294 FORESTS OF SCOTLAND. 



remarkable. Twenty years ago, it was a rare thing to meet 

 with either. It was supposed that the introduction of sheep 

 had driven them away ; but though this may have been 

 one great cause, it was neither the sheep nor the shepherds, 

 nor their dogs, that occasioned the extreme scarcity, but the 

 great extent to which poaching was carried every High- 

 lander having formerly been in possession of a gun of some 

 sort or another. At the residence of Coul there are still 

 preserved some pieces of strange and uncouth appearance, 

 which have at various times been employed on this service. 

 Many of them have Spanish barrels, perhaps relics of the 

 Armada ; some are of French construction ; and many a 

 gun that had made a noise during the civil wars and rebel- 

 lions was turned against the stately rangers of the moun- 

 tains. Nay, in modern times, muskets that had graced the 

 shoulders of volunteers of our own day, by some means or 

 another, had escaped being restored to the armoury of the 

 Tower of London, and remained for efficient ball-practice, 

 as well as for sending showers of small shot amongst 

 grouse and black game. In proportion to the increase of 

 sheep-farming, the numbers of Highland sportsmen were 

 diminished ; and to this I attribute the recent very rapid 

 increase of the deer. The attention of English sportsmen 

 was called to them, and the protection since given, has, in 

 some districts, rendered them a nuisance to the farmers. 



There are several districts in Ross-shire where deer are 

 stalked; but at Coul they carry on the war by what is 

 called a " tinckel," which, in practice, signifies a drive 

 towards particular spots, or passes. The scenery is very 

 beautiful, and to some points where the guns are usually 

 stationed, the access is so easy that ladies may witness the 

 sport. It is a very fine sight, says Sir George, to see a herd 

 emerge from one part of the wood and scour the open space ; 

 sometimes occupying a knoll and reconnoitering, and then 

 dividing into parties, and making for other shelter. Their 

 movements are so exciting, that killing the creatures is not 

 always thought of; and the sportsmen sometimes become 

 so nervous, that they mistake distance, and either miss a 

 near shot, or do not fire at all. Again, a deer has been 

 known to run a-muck along some hundred yards of an 



