THE MAXAGEMENT OF DEER FORESTS 83 



though it can hardly be supposed that the stag hunt 

 as portrayed in the ' Lady of the Lake ' seduced 

 many votaries of that sport to exchange the heaths 

 round Ascot or the green pastures of the Harrow 

 country for the steep sides of Ben Ledi or the wild 

 fastnesses of the Trossachs. If literature had any 

 effect in this direction, foremost among the publi- 

 cations of the day must be placed that delightful book 

 on deer-stalking by Scrope. Allusion to this work will 

 be made in a subsequent part of the present chapter, 

 From about the year 1860 to 1874 a lull took place 

 in the process of clearing ground for deer. During 

 that period sheep-farming was highly profitable, while 

 the ground on which this industry could be less suc- 

 cessfully prosecuted from considerations of climate 

 had been already converted into deer forests. The 

 close of the Franco-German war, and the adoption of 

 a mono-metallic currency on the Continent, together 

 with increasing importation of wool, reduced the 

 profits of sheep-farming. The ' big ' men from the 

 Cheviots and Dumfriesshire, who had made their 

 ' pile ' during the American Civil War and succeeding 

 years, threw up their farms, and there was no one tc 

 take their place. The owners of these farms had thus 

 no option but to take them into their own hands, which 

 required a large capital, or, if they got the opportunity, 



