496 THE GROUSE IN HEALTH AND IN DISEASE 



occupant or shooting tenant. Such temporary employment consists of the 

 hiring of watchers, Grouse drivers, ghillies, and pony men. The payment 



Temporary . . 



employ- received by a highland crofter as a pony man is from 16s. to 18s. a 

 week, and 15s. to 20s. a week for his pony. In Northumberland the 

 hire of ponies is 5s. per day, not including wages of the pony man. The shooting 

 season extends over a period of about three months, and during that time provides 

 well-paid employment for a number of people. The importance of this casual 

 employment may be judged by the fact that in many remote parts of the Scottish 

 Highlands a poor Grouse year, or the failure on the part of owners to let their 

 shooting, results in an addition to the number of those who seek relief from 

 the poor rates. 



In England, where practically all the Grouse are shot by driving it is not 

 very difficult to estimate the amount of labour employed. Conditions, of course, 

 vary on some moors the whole season's bag is obtained in a few days' driving, 

 while on others the ground is driven oftener. But it is not found that this 

 greatly affects the ratio of men employed, for in the former case the number 

 of drivers will probably be larger than in the latter case. Generally speaking, 

 a total bag of one thousand brace may be taken to represent, at least, three 

 weeks' driving or, say, twelve days in all. If thirty drivers are employed each 

 day at an average of 5s. per day, for men and boys the total wages paid would 

 amount to 90, and this figure corresponds very closely with actual experience. 

 From the foregoing calculation it follows that in England the estimated average 

 annual bag would represent over 30,000 paid in wages to drivers. In Scotland 

 it is not easy to estimate the proportion of the bag killed by driving ; but, if 

 it be assumed to be one-half of the average annual bag, this would mean over 

 40,000 paid in wages. When the bag is killed by shooting over dogs the 

 amount paid to ghillies and pony men must be considerably larger in proportion, 

 especially on the west coast of Scotland, where the stock of Grouse is distributed 

 over a wide area, and large daily bags are rare. Then twenty brace per day 

 is considered good sport for a couple of guns, and the wages paid to ghillies 

 and other attendants would work out at an average of over 2s. per brace. 



Making due allowance for possible error in the foregoing estimates it will 

 be seen that the wages earned in connection with Grouse shootings must amount 

 to a very large sum each year, and bear very favourable comparison with the 

 net profit obtained by the proprietor. 



The indirect benefit derived by the community from the letting of shootings, 



