294 A GAMEKEEPER'S NOTE-BOOK 



time sportsman held that the green leaves of turnips 

 gave a peculiar and very palatable flavour to the flesh 

 of larks and partridges. In this connection we always 

 think of the story told by Gilbert White of a neighbour 

 who shot a ring-dove as it was returning from feed 

 and going to roost. " When his wife had picked and 

 drawn it, she found its craw stuffed with the most nice 

 and tender tops of turnips. These she washed and 

 boiled, and so sat down to a choice and delicate plate 

 of greens, culled and provided in this extraordinary 



manner." 



Shooting parties in the week following Christmas have 

 a festive air. As at the hall, so in the keeper's cottage, 

 the air is charged with the Christmas spirit. Ten 



o'clock on any morning soon after Christmas 

 Christ- D a y mav fi n( j th e keeper entertaining a 

 Shoots crowd of beaters at the expense of his own 



private cellar, and the good things from the 

 cellar are served hot and spiced. In hats and caps 

 are seasonable tokens sprigs of mistletoe and holly. 

 The keeper himself does not wear button-holes, but 

 should his children make a garland of holly for the 

 collar of his old retriever, he will leave it for the 

 brambles to pull away. The guns turn up late 

 they have been dancing through the night ; when all 

 are met, in the brief greetings, in the distribution of 

 cartridge-bags, and in the inquiries about weather and 

 the possible bag, there is a note of unusual cheeriness. 



