20 THE GROUSE 



shooting rights were quite insignificant. 

 But gradually, as last century wore on, 

 the attractions of sport on the moors were 

 increasingly sought after by the landed 

 gentry and other persons possessing wealth 

 and leisure enough to enable them to 

 indulge in this form of out-of-door 

 pastime. From the middle of last century 

 the fascination of these possessions have 

 taken a passionate hold of great numbers 

 of the wealthier classes, and have become 

 rooted in the attachment of large sections 

 of society. As a medium of recreation 

 and healthful open-air life modern shooting 

 shows no signs of waning popularity. The 

 romantic poesy and tales of Sir Walter 

 Scott, and certain glowing descriptions of 

 not much earlier date by other writers, of 

 the wonderful scenic beauty and grandeur 

 of the Scottish Highlands — till then hardly 

 known to more than a small number of 

 adventurous persons — awakened a widely 

 ranged desire to visit regions which in our 

 own land were still strangely unfamiliar 

 to the multitude, and invested with not a 



