28 WOODLANDERS AND FIELD FOLK 



break simultaneously into a light thoroughbred 

 trot, which soon carries them up to the crags far 

 above. There they pause and again turn alert, 

 inquiring heads toward me, their forms now clearly 

 distinguishable against the skyline. How grace- 

 fully they poise upon those upper rocks! How 

 incomparably noble is the curve of neck and 

 shoulder! And how delicately regal the tracery of 

 the antlers that the stags lift upon the pale open 

 void above the shoulder of the hill! I have pene- 

 trated to their breeding ground, to the imperial 

 crags and fastnesses that have for centuries brought 

 the red-deer forth. Wolf and bear have vanished, 

 but the deer, the " little brothers " of Norman 

 William remain, their only enemies the hard winter of 

 fell and moorland, and the occasional onslaught of man. 

 The stag of the red-deer, with its thickly-clothed 

 neck and shoulders, rich brown coat, beautifully 

 poised head and soft, intelligent eyes these, with its 

 tined and curved antlers, go to make up a lordly 

 creature indeed. Winter has the usual climatic 

 effect upon its coat, which at this season becomes 

 flecked with grey, and increases in length and thick- 

 ness. The loud " belling " of the stag is first heard 

 on the hills in September, and then pairing begins. 

 Anon he comes with swollen neck and noble mien, in 

 all his beauty, swiftness and strength. The period 

 at which he seeks out the graceful hinds stretches 



