1 6 LETTERS TO YOUNG SHOOTERS LETTER 



many fish in a day as anyone else for twenty miles 

 round. 



These shallow-brained sham moralists ignore the 

 fact that the larger the head of game preserved on an 

 estate, the more the s. d. popped into the pockets of 

 the poorer classes in that locality such, for instance, 

 as keepers, beaters, watchers, warreners, foresters, 

 and even the farmers' wives, who charge you 3s. for 

 a sitting hen that is worth Is. Qd. Then there are 

 the corndealers, the gunmakers, powder manufac- 

 turers, shot makers, cartridge loaders, and many 

 others, including the 'Excise,' whose profits are 

 vastly increased by there being a plenitude of game 

 to shoot ; and last, not least, there is a host of poor 

 artisans kept constantly employed. 



The rough day's sport among hedges and ditches, 

 and the occasional wild pheasant the shooter of ' pen 

 and ink ' sighs for, may be all very well for him ; but 

 what he calls the battue (in ordinary language, a day's 

 covert shooting) is of ten times the service to the 

 tradesmen and workpeople who, on so large a scale, 

 supply its numerous and costly accessories.* 



Nor should the benefit conferred by an abundant 

 supply of delicious and wholesome food be overlooked ; 

 for the more game reared and shot, the cheaper can 



* The very use of the un-English word battue is good evidence 

 that the scribblers who employ it are ignorant of covert shooting. 

 It is a word never heard among shooters. As well might one 

 expect the inquiry, ' Did you go to the foxchase ? ' instead of the 

 usual expression, ' Did you go to the meet of the hounds ? ' 



