1 66 DELIBERATE DESTRUCTION OF ANIMAL LIFE 



The conclusion is clear that the curve of the decadence 

 of the Polecat shown for the Lowlands of Scotland, applies 

 with slight shiftings of dates to the country as a whole, and 

 that this creature, once a universal native of ^Scotland, 

 and now a rare dweller in the wilds of Ross, Sutherland, 

 and Inverness, is balanced on the brink of extinction, to 

 which it has been driven by the persecution of man. 



Of Scottish skins there were none that ranked in value 

 with those of the Beaver, the Marten and the Foumart, yet 

 several other creatures suffered in less degree for their pelts. 

 Among these were Rabbits and Hares, and, in order of 

 descending importance, the Fox, the Otter, and the Badger; 

 but the destructiveness of these creatures, as well as the 

 demand for their pelts, accounts in great measure for their 

 persecution. 



RABBITS AND HARES 



In a future chapter (p. 247) I shall discuss the intro- 

 duction of the Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus] to Scotland, 

 but it may not be out of place to remind the reader that 

 this native of south-western Europe was brought to Scotland 

 and planted in warrens throughout the country, mainly on 

 account of the value of its skin. This in former times far 

 exceeded the value of its flesh, and commanded a price 

 varying from half-a-crown to three shillings, according to 

 its quality and size. In early times there was considerable 

 foreign demand for rabbit skins, so that a Scottish law of 

 1424 imposed a duty of \id. on every 100 "cuning" skins 

 exported. In the beginning of the seventeenth century the 

 Scottish export exceeded 53,000 a year. In the same century 

 a great stimulus was given to the use of rabbit and hare 

 skins when, in 1621, the wearing of "castor" or beaver hats 

 was forbidden by law, except to the highest in the land 

 to whom the special privilege of wearing "beaver" was 

 granted in 1672, and when, following upon this prohibition, 

 a further statute, of 1695, granted authority for making hats 

 of rabbit and hare skins. For this purpose the underwool 

 or down alone was used, but the whole pelt also was made 

 into muffs and tippets, and was used for lining robes. So 

 great was the demand for skins that in the middle of the 



