JUNE 167 



of Sales Court, used to amuse himself by trundling 

 his courtiers in barrows down a steep hill into the 



XLI 



For many years past scandal has been busy with the 

 character of one who has been the friend of 

 most of us from childhood the common upon MS 

 rook and now the charges against him have 

 been formulated ; he has been put upon his trial, and, 

 sad to tell, a verdict of guilty on all the counts has 

 been returned in the court of first instance. The 

 defence set up before the Galashiels Farmers' Club in 

 1897 was that the number of rooks in the country had 

 increased so vastly of late years that the supply of 

 their natural food grubs and hurtful insects was no 

 longer sufficient for their maintenance; further, that 

 an inferior bird to the rook, the starling, had been 

 allowed to multiply out of all proportion to its merits, 

 and grievously interfered with the privileges of the 

 rook, by its incessant diligence in pursuit of creeping 

 things. A conviction was obtained, and the rooks of 

 Galashiels were sentenced to undergo the extreme 

 penalty of the law ; but, being a sagacious community, 

 they moved to lands where the writ of Galashiels 

 farmers does not run to Peebles, for instance, and 

 other pleasure resorts. This year (1899), however, pro- 

 ceedings have been taken against the whole race of 

 rooks in Scotland on an extended scale. The farmers 



