RED GROUSE. 47 



sporting men, bird shooting. It will be vain to expect to enjoy Grouse shooting without 

 previous training; the fatigue attendant upon this description of sport is inconceivable, 

 and unless the amateur exercise himself and quadrupeds a la Barclay for some time 

 previously to the "opening day," he will meet with disappointment. I would, with 

 submission, recommend all enthusiasts to take a constitutional walk before breakfast, on 

 hilly ground, as near the scene of action as possible; and at this time of writing (July) 

 I would recommend any knight of the trigger who proposes visiting the moors next 

 month, to betake himself to the neighbourhood of the hills, and there exercise himself 

 and his dogs for at least three, weeks. He will get himself and his dumb companions 

 into wind, and both will be benefited by a knowledge of the surrounding country. 

 Many men, calling themselves sportsmen, never see their dogs until a few hours before 

 their services are recpiired in the field. How, let me ask, can any reciprocity of feeling, 

 or even understanding, exist between them? and without these it is next to impossible 

 to command success. 



A really good sportsman, and one who thoroughly understands his business, will make 

 a friend and companion of his dog; a feeling of self-interest alone, (should no other 

 exist,) ought to dictate the necessity of keeping up something like good feeling between 

 man and dog. I speak from experience and observation. I remember some years ago, 

 when on a particular moor in Yorkshire, falling in with a hero from this demoralized 

 metropolis armed 'cap a pied,' with a dandy-cut jacket, a new double Manton, and a 

 superlatively handsome setter. He happened unfortunately to be surrounded by sportsmen, 

 and, as there was no intimacy existing between himself and his quadruped, he did little 

 or no execution. The dog, not being familiarized to his master's voice, was always at 

 fault ; the whistle was equally useless ; and as I happened to be nearest to the hero from 

 St. James', his dog was repeatedly running to me whenever I fired, and called forth curses 

 both loud and deep from his exasperated master, and yet I have no doubt the gentleman 

 in question never conceived that he himself, by wilful negligence, had brought all the 

 disasters on himself. 



It is a mistaken notion that too many guns spoil the sport. I am prepared to prove 

 that the more sportsmen there are, in moderation, on a given number of thousand acres, the 

 better will be their chance of success, for this simple reason, that they drive the birds 

 to one another. I need only mention, in corroboration of my assertion, that a friend 

 of mine, an excellent sportsman, had permission to shoot over a private manor, not far 

 from where I was enjoying my sport, in Yorkshire ; there was no lack of birds, but they 

 were wild, and, although provided with excellent dogs, he could not get within shot. 

 After two blank days, or nearly so, he crossed the country to the position I had taken 

 up. He was rather staggered at first, at the numerous fields, but found out, to his 

 evident astonishment, that the numbers did good in furtherance of the sport, and that 



