164 SHOOTING THE PARTRIDGE 
regularly. They soon got to understand the sport, 
and were keen about it, so I drilled them thoroughly, 
until it became a pleasure to shoot alongside of them. 
One drill, or two feet behind the gun, the line was 
kept exactly ; the next man on the right of a gun 
marked his first barrel, he on the left his second, and 
if more rose and were killed, the next two on the right 
and left took up the marking in succession. The 
birds, unless plainly to be seen on the ground, were 
always lifted by a keeper, of whom we had two out, 
with four dogs; the spot marked was indicated on 
getting near it by the beater, and under no circum- 
stances was he allowed to advance to the spot itself 
~ until after the dog had been laid on, nor to interfere 
in any way with the search. We hardly ever lost a 
bird, and there was really no difficulty about the 
matter at all. The men knew their places in the line, 
which were never changed, and what they had to 
do ; so long as they stuck to their orders they were 
sure of their extra pay and a good lunch, and the 
whole business suited them, and us, very well. We 
killed 105 brace there on our best day, with four 
guns, and often fifty or sixty brace with two guns. 
Perthshire is in some districts a fine country for 
partridges, the only drawback to it being the pre- 
yalence of stone walls, and alas! barbed wire, which 
