PROTECTION OF ANIMALS FOR SPORT 213 



Deer, of the disappearance of the Reindeer and the Elk, 

 and of the destructiveness of man, I would unhesitatingly 

 say that, but for the protection afforded by the law, Red 

 Deer would long since have ceased to exist in Scotland as the 

 wild denizens of our mountains and highland moors. 



ROE AND FALLOW DEER 



Roe and Fallow Deer were held by the law in much the 

 same light as Red Deer; in many of the Statutes all three 

 are specified together and on equal terms. As Fallow Deer 

 were as a rule "Parked Deare," the property of the owner 

 of the enclosure, interference with them was a simple crime 

 of theft ; and as Roe Deer were of less value for purposes 

 of the hunt, the protection of them was on the whole less 

 stringent than that of the "best of chase, the tall and lusty 

 Red." 



LESSER GAME HARES 



Hares did not enter the desirable regions of protection 

 at so early a date as Deer, for the "tim'rous hare," "a weak, 

 harmless flying creature," was scarcely to be reckoned inter 

 regalia sport for a king. Indeed in the twelfth century, 

 during the reign of King Alexander, there was no prohibition 

 against hunting hares except they were in forests and warrens, 

 where they were private property. Yet in many ways the 

 protection of hares ran parallel with that of deer, although it 

 was as a whole less comprehensive. 



In' the fifteenth century a close season of a kind was 

 instituted, for hares might not be slain in time of snow 

 under a penalty of 6s. Sal. (1400). In the sixteenth century 

 (1567) a much more strict preservation was enforced under 

 pain of forfeiture of all the offender's moveable goods, or if 

 he had no goods, of imprisonment for 40 days for a first 

 offence and, for a second, loss of his right hand. As hares, 

 like deer, were to be reserved for the chase, shooting with 

 "hag buttes, hand gurtnes, croce bowes and pistolettes" as 

 well as snaring and netting were forbidden; in 1579 the 

 "slaying of Haires" was included in the comprehensive Act 

 which threatened offenders for a third time, with "hanging 

 to the death"; and in 1685, on account of the decay of game 



