NOVEMBER. 



CHANTREY'S FAMOUS SHOT. 



BY OSWALD CRAWFURD. 



ON the 20th of November, 1829, at Holkham, in Norfolk, was 

 fired the most memorable shot from a gun that is recorded in the 

 annals of sport. On that eventful day, a little after noon, Sir 

 Francis Chantrey, the sculptor, then plain Mr. Chantrey, the 

 guest of Mr. Coke, of Holkham, was shooting in the woods of 

 that notable sportsman's domain when two Woodcock rose to the 

 great artist. He shot both dead with the first barrel. 



The most unsportsmanlike of readers need hardly be told that a 

 Woodcock, rising in covert, gives, by reason of its rapid and twisting 

 flight as it threads the branchage of trees and shrubs, the most 

 difficult of shots. Hardly two Woodcocks fly quite alike. While 

 one will flit silently with the smooth wing-motion of an owl, the 

 next bird that rises will turn and twist with the zig-zag flight of a 

 snipe on the wing. Moreover, the Woodcock is a comparatively 

 rare bird in most parts of this country ; few men therefore can 

 reach the perfection of shooting at him which comes of much prac- 

 tice. Then, again, the Woodcock is almost always shot in thick 

 covert, with the chance of the pellets from the gun being hindered 

 or diverted by tree branches and twigs. Often six or seven wood- 



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