234 



CHAPTER XV. 



SHOOTING. 



Author's Experience— Dogs— Driving— Advantages frona Driving— Author as a Shot- 

 Wounding— Best Method for Killing a Cripple— Butts and Hot Corners— Shooting 

 over Dogs— Autumn Shooting— Pigeon Shooting— Paraphernalia— Golden Eules— 

 How to Carry a Gun— How to Choose a Gun— Jump and Eecoil— Controversial 

 Scribes— Author gives his Opinion— His Old Gun— How he made it Hit— Advice— 

 "A Tip"— A Shooting Excursion— Mr. Frederick Malcomson— Eleven Dogs— They 

 all Set and Back same time— Game Fare— Good Liquor— Surf eited— Cooking a Grouse 

 —Shooting a Sheep— Satisfactory Result— Good Cooking— How to Cook Snipe— 

 Plentj' of Snipe— 10s. Gun Licences — Game Dealers' Licences— Destruction of Game 

 — When to Turn down Hares— Selling Game— Old and New Practice— Presents of 

 Game— Not sufficiently practised— Territorial Landlords— Tenants Preserve Live Game 

 —Presents of Game to Fox Preservers— Game for the Market— The Prince of Wales — 

 Big Shoots— Extraordinary Eecords— Marvellous Feats— David Beatty— Edmond 

 Power— Patrick Power— John Brady— The Author's Bags !— Tables of Great Shooti 

 — A Confession— Cost of Shooting— Fishing included— Analysis of Scotch Shooting — 

 Table of Wages— The Guests— Small Men— The Dogs— The Shepherds— Salmon 

 Fishing— Analysis of Scotch Fishing— A Wonderful Result -English Shooting— 

 Along Explanatory Preamble— Resulting in a Stupendous Record— Nearly a Million 

 acd Three-quarters yearly to Poor People— Cartridges-Guns-Hea-VT? Rentals- 

 County Rentals— Deer Forests— Cost of a Grouse, Pheasant, Stag, and Salmon — 

 Land Agitators— A Word to Them— Former Crofters— Sheep Grazing v. Grouse 

 Shooting— Keepers and Gillies v. Crofters and Cottiers— Results of Highland Farming 

 —Rents— Expenditure— Bonnie Scotland— Territorial Magnates— Highland Lassies— 

 Her Majesty the Queen— Poor Old Ireland !— Shooting Tenants— A Reproduction 

 from Land and Water— The Daily Telegraph— A moat Interesting Extraction— "The 

 Twelfth"— Deer Forest Commission— A Sportsman's Diary— Charming Record — 

 Rheumatism— The Gout— The Season of 1893— Great Record. 



I HAD a fair amount of shooting during many of the best years of 

 my life, but it was always over dogs. I never had a day's " driving," 

 and have been present at very few " battues," therefore anything I 

 could write upon shooting would be of little interest to the present 

 generation, which, as a rule, knows little of the delight of watching two 

 or three dogs doing their business properly on the side of a mountain, 

 through the turnips, or over the stubbles. Young men of the present 

 day care more for the " hot corner," the " butts," or walking up birds 

 in places where they can bag twenty to fifty brace in a few hours, and 

 with little exertion. 



That skill with the gun is brought under much more severe test in 

 driving than in shooting over dogs there is no manner of doubt. 

 A man that can kill five out of ten birds he fires at, coming towards 

 or across him at the rate of 150 miles an hour, and which have to be 

 taken at every possible angle, is a much better shot than the man 

 who can kill eight out of ten which get up slowly in front, and fly off 

 in a straight line, as is the case when shooting over dogs. 



To shoot grouse or partridge at all in some places, driving them to 

 the guns must be resorted to. Upon low-lying flat moors where the 

 heather is short, such as are found in parts of Yorkshire, grouse will 



