HISTORY OF THE SPECIES IN SCOTLAND. 19 



" Thus having spent certaine dayes in hunting in the 

 Brea of Marr, wee went to the next county, called Bagenoch, 

 belonging to the Earle of Engie. ..." 



1621. The species is mentioned in ' The Old Acts of tlic 

 Scottish Parliament' notably in the reign of James VI., a.d. 

 1621 (Act. XXX.), where provision was made against the buy- 

 ing and selling of " wyld foulles," amongst which were in- 

 cluded : — " termigantis, quailzeis, caperhailzeis, etc.," under a 

 penalty of a hundred pounds.^ 



1630. Sir Eobert Gordon (' History of the Earldom of 

 Sutherland, up to the year 1630,' — not published, however, 

 until 1818), mentions the species as at that time inhabiting 

 the county. The passage containing the record is as fol- 

 lows : — 



" All these forrests and schases are verie profitable for 

 feiding of bestiall, and delectable for hunting. They are full 

 of reid deir and roes, woulffs, foxes, wyld catts, brocks, skuyr- 

 rells, whitrets, weasels, otters, martrixes, hares, and fumarts. 

 In these forrests, and in all this province, ther is great store 

 of partridges, pluivers, capercalegs, blackwaks, murefowls, 

 heth-hens, swanes, bewters, turtle-doves, herons, dowes, 

 steares or stirlings, lairigigh or knag (which is a foull lyk 

 vnto a paroket or parret, which maks place for her nest with 

 her beck, in the oak trie), duke, draig, widgeon, teale, wild- 

 gouse, ringouse, routs, whaips, shot-whaips, woodcok, larkea, 

 sparrowes, snyps, blackburds or osills, meweis, thrushes, and 

 all other kinds of wild foule and birds, which ar to be had in 

 any pairt of this kingdome." 



This passage has been quoted frequently before — see the 

 ' New Stat. Ace. of the County ; ' also ' Proc. Nat. Hist. Soc. of 

 Glasgoiv' January 3, 1871 ; Separate- Revised,, 1874, p. 69. 



1651. In ' The Black Book of Taymouth ' {Bannatyne Club 

 Pidjns., 1855), pp. 433-34, occurs the following passage, which 



^ Also ill Act 1600, c. 23 [fide Irvine, ^ Game Lmvs of Scotland,' p. 5). 



