HEATHER-BURNING 347 



different reason 1872 and 1873 may be said to be the Austerlitz 

 of the Grouse. From end to end of the Grouse area the epidemic 

 created unparalleled destruction ; authorities realised that old 

 methods must give place to new ones, and from that date the 

 intelligent management of moors may be said to have 

 commenced. 



Broadly speaking, we may divide the history of heather- 

 burning into three periods, not always synchronous, but through 

 which the majority of moors have passed at one time or 

 another. 



1800 to 1850, when the heather was burned by the shepherds 

 in wide tracts, and one-tenth of the moor was fired every year 

 without any attempt at scientific burning. During this period 

 shooting rents were low. Large blocks of land were hired in 

 Scotland for as many sovereigns as they now fetch hundreds of 

 pounds. The frequently quoted example of the sporting rights 

 of the Island of Lewis, hired by Lord Malmesbury for a period 

 of years for 25 per annum, is a case in point. At this time few 

 moors were rented in England, and although Grouse driving 

 had just begun in Yorkshire the results generally were not great, 

 and the flint-lock, contemporary writers tell us, still had its 

 devotees in the firing line ! Mr Snowie of Inverness was the 

 only shooting agent for Scotland, and the names of moors for 

 hire could be contained on a single sheet of foolscap. 



1850 to 1873 marks the transition period of heather- 

 burning. Moors generally were taken into the hands of owners 

 and shooting tenants, the patch method of burning came into 

 fashion, and the proportion burned, as far as records show, 

 dropped from one-tenth to one-hundredth part of the moor 

 burned per annum. 



In this period great strides were made towards fitting out 

 shootings with lodges, approach roads, and other conveniences. 

 Large sums were paid out in the wilder and poorer districts, 

 and a great deal of employment was given. 



Moors were let for sheep and Grouse at about the same figure. 

 It is instructive to note that to-day on many of the same moors 



