DEER-DRIVING. 167 



instructions to commence his cast at the remote parts of the 

 forest, kill what he could, and get forward as many deer as 

 he was able : he therefore dispatched all his men to Bruar 

 Lodge over night, that they might be fresh and ready for 

 the morrow's sport ; a time was fixed for his meeting the 

 foresters from Glen Tilt on Sroin-a-cro, when he and his 

 men were to take the command of the right wing of the 

 drive. 



This animating sport was always enjoyed by anticipa- 

 tion ; and you might easily read in the happy countenances 

 of the guests at Blair, that something highly pleasurable 

 and exciting was about to take place. When John Crerer 

 and the foresters were summoned to the corridor over night 

 curiosity rose to the highest pitch. Something positively 

 awful was going on was Glen Croinie to be driven, 

 and would any one be suffered to go with the drivers ? 

 This great mystery was seldom solved over night ; nor 

 could it be so with certainty, as a change of wind must 

 necessarily cause a change of operations. But on the 

 destined morning each sportsman had clear and distinct 

 instructions, and his proper station allotted to him ; some 

 of the old ones, however, who were knowing as to the 

 currents of the air, and acquainted with the passes, were 

 apt to finesse a little, and ingratiate themselves into the 

 most favourable positions. These gentlemen might be seen, 

 at the dawn of day, walking about the castle, and noting 

 the precise direction of the clouds. 



Modern hunting-parties in Glen Tilt, although not on so 

 extensive a scale as those in days of yore, when nobles 

 went forth with all their retinue, and the whole scene had 

 as much the appearance of a military display as of a hunting 

 excursion, were yet of a liberal, exciting, and lordly char- 

 acter. Parties of hill-men were sent forth, at a stated time, 

 to form a semicircular line on the mountains, and press the 

 deer down the crags into Glen Tilt, which they usually 

 crossed, and then went forward, reeking and steaming, up 

 the heights of Ben-y-gloe. 



There were several stations in the glen, in which the 

 various sportsmen were concealed, and from these no one 

 was permitted to stir till the deer had fairly passed them. 



