PARTRIDGE SHOOTING 



In 1804 Lord Craven killed 1600 during a few days in 

 Ashdown Park, Berks. In 1807 upwards of 6000 were shot 

 on Sir Thomas Goode's lands in Suffolk. This seems to have 

 been done in the farmers' interest. Arthur Young, writing of 

 a visit to Suffolk in 1784,' says that Mr. Grose had been 

 accustomed to cultivate carrots on his farm at Capel St. 

 Andrews, but his crops were so pillaged by the enormous 

 number of hares that he was ' determined to sow no more.' 

 Preservation of the hares ' nursed up a breed of rabbits which 

 add to the evil.' 



Partridge shooting continued very much as it had been in 

 Markland's time till within living memory. No doubt the 

 marksmanship gradually improved, but as nobody thought it 

 worth while to leave for posterity a diary showing how many 

 shots he fired and how many birds he killed during each of a 

 series of seasons, we can only take improvement for granted. 

 Aspiring game shots did not suffer from lack of printed assist- 

 ance : various books on Shooting Flying were published during 

 the eighteenth century, and at least one after, the latest I 

 have seen being Thomas's Guide (1809), which included 

 Instruction to Attain the Art. Practice at swallows was 

 recommended by some. Thomas considered a course of 

 sparrow shooting better preparation for the field. 



A 14-bore gun was generally used. At a later period 

 sportsmen had taken advantage of the reduction in length of 

 barrel to try larger bores, for Mr. Lemon, ' the most able 

 Park and Gamekeeper,' who wrote an undated tract on shoot- 

 ing during the later years of the century, tells us that there is 

 ■ not the utility in a wide bore some sportsmen use,' and it 

 should not exceed ' the size called fifteens,' the barrel not 

 more than thirty-eight inches long. 



Particulars of bags made in the days of long stubbles, tall 

 hats and Joe Mantons — for a long period Joe Manton and 

 game gun were almost interchangeable terms — may be of 

 interest. The Sporting Magazine of 1803, among the ' returns 



' Antmls of Agriculture, vol. ii. 



K 73 



