SOME LESSER DOMESTICATED ANIMALS 105 



and had been cared for, moving and feeding contentedly with 

 a flock of farm ducks. 



In the last place there is historic evidence that in the 

 sixteenth century (and how much earlier no one can tell) 

 the people of Scotland did actually tame and domesticate 

 some kind of wild goose. I quote from Father Dalrymple's 

 translation of Bishop Leslie's Historic (1578), this very in- 

 teresting passage indicating the abundance of the wild birds 

 and the method adopted for taming them. 



In fauour of the reidar, I thocht gude, heir of the geis to speik a few 

 wordes, for thair meruellous multitude in our cuntries, cheiflie in the west 

 yles and lykwyse for the raritie and fewtie or scant of sum of thame in 

 vthiris cuntries. 



Excepte the Solande geise, of quhilkes afor we haue maid mentione, 

 how thay ar bredd at hame; with vs vthir sax kyndes of geis ar funde, 

 quhilkes only in thrie things ar fund to differ, to wit, in the sownde of thair 

 voce, in gretnes of thair bodye, and taist of thair fleshe, quhilkes al ar seine 

 in innumerable draues to flie to thir farthest lies, in the spring of the yeir, 

 eftir midday [Lat. a meridie from the south] and thairfor, this opinions 

 of thame is hajdne, that athir in thir westir lies, or in Grundlande, quhen 

 toward the South anothir land is no' knawen, thay big thair nestis. Sum 

 of thame no'-withstandeng, throuch a certane craft, ar allured and prouoked 

 to remane amang the lochis, and myrie places and amang the hathir and 

 mures, amang ws, quhil thay haue laid thair eggis, and clekit thair burdes: 

 for sum of thame, quhilkes w' nettis ar takne, thair wingis ar clipit, and fed 

 in the hous, quhil thay be tame : Thaireftir out and in frilie thay flie and 

 swome, and nocht only returnes hame agane, to thair accustumed and vsed 

 fude, bot lykwyse thay bring vthiris with thame of thair awne kynde, as 

 called to the banquet and commone feist with thame selfes, quhilkes quhen 

 thay haue baytet, thay at last leir thame to sit, without al feir in the mid 

 feild, and yardes, and plane places; and haldes thame stil besyde thame as 

 neir nychtbouris, quhil al thair nestis be bigit, and thair young clekit. 



Perhaps as a result of this easy domestication, geese 

 seem to have been remarkably abundant in parts of Scotland 

 in the seventeenth century, for Lowther during his tour in 

 1629, discovered that the Scots 



have good meat, fish, flesh and fowl in great store, but dress it not well; 

 in the South it is as dear as in the South of England, but in the north, 

 about Dumbarton and thereabouts wondrous cheap, a goose for 4d, and so 

 proportionably of other things. 



It is possible, however, that these were wild geese. 



Having given reasons for suggesting that Scotland was 

 one of the countries in which the Grey Lag Goose was 

 domesticated, let us glance at the influence which domestica- 

 tion has had upon the nature of the wild species. As we 



