50 AUTUMNS ON THE SPEY. 



of Birnie, near Elgin, and learned from him that 

 the prevalent faith in the above story was founded 

 on fact, in corroboratiou of which, after renewing 

 his inquiries, he has lately communicated to me 

 the following particulars : 



" Squirrels, which now abound on both sides 

 of the Moray Firth, were introduced into this 

 district of Scotland in 1844, when Lady Lovat 

 turned out a few at Beaufort Castle, west of 

 Inverness. They appeared at Kilravock in 1851, 

 at Cawdor in 1855, and had spread so far into 

 Elginshire in 1860 as to have been observed at 

 Birchfield in the glen of Rothes. They crossed 

 the Spey a few years ago, and are now to be met 

 with on the banks of the Doveran in Banffshire, 

 while on the northern shores of the Moray Firth 

 they made a like progress from the Beaufort woods, 

 and were observed in 1858 at Kilmuir Castle. 



" At Cawdor, Altyre, and elsewhere, they have 

 multiplied to a, great extent, and have become very 

 injurious to the Scotch fir and larch, though chiefly 

 to the former. They are fond of the cones, or 

 rather the seeds, of the spruce fir, but have not 

 been known to touch its bark as they do most 

 destructively that of the Scotch fir and larch. 



" It is certainly remarkable that these animals 

 should have disappeared for so long from a district 



