AUTUMN ON THE MOORS 217 



panied my father to Darden loug-h in 1842, reaching - it in 

 sufficient time to select hiding-places before dusk, when 

 flights of wild-geese and wild-ducks began to pour in from 

 every direction. A beautiful spectacle it was as pack after 

 pack came swooping- down on to the water ; and the 

 gabbling - noise they made, though not musical, was 

 interestingly wild. Of course my father, who was an 

 excellent shot, was soon busy with his gun and quickly 

 brought down a couple of geese — right and left. This, 

 of course, disturbed the whole assembly ; but we had not 

 long to wait till either the disturbed birds or fresh packs 

 came swooping down as before, and in the course of an 

 hour, my father had killed as many geese as could be 

 carried home. That consideration, and darkness closing 

 in, brought to a close an evening's sport that I fear, so 

 far as Darden lough is concerned, is now, and will remain, 

 a thing of the past. 



"In the forties, corn was grown plentifully in all the 

 adjacent valleys, which doubtless attracted the geese ; 

 and it was exciting sport to stalk them as they fed on 

 the stubbles. But, alas! at the present day, there are no 

 stubbles, and but few stray wild-geese in consequence. 

 It is a long time to look back to, but I shall never forget 

 my enjoyment of that sport at Darden lough." 



Beyond the Border, matters are not quite so bad. 

 There, wild-geese still frequent the ' Merse ' of Berwick- 

 shire- — that is, the broad stretch of rich arable plain that 

 lies between Tweed and the Lammermuirs. Thither 

 come the pink - footed and bean - geese every autumn, 

 arriving usually in October, and again in March ; 

 remaining a few weeks at either period. Their favourite 

 haunts in the Merse, together with their exact dates of 

 arrival and departure, are set forth by Mr Geo. Muirhead 



