1903 Rambles on the Lincolnshire Wold 143 



present time on account of the numerous pools it con- 

 tains, frequented at the breeding season (April to June) 

 by an ever-increasing tribe of black-headed gulls, offshoot 

 from the great and crowded settlement at Twigmore. 

 The pools are commonly known as the Blackhead Ponds, 

 from the circumstance of the purpose which they have 

 thus served since the year 1870, when, in the recollection 

 of an ancient keeper, the first eggs (five in number) 

 were laid. 



Interesting, too, to the ornithologist must be the remains 

 at Ashby, some two miles away, of a duck-decoy which 

 once was as profitable as any in the kingdom. Though 

 not in such good preservation as some other relics of 

 this old-time sporting industry to be found in different 

 parts of the country (a few decoys are still working, 

 notably in Essex and East Anglia), a good deal of the 

 apparatus is still sufficiently sound to illustrate the modus 

 operandi of the decoy-man. Still may be seen in the thicket 

 the lake, and the "pipes" of the decoy, along which, by 

 the wiles of the treacherous decoy-ducks, or the curious 

 antics of the scarlet -coated dog, the inquisitive but un- 

 suspecting wild -fowl were lured to their doom. In the 

 flourishing days of the decoy the farm was occupied by a 

 tenant and his sons most skilled in the decoy-man's art, 

 and the strict orders of " th' owd squoire " forbade the 

 discharging of a gun or the making of any noise that 

 might frighten the birds within a wide radius of the 

 encircling thicket. At all events, the combined skill of 

 the decoy-men and the interest of " th' owd squoire," 

 according to local tradition, resulted in an average annual 

 take of 30,000 birds. At the proper season wild duck still 

 come to the decoy, and would doubtless return in some- 

 thing like the old numbers if properly encouraged. The 

 farm buildings are still standing and habitable, though 

 sorely in need of a thorough overhauling. Surely here is 

 an outlet for the capital of a country-loving gentleman in 

 search of a paying hobby ! The chief difficulty, presumably, 

 would be the finding of a good market for the birds. 



Geologically, Scunthorpe is peculiarly interesting. The 



