GROUSE. 119 



in a shepherd's " shiel," in order to find the birds on the 

 feed the next morning by dawn, and run up half-a-dozen 

 brace if possible before the stay-at-homes were even thinking 

 of turning out. The time, then, is eleven p.m. ; we have 

 made our way three miles out to our destination, and a 

 roaring fire of birch logs flashes and crackles in one corner 

 of a rough stone hut of very modest dimensions; the grey 

 smoke ascending in spirals to the roof of heather and 

 bracken fern, whence, after much consideration and many 

 contortions, it finds a way through a weak corner, and dis- 

 appears into the darkness. Though rough, the hut is by no 

 means uncomfortable. The crannies between the stones 

 have been filled with moss and fern, while plenty of both 

 at one end of the cabin form a delightful lounge, either to 

 sit or to sleep on. The guns, cartridge bags, etc., with a 

 stray head or two of game picked upon the way out, hang 

 from pegs or lean in corners, while my companion heaps 

 logs on the fire with one hand, the other meanwhile keeping 

 in scientific motion a frying pan, whence comes a most 

 appetizing odour of grilled supper. I myself, having fetched 

 an ample supply of water from the neighbouring burn, 

 demand and obtain a place for the kettle on the fire, when a 

 brew of tea is soon ready, and in less than a minute we are 

 hard at work at our simple m'eal, our knees for tables, and 

 wide rounds of home-made bread for plates. At such times 

 the conclusion comes with irresistible force, that too much 

 culture deadens half the enjoyment of life, and that man 

 in a state of semi-wildness, " earning the food he ate, and 

 pleased with what he got," must indeed have lived in the 

 true Golden time. Perhaps more mature consideration will 

 lessen the envy with which a man is apt to regard such 

 a state of simplicity, for it is a very doubtful point whether 

 freedom from butchers' bills would compensate for an occa- 

 sional involuntary fast of a day or two when game was wild 

 or scarce. Yet a return now and then to primitive manners, 

 an unshackling of the harness of civilization, and a brief 



