4 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE RED DEER 



out by the tide from the holes in which they have lain 

 embedded for ages. 



The peat bogs of Scotland, especially of the 

 Western Highlands, tell the same story. Even the 

 gravel beds of our inland valleys often yield fragments 

 of red deer antlers, sometimes at a great depth below 

 the present surface. These remains are seldom quite 

 perfect. Those found in the rubbish heaps of Roman 

 settlements usually bear evidence of having been sawn 

 asunder by workmen, whose task it was to manufacture 

 spear-handles and other utensils from stag-horn. But 

 the fine development of most of the remains shows 

 that our modern stags fall far short of the standard of 

 heads carried by the stags which cropped our hill- 

 sides when the aurochs fought with rival bulls on the 

 fells of Westmorland, and wolves found a safe retreat 

 among the limestone caves of Furness. Originally, 

 the red deer roamed at will from the north to the 

 south of Britain. The weald of Kent was no less the 

 haunt of well-furnished hinds than the waste lands of 

 Lancashire, or the more distant solitudes of central 

 Scotland. But the interests of the great barons in- 

 duced them to obtain authority from the Crown to 

 enclose their favourite chase in many instances ; with 

 the result that a large number of the best coverts for 

 deer became secluded as private property This re- 



