Introduction 



Our land is poorer than she was, and richer than 

 she will be. Against this depletion I strive with 

 all my might. 



Alike to pursuer and pursued, Sport is bright 

 and bracing. Pleasant are her footmarks along 

 the stream bank above the sedges ; her breath, 

 the purple moorland breeze that brushes the 

 heather. But she may be ugly, and try the 

 patience of those who love her most wisely. 

 Modern sport selects such as she cares to follow, 

 and kills out their enemies. A wild creature 

 without natural check is ever, more or less, tame 

 and unfit. Among the doomed are the wild cat, 

 the greater weasels, and the birds of prey. More 

 than any others these forms make of Scotland an 

 interesting land, and ought to be her chief charge. 

 Sport owes much to them. Without eagle and 

 falcon were no twelfth of August. 



J. H. CRAWFORD. 



1906. 



