Red Deer 
33 
of him, finally stepping out, and really adding an attractive feature to the show. Two 
remarkable traits in his character interested me very much. First, his extreme fickleness. 
At one time he would attach himself warmly to some private soldier, betraying an affection 
quite embarrassing in its strength and persistence. He would follow the man wherever 
he went, climbing the highest stairs in the barracks to where his pal dwelt, and in the 
barrack room he would lie on the floor and share the tea and bread or almost anything else 
that his friend offered him. But these maudlin fits never lasted more than a month. 
Within that time he would be off with his old love and on with another “soldier boy.” 
One of his friends was in my Company, and when we paraded in the early morning for 
monthly training Mac turned up for the first few days and ran up and down the ranks 
uttering his plaintive cry until his friend was found ; so in the end he had to be shut up 
till parade was over. When off parade he was ubiquitous and omnivorous; he was to be 
found in all parts of the barracks, and dearly loved poking his nose in anywhere wTere there 
was a chance of “grub.” 
Another trait of his was exhibited in the local knowledge he soon learnt to display. 
The sergeants’ wives in the married quarters were especially kind to him, many of them 
giving him a little milk whenever he came their way ; and as he grew older he managed 
to remember the different doors behind which the women were to be found, and nearly 
every morning, just after the breakfast pipes had sounded, off he would clamber up a steep 
stone staircase to the long balcony where he was accustomed to receive his favourite drink. 
Going up to the first door at which he knew he would be welcomed, he would strike it 
with his forefoot, and continue knocking until the door was opened. I went twice to see 
him go through this performance, and most amusing it was to watch. Though he went 
down the whole length of the passage, knocking at the doors till his wants were satisfied, 
he never stopped at any door where he had once met with a repulse. 
When he grew big and strong he never attempted to strike any of the men, though 
sometimes rearing on his hind legs in a threatening manner ; and though the barrack 
children often teased him till he struck out, none of them ever came to any serious harm. 
Like all pets, poor Mac came to a sad end, his omnivorous taste leading him one day to 
mistake some poisoned meat for something better. The Seaforths have now a hind which 
they say is less troublesome than her predecessor. 
As a general rule, in parks stags of four years old and upwards keep in one herd by 
themselves, and the prickets and hinds run together, whilst the brockets generally associate 
with the stags when permitted to do so. After November, if the winter is severe, the 
two sexes mix indiscriminately, but in mild weather they separate, and so remain till about 
horn-casting time in March. As the horns commence growing on the stags they again 
separate, and live apart throughout the summer till fighting begins in September. 
These big park stags are, as a rule, but moderate warriors. Their great weight does 
not seem to help them, as it would a wild stag, who on the vantage ground of a hill-side 
can bring his weight to bear. Nor does the possession of a fine head confer any advantage 
in this way. It is probably a hindrance rather than a help, and the stags seem to know 
this as well as the sportsmen. Park stags, too, never fight so long or so resolutely as wild 
ones ; nor, if I may judge from my experience at Warnham, where I have watched them 
