INTRODUCTION 



By Lord Lovat 



BEFORE the formal appointment of the Committee in 1905 the following 

 preliminary work of organisation was carried out. 



On June 5th, 1904, the organisers of the present investigation met, and after 

 discussion formed a Committee of Inquiry to investigate the subject of " Grouse 

 Disease." The following gentlemen were present : The Marquis of Tullibardine, 

 Lord Lovat, Mackintosh of Mackintosh, Mr R. H. Rimington Wilson, Mr J. 

 Graham, Mr D. W. Drummond, Mr R. C. Munro Ferguson. 



Lord Lovat was appointed Chairman, and Lord Onslow, the then President 

 of the Board of Agriculture, was approached with the view of obtaining the 

 assistance of that Board. 



A further meeting was held in December of the same year, when the details of 

 the proposed lines of inquiry were discussed, a Secretary was appointed, and a 

 number of witnesses were examined. The formal appointment of the Committee 

 as a Departmental Committee of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries was 

 intimated by the Secretary of the Department on April 13th, 1905. The terms of 

 the appointment marked a departure from the usual procedure in such matters, for 

 they provided that no public funds should be devoted to the Inquiry, but that the 

 investigation should be conducted at the expense either of the members of the 

 Committee or of private subscribers. The members included the above-named 

 gentlemen, with the addition of Earl de Grey (now Marquis of Ripon) and Lord 

 Henry Scott. Dr William Somerville was appointed to represent the Board of 

 Agriculture and Fisheries, and upon his retirement from the Board Mr T. H. 

 Middleton was appointed. The Committee sustained a severe loss by the death 

 in 1910 of Mr James Graham, one of its most active and capable members. 



In April and May 1905 an appeal was sent to a limited number of proprietors 

 and tenants of Grouse moors asking for financial support. This appeal resulted in 



subscriptions amounting to over 400 ; these subscriptions were limited to a sum 



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