68 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE PARTRIDGE 
naturalist, John Hancock, the veteran described to 
us a visit which he paid to the English Lake district 
when quite a young man. 
Both Mr. Hancock and the friend who accom- 
panied him carried guns, and shot as occasion sug- 
gested, without regard to any private rights. No man 
hindered them. They were as welcome as any one 
else to try their luck ; no restriction was placed upon 
their liberty either; they wandered at their will 
through the dales and over the hill-sides of Lake- 
land, choosing their own course as fancy might 
dictate. And there were gamekeepers in those days. 
As early as 1767 a gamekeeper resided at Greystoke 
Castle, and was recognised as a dependent of the 
house. Doubtless his craft was chiefly devoted to de- 
stroying the long-bodied greyhound foxes that came 
stealing down from their mountain fastnesses to wreak 
havoc on the tender lambs of Herdwick race. At all 
events, it was not his business to be over-nice, par- 
ticularly provided there was a fair show of game in 
the Howard domains. 
Of course when country squires began to turn 
down pheasants, and even to rear them artificially, 
the free-and-easy relations that we have just de- 
scribed came to an end, at least as far as the 
openly avowed pursuit of game by ‘Bill the shooter,’ 
