The Red Grouse 
45 
"My entire bag, along with my friends' (never having more than six shooters out at a 
time), during the season 1872 was 18,231 grouse! 
"As to killing 500 grouse, as you ask, I have very, very often done it. In 1871 I was 
over it one day — 545 grouse; in 1872 three times over 500; again in 1876, on August 22 or 
23, 528 — all these on the Wemmergill Moors. This year, had the weather been fine instead of 
wet and windy, I should have had very near 500 birds, if not quite. 
"I am not surprised to hear people doubt my performance at Wemmergill, but in a good 
season no one without seeing them can have the remotest idea of the enormous number of birds. 
It then only requires the shooter to hold straight to make certain of a very large bag. There 
are no moors in England or Scotland that can show half the number of birds on them as 
can Wemmergill. — Yours truly, Fredk. A. Milbank." 
On the Bluberhouse Moor the largest bag in 1864 was eighty-five birds, killed 
over dogs ; on August 28, 1872, Lord Walsingham, who now owns this property, had 
842 birds, shooting in two batteries for twelve hours. Twenty drivers were employed, 
in two parties of ten each, for sixteen drives, the guns used being a pair of breech- 
loaders and a pair of muzzle-loaders. This great bag remained unequalled for sixteen 
years until August 30, 1888, when his lordship broke his previous record and brought 
down 1070 birds in twenty drives, using four breechloaders, and having two men as 
loaders, and it is extremely improbable that this remarkable achievement in Grouse driving 
will ever be emulated. In the year 1904 a record bag for the Broomhead Moors was 
made by Mr. Rimington-Wilson's party of nine guns — 1374 brace — -on August 24. Lord 
de Grey, whose renown as a game shot is universally known, has had 575 birds to his 
own gun in one day, as one of a party of seven, shooting on the Marquis of Ripon's 
moors near Studley Royal. 
In 1907, a poor year, 900 brace were killed in one day at Broomhead, whilst in 1908 
4815 Grouse were killed on this moor of 4000 acres. Four days of the shooting accounted 
for 1829, 1047, 1377, and 562 Grouse. Thus it will be seen that this remarkable moor 
produces one Grouse to the acre, and in some seasons two, whilst the best Scotch moors 
seldom hold more than one Grouse to four acres, places like Cawdor, Moy, &c, being 
the exception. 
In Wales Grouse are abundant in Denbigh, Flint, and the whole back of the Berwyn 
range. They are also fairly numerous on the moors of Carnarvon and West Merioneth. 
Montgomery too is a good county for Grouse. In other suitable situations throughout 
Wales Grouse are found in smaller numbers. They are not known in Anglesey. Of 
recent years large bags of Grouse have been made in Wales. On the Ruabon mountains, 
which my friend Mr. Wynne Corrie rented for ten years, he has made remarkable bags. 
Of these he sends me the following particulars (see Tables, p. 46), which have not been 
previously published. 
Mr. Wynne Corrie attributes the improvement and continued success of the moor 
to the head keeper, Allan Brown of Pen-y-Cae, whom he describes as the most skilful 
manager of Grouse he has known. On Lord Penrhyn's moors about Corwen, comprising 
an area of 26,000 acres, well over a thousand brace of birds are killed annually, a day's 
driving often yielding 150 brace. Other good moors in Wales are Glanllyn, Pale, Rug, 
Rhiwlas, Bodwenni, Creini, Brynbannon, Hirnant, Llymysten, Voelas, Gwydir, and 
Caerblaidd. 
