64 TEN YEARS OF GAME-KEEPING 



Having bent the barrel of his gun over his 

 knee in itself no mean feat he half-filled it with 

 shot, and let drive and, he said, killed every 

 partridge. Of course, I did not witness this per- 

 formance. But the farmer lived to tell me of it. 



The driving of partridges is the most difficult 

 part of a keeper's work. But it gives a keeper 

 scope. There is a fascination about driving a 

 something which gives a never-failing freshness 

 to the same old fields and fences. It was my 

 delight. Partridges are to be driven by a know- 

 ledge of their habits by using one's brains as well 

 as legs not by luck ; flags and beaters are merely 

 organized accessories. This is the mistake made by 

 most people who do not understand the partridge- 

 play to imagine that, given some ground and 

 some partridges, the birds can be driven when 

 and where it seemeth desirable. No man can 

 drive partridges except where they are willing to 

 go. Partridge-driving compared to the driving of 

 pheasants is as chess compared to draughts. There 

 are endless combinations and alternatives to be 

 thought out and organized, to meet various direc- 

 tions and strengths of wind not merely for a 

 drive or two, but for a whole day's driving. On 

 each drive depends, to a great extent, the success 

 of the next, and thus of the whole day. However 

 others might appreciate them, I never could enjoy 

 happy-go-lucky driving. Since the best- planned 



