254 THE GANNET 



in the oven. Mr. Harvie-Brown remembers that Kendall 

 was succeeded by Downie. The trade in young Gannets has 

 come to an end ; at the present time very few are taken, 

 and the rent has dropped to about £17, which is paid to 

 Sir Walter Dalrymple, the tenant recouping himself entirely 

 by visitors' fees, and not by the sale of the birds. The fat 

 of young Gannets was largely used in the vicinity of 

 the Bass Rock, up to about 1875, for greasing cart 

 and wagon wheels, Mr. Kendal at that time depended 

 on farm machinery to take a large part of the supply, 

 its chief recommendation being that it was cheap. 

 Mr. Kirkpatrick told me he remembered its being used, 

 and, as a young man, had often helped his father, when 

 they would fill manj^ score barrels with the grease of 

 these birds, which they peeled off as far as possible in 

 layers. One of the large coppers in which it used to stand 

 and simmer was still to be seen on my last visit to Canty 

 Bay, but it had been moved from its original position. 

 This copper, when it stood in the shed, was supplied with a 

 small furnace underneath, which kept the grease boiling, 

 and as it yielded to its heat, it was drawn off in a liquid 

 state through a bunghole covered with muslin (which 

 intercepted any pieces of integument) into bottles. Each 

 young Gannet was expected to yield f-lb. of oil, and was 

 below par if it did not, and Mr. Kirkpatrick remembers 



