"THE COTTESMORE IN 1826." 41 



than it was, for he was a peppery kind of fellow, 

 they let the matter drop. 



The next evening his friend, whom he accused of 

 practising such a barbarous custom as wearing a red 



coat at dinner, said to him, " Oh, by the by, C , 



what do you think a fellow said to me this morning ? 

 He asked me, meaning you of course, if I knew who 

 that hairy swell was." " The devil he did ! I wonder 

 who he was ? Who was he ? I never heard of such 

 an impertinent fellow ; if I knew who he was, I'd 

 make him eat his words. Do you really mean to say 

 that he had the insolence to call me a ' hairy swell ' ? 

 By Jove, I'd horsewhip him if I knew who he was. I 

 wish I could find out who it was." " Oh," said he, 

 11 there is no difficulty about that, for I'll tell you it 

 was that pistol-shooting fellow Ross." 



Upon this he became less irate, and like a snail 

 who fears being touched he drew in his horns and 

 pretended to be dead. 



Captain Ross, amongst other shooting and sporting 

 acquirements, was a wonderful shot with a pistol, and 

 for a bet backed himself to kill twenty swallows flying 

 with a pistol and ball. He won his bet, and as he 

 told me himself, this is the way he did it. When living 

 at Rossie Castle, near Montrose, and at which castle 



