SCOTCH rOACHEK. 101 



Mr. St. John, in his very entertaining book " The Wild 

 Sports of the Highlands," draws the character of the 

 Highland and English poacher, greatly to the dis- 

 advantage of the latter ; and much of this descrip- 

 tion may perhaps be correct. He says " the life of 

 a Highland poacher is far different from that of an 

 Englishman following the same profession. Instead of 

 a snealdng night-walking ruffian, a mixture of cowardice 

 and ferocity, as most English poachers are, and ready to 

 commit any crime that he hopes to perpetrate with 

 impunity, the Highlander is a bold fearless fellow, 

 sporting openly by daylight, taking his sport in the 

 same manner as the laird or Sassenach who rents the 

 ground." The English night poachers who go out to 

 shoot the pheasants on the perch are certainly men 

 of desperate character, but not in general cowards, 

 of which the bloody conflicts they sometimes have 

 with gamekeepers is a decided proof. In an enclosed 

 highly cultivated country like England with a nume- 

 rous population, it would be almost impossible for the 

 poachers to shoot in the day time with impunity ; not 

 so in the highlands of Scotland, where there are thou- 

 sands of acres of forests, moors, and mountains, where 

 few or no inhabitants are seen, excepting shepherds, 

 who are mostly on amicable terms with the poacher, 

 and connive at his unlawful proceedings. By St. 

 John's account, Eonald is a noble specimen of a 

 Highland poacher of herculean strength. The story 

 of his having defended himself successfully against 

 five men who were sent to apprehend him for 

 poaching is well told and very interesting. He appears 

 to have had on this occasion the strength of a 



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