269 



In that year and in the one following I had the good luck to shoot over the 

 ^ame 30,000 acres of moor ; but in the season of '82 the bag to our two guns 

 was nearl}'- 350 brace less than that which we put together in the good year ; 

 thus it may easily be seen what a great difference fav^ourable weather and a 

 good nesting season makes to a moor. The sport of the first month of season 

 1881 was so good that a record of it may amuse old grouse-sliooters, and 

 perhaps convey information to those younger ones who are hoping to have 

 their turn on the heather. It will be seen that, although we had great 

 sport, we yet had a sufficiency of contretemps and rough weather to make 

 the good days doubly pleasant. 



Commencing with August 11, it is recorded that, having left Euston the 

 previous evening, we arrived at a small station on the Highland line about 

 ■ten o'clock that morning, and then by posting thirty-two miles we reach 

 Ossian Lodge some time in the afternoon, and spend the rest of the 

 day in getting ready for the morrow. Our establishment consisted of my 

 host and myself, butler, cook, housemaid, dairymaid, and laundry maid, 

 three keepers, two gillies, four ponies, six brace of well-broken Gordon 

 setters, three deerhounds, two tame red deer hinds, and a ghost that kindly 

 kept in the background during our stay. 



August 12, 1881. — A dark, windy, showery day, with a very bad light, 

 and this, combined with the shaking up in the limited mail and the jolting 

 of the " machine " during the long drive here, which had made us both a 

 little bit "livery," helped to save the lives of a good few wild-rising birds. 

 We agree that neither of us are shooting up to concert pitch, and so we stop 

 =early, and come in at about six o'clock with sixty -two and a half brace and 

 two white hares. 



13th. — Weather much the same, but we shoot up to our best form, and 

 carry on the war till dusk, and bring home seventy-nine brace. 



14th (Sunday). — Glad of a rest. While taking a stroll in the afternoon 

 Ave came across a small herd of deer standing on the pony track and with 

 them was a splendid royal stag, and though his horns were yet covered with 

 velvet, it was at once arranged that we would be called quite early to- 

 morrow and start off to see if his majesty yet lingered on the grounds of 

 Ossian. 



15th. — Called at three o'clock only to find the hills enveloped in a very 

 dense mist, so turned into bed again, and eventually sallied forth about 

 •eleven o'clock, and returned with fifty brace taken from Corrie Bran. 



16th. — Very, very wet ; impossible to shoot. About midday my host 

 spied two stags and five hinds from dining-room window. Started in 

 pursuit, and after an hour's hard crawl the deer " picked us up " just as we 

 were near enough to shoot. I, being nearest the deer, ran forward at best 

 pace and killed one stag and wounded another, and they were both going 

 full tilt at about 130 yards away. We chased the wounded one for over 

 two miles, and got him eventually. 



17th. — Torrents of rain. Went out at 4.30, and bagged twenty brace. 



18th and 19th. — Very fine. 118^ brace and four hares in the two days. 



20th. — Fished Loch Fingal, and caught about 200 small trout; the 

 monsters reported to be in the loch would not look at any lure we could 

 offer them. 



21st (Sunday). — A lazy day of letter-writing and pottering in general. 



