COTJKTESIES.] 



SHOOTING, 



[self-hunting dogs. 



has a good lease ; and tliis cannot be said 

 of every other county in Scotland, as the 

 complaints of sportsmen but too frequently 

 testify. 



NECESSARY COURTESIES. 

 Presuming that most sportsmen tuill make 

 a partial sacrifice of their first year's sport, 

 should the necessity arise, the next considera- 

 tion will be — what is the best policy to be 

 pursued in commencing and carrying on the 

 management of the moor ? Are there any 

 parties whose good offices will he of service, 

 and whom it will be advisable to conciliate } 

 Unquestionably. The tenants and shepherds, 

 as they can be either the best of friends, or 

 the worst of enemies (game generally being 

 more or less in the power of the former, and 

 all nests at the mercy of the latter), must be 

 conciliated and made friends of; and a head- 

 keeper, who understands his business, will im- 

 mediately endeavour to cultivate an amicable 

 alliance with both parties, but especially with 

 the latter; and this he will easily accomplish 

 with a little tact, and through the persuasive 

 medium of a little tea and tobacco, judiciously 

 moistened, at opportune intervals, with some 

 whisky — tea for the wives, and tobacco for the 

 husbands. The head-keeper, being generally 

 a diplomatist in Jiis way, will, of course, com- 

 mence with the wives ; tea, in this instance, 

 being wonderfully efiective. ' Its operation is 

 similar to that of a well-set bracelet in the 

 higher departments of life, opportunely intro- 

 duced and judiciously applied, extending its 

 influence, through the same medium, to the 

 person whose services are required. A few 

 pounds placed at the disposal of the keeper, 

 will enable him to carry this policy completely 

 into effect, and are well applied; and when 

 the shooting party are on the ground, no 

 favourable opportunity should be lost of culti- 

 vating the friendship of the shepherds and 

 tenants by a kind word, e7i passant, accompa- 

 nied by a glass of whisky. Those who neglect 

 little opportunities of cultivating the good- 

 will of i'armers and tenants, neglect their own 

 interest as sportsmen, and are but poor diplo- 

 matists in dealing with northern Highlanders, 

 who are extremely sensible of any little act of 

 kindness, and are not unmindful of what they 

 consider as a slight, or discourtesy, and are 

 510 



true to their motto. Let those who visit the 

 Highlands remember this. "We would not, 

 however, prescribe the use of whisky to the 

 sportsmen themselves. They carry a dangerous 

 weapon, and have to use it with steadiness 

 and effect. We recommend it, however, as a 

 powerful instrument for securing the good 

 offices of others, as every man who calls on 

 you, whether he be farmer, shepherd, or herds- 

 man, expects a "glass ;" and if he does not get 

 his " glass," he is disappointed, and he men- 

 tions the circumstance. In fact, the payment 

 of this little tribute is universally expected — 

 it is the custom of the country. No marked 

 event, or ceremony, ever takes place without 

 the introduction of whisky ; whether it be 

 either a marriage, birth, a christening, or a 

 funeral, it is the Alpha and the Omega, the 

 beginning and the end. It is administered 

 before and after a funeral ; and so general is 

 its use, that we have never seen any Scotchman 

 refuse it, whatever his position in life may be. 

 All Highlanders contend that it is wholesome 

 and necessary, although some few exclaim 

 against the abuse of it ; but as it is the only 

 stimulant, with the exception of tobacco, 

 which is in use, it is not surprising that re- 

 course should be had to it in a land oi such 

 frequent mist and rain. 



SELF-HUNTING DOGS. 



Moors, which have been somewhat neglected, 

 are sometimes overrun with self-hunting dogs. 

 These marauders, coming from a distance, 

 equally in search of game and dead sheep, 

 should be unceremoniously dispatched by trap- 

 ping and with the gun, as they do infinite 

 damage in the breeding season ; but this busi- 

 ness a Scotch head-keeper thoroughly under- 

 stands. Parms and cottages are sometimes 

 overstocked with dogs given to self-hunting. 

 These should also be disposed of; but this re- 

 quires tact, and must be done quietly and 

 judiciously. The shepherds' dogs must never 

 be molested; moreovei", *ihere will rarely be 

 any necessity to interfere with them when the 

 shepherds are the allies of the keepers, as, in 

 that case, they will always be kept in at heel, 

 except when they are performing their neces- 

 sary duties in keeping the sheep within 

 particular limits, or driving them to fresh 

 ground. 



