Mr Harvie-Brown on the Squirrel in Great Britai^i. 59 



Sutherlandshire. 



Concerning the squirrel in Sutherland we find mention of 

 it in the quaint, useful, oft-quoted passage in Sir Kobert 

 Gordon's "Earldom of Sutherland," * where he enumerates the 

 wild animals of the north-west of the county, and includes 

 " Skuyrells." It is not necessary here to quote the full 

 passage again, but it may not prove uninteresting to add an 

 extract from his description of the county as it appeared in 

 those days. " There are thrie principall forests in Southerland 

 besides Scottarie, which lyethin Strathbroray; Tivarie, which 

 is in Strath vely; Glean shin, which lyeth upon the river 

 Shin ; Leag-Lamd, which lyeth in Strathbroray ; Shletadell, 

 which is in the parish of Loth, and divers other particular 

 schases and hunting-places full of wood and deir. To witt, 

 the forest of Diri-Chat, which is of the parish of Kildonan, 

 wherein are conteyned the tuo hills, called Bin Ormin ; the 

 forest of Diri-Mramigh, which is within the parish of Lairg, 

 wherein is conteyned Bin-hie and the great hill Tain Bamd. 

 All these forrests and schases are very profitable, etc." 

 [Here read former quotation, loc. cit., p. 19]. . . . " Ther is 

 not one strype in all these forrests that wants trout and other 

 sorts of fishes. ... In Durines, west and north-west 

 from the Diri-more, there is ane excellent and delectable 

 place for hunting, called Parwe, where they hunt the reid- 

 deir in abundance ; and sometymes they dryve them into the 

 ocean sea at the Pharo-head, wher they doe tak them in 

 boats as they list. There is another pairt in Southerland, in 

 the parish of Loth, called Shletadell wher ther are reid deir, 

 a pleasant place for hunting with grew hounds. Heir also 

 sometymes they dryve the deir into the South Sea, and soe doe 

 kill them " (Sir Ptobert Gordon's "Earldom of Sutherland," 

 1813, p. 314). 



Mr J. Crawford of Tongue also informs me that during the 

 progress of the recent reclamation of land in the Tongue dis- 



* "History of the Earldom of Sutherland,'" 1630, by Sir Robert Gordon, 

 not printed from his MS. until 1813. Quoted fully in my last essay on 

 "The Capercaillie in Scotland," and in the " New Statistical Account" of 

 the County. 



