230 THE COMPLETE SHOT 



weighing 50 Ibs. is the point, and there must be a reason for it, 

 although it has never yet been discovered or even searched for, 

 as far as is known to the author. But before dealing with that 

 point it is necessary to show the present stagnation under every 

 system. 



At that period when Yorkshire grouse were only remarkable 

 for their scarcity, Colonel Campbell of Monzie killed 1 84! brace in 

 1843 in a day, 191 brace in 1846, and another bag of 222^ brace 

 with no date mentioned. On the Menzies Castle moor, before 

 mentioned, it was said the 1872 birds were mostly old and 

 bred badly, yet five shooters obtained the following bags in 

 the three first days, namely, 205, 117, and 168 brace ; in 1905, an 

 excellent breeding season, the bags were on the same moor 

 115 and 76 brace. Then at Grandtully, close by, the 1872 season 

 yielded 220 brace to the single gun of the Maharajah Duleep 

 Singh in a day, and in the first day of 1906 four guns got 

 35 brace. There were 7000 grouse killed at Delnadamph, mostly 

 by driving, in 1872, when, elsewhere, there were no butts, as at 

 Glenbuchat, where they killed nevertheless 10,600 grouse over 

 dogs. Nothing like the above is done over dogs now, the 

 nearest approach to it being at Sir John Gladstone's moors, 

 where upon occasion within the decade about 4000 grouse have 

 been killed over dogs, and 6000 later by driving. 



Unquestionably the best average in England has been kept 

 up at Broomhead, the season's bags of which have never been 

 published, but the two best days in each season have been, and 

 as records alone they are of great interest, even if nothing but 

 facts could be deduced from them (see table on opposite page). 



Bags made on Bowes subscription moor on I2th August 1872 

 were for 30 shooters over dogs as follows : 85 1, 65!, 56^, 54, 49, 



45, 44l, 43, So, 4o|, 4i|, 4i|, 3<5, 35, 35i, 35i 35, 33, 33, 32, 32, 

 29!, 23!, 2ii, 23, 21, 16, 27!, 8, 5| brace. Total, 1099 brace. 



This remarkable bag on a 1 2,000 acre moor establishes many 

 things, one of which is that the grouse in Yorkshire could have 

 been killed in quantities at any time had there been enough 

 guns, so that the broods after being flushed by one shooter were 

 quickly found by another, and given no time to collect after 



