A River Runs Through Me A Life of Salmon Fishing in Scotland

An evocative account of one man’s life spent fishing on arguably the world’s best salmon river: a story of family, tradition and the Scottish countryside.

Against the shifting moods and seasons of Scotland’s River Tweed, A River Runs Through Me tells the story of a lifelong relationship with one of its most iconic denizens: the Atlantic salmon.

Through vivid vignettes and family memories, Andrew Douglas-Home spins a homely yet dryly witty narrative, placing this unique fish and river at its heart. Woven into the decades, amid youthful adventure and memorable catches, are stories too of one of Scotland’s oldest families – tales of politics, friendship and stewardship of the natural world.

This poignant and thoughtful book looks back at age-old practices and traditions but also forward to what we must do to secure the future of the Atlantic salmon and their rivers. It is the perfect companion for any angling enthusiast.

Andrew Douglas-Home has lived on the banks of the River Tweed for most of his life. He was awarded an OBE in 2012 for his services to fishing and Scottish culture, recognizing his long work helping to secure the environment of the Tweed River as well as for the role he played with the Abbotsford Trust in preserving Abbotsford House, the home and legacy of Sir Walter Scott. He was a Tweed Commissioner for over 35 years, acting as Chairman of the River Tweed Commission and Tweed Foundation for eight years between 2004 and 2012. He is, of course, a keen fisherman.

Contents Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi Spring.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Upper Pavilion.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 A Most Deprived Childhood.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 ‘ Where do you fit in? Which one is your father?’ .. . . . . . . 11 Currarevagh. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 My Fishing Book. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Grandhome.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Eton? I Loved Every Minute.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 ‘ Come out. You have caught enough.’ .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Not Strictly Legal?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 What’ s in a Name?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Camasunary, Skye.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 A Breed Apart.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 ‘ You had better come over here, boy!’ .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Summer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Our Very Own Piece of Heaven. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Bouldering. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 William. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 A Cricketing Dilemma.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Three in Three. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 A Skimmer at Cambus O’ May.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Never on a Sunday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Meeting Orri.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 The Sea Pool.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 The Opposite Test. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Fishing Bores.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 The Price of Principles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 No Way to Treat a Noble Fish.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 What Life Is This?.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Dogs, We’ ve Had a Few.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Summer’ s End. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 Autumn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 A Great Fishing Hotel.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 Lunch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 Sir Alec. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 A Melancholy Triumph.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 Nick’ s First, and a Duke.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 Red-Letter Days.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 A Good Frost and Puppsie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Don’ t Get Me Started. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 Does It Matter?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 A November Splash?.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 A Switlyk and the PC Police.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 Lanrick.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 Simply Magnificent.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 A Very Fishy Pandemic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 Winter.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 Uncle George. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 They Never Had a Chance.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 Robin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 Biter Bit.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 A Champion Ploughman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205