68 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE PARTRIDGE 



naturalist, John Hancock, the veteran described to 

 us a visit which he paid to the English Lake district 

 when quite a young man. 



Both Mr. Hancock and the friend who accom- 

 panied him carried guns, and shot as occasion sug- 

 gested, without regard to any private rights. No man 

 hindered them. They were as welcome as any one 

 else to try their luck ; no restriction was placed upon 

 their liberty either ; they wandered at their will 

 through the dales and over the hill-sides of Lake- 

 land, choosing their own course as fancy might 

 dictate. And there were gamekeepers in those days. 

 As early as 1767 a gamekeeper resided at Greystoke 

 Castle, and was recognised as a dependent of the 

 house. Doubtless his craft was chiefly devoted to de- 

 stroying the long-bodied greyhound foxes that came 

 stealing down from their mountain fastnesses to wreak 

 havoc on the tender lambs of Herdwick race. At all 

 events, it was not his business to be over-nice, par- 

 ticularly provided there was a fair show of game in 

 the Howard domains. 



Of course when country squires began to turn 

 down pheasants, and even to rear them artificially, 

 the free-and-easy relations that we have just de- 

 scribed came to an end, at least as far as the 

 openly avowed pursuit of game by ' Bill the shooter, 



