A HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND 



or four birds were pinioned, and one made off 

 in one direction, its fellow in another. It was 

 no easy matter to keep the cripples in sight 

 until they could be stopped with a shoulder 

 gun, especially as the inrushing tide was 

 covering acres of level sand, while thick fog 

 hung all around. However I managed to 

 gather up fifteen geese and lost another. It 

 is an axiom of first rate importance that the 

 gunner must never allow himself to lose sight 

 of the punt in a mist, unless it has previously 

 been secured to a bank where her owner is 

 certain of finding her on his return. I have 

 known men to be bewildered in the fog and 

 to leave their punts, expecting that they could 

 grope their way home on foot, with the 

 result that they lost their punts and failed to 

 find their way, and had to remain upon the 

 marsh until they attracted the attention of 

 their friends by firing their shoulder guns. 



Punt-gunning by moonlight in foggy 

 weather is not a commendable practice, and 

 can only be carried out with safety under 

 certain special conditions, e.g. when both tide 

 and moon are favourable. I have, however, 

 enjoyed good sport with barnacles on a foggy 

 night ; indeed, on one particular evening I 

 killed eighteen of these geese at three shots. 

 The best chance that ever offered itself I 

 missed by having an empty gun. But there 

 is the risk of getting uncomfortably near other 

 fowlers in thick weather. I have had more 

 shots flying about my head than seemed at all 

 desirable, and if my big gun had happened to 

 have been fired in the line of the flight- 

 shooter who fired in my direction, the con- 

 sequences would have proved serious. But 

 though the sport of shooting on foggy nights 

 is not devoid of an element of danger, there 

 is, nevertheless, a peculiar fascination in being 

 out in the midst of wildfowl by moonlight, 

 whether the weather be dense or clear. I 

 have only, however, found shooting on the 

 water answer on the flood-tide up to high 

 water. As soon as the water begins to ebb 

 the fowl are left upon the marsh or mud flats, 

 which are as a rule upon a dead level, scores 

 of acres being covered at high water with ten 

 or twelve inches of water, which ebbs off 

 very quickly. The risk of being left stranded 

 on these mud flats on a misty winter night is 

 not worth running, and one experience of 

 this kind is sufficient in a lifetime. On the 

 Solway Firth the most favourable time for 

 night-fowling is from i o p.m. to 3 a.m. The 

 night must be calm, as you depend almost 

 entirely upon the cries of the fowl to direct 

 your course. 



Barnacle geese are the birds that offer the 

 best night-shooting upon the Solway Firth, 



but only on odd occasions can they be found 

 sufficiently closely packed together to offer 

 the chance of a raking shot. I have made 

 good bags of mallard occasionally during the 

 night, but only during hard frost. Mallard 

 do not frequent the salt marshes of the Waver 

 and Wampool, unless previously driven from 

 their customary feeding grounds by sharp 

 frost. One evening in 1892, when a heavy 

 fall of snow was followed by severe frost, I 

 started from home about 9 p.m., the moon 

 and tide being favourable, with the intention 

 of shooting barnacle geese, as I knew that 

 these birds were in the neighbourhood. I 

 had only proceeded about two miles up the 

 marsh when a shore-shooter fired a shot at 

 the geese. I then saw that my prospects 

 of sport were poor, so turned homewards ; 

 shortly after, I shot a goose with my shoulder- 

 gun out of the flock disturbed by the shore- 

 shooter. 



After proceeding another hundred yards, I 

 moored the punt and listened. A wild duck 

 called in a manner that indicated that she was 

 not alone. Dropping into position as quickly 

 and noiselessly as possible, I ' set to ' where 

 the sound came from, and could soon hear 

 the ducks feeding on the only piece of green 

 ground in the neighbourhood. At first only 

 one or two fowl were visible, but I gave a 

 low call and the birds left the dark ground 

 and entered the water. After giving a loud 

 shout I fired, and picked up nine mallards. 

 Shortly after this I heard geese alighting on 

 the marsh about a quarter of a mile from 

 where I was. It being ebb tide, it was use- 

 less to try to get near them with the punt. 

 After making her fast, I took the shoulder-gun 

 and tried to stalk them. After a long per- 

 spiring crawl I managed to get to what 

 seemed to be a proper distance for shooting 

 purposes. The edge of the marsh happened 

 to be very rough and slippery, hence the 

 instant that I pulled the trigger I fell down, 

 both barrels going off together. As the gun 

 was a ten-bore muzzle loader, loaded with 6 

 drachms of powder and 2 ounces of shot to 

 each barrel, I felt strange sensations for a few 

 seconds. Before ascertaining how the geese 

 had fared I looked for the gun, thinking to 

 myself that if the birds had been hit as hard 

 as I had there must be some fowl to pick up. 

 Sure enough I gathered four geese, making a 

 total bag for the evening of five geese and 

 nine mallards. 



I now propose to enumerate some of the 

 different species of wildfowl which I have 

 shot upon the Solway Firth. 



Bewick's Swan. The punt-gunner has, of 

 all men, the most numerous opportunities of 



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