Grampian Club > Scotland, social and domestic

Public Sports. 205
opened at Edinburgh on the 9th December, 1767.
Eleven years previously, the tragedy of " Douglas," by
Mr. John Home, had been performed on its boards, an
event which necessitated the reverend author to resign
his living in the Church, in order to avoid the menaced
censures of his Presbyterian brethren. The Edinburgh
theatre stood in the Canongate, near the site of St.
John's Cross. Theatrical entertainments are now
provided at Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee,
and some other towns.
The existing sports of Scotland may be enumerated : —
Fox-hunting is vigorously prosecuted. Deer-stalking is
conducted with the skill of former times. The grouse
of the northern hills have attracted sportsmen from the
south, and augmented the revenues of Highland land-
owners. Anglers continue to find abundant sport in
southern rivers and Highland lochs. In the waters of
Lochmaben is procured a rare fish, named the vendace.
It resembles a small herring in size and shape ; the skin
is bright and silvery, and the head, protected by a trans-
parent substance, through which the brain is visible,
exhibits on the upper surface the representation of a
heart. This fish dies on exposure to the air.
Salmon-fishing was prosecuted at an early period.
During the reign of Robert III., the killing of a salmon
in close time was punished by a fine of £100 Scots.
The ancient method of capturing salmon was more
creditable to the skill than to the humanity of the
sportsmen. During night, torches were suspended
over the rivers, so as to cast light into the depth of
the water. Some of the sportsmen attended the torches
in boats, while others ran along the river's sides. All
were provided with barbed spears, or a sort of shafted
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