21 6 
British Deer and their Horns 
alas ! to the hammer some years ago, and most of the specimens were scattered. Sir William 
Gordon-Cumming, however, obtained the best of them, and they are now in Altyre House, 
near Forres, where there is a grand collection of heads of all kinds. I visited Altyre twice 
in 1890, but unfortunately found that German roe heads and Scotch ones had been mixed 
indiscriminately, and there were no labels to show which were which. To the British 
collector, therefore, their interest is gone, though there are many grand heads in Altyre 
which, I feel sure, are genuine Scotch ones. None of the following collections are big, but 
they are the best of to-day : Altyre House (Sir William 
Gordon-Cumming) ; Drumduan Castle, Forres (formed 
by the late C. Macpherson Grant, and now the property 
of Sir George Macpherson Grant) ; Ballindalloch Castle 
(Sir George Macpherson Grant) ; Moniack Castle (J. 
Cameron, Esq.) ; Forres House (Colonel Gordon- 
Cumming) ; Dupplin Castle (the Earl of Kinnoull) ; 
my own collection. 
There are also a few good heads in the possession of 
Earl Cawdor, Cawdor Castle ; Captain Brooke, Fairley, 
Aberdeen ; Lord Lovat, Beaufort ; Mr. C. M. P. Burn, 
Pitcroy House, Blacksboat ; the Duke of Athole, Blair- 
Athole ; the Earl of Mansfield, Scone Palace ; Sir Arthur 
Grant, Monymusk ; Mr. Sidney Steel, Perth ; whilst 
Colonel Richardson of Ballathie and Mr. Hume Graham- 
Stirling of Strowan have each a good head. Mr. H. 
M. Warrand, too, has two exceptional heads, one of 
which, a 12-pointer, is referred to later. 
A head shot by Mr. Robert Moncrieff of Perth at 
Foulis-Wester, measuring 12-J- inches in length, is the 
longest Scotch head I have seen, but it is a mediocre 
example in other respects, and the horns are very close 
together. 
Now to say a few words about the best collections :— 
1. Drumduan House , Forres (formed by the late C. 
Macpherson Grant).— The collection is certainly the 
largest and most varied I have inspected. It is particularly rich in malformations. 
The most remarkable of these is a io-pointer shot by the owner in Brodie Wood. 
There are also two so - called perruque heads, one an extraordinary one. It was 
found in Darnaway, and I remember how delighted the owner was the day he got it, as I 
happened to call on him that day. The other one was found dead at Beaufort, and was 
originally in my collection, but Macpherson Grant had a particular fancy for these 
abnormalities, so I gave it to him. The horns are two heavy solid masses, very thick, about 
8 inches long, and no points. There is also a head from Old Bar in Forfarshire, whose right 
horn is of extraordinary thickness, being 7 inches in circumference 2 inches above the 
coronet. This fine collection has, curiously enough, only one really first-class normal head, 
KILLED AT ORTON, SPEYSIDE 
In the possession of Sir G. Macpherson Grant, Bart. ; 
length, 11J inches (restored point). 
