1G THE GROUSE 



many instances claimed by them of their 

 own equally arbitrary will, which they 

 felt powerful enough to enforce, often 

 under circumstances of extreme oppression. 

 By an Act of Richard II. (1389) 

 possession of property was made the basis 

 or necessary condition of privilege of 

 killing game ; and such as possessed not 

 this qualification, and kept hunting dogs 

 or resorted to any other methods of killing 

 game, were liable to one year's imprison- 

 ment. But this law of property qualifica- 

 tion was modified from time to time in 

 succeeding reigns, until in 1831 no fewer 

 than twenty- seven statutes applicable to 

 England were abolished altogether. In 

 Scotland the "landed qualification" still 

 exists under an old statute (1621), which 

 enacts that " no man hunt or hauk " 

 unless he be possessed of a ploughgate of 

 land in heritage, and the privilege of 

 gaming rests with the owners of heritable 

 property, modified by the statute of 1880 

 commonly called the Ground Game Act. 

 In modern practice, however, all who have 



