THE RED DEER'S HOME 



I never "visit Bannerdale myself without glancing up- 

 wards at the deserted eyrie of the sea eagles which once 

 filled a shelf of precipice, lying in a sort of shadow, 

 not far below the summit of Buck Crag. It was 

 between 1793 and 1809 that old Edward Sisson, the 

 wildfowler, shot the female off her nest. He cut off 

 the foot as a token of what he had done. One of the 

 claws was missing, showing that iron traps were 

 already used to destroy our Lakeland eagles. Sisson 

 carved a claw out of a piece of wood, and coloured it 

 to match the real claws. The eyrie from which this 

 bird was shot was the last used in Lakeland. At 

 least so old folks say. They also relate that the eyrie 

 contained two eggs at the time of Sisson's achievement. 

 The screes at the foot of that eyrie are redolent still 

 of the 'foil of the Sweet Mart,' a sadly persecuted 

 animal. How it is that the ' Mart ' has not been 

 exterminated long since I hardly know. I suppose 

 that it must be explained by the fact that the marten- 

 cat frequently runs to ground in crags which are 

 too lofty and precipitous to afford a footing to the 

 most adventuresome of fell-side hounds. There were 

 ' Foumarts ' too in Martindale, and that within the re- 

 collection of men who are even now but middle-aged. 

 But if you care to learn for yourself when the true 

 wild cat couched beside the stag upon the heather of 



