SHEPHERDS' CARE 279 



January is to the shepherd what June is to the 

 gamekeeper. There is more than common meaning 



to the shepherd in the greeting, " A happy 

 Shep-^ anc i a prosperous New Year." Be luck 

 Care good or bad, the bleat of the lamb is the 



sweetest sound of the year to shepherd ears : 

 it means as much as the pee-peep of the pheasant 

 chick to the gamekeeper. Keepers and shepherds 

 are deeply attached to their respective " coops " 

 a word used by the shepherd for the enclosures, one 

 hurdle square, made for the lambs. The experience 

 of coop life is briefer for the lamb than for the young 

 pheasant. After enjoying a few hours of privacy, 

 the ewe and her lambs are turned into the large 

 general nursery, to fend for themselves among the 

 baa-ing crowd. 



Weather makes more difference to partridge-driving 

 than to most forms of shooting. The ideal day 



comes when the weather is mild, and the 

 Winter a i r s till. Then only can the movements 

 driving ^ partridges be controlled with some cer- 



tainty not that partridges ever can be 

 driven against their will. In high wind their speed 

 is tremendous, and a hundred birds do not give 

 the chances of ten too tired to swerve. In hard, 

 frosty weather, when the fields are like rough paving- 

 stones, though the day is still, the birds are up and 

 off before the advancing driving-line can shape itself 



