ANECDOTES OF THE FOREST. 117 



Behold us, then, as the curtain rises : Walter and 

 myself stretched lazily on the couch ; Qillespie and 

 the shepherd perched on broken chairs. The lips of 

 the former are unsealed by a dram taken " neat," fol- 

 lowed by the usual preliminary, a pinch of " snee-shin." 

 Our first story relates to the length of a deer's life. 



There is a tradition, said by our informant to be 

 preserved in the family of the Mackenzies of Brahan 

 Castle, to the following effect. 



Many generations ago, the male calf of a red deer 

 was reared as a pet in the family. Though a great 

 favourite while young and harmless, its popularity 

 gradually declined as its age increased, and its play 

 became rough and even dangerous. Allowed to roam 

 at large, bearing a silver collar about its neck, as the 

 badge of servitude, it eventually broke away from this 

 easy thraldom and returned to its native hills. Still, 

 however, less timid than its brethren, it continued 

 occasionally to be seen, as it crossed the path of the 

 huntsman ; but the silver charm about its neck pur- 

 chased for it a comparative immunity from danger ; 

 the rifle was never directed, nor the deerhound slipt 

 against the former favourite of the castle. But these 

 chance meetings became less and less frequent, until at 

 length they ceased altogether ; and the deer was either 

 not seen or not recognised any longer. 



Some years ago, a stag was killed in the forest of 

 Brahan; and the flesher in cutting open the skin of the 

 throat, felt his knife strike against some hard substance 

 which would not yield to his blade. An investigation 

 laid bare a silver collar, deeply imbedded in the flesh, 

 and bearing an inscription to the effect that the deer 

 had been reared by the Mackenzies of Brahan upwards 

 of a hundred years before. 



