(Craig Herbertson)

1.        The Laird John Clerk wis a belted knight
His keeper cam frae Penicuik
My brother wis just a fisherman
Frae Northfield farm in Edinbra

2.        The Laird John Clerk held a fine estate
Bonnie fields and bright waters
His deer and game were sae widely famed
The talk o' a' the poachers

3.        His keeper was a canny man
Guid guardian fir his masters'
On the salmon run wi his dog and gun
A dei'l fir the slaughter

4.        My brother Keith wis a gallous lad
And dearly loved the poaching
Wi his rod and reel he gang aft to steal
A fish frae Clerkie's waters

5.        In the deep o night, in pale moonlight
My brother watched the waters
Oe'r the croaking frogs came the bark o dogs
And the keeper there behind them

6.        Its under moon and ower muir
Frae Northfield farm tae Penicuik
Wi his belt and knife he'd tae run fir his life
To dodge auld Clerkie's keeper

7.        A' through the night he ran and hid
But the keeper could'na catch him
And he lost his gear by the ruined weir
His rod an a' his tackle

8.        But in the light he saw a fish
A salmon in low water
Wi nae rod and reel just a guddlers feel
He threw her frae the water

9.        And its ower hills and far awa
Frae Penicuik through Duddingston
Wi a heart so blithe fir tae run fir his life
To dodge auld Clerkie's keeper

10.        The lady Nairn had a canny cook
A chancer for a bargain
And he boucht the fish for auld Clerkie's dish
And nane tae be the wiser

11.        Auld John Clerk, he got his fish
His keeper got the tackle
The cook got mair than a gillie's share
But my brother got the better

12.        Rod and reel, field and stream
Mair midges ower the water
Let others seek where the salmon leap
My brother wis a fisherman




As I remember the facts were;

Eric Arnott and I were about 14, the river was the Esk, above Penicuik, the weather was gloriously sunny, as it always was in the school holidays. But to bear this out, the river was very low so there must have been a long dry spell.

The estate was owned by Lord John Clerk (recently deceased)

The luckless (now also deceased) sea trout's name might have been Jimmy but I can't really remember. The weight was 4lb 10oz and length approx. the length of my leg

We were guddling and catching the odd normal sardine-sized brown trout, when
this monster was spotted when, in a prone position, I stuck my nose under a large rocky outcrop. Just about fainted, lucky not to fall headfirst with the shock.

We spent what seemed like hours trying to guddle it, each time we almost got
it out of the water it nonchalantly flicked its tailed and disappeared with a huge splash. Eventually it made the fatal mistake of swimming into shallows and we waded in and managed to throw it onto the bank. If there had
been deeper pools around we would never have caught it.

Wandering proudly back to Penicuik we were approached by 2 local ruffians with beady eyes on the prize. Cant remember the words that were exchanged, but the presence of a small pen knife, and ferociously possessive looks in
our eyes was enough of a deterrent to save the day.

After being paraded on an SMT bus back to town and a number 4 to Northfield, the trout ended up sold to the Lady Nairn hotel for the huge sum of £1.

Keith Herbertson - the fisherman