52 The Dumfriesshire Otter- Hounds. [Sess. 



drive him from his stronghold, a hole is made in the thicket, 

 and the plucky little terriers are introduced. In they go out 

 of sight, scraping, barking, and struggling, as they know the 

 otter is there. The sportsmen enter the water, and, standing 

 up to the knees, encircle the pool to prevent the otter escaping. 

 After an hour's digging and scraping we are compelled to 

 admit that the otter has beaten us, and we leave him to 

 chuckle over his well-won victory. 



But the sky is now changed. Dense masses of lurid 

 clouds are gathering around us, which give sufficient indica- 

 tions of the coming storm. Darker and darker it grows, 

 thicker and thicker becomes the gloom, denser and denser 

 the atmosphere, as the storm draws nigh. We hastily seek 

 shelter in an empty mill on the water-side. Huntsmen and 

 dogs hurry-scurry out of the river into the barn, and not a 

 minute too soon. Crack ! crack ! crack ! with the sharp 

 ringing distinctness of a rifle, joined to the deafening roar 

 of the heaviest ordnance, as the thunder rolls far away across 

 Annandale. The flashes of lightning are as incessant as the 

 peals of thunder, while the floodgates of heaven seem to have 

 burst asunder, and torrents of water are discharged over our 

 heads. But the storm leaves as suddenly as it comes, and 

 the sun shines out once more, warmly and brightly. After 

 flasks and sandwiches are handed round, the master of the 

 hunt says, " Come, let us kill an otter." Off we go, some 

 two miles across country, to Jardine Hall water, where, after 

 a little trying, we start the " varmint," who takes over some 

 fields, and finally eludes us in a private pond. It is now 

 near train time, and the hounds are reluctantly drawn off and 

 taken away to the railway station, after having provided a most 

 delightful day's sport, although it did not end in a " kill." 



Our ancestors divided the beasts they pursued into three 

 classes. The hare, the hart, the wolf, and the wild boar were 

 " beasts of hunting " ; the fox, the buck, the doe, the marten, 

 and the roe were " beasts of chase " ; and the third class com- 

 prised the badger, the wild cat, and the otter. This is placing 

 our otter in rather commonplace company, and I do think he 

 deserves to be ranked in better society. I have taken part 

 in nearly every one of our Scottish field-sports, and I do not 

 hesitate to say that a really good otter-hunt is one of the 





