THE ROE DEER 
Now these Dorsetshire Roe have moved far to the west into south 
Somersetshire, and are scattered through all the coverts on the south 
side of the vale of Taunton, and it will probably not be long before 
they invade the Quantock Hills. They have also moved eastward into 
the New Forest, in Hampshire, and a few are found south of the 
Ringwood line in the coverts about Set Thorns, Holmsley, Wootton and 
Bradley. 
In February, 1884, at the request of the Verderers of Epping Forest, 
and with the concurrence of the late Mr J. G. Mansel Pleydell, of 
Whatcombe, Mr J. E. Harting superintended the capture and transport 
of several Roe deer from Dorsetshire to Epping Forest, travelling all 
night with them, as described in “The Field” of April 5, 1884, and 
in the following year Mr E. N. Buxton added some others from the same 
source. 
Roe are now found in West Sussex, Somerset, Surrey, Hampshire, 
Dorset, and there are a few in Cumberland and Northumberland. In Ireland 
they are only found at Lissadell, Co. Sligo. In Scotland they are in nearly 
every county where there are big woods. All the best Roe in Scotland 
are found within a radius of twenty miles of Perth, Forres and Beauly. 
Within these areas are situated the largest woods in Scotland, most of 
them having either arable land below, or good grazing above. To quote 
from my former writings on this subject: ‘‘From Perth itself there 
is a chain of low -ground woods bordering on cultivation both west 
and north. One almost continuous forest passes up the valley of the Earn, 
comprising the woods of Dupplin, Trinity Cask, Strathallan, Balgowan, 
Methven, Foulis Wester, and so on to Crieff. Another forest holding many 
Roe extends practically from Perth to Blair Atholl. There is a marked 
superiority amongst bucks killed in the Stanley, Scone, and Black Park 
woods, to those of Murthly, Rohallion, Dunkeld, Craig Vinian and Blair 
Atholl woods, which are all wilder, and contain less good feeding. About 
Forres there are the great woods of Darnaway, Brodie, Cawdor, Burgie, 
Westerton, and Altyre, which are all full of Roe, and at the present day 
there are probably more of these little deer in the woods round Cawdor 
Castle than in any one place in the north. In the Beauly district Beaufort, 
with its large woods of Farley, Boblainey and Altnacliach is famous for 
the number of Roe it contains, and other good estates are Brahan, the 
Strathconon and Dingwall woods, Moniach, Clunes, Belladrum, Eskadale, 
and the forests of Upper Strath Glass and Guisachan.” There are now 
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