& 



VALUE OF GROUSE MOORS 21 



little mystery. The glamour of Scott's 

 genius operating through his immortal 

 writings undoubtedly greatly contributed 

 to arouse this feeling, and maintained a 

 curious desire to have closer acquaint- 

 ance with the romance surrounding these 

 mountainous regions, until it was dissi- 

 pated by the march of modern means 

 of locomotion, which enabled all who 

 desired to do so to familiarise themselves 

 at trifling expense, not only with the long- 

 unvisited Scottish Highlands, but with 

 the remoter portions of His Majesty's 

 British dominions wheresoever situated. 



Almost coincident with this develop- 

 ment of the love of community with the 

 charms and beauties of natural scenery 

 — the arresting solitudes and towering 

 mountains of the Scottish Highlands — 

 arose a conviction of the adaptability 

 of these vast heathery moors, in some 

 parts of England, as well as in the wider 

 areas of Scotland, to a larger use as 

 the homes of the red grouse and other 

 varieties of game. Then it was that 



