MARCH 85 



that was a practice for which John instilled into me a 

 strong repugnance. It was not ho-o-o-onourable, said he, 

 and his tendency was always to give the march a wide 

 berth. 



In matters of smaller ethical moment also he had very 

 decided principles. He deemed it unsportsmanlike to 

 shoot peewits or curlews, an observance which it were 

 well if it were better regarded at the present day. Golden 

 plover, of course, were proper game ; but he was fastidious 

 in the matter of water-fowl, among which he only 

 reckoned wild geese, mallard, and teal as creditable 

 trophies : pochards, golden-eyes, and tufted ducks, in his 

 opinion, were pretty and useless creatures not to be 

 molested. Perhaps because, winter in, winter out, they 

 were the first things he saw in the morning for his house 

 stood on the margin of a bay in a lake that has now been 

 a sanctuary for water-fowl for more than seventy years ; 

 and into this bay all wild-fowl, except widgeon and teal, 

 most nervous of the duck tribe, are accustomed to resort, 

 to gather the crumbs that fall from the table spread for 

 the swans. As for coots and water-hens, he could not 

 restrain expressing disgust when some over-ardent sports- 

 man floored them. If it was argued that they were far 

 from bad eating, he would reply, despite his English 

 parentage: 'Ay, m-m-maybe thae English '11 eat them. 

 Dod ! they '11 eat onything. They eat eels, ye know ! ' 

 And he would shake his sides with laughter, as though 

 the statement were wellnigh incredible. 



John Pace completed fifty years of active service at 

 Monreith before he retired on well-earned full pay. The 

 last ten years of his life were sorely vexed by a disabling 

 and peculiarly painful disease, which he bore with in- 



