Gairloch In North-West Ross-Shire Part 53

Of all the sea-lochs in the West Highlands, I long thought that Loch Duich, the southern branch of Loch Alsh, bore the palm on the mainland, not only as viewed from the road above the kirk of Loch Alsh, but as enjoyed on the surface of the loch itself, amidst its picturesque and elevated peaks. But after seeing Loch Gruinard, many years ago, in its smiling and varied beauty, homage has been divided. Yet the two scenes are scarcely comparable, so different are they in type,--the one with even sh.o.r.es and unbroken surface, and closely beset by towering mountains; the other open and expansive, and varied with numerous isles.

Each is to be admired for its own sake, and both reveal somewhat of the wealth of scenic loveliness created by the union of "the mountain and the flood" in our beautiful land.

Seven miles from Poolewe is Aultbea, with the smooth green Eilean Ewe in front of it, in the middle of Loch Ewe, a transcript of southern cultivation amidst Highland crofts. Before descending on the village the road rises high above the sea, and shews a wonderful view. At your feet lies an upper reach of Loch Ewe, called Tournaig Bay, in calm, smooth as a mirror, which forms the eye of the picture. Beyond it stretches a rolling plateau of bare parti-coloured rock in front, and a screen of great summits round Loch Fionn and Loch Maree behind. You can distinguish, from the left, the fair Maiden, the pointed Beinn Aridh Charr, the bright Beinn Eay, the dark Beinn Alligin, and their numerous fellows, onwards to the lesser eminences behind Gairloch. The crowded sandstone peaks, crowned with the white Quartzite, like Beinn Eay, look in the distance like the white crests of gigantic billows suddenly arrested in wild tumult and transformed to stone.

Near Aultbea you turn to the right, and cross the neck of the peninsula of flat Cambrian sandstone that terminates in the Greenstone Point. Near the top of the ridge the road pa.s.ses through several long serpentine ridges of gravelly _debris_, with countless embedded blocks. These are the lateral moraines of the huge glaciers that pushed their resistless march from the mountains above out to sea. They are good and patent examples of their cla.s.s, interesting as existing so far from the parent source of the great ice-sheet of which they were the enclosing walls, and which has left its footprints in well-marked scratchings and polishings on all the exposed rocks round.

A little beyond the highest and best moraine a point is attained where the whole expanse of Loch Gruinard suddenly comes into view. It forms a broad bay, land-locked on right and left, and open to the Minch on the north. On a day of sunshine and shadow it is truly a fair and picturesque scene.

The free sea in front is soon broken up by islands. Eilean Gruinard lies to the right; Priest Island is the nearest in front; and behind it is an archipelago of rocks and islands, of varied size and outline, called by the pleasant name of the Summer Isles. Bold headlands stretch far beyond. To the left is the wide Minch, with the low lands of the Lews in the dim horizon, terminating in the b.u.t.t. On the right the bay is enclosed by the indented sh.o.r.es of the mainland, at the entrances of Great and Little Loch Broom.

Inland extends a long succession of mountain summits, similar to those already seen above Aultbea. Over Rudha Coigeach, tower the great peaks round Loch a.s.synt and Kyle Skou, conspicuous among which is the cone of Suilven, flanked by Queenaig and Canisp. Next comes the mountain group of Coigeach, crowned by the broad Beinn Mhor. Then, isolated and steep, the dark double-peaked Beinn Gobhlach heaves itself between the two Loch Brooms, and, being separated entirely from the rest, stands as a grand centre to the picture. Finally, closing the line to the right, rise the domed Sail Mor and the pointed peaks that stand round Loch na Sheallag.

This wide expanse of mingled sea and sh.o.r.e, island and mountain, becomes an indelible memory, especially under a favourable sky, bearing with it the proverbial joy.

One extraordinary feature of the scene is the absolute want of trees, except a few at the head of Loch Gruinard. The country looks to the eye as bare of wood as Caithness or the Uists.

But more remains. Descend the road a short distance, and climb a slight eminence on the left, which will tax the strength of none. From its top, low as it is, a still more magnificent prospect may be had, unusual in its sweep and remarkable for the number of hill tops in sight. At one glance your eye commands the whole series of mountains comprised in both the views already obtained, from Sutherland to Applecross, the peaks crowded round Loch na Sheallag and Fionn occupying the centre of the splendid circle. In the far north, in clear weather, the isle of Handa at Scourie is distinctly seen, and under very favourable conditions Cape Wrath itself is reported at times to be visible. Behind you, to the west, appear the outlines of the Lews and Harris, the shadowy representatives of Atlantic lands. This remarkable outlook should by no means be missed.

But there are other matters besides the scenery that will interest not a few. On the sh.o.r.e, where the road strikes the coast, the picturesque old chapel, amid its overgrown graveyard, will draw the antiquarian and the sentimentalist to observe and to meditate. The sandstone cliffs will attract the geologist; and these should interest even the common traveller. The coast consists of a series of steep cliffs, whose unusual redness arrests the eye. Here, hidden away, as it were, in this remote bay, occur two patches of the Trias, one of the rarest systems in Scotland, only a few scattered patches representing that comparatively modern epoch, here enclosed by the two most ancient systems of Britain, the Hebridean gneiss and the Torridon sandstone, as elsewhere explained.

Beyond the sandy bay to the east, the sh.o.r.e rises into high precipices, unusually contorted and picturesque, with isolated stacks and projecting capes, which shew varied forms and remarkable "weathering." A footpath leads down the cliff, and should be followed to the beach. There one of the old caves, excavated by the sea in a crack of the Trias, has been enclosed by a wall and put under lock and key. It is regularly used as a chapel by the Free Church, and there numerous worshippers gather on Sabbath, and, seated on the boulders that form the pews, listen to sacred words and sing their weird Gaelic psalms. This cave is cold and comfortless compared with another at Cove on the other side of Loch Ewe, also utilised as a church. This other is formed in the Torridon sandstone, and is roomy and dry, and well seated with planks laid on stones. The entrance is festooned with wild plants and flowers, and the interior shews a full view of the open bay and the land beyond. Worship under such conditions must be at once picturesque and impressive.

Close to this cave on Gruinard Bay another exhibits a still more interesting sight,--a modern example of the ancient cave-dwellers. It is the home of an old woman of seventy, and a girl her sole companion. The front of the shallow cave has been rudely closed in with stones, turf, and cloths, leaving an opening above through which escapes the smoke of the peat fire. The interior is barely furnished with the simplest of necessities. The fire is close by the door on the left, and the bed lies on the ground on the right just under the open roof, though protected by the projecting rock. The old dame seemed bright as the sunshine when we visited her this summer (1886), and declared that, though rough, the place was more comfortable than it looked. As she drank her simple cup of tea from the top of a box, after putting some clothes to dry upon the sh.o.r.e, with her wrinkled but intelligent face, her Gaelic Bible her only literature, the wild rocks round, and the splash of the restless waves in the ear, this simple, solitary old woman looked as picturesque and pathetic an object as I had ever seen, much more so than the wildest of gipsies at a camp fire. But this is not the place to enter into her story.

Beyond this the road pa.s.ses through two townships called Coast. These stand where an interesting junction occurs between the Trias system and the Torridon sandstone; while a little further on exists another junction between the Torridon sandstone and the grey contorted gneiss.

The numerous blocks along the sh.o.r.e, mostly foreign to the ground, are monuments of the great Ice Age.

At the very head of Gruinard Bay a large white mansion may be seen embosomed among trees. That is Gruinard House, situated at the mouth of the Gruinard river, perhaps as out-of-the-world a dwelling-place as may be found in broad Scotland. Towards this point the traveller should make his way either by the good road past Fisherfield, or still better by boat from Coast.

The position of the mansion is admirable, being cosily set close by the pebbly sh.o.r.e, on the edge of a fertile old sea terrace, enclosed by crags, knolls, and mounds. These are wild and steep, and clothed with trees and shrubs on their lower flanks, but bare and grand above, one lion-shaped precipitous rock being specially striking. The place is protected from every wind but the north-west, and has a climate as genial as in the south of England. A road runs by the side of the river, which has cut its way through a rocky pa.s.s and plunges over a cataract of huge boulders in foaming grandeur. Beyond a little school you come to a flat green meadow, the bed of an ancient lake. At its far extremity the dark craggy peaks of Ben Dearg form a powerful picture, which has been well rendered in a painting by Weedon. Crossing this plain and ascending the steep ridge at its head, you there command a grand view of the great mountains that enclose Loch na Sheallag,--that is "the loch of the hunting,"--the very name shewing that the old Celts looked on this region as the peculiar habitat of wild creatures. The lake itself is hidden by high ranges of the Hebridean gneiss, but you get a full view of the precipitous peaks which rise right from its waters. On the left you have the great ma.s.s of Sail Mor, the pointed Scuir a Fiann, and Scuir an Fhithich, the Raven's Rock; and on the right the grand purple peaks of the bold Beinn Deargs, an unusually fine group, excelled by few in the Highlands. In some features Loch na Sheallag and its mountains surpa.s.s those of the Fionn Loch, grand as these are. The whole scene is one of remarkable wildness and grandeur, and of unexampled solitariness.

The traveller may return by road to Gairloch back the way he came. But if he is able to face it, he should recross the Meikle Gruinard river, and, ascending the Little Gruinard river, which drains the Fionn Loch, reach Poolewe by the skirts of the mountains, through as rough and picturesque a country as could well be imagined. He has still another course open to him, which will bring him back to the common-places of life. He may order a carriage from Dundonell Hotel, at the end of Little Loch Broom, ten miles distant, or he may take himself thither on foot.

There he will find a most comfortable resting-place, and he will certainly think himself fortunate in seeing also the picturesque combinations of glen and mountain, wood and water, which adorn the beautiful Loch Broom.

Chapter XVI.

ANGLING IN SEA LOCHS.

The north-west Highlands of Scotland are a favourite resort of many anglers. Here the accomplished veteran of the gentle art can find full scope for his consummate skill, and the tyro may often obtain fair sport, inexperienced though he be. There are several cla.s.ses of anglers who visit the Highlands,--the wealthy man with ample leisure, who takes salmon or trout fishing on lease, together with or apart from shootings and a house or lodge; the determined angler, who spends his annual holiday in this delightful recreation, and usually settles down for several weeks or even months at a hotel at some well-known centre; the less persistent and less fortunate brother of the craft, who in a more desultory manner devotes to it a part or the whole of his briefer holiday; and the tourist, who scarcely claims the name of angler, but carries a rod about with him in his peregrinations, and occasionally takes advantage of such opportunities as may present themselves. For each of these cla.s.ses there is ample scope in the parish of Gairloch, and my remarks are addressed to all of them.

The angler visiting this country should be provided with at least two rods, viz., first, a trolling rod, strong enough for the powerful lythe of the sea lochs, and yet light enough to be used when trying for the so-called ferox, or large trout of the fresh-water lochs; and secondly, a light single-handed rod, to be used in fly-fishing for the lively sea-trout, or the brown or yellow trout which are to be found in almost all the fresh water in the district. These rods, with a supply of guttapercha sand-eels and strong traces for lythe fishing, lighter traces and artificial minnows for the ferox, and fine gut casts and a variety of flies for trout-fishing, will suffice for all ordinary purposes. The sand-eels and strong traces for the sea can generally be had at the Gairloch Hotel, or may be procured beforehand from Messrs Brooks, Stonehouse, Plymouth. The artificial minnows, and the traces for them and the artificial trout flies, may, of course, be purchased from any good fishing-tackle maker. I recommend Mr W. A. M'Leay and Messrs Graham & Son, both of Inverness, as being well acquainted with local requirements. Perhaps two or three flights of hooks for spinning natural bait for ferox may prove a useful addition. The tackle necessary for salmon fishing is not described, as the visitor to Gairloch is hardly likely to get a chance of this n.o.ble sport, unless he has arranged for it before his arrival, or unless he be personally acquainted with those who have rights of salmon fishing in the parish. Waders are not required, except perhaps for trout-fishing in some lochs which have no boat.

With these equipments the angler, or even the tyro, staying at any of the hotels, or taking a lodging, may meet with fair fishing, and ought to be able to keep the table supplied.

Let us begin with a visitor to Gairloch, Poolewe, or Aultbea, who wishes to "sniff the briny," and become acquainted with some of its inhabitants. By arranging the day before, a boat with boatmen may be procured, and they will know the best places to be tried. There are two usual modes of sea-fishing for anglers, viz., trolling for lythe, and hand-line fishing for smaller specimens of the finny tribes of the salt water. For lythe the artificial sand-eels recommended above seem to be the best lure. As a rule the smaller sized sand-eel is the most killing, and the pattern coloured red often beats the white. There is a nearly black form of the artificial sand-eel which is sometimes very attractive. Occasionally the sand-eel answers better with the bright metal spinner at the head. Take care that your trace (which ought to be of very stout triple gut) is sound, and that the swivels on it are working freely. The lead weight, about a yard from the sand-eel, should not be a heavy one. The lythe, which is called the whiting-pollack in England, varies in weight from half a pound to 16 lbs., at least that is the greatest weight up to which I have taken them in Gairloch waters.

Many of them run from four to seven pounds, and these are the best fish for the table. The lythe is rather soft, but is an excellent breakfast fish when properly fried, and is sometimes firm enough to boil well. It is a very game fish, and is therefore called by some the salmon of sea fishing. If you hook a good one, be hard upon him at first, for if he once gets down to the sea-weed you will probably lose him and your sand-eel and trace into the bargain. This fish appears to be in season from June to December, but it is not always to be met with, at least in any number. I have had splendid sport with them in June, and equally good in November. On 31st October 1879 we captured (two rods) in Loch Ewe, in an hour and a half, twenty-seven lythe weighing 176 lbs., and a good cod weighing 17 lbs., being a total of 193 lbs.; but this was an exceptionally good bag. Sometimes a cod or coal-fish (saythe) takes the sand-eel, when, if the fish be a large one, the captor thinks he has caught a whale. The lythe are generally found near rocky headlands or round island rocks.

Hand-line fishing is not to be compared with rod fishing for lythe, and therefore I have not recommended the angler to carry hand-lines about with him, but they can generally be borrowed if desired. The boatmen know the best "scalps," or banks, and can also obtain mussels for bait.

The fish most commonly taken are whiting, haddocks, gurnard, millers or "goldfish," sea-bream or "Jerusalem haddies," and rarely rock-cod and flounders. For sea-bream you must go further out than for the others.

Mackerel are not plentiful in Gairloch waters, and are generally taken with spinning bait. Hand-line fishing requires very close attention and a light touch. If you are not smart the smaller fish will continually get away with your bait. For all kinds of sea-fishing the evening is the best, and a half-tide, either rising or falling, is considered most favourable. It is little use fishing where there are many jelly-fish about.

Sometimes the hand-lines will capture a specimen of the larger fishes (more usually taken by the professional fishermen, who set long lines), such as cod, ling, conger-eel, skate, and even the halibut, locally termed turbot. The conger-eel, as well as the fresh-water eel, are not eaten by the natives, who regard them as allied to the serpent tribe, and therefore related to the tempter! The halibut here frequently attain a large size. In January 1885 I purchased from a fisher-lad his one-third share of a halibut. On arriving at home with my prize I found it scaled fully thirty-three pounds, so that the fish when entire must have weighed 100 lbs. Wonderful stories are told of enormous skate taken on this coast. I have heard 2 cwt. stated as the weight of a single skate! Dr Mackenzie mentions john-dory and mullet as being sometimes captured in Gairloch, but not with bait.

Chapter XVII.

ANGLING IN LOCH MAREE.

Loch Maree reigns supreme amongst the angling waters of the parish of Gairloch, with the exception of course of its outlet the River Ewe.

It is true that the excessive fishing which followed on the opening of the Loch Maree Hotel at Talladale has to some extent injured the angler's chances, especially by diminishing the number of large black trout usually called ferox. But there is still excellent sport to be had with sea-trout and loch trout.

The angling of Loch Maree is open to visitors staying at the hotels at Kenlochewe and Talladale, except the lower part, about two miles in length, which is reserved by the proprietor for himself and his shooting-tenants. The reserved water includes the whole of the narrow part of the loch lying to the north or north-west of Rudha aird an anail on the west side of the loch, and An Fhridh Dhorch on the north-east side.

The best fishing ground is to be found amongst the bays and shallow banks around the islands and off the points.

The fish in the loch are salmon, sea-trout, and brown trout; no doubt there are also char in the loch; I believe they occur in most Highland lochs, but they are very difficult to take. I never heard of one being caught in Loch Maree; but they say the last Lord Seaforth used to visit Loch Maree every autumn to net char in shallow waters, and that he got them of remarkable size running up to 1 lb. weight. The char is a deep-water fish, and only comes towards the sh.o.r.es for about a fortnight at the end of autumn to sp.a.w.n.

Salmon are but rarely taken in the loch, though they must be numerous in its waters. I have known one taken with a blue artificial minnow off the Fox Point, and two were bagged in Tollie bay in 1882 with ordinary sea-trout flies and a light rod; one of these weighed 15 lbs. I have heard of other instances of salmon being captured in different parts of the loch; several at its very head, others among the islands, and others again at places I need not specify. The statement made by some gillies that salmon are never taken in Loch Maree is a delusion; that they are not generally taken, I admit; but every angler on Loch Maree, at any time of the year, whether throwing the fly or trolling the minnow, has a chance of hooking a specimen of the monarch of fishes.

Sea-trout come next. In some years they are very abundant, in others comparatively scarce. This fish has different names in different parts of the kingdom. Sometimes it is called the white trout; sometimes the salmon trout; sometimes the sewin. Again the term white trout includes the bull-trout, which is an immigrant from the salt water. The sea-trout of Loch Maree appear to be of three distinct species:--

I. The sea-trout or salmon trout (_Salmo trutta_); II., the bull-trout (_Salmo eriox_); III., the finnock or whitling (scientific name unknown to me). Some say the finnock is a samlet.

Of these No. I. is abundant; No. II., scarce; and No. III., which never exceeds half a pound in weight, is also abundant. The sea-trout here vary from lb. to about 6 lbs.; they afford excellent sport, and are good eating. The sea-trout fishing is at its best in the months of July, August, and September. The finnocks are nice little fish, and for their size give pleasant sport. The only bull-trout I have known were taken from the Ewe.

Salmon and sea-trout fishings in Scotland belong exclusively to the crown and its grantees. In Gairloch the fishings are held by Sir Kenneth Mackenzie, Bart. of Gairloch, under an ancient charter from the crown.

Any person taking a salmon or sea-trout, without the permission of Sir Kenneth, is simply a poacher.

Brown trout are not so plentiful nor so large as they used to be. In Part IV., chap. xiii., I have mentioned the large trout killed in the bay of Corree, or Ob a Choir 'I, in the summer of 1878, when I was fishing along with a friend. This splendid fish weighed 21 lbs. when we got it to the nearest railway station, then at Dingwall. It was certainly not a sea-fish, _i.e._ not a bull-trout, salmon, or sea-trout, and it had not the large head and wild look of the fish usually called ferox; in my opinion it was just a brown trout.

Here I must propound my pet theory, that the so-called ferox and the brown or yellow trout are one and the same species. I have caught, or known caught, a number of large trout out of Loch Maree and other smaller Gairloch lochs, weighing from three to twelve lbs., besides the 21 lb. fish of 1878. I am quite aware of the number of large fish taken during years past in Fionn Loch, and I have shared in the capture of some of them. I know that the greater part of these fish would generally be cla.s.sed under the head of _Salmo ferox_. I feel sure they were only ordinary trout which had grown to an extraordinary size; many of them were completely out of condition, like a spent salmon; one or two, indeed, were not trout at all, but were spent salmon. I have talked with several old anglers, who professed to know the points of a ferox; none of them agreed in their diagnosis, and the characteristics they tried to point out were obscure, and to my mind not distinctive. Everyone knows that trout vary greatly in size, form, and appearance, according to the nature of the water and the bottom, and the quality and quant.i.ty of food. Even from the same loch I have seen trout, taken on the same day, so unlike each other that a tyro would have been pardoned for calling them different species. I have noticed no differences between the so-called ferox and any other large brown trout, that have not corresponded with the differences between various specimens of the smaller fish. It seems to me that whenever some anglers capture a trout above 3 lbs. weight they call it a ferox.

The ordinary loch trout are taken with similar flies to the sea-trout, but if you want the big ones you must troll either natural bait or the artificial minnow. The large brown, or rather black, trout (the so-called ferox) are never worth eating, and are rarely beautiful objects to look at; they would be seldom sought for, but that salmon fishing is so costly that many anglers can only realise the excitement of playing a salmon when they succeed in hooking what they call a _Salmo ferox_.

Sir George Steuart Mackenzie wrote:--"In Loch Maree is that species of trout called the gizzard trout." I suppose he meant the variety commonly called the gilaroo trout, which occurs in a loch near Inchnadamph, in Sutherland. I can only say I never caught one, nor heard of one being caught, in Loch Maree or any other loch in Gairloch.