1 908-1909.] Bird-Life in Emdy Scottish Literature. 143 



ation. We have no difficulty as to the goose, the swan, the 

 dotterel, the duck, and the redshank. The duck is evidently 

 the mallard, for the teal, another member of the family, is 

 specifically mentioned. The petrik is that toothsome bird, 

 the partridge. The old name of the Abbey lists still lingers 

 amongst the peasantry of Perthshire. The quhape is Scottish 

 for curlew, but what is the schot-quhaip ? Schot is old Scottish 

 for something projected, and in the whirling flight of the 

 lapwing we have the figure personified. The term is an 

 apt description of the flight of the bird. And the plover 

 is the golden plover, which still may be seen and heard 

 beside the Tay, and which must have haunted the broad 

 marshes of old Scotland in far greater numbers. The crane 

 presents the chief difficulty. No more does it visit our 

 shores, save as a rare and occasional visitor. It has there- 

 fore been taken for granted that the crane of the old records 

 is really a well-known bird, the heron. I rather think, how- 

 ever, that is not the correct view. A little later on we hope 

 to present you with two lists which upsets that theory, and 

 vindicates the ornithological accuracy of the monks. So much 

 for John Soutar's lease. 



In 1550 a Henry Brown gets a tack of lands in West- 

 borne for five years. He is to use the office of fowler craft, 

 and the prices paid for his captures are again given. The 

 price, for some reason or other, has risen. Ilk wild guiss 

 is now worth 3 shillings ; ^ ilk cran 5 shillings and 8 

 pennies. Only one other bird is mentioned in the old 

 records. It, however, has an interest of its own, showing 

 us that the rook plague even then was not unknown. In 

 1541 a David Hewison gets charge of the Abbey garden. 

 He pays a rent, and besides is to provide for the refectory — 

 kale and herbs, parsley, beetroot, lettuce, and onions. And 

 he is moreover strictly enjoined, " He sail nocht let ane craw 

 big within the said boundis efter his power." 



Amongst the early poems of Scottish literature we get lists 

 of a widely different character. We again come across cata- 

 logues of birds suited for the table, but these are now the 

 exception and not the rule. Birds of song are the poet's 

 delight. His interest in nature is not a gastronomical in- 



^ Of course the shillings are shillings Scots. 



