My First of September. 59 



mon called " King s Heath," containing about 

 one thousand acres of all arable land, upon 

 which a good many partridges bred. This land 

 had been given by King Athelstan to certain 

 freemen of the borough in return for the 

 assistance they had rendered him in his de- 

 fence against the Danes. Now this common 

 had in course of time become subdivided into 

 portions from one acre up to twelve ; so that 

 it was not worth while any one attempting to 

 preserve it for the sake of shooting, although, 

 as I have said, there were a good many birds 

 and a few hares bred there. 



I believe some gentlemen did once agree 

 with the committee of management to give 

 them a price for the right of shooting for one 

 season. But it would not work, as every man, 

 if he chose, might claim the gam.e on his own 

 ground ; and so many of them had been in the 

 habit of knocking over whatever they could 

 come across, that the attempt was given up 

 once and for ever. As a proof that it was a 

 good breeding ground, a relative of my own, 

 an old captain in the navy, came there for 

 several years to get the shooting of the first few 

 days in September. He was an old-fashioned 



