614 Iktnas of tbe 1Ro&, IRifle, anfc <3un 



dreadfully in their own tongue ; ' but,' said Ewen, 

 ' Sir Edwin must have had some Gaelic in him, for it 

 made him that angry for the rest of the day, it made 

 them very careful of speaking Gaelic in his hearing 

 after/ " 



But if Landseer were not as keen a sportsman as 

 the public, perhaps, gave him credit for being, he has 

 thrown a glamour of poetry over sport for which 

 sportsmen owe him an eternal debt of gratitude. 

 What sportsman has not felt his heart stirred as he 

 gazed at the noble, antlered head of " The Monarch of 

 the Glen " sniffing the morning air among the mountain 

 mists ? or at that magnificent stag in the " Scene in 

 Braemar," standing half wreathed in vapour on the 

 brow of the hill, bellowing defiance to his rivals, from 

 whom he has proudly carried off the group of does 

 that stand around him ? And who, whether he be 

 sportsman or not, has failed to feel the pathos of 

 "The Random Shot," where on the smooth snow, 

 untrodden save by her own footsteps, lies the dead 

 hind, that, mortally wounded by some careless shooter 

 firing into the herd, had strayed into this vast 

 snow-plain among the silent mountain-ridges to die, 

 followed by the innocent fawn, seeking in vain to obtain 

 its accustomed nourishment from the cold body of its 

 mother ? 



It has been objected to Landseer that he humanised his 

 dogs too much and put into them an expression which, 

 clever though it be, is not canine. In " Dignity and 

 Impudence," "The Jack in Office," "Diogenes in his 

 Tub," and others of a similar character, this feature is 



