsr in still. deep water. The
current here iS no more than moderate, and
The contest consists Of series Of resoiute
journeys 20 the deep water. followed by re-
lUctaut yielding To- the merciless pressure of
treble gut. The water, however, IS very
shallow on the Scottish shore, and the fish
"a heavy kjpper-manifests a strong OBJ
l"Ctlu'. To daylight Each time he feels Inc
gravel he puts on steam and plUBgoS hcaV-
1.y back TO the depths. At last. broad
G.eIm shows beneath the wave. he is on his
broad side-a sure sign Of exhaustion. Three
minutes more and the bJatman, Wadiug in
To mid-leg. deftly passes the net under him
and scoops out my first victim-a thick-set
shapeiy fish Of exactly four -and-tw@nty
pounds.
once more the boat glides out at the
rope end. and the fiy-a gay Kate with
carmiuc bodice and golden ruff-is sent on
its mission a yard or two more line sir
calls the bOatman from the bank He lies
pretty far over there. Hardly is the COM
Uaud obeyed. when vigorous tug under
water prrIudes another struggle similar in
all respects TO the first, except that this
TIME the index OF the steelyard only touch
es seventeen pounds
\ Tranquil Pool.
w have arrived now at the part of the
cast known a. the kitchen" where the
current s!ackens and the river widens into
q truEluil poll Several fish srt ShDWfn-.
there, but. alas, there is not q breath stir
ring The surface is CLASSY. and. save a
single iuj,euJ roll at the lure without ef-
fsct. not salmon Of them all will take the
slightest notice Of Kate" So We make up
our minds TO invade England; the boat is
drawn Up TO the top OF the stream and
IDweI across operations are begun from
IL --ght hunk EN III. tim. tha fnnt II