BIRDS SHOT BY THE REV. FRANCIS GISBORNE. 1 77 



dimensions. It may be well to mention that the Rev. Francis 

 Gisborne was Rector of Staveley from 1759 till 182 1, and that a 

 short memoir of one who may be justly termed " a Derbyshire 

 worthy " is to be found in Vol. V. of this Journal, p. 76, to which 

 we refer our readers. In the perusal of old diaries it is always 

 helpful to have some idea of the personal appearance of the 

 diarist. And we are fortunate enough to be able to present to 

 our members a portrait of this quondam Rector of Staveley, 

 taken unconsciously, as far as he himself was concerned, for he 

 had a strong objection to be reproduced on canvas ; and it was 

 only by a gentle artifice that an accomplished artist friend was 

 able to secure the present likeness. The original was taken in 

 crayons, and is now in the possession of Mr. Bagshawe, of Ford 

 Hall, through whose kindness it has been copied by Mr. Richard 

 Keene. 



The register will naturally have a greater charm for the 

 ornithologist and the sportsman than for the archaeologist 

 pure and simple. Still we venture to hope that even for the 

 antiquary the catalogue of an old rector's prowess in a past 

 century may not be altogether devoid of interest. 



The pursuit of game was, perhaps, more generally followed a 

 hundred years ago than it is now ; certainly by the higher classes, 

 and probably with more genuine pleasure. There was less of 

 artificiality in the whole business. The day's ramble over the 

 stubbles or the moor was a more simple affair. Battues were 

 fortunately unknown, and the conditions of true sport were more 

 fairly observed. That clerics, too, sometimes carried the gun, 

 appears from the following extract from an article in The Genlk- 

 marCs Magazine of 1761, descriptive of the habits of the clergy 

 at that date : — " Some pursue the rural diversions of coursing, 

 fishing, and shooting, and these I would call innocent recrea- 

 tions, were not some of them to boast of killing a hundred 

 brace of partridges to their own gun, and tyrannically to in- 

 sult the farmer whose corn and hedges they destroy." To 

 commence — 



