CHAPTER XX 



GROUSE-SHOOTING IN THE MAYO 

 MOUNTAINS 



Irish and Scotch grouse Sport over dogs A superstitious peasantry 

 The "good people" A hardy folk Start for shooting Sorry 

 mounts A grand ride Maxwell's lodge Mayo red deer French 

 muskets and extermination Rough shooting Pat and the hill foxes 

 The day's bag A second morning Hard climbing and few grouse 

 Some nice shooting The drive home. 



/^ROUSE-SHOOTING in the west of Ireland is a 

 V^JT very different form of sport from grouse-shooting 

 on Scottish moors. In the first place, the grouse are not 

 so plentiful, the country is much wetter and boggier, 

 and the heather is not nearly so abundant. Walking 

 up grouse among the wild mountains of Mayo and 

 Connemara is extremely hard work, and good condition 

 is, unmistakably, one of the real necessities to the 

 thorough enjoyment of the sport. On the other hand, 

 grouse-shooting in Mayo is always over dogs ; the ex- 

 cellent red Irish setters are employed, and for the man 

 who still enjoys this old-fashioned method of shooting 

 and there are, happily, still many who do this form 

 of sport is very delightful. Again, grouse in the west 

 of Ireland lie extremely close ; even in December you 

 may look to find them lying as well as in August ; 

 and with the aid of dogs the gunner may go out, and 

 by dint of hard walking, in some of the wildest and most 

 beautiful scenery in the British Islands, may expect to 



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