August 29, 1914 
LAND AND WATER 
to be stopped. All the hunt horses — or nearly all — are gone. 
Most of the fields are on active service. And that, too, is 
true of shootina;. But there are many left who can use a 
shot-gun where thej- cannot carry a rifle through a campaign, 
and many more whose best duty it is to carry on our everyday 
affairs with as serene a heart as man can muster. At the 
worst there are keepers and farmers who could shoot the 
game. And the rabbits can be trapped and ferreted. 
Very well, then. We must look forward to September 
and be glad that this has every promise of being an excep- 
tionally good game year. There are tragi-comedies in the 
situation, and many shoots will be thrown on a market 
unwilling to receive them. Has not our little syndicate been 
implored to rent the neighbouring coverts which once we shot 
over, and which have been Naboth's vineyard to us ever 
since ? The guns that took those coverts from us were 
Service men. Now they have done with sport and the 
coverts are empty But we cannot take them. That is 
only one of a thousand ironies of Fate. 
One change that seems probable in the season's partridge 
sh )otin'j is a return in many cases to the more old-fashioned 
method of walking up. Organised driving on a large scale 
will surely be a difficulty, and it will be well to secure fair 
bags of partridges as soon as the law permits. That would 
be no change on the little shoot, where narrow boundaries 
make driving almost impossible and where nearly all our 
partridges are got by walking. But I do not think it will 
be found an unwelcome change on larger manors. Walking 
up got a bad name chiefly because it was conducted on 
unimaginative lines. !\Iarching and counter-marching in a 
solid line across illimitable acres of roots, always shooting at 
the tails of birds, is a monotonous and uneventful aftair. 
But when you use guile and woodcraft to keep your coveys 
within your boundaries and to push them in a desired 
direction, when you use the half-moon formation and 
necessary variations of it, when you vary the monotony of 
walking with an occasional impromptu drive, walking up 
partridges becomes, to my mind, the best of sports — strenuous, 
eager, giving excellent opportunities for using a knowledge 
of the ways of game, and offering many difficult, sporting 
shots. It is by no means to be despised, as many who may 
come to it after a set habit of driven partridges will discover. 
But the best of it all is the comradeship of good fellows 
And as for that — King Charles's head again. Let me stop. 
REPORTS FROM THE MOORS 
VERY few sportsmen have yet been on the 
moors for grouse shooting. The call of war 
accounted for the absence of many owners, 
lessees, and others who would have been 
members of shooting parties but for the present 
state of affaii's. The weather conditions were ideal, and the 
few reports to hand indicate that if the normal number of 
sportsmen had been out good bags would have been obtained, 
since birds are plentiful and free from disease. 
ABERDEENSHIRE. 
A very fair percentage of moors were shot over. A 
large box of grouse was sent to his Majesty the King from the 
Balmoral Moors. The Brackley Moors, adjoining the Royal 
estate of Birkhall, yielded a large bag, and a parcel of several 
brace was sent to Mr. S. H. Bridges, at Ewell Court, Sligo. 
I-argc parcels of grouse have been sent to the soldiers, and 
also to hospitals and other charitable institutions. There is 
to be no shooting on Clashhadarroch, which is one of the best 
moors in the country, since Mr. Holt, the lessee, has offered 
his services to the Army. 
CAITHNESS. 
The moors were almost entirely unoccupied ; tenants in 
most cases had not travelled north. 
DUMFRIESSHIRE. 
The Eskdale and Liddesdale Moors, two of the very best 
moors in the United Kingdom, were not shot over, but 
Mr. Berkeley Mathews and his party secured more than 
50 brace on the Westerhall Moor. 
DUMBARTONSHIRE. 
Birds are reported as being remarkably plentiful this 
season, but so far owners and lessees have not been out. A 
few of the keepers have been out for a short time and killed 
a considerable number. 
INVERNESS-SHIRE. 
Most of the sportsmen in the Badenoch district have 
decided not to organise shooting parties this season. A large 
proportion of the sportsmen who usually shoot over the 
moors are soldiers or are more or less directly interested in 
other ways in the war. On a few moors a start was made, 
but even in these cases arrangements were greatly modified. 
KINROSS-SHIRE. 
The expectations of good sport have not been realised. 
The weather was excellent, but the birds were never so wild 
on the opening day. On Ledlanet Moor Mr. J. C. Calder 
and a friend in a short day had 13 brace. Mr. Balfour 
Kinnear and Mr. Montgomery shot 12J brace on Warroch 
Moor. 
MIDLOTHIAN. 
In the Stow district only one or two parties have been out. 
Re])orts as to game fulfilled the high expectations. Grouse 
are numerous, particularly on the lower beats, and young 
birds are strong and healthy. No trace of disease. 
MORAYSHIRE. - "^ 
The majority of the shooting tenants in the Grantown- 
on-Spey district have not gone north, while many of those 
who had arrived have returned south. Grouse are reported 
good, and far in advance of last year. 
PERTHSHIRE. 
Large numbers of the sportsmen and their friends arc 
engaged in military duties. In the Dunkeld district several 
of the moors were shot over. In Pitlochry there were no 
supplies of grouse for sale, and no demand is anticipated on 
account of the present expenditure in other directions. 
ROSS-SHIRE. 
Few guns were out on Ross-shire moors, and on some not 
a shot was fired. In the Ardgay district grouse were plentiful, 
but there were few sportsmen. For many miles around all 
shooting quarters were let, except Deanich and Alladale 
Forests ; but owing to the war sportsmen had been called 
away and numerous lodges are empty. Others are repre- 
sented by only one gun each. 
SUTHERl.AXDSHIRF. 
Only one of four moors in the Rogart district — Robie — 
was shot over. The sportsmen had not yet gone to the other 
three — Tresaa^, Morbich, and Dalreaboch — war having com- 
pletely disorganised their arrangements. It is reported that 
the moors as a whole were never better stocked. Young 
birds are in excellent condition, not a trace of disease, and 
no cheepers have been seen. 
YORKSHIRE MOORS. 
There has been practically no shooting over these moors 
during the first few days, except by keepers. Many beaters 
have joined the ranks of the Services, but a good number of 
the men usually employed on the moors have been thrown 
out of employment. All the principal moors had been let, but 
the opening day was marked by a total postponement, as. 
although a few birds were taken on the smaller patches, there 
was no shooting on the principal moors, and the date of 
actual opening of shooting is doubtful. In any case, shoot- 
ing parties will be small, and the excellent prospects of the 
season will not mature. 
On the Lancashire and Yorkshire borders, and in the 
Clitheroe district, sport has been almost entirely given up, and 
the Waddington Fell party was the only one out for the 
opening of the season. This had result in the escape of the 
birds, strong and vigorous as they were, to neighbouring 
moors where no shooting was going on, and only moderate 
sport was had in consequence. Earl Sefton has followed a 
wise course with regard to the moors near Abbeystead, 
having given the keepers instructions to shoot there, anticipat- 
ing being able to supply the needs of some hospitals to a 
certain extent later on. It is noteworthy that the King should 
have paid a visit to Earl Sefton's preserves this season, 
but the visit has been cancelled owing to the war. 
In the Whitby district the prospects are excellent, but 
few of the covers have been broken up to the present. Mr. 
J. K. Foster, of Egton Lodge, has set the example for this 
district by announcing that the proceeds of all game sold on 
his estate will be devoted to the fund for injured soldiers 
and sailors. 
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