British Deer and their Horns 
3 ° 
and afterwards to attend the catching of the big stags which were at that time annually 
“swopped” with Windsor and Stoke. What a glorious sight it was, to be sure ! Herds of 
red deer had been driven into a smaller park of about forty acres near Savernake House, 
and men on horseback “ rode out ” the big stags, driving them at full speed towards a loosely- 
set-up net 7 feet high, which collapsed as the great beasts went crashing into it head over 
heels. Some five or six of the very best deer were captured in this manner, spectators 
assisting by closing in behind the stag as he entered the “ straight ” leading to the net. 
One gallant stag, I remember, twice cleared the net by a fair jump, but on the third 
attempt he caught his fetlock in the top mesh and came to the ground, breaking one of his 
legs in two places. Accidents like this, however, seldom happened, and on two subsequent 
occasions when I witnessed the stag-catching everything went off without a mishap of any 
sort. The time to look out for squalls is when the deer is being loosed from the net. If 
allowed to lie on his side, he will probably strain himself and kick his holders all to pieces, 
but when thrown on his back and properly held he is more or less powerless, and his horns 
being sawn off, he is easily encarted. 
Eridge, Ashridge, Lyme, Raby, and Stoke parks have long been famous for the size of 
their deer, Raby and Stoke being the most celebrated. It is doubtful if the Warnham deer 
of to-day are much superior to the Stoke herd when at its best—from 1872 till 1879. 
The illustration on p. 25, from a photograph by Vernon Heath, taken in 1877, gives 
a good idea of some of the best stags of that date. Mr. Coleman, the owner, took a great 
interest in his deer, and did all he could to improve them by generous feeding and constant 
change of blood, a circumstance the more vividly impressed upon my memory as 
connected with the enrichment of my exchequer in a peculiarly pleasing way. I was at 
