HISTORICAL NOTES 99 



parts of the country. Once the ground 

 game was gone, the pheasant alone 

 remained to be considered, and despite 

 much adverse criticism — mostly nonsense 

 — in its earlier days, the 'battue,' as it was 

 then known, sprang into popular favour. 

 The business of rearing pheasants went 

 forward merrily year by year, with a 

 steady tendency to increase, until now the 

 number of birds annually brought up by 

 hand could only be reckoned in millions. 



Perhaps the best commentary on 

 changed conditions may be given by a 

 quotation from an article on the covert 

 shooting at Castle Ashby : '— " So far bags 

 have been modest, an average of a little 

 over 800 a day being the most achieved." 

 What would our grandfathers have said 

 of the word ' modest ' being used in this 

 context ? 



Unlike the records of partridges and 

 grouse, which have a certain value, the 

 actual number of pheasants killed in a 



1 From ' English Homes of Sport ' in the Badminton 

 Magazine. 



