DISCIPLINE FOR POACHERS 13 



rook appear to pant too. The bellman having caught his 

 wind, and seeing that his pursuer was small, resolved to charge ; 

 and, for that purpose, after the manner of his kind, he backed 

 from the rook to gain a little space, upon which, of course, his 

 enemy made a steady and corresponding advance. This was 

 more than any sheep's heart could stand ; and away the bellman 

 went again, till distress once more brought him up. Several 

 times was this ludicrous scene repeated ; and by our laughter, 

 my brother and myself were almost as tender as the farmer's 

 hunted mutton. Church service being nearly concluded, we 

 severed the wool from the feathers, and tried to atone for our 

 fun by attending the afternoon lesson. This prank, and others 

 like it, soon taught the offending tenant, that if he shot he 

 must sport in a fair way, or he would find that " Scots played 

 best at the roughest game," and that his sharp practice brought 

 on him similar measures. Although we objected to it, we could 

 not prevent his making use of a right the law gave him. His 

 use of it was bad enough, under the circumstances, to bear, but 

 the direct abuse of it was beyond our patience. 



I once knew an instance where a farmer was in the habit of 

 putting his foot into every pheasant and partridge nest on his 

 land, as well as on young leverets before they were able to run. 

 This man kept a large dairy of many cows, besides a considerable 

 number of fat beasts. Among his kine he kept a large black 

 goat, who always accompanied them to pasture. 1 In vain was 

 he warned not to continue his unfair practice : every nest in 

 particular places was always found destroyed, though, with corn 

 and grass above his knees, he could never be caught in the act. 

 The following retaliation, therefore, was the result. One fine 

 moonlight night the black goat was caught, a hole for his head 

 cut in a white sheet, and with the white sheet over, and flowing 

 behind him, he suddenly trotted from an obscure corner up to 

 the herd of beasts. Oh, Jove, what fun ! The admiral of the 



1 A common practice, in the North at least, even at this day. The 

 scapegoat is supposed to monopolise murrain or other disease that might 

 affect the herd. ED. 



