Garo: ene tS oral ars Seas pai MPP) EC: oy rus H aa Qo OO SG Ell LL ies sas seh Sitihs eas on es Cia Pitts Gornell University Library Ithaca, New York BOUGHT WITH THE [NCOME OF THE FISKE ENDOWMENT FUND THE BEQUEST OF WILLARD FISKE LIBRARIAN OF THE UNIVERSITY 1668-1883 1905 Cornell oo Library SK 189.S14 1893 ‘nan ports & natu Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu81924012420364 The Wild Sports & Natural History OF THE HIGHLANDS i i ay f if j } j 4 Ss SES SSS S SS Ss CHARLES ST. JOHN SHORT SKETCHES OF THE Wild Sports & Natural History OF THE HIGHLANDS By CHARLES ST. JOHN A NEW EDITION, WITH THE AUTHOR’S NOTES, AND A MEMOIR BY THE REV. M. G. WATKINS LONDON JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET 1893 PREFACE THE appearance of another, the ninth, edition of St. John’s Highland Sports renders a few words of introduction necessary for readers separated by nearly half a century from the time when the book was first published. It delighted a past gener- ation, and has probably done more than any book since written to foster a love of out-door sport among the wilder birds and animals of the British Isles. But the author pos- sesses a stronger claim to the gratitude of naturalists and sportsmen. He upholds the highest traditions of true sport: on the one hand setting the example of refraining from all that savours of taking an ungenerous advantage over these wild creatures; on the other, trying to inculcate humanity towards them, believing that a fondness for observing their habits confers a higher pleasure than the mere shooting of a great quantity of game. Mr. St. John was specially qualified to write on the birds and beasts of Scotland. A happy concurrence of circum- stances connected with his residence in the district of Moray gave him unrivalled opportunities of observing its quadrupeds, while he has paid even greater attention to the birds of the country. He says (Preface to Natural History and Sport in Moray, p. ix.): “I have taken the nests of all the birds which breed in Scotland, without, I believe, an exception, I have vi WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS also watched the habits of feeding, etc. of all, from the golden eagle to the golden-crested wren, from the wild swan to the teal, and have had opportunities of so doing which perhaps no other person has had.” Independently of the charm of St. John’s writing, what at present renders his Wzld Sports especially valuable is that Scotland and the Scotch fauna have considerably changed during the last half-century. The variety and abundance of wild life here described can never again be seen. Fortunately a true picture of that departed past is preserved in St. John’s vivid narratives. Population has increased ; and railways, driven far into what in his days were wastes of trackless bog and heather, now admit countless sportsmen and tourists to the most retired districts. An increasing taste for shooting and fishing, and the charm of a freer life during the beautiful northern summer than can be found in great cities, have planted castles and shooting lodges all over Scotland. Sport of any kind can now only be obtained at a considerable cost. For economical reasons, all lovers of Scotland must rejoice at this tendency of the age; but it has pressed with great severity upon all wild life. Indeed, where they have not been specially protected, several kinds of birds and beasts, such as the osprey, the kite, and the marten, have either died out or are rapidly approaching extinction. Were it not for legal restrictions and private watchfulness others would be seriously endangered, or linger on remaining scantily represented. Thus many animals and birds which were sufficiently common in St. John’s time are now rare and seldom seen. It has been thought advisable, therefore, in this edition to adda few notes in order to illustrate the instincts or traits of these creatures, their prevalence or scarcity. Some more general remarks have also been appended here and there to clear up PREFACE vii any obscurity or bring out associations which might otherwise have been forgotten. There has been no tampering with the original text. The additional notes of the author, marked C. St. J., are printed word for word from an interleaved copy of Jenyns’s Manual of British Vertebrate Animals. They are interesting as showing the exactitude and brevity of St. John’s notes. At times they also throw further light upon the text. For per- mission to use them the editor is indebted to the kindness of the writer’s son, Admiral H. C. St. John. M. G. W. KENTCHURCH Rectory, July 1892. LIFE OF C. ST. JOHN MANY men well known in the literary world possess no history, because their life has been spent with their books. Mr. St. John’s days were passed on the moorland or by the river, devoted to sports and natural history, consequently there is little to tell of his life except the distinctive facts which mark off one human being from another. His love of animated nature, his perseverance and keenness in capturing the rarer birds and beasts, are only matched by the acuteness with which he caught their habits and instincts and transferred them into these pages. In them and in his other two books may be read his real life-work. Charles William George St. John was son of General the Honourable F. St. John, himself the son of Frederick, second Viscount Bolingbroke. He was born at Chailey, Sussex, 3rd December 1809, and sent in due time to Midhurst School, under Dr. Bayley. Here it is upon record that under the careful tuition of an old pensioner, who acted as drill-sergeant to the school, the characteristic bent of his mind showed itself, and he became a proficient in spinning for pike and setting night-lines for eels in the river Arun. During his stay of about four years his box was usually filled with some kind of pets; dormice, guinea-pigs, or stag-beetles. He was appointed to a clerkship in the Treasury in 1828, but only remained for some two years at his desk, the confinement and regular hours being little suited to his tastes. At this time of his life St. John was fond of society, and was enabled to enjoy it to his heart’s content through the kindness of his aunt, Lady Sefton. He had a slight impediment in his speech, but it almost dis- appeared when he was among friends, and then his conversation x WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS was easy and flowing. When in London he was wont to drive or ride out of town to shoot blackcock and rcturn the same day. The distance was eighty miles, and he used four horses in getting over the ground, each horse doing twenty miles. A new phase of life opened upon him after leaving the Treasury, owing to the kindness of his cousin, Lord Bolingbroke, who lent him Rosehall, a shooting-box on the Oykell in Suther- land. The retirement, the shooting, the wild stretches of moorland around him, exactly suited his genius. Many of his observations on animal life, and much of his experience as a deer-stalker, were here acquired. On an expedition from Rosehall he met Miss Ann Gibson, the daughter of a rich banker in Newcastle, and married her in November 1834. She possessed some fortune, in which he had been somewhat deficient, and much sympathy with his tastes and habits. Henceforth he devoted himself to the life of a sportsman and naturalist, living in succession at several houses in the High- lands in Ross-shire, Inverness, Nairn, and Moray. The need of schools for his growing family brought him nearer to towns. But he found the “laigh” of Moray best suited to his tastes— “a fertile and well-cultivated country, with dry soil and bright and bracing climate, with wide views of sea and mountain, within easy distance of mountain sports, in the midst of the game and wild animals of a low country, and with the coast indented by bays of the sea and studded with frequent fresh- water lakes, the haunt of all the common wild-fowl, and of many of the rarer sorts.” Amid such scenes St. John lived for ten years, the best part of his working life, before his fatal illness. It was in Moray that St. John became acquainted with Mr. C. Innes, Sheriff of Moray, in the autumn of 1844, while the latter was shooting partridges. He had shot one and lost it among-some potatoes; but St. John offered to let his own rather ungainly-looking dog find it if the Sheriff would permit him. This the dog speedily did, and an acquaintance thus commenced of much pleasure to both, and the source of a new and unexpected interest in St. John’s life. He was then living at Invererne, below Forres ; and Mr. Innes, captivated by his stories of sport and adventure, induced him to write out a few reminiscences fer an article he was himself preparing for LIFE OF C. ST. JOHN xi the Quarterly Review. The editor (Lockhart) was delighted with them, especially with the story of “the Muckle Hart of Benmore.” St. John now began to see how he could utilise the varied information he had gathered, and one winter dili- gently put together the charming pages of The Wild Sports of the Highlands. The Sheriff had the satisfaction of arranging for the sale and publication of this in 1845; and then for the first time naturalists and sportsmen obtained accurate informa- tion of the wild life of Northern Scotland; while the simple charm of St. John’s narratives, and the boundless enthusiasm for sport which these chapters evoked, speedily made his name famous, and have given the utmost pleasure ever since to all lovers of rural life. Thenceforth St. John kept more regular journals, and acquired a scientific interest in his sport. The sand-hills of Culbin, the Black Forest stretching away beyond Brodie and Dalvey, the sand-spits on the coast where the seals might be seen basking in the sun, the Findhorn with its ever- varying prospects and the “sea-pyes” haunting its gravel banks, these and other contiguous fields of research furnished him with inexhaustible objects to observe and comment upon. In 1848 and 1849 St. John was obliged for the sake of his family to reside much in Edinburgh; but he loved to make excursions on the one side to Newcastle, where dwelt Mr. Hancock, whose tastes were similar to his own, and on the other to Sutherland. This county had always possessed many attractions for him in its fishing and deer-stalking, and led to his publishing two volumes upon its sport. Of all the houses St. John had inhabited, perhaps the College, Elgin, is the most identified with his pursuits and literary work. Here he came in the autumn of 1849. It was in the neighbourhood of many friends,—Sir A. G. Cumming of Altyre, Major Gordon Cumming, and others,—while there were good schools close at hand for his boys. The house itself, with its old trees and rambling garden and the ivy covering the walls, was exactly suited to the studies in natural history of himself and his family. Here he could shoot and fish in much happiness ; and here, owing to his habits of vigour, active exercise, and temperance, he spent several happy years. It is worth while extracting a pleasant picture of his home-life at Elgin from the pages of Mr. Innes: xii WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS The boys were the constant companions of his sport when school permitted, and sometimes the schoolmaster was forgotten when the car came to the door to take papa and Rennie (Donald) to the loch. Then, on the return, there were the contents of the game-bag to examine,—rare specimens to note, and sometimes to preserve and stuff after Mr. Hancock’s directions, who was a great friend and ally of old and young. In the evening the drawing-room was a pretty sight. Some rare bird, or, if no rarity offered, a good handsome old blackcock, was displayed ex pose for the artists, and father and children made studies in water-colours of a head, a claw, or a tail of the fine bird. Without pretending to much skill in art, St. John drew easily and coloured dexterously what was placed before him, and he made all his children able to do the same.—P. xxviii. But the end of this happy, industrious life was approach- ing. The pen which had delighted so many lovers of nature by its graphic accounts of sport and natural history was soon to drop useless from the hand. St. John had been a sufferer for a long time from severe headaches. After a violent attack in the beginning of December 1853 he seemed better, and was on his way to shoot at Pluscardine, when on 6th December he was struck down by paralysis of the whole left side. Quite powerless, yet perfectly conscious, he was carefully tended and taken home by Major Campbell. For many weeks he was tenderly nursed by him and by his own devoted family. He never recovered the use of his limbs, but was enabled to go south for change of scene and air. Brighton, however, and Southampton did not appear to do him much good. He still cherished the hope of ending his days in the Highlands; but death released him on 12th July 1856 at Woolston, and he was buried hard by in Southampton Cemetery. At his feet inside the coffin was placed the skull of a favourite retriever, the successor of “Grip.” During the two: years of his illness his patience and resignation were wonderful after the active life that he had almost always led out of doors among his favourite sports and in the observation of nature. It might have been expected that he would have pined for freedom and exercise, but no sign of such a feeling ever showed itself. He left three sons and one daughter, who are still living. Charles St. John is famous as a sportsman, a naturalist, and a writer. As a sportsman, his fire and eagerness wére extreme ; and he was especially fond of seeing his dogs work as LIFE OF C. ST. JOHN xiii he shot, never taking life merely for the wantonness of killing. But fishing and shooting were always subordinate to his ardour for observing the habits of the wild creatures which he pos- sessed so many opportunities of noting. He insisted on seeing with his own eyes, and never cared to take facts on hearsay. Enthusiastic, cautious, and diligent, he was the model of a zoologist ; country pursuits and love of the country almost amounting with him to a passion. St. John’s style is plain and straightforward, frequently rising to a poetical appreciation of scenery, and redolent of heather scents and the freshness of the mountain breeze. Imagination is strictly subordinated to sober details of what he actually saw, and heard, and did There is no attempt to rise to gorgeous or even fine writing, and this is the reason why his books still prove so fascinating. Without either eccentricities of thought or of language, they tell their own tale, and appeal strongly to all who sympathise with nature and sport. Therefore they never become antiquated, or disgust readers with the affectations and sporting jargon of a bygone day. When Walton and White of Selborne are for- gotten, then, and then only, will the world tire of St. John. Few authors in his own peculiar range of sport and natural history combined can vie with him ; few indeed have surpassed him. It is believed that many lovers of nature who have grown up since the early editions of the Hzghland Sports were published will be as delighted to make St. John’s acquaintance as were their fathers, to whom his experiences of the sport to be obtained in Scotland came like a revelation. St. John’s insight into animal life was as keen as that of Jefferies, but wider, more particular and exact. Nature was as dear to him as to Thoreau ; but St. John’s love of sport drew him nearer to the birds and beasts of his native land. Perhaps the late Mr. J. Colquhoun most resembled him in united enthusiasm for sport and nature and skill in writing on these subjects; but St John far excels him in the accuracy of his knowledge and the extent of his observations on animals, their habits and traits. An untimely death removed one who would probably have largely increased sportsmen’s sympathy and acquaintance with their quarry, and might have considerably widened the domain of the sciences which preside over the birds and animals of his adopted country. Besides the Highland Sports, St. John has xiv WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS left two excellent books, one on The Natural History of Moray, the other on Deer-stalking in Sutherland. This memoir has been put together from the Life of St. John written by the late Mr. C. Innes and prefixed to: the former of these two books, and from notes supplied by the eldest son of the author, Admiral H. C. St. John. To his kindness also this edition is indebted for the portrait of the author, the first which has hitherto been made public. CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION . . . . . . ° e ° . I CHAPTER I Highland Lakes—Steam-boats—Small Lochs—Wild Cats—Ravens— Dragging the Lake—The Char—Fishing at Night—Pike—Trolling large Trout on Loch Ness—Flies, Otters, etc.—Fishing with the Otter—Spawning Trout . 5 . é . ‘ . - 8 CHAPTER II Roe: Mischief done by—Fawns—Tame Roe—Boy killed by Roe— Hunting Roe: Artifices of—Shooting Roe—Unlucky shot—Change of colour—Swimming—Cunning Roe . . 4 - - 19 CHAPTER III Grouse’s Nest—Partridge Nest—Grouse-shooting—Marten Cat—Witch : Death of—Stags—Snaring Grouse—Black Game: Battles of— Hybrid Bird—Ptarmigan-shooting—Mist on the Mountain—Stag— Unsuccessful Stalking—Death of Eagle 2 . : 7 - 27 CHAPTER IV The Wild Cat: Strength of; Rencontre with—Trapping tame Cats: Des- tructiveness of—Poisoning vermin—Trapping vermin . . + 43 CHAPTER V Poaching in the Highlands—Ronald—Poachers and Keepers—Bivouac in Snow—Connivance of Shepherds—Deer killed—Catching a Keeper ~—Poaching in the Forests—Shooting Deer by Moonlight—Ancient Poachers . : 3 “ 5 . . = 2 . . 50 xvi WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS CHAPTER VI Salmon-fishing—Salmon ascending Fords—Fishers—Cruives—Right of Fishing—Anecdote—Salmon-leaps—History of the Salmon—Spear- ing Salmon—River Poaching—Angling—Fly-making—Eels—Lam- preys 7 , . CHAPTER VII Short-eared Owl: Habits of—Long-eared Owl—Tame Owl—White Owl —Utility of Owls—Mice—Rats: Destructiveness of—Water Rats: Food of—Killing Rats—Ratcatchers . CHAPTER VIII Crossbills: Habits of ; Nest—Snowy Owl—Great-eared Owl—Hoopoe —Shrike—Tawny and Snow Bunting—Lizards—Singular Pets— Toads: Utility of ; Combats of—Adders—Dog and Snakes—Large Snake—Blind-Worm CHAPTER IX On the Peculiarities and Instinct of different Animals—Eggs of Birds— Nests—The Fox—Red-Deer Hind CHAPTER X The Eagle: Habits; Greediness; Anecdotes of; Killing Eagles; Trap- ping ; Food of—The Peregrine Falcon: Manner of Hunting—Tame Falcon: Anecdotes of—Guinea-Hen and Ducks—The Osprey—The Kite: Trapping—The Buzzard: Nests and Habits of . CHAPTER XI The Hen-Harrier: Destructiveness to Game; Female of; Trapping— The Sparrowhawk: Courage of; Ferocity; Nest—The Kestrel : Utility of The Merlin: Boldness—The Hobby—Increase of Small Birds . « CHAPTER XII The Otter: Habits—Catching of—Shooting—Attachment to each other —Anecdotes—Fish killed by ‘ ‘ PAGE 62 72 80 87 93 103 - Ito CONTENTS xvii CHAPTER XIII Weasels—Ferrets : Fierceness ofi—Anecdotes—Food of Weasels—Manner of Hunting for Prey—The Stoat: Change of Colour; Odour of; Food of ; Their catching Fish—Polecat—The Marten Cat: Habits ; Trapping ; Eating Fruit; Activity of ; Different Species . . 116 PAGE CHAPTER XIV Anecdotes and Instinct of Dogs—Anecdotes of Retriever—Shepherds’ Dogs—Sagacity—Dogs and Monkey—Bulldog—Anecdotes of Shoot- ing a Stag—Treatment of Dogs . ; : F ‘ ‘ . 124 CHAPTER XV Increase of Wood-pigeons and other Birds—Service to the Farmer of these Birds—Tame Wood-pigeons: Food of—The Turtle-Dove— Blue Rock-Pigeons: Caves where they breed—Shooting at the Rocks near Cromarty ; : é F : : : + 135 CHAPTER XVI Wild Ducks : Edible kinds of—Breeding-places of Mallards—Change of Plumage—Shooting—Feeding-places—Half-bred Wild Ducks—Anas glacialis—Anas clangula: Habits of—Teeth of Goosander—Cor- morants—Anecdotes ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ a “ ‘: - 144 CHAPTER XVII Birds that come in Spring—The Pewit: Pugnacity ; Nests of ; Cunning —Ring-Dotterel—Redshank—Oyster-Catcher: Food; Swimming of ; Nest—Curlew—_Redstart—Swallows, etc. ‘ ‘ ‘ - 154 CHAPTER XVIII Sheldrake: Nest; Food—Teal: Breeding-places; Anecdotes—Land- rail: Arrival of—Cuckoo—Nightjar: Habits of—Quail—Grebe : Arrival; Account of Nest and Young—Bald Coot—Water-Hen— Water-Rail i: ‘ : : . . : ‘ ‘ - 162 CHAPTER XIX Wild Geese: Arrival of; Different kinds of ; Anecdotes of—Shooting Wild Geese—Feeding-places—W ariness—Habits—Breeding-places —Black-headed Gull—Birds that breed on the River-banks . . 172 b xviii WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS CHAPTER XX The Sandhills of Morayshire: Description of ; Origin of—Foxes: Des- tructiveness and Cunning of; Anecdote of—Roe-hunting in the Sandhills— Anecdotes . . . CHAPTER XXI Death of my first Stag . . ‘ . CHAPTER XXII" The Findhorn River—Excursion to Source—Deer-Stalking—Shepherds— Hind and Calf—Heavy Rain—Floods—Walk to Lodge—Fine Morn- ing—Highland Sheep—Banks of River—Cottages CHAPTER XXIII Findhorn River—Bridge of Dulsie—Beauty of Scenery—Falls of River— Old Salmon-fisher—Anglers—Heronry—Distant View—Sudden Rise of River—Mouth of River CHAPTER XXIV Migration of Birds in October—Wild Swans: Pursuit of ; Manner of getting a Shot; Two Killed—Habits of Wild Swan . CHAPTER XXV The Water-Ouzel: Nest; Singular Habits ; Food ; Song of—Kingfisher : Rare Visits of; Manner of Fishing—Terns: Quickness in Fishing ; Nests of . 7 - . ; 7 ji 5 ; CHAPTER XXVI The Muckle Hart of Benmore . ‘: ‘ A yi « 5 ‘ CHAPTER XXVII Different kinds of Gulls ; Large Collections of—Breeding-places—Islands on «a Loch—Egegs of Gulls—Young Birds—Food and Voracity of Large Gulls: Salmon-fry killed by—Boatswain-Gull—Manner of procuring Food . : . . : . . : PAGE 183 192 - 200 « 211 ~ B18 + 225 232 . 244 CONTENTS xix CHAPTER XXVIII PAGE Woodcock’s Nest: Early Breeding of; Habits of, in Spring; First Arrival of ; Anecdotes of ; Manner of carrying their Young—Habits of Snipe—Number of Jacksnipes—Solitary Snipe . j . + 251 CHAPTER XXIX Seals—Destruction to Fish and Nets—Shooting Seals in River and Sea— Habits of Seals—Anecdotes—Seal and Dog—Seal and Keeper— Catching Seals—Anecdotes F ; . ; é » 256 CHAPTER XXX Fox-hunting in the Highlands . CHAPTER XXXI The Badger: Antiquity of; Cleanliness; Abode of; Food; Family of —Trapping Badgers—Anecdotes—Escape of Badger—Anecdotes— Strength of—Cruelty to . : 4 : 2 . 5 + 270 CHAPTER XXXII Autumn Day on the Mountain—Stags and Hinds—A Bivouac—Death of the Stag . . . . 278 CHAPTER XXXIII Peculiarities and Instinct of different Animals—Feeding Habits—The Beaks of Birds—Wings of Owl—lInstinct in finding Food—Ravens— Knowledge of Change of Weather—Fish ‘ 2 289 CHAPTER XXXIV Coursing Deer a . eh” Xs , i “ « 295 CHAPTER XXXV Tameness of Birds when Sitting : . . . . . + 3It CHAPTER XXXVI Variety of Game . 5 . ; : LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS BY HARRISON WEIR, CHARLES WHYMPER, A. C. CORBOULD, A. H. COLLINS, A. T. ELWES, AND A. H. HALLAM MURRAY ENGRAVED ON WOOD BY J. W. WHYMPER PorRTRAIT OF THE AUTHOR . a s ‘ 3 , Frontispiece RovuGH WEATHER . a : . . . . Title-Page Donatp INsSTRUCTING HIS YOUNG MASTER : : ‘ fi : mt FIsHING BY MOONLIGHT . ‘ ‘ ; ‘ . 8 PLOVERS S . 3 : i ‘ ‘ : 7 - . 18 RoEBUCK 2 c F ‘ ‘ 3 ‘ 19 Ror Swimmine Locu 5 - 26 SHOOTING A WITCH . . : : ‘ . : » 27 MouNTAIN SCENERY - . ‘ : : : . “39 PTARMIGAN . . . . é : : . F ~ 42 Witp Cart. . : . . . . : : 43 Tue Ricut Sort OF GAMEKEEPER . é 2 . : - 49 AFFRAY WITH POACHERS . z F ‘ : é z 50 Brvovac ON THE HILLS UNDER THE HEATHER : ‘ ‘ % 61 SPEARING SALMON OR BURNING THE WATER . ‘ ‘ : . 62 RAPIDS ON THE FINDHORN . . . . : : + JI THE LONG-EARED OWL . . : 7 ‘ i z : « 92 Rats CARRYING OFF EGG . . . : é ri - » 79 Tue Snowy Owl . : a - . ‘ ‘i i : » 80 YELLOW-HaMMER’s NEST if i e 3 ; . . 8&7 WHITETHROAT’S NEST . 5 z : 5 ‘ . . + 92 THE EAGLE AND MOUNTAIN HarRE . ‘ 0 . i : » 93 xxii WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS My PueGnacious PEREGRINE THE SPARROWHAWK KESTRELS ‘ ‘ THE OTTER IN HIs Haunts THe OTTER’s ATTACK . THE WEASEL’s VICTIM . DEER AND HounpDs é A Huntine BuLtpoc . My Pers a 3 : Woon-PIcEons 5 A Across Cromarty Bay Witp Duck . ‘ - THE SYMPATHETIC MATE OvysTER-CATCHERS AT HoME Lociz HovusE ‘ . WateEer-HEN 7 : Locn INDORBH . SHOOTING WILD GEESE. SITE oF HERONRY ON THE FINDHORN SANDHILLS oF Moray A Cautious PEEP 3 DEATH OF MY FIRST STAG FINDHORN Bay. THE FINDHORN RIVER . THE VALLEY OF THE FINDHORN CROSSING THE BURN ‘ VALLEY OF THE FINDHORN DutsiE BRIDGE . 3 Tue HILts oF SUTHERLAND FROM THE Moors Re.tucas House . . THE SENTINEL ¥ ‘i SWANS IN THE Bay , THE WATER-OUZEL ‘ TERNS ON SALMON STAKES Tue Moray FirtH From Dava ABOVE THE FINDHORN PAGE 102 103 109 110 115 116 123 124 134 135 143 144 153 154 161 162 17I 172 182 183 191 192 199 200 203 205 210 211 215 217 218 224 225 229 231 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xxiti ‘“T DASHED MY PLAID OVER HIS HEAD”’ , ‘ 3 * x ‘ pee Brincinc Home THE “ MuckLteE Hart” z 7 % . » 243 ‘“THE WHOLE COMMUNITY ATTACKED Him” , . ‘ 7 - 244 GULLS comMING INLAND . A . é ‘ ‘i . . + 247 THE FINDHORN FROM ALTYRE WooDS, LOOKING NORTH si . » 250 Woopcocks TILTING i < é ‘ ‘i ‘ “ . . 251 DONALD AND THE SEAL P 5 2 : : é ‘ » 256 LookING UP THE FINDHORN VALLEY FROM DULSIE BRIDGE wi . 264 FOX-HUNTING IN THE HIGHLANDS . . ‘ A é » 265 HIGHLAND MowiInG . . r a ¥ ¥ ¥ « 269 BADGER AND Wasps’ NEsTs . i : ‘ 3 ; » 270 Group oF HicHLAND Dogs. From Sir E. Landseer, R.A. . é » 277 ‘“THE NEXT MoMENT HE was PassiInG FULL BroapDsIpE To ME” - 278 “ON THE HEIGHT OF THE Hitt HE HattEeD”’ . : . : - 283 BRIDGE AFTER FLOOD . r . i : ‘ : ‘ . 288 Tue RAVEN . ‘ P * i i F i 4 F .- 289 HIGHLAND BAROMETERS : < 2 ‘ ‘ : - 204 Tue StTaG AT Bay ‘ Z P . ‘ ‘ : ‘ + 295 MaLcoLM HOLDING THE Docs ‘ : : , : . 310 Youne Ducks catcuinc Motus. ‘ és : 2 F + 3Il CuRLEW AND GOLDEN PLOVER p F . . : + 315 DEAD StaG . . ‘ ‘ . s : . . » 319 THE WILD SPORTS & NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HIGHLANDS DONALD INSTRUCTING HIS YOUNG MASTER INTRODUCTION I HAVE lived for several years in the northern counties of Scot. land, and during the last four or five in the province of Moray, a part of the country peculiarly adapted for collecting facts in Natural History, and for becoming intimate with the habits of. many of our British wild birds and quadrupeds, Having been in the habit of keeping an irregular kind of journal, and of making notes of any incidents which have fallen under my B 2 WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS observation connected with the zoology of the country, I have now endeavoured, by dint of cutting and pruning those rough sketches, to put them into a shape calculated to amuse, and perhaps, in some slight degree, to instruct some of my fellow- lovers of Nature. From my earliest childhood I have been more addicted to the investigation of the habits and manners of every kind of living animal than to any more useful avoca- tion, and have in consequence made myself tolerably well acquainted with the domestic economy of most of our British fere nature, from the field-mouse and wheatear, which I stalked and trapped in the plains and downs of Wiltshire during my boyhood, to the red deer and eagle, whose territory I have invaded in later years--on~the mountains of Scotland. My present abode in Morayshire is surrounded by as great a variety of beautiful scenery as can be found in any district in Britain ; and no. part of the country can produce a greater variety of objects of interest either to the naturalist or to the lover of the picturesque. The rapid and glorious Findhorn,’ the, very perfection of a Highland river, here passes through one of the most fertile plains in Scotland, or indeed in the wotld; and though a few miles higher up it rages through the wildest and most rugged rocks, and through the romantic and shaded glens of the forests of Darnaway and Altyre, the stream, as if exhausted, empties itself peaceably and quietly into the Bay of Findhorn, a salt-water loch of some four or five miles in length, entirely shut out by different points of land from the storms which are so frequent in the Moray Firth, of which it forms a-kind of creek. At low-water this bay becomes an extent of wet sand, with the river Findhorn and one or two smaller streams winding through it, till they meet in the deeper part of the basin near the town of Findhorn, where there is always a considerable depth of water, and a harbour for shipping. From its sheltered situation and the quantity of food left on the sands at low-water, the Bay of Findhorn is always a great resort of wild-fowl of all kinds, from the swan to ‘the teal, and also of innumerable waders of every species ; while occasionally a seal ventures into the mouth of the river in 1 Every one interested in the Findhorn should read Sir T. D. Lauder’s admirable book, Zhe Moray Floods in 1829. The character of the river, and the calamities which in that year followed the sudden floods to which it is liable, are particularly pointed out in it. INTRODUCTION 3 pursuit of salmon. The bay is separated from the main water of the Firth by that most extraordinary and peculiar range of country called the Sandhills of Moray,! a long, low range of hills formed of the purest sand, with scarcely any herbage, excepting here and there patches of bent or broom, which are inhabited by hares, rabbits, and foxes. At the extreme point of this range is a farm of forty or fifty acres of arable land, where the tenant endeavours to grow a scanty crop-of grain and turnips, in spite of the rabbits and the drifting sands. From the inland side of the bay stretch the fertile plains of Moray, extending from the Findhorn to near Elgin in a con- tinuous flat of the richest soil, and comprising districts of the very best partridge-shooting that can be found in Scotland, while the streams and swamps that intersect it afford a con- stant supply of wild-fowl. As we advance inlarid we are sheltered by the wide-extending woods of Altyre, abounding with roe and game, and beyond these woods ‘again is a very extensive range of a most excellent grouse-shooting country, reaching for many miles over a succession of moderately sized hills which reach as far as the Spey. On the west of the Findhorn is a country beautifully dotted with woods, principally ‘of oak and birch, and intersected by a dark, winding burn, full of fine trout, and the constant haunt of the otter. Between this part of the country and the sea-coast is a continuation of the Sandhills, interspersed with lakes, swamps, and tracts of fir-wood and heather. On the whole I do not know so varied or interesting a district in Great Britain, or one so well adapted to the amusement and instruction of a naturalist or sportsman. In the space of a morning’s walk you may: be either in the most fertile or in the most barren spot of the country. In my own garden every ‘kind of wall-fruit ripens to perfection, and yet at the distance of only two hours’ walk you may either be in the midst of heather and grouse, or in the sandy deserts beyond the bay, where one wonders how even the rabbits can find their living. 1 One district alone, Culbin, which belonged to the Kinnairds, and consisted of more than 3600 acres of the finest land, was entirely destroyed in the autumn of 1694 or spring of 1695. A great drifting of the sands then took place, which nearly overwhelmed the whole estate ina very sudden manner (see Chapter XX.). Some say that Culbin consisted of gooo acres. These hillocks, like the French ‘' dunes,” are blown into different sized masses and alter in height from time to time. 4 WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS The varieties of the soil and its productions, both animate and inanimate, will, however, be best shown in the extracts from my note-books, with which these pages are filled. My memo- randums, having for the most part been written down at the ‘moment, and describing anecdotes and incidents that fell under my actual observation, will at all events contain correct descrip- tions of the nature and habits of the animals and birds of the -country ; though, not being originally intended for publication, they are not arranged in any regular order. Here and there I have quoted some anecdote of animals, which I have heard from others: these I can only offer as I received them, but I can safely assert that I have quoted the words of those persons only upon whose veracity and powers of observation I could depend. My subject, as connected both to natural history and sporting, has led me back to my former wanderings in the more northern and wilder parts of the country, where I had great opportunities of becoming acquainted with the habits of the wilder and rarer birds and beasts, who are natives of those districts ; and the pursuit of whom always had greater charms for me than the more commonplace occupations of grouse or partridge shooting. I hope that my readers will be indulgent enough to make allowances for the unfinished style of these sketches, and the copious use of the first person singular, which I have found it impossible to avoid whilst describing the adventures which I have met with in this wild country, either when toiling up the rocky heights of our most lofty mountains, or cruising in a boat along the shores, where rocks and caves give a chance of finding sea-fowl and otters; at one time wandering over the desert sand-hills of Moray, where, on windy days, the light particles of drifting sand, driven like snow along the surface of the ground, are perpetually changing the outline and appear- ance of the district ; at another, among the swamps, in pursuit of wild ducks, or attacking fish in the rivers, or the grouse on the heather. For a naturalist, whether he be a scientific dissector and preserver of birds, or simply a lover and observer of the habits and customs of the different /eve nature, large and small, this district is a very desirable location, as there are very few birds or quadrupeds to be found in any part of Great Britain, who do INTRODUCTION 5 not visit us during the course of the year, or, at any rate, are to be met with within a few hours’ drive. The bays and rivers attract all the migratory water-fowl, while the hills, woods, and corn-lands afford shelter and food to all the native wild birds and beasts. The vicinity too of the coast to the wild western countries of Europe is the cause of our being often visited by birds which are not strictly natives, nor regular visitors, but are driven by continued east winds from the fastnesses of the Swedish and Norwegian forests and mountains. To the collector of stuffed birds this county affords a greater variety of specimens than any other district in the kingdom, whilst the excellence of the climate and the variety of scenery make it inferior to none as a residence for the un- occupied person or the sportsman. Having thus described that spot of the globe which at present is my resting-place, I may as well add a few lines to enable miy reader to become acquainted with myself, and that part of my belongings which will come into question in my descriptions of sporting, etc. To begin with myself, I am one .of the unproductive class of the genus Homo, who, having passed a few years amidst the active turmoil of cities, and in places where people do most delight to congregate, have at last settled down to live a busy kind of idle life. Communing much with the wild birds and beasts of our country, a hardy constitution and much leisure have enabled me to visit them in their own haunts, and to follow my sporting propensities without fear of the penalties which are apt to follow a careless exposure of oneself to cold and heat, at all hours of night and day. Though by habit and repute a being strongly endowed with the organ of destructiveness, I take equal delight in col- lecting round me all living animals, and watching their habits -and instincts; my abode is, in short, a miniature menagerie. My dogs learn to respect the persons of domesticated wild animals of all kinds, and my pointers live in amity with tame -partridges and pheasants; my retrievers lounge about amidst my wild-fowl, and my terriers and beagles strike up friendship with the animals of different kinds whose capture they have assisted in, and with whose relatives they are ready to wage war to the death. A common and well-kept truce exists with -one and all. My boys, who are of the most bird-nesting age 6 WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS (eight and nine years old), instead of disturbing the numberless birds who breed in the garden and shrubberies, in full con- fidence of protection and immunity from all danger of gun or snare, strike up an acquaintance with every family of chaf- finches or blackbirds who breed in the place visiting every nest, and watching over the eggs and young with a most parental care. My principal aide-de-camp in my sporting excursions is an old man, who, although: passing for somewhat of a simpleton, has more acuteness and method in his vagaries than most of his neighbours, For many*years he seems to have lived on his gun, but with an utter contempt of, and animosity against, all those who employ the more ignoble means of snaring and trapping game; and this makes him fulfil his duty as keeper hetter than many persons trained regularly to that employment. He is rather a peculiar person in his way, and has a natural tendency to the pursuit of the rarer and wilder animals, such as otters, seals, wild-fowl, etc—which accords well with my own tastes in the sporting line—many a day, and many a night too, at all seasons, has he passed lying in wait for some seal or otter, regardless of wet or cold. His neighbours, though all allowing that he was a most inveterate poacher, always gave him credit for a great deal of simple honesty in other things. So one day, having caught him in a ditch waiting for wild ducks, on my shooting-grounds, instead of prosecuting, I took him into my service, where he has now remained for some years; and though he sometimes shows an inclination to return to his former way of life, he lives tolerably steady, taking great delight at all idle times, in teach- ing my children to shoot, fish, or trap vermin—a kind of learn- ing which the boys, young as they are, have become great proficients in, preferring Simon Donald to their Latin master ; and though they attend regularly and diligently to the latter, they make equally good use of the lessons of the former, and can dress a fly and catch a dish of trout for dinner, gallop on their Shetland ponies across the wildest country, or hit a mark with a rifle as well as most boys of double their age. And, after all, this kind of education does boys more good than harm (as. long as they do not neglect their books at the same INTRODUCTION 7 time, which I do not allow mine to do), as they acquire hardi- hood of constitution, free use of their limbs, and confidence in their own powers, But I have said enough of me and mine, and must refer those who may have any curiosity on the subject to the following sketches, as illustrating my doings and observ a- tions in my temporary home. It may be proper to mention that Chapters XXVI. and Xxx. have already appeared in print; some learned critic having deemed it expedient to publish them in the ‘15 3rd Number of the Quarterly Review, FISHING BY MOONLIGHT CHAPTER I Highland Lakes—Steam-boats—Small Lochs—Wild Cats—Ravens——Dragging the Lake—The Crea—Fishing at Night—Pike--Trolling large Trout on Loch Ness— Flies, Otters, etc.—-Fishing with the Otter—Spawning Trout. THE beauties of Loch Lomond, Loch Awe, and several other of the Highland lakes, are almost as well known to the English as Regent Street or Hyde Park. Lovely and magnificent as all these visited lakes are, and worthy of the praise of the poet and the pencil of the painter, there are unnumbered other Highland lochs whose less hackneyed beauties have far greater charms for me. Visit Loch Lomond, or many others, and you find yourself surrounded by spruce cockneys, in tight-waisted shooting-jackets, plaid waistcoats, and (so called) Glengarry bonnets, all of whom fancy themselves facsimiles of Roderick Dhu, or James Fitz-James; and quote Sir Walter to young ladies in tartan scarfs, redolent, nevertheless, of the land of Cockayne. Steam-boats and coaches are admirable things, but they spoil one’s train of ideas, and terminate one’s reverie when enjoying the grandeur and sublimity of one of these spots of beauty. Though a steam-boat, at a certain number of miles’ CHAP. I STEAM-BOATS 9 distance, with its stream of smoke winding over the rocky shore of a large.lake, and adding a new feature to the scene, may occasionally come in with good effect ;—-when .it approaches and comes spluttering and groaning near you, with its smoke drifting right into. your face, and driving you from some favourite point or bay, you are apt to turn your back on lake, ‘boat, and scenery, with a feeling of annoyance and disgust. I well remember being one bright summer's day on the shore ot Loch Ness, and enjoying the surpassing loveliness of the scene. The perfectly calm loch was like a mirror, reflecting the steep red crags of the opposite shore; and the weeping-birch trees, feathering down to the.very edge of the water, and hanging over its surface, as if to gaze at their own fair forms in its| glassy depths, were as distinctly seen in the lake as on the shore ; while here and there a trout rising at a fly dimpled the smooth water, and in my idle mood I watched the circles as, they gradually widened and disappeared. The white gulls floated noiselessly by, as if afraid to disturb the stillness of the scene, instead of saluting their common enemy with loud cries. I-had been for some time stretched on the ground enjoying the quict beauty of the picture, till I had at last fallen into a-half- sleeping, half-waking kind of dreaminess, when I was suddenly aroused by a Glasgow steamer passing within a hundred yards of me, full of holiday people, with fiddles and parasols con- spicuous on the deck, while a stream of black sooty smoke showered its favours over me, and filled my mouth as I opened it to vent my ill-temper in an anathema against steam-boats, country-dance. tunes, and cockneys. There have come in my way, during my rambles through the Highlands, many a fair and beauteous loch, placed like a bright jewel in the midst of the rugged mountains, far out of reach of steam and coach, accessible only to the walking traveller, or at most to a Highland pony, where the only living creature to be seen is the silent otter playing its fantastic gambols in the quiet of the evening, or the stag as he comes to drink at the water’s edge or to crop the succulent grass which .grows in the shallows. There are so many sthall lochs which .are known but to few individuals, but which are equally beautiful with those whose renown and larger size have made them the resort of numberless visitors, that it is difficult to single out any “10 WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS CHAP, one as pre-eminent. In Inverness-shire there are many lovely lakes, and many an hour and day have I passed in fishing on some of these. There was one beautiful lake to which I used sometimes to take net and boat, as well as rod. It was a piece of water about four miles long, and one or two broad; at one end were two sandy bays, forming regular semicircles, with their beaches covered to a width of a few feet with small pebbles. Between these two bays was a bold promontory running into the lake, and covered with fine old pine trees. Along one side was a stretch of perhaps three miles of grey pre- cipitous rocks nearly covered with birch and hazel, which hung over the water, casting a dark shade on it. The other end of the lake was contracted between the rocks till it was lost to the view, while on the remaining side was flat moorland. The whole country round and within view of the lake was picturesque and bold. In the rocks near the water were a colony of wild cats, whose cries during the night deterred the shepherd from passing that way; while on the highest part of the grey precipice was a raven’s nest, the owners of which always kept up a concert with their voices of ill-omen whenever they saw a human being near their dominions—there they would sit on a withered branch of a tree or a pointed rock, croaking, and playing their quaint antics for hours together. Their nest was so protected by a shelf of rock which projected below it, that I never could get a rifle-ball into it, often as I have tried, though I must have frequently half-filled it with the splinters of the rock. In dragging this lake we were obliged to restrict ourselves to the two sandy bays, as the rest of the bottom was covered with old tree-roots and broken sticks, which tore our nets, and prevented our using them. In the quiet summer evenings it was interesting to see my crew of five Highlanders, as, singing a Gaelic song, they rowed the boat in a large semicircle round one of the bays, letting out the net as they went, one end of the rope being held by a man on the shore at the point from which they started. When they got to the other side of the bay, they landed, with the exception of one man, who remained in the boat to right the net if it got fixed in roots or stones. The rest hauled in the net gradually, bringing the two ends together. As it came in, a fine trout or pike now and then would be seen making a dart round the t DRAGGING A LOCH II enclosed space within the net, or dashing at the net itself, drag- ging for a moment half the corks under water. The head man of the crew, a little peppery Highlander, invariably got into a state of the most savage excitement, which increased as the net approached the shore; and if any stoppage occurred from its being caught by a root or stick, he actually danced with excite- ment, hallooing and swearing in Gaelic at the net, the men, and the fish, When all went on smoothly and well, he acted the part of fugleman with no little dignity, perched in the bow of the boat, and keeping the men in proper place and time as they dragged in the net. We generally caught a great number of trout and pike, some of very large size. By the time we had killed all the fish, and arranged them in rows to admire their beauty and size, the little captain (as the other men called him) subsided into a good-humoured calm; and having offered a pinch of snuff to the gamekeeper, whom he generally fixed upon in particular to shout at, in consequence of a kind of rivalry between them, and also in consequence of his measuring some head ‘and shoulders higher than himself, he made a brief apology for what he had said, winding it up by saying, “ And after all, that’s no so bad, your Honour,” as he pointed to some giant trout ; he then would light a pipe, and having taken a few whiffs, deliberately shove it alight into his waistcoat pocket, and extracting a netting-needle and string, set to work, mend- ing any hole that had been made in the net. This done, and a dram of whisky having been passed round, the net was arranged on the stern of the boat, and they rowed round the wooded promontory to the other creek, keeping time to their oars with some wild Gaelic song, with a chorus in which they all joined, and the sound of which, as it came over the water of the lake, and died gradually away as they rounded the headland, had a most peculiarly romantic effect., Sometimes we did not commence our fishing till sunset, choosing nights when the full moon gave us sufficient light for the purpose. Our object in selecting this time was to. catch the larger pike, who during the day remained in the deep water, coming in, at night to the shore, and to the mouths of the burns which run into the lake, where they found small trout and other food brought down by the streams. During the night- time, also, towards the beginning of autumn, we ysed to catch 12 WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS CHAP, quantities of char, which fish then, and then only, approached near enough to the shore to be caught in the nets. In the clear frosty air of a September night the peculiar moaning cry of the wild cats as they answered to each other along the opposite shore, and the hootings of the owls in the pine-wood, sounded like the voices of unearthly beings, and I do not think that any one of my crew would have passed an hour alone by that loch side for all the fish in it. Indeed, the hill-side which sloped down to the lake had the name of being haunted, and the waters of the lake itself had their ghostly inhabitant in the shape of what the Highlanders called the water-bull. There was also a story of some strange mermaid-like monster being sometimes seen, having the appearance of a monstrous fish with long hair. It was a scene worthy of a painter, as the men with eager gestures scrambled up, the fish glancing like silver in the moonbeams ; and then, as they rowed round, sometimes lost in the shade of the pine-trees, which completely darkened the surface of the water immediately below the rocks on which they grew, or came again into full view as they left the shadow of the woods, the water sparkling and glancing from their oars. Frequently they stopped their wild chant, as the strange cries of the different nocturnal animals echoed loudly from the rocks, and we could hear the men say a few words of Gaelic to each other in a low voice, and then recommence their song. We always caught the largest fish at night-time, both trout and pike, the latter frequently above twenty pounds’ weight, with the teeth and jaws of a young shark. Sometimes the net brought in a great number of char, which appear to go in large shoals ; but these latter only in the autumn. In these lochs I killed great numbers of pike and the larger trout by means of floating lines, which we put in at the wind- ward side of the lake, to be carried down by the wind. On favourable days, in March or October, when there was a brisk wind, the lines went but half-way across the loch before every hook had a fish on it, and then commenced a rare chase. When we neared a float with a large pike hooked to it, as the water was very clear, the fish took the alarm and swam off at a great pace, often giving us some trouble before we could catch him. I have seen an empty corked-up bottle, with line attached, used as a float for this kind of fishing, instead-of the corks. Pike are I TROLLING FOR TROUT 13 very capricious in taking the bait, and some days not one would move, although the wind and weather all seemed favourable ; while on other days every float had a fish toit. Again, the fish would be quiet for some time, and then suddenly a simultaneous impulse seemed to seize them, and they would seize the baits as quickly as we could wish, for the space of an hour or so. The trout seldom take a dead bait during the daytime, but we often caught them on hooks left in the water all night. In all the Highland lakes on which I have fished in this way, large eels would sometimes take the hook, and often break my lines. It is frequently said that putting pike into a lake would destroy. the trout-fishing ; but I have invariably found that in all lakes of a considerable size, where the pike were. plenty, the trout have improved very much in size and quality, and not dimin- ished even in numbers to any great extent. In fact, the thing to be complained of in most Highland lakes is, that the trout are too numerous, and consequently of a small size and inferior quality. The only way to kill the larger trout is by trolling. In Loch Awe and several other lakes I have seen this kind of fishing succeed well. If the sportsman is skilful, he is sure of taking finer trout in this way than he would ever do when fly- fishing. In trolling there are two or three rules which should be carefully observed :—Choose the roughest wind that your boat can live in; fish with a good-sized bait, not much less than a herring, and do not commence your trolling until -after two oe’clock in the afternoon, by which time the large fish seem to have digested their last night’s supper and to be again on the move. You may pass over the heads of hundreds of large trout when they are lying at rest and not hungry, and you will not catch one; but as soon as they begin to feed, a fish, although he may have half-a-dozen small trout in his stomach, will still run at your bait. The weight of-sinkers on your line, and the depth at which you fish, must of course depend on the depth of water in the lake. A patient fisherman should find out how deep every reach and bay of the lake is before he begins to troll. The labour of a day spent in taking soundings is well repaid. The strength and activity of the large loch trout is immense, and he will run out your whole reel-line if allowed to do sa Sometimes he will go down perpendicularly to the bottom, where he remains sulky or attempts to rub off 14 WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS CHAP. the hooks: get him out of this situation, and away he goes, almost towing your boat after him. Then is the time for your boatman to make play to keep up with the fish and save your line; for a twenty-pound Salmo ferox’ is no ignoble foe to contend with when you have him at the end of a common fishing-line: he appears to have the strength of a whale as he rushes away. , I was crossing Loch Ness alone one evening with my rod at the stern of the boat, with my trolling-tackle on it trailing behind. Suddenly it was seized by a large trout, and before I could do anything’ but take hold of my rod he had run out eighty yards of line, and bent my stiff trolling-rod like a willow, carrying half the rod under water. The loch was too deep for me, and he snapped the line in an instant, the rod and the twenty yards of line which remained jerking back into the air, and sending the water in a shower of spray around. Comparing the strength of this fish with that of others which I have killed when trolling, he must have been a perfect water-monster. Indeed I have little doubt that the immense depths of Loch Ness contain trout as large, if not larger, than are to be found in any other loch in Scotland. For fly-fishing in lakes, it is difficult to give any rule as to the colour and size of your fly. The best thing you can do is to find out some person whose experience you can depend on, and who has been in the habit of fishing in the particular water where you want to try your own skill, for most lakes have a favourite fly. I have always, when at a loss, had recourse’ to a red, white, or black palmer. There are very few trout who can withstand these flies when well made. The size of the palmer should depend on the roughness or smoothness of the water. On a dark windy day I have frequently found a white palmer succeed when nothing else would tempt the fish to rise ; 1 Mr. Colquhoun contributed a very interesting chapter on this fish to the A%e/d paper (13th November 1880), from which a few sentences are extracted. The largest feroxes taken in Scotland, not even excepting Loch Awe, have been taken out of Loch Rannoch, but of late years the constant trailing of spoons and other gaudy baits over them has made the very large fish of all our trolling lochs so shy that few will run at any trolling bait., The largest Mr. Colquhoun has ever known to be taken in Loch Awe by rod was twenty-one pounds. At Loch Rannoch, in twenty-eight years, three of twenty-three, twenty-two, and twenty pounds’ weight have been taken, Feroxes are sometimes hooked with a trout-fly when from three to six pounds, but he has never known a large one so taken, though he once saw a ferox of seventeen pounds taken at the head of Loch Awe with a large spring salmon-fly. Many so-called large feroxes are often found to be kelt salmon, i TROUT FLIES 15 while on a bright calm day a small black palmer should be tried. There are endless favourite loch-flies, and it is seldom that a person cannot be found to give you the requisite infor- mation as to which to use: however, I never feel much at a loss as long as I have some palmers in my fly-book. In putting night-lines into a large lake, the best places are those where any burn or ditch runs into it, or along some shallow sandy or gravelly bay, for in these places the fish feed during the night-time. Worms, frogs, and small trout are the best bait for night-lines. In trolling, the small silvery fish supposed to be the young of the salmon, or the small kind of herring called garvies, are the best bait. Preserved in spirits of wine, they keep for a long time, and become so tough, that they do not tear or’ break off your hook. If you take a fancy to fish with a fly during the night in a lake, a large black fly is the best, but unless it is drawn very slowly through the water, the fish, though they rise, will miss it. A small fly which I have found to be always a favourite with trout, is one made as follows:—Body yellow floss silk, with landrail wing, and a turn or two of red heckle near the head. In most waters this fly succeeds. In some of the small black-looking lakes, far up in the solitudes of the mountains, where no person is ever seen, unless a shepherd may chance now and then to stray in their direction, or the deer-stalker stops to examine the soft ground near the water edge for the tracks of deer—in these lonely pools the trout seem often as unconscious of danger as birds are said to be on a newly dis- covered island ; and they will rise greedily at the rudest imita- ticn of a fly fastened to a common piece of twine, five or six trout rising at once, and striving who should be caught first. The fish in some of these lakes which are situated at a great height, are excessively numerous, but generally black and small. I have seen little black pools of this kind actually crowded with small trout. The otter takes to the waters far up'in the hills during the summer time, where she may rear her young in the midst of abundance and in solitary security. Making her lair on some small island or point of land covered with coarse grass or rushes, she lives in plenty and peace, till her young having grown strong, and the frosts of winter having commenced, the 16 WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS cHaP family remove, like their betters, to the seaside, passing over hill and valley in a straight line, to some remembered rocks and caves, where the dam has wintered before. Round the small hill-lake, too, are seen the tracks of the fox and wild cat. Their nightly maraudings seem to lead them always in the direction of water. During the heats of August, when at a loss for grouse, I have always found ita good plan to hunt round any lake that may be at hand—as the old birds lead their young daily to the water's edge to drink, and to pick up the small angular stones, numbers of which are invariably found in the stomach of the grouse, being probably necessary to grind down their dry and hard food. The hen-harrier and falcon, too, seem to hunt in these places, knowing that if grouse fail them, they are sure to find either a duck or snipe, or perhaps a large flock of plovers huddled together on the pebbles which edge the water. In fact, the mountain lake seems to be always a kind of rendezvous for all wild animals ; and I dofbt if any grouse-shooter or deer-stalker ever passes near their clear waters without going out of his way to look along the margin, or to refresh himself by gazing over the cool surface. , When you are shooting, too, there is the inducement of hoping to find a brood of ducks or teal, which few hill-lakes are without. I have sometimes found great numbers of these birds, collected in some quiet pool on the hills, in August or September, before they have descended to feed on the corn in the low country. Many a Highland lake has a legend attached to it, and however improbable the tale may seem to the incredulous Sassenach, the Highlander believes firmly in the truth of it. Some person, endowed doubtless with a prominent organ of destructiveness, has within the last few years invented an implement for fishing the lakes, called the o¢fer ; and though it is rather a poaching sort of affair, still I consider it quite a fair way of catching trout in some of the mountain lochs, where a rod could be used to no good effect, and where it would be impossible to launch a boat. Its principle of motion is exactly similar to that of a boy’s kite. Acted upon by the resistance of the water, the otter, which consists of a small thin board, about fourteen inches by eight, and leaded cn one edge so as 1 THE “OTTER” IMPLEMENT 17 to swim nearly upright, carries out a long line, which is attached to it by four short strings, and is wound on a large reel. To this line are fastened a dozen flies on short lines, which, being carried along by the board, rake the surface of the water; and in windy weather I have caught numbers of trout in this way, where the rod would have been of no use whatever. Many a grilse, and salmon too, have I killed in Loch Ness with the otter. There are, however, some great drawbacks to the merits of this implement. The fish are very apt to escape after being struck by the hooks, and, being thus wounded and frightened, become shy, and unwilling to rise again. Also, if a large fish is hooked very near the board, there is a great risk that he will break your fly off, and go away with it sticking in his mouth. For these reasons, the otter, though of great use in certain localities, should never be used in waters where the rod can be brought into play. Though exciting enough in an unknown and remote lake, where you seldom fish, the actual sport which it affords falls far short of rod fishing. I have tried it for pike, but did not find it answer, as the fish were constantly struck without being hooked—in conse- quence of their requiring some time to gorge their prey. The angling in some of the best trout lochs is completely spoilt by the introduction of these instruments of destruction. Every shepherd’s boy or idle fellow can make one, and carry it about with him ; and in lakes where this kind of fishing is prohibited, he has nothing to do, if he sees a keeper or watcher in the distance, but to wrap up the whole thing in his plaid, and walk away with it. There are but few Highland lochs in which a net can be drawn with good effect, owing to the unevenness of the bottom, and the risk of getting your tackle entangled and broken by roots and remains of trees, which always abound in these waters—the remnants of forests of an age gone by. Their great depth too is another obstacle to net fishing, except- ing here and there, where a sandy bay or tolerably smooth bottom can be found. To these places the trout always resort in the evenings, in order to feed on the insects and smaller fish that frequent the small stones. Tn lochs containiag pike, a hang-net, as it is calied, placed across deep angles of the water or along the edge of weeds, is sure to catch them; this fish always struggling and. endeavouring Cc ‘18 WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS CHAP: I to press forward as soon as he feels the net, whereas the trout ‘in these. clear waters always escape the danger by: turning ‘back as soon as they touch the meshes. The Highland shepherds kill numbers of the spawning trout in the autumn, in every little stream and: rill, however small, which feeds the lake. At this time of the year the trout are ‘seized’ with an irresistible inclination for ascending any running .stream that they can find; and I have seen large trout of several pounds’ weight taken out of holes in very small runs of water; ‘to get into which they must have made their way for-consider- vable distances up a channel swhere the water could not nearly cover them. Still, as long as a trout can keep his head against the stream, so long will he endeavour to work his way up. Numbers: of fish, and always the largest, fall a prey not only to ‘men, but to every prowling fox or wild cat who passes their way during the autumn, and all vermin instinctively hunt along the edge. of water during the night-time. A trout in shallow water is easily caught by any of these animals. Even the buzzard and the raven succeed in capturing them when, they are left in small rills, as is frequently the case, having been tempted to ascend them by some shower, which swells the -water for a short time and then leaves it as low as ever. i PLOVERS ROEBUCK CHAPTER II zt Roe: Mischief done by—Fawns—Tame Roe—Boy' killed by Roe—Hunting Roe: Artifices of—Shooting Race Uinlneky. shot—Change of . colour=/Swinming= Cunning Roe, ; : ed AS the spring advances, and the larch and other decidyious trees again put out their foliage, I see the tracks of roe! and the animals themselyes in new and unaccustomed places. They now betake themselves very much to.the smaller and younger, plan- tations, where they can find plenty of one of their most favourite articles of food—the shoots of the young trees. Much as I like to see these animals (and certainly, the roebuck i is the most perfectly formed of all deer), I must confess that they. commit ! Roe have the first year one antler, second year two an third year three antlers, This is always the case unless some ‘accident. happens to them. Sometimes they have four antlers, but seldom. The growth of the horns of all'deer is’ irregular, depending _much on the feeding which they get. Cc, St. J. . ae : 20 WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS CHAP. great havoc in plantations of hard wood. As fast as the young oak trees put out new shoots the roe nibble them off, keeping the trees from growing above three or four feet in height by constantly biting off the leading shoot. Besides this, they peel the young larch with both their teeth and horns, stripping them of their bark in the neatest manner imaginable. One can scarcely wonder at the anathemas uttered against them by proprietors of young plantations. Always graceful, a roebuck is peculiarly so when stripping some young tree of its leaves, nibbling them off one by one in the most delicate and dainty manner. I have watched 4 roe strip the leaves off a long bramble shoot, beginning at one end and nibbling off every leaf. My rifle was aimed at his heart and my finger was_on the trigger, but I made some excuse or other to myself for not killing him, and left him undisturbed—his beauty saved him. The leaves and flowers of the wild rose-bush are another favourite food of the roe. Just before they produce their calves the does wander about a great deal, and seem to avoid the society of the buck, though they remain together during the whole autumn and winter. The young roe is soon able to escape from most of its enemies, For a day or two it is quite helpless, and frequently falls a prey to the fox, who at that time of the year is more ravenous than at any other, as it then has to find food to satisfy the carnivorous appetites of its own cubs. A young roe, when caught unhurt, is not difficult to rear, though their great tenderness and delicacy of limb makes it not easy to handle them without injuring them. They soon become per- fectly tame and attach themselves to their master. When in captivity they will eat almost anything that is offered to them, and from this cause are frequently destroyed, picking up and swallowing some indigestible substance about the house. A tame buck, however, becomes a dangerous pet ; for after attain- ing to his full strength he is very apt to make use of it in attacking people whose appearance he does not like. They particularly single out women and children as their victims, and inflict severe and dangerous wounds with their sharp- pointed horns, and notwithstanding their small size, their -strength and activity make them a very unpleasant adversary. One day, at a kind of public garden near Brighton, I saw a beautiful but very small roebuck in an enclosure fastened with bes SHOOTING ROE-DEER 21 a chain, which seemed strong enough and heavy enough to hold and weigh down an elephant. Pitying the poor animal, an exile from his native land, I asked what reason they could have for ill-using him by putting such a weight of iron about his neck. The keeper of the place, however, told me that small as the roebuck was, the chain was quite necessary, as he had attacked and killed a boy of twelve years old a few days before, stabbing the poor fellow in fifty places with his sharp- pointed horns. Of course I had no more to urge in his behalf. In its native wilds no animal is more timid, and eager to avoid all risk of danger. The roe has peculiarly-acute organs of sight, smelling, and hearing, and makes good use of all three in avoiding its enemies. In shooting roe, it depends so much on the cover, and other local causes, whether dogs or beaters should be used, that no rule can be laid down as to which is best. Nothing is more exciting than running roe with beagles, where the ground is suitable, and the covers so situated that the dogs and their game are frequently in sight. The hounds for roe-shooting should be small and slow. Dwarf harriers are the best, or good- sized rabbit-beagles, where the ground is not too rough. The roe when hunted by small dogs of this kind does not make away, but runs generally in a circle, and is seldom above a couple of hundred yards ahead of the beagles, stopping every now and then to listen, and allowing them to come very near, before he goes off again, in this way giving the sportsman a good chance of knowing where the deer is during most of the run. Many people use fox-hounds for roe-shooting, but gener- ally these dogs run too fast, and press the roebuck so much that he will not stand it, but leaves the cover, and goes straight- way out of reach of the sportsman, who is left to cool himself without any hope of a shot. Besides this, you entirely banish roe from the cover if you hunt them frequently with fast hounds, as no animal more delights in quiet and solitude, or will less put up with too much driving. In most woods beaters are better for shooting roe with than dogs, though the combined cunning and timidity of the animal frequently make it double back through the midst of the rank of beaters; particularly if it has any suspicion of a concealed enemy in consequence of having scented or heard the shooters at their posts, for it prefers 22 WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS CHAP. facing the shouts and noise of the beaters to passing within reach of a hidden danger, the extent and nature of which it has not ascertained. By taking advantage of the animal’s timidity and shyness in this respect; I have frequently got shots at roe in large woods by placing people in situations where the animal could smell them but not see them, thus driving it back to my place of concealment. Though they generally prefer the warmest and driest part of the woods to lie in, I have some- times when looking for ducks started roe in the marshy grounds, where they lie close in the tufts of long heather and rushes. Being much tormented with‘ticks and wood-flies, they frequently in the liot weather betake themselves not only to these marshy places, but even to the fields of high corn, where they sit in a form like a hare. Being good swimmers, they cross rivers without hesitation in their way to and from their favourite feeding-places ; indeed, I have often known roe pass across the river daily, living on one side, and going to feed every evening on the other. Even when wounded, I have seen a roebuck beat three powerful and active dogs in the water, keeping ahead of them, and requiring another shot before he was secured. Though very much attached to. each other, and living mostly in pairs,| I have known a doe take up her abode for several years in a solitary strip of wood. Every season she crossed a large extent of hill to find a mate, and returned after two or threé weeks’ absence. When her young ones, which she pro- duced every year, were come to their full size, they always went away, leaving their mother in’ solitary possession of her wood. The roe alm st always keep to woodland, but I have known a stray roebuck take to lying out on the hill at some distance from the covers. I had frequently started this buck out of ziens and hollows several miles from the woods. One day, as { was stalking. some hinds in a broken part of the hill, and had got within two hundred yards of one of them, a fine fat barren hind, the roebuck started out of a hollow between me and the red deer, and galloping straight towards them, gave the alarm, and they all. made off. The buck, however, got confused by tne noise and galloping of the larger animals, and, turning back, ‘passed me within fifty yards. So to punish him for spoiling ' They do not unite in herds, but live in separate families. —Scrope, Deer Stalking, p-1830 05 ‘ : ul HABITS OF ROE-DEER 23 my sport I took a deliberate aim as he went quickly but steadily on, and killed him dead. I happened to be alone that day, so I shouldered my buck and walked home with him, a three hours’ distance of rough ground, and I was tired enough of his weight before I reached the house. In shooting roe, shot is at all times far preferable to ball. The latter, though well aimed, frequently passes clean through the animal, apparently without injuring him, and the poor creature goes away to die in some hidden corner ; whereas a charge of shot gives him such a shock that he drops much more readily to it than to a rifle-ball, unless indeed the ball happens to strike the heart or spine. Having killed roe constantly with both rifle and gun, small shot and large, I am inclined to think that the most effective charge is an Eley’s cartridge with No. 2 shot in it, I have, when woodcock-shooting, frequently killed roe with No. 6 shot, as when they are going across and are shot well forward, they are as easy to kill as a hare, though they will carry off a great deal of shot if hit too far behind. No one should ever shoot roe without some well-trained dog, to follow them when wounded ; as no animal is more often lost when mortally wounded. Where numerous, roe are very mischievous to, both corn and turnips, eating and destroying great quantities, and as they feed generally in the dark, lying still all day, their devastations are difficult,to guard against. Their acute sense of smelling enables them to detect the approach of any danger, when they bound off to their coverts, ready to return as soon as it.is past. In April they go great distances to feed on the clover-fields, wheré the young plants are then just springing up. In autumn, ‘tthe ripening oats are their favourite food, and in winter, the turnips, wherever these crops are at hand, or within reach from the woods. A curious and melancholy accident happened in a parish situated in one of the eastern counties of Scotland a few years ago. Perhaps the most extraordinary’ part of the story. ‘is that it. is perfectly true. Some idle fellows of the village near the place where the catastrophe happened having heard that thé roe.and deer: from the neighbouring woods were in the habit of feeding in some fields of high corn, two of them .repairedto the place in the dusk of the evening with a loaded gun, to wait for the arrival of the deer at their nightly feeding- 24 WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS CHAP, ground. They had waited some time, and the evening shades were making all objects more and more indistinct every moment, when they heard a rustling in the standing corn, at a short distance from them, and looking in the direction they saw some large animal moving. Having no doubt that it was a deer that they saw, the man who. had the gun took his aim, his finger was on the trigger, and his eye along the barrel ;-he waited, however, to get a clearer view of the animal, which had ceased moving. At this instant, his companion, who was close to him, saw, to his astonishment, the flash of a gun from the spot where the supposed deer was, and almost before he heard the report his companion fell back dead upon him, and with the same ball he himself received a mortal wound. The horror and astonishment of the author of this unlucky deed can scarcely be imagined when, on running up, he found, instead of a deer, one man lying dead and another senseless and mortally wounded, Luckily, as it happened, the wounded man lived long enough to declare before witnesses that his death was occasioned solely by accident, and that his companion, at the moment of his being killed, was aiming at the man who killed them. The latter did not long survive the affair. Struck with grief and sorrow at the mistake he had committed, his mind and health gave way, and he died soon afterwards. The difference in the colour and kind of hair that a roe’s skin is covered with, at different seasons of the year, is astonish- ingly great. From May to October they are covered with bright red-brown hair, and but little of it. In winter their coat is a fine dark mouse-colour, very long and close, but the hair is brittle, and breaks easily in the hand like dried grass. When run with greyhounds, the roebuck at first leaves the dogs far behind, but if pressed and unable to make his usual cover, he appears to become confused and exhausted, his bounds become shorter, and he seems to give up the race. fn wood, when driven, they invariably keep as much as they can to the closest portions of the cover, and in going from one part to another follow the line where the trees stand nearest to each other, avoiding the more open parts as long as possible. For some ‘unknown reason, as they do it without any apparent cause, such as being hard hunted, or driven by want of food, the roe some- times take it into their heads to swim across wide pieces of 11 CUNNING OF ROE-DEER 25 water, and even arms of the sea. I have known roe caught by boatmen in the Cromarty Firth, swimming strongly across. the entrance of the bay, and making good way against the current of the tide, which runs there with great rapidity. Higher up the same firth, too, roe have been caught when in the act of crossing. When driven by hounds, I have seen one swim Loch Ness. They are possessed of great cunning in doubling and turning to elude these persevering enemies. I used. to shoot roe to fox-hounds, and one day was much amused by watching an old roebuck, who had been run for some time by three of my dogs. I was lying concealed on a height above him, and saw the poor animal go upon a small mound covered with young fir-trees. He stood there till the hounds were close on him, though not in view; then taking a great leap at right angles to the course in which he had before been running, he lay flat down with his head on the ground, completely throw- ing out the hounds, who had to cast about in order to find his track again; when one bitch appeared to be coming straight upon the buck, he rose quietly up, and crept in a stooping position round the mound, getting behind the dogs. In this way, on a very small space of ground, he managed for a quarter of an hour to keep out of view of, though close to, three capital hounds, well accustomed to roe-hunting. Sometimes he squatted flat on the ground, and at others leaped off at an angle, till having rested himself, and the hounds having made a wide cast, fancying that he had left the place, the buck took an. opportunity to slip off unobserved, and crossing an opening in the wood, came straight up the hill to me, when I shot him. The greatest drawback to preserving roe to any great extent is, that they are so shy and nocturnal in their habits that they seldom show themselves in the daytime. I some- times see a roe passing like a shadow through the trees, or standing gazing at me from a distance in some sequestered glade ; but, generally speaking, they are no ornament about a place, their presence being only known by the mischief they do to the young plantations and to the crops.