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the natural history of each from page to xvii â shooting the â the and the â the â the â the â the â the â and the lark â with of the natural history of each and a few words about this and preceding chapter relate to little more than the matter in their respective catalogue the act of sporting such small deer being no matter of science and scarce an affair of skill from page to the water â and his natural history from page to xviii â wild fowl why this may be called the poetry of sport â directions for the of the waters â colonel the of shooting â mr â natural history of the wild swan from page to contents wild goose shooting â how followed on the coast â â inland in england and scotland â natural of the wild goose and its varieties from page to wild duck and shooting â directions for these sports generally especially in waters â shooting afloat â natural histories of the species and varieties â our farewell gun from page to list of illustrations drawings by william on wood by â the bed the shooting red thb the black oo the hen the shooting the thb shooting the white ob a the thb the little the rabbit shooting the i xiv list op illustrations the rabbit the the the blue the the shooting the the the jack and dogs the the the knot the land rail the water rail the the the golden the long legged the thb the thb the the common thb bald the the hen the wild swan wild duck shooting the thb the wild duck thb the ob duck the tail thus much may serve by way of â swift from what source springs that human instinct which for the want of a better term we call a taste for sporting is it because while life is â between and â the child is delivered over to nature that we find the boy ever means for tlie of the of flood and field seek him even in where in strange apparel under the of a blue coat scholar his experience has been confined to s essence of his practical to the study of the on the house top â mark the youth we say in circumstances which shall have limited his familiarity with the creatures of the waters to chapter salmon and â his intercourse with game to an brace of birds and bread â and you discover him a pin into the weak invention of a hook or armed with a pop gun giving token of the spirit which presently shall move him up to the blue and the purple where the hunter of deer and the warrior to his hills that the sea the of stream and and valley are the characteristic exercises of many of the noblest properties of man s nature they call into exertion courage perseverance sagacity strength activity caution they are the wholesome machinery of excitement of hope and fear joy and sorrow regret and rejoicing they are at once the appetite and the food of manhood the progress of science and civilization has taken from the pursuit of field sports many of the natural and moral ills to which they were once exposed instead of being the and the gentleman are become terms it is an excellent thing that the youth of england may now adopt the hale bold which have ever been chapter peculiar to their country without prejudice to their manners or morals it is pleasant that they can do so with all and means to boot which their or convenience can stand in need of the following pages addressed particularly to this class are designed with the view to advance still the social and liberal character of rural sports not only do they to teach the young idea how to shoot but to it introduction to the history and of the tribes with which it may come in contact humble as the claims of their author upon the reader may be they will escape utter for sake of the spirit in which they were written small as his hopes are of reaching the point of his ambition the manner of his work essays to the principle which he has made his in its construction qui the natural history of the game of the british islands â in an illustrated form â is an in keeping with the spirit of the day i for the prevailing taste for in an especial degree because the b chapter efforts of description are those which attempt to convey correct ideas of persons or things we are not indeed without books which help us to portraits as well as the natural history of our era â so to call modem game but there does not exist a volume confined to the subject or which to deal with it alone and completely we cannot complain of any of sporting literature but the young of the the youth who would know how to and enjoy himself on or in cover or is with a hand book colonel has certainly written eight of in for young but like other devices of instruction they seem more fitted for a task than a his amusement of wild fowl shooting appears as little like fun as anything that can be imagined according to the gallant colonel s account it is necessary for the to wrap himself up in a like an egyptian to avoid being ruined with the frequent mixture of salt water mud and the young is thus advertised as to the preparation of his suit make with russia duck a loose over all frock coat and a hood or a cap chapter with a behind similar to a coal s hat and dress them as â take three of oil and boil them till reduced to two and a half

49William Black

the doing which will require about three hours and when the oil is sufficiently boiled it will bum a feather the addition of some indian rubber was suggested to me but of this i did not make a trial because the dressing answered so well without it when the oil is quite cold take a clean paint brush and well work it into the outside of the whole apparel and it will soon find its way to the inside let the apparel then be put out in the air every dry day for a fortnight or three weeks and at the of that time provided the oil on it be thoroughly dry take the remainder of your prepared oil and give it the second coat â n b let the person who the oil c beware of getting burnt and let him do it out of doors or he might run a risk of setting your house on fire add to this the smell of it when boiling is a great nuisance o youth what think ye of dressing thus for a pleasure party before enters on his pleasant craft it will be convenient to furnish him with fitting materials of these are his dog xx and his gun elsewhere he will find hints how best to supply with the former we will here address to counsel him touching the latter and its necessary for your gun â of course a double barrel â go to the best artist in such articles within compass of your pocket leave to him all matters of finish â all quality of the in â and as regards choice adopt to the letter the advice of to the youth about to rush into verse â qui et the great names in the gun trade are those of egg smith â represented by his agent bishop of bond street â and last but certainly not least in our good opinion joseph of the c are odious and we therefore them merely remarking that not being hard to please we should be content to have our wicked will in the preserves of or with the best double any one of these might turn out chapter being supplied with a gun we next come to advise our young upon his supply of powder the vital principle of shooting if originally of a good quality this agent will last for a very great length of time â always that its being kept perfectly dry is a non if once allowed to become damp your powder can never be restored to its first excellence as moisture more or less the materials which give it strength even the air has a tendency to produce or at all events quickly to damp into therefore to preserve your powder in all its original properties keep it sealed in tin cases which are infinitely the best a great deal has lately been written upon the of and other of composition but for all ordinary sporting purposes get the best quality of any recognised and you may be sure of an article suitable to all your wants and and co â try their wares and if your piece do n t carry straight be sure the fault is not in the principle much of opinion as to the best general charge for a gun â to our thinking there can be no rule for any such thing first b chapter subject it to a patient series of trials at a et and having accurately proved the heaviest charge it will carry with the best effect â shooting close and true â adopt that as your some s ago the correct proportions were declared to be an equal measure of powder and shot some of the great professors in their pigeon matches used only four of powder to two of shot â no where game does not abound we would recommend the use of heavy charges because when a bird is hit it is hit hard in preserves less will do it must always be borne in mind that the heavier the charge the more quickly a barrel becomes foul as a principle let the substance of the be regulated by the bore of the gun let it also be elastic and of a texture to resist the blast of the powder the article of is sold everywhere that powder and shot are to be had and the great gun have fitting of the sort in vast varieties but there is not one of them better than felt for large and strong for small keep these as dry as your powder and ram your whatever it may be made of well down upon both your powder and chapter your shot before it home over the latter ve your gun a gentle blow upon the ground to make the shot he even the sooner you re load after firing the better do it always while the barrel is still warm of course the last thing you will do in is to put on the caps it will not be enough that the of your powder has been accurately adjusted to the measure of your charge for you must take care it is also fairly filled to do this place your finger upon the top of it firm to prevent the powder om but not so as to force it into the then turn your down give it a shake and you will have your just the size of shot is another fertile subject of discussion among some have gone so in their desire to settle the question as to have plucked for the purpose of to what extent feathers the penetration of shot without leading student into of theory as as this unpleasant process of â word to a student s ear â we venture to for his acceptance the fi of our personal experience in countries where game may be ap chapter preached within reasonable

49William Black

distance let him load the right barrel with no and the left with no the latter to come to the rescue after a miss with the first as of course heavy shot at longer distances than light should he prefer shot of one size then let him use no perhaps it may be as well not to his practice by of various sorts and a good authority declares that for a who goes out for his morning s to shoot game at fair sporting distances only like a gentleman without any regard to destroying everything he shoots at this is the best and most plan shot of this medium size being adapted to all seasons and to all sorts of game except some mix their shot which certainly is not to be recommended as it is assumed that the gun used by the young is a we will add a word as to the choice and proof of the cap which will fill up the catalogue of his field necessaries and conclude with a set of rules constructed for the management of his shooting by the celebrated let your stock of caps be of the best quality to test their composition and ascertain whether chapter they contain any â a most dangerous which causes them to with great violence â throw a few into the fire if they then with a loud report reject them as unfit for use excellent caps however may be counted on by those who deal for their shooting apparatus established houses and of character directions for persons using guns load with the down when down shot observe the distance the end of the brass worm is from the of the barrel to prevent always ram down hard prime the last thing otherwise in down the the powder will be driven into the caps and become so firmly compressed as to destroy their effect should the caps be put on by mistake prior to force them off with a and replace them with new ones chapter never put the down upon the caps when the gun is loaded as it and spoils the powder and is very dangerous the cock being liable to be lifted up by catching hold of any substance and then falling will the gun but if left at half cock it cannot possibly happen keep the copper caps dry if exposed to the fire for a few minutes when required for use in damp weather they will never fail take care that no oil or get to them the caps made with the powder should always be used in preference to those which are made with and called anti this powder is dangerous as it with a very slight pressure and with such extreme violence as frequently to burst the of the and split the and wear them out in a quarter of the time the other does it is likewise very foul and will not keep it also the inside of the j and breeches from the peculiar construction of locks they should not be snapped either with or without the copper caps but in the act of shooting when the gun is loaded the flash from the powder never enters the inside of the barrel but if snapped upon the caps when the gun is it drives the gas into the barrels which and if done without the caps the works axe liable to be injured by reason of the meeting no resistance in their fall as in flint locks chapter the will last a season s hard shooting but should by no means be used after the holes are worn l u ge by repeated firing as it will the force of the gun and damage the locks directions for taking locks to pieces and putting them together again be not to mix the let down the cock the main spring sufficiently to remove it take off the bridle press against spring with the fore finger and thumb of the left or right hand according as the lock may be a left or a right side one and ha ing with the fore finger of the other hand pushed back the cock as far as it will go let the spring go back gently when the of the is easily lifted out of the hole and the taken out turn out the spring screw and take out the spring and take off the cock take out the to put them together again put in and screw on cock so as to be down put cock rather backwards and screw on chapter push cock as far back as it will go put of into its proper hole and then taking hold of with the thumb and of the top of the cock with the fore finger of the right hand if a right hand lock and vice if a left the spring and move the cock forwards and down push forward the so that it may not interfere with the screw and drawing the cock a little forwards slip the two holes in the bridle upon the heads of the and and screw on the bridle having let down the cock and pushed forward the as far as it will go the main spring hook the end of it on the move it up into its place on the lock plate and the these directions will be found of service in the ordinary arrangements and details of shooting gear the process of washing drying and preparing the gun for use is too familiar to need a place in the hand book of the in rural sports h m m f it is not every man s luck v to go to ill like manner only here and there a has the to try i hand at deer t talking j j a deer to taste the highest of shooting known to the british islands but that is no reason the

49William Black

cunning of the should not he set him on the contrary his opportunities of indulging in it â if indeed he ever have any â will most certainly he few and far the means of success should the chance occur ought to he made to him details of its stirring scenes and associations the economy of its perilous pleasure while exciting his interest will serve to tell how were won â and it may he him to do so likewise to this we address ourselves the sport of deer as pursued in great britain is followed only in certain portions of the for though are shot in the royal in england as well as in private the method of doing so is far from sporting and the practice confined to game the principal districts where is enjoyed are forest the forests the forest of the forest of lord lo s haunts and in the county of the besides others of less note the former of these mr states contains an area of one hundred thousand acres and is upwards of forty miles in length it has however only recently been devoted to the and preserving of red deer the forests are fifty miles long and embrace some of the wildest scenery of scotland it deer was in these according to the same authority that the last of the british wolves surrendered the ghost the forest of is remarkable for the attempt made by its proprietor the earl of to introduce the wild into the catalogue of british game he turned out several of these savage but it is supposed they departed this life from the want of extensive however as the are they belong to a few great who limit their permission to share with them the royal sport to a few great men only two individuals so favoured have left us any record of their proceedings â these are mr already referred to and john of the latter gentleman is quite an in all relating to the wild of his mountain home and writes of deer not only as a thoroughly practical hand at it but as one well skilled in the fashion in which those about entering on the campaign should take the field the most day for this sport he says is a cloudy one with of sunshine exactly such as you would choose for fishing when the sky is and the sun veiy dazzling the herd are apt to see you at a great distance and take alarm high and changing wind is always very b d as it keeps them moving about in a wild and uneasy state in such weather it is better if possible to wait till it settles a little and take advantage of the first calm if the breeze be light they will not move much but deer a ng steady wind lasting for some days will always make the deer change their ground by facing it often for miles mist is the worst of all for the deer are pretty sure to see you before you see them always advance on deer from above as they are much less apt to look up than down a hill if possible have the sun at your back and in their face with this advantage you may even venture to approach them from below birds on the contrary always look up and it is best to stalk them from the lower ground if it is a quiet spot even if the sim is at your back wait for a clear before making your near approach of course every one knows that it is out of the question under any circumstances to attempt advancing on deer unless the wind be favourable so all other directions are subject to this in and hollows it is quite impossible to know how the wind will blow upon a particular point unless you have marked every change of wind upon every point of the after deer have been stalked and shot at they become much the best sport with the old is therefore obtained at the beginning of the season they generally keep together and when their stately mien and are seen in the distance it is enough to the most but when told to cock his double rifle i could well excuse a for being scarcely able to obey when there are in the herd they often present themselves between you and the but even should deer they be at a distance great caution is necessary bs if one hind gets a glimpse of the crouching enemy the whole herd and all are sure to away amidst the bitter of the upon its head the next best time for a shot at a fine old after they have become wild is about the beginning of october when each lot of is sure to contain a good the chances may then not often be so good but from the being dispersed there are more of them if deer are feeding forward it requires nice calculation when at a distance to know the point they will arrive at by the time you have them especially as a gust of wind or a shower of rain will their motions but if the is not far from the herd which is feeding up to his place of concealment with a favourable wind he should not grudge waiting for by sending round drivers to the of the deer they are often apt to turn and face them i can t say that driving under any circumstances gives half the pleasure that does for my own part i would rather kill one stalked than several driven driving however upon a large scale has a most imposing and although it cannot be otherwise than injurious to a forest yet the nature of the whole proceedings in which so many friends may join often makes the proprietor overlook the consternation and panic it among the

49William Black

wild timid herd some part of the forest is selected a deer to which the deer are to be driven a great number of hill men and who thoroughly understand what they are about ore then sent to the farthest extremity to bring all the deer they can collect to this spot the passes of course being well blown are occupied by the with their the drivers sometimes and sometimes giving their wind gradually contract their circle the deer are huddled together and finding the only clear ground in the direction of the slowly and cautiously take their doomed way there is often great difficulty in driving them as they are always obliged to go with the wind which their natural instinct of self preservation makes them very unwilling to do and if they possibly can they always face it the implements of the deer are his rifle his and his hounds of these latter mr says that lord has a very superior they are for the most part a breed between the and but some are between the and the former are reckoned the best his s sets great store by them and tells you that when choosing a cold that is an in company with they are so knowing that should give them the slip at a bum or mountain stream and run down it they stop their pursuit of the recover his track and hold him at bay all night should no one com to their relief that no beer inferior animal should attend the deer may be inferred from the â that a with his fore leg broken will often beat the a very singular result of the hind leg of a being broken is that in running he is almost certain to the other whether from the additional weight thrown upon it or some other cause seems not to be known red deer are as cunning as and as game in illustration of their cunning they have been observed to keep a dog at bay till he exhausted himself with barking and then waiting till he had his fill of water they bolted away refreshed and rested and soon left their behind it should be borne in mind that deer are powerless in the water the all important agent however of such as have the good fortune to take their pleasure among the in pursuit of the good deer is the rifle this description of piece if it may be so called or more properly sporting piece has like everything in undergone great improvement within the last twenty years it is now frequently two though it has been urged against this plan that the extreme impulse given to a ball by a whole turn in the of the barrel occasions a sacrifice of and consequently of range the by this mode of is made to two or three times as often as under the principle is foimd to be quite sufficient for projecting the plain ball with deer accuracy and effect with the common sort of rifle the best size for red deer shooting will be that which carries an ball the length of the barrel should be from two feet four to two feet six inches thb red desk talking the red deer is also known as the and the the height of the british is somewhere about four feet and he arrives at great weight in some in the duke of quarters it is asserted that have been shot which weighed upwards of thirty stone at we are told they have reached thirty four stone while the of the present is said to have killed one which alter the ofi d was removed weighed thirty stone the royal is the of the wild there was a tame one once kept at a shooting lodge of lord s which attacked all who came near it except the and at last was removed to the park at he became so savage and expert with his that mr was informed he had killed two horses and that no one dared to pass his haunt unless he knew them the red deer is fond of water to which he has recourse as well for pleasure as for protection when pressed by hounds we passed during the day writes a several forest in full use â that is moss holes where the plunge up to the neck and roll about to cool themselves in summer and autumn when they come out again black as pitch they look like the evil of the mountain in former times used to fasten with the points upwards in these places and when the threw himself into the hole he became the full grown both male and female during the summer season have back and of a brown with a row of pale yellow spots on the sides and a black streak along the in the winter these parts assume a grey brown the quarters and tail only remaining a pale the head neck belly and legs are of a grey brown tint a broad brown streak passing down the forehead and nose as the age of the animal its colours become darker and most particularly the male this description is intended only to apply to the family of european as a race those of the british islands are distinguished by that peculiar tint which has obtained for them the title of red deer the is known from the hind by his horns by a beard of hair under the throat and by in the upper jaw the young of both sexes are called the male to three years old is a at four a at five a and afterwards in the royal he is entitled a royal the which the growth of the horns appear at about six months in the shape of two covered with a hairy coat in the second year the horns come forth but generally straight and single

49William Black

in the third year these roots put out two in the fourth three in the fifth four and before the end of the sixth there are six or seven on either side however this is no strict rule the branches differ constantly in shape and number in the museum at they deer a horn having twenty eight while gives instances where a horn has had and another sixty three colossal are frequently found also in the irish indeed the around the lakes of probably contain the finest of red deer to be met with in the british islands about the beginning of april the sheds his horns â a process which according to the age the yoimg often carry their head till autumn according to mr the modem robin hood â they carry their horns as long as the hind carries her that is to say eight months both horns do not necessarily fall at the same time a day or two or even more occasionally soon after the old horn has fallen ofi a soft begins to appear which is quickly covered with a down like leaden coloured velvet this is seen every day to increase like the of a tree and rising by degrees shoots out the on each side the skin remains to cover it for some time and it continues to be furnished with blood vessels which supply the growing horns with nourishment and occasion the in them when that covering is stripped off the impression is deeper at the bottom where the vessels are larger and towards the point where they are smooth when the horns are at their ml growth they acquire strength and and the velvet covering or skin with its blood vessels up and begins to deer fell off which the animal to hasten by rubbing them against the trees and in this the whole head gradually its complete hardness and beauty the hind of the red deer goes with its young a few days over eight months in england the sporting uses of this noble specimen of the deer tribe are confined to the field the red deer is the proper of the hunter for that purpose he forms as a portion of a hunting establishment as the hounds or horses red deer are and brought into hunting condition by means of hard meat and the ordinary hunting stable process still hunting is not the sport we would see the youth trained to or we desired should take in the science of stalk young friend the good deer and ye will and have the opportunity but leave the chase of the calf to the and the household herd of s although we have attempted to the in the practical details of this first and most sport as at present used it must not be forgotten that its age of hath long past away the golden era of deer hunting in all its branches must be placed at that epoch of an early history when every hill and mountain every forest pass and flat every and was by its b natures the wild deer then held state in the chase as the noblest of animals it was fer superior in size and qualities to that of our times we find from horns that have been dug up in several parts of scotland that some large species of deer must even have become extinct within how short or how long a space of time it would appear difficult to determine portions of what are supposed to be an enormous of the have been also discovered at various intervals in the mud beds and of ireland the horns of the irish are said to have measured five feet from the tips to the roots with an of near eleven feet it is easy for the mind to picture the british of the days of as an of forest and be scattered by the of man while the beasts of the field out numbered by countless hosts the hairs of his head and bringing our view infinitely more within the of examination we stiu find the one of the most numerous of the of animals and the lord of its herds the general hunting matches of the era prove the multitudes of deer at will in the royal a thousand have been killed at a single match a hunting establishment of these days was indeed a ir with ceremonies embarrassed with and attended with distinctions more gravely important to the of those ages than we can now altogether comprehend no doubt also if the red deer was then larger the races of men were superior in size and muscular power and more hardy than at deer king present their frames were in their lungs were to any extent hy the atmosphere of and hy the fiery of the hunters and mighty men of old knew of artificial light the dawn and the dusk god s light and shadow these were their the midday and twilight of these were their fashionable periods of and thus with of morning dew and of iron they prepared to take the field and grasp the monarch if need were in a hand to horn did not old custom make this life more sweet than that of painted pomp are not these woods more free from peril than the envious court here feel we but the penalty of adam the seasons difference as the icy and of the winter s wind already at the conquest the red deer had been hunted to the of their species and our did their utmost for its preservation and increase they heavy from those who on deer and life for life if was the doom to the who the gives a curious translation of a passage of s relative to the of the it is in the form of a dialogue and runs thus â i am a hunter to one of the kings â

49William Black

how do deer you exercise your art â i spread my and set them in a fit place and instruct my hounds to pursue the wild deer till they come to the unexpectedly and so are entangled and i them in the â cannot you hunt â yes with hounds i follow the wild deer â what wild deer do you chiefly take â and rein deer and and sometimes the slow hut certain march of civilization notwithstanding every effort to the contrary gradually deer king all but many of the noblest of the forest bears wolves â these with us at length and at different periods became extinct the or or red deer as population advanced the circle of its became and until it sprung upwards to the inaccessible of the mountains and there it appeared to have become at once fierce shy and wary this at times in the scotch holds or the wild western tracts of ireland would turn at bay like the roman in the upon its or leaping beyond their reach roar out its challenge and defiance this description will not appear exaggerated to those who are in the old border tales of chivalry like the late lamented sir walter scott whose lady of the lake the of many of them in its vividly splendid and of the red deer and its haunts stiu less will it be found to vary from fidelity by the enthusiastic deer who has conquered the difficulties of the sport or who glories in them and who finds in the a not less noble though a less dangerous foe than the of old a of the time of the eighth thus explained to that monarch the various uses besides food for which the creature served â we go a and after that we have slain red deer we off the skin bye and bye and setting of our on the inside thereof for want of cunning we play the and measuring so deer much thereof as shall reach up our the upper part thereof with holes that the water may where it enters and stretching it up with a strong of the same our so and please your grace we make our shoes therefore we using such manner of shoes the rough side in your grace s of england we be called rough footed in ireland there is still a solitary remnant of wild hunting followed much after the fashion of the early days of the sport this is pursued on the banks of the lake of with much zest it is said that the french invasion in of that placed so many arms in the hands of the western as to occasion the of the red deer of this locality for still keeping their weapons of offence after the danger was over they turned them upon these noble animals an anecdote is related of the immense power of the wild the emperor was attacked by a red deer of great size which lifted him from his horse by merely one of his horns in the sovereign s belt although the emperor was quickly released from his enemy by the assistance of his the received in the attack proved the hunted the wild on horseback at a time they had not universally retreated to such holds as ben ben and the wild and almost inaccessible reaches of and such haunts would the rider b deer and scare even s we extract from s pilgrimage the account given of the earl of s famous hunt of the red deer in the year â the manner of the hunting is this five or six hundred men rise early in the morning and they themselves various ways and seven eight or even ten miles compass they bring or chase in the deer in many two three or four hundred in a heard to such or such a place as the shall them then when the day is come the lords and gentlemen of their companies ride or go to the said places sometimes up to the through and rivers and then they being come to the place down on the ground till those which are called the bring down the deer but as the proverb says of a bad cook so these men their own fingers for besides their bows and arrows which they carry with them can hear now and then a going off which they seldom discharge in vain then after we had stayed three or we might perceive the deer appear on the hills round about us their heads making a show like a wood which being followed close by the are chased down into the valley where lay then all the valley on each side being with a hundred couple of strong irish they are let loose as occasion serves upon the heard of that with the dogs deer and in the space of two fat were which after were disposed some one way and some another twenty or thirty miles and more than enough left for us to make merry withal at our being come to our lodgings there was such and as if cook had heen there to have the in his feathers â the kitchen being on the side of a many and pots and many turning and winding with great of as baked roast and de beef mutton kid fish salmon chickens and good ale white and or and most potent all this and more than these we had continually in superfluous abundance caught by and brought by my lord s tenants and to our camp which consisted of fourteen or fifteen hundred men and horses it is said that the red deer may be although with more difficulty than the other species martial relates of a deer that he was used to the bridle and to the present made to the emperor of a deer than a that bore both saddle and we cannot

49William Black

resist giving the young in conclusion north s of the death of the red deer it is so thoroughly â yonder by the stands a red deer the east wind he an enemy in that but death comes upon him with stealthy foot from the west and if and be now his shall be entangled in the and his hoofs beat the heavens flourish the rifle â a as of iron â and a hiss accompanying the explosion â and the king of the bounding up into the air with his higher than ever waved s down stone dead where he stood for the blue has gone through his and lightning could hardly have withered him into more of life he is an enormous animal what roll him over once on his side â see up to our breast reaches the branch he is a of ten his eye has lost the flash of freedom â the tongue that the is bitten through by the clenched teeth â the of his feet has felt that fe frost â the wild heart is hushed and tame â and there the monarch of the mountains â the king of the cliffs â the grand of the â the of the â the of the deserts â the royal of the woods and forests â yea the very prince of the air and of thunder of all his beams lies motionless as a dead by the way side â he who at dawn had borrowed the wings of the wind to carry him across the ii shooting come where the bell child of the breathes its fragrance o er and gaily the fountain leaps from the mountain green come to our home and free see through the the young mom is coming like a veil round her the silver mist curled deep as the s rays bright as the s blaze the of day in the east is led the red is scattering from his golden wing with the radiance that the day peace in our health in our mountain who would not hie to the away far from the haunts of man mark the grey seek the lone the pride of our birds of the here is their resting place mid the brown heath where the mountain dwells shooting come then the bloom with its wild perfume fragrant and thy welcome shall be gaily the fountain leaps from the mountain green come to our home of the and there is no species of rural sport of which the characteristics are so picturesque and so wild as those of shooting fox hunting and shooting both lead their remote from cities but though they be wild sports the season of the year peculiar to them the scenes in which they are pursued of all the attributes of picturesque or beautiful it is the golden time of the year to the young amateur of the we are still among the hills and of the land of brown heath for after all for shooting scotland is the only place in many districts of ireland abound among the of with which that country is and in the northern of england they have been of late so carefully preserved as to afford sport but stem and wild is the chosen land of the few attempt the sport in the mountains except such as happen to be to the matter bom â the native â or their guests in the season of the year in scotland shooting quarters are as commonly let to yearly tenants or on lease as the use of the land is hired out to the farmer we do not pretend to offer counsel to those who are about to rent a shooting u e h further than by that as a general principle they use before concluding their the historian joe miller relates that a party who purchased an estate to contain a hanging wood foimd a in one of the fields we imagine a good many who have taken quarters on the assurance that they would furnish red game discovered that the supply was chiefly confined to the that go with the ground in capacity of â a non shooting according to act of parliament in scotland on the th and in ireland on the th of august of course there are seasons in which the are more mature in june than in others in october but that has nothing to do with the matter we are speaking of an act of parliament which of course has nothing to do with reason or common sense those who take time by the and begin at the commencement of the season have light work of it â like all who have to deal with â particularly of the â we will imagine our in both senses of the word has reached his quarters in good time as becomes a i do not mean by good time the peep of morning â eight or nine o clock is quite early enough give the birds time to eat their or they are off before you get within visiting distance in to the the early bird gets the first worm it is notorious that he who his dogs among the shooting at nine fills his bag more surely and satisfactorily than he who goes to work when the stars are up when have done feeding they lie better and afford more double shots to say nothing of scattering the conveniently for the evening sport besides let him be assured that walking a for twelve hours is by no means exercise to be sneered at the should begin at the lowest point down wind thereby giving his dogs the advantage of drawing up his object also must be to drive the birds towards some central portion of his beat he will be attended by two or three sharp fellows for the purpose of marking down the he as well as

49William Black

turning them into his quarters if he has a companion one of the two should make a wide circle so as to head and stop them for they will often run half a mile or more after they are set when a pack is on the wing and appears to have flown beyond the reach of sight keep the eye forward in the direction they have taken and you may observe them when they their wings previous to the colour of the being so like that of the is the reason you cannot distinguish them when just above it in rapid flight should your beat range along a mountain side the birds will be less likely to leave the ground when flushed or put up they will most probably fly along the hill side and after a turn or two taken when out of your sight they will alight though at shooting s some distance upon the slope or the nature of the ground and the must furnish hints as to their probable position but if you mark the direction of their flight when preparing to it will help you to a shrewd guess early in the year and before they have been much shot they will be found always to leave the places where they are met with as a rule it may be observed that all game when raised are apt to settle on lower ground moreover when they begin to move on the feed they are more easily than when at rest and of course more easily brought to a point for which reason towards evening the best sport may be looked for whatever may be your ignorance or experience of the district you are shooting over the best plan will always be to consult the and as to where the are most plentiful and arrange your mode of operation accordingly when time has been wet the best will be found high up the hills when very dry or in the and hollows between them but even this will depend upon the peculiarities of the districts for instance if there be or any supply of water high up the hills or even on their sides there will the be met with people accustomed to the neighbourhood can help you to these particulars to a certainty very likely to more important information the resort of the game you are seeking when you have gone forth and are on the ground you purpose beating avoid such spots as are bare of g e cover and where the heath has been burnt but where patches of old and young lie scattered together with aad pools filled with water look out for a point in the middle of the day particularly when the weather is lie without moving and are consequently veiy difficult to find storms or high winds make them very wild the best way to approach them then is from below they cannot see you so plainly as when descending from ground above them in rain it is next to impossible to in with them beside it being very questionable fun to range up to the in a sort of vegetable ocean they wont road an inch having like yourself no taste for wandering in as moist as the coral gardens of the and take wing before you are within practice range you must not beat over th same line too often if constrained ever so much for want of room not more than twice a week when disturbed or broken do not pack together again sometimes for a day or two these birds are said by some writers to change their lying according to the state of the weather this is not as regard but only in reference to haunts as shelter from strong sunshine tempest or rain they resort to the lee of a hill or them to strong but only where such come within scope of their flight neither do they wander fer to feed they will merely make to the nearest patch of young the fresh tops of which constitute their food e for the most part all the year round in frost and snow they are found among the of which there often lie out till christmas you are not to count on this wild mountain sport young as an achievement to he without earnest exertion what then â though deem it but a foolish chase and marvel men should quit their easy chair the way and long long league to trace â oh there is sweetness in the mountain air and life whidi ease can never hope to share as says never mind the pain your delight will it which according to s will cure it wherefore we take it was a very different affair a couple of centuries ago from what it is now let your care he for your dog and your gun if you will take our counsel your dogs shall he and use all zeal and the experience of older heads than your own in their selection have a horror of near they are the very worst of all for of these â that is â hunt a brace at a time it will be quite enough before buying your dogs see that they have round hard feet and are well hung upon their legs to borrow an expression from the coach maker s above all look to the head â the knowledge box as it is but most called it ought to be broad between the ears which should hang down close with a fall or under the eyes shooting the nose long and not broad the nostrils very soft and moist you will of course ascertain that they are of a pure breed such you can hardly fell to great excellence by never allowing a fault to go unnoticed by not them so severely as to break their courage and by killing plenty of game over them

49William Black

which indeed will equally serve to give spirit to your own exploits never permit a dog to run in when a bird falls the best remedy for this mischievous vice is the collar called and if you have patience enough in the first instance let him run in and tear his bird to pieces while you load this may make him ashamed of himself then walk up quietly and without noticing the of the take him by the ear back to the spot whence you fired shaking him earnestly crying down then take your whip and lay it over him well calling out between every down down continue this for some time and when you have done beating force him to remain down for several minutes then speaking slowly to him lead him to where the dead bird and lift it before his nose by following this system upon every occasion of a dog running in â he be good for nothing â you will cure him of running at shot remember always making a dog down when birds rise is the only way to his in the field north says somewhere that shooting after red deer is for a while at least felt to be like writing an in a lady s aft r t se having given the to a tragedy or an poem t is like taking to catching in the sand one s toes on one s return from s straits in a that arrived at v ith sixteen fish each calculated at ten of oil he says we do not admire that which a poultry yard and bam door fowls are constructed on opposite principles the former being the latter tame creatures when in their respective perfection of ail dull the seems to us sporting in a preserve and we believe that we show that feeling with the grand the sign of a lonely inn in the ought not to be the hen and chickens some we know sick of common sport love slaughter from sunrise to sunset of the first day of the they must bag their hundred brace that can only be done where prevail and keep and where you have half a dozen attendants to head your double barrels for a round dozen of hours spent in a perpetual fire commend us to a plentiful of game to ground which seems occasionally barren and which it needs a fine instructed eye to and thereof to detect the latent riches fear and hope are the of the else would they lose their a gentleman ought not to shoot like a any more than at to play like a nor four in hand ought he to tool his like the c â shoot in a style from that of the on the one hand and the on the other neither killing nor missing every bird but true to the spirit of the doctrine leaning with a decided inclination towards the first rather than the second if we shoot too well one day we are pretty sure to shoot as ill another in short we shoot like gentlemen scholars poets philosophers as we are and looking at us you have a sight of him who walks in glory and in joy following his dog upon the mountain side a man evidently not shooting for a and performing a match from the mean motives of or ambition but blazing away at his own sweet will and without seeming to know it making a great noise in the world look with thine eyes on yonder bank â yonder sunny bank beneath the shades of that fantastic cliff s shadow â thou not there a miraculous amount of feathers they have packed â they have packed early as it is yet in the season and the question is what we do we have it take up a position about a hundred yards in the rear on yonder with the colonel s fire from the rest mind from the rest right into the centre of that bed of and we shall be ready with brown and her sister to pour in our upon the remains as they rise so that not escape shooting shall one single feather let our covering to the present be your signal bang what a flutter now take that and that and that and that ha as at the springing of a mine the whole company has perished collect the dead twenty one life is short and by this style we take time by the ab the red of or fowl is well entitled to head the catalogue of british game birds inasmuch as it is peculiar to these islands never having been foimd elsewhere it belongs to the in common with the varieties of its species under the heads of the and the black cock as well as the and also individuals of the class it is still plentiful in england scotland and in ireland it is found in the northern of england and in most of tlie islands as well as the continent of that kingdom it was formerly abundantly spread over the more districts of north britain but the of modem days must now himself in the whither has not yet extended and in the most remote parts of these such as the range and the of he will still find the red nearly unchanged in habits and disposition there he is still the continuous of the still as it were the creation of the land of rock and of lake and there at dawn shall he be by his loud shrill call and there at set of sim shall his note the picturesque solitude in summer it is true the s whistle and the mournful cry of the golden may vary the monotony of the s call but in winter he shall seem with the red deer the only thing for miles around here it is not fearful as in the

49William Black

cultivated districts nor until warned by the gun will it become wild and but permit the approach of man but by the peculiar note which is probably one of warning to his family when cultivation advances into the either wholly or in part its effect is observed in the retiring of the game in their numbers and in an alteration of the habits of the birds and their choice of food in the shooting midst of the wildest districts may now be found detached spots of culture here the instead of feeding on the heath tops and other mountain plants picked from beneath the snow will for their winter s food to these grounds and where before the grain is cleared off they will rob the crops of the and obtain a liberal supply where the grain in the midst of december still out the invariably might be seen crowded with in the lower lands they arrive as and hunt for that which has been scattered and left in the or even in the fields the birds that feed thus on grain are esteemed by no means of so a as those that pasture on the delicate young not a tenth of the number of birds formerly seen are now observed save as we have said in the and and the shyness and of those that remain render them difficult nay well nigh impossible of approach their with the dark brown moss and heath in such unbroken as to deceive the eye of the most practised the is his best friend and assistant in the discovery of which have been disturbed by the however superior and more attractive may be the dash of the among the blue heath in the early part of the season the red pairs very early in the year even in a mild month in january the female begins to r eggs at at r â e bo til for a or m i m the wear mn im or two or a f f it from tbe i m the hold m foe of tlie y u found is tlie n seasons it f nearly n allied ill p the â ts hues tint jim vi â ea ill the f j e is a rich l ii ig ill wig however r the e j x i f i e j n ca th i a sign of and i of is chapter iii shooting this right royal though for the present among us holds out promise of being restored at no very distant time the vast forests of fir which begin to clothe the home and fitting food for this king of game birds and the efforts recently made by their to renew the race by fix m the north of europe can hardly fail of final success mr the traveller was influenced by mr the wealthy london to procure a supply which he did to the of twenty nine these mr presented to the of the history of this attempt to restore the cock of the wood to the game of the british islands is given in some letters addressed by a son of mr to mr and published jn that gentleman s admirable work an of rural sports after the reasons which induced his father to send a commission to mr to procure shooting for him a cargo of â a proposal made by him lord to attempt the restoration of that bird upon the occasion of his shooting with that nobleman over his â he proceeds to state that the number above named reached england in in charge of his father s irish a portion of these birds were out in the autumn of that year and the remainder kept in a house in he tells us a brace only was reared by the keeper but two fine were seen in the woods in the summer of sixteen were forwarded to so that in all thirteen cock and twenty nine reached lord the others being destroyed by the of in the spring of instead of attempting to rear any mr lord s head keeper placed eggs laid by the birds kept in the house in the nests of grey who and brought them up in a wild state according to this keeper s account the experiment was very successful in he states that forty nine young were bom in the district under his care but unfortunately they could hardly be said to have been brought up as the were soon upon them and they made their appearance in the shops of the â a hen has been offered this season to a in princes street now we would of the existing of the game â why was not the transferred to the care of a police shooting officer if a had been submitted to bis acceptance we presume be would asked tbe be procured bis and a was at tbe time as little likely to come honestly into tbe bands of a as a but then the cock of the wood was only game and game stood and stands in the conventional of no man s the feet that very probably the papa and mamma of the stood mr in as much as a pair of his horses to the contrary notwithstanding we know but little of the fair sporting after the mr affords us a melancholy account of its slaughter in bis country there be us it is shot in the night time by torch light this plan which be states it as his opinion is very destructive and we should think on good grounds is be believes principally confined to the southern provinces and thus effected â towards people watch the last flight of tbe before they go to the direction they have taken into the forest is then carefully marked by means of a prostrate tree or by one which is for the after dark two men

49William Black

start in pursuit of the birds one of them is provided with a gun the other with a long pole to either end of which a is attached the man with tbe now goes in advance the other remaining at the prostrate tree to keep it and shooting the two lights in an exact line with each other by this curious contrivance they cannot well go astray in the forest thus they proceed occasionally halting and taking a fresh mark until they come near to the spot where they have reason to suppose the birds are they now carefully examine the trees and when they discover the objects of their pursuit which are said to remain gazing at the fire blazing beneath they shoot them at their leisure should there be in the same tree however it is always necessary to shoot those on the lower branches in the first instance for unless one of these birds falls on its companions it is said the rest will never move and in consequence the whole of them may be readily killed now this we are constrained to pronounce â even to the reproach of hear how mr another used to go about his sport i usually shot the he says in company with my dog a she commonly flushed them from the ground where for the purpose of feeding on c they are much during the autumn months in this case if they only saw the dog their flight in general was short and they soon perched in the trees now as has the eye of an eagle mostly have and the foot of an she was not long in following them sometimes however these birds were in the pines in the first instance but as my dog was possessed shooting of an extraordinary fine sense of smelling she would often wind or in other words scent them for a veiy long distance when she found the she would station herself under the tree where the was sitting and hy keeping up a constant direct my steps towards the spot should our young friends ever have occasion to shoot this we trust they will adopt the plan of mr in preference to that of mr the ca the wood or known to british as cock of the shooting wood the is the largest and strongest of the birds of this section of the it is also the most beautiful in we speak in the present tense although the original of the british islands must be deemed to have been for many years utterly extinct those at the present day found or reared in our country being in the first case from and various parts of northern europe the powerful bill of the male bird that of a bird of prey it is white deeper in hue at the end the head and neck are dark grey approaching towards black the feathers of the body are darkest in their and closely with minute black they are of lance like form those below the chin are longer and raised at will quite black but bordered with a beautiful glossy fringe of purple and green hues below the eyes are patches of white the top of the back is of a splendid orange brown in lines of the wings are the same the of a brown the lowest parts of back and are in a sort of brown grey colour handsomely watered with bars of black the effect at a distance giving a grey colour the upper tail feathers connect together at the centre they are weu nigh black shot with a grey white tipped the tail itself black and marked with white about two inches from its point forming a broad and line or bar across it d shooting the belly is black with white spots at the centre the breast feathers of the bright green black so â closely and finely as to present a breast to the enemy that would turn shot from its well guarded surface the side and flank feathers are of a ground colour with l the are the feathers of grey hue long behind of loose texture like the fowls twice the length of the hind toes which they hide a fine of this beautiful bird might measure from two feet ten inches to three feet at its full extent the female is foimd greatly inferior in size specimens brought under our notice have varied however in length speaks of one about three and twenty inches long which sat but seventeen inches high while a cock in the same cargo would have sat upon his perch on a branch of a tree two feet above iu the female is marked to the grey hen only its hues are more distinct it is of an brown and clearly barred with black while the decline into paler tints the breast is a rich orange colour here and there over where the black bars the bill is of a hue than in the male bird a dark horn colour growing paler at the tip the females we have seen have all been smaller than the specimen spoken of by in days of the ancient forests of scotland and the sister kingdom were abundantly supplied shooting with this magnificent bird whose noble size and beauty rendered it the of the its in ireland dates from an early period smith to this bird in his history of ireland completed in as extinct since the of the irish woods the last recorded as killed in scotland met his death in the vicinity of more than sixty years back thus the destruction in the was infinitely more gradual in its character by the exertions of many and gentlemen of north britain the bids to become once more the and of our woods lord made efforts to wards its these were at first unsuccessful the earliest from took place in but the male bird died

49William Black

the following year were better managed in lord made some attempts that were at once successful for fix m forty nine couples that he received of which he turned out a portion and kept the remainder in confinement seventy nine young birds in were accounted to be birds have been reared in confinement at mr s estate in the of had some of these birds and some birds have been in the at mr an interesting t relative to these birds he says the yoimg better under the foster care of the grey hen than if left to maternal shooting protection when a s eggs are discovered they are divided among several grey whose nests the search out for this purpose the grey however will not sit upon them unless some of their own eggs are also left but when the young are they will pay equal regard to both and it is not until the are fully grown that they drive away their step mothers who then dread them as much as we can imagine how splendidly furnished once appeared the woods and of ireland and scotland when the perched and in numbers on the trees with its gay of the solitary scenery with a beauty of its â when the black cock and red were as plentiful as â and and fowl hovered over lake or surmounted of rocks like the spirits of the that such shall ever be the case again can never be expected nor should it be desired the disappearance of the large tribes of wild beasts and birds marks ever the paths of and in the picturesque for the partially the social condition of mankind has infinitely the best of the exchange it is very rarely that the romance and the reality of life are foimd living together on good terms the food of the consists principally of the young shoots of fir of which their flesh is said to taste and of the and of the forests shooting and they the call of this bird is similar to that of the black cock and its habits in almost eveiy respect strictly says it the female by its call from some eminence or open spot and after the season of is past it to undergo the process of leaving the hen to perform the duties of and to watch over her brood till the begin to change their characters bill short very strong and at base nostrils and hidden by closely set feathers naked skin above the eyes in spring and brightening in hue wings short tail ample and rounded at base naked feet edges of toes fringed long types europe northern asia north america f â m chapter iv black cock shooting there is no bird of game so easily come at early in the season august as the black familiarly known as the black cock nor one so difficult of approach when the winter has set in black game do not pair like the red so shooting the hen and her young ones before experience makes the latter sage is as easy as a flock of but getting a crack at an old cock at any period of the year is another affair altogether he is found generally alone sometimes with half a score of other old all on the qui unlike the practice in reference to hen as we shall see presently it is fashionable to destroy the of the black family for it is a race they cannot live with their red brethren upon decent terms any more than white men can with their brothers of similar hue the difference however is that while the or red man of the traveller goes to the wall the animal of two legs and black cock shooting of â rich brown of the is carefully and preserved that there is a difficulty in these relations â as indeed the case is with relatives generally â we are assured by many authorities mr â that many gentlemen are now beginning to shoot the observing the great of black game and of in some districts this according to mr c as the dreadful old women say who proper names under the most circumstances may be in part attributed to the advance of cultivation he is speaking of scotland but i cannot help thinking the black game have a good share in driving the as i know of one instance where the latter were killed off and the former again returned to their old haunts in like manner not to write it if the family of yankee was killed off there is little doubt that the red gentlemen would return to their old haunts and the be great in the the young â our especial concern â is about to engage against black game not the of the vulgar tongue but the of and is consequently to learn how the campaign should be entered upon let him attend our son make acquainted with the haunts of the having discovered these rely upon it they will be found hard by some of rushes on the free when you get a point near cover of black cock shooting that description and especially if your dogs road be sure the is not afar the old hen is the first to rise â down with her the will lie like the eggs they were in before they were they are the brutes in nature all to sticks not to except nothing this as we have already is in autumn pass the morrow of all souls and they change their characters wholly then to walk them up to your gun and bring them down to it is just the sort of accomplishment not to be acquired then they feed around the in societies of two or three scores with ever on the alert the best mode of out them is before their feeding time to yourself in a near the spot

49William Black

they resort and there wait their coming or place yourself behind the wall which the field is sure to be and by a stone out of it you have a glorious but this must be within range of their feeding quarters for they are so exquisitely acute of hearing and sight that a move however slight you where there are but very few corn fields by no means an unusual neighbourhood in the the on the sides of the hills may be beaten with good prospect of black when these consist of aiid your chance will be greatly improved place yourself above and send some one with a steady dog beneath keep in advance of these as they beat let the black shooting keep outside and beat the making a great you will find a single of more practical use th tn a dozen in cover shooting of any kind unless where several guns are at work more mischief than good comes of a crowd of one and one old dog is all you want when you get a point cause the bush to be well struck at tjie side opposite to you by this plan you will kill more game than those who put up ten times as much like everything that flies the air or walks the earth or the deep or the mud black game is to the s arts touching on them mr remarks i may put gentlemen on their guard against two ways of and black game i believe not generally known â the first is hunting the yoimg before the are with a very active or if the dog understands the business he will chop a great many in a day on a in i saw a sheep dog accompanied by a young farmer performing to admiration i had the curiosity to watch their proceedings i saw the dog snap up a young quick as thought the other plan is to set traps on the or in the green springs where tiie birds come to drink and to eat small insects this last may be continued all the season now like st s famous the publication of these choice for seems of very questionable policy peter s so black cock shooting never heard of a thing as a horse s teeth to cause him leave his com in the until the question was put hy his of all human institutions the system of game preserving in this country is that which is the most opposed to common sense and the natural instinct of prudence landed select their ordinarily from those men who have been the most notorious of their yet they never go to for their â how is this v black the black or black cock â this noble bird both england and scotland although spread over the former it is found on the black cock shooting borders of the two is plentiful farther north and abundant in those frequent haunts of its favour â the sub sheep countries it is found in most of the wild districts extending to also in the islands of and the of england in which it is known are in the new forest and in and the portions of and they are also l plentiful it is said in the forest of in the upper part of the of the bird is of a rich steel blue of the lower parts pitch black the wing are also pitch black with the the greater ones are fringed with white thus a across the wings visible in flight the under tail are white after the process there is a tinge of brown with the full which again changes at the close of winter the peculiar feature in the construction of the black is the singular form of its tail the feathers of which curve outwardly and spread at its fullest development into the shape of a these thus would seem to signify some peculiar of flight but the does not prove so for their ascent is neither of long duration nor to any known habit of the species we are told that it holds in this tail and silken to the of africa and india the female is smaller than the male black cock although the form of its tail is much the same that the scarcely half an inch in depth its is pale orange as the ground colour yellow white at the throat breast and belly there is a shot of dark purple on the sides of the neck bars and of black cover the the of the feathers on the wings and shoulders are black to a fainter hue and at the tips similar to those of the the bill of both male and female is black or nearly so there is little variety of in this species although speaks of a grey hen that he had shot by sir whose entire colour was a dull grey and whose cross were of a darker shade the black are partial to moist and meadows of rank and luxuriant they appear to care little for pastures but choose in preference those and passes between high where grow tbe natural of the and the willow or the and where is both deep and thick in such favoured spots they are never at a loss for food are protected from the night cold and from the rays of the sun here in flocks they will resort to their feeding grounds young and old frequently joining together and here they will sport or rest during the day s heat on the hill side and pick up food morning and evening the females are left in charge of their young they build their nests on the black cock ground near water and the parents the when to the low damp where the tender seeds of the hill and rushes form their nourishment sir william s account of the black cock is so

49William Black

that we extract it for the amusement of our readers â this bird is in the warmer sunny days at the conclusion of winter and commencement of spring the after feeding may be seen arranged on some turf fence rail or their wings their tails and as it were their love call if the weather now continues warm the flocks soon separate and the select some conspicuous spots from whence they endeavour to drive all rivals and commence to display their arts to the females the places selected at such seasons are generally the turf of a former which has been and is now grown over or some of those beautiful spots of fresh and grassy pasture which are well known to the of a pastoral district here after perhaps many battles been fought and rivals the noble black cock takes his stand at the first dawn of day and where the game is abundant the on eveiy side the humming call they around the spots selected trailing their wings the throat and neck and ng up the of these parts and the now brilliant above the eyes raising and their b black cock shooting tails and displaying the beautifully under tail covers he is soon heard by the females who crowd around their lord and master this season of admiration does not continue long the females or grey to seek proper thb situations for their eggs while the losing their feeling for love and fighting re in small parties and seek the shelter of the brush and beds to complete a new and are seldom seen except early in the morning or at evening when they exhibit a degree of timidity the very reverse of their former boldness and vigilance the young may be deemed full grown early in september but even then in districts that have cock shooting never been disturbed they will often suffer themselves to be mouthed by without rising we have spoken of their summer food as the of plants and the seeds of rank in winter they eat the young fir shoots the of the and the and leaves which so frequently taint their flesh where however the bird the low grounds they resort to the and fields and feed during frosty weather most gratefully upon the leaves they also resort to the and from it by hundreds with great industry a plentiful they are sometimes approached while for this purpose by means of the fences and shot at although at this season they are most shy and wary this bird has been long extinct in ireland although smith in his of cork it as met with in that locality it is found in most european countries france germany and even in italy in it is the of authors black or cock grey hen of british authors of so named the form of its tail as a conclusion to these notices of the family the following extract from the letter of an american will not be out of place â there is not one wild bird or beast in america unless it be a few ducks precisely similar to its european the is a distinct black cock variety minor rarely exceeding eight and never eleven he is red and is in the northern states a summer bird of passage coming early in the spring sometimes before the snow is off the ground laying its young and going off when the winter sets in to the rice fields and warm wet of and the the bird called in the eastern states the and everywhere southward and westward of new the is in reality a â the or tipped â a pine mountain loving bird found in every state i believe of the union in the and even up to there are many other in north america of which none are found in the states except the great abundance in long island new and the or fowl formerly found in north eastern parts of though on long island it is now quite extinct and nearly so in and new they are still killed on s a little island off the coast of where they are now very vigorously preserved and in and all the western states they literally swarm on the the a small and very rare kind is found in occasionally and in a portion of new york between the head waters of the and canada frontier four or five other species are found in and on the but none of these though well known to the can be in the s list of game the of virginia is the of new york commonly known as the though of late there has been a stiff as to his name and it is proved i believe beyond that he is not exactly a nor a either but a sort of half way link between them the modem call him an a very silly name by the way since it is only the greek for to which he is in truth the more nearly connected his habits are far more like those of the than of the and he should be called in the now disposed of that which by a slight may be termed the of shooting before entering upon its more household stuff allusion comes in to its intellectual agents although as a principle we have recommended the use of the in especial to the young of the the first place among shooting dogs must be to the in style and dash of in courage and capacity of ground in beauty of form shooting â and grace of attitude in variety of colour and elegance of clothing no animal of his species will at all bear comparison with him as respective merits of the and the however have long been a question among we have much pleasure in laying before the reader the opinion on this subject of one of the most experienced authorities in

49William Black

england we speak of mr the well known of the to whom we are indebted for the letter on that interesting inquiry â having had considerable experience in breeding from some of the first in england ireland and scotland â amongst them those of the late duke of captain mr and other celebrated and having also spent many years and much money in the endeavour to produce a superior description of and an account of my progress may be useful i begin with my opinions concerning by stating where i consider them superior and where inferior to are better for shooting as they are in disposition more and closer the latter a property of all others the most desirable if you want to kill birds after the first fortnight in the season they want also less water than who often much in hot weather in districts where it is not to be found true require more walking to to beat their ground properly but i am persuaded that if instead of racing through the middle of a field as though they were walking for shooting a and thus their dogs no earthly young were to go slower than they generally do they would do more justice to themselves their dogs and their preserves few can stand work on the where the cream of all shooting is to be had unless they have been bred or have been regularly worked on them i know many gentlemen who greatly prefer them when so bred to but scotch are not so highly bred as dogs and therefore more calculated for rough work many are crossed with the which gives them speed and courage as well as hai of foot but the produce of the cross is generally too high to be managed with ease being difficult to break from running or to down charge and for the most part very hard mouthed you may reckon on six days out of every twelve being rainy in tbe the wet and injuries from burnt c cause the soon to become foot sore particularly between the toes as he has no hair to protect his feet like the high bred are also delicate in their and will not eat the scotch meal at first gentlemen should have plenty of sent to their shooting quarters to mix with it as meat can seldom be had in the remote countries they should give orders that their dogs should be fed immediately on their return from the and their feet carefully washed with salt and water indeed if gentlemen saw to those things themselves they would find their account shooting in it that such dogs as would not feed well were never taken out the following day a in time nine is a good wholesome i now proceed to speak of the the irish are veiy beautiful both in and out of the field but so hot headed that unless always at work and kept under very strict discipline they constantly spoil sport for the first hour frequently the best in the whole day i have shot to many and found them all pretty much alike i had one the of whose bad and good qualities would fill half a dozen as long as i kept him to regular hard work a better never entered a field i refused forty guineas for him and shot him a month afterwards for his bad deeds i bred from him out of an english and some of the produce turned out very good one of them i shot to myself for eight seasons my reasons for parting with him i will presently explain unless to throw more dash into my i should never be tempted again to become master of an irish frequently are driven into or low cover in the middle of the day which few will face i know it is not the fashion to shoot to dogs in cover but most true prefer shooting five brace of to or mute to fifty brace to in the latter case you stand sometimes an hour together without getting a shot and then they rise a dozen at a time like barn door fowls and as many are killed in a few hours as would serve for weeks of fair shooting p the in the season of i was asked for a week s shooting into by an old friend whose science in everything connected with sporting is first shooting rate then for the first time for many years i had my dogs english beaten hollow his breed was from pure russian crossed by an english dog which some years ago made a sensation in the sporting world from his extraordinary performances he belonged to the late joseph and had been sold for a hundred guineas although i could not but remark the excellence of my friend s dogs yet it struck me as i had shot over my own old favourite who had himself beat many good ones and had never before been beaten for eight years that his nose could not have been right for the got three points to his one i therefore resolved to try some others against them the next season and having heard a gentleman well known as an excellent judge speak of a brace of extraordinary dogs he had seen in the neighbourhood of his with his recommendation i purchased them i shot to them in august and their beauty and style of performance were spoken of in terms of praise by a correspondent to a sporting paper in september i took them into fully that i should give the the go by but i was again disappointed i found from the wide of my dogs and the noise consequent upon their going so fast through and particularly in the middle of the day when the sun was powerful and there was but little scent that they constantly put up their birds out of distance

49William Black

or if they did get a point that the game shooting would rarely lie till we could get to it the on the contrary being much closer their ground steadily â heads and up â and possessing perfection of nose in extreme heat wet or cold enabled us to bag double the head of game that mine did nor did they lose one solitary wounded bird whereas with my own dogs i lost six brace the first two days shooting most of them in standing com my old mend and patron having met with a severe accident while hunting determined to go to scotland for the next three years seeing that my dogs were well calculated for shooting as they had been broken and shot to on the and being aware of my anxiety to possess the breed of his he very kindly offered to exchange them for mine with a promise i would preserve a brace of for him although i had refused fifty guineas for my brace i most gladly closed with his offer since then i have hunted them in company with several dogs of high character but nothing that i have yet seen could equal them if not taken out for six months they are perfectly steady which is a quality rarely to be met with every must know that the fewer dogs he can do his work with properly the better for if they are in condition they cannot be too frequently hunted and their style of working become more familiar to him on this the whole comfort of shooting depends upon these grounds i shooting â contend that for all kinds of shooting therefore there is nothing equal to the russian or half bred in nose sagacity and eveiy other that a dog ought to possess it may appear an exaggeration but it is my opinion in which i am supported by many of the first in england that there is not one keeper in fifty that knows how to manage and break a dog it is a common practice for to take their dogs out for an hour or two twice or thrice a week morning or evening just before the of the season â what would be thought of training a horse in that way for a race over the flat or a chase hard and constant work is as necessary for a dog that has to hunt from morning to night and frequently for several successive days as for a race horse he should be taken out two or three hours daily in the middle of the day to use him to the heat for three or four weeks before the season begins and let me observe in conclusion that if his master were to adopt a similar course he would have good cause to rejoice in the precaution before the end of his first week s shooting another a large of sporting dogs thus answered our as to the kind of animal best suited to the general purpose of shooting â i have tried all sorts and at last fixed upon a well bred as the most useful i say for not many of the dogs with stems shooting â which one sees now a days are worthy the name of object to on account of their requiring more water but there are generally sufficient and holes on the for them and even in the early part of september a horse pond or ditch is to be met with often enough for or shooting the is superior the thorns in the cover and the wet in the without coming to heel shivering like a pig in the i have always found too that when well broke are finer tempered and not so easily as should they get an kick don the his tail and forgets it much sooner than the my shooting lying near the takes in every description of country and i always find that after a good rough day the will out tire the though perhaps not start quite so flash in the morning i always teach at least of my dogs to bring his game which a world of trouble both in and out of cover but never allow him to stir for the bird until after should any of these remarks prove of service i shall feel most happy in having assisted a brother a few words on the management of shooting dogs in the building should be divided into having each a court and communicating with each other a brick or rather tile pavement is the best for the floors as it is easier washed and shooting â sooner than the common brick the court should be and each water never without a piece of in it twice or thrice give the dogs fresh straw for their beds put salt into their as it will prevent your dogs being with worms the specific for condition in any animal is plenty of good food and plenty of exercise your dogs to their meals as it teaches a well impressed lesson of obedience in summer wash them frequently with soft soap â the angel of also if possible give them a swim every day in hot weather of all things take care do not get a footing in your if they do it s long odds you never get rid of them probably the only radical cure in such a case is to pull it down after hunting in wood or cover examine them and let every be carefully picked off this is an absolutely necessary precaution when they are numerous or very small rubbing a dog well with sweet oil will kill them dogs should be well wiped and thoroughly with a brush and rubber after hunting in the manner horses are this will keep them in a very different condition from those that are suffered to lie down with the mud on their bodies to

49William Black

cake and r v shooting rise the mom hath kept for thee her pearls and take them while the light hangs on the dew locks of the night see throws her fair fresh tinted colours through the air come forth come forth tis very sin and to keep in there s joy and gladness in the skies from thy couch arise our life is short our moments run swift as the of the sun and like the or the rain once lost can ne er be traced each flow r hath wept and eastward bow d the far above the cloud to hymn his of praise is fled and all the birds their said there s joy and gladness in the skies from thy couch arise haste ere the sun hath drank the boon nature to her banquet around the smiling fields no more are waving with their golden store homeward bears the loaded the golden glories of the plain and nut brown are seen gliding among the screen there s joy and gladness in the skies from thy couch arise next in succession to fowl shooting comes the chase of the â for once to borrow a sporting term from our friends beyond the straits of like the red may be be called an national species of game we call them birds as taking of the whole family and if be any indication of quality we did not say condition as it might have come within the possibility of a they are entitled to this pre eminence as we shall show presently there are two kinds of the grey our if not exclusive sort and the red legged a foreigner of recent introduction and like other foreigners if we had never seen him it would have been no great loss according to act of parliament you are entitled to shoot them from the st of september to the st of february but especially on your own if you begin on the and finish on old twelfth day you will find your reward both in better sport and a better stock the amateur of the and shooting a good crop of game would do well remember the old catch â twas on the mom of the birds began to mate if you feel satisfied your ground will not be beaten before you reach it nine o clock is quite soon enough to take the field in september at that hour the which are not in the standing com will be met with in the the cover of old high grass in the and fields as yet they do not frequent when you have put up a you may make sure it will settle in the standing com to turn your sport to the best account have placed as to ascertain where they alight when disturbed they are not likely at this early period of the season to fly far but if shot at they will drop often close to you and lie as if they were dead from the effect of terror birds which thus drop and are very difficult to find with the best dogs your here will do you good service if not supplied with after having flushed your birds beat for them as closely as if you were looking for a needle in a barrel of hay indeed it ought to be the s that a bird which he seen is worth a score that he hopes to see besides nothing to make dogs more industrious and confiding â the latter a great point â than making them work on a spot where you are certain they find and where they do find in such cases too the odds are you kill your bird or birds and your shooting four footed friend looks in your face as who shall say all s well that ends well towards noon you will miss the from his ordinary haunt and meet with him beside some patch of water and having drank he repair to some bank or ridge for the purpose of himself at this hour yourself and your dogs to some place of shade and repose for the heat is too oppressive for or and the is sure to be bad about the birds will again begin to run and if a breeze too should put itself in motion look for sport afternoon shooting is ten per cent better than morning k the range you beat in the morning held a good head of birds go back to it unless very frequently disturbed are found more generally near ome than elsewhere as general rules the yoimg may adopt worse than the following â during the entire season he will find wheat and the best spots for holding moreover at all times of the year they lie more on the than is supposed therefore if and fail try the fellows the lands which are nearest the in particular late in the season the fellows are the first places to which the should direct his steps if the weather be fine and open he is sure to find his game there it will lie very close and most probably afford some choice double shots also he should now beat shooting covers the of and and seed patches and the long white grass of young this latter is very attractive from the seeds and insects with which it in storms and lie very close and in fine days which follow storms y rains cause them to lie extremely close in and therefore as well as for many other reasons it is not for sport so much for the prose details of our sport we will sum up with a touch of the poetical from the pen of colonel the of yoimg if birds are wild a who goes out with his man and has no other attendant bring in more game if he to mount that man or rather a light boy

49William Black

behind him because the moment the dog stands he can then by throwing the right leg over the horse s neck and leave the man in possession of the instead of being with a led horse which frequently the possibility of his on to mark a or follow up a towering bird moreover it requires no to discover that two horses make more noise than one and all noise after the first few weeks is the ruin of sport the gentleman with his would say â why not have three horses this i admit is a more dignified way of taking the field than the turn out of the trot behind but then we have the clatter of three horses with the clatter of two servants tongues an increase of noise that would set the birds on the run and it works published bt and hall strand new jn two vo price s letters by thomas or copied hj permission from an in tlie possession of tlie l gi proof of the plates on india price â s beauties of the poet mc of of e principal in lâ f i by eminent artists made expressly for the style of by or under the immediate of mb with r pre in two volumes post â from the italian a in op op with comments occasional passages notices of of e by hunt ž price j a or the hotel i by m sue r bt j ion wood artists the of v shooting remarkable let an intruder on a s nest and he shall find in the midst of a sort of uproar â the cries of the parents and the bustle of the brood â that the mother bird will hop away as though her wings were broken or as though and wounded she threw herself on the mercy of the enemy both parents are in the of the young we find in s first volume of illustrations of british an instance of the vigorous defence this usually timid bird will make when pushed to extremity and by the parental instinct â a person engaged in a field not far from my residence had his attention arrested by some objects on the ground which upon approaching he found to be two a male and female engaged in battle with a crow so successful and so absorbed were they in the issue of the contest that they actually held the crow till it was seized and taken from them by the spectator of the scene upon search the young birds lately were found concealed amongst the grass it would appear therefore that the crow a mortal enemy to all kinds of young game in attempting to carry off one of these had been attacked by the parent birds and with the above singular success in similar instances of the heroism of instinct may be traced the of all animal classes in the world s space even as the human parent will overcome the instinct of by the heart s impulse or the body s shooting courage so the bird the dog the elephant at times rise above instinct into heroism the of the is too well known to need beyond the statement that at breeding seasons its colours become deeper that in the male at that period the skin above the eyes becomes of a red colour while in the female the feather tips are then more distinctly marked with pale yellow grey its is subject to greater than almost any bird in the list of the cream coloured and pure white spots often and brown and pure black being observed in different specimens of this game it is not found in the districts of scotland characters bill short rather strong bending from the base nostrils uncovered by feathers but protected by an arched naked scale wings short fourth and fifth longest and feet naked toes united at the base by a types sc europe asia note â frequent lower countries and are partial to cultivation not only to the amount of their it is said that a in the number of cock birds occurs in the of each season in consequence of which the hen is so tormented by a number of that she drops one in one place and one in another until there remains for her but one cock and no nest the best shooting mode we are told to destroy the of is during the first weeks of the season to net the and destroy all the old leaving only as many young ones as or even one less for it is certainly better that the hen should look for the cock which she undoubtedly will find than a number of for a hen it should be recollected where old birds are left they will at the season drive off the and prevent their breeding for let any declare if ever on finding a single brace of in the shooting season that have not bred and are termed by the a pair he has found a near the same place where he found them which can only be accounted for by the old birds driving the young ones from the breeding grounds indeed if some of the are not killed every year the chances will be the district will in time become destitute of game when the eggs are the young birds can run at once and so immediate is this that they have been seen with parts of the shell still sticking to them when eggs are introduced under the hen she will them and rear them with her own the favourite and one of the most necessary sorts of food of the young is eggs these must be procured for birds under foster care the male and female bird have a different call the cock has a sharp and strong call the hen a low and softer one the noise peculiar to their shooting

49William Black

settling themselves to is the most important one to the the male bird is the chief officer both in the and of the young until they can faintly fly when he loses all the parental solicitude for which both male and female are so remarkable but the hen still watches over them them to their scratching grounds their food for them and them at the least alarm together and this continues until they are within a third as big as herself every knows the cry of distress given by this bird when flushed and perhaps one of the most interesting scenes in the world of the game fields occurs when both parents sitting covering the chickens with their wings are surprised off flies the male and into the very teeth of the enemy perhaps in order to blind him as to the situation of the nest next the female rises hovering low in another direction and the danger past they will return silently and by secret ways to their beloved charge although the may seem indifferent to its own preservation by upon the ground where it might be exposed to the dangers of wild cats c yet it may be seen that it chooses its ground always in the midst of cultivation and never itself to hedges and save in the day time the red legged or french â a beautiful bird which notwithstanding its name prefers southern europe spain and g to france in and they are so little known that the grey is in infinitely greater abundance but preferring in all cases a the warm dry soil these birds flock pretty in the sunny vine provinces of france they are said to like situations covered with wood and also that the spoken of in the the king of is come out to seek a as one would hunt a on the mountains was the red legged one their mode of on trees which the grey never does and their appearance in constitute differences from the latter this rich bird was introduced into england as early as the reign of charles the english during the last century have also imported many thousands of their eggs and have them and turned them out on their it is said that there are of these red on lord s estate in they have lately heen killed in the southern and south eastern their flesh is white and can never be esteemed as good eating as the common bird but they prove an variety and pleasant addition of in the of the game they are in plenty in the of and and it is supposed that some birds have made a flight and alighted on our from these islands they do not appear ever to have been in scotland or ireland they are used in as game here and elsewhere for the amiable purpose of each other it in the island of to such a degree as to be a great nuisance to the people of the place who are compelled to collect the eggs for destruction in order to obtain a chance of saving their from the little creature s imagine a country where a man leads thousands of about like sheep not certainly on the ground but hovering over his head and around him to repose yet such is the given of the land in this collecting together flocks takes place in a smaller degree a certain man relates had by his industry made a of so tame that he drove them before him shooting upon a out of that county to london though they were absolutely free and had their wings grown it may be remembered how lord in made a bet with the eccentric of that a drove of would beat an equal number of in a race from to london the kept steadily on but the flew up to in the trees adjoining the high road and the drivers lost time in them thus the beat the hollow mr daniel gives this description of the bird s â it is larger than the grey and the bill and are red the forehead is grey brown the hind head is brown the chin and throat white encircled with black added to which is a band of white over each eye to the hind head the fore part and sides of the neck are with two spots of black on each feather the hind part of the neck brown the back wings and brown the breast pale ash colour belly sides and vent the sides marked with streaks of colour white black and orange grey brown with the outer edges the tail composed of sixteen feathers the four middle ones grey brown the next on each side the same but on the outside the five outer ones on both sides the legs are red and the male only has the blunt or behind them chapter vi shooting what can people know about sporting that go a hunting above once a year and then only on monday in a coach â not the the insect s painted wings nor hears the hawk when sings â it is a fact that more than one writer upon the science and mystery of sporting speaks of the cruelty of killing the because of the beauty of its this is carrying consideration for outward appearance beyond most modem instances for our poor part we hold such philosophy worthy only those gentry who go a hunting on monday in a coach to the youthful we say account fine feathers as little as doth the hawk indeed we go further and counsel him should the chance offer rather to his game bag with some especial of the tribe some beau in gold or silver d than the mere bird of scarlet shooting and purple that in and out of season form the of every poultry butcher s show window shooting on the st of october it is

49William Black

rarely however that the season is so forward as to give us so early sufficiently advanced towards maturity indeed the sport may be postponed with great convenience as no cover shooting is pleasant or very profitable till the trees are at least partly stripped of their foliage in beating covers for if you use dogs at all employ low backed with short legs never take your with them for you find a dog any more than a man master of all trades they the ought to be slow mute and fond of or close around you but the true way to go about this business is to take cover yourself with only a single steady at your heels some thirty or forty yards behind you have a corps of boys with sticks to beat the bushes and who will instantly give over when they hear a shot until the word is again given by you â go on they should then proceed as before as this process will certainly cause many of the old birds to run for the cover sides the boundaries and adjoining fences should be beaten immediately after the cover has been drawn here you may be sure of shots and without the annoyance of boughs and stems of trees to interrupt your aim all in the vicinity of covers are likely to hold shooting but more especially those which run from one to another should you design to beat them without disturbing the covers the best time is early in the morning after rain as the dripping of the trees has the effect of driving abroad in beating for more particularly early in the season don t leave a foot of cover we have often found a whole in a you might put under your pocket handkerchief and that too within a few yards of a spot where a of jokes had been firing off for half an hour some old sporting writers allude to a practice that once prevailed of beating thick for with an ancient having bells to his neck so that when the ceased to hear them he became aware there was a point upon this style of shooting a modem writer when a man goes out with his and bells he ought not to forget the cap for himself in extensive woods rarely take very long flights but when you flush them in the open country they will up to a great height and then out of sight as if bound for another kingdom those who are employed to mark will frequently see them flapping their wings to end their flight and settle in or rather themselves into some thick bush or where they will perch just above the ground and remain as still as if dead in like manner the hen when sitting over her nest and then shooting falls as it were into it this of course prevents all scent of their seat during the winter fields in the neighbourhood of covers about three in the afternoon are good places for bj beating from the cover with a steady dog you will get fair sporting your dog should quarter from your signal and drop at wing or shot on the instant the is the prince of the game birds of island to be met with in such store as to him to the notice of the it is true the exists among our forests and so does the wild turkey of america in the woods of a but as a species the is the noblest of british game odd enough that we should derive it from china which certainly does not us with the best of the human form divine the common â britain cannot boast among her beauties the possession of this bird it has no claim in common with any of its family the to a place in european it is notwithstanding perhaps the most successful of all our it was brought into britain in the reign of edward the first according to and into europe from whence it still its name years before the christian era the is found in abundance spread over all the woods and forests of england as well as from the south to the middle of scotland in ireland from shooting the of the preservation of game it is more distributed in our english preserves the two european birds of different the the one strikingly marked in the neck with a white ring the other without it have bred together and thus we constantly observe specimens of either or with the mark modified of all birds this shooting is the most easily shot for when they rise they mate a and flapping noise that instantly them besides that they are heavy on the wing and of slow flight thus says â ah what avail his glossy varying his crest and scarlet eyes the vivid green his shining his painted wings and breast that flames with gold in the woods the female makes her nest of dry grass and leaves and there she lays from eighteen to twenty eggs in a season but half that is above the average when semi in the they will upon the highest trees of the forest at night by day the will haunt by the and gardens attached to their preserves and hunting for their food do considerable damage to fruit and flower when with the female the male bird makes a flapping noise that often its a though so beautiful is a dull bird and the hen in its state loses all the patience vigilance and care with which in the woods she and her brood indeed when kept thus the common hen is frequently her substitute over the eggs a full grown cares little what food he attacks he is fond of and when young eggs wood and other insects seem necessary to the bird it may be brought or rather shooting it has a tendency

49William Black

to couple with other birds with the domestic poultry the common hen and even the turkey it has been known to have intercourse with the black notwithstanding some very fine of mr to the contrary in our preserves we find many varieties of the female sometimes a pure white more often than the male bird the beautiful variety called the of the rich silvery grey is well known says that the eggs of the varieties may also be known and separated by the colours of their shells being of quite different shades where the is wildest its flesh eats the best at all the of the has been even by the for beauty when king of desirous to others or be dazzled himself by the of his wealth demanded of the wise man what could exceed his magnificence answered simply that the of the was finer than all he saw and indeed the artist the the the birth night beauty or the poet may faintly imitate but never reach or the of its vivid hues that of colours which yet do not that or of like found in of the is its characteristic thus describes it â the is about two feet eleven inches in length the bill is of a nt shooting pale horn colour the nostrils axe hid under an arched covering eyes yellow and surrounded hy a space in appearance like scarlet cloth finely spotted with black immediately under each eye is a small patch of short feathers of a dark spotted glossy purple the upper parts of the head and neck are deep purple varying to glossy green and blue lower parts of the neck and the breast with black edges the sides and lower parts of the breast the same with pretty large tips of black to each feather which in different lights vary to a glossy purple the belly and vent are dusky back and beautifully with black and white or cream colour with black and mixed with deep orange all the feathers edged with black on the lower part of the back is a mixture of green the are dusky with white wing brown with green and edged with white plain brown the two middle feathers of the tail are about twenty inches long the shortest on each side less than five of a brown marked with lines of black legs dusky with a short spur on each but in some old birds the spurs are as sharp s needles between the toes there is a sharp the female is less and does not exhibit that variety and brilliancy of which distinguish the male the general colours are light and dark brown mixed with black the breast and belly finely with small black spots on a light ground the tail is short shooting and barred somewhat like that of the male the space round the eye is covered with feathers is recorded to have fed the lions of his the delicious flesh of these birds the as they ascended the river were early caught by the splendid and introduced the among the as a common article of luxury among the says that the may be said to be originally to the continent extending over to the greater part of it and reaching to china and the of it is now known in and has been introduced into north america the price bore in england in the time of edward the first was at the same time that a fat was three hall ence a one penny a couple of three and a fat lamb at christmas one shilling and at in the they are in a beautiful prison land for they cannot fly over the lake to the continent their wings are so short and so ill adapted for flight they are drowned when they attempt it the of the that go thither from the woods of are the in the world besides being the largest the rich of use to let fly at them birds of prey which they carry on their fist thus describes the method â when the first takes its flight the bird of prey which they let loose hovering above com shooting it to perch on some tree he then him self on another branch oyer its head and keeps it in such terror that it suffers itself to be approached and easily taken alive this feet sufficiently the mystery of fascination mr gives us a most valuable remark on breeding notwithstanding says he the of the to the nature of the bam door fowl it eveiy attempt at complete from a most singular innate timidity which never to itself on the sudden and abrupt appearance of any object i spent some months in trying to overcome this in the but completely in my object at the commencement of the season the birds that he reared under a common hen took to the woods â the more we look into the habits of the the more we are persuaded that much more attention ought to be paid to it than it receives or than is generally paid to other kinds of game the never morning and evening notice which it gives of its place of retreat together with its superior size cause it to be soon detected and easily killed the tax too which government has put upon it its value as an indispensable delicacy at the tables of those who give good cheer chapter vii shooting trained to the chase his eagle eye the in snow could spy â scott being a member of the in a work merely of natural history the would have been entitled to a notice among its race but as inferior to the and as a bird of game it must be content to follow them in these pages steam and the recent uncommon of have rendered us familiar with the presence of this pretty bird in the shops of the without

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our knowing or probably caring how the devil it got there indeed the most in sporting reading would have found it difficult to on the habits pursuit and process of sporting after the till the publication of mr s and is silent about it daniel spoke of it as somebody had spoken to him and colonel shooting says he shot a of them on the top of some near mr in his also with it very now there is no doubt but that it is a bird admirably in keeping with the districts in which it is foimd perched among the grey rocks of which it seems a broken fragment its wild look strangely with the disregard it of man s presence you cannot over the savage it and look on the absence of all knowledge of civilization its without being strongly reminded of the in the story of alexander â the beasts that over the plain my form with see they are so with man â their is shocking to me like deer and a visit to it isn t everybody who has had a turn with the white bird of the mountains we therefore take the liberty of mr s description of a day with the it is his second day â when we got to the foot of ben we found that there were two on what is called the second top and were thus saved the trouble of the highest so taking two young farmers as guides we reached the ground after a stiff on one side of the mountain just as we were turning round to the other the dogs ran into a small pack which jerked round an angle and were out of sight in a moment i knew their flight would probably be a short one so began to look about with the utmost caution my friend quite a in the sport had no idea of finding the game himself and to hunt the dogs with great we happened to be pretty near together when they again up a neither of us thought of each other or the ordinary rules of shooting but fired at once and down came the bird this was rather as the honour and be longed to neither however we determined it should not happen again i described what places the birds were most likely to haunt and against trusting to the dogs which are quite to the ground but finding my companion preferred his own plan i left him and commenced my slow and search at last i caught sight of a upon the very ridge of the hill about thirty yards above me it was in a crouching attitude and had i attempted to put it up would have dipped out of sight in an instant i was therefore obliged to shoot it sitting but the moment i fired another flew straight over my head his hoarse the cock of the pack i had a fair shot and down he dropped the first i killed being a hen they made a capital pair for my collection i was now very anxious my brother should have a good chance so joining company we the ground on every side without success shooting only one bird was put up out of all distance which my friend determined to follow so agreeing to meet at the foot of the hill we took different fortune again declared in my favour for just as i was with hands and knees up a steep precipice a pack of four rose upon the very top and flew into mid air just giving me time to steady cock my gun and get a distant shot when one of them dropped into the gulf below i sent my guide to fetch it which he accomplished with some difficulty and then him in quest of my less successful companion with the that if he joined in pursuit of my game the odds would be three to one in his favour i had scarcely got to the peak where i thought it most probable my three would again take refuge when i was overtaken by one of those bitter hail showers which often fall on the mountains in early autumn so placing my gun in its cover and my back like against a rock i impatiently hoped for the of the storm scarcely had it began to when an hare came past about eighty yards from my shelter and then seated herself with equal grace â as tempting a mark for a rifle as could possibly be placed it was not to be resisted even with my small shot â so slowly my gun and taking deadly aim i fired gave an active bound at this attack and took her leave with far less ceremony than she made her shooting i had just re loaded when my guide appeared with a breathless on my gun he had seen my friend going down the mountain but quite beyond recall and when returning to me had stumbled on the most perched on the top of a rock he was in the act of taking his marks to know the place again in the hope of finding me when my shot abruptly put an end to his schemes the birds were equally dissatisfied with the sound as their four footed ally of the and made the same use of their wings as she did of her legs it was now late but as the man had some idea of where they might be i could not resist the temptation of giving them one more trial we had almost given up hope when they a third time rose very wild fully a hundred yards off from a of moss where they were at feed my time was now up so i descended the mountain well pleased with my day s sport notwithstanding the at the end shooting may be set down as the

49William Black

to the million few will think the play worth the candle as the french saw has it the bird being moreover to the following our experience of its pretty much like the s horse â veiy hard to catch and not worth the trouble when overtaken change their about october when they put on a double suit of feathers in anticipation of they are then white in spring they are more shooting grey or the same colour as the rocks among which they live the common or white white of british authors â sir w whose authority as a is unquestionably great speaks of white oa a m frequent so called specimens of this species thus doubtfully â this bird delicately marked in its summer dress and of a snowy whiteness in that of winter has generally been considered as a native of both the american and european the however of many specimens of which become white in winter leads us to believe that the distinction of species is still we have seen however what we shooting consider the l from america and also among the of birds which are said by the to come from in a frozen state but many of the birds mentioned as from various cannot always with certainty be referred to that of britain the common is clothed during winter with a of pure white with the exception of the black of the outer tail feathers and shafts of and the space between the bill and the eyes in summer the turn dark grey or brown grey with black thus in all seasons taking by the beautiful of providence those hues that with the grey rock or snow covered best assist its concealment from the piercing sight of its and preserve it from the more aim of its human enemy the female at breeding time changes her towards a fine yellow with black while the under parts remain white it is as we have heard whether the male also changes his at the season of or whether the change to hues takes place when he although this bird now none but those all but inaccessible to the enterprise of man it is said in some of our oldest writers to have been frequent enough at one period in the parts of england such as and we must climb the peaks of ben ben and ben shooting in the western and dwell for a space in the shepherd s hut of the of and ere we can now accomplish the feat of securing a few brace of these wild birds the range is the most resort of the at present it is often by its call a low wild wailing note or by the of the female they appear little to dread the sight of man but will amid the run before him or drop from ledge to ledge of the rock as slowly and silently as though a lesson taught by reason in the spring and summer they are very tame their flight is low and and the of the wing not to be heard even in the atmosphere of their chosen their nests are very of discovery being placed under rocks and stones and the female following the true bird instinct always leaves the nest in being alarmed and wheels away over the rocks as she goes this bird is not to ireland the is considered a distinct species in the british list of by some authors but as mr is from satisfied that the l is anything but a or variety of the l we will only give the of the female bird shot by sir w on ben more the rock â the entire length is rather more than twelve inches seven and a half inches from the wing to the shooting third of the one inch five that of the centre toe nail included the nail about five on the upper parts the dark or ground colour of the feathers is deep or pitch black but each feather is cut into or partially barred with yellow on the back and tail being tipped and edged with a much paler tint sometimes approaching to white the and shoulders are pure white the shafts of the former black and having sometimes a black tint accompanying their length the tail contains sixteen feathers the outer pair are edged with white along the outer web and with the next six on each side are dull white at the tips where they are also worn the upper reach within a quarter of an inch of the end of the tail on the cheeks throat neck and breast the yellow and pale to a greater extent and on the latter assume more the form of bars on the belly flank and other lower parts the yellow still prevail and assume a greater space in the form of broken masses while in the lower part of the breast and centre of the belly there are many pure white feathers which give a paler or more shade to these parts the and half of the toes only are strongly the nails are black pale at the base now the size of the common is from fourteen to sixteen inches in the male bird and sometimes larger in the female fourteen inches sir w shooting s specimen of the female of the rock twelve inches and a half average of male specimen thirteen and a half the rich soft dark of yellow of the female at breeding season render it a peculiarly beautiful bird its being much brighter and clearer than that of the male in the months their food is supposed to be the plants of their own inaccessible regions the common seems completely inaccessible to a sensation of cold ever avoiding the sun s rays he chooses the of the mountains and its biting and when the snow at the sides of the mountains he still higher and

49William Black

higher in mr daniel s account of them he says are scattered upon the lofty hills near in and some few in wales they are silly birds and so tame as to bear driving like poultry and to suffer a stone to be flung at them without rising yet notwithstanding this gentleness of disposition it is impossible to them they to eat when caught and always die soon afterwards so heedless are they that it is not even necessary to have a dog to and them as an they taste so like a as to be scarcely and keep in summer in small but never like the take shelter in the heath but beneath loose stones in winter the white and fly in flocks still preserving their stupid tame shooting ness at that season when they perceive any person they remain quiet upon the snow to avoid being seen and are often betrayed by their very whiteness which that of the snow the of the not only becomes of this snow white in winter but much thicker closer and more thus proving the beautiful economy of nature for as colour is well known to influence the rate by which bodies acquire reflect or part v ith heat and as white is the colour which most readily and perfectly it and which most parts with it so a body clothed with that shall retain heat longest and therefore be better fitted to exist in the it is the limited expenditure of vital heat therefore in the that is supposed to influence its choice of situation mr daniel thus puts an example â if two animals one of a black colour and the other white be placed in a higher temperature than that of their own body the heat will enter the one that is black with the greatest rapidity and its temperature considerably above the other but when these animals are placed in a situation the temperature of which is considerably lower than their own the black animal will give out its heat by to every surrounding object colder than itself and speedily have its temperature reduced while the white animal will part its heat by at a much slower rate i the though not so essential to the of the in pursuit of game as the water to the wild fowl the is a most useful as well as becoming companion in the field in cover it is not possible to dispense with his services without a vast sacrifice of game for such is the loss of all badly wounded birds and indeed of nearly every head of game that is hit in thick not only will a dog recover nine birds out of ten that a man would miss but it them also just in an and are both trained to but it is a bad economy the should be limited to in or out of cover for wounded game and bringing it to bag there are various opinions as to the best cross from which this valuable sporting servant can be bred perhaps as good as any is that between a strong low sized and a pure dog our own bias to a cross with a dog and a animals so bred certainly in nose the itself can be taught to but when so used he must not hunt in company a gentleman of the name of an of had not long since a which when bringing to him in its mouth a bird he had just shot hit upon the scent of another a wonderful instance of nose the animal coolly laid the bird on the ground and putting his foot shooting the upon it to prevent its escape as it was only wounded pointed to that it had found the same creature also evinced extraordinary sagacity on another occasion when his master was shooting in op the of the which is opposite to castle the which he had sprung made across the river there a preserve on the other side but one of them which he had shot while crossing fell into the water and was carried down by the stream he would not suffer his dog to move until he had when on getting the word â seek dead the observant animal galloped down the bank until he recovered sight of the floating and then plunging into the river brought it safe to shore the author had a as perfect in its business as perhaps one of its kind ever was bred between the bull dog and smooth this rare creature was as complete in all the duties of a as in those of a water she was more than living in fact in the water especially the sea whenever the opportunity was afforded her in sagacity and courage if she ever had a parallel she never had a superior a shooting party of which he was one having returned to lunch a keeper reported that as the woods were being beaten for two or three bad been flushed it was very early in the season for such visitors and a of â each was made to be divided among the according to the number of that each should bring home shooting â the by dinner time in crossing the lawn close to the house on their way to the covers intended to be drawn a cock was put up from a bush which one of the company was fortunate enough to bring down a this was a promising beginning but it brought little luck as in spite of the beating not another could be met with just as the word was given to call the out and to prepare for home however and when it was so dark that it was impossible to see objects a dozen paces off a shooting â the sprung close to the and without being able to cover it he fired in the line it was flying and thought

49William Black

he heard something fall and flutter among the it could not nevertheless be found and after losing his time and his patience he was just back soon enough not to lose his dinner to boot now this bird was of no ordinary value for it would have entitled him to one half of a of â the whole of which would otherwise go to the possessor of the first that was shot in due course the lucky claimed the money which at the instance of the author was withheld for the night as he urged he had knocked down a cock that would most probably be yet brought to bag to make one great final effort he procured the bird which had been killed and laying it carefully before his with a strong light thrown on it and then drawing it repeatedly across her nose he returned with her to the cover and cheering her with the signal â seek dead he put her into it after waiting till midnight and using every effort to her he returned leaving her there in the morning she made her way into the breakfast room during the meal with the dead in her mouth as a proof of her courage she would leap at a signal from his hand from off the box of a steam vessel of the largest class when going at full speed and in the heaviest weather with seas rolling as high as the poor he may surely say of thee he shall ne er look upon thy like again chapter viii shooting this little bird is not a regular object of pursuit with our for the best of reasons â that it is never found in any numbers in this country it is a bird of passage essentially and as a native can scarcely be claimed by any of the british islands except ireland here to our experience it frequently not like the or any variety indeed of only when it cannot manage to go elsewhere â but apparently from choice and habits of we have frequently watched of in several of the irish from their shells till they have found their way to our game bags â and indeed to our stomach for observe your is the of eating when the lights upon them it is by chance among the in september but the irish amateur of the falls in with them all alone by themselves among shooting the potatoes in october we think they may be among irish game without fear of a bull no doubt they are capricious and may some fine day desert the shores of the isle as they are said to have done those of great britain but for the present st may safely claim them for his own and are both partial to the scent of the it as readily as the or the it to the and occasionally the long after growth of the meadows during the morning it is most readily met with all the authorities on shooting leave this specimen of the craft untouched or nearly so indeed with one exception no modem sporting book treats of the bird at all from original materials this exception is a paper which appeared some few years since in the new sporting magazine the result of some considerable experience in the english history of the the author seems to have studied his lore in the isle of where he says this bird is to be found at all seasons of the year that locality he states was formerly so famous for it either from its vicinity to the french coast or the quantity of grain grown there that people resorted to it from great distances for the express purpose of shooting however he says their numbers have considerably mien off but still the in the be of september may kill from two to three brace a day along the banks of the thames shooting below says this writer several farmers and have assured me that about the beginning of november a time at which the departure of the main body has taken place a small number of make their and continue during the winter always a short distance from the river s edge these are evidently the young birds of the second who for some reason seek that particular situation after the of the rest of their species as most of the birds â all those that may be called game of the second class â are more scarce with us than they were it follows that the is in a similar for this cause we find them more plentiful in ireland than england the former island being also infinitely better with and than the latter the tribes no doubt before civilization and are found precisely in the to the cultivation of the district as they cannot be subjected to the process of preserving the day probably come when one of the species will be as rare as a is now it is said that do not pack except when some strong local cause drives them to associate together for an especial purpose the family of birds is not certainly but our own experience of this bird leads us to think it is an exception to the general rule of the species we have never found it in that state of common shooting to the and it is met with singly no doubt but where one is you may be sure there are more not far off while very often one is all that fifty acres will furnish with the beating of the cover with our recollections of this we are to surrender it to the of those few who have thought it even worthy their ill favour says the author of sports seldom form themselves into except when their wants unite the feeble to their mother or some powerful cause at once the whole species to and together the extent

49William Black

of the ocean holding their course to the same distant land but this forced association does not after their and finding in their adopted country that they can live at all the appetite of love is their only tie and even this is momentary so soon as passion has spent its force the male his mate to the labour of raising the family the young are hardly full grown when they separate or if kept together fight and their quarrels are terminated only by their mutual it must be confessed this is no amiable character of our and belongs to its natural or rather unnatural history more than its sporting treatment but the fact is shooting is not a branch of english shooting the common â the seems to be a more permanent resident of ireland shooting than of great britain in the latter kingdom indeed it is now but an occasional although thirty years back it was a pretty regular attendant of the fields near the at their season in the mild south and of england this bird is so that after the first time it is wonderfully to flush almost all the birds in our market of this species are those imported alive to by the london from france where they are most abundant and where they are taken by into which the imitation of their call them but in is the greatest harvest on its coast in italy and the greek islands they will arrive by hundreds of thousands formerly the principal of the bishop of was the shooting ill sum produced by the annual i its of these birds they have been known to have been taken at one season to the number of a hundred and fifty thousand in ireland the farmers on the coast south of are very successful in the capture of we have known them to bring in five and six brace of these delicate birds the produce of the day s sport says in a gentleman shot near bay in one day ten brace of the nest of the is made by the female its eggs are deposited on the bare they are somewhat similar in appearance to those of the being deeply marked with olive green but are of different shape we s account of this bird â the range of the is of great extent reaching northward to russia and foimd in the countries of temperate heat and in continental india and africa we possess specimens which do not materially differ from each other from india the plains of india china cape of good hope and southern europe a specimen shot at hall in autumn has the crown nearly black the feathers edged with pale streaks of yellow run over each eye and the centre space between the eyes and bill and are colour of the upper parts black having the shafts and a mark in the centre of each yellow at the tip where the wings join the the central are wanting and the black is relieved by grey tips and bars of yellow throat pale yellow bounded by a deep brown and on the sides cut into by a dark of the same colour running from the and turning near the middle of the pale space breast wood brown into pale on the lower parts on the breast the feathers are marked with two round or oval spots on the exterior of each web on the these patches border each feather bounding a pale open space along the shafts which is nearly pure white the above was a female as are all or most of those that are met with in the of the male is darker there is more in the tints and the breast is of a brown pale and without spots while the chin and throat are so mingled as to form in that part which is pale space in the female a sort of cross chapter ix shooting as the reader s acquaintance with this bird once the pride of our wild tribes will most probably be confined to such specimens as he shall cultivate an acquaintance with in a museum a very short allusion to its sporting annals will ce for his curiosity on that head according to old a horse was even in his day essential to enable the to accomplish a shot and the were wont to dress out a with green boughs behind which the would lie in wait for his game from this it will be gathered that it is very long since shooting was common to our island in the year daniel says there was one shot which measured six feet from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other and three feet from the point of the to the extremity of the tail tells us that one was shot in france in his time which had no less than ninety j in iti stomach if were in tlie habit of i them can be no their present y i the great of the or of this our largest land bird rail in the present tense this is tm j shooting to be unable to fly without great difficulty thus flapping its wings in order to get enough air underneath them to permit its rising it would run before the enemy and often be caught the has a under the tongue to contain water there is little record of them in north britain one was shot in in the rifle is used to shoot them as weu as the ordinary piece the male will stand two feet six or eight inches in height and when the lengthened feathers which most of them possess on the throat or sides of the jaw are raised they have a very bold and commanding appearance the back of neck shoulders c have orange feathers with interrupted bars of black the head neck and breast are grey at the

49William Black

lower part of the breast into pale grey and pure white outer white deep brown black very powerful the first sharp the und with their outer web and becoming brown or black at their the mid tail feathers orange with white tips and a black bar crossing at about an inch from the end and then a one towards the base characters bill almost straight depressed slightly at the base open nostrils long legs the naked above the knees toes three forwards bordered with a and short wings powerful second third and fourth largest nearly equal first narrow towards the point type europe asia africa new holland note â open plains and countries where vegetation is luxuriant run swiftly the little minor this is an british subject to a very great change of of which we cannot accurately speak since it appears in england only after is over and in its more homely garb one was killed near in scotland in the winter of x hare we trust it is as unnecessary to tell the courteous reader that in walking through an he is not to knock the gold and silver on the head with his cane as that it is for him to shoot a hare in a country where are kept or a district favourable for still there is ample space and room enough for this sport which in some places absolutely becomes an operation not to be with in the morality of sporting so to speak without going into the question of the con shooting of the practice it is enough for our purpose here to state that in many parts of england where game preserving is very carried on so abound as to be a gigantic nuisance in such places hare shooting is a virtue and that our young friends may in that good work we put before them the best advice in our power we do not treat you as going out to look for but rather as in some place where they most do if we thought you had any difficulty in the matter of finding this species of game we could point out that it keeps to the standing com so long as any is to be met with and that when no more remains resort for shelter to covers and hedges to fellows and long wild grass to the sides and of old dry and and that after heavy rains which fill the and cause dripping from the trees and hedges they are to be found lying out upon close wheat when it is again dry they return to covert there remaining till the frost has robbed the trees of their leaves and then no hiding being by the woods they themselves for good to the open fields and make their forms wherever enough of rough vegetation exists to enable them to among it young wheat fields are their favourite and occasionally old fellows in these within a range of some thirty or forty yards distance from the hedges you will be likely to light upon them this we say we should have told you shooting did we suppose you would ever condescend to look for but we see you in the midst of a preserve where they are as numerous as the sands upon the accept some of our as to such a case should you hy any accident a hare on her form don t fire at her sitting if not it is a at all events because by putting her up you will have the best chance of putting her into your bag a hare when running especially across you is very easily shot whereas an old on her form is very for from being an easy object to hit in shooting them when the lands lie in high should a hare run across ridge and take care not to fire till she is rising and about mid way between the and the ridge if you wait till she has got to the top of the land her head which is the most part will be ed by her for the same reason when a hare is running straight from you on level ground just aim so that you may seem to her back with your charge â when a hare approaches you wait till she is well within reach of shot then whistle or make some sign â upon which she will stop for an instant and then turn to one side or the other take her when her side is towards you it s long odds you miss her entirely should you fire when she is coming stem on as the sailors say it is within the letter of the law to shoot at all times but it is shooting to shoot them until they are pretty well grown the hare being capable of carrying away a great charge of shot as well as of turning one that would deal death to any other sort of game â except the deer tribe â it may be as well to hint the material as well as the method by which it may most be assailed if possible let her be within forty yards for a cross shot or thirty when going straight from you there is no excuse for the who goes out expressly to shoot with smaller shot than no large shot does its business when it does hit one of its will kill should it take effect while no or should it reach the object can only or if the young says a very practical authority discover as he will that in shooting in covert he must sometimes fire either at very short distances or not get a shot at all it will be essential for him either to acquire the of shooting on one side of his game or to let it go free the latter is the plan i should recommend except in the

49William Black

case of a likely to fly out of bounds which within forty eight may perhaps be himself in an irish this gentleman says no one who goes out to shoot should use less than no or shot the instinct of animals is in almost every case superior to the reason of man for the one is the other constantly at fault it is singular to observe also that every power shared by man in hare shooting common with other animals is possessed by him in a far inferior manner his sight is less piercing his nose less penetrating his motion less swift than that of the brute creation he is more helpless in his infancy and less courageous in his death the very insect race beat him in precision the bee and the spider were the first the original of the and arch the is a better of space and many birds are endowed with organs of hearing in comparison with which man can only deem himself deaf it is well then for the vanity of the human race that he can boast of being endowed with that faculty of speech by which we can take full advantage of our otherwise limited resources which generation after generation to act in concert with its species and thus renders to our uses pleasures and the wonderful gifts and graces of every known tribe of the creation among swift footed we may claim for the hare the of its frame is such that every joint and muscle to promote the rapidity of its on the grounds to which its instinct it its are extremely nervous and muscular and these act upon the limbs whose length and power render them capable of immensely rapid and its fore legs are in proportion short thus the creature to form that succession of leaps shooting which is its real mode of and by which it claims with the tribes it is this of the fore legs in comparison with the hinder that the hare instinctively to seek a rising ground when flying from its the imder of its feet axe provided amply with protecting hair it has five toes to its fore feet and only four the mean length of the hare when full grown is about two feet its weight is various five six seven eight nine some even have been known to weigh twelve pounds the colour of the of the hare with the climate and with the season even in england black and milk white have been met with ones have been talked about and every of grey is incident to the animal the ordinary tint is however an iron grey the chin white the thi oat of a rusty yellow hue the belly white the breast its extremity black thus in harmony with the tints around her is she clothed in the regions ever with the hues forcibly remarks that the want of the elastic which bounds the of the feet of some animals as dogs for instance is to the progress of on and also on all wet and deep which it is well known they constantly avoid when they can when left to choose their own track they always take a dry one for treading on and it is plain that their admirably their feet to resist the ill effects hare shooting of pressure from the they must pass over by this preference the common hare according to the law was among the animals however give it a place among the or animals but even at this present time some favour the former notion and instance the singular in the stomach of the hare as being akin to the in the true the of the upper lip also which renders the member so extremely and capable of the constant quivering motion the opinion of these writers the jaws of the hare nevertheless remain stationary while is brought about by a grinding action the hare moves its jaws only when and the excessive of the nose seems rather to affect the marvellous delicacy of its powers than the qualities of the this creature possesses six in the upper and five in the lower jaw the upper jaw has likewise if we examine both the eyes and the ears of the hare we shall be at once struck by their as we have before observed to the purposes of its existence and of flight from danger its eyes are prominent the balls half out of the head and so placed that without any alteration of position the circle of vision is remarkably large commanding an extensive field of view before and behind that she cannot see at shooting once in both directions is often the cause of her capture her ears can be back to the very base at will thus her to drink in as it were the veiy sound of pursuit the eyelids of the hare seem to be seldom or never used as she does not possess the organ or her eyes are always even in sleep like those of fishes the tail or seat of the hare is black and white on the under part short and in the male usually â a which gives the a clue to the sex of his game the of the ear its of sounds generally but particularly for receiving such as come from behind thus the hare lays one ear forward and one hearing it is said more perfectly the sounds that issue from her back than those that are straight forward the canal is partly bony and partly soft and when the skull of a hare is placed before a spectator the long portion of it is seen to itself nearly half an inch with a backward inclination it is believed that the age of the hare is from nine or ten to twelve years it is like the rabbit of extreme have enemies so that were it not for their

49William Black

generations they would soon become extinct the hare knows the female by the scent its organs of every sense being exquisitely sensitive when the female is about eleven months old she begins to breed and is believed to bring forth young several times in the course of the year the k hare shooting term is the same as in the rabbit â days the are fed by the mother about a month or not quite so long her is prodigious one writer mentioning that a brace of the being when shut up were enclosed in a large walled garden and proper plants supplied for their at the of twelve months the garden was examined and the produce was fifty seven on the of sir thomas also there were six thousand killed in at during its occupation by the eccentric mr to such an extent and had become so tame in consequence of their never being under any circumstances whatever that they might be seen the and green avenues of the park in as the guards march the streets of london the hare is in her habits upon her return from her she to her form where she under cover of a hedge or whatever else may contribute to her concealment not that she appears to have any notion of the sort for she sits as open on her form as is well possible the colours of her fur much more assist her than any apparent care of her own many diseases to which are subjected are known they become with too food their fore teeth occasionally grow out when kept in places where they hare shooting have no wood to in the same manner we find that bears and other savage animals are subject to the of parts such as the growth of their claws as well as their teeth or to secure hare from the enemies â such as c â of these animals they should be walled round mr s the sporting writer s not the anti sporting s directions for a are these â a wood of nearly thirty acres cut into many walks set with traps and sown with which will induce the hare to keep at home a small should have but one walk in it and no dog be permitted to enter it when as the seasons close the become shy of the traps from having often been caught it will be necessary to drive them in with c the range of the hare is great its varieties in consequence ire numerous the hare the hare the changing hare that of the cape of north america are among them the minute hare of being the most and said to be little bigger than the it is reported to be fine eating and is called by the xl rabbit shooting this sport like indeed all others is differently practised in different places and by different persons the best of it we ever enjoyed was in the woods belonging to the earl of adjoining his seat park in this nobleman keeps the most perfect pack of rabbit probably in existence and goes out with them quite en prince having caused the covers he purposes shooting to be stopped after the fashion of fox hunting he forth with his pack cheers them into cover turns them with his horn and in short carries on his with all the pomp and circumstance of perfect his hounds are about the size of well grown and as full of fire as matches their cry is as as lark and quite as shrill being tbe counter tenor that may be conceived this is shooting the rabbit in such a style as ought to rabbit shooting l the to his fate but it s not the is as at all kinds of tame or wild are in best from november till the commencement of february some contend that they prefer a seat above ground and only for the sake of refuge in case they are in danger this may be true as also that they use their as shelter from weather even the hare will under the snow when it lies deeply it is certain that where they enjoy quiet and privacy they are constantly to be seen above the surface even though that be a in their miscellaneous they select as places to lie in thick particularly those having or growing on their banks and old dry stone or sand whose sides are overgrown with and early morning and after sunset are the most esteemed periods of the day for this sport still the best way of setting about it must depend on local and other circumstances if the place in which you pursue it be of some extent by going round it walking slowly and noiselessly and sometimes creeping you may get more shots than by any other means if on the other hand your range is limited and the have been much disturbed your plan must be to conceal yourself till a chance offers do not then fire too often from the same spot where the ground is by keeping cover of the brows of rabbit shooting the hills may be approached in this case lie down and make a rest for your gun then push it gently forward close to the ground without exposing yourself until you feel that it is sufficiently fer advanced for the stock to fit your shoulder then raising your head without hat endeavour to pick out a double shot if possible if the ground be a level without of any kind you may make one with with bushes or other bushes with which the are familiar the rules for this sport are from an authority already quoted â avoid walking over the when you can do so being connected with each other not only is the ground thereby shaken but the is conveyed to a greater distance than would be easily being quick

49William Black

of hearing not stir if they suspect an enemy is nigh as their sense of smelling is even more acute than that of hearing never attempt to approach them v th your back to the the moment you have fired at a rabbit with a single gun if he be not quite dead run up to him for are exceedingly of life and severely wounded will instinctively scramble into a if possible but as it will often happen that a long arm and a screw will recover them whenever are supposed to be hit the they take should be always examined at the least if not in this way rabbit sh ti g a small quick mute that will close to you and only stir at your bidding will save you the trouble of the run cause less disturbance and will often recover a wounded rabbit which you would have chased in vain when shooting in woods at all times be extremely cautious when and where you fire let no shot how ever tempting induce you to do so you are sure neither man or dog be within range at the time in some are shot from trees this is said to be the way of doing business but though we say it under the rose a good many wholesome sporting hints may be had firom that moreover with the exception of the style of rabbit shooting spoken of in the outset of this chapter it is for the most part a secret solitary amusement â more akin to than the spirit stirring business of the the the the has just so much to do with our ordinary sporting as to it or rather its uses to a place in this volume and grace to modem improvement its application is not the barbarous contrivance it was in times gone by the practice of or this little creature is scarcely ever had recourse to now the horrid custom of sewing up its mouth is utterly abandoned indeed if left it is found to bolt the rabbit with far more spirit a cord is occasionally made fast to its neck and by means of knots marked on it as on sea lines it is the known how he has run this however should be carefully handled where any danger exists of its becoming entangled with the roots of trees or any other of a like kind should not be begun eâ u lier than october as the young are not till then strong or resolute enough to break ground freely the should be to and the person in charge of him should be perfectly silent the should so place himself as to have the whole of the or as much of them as possible within command of his eye and his gun he will find it add much to his sport to have some one in attendance with a reserve gun who will also load as fast as he fires the hints on were furnished to a friend of ours by a practical hand of the craft in â the small is decidedly the most active eager and best the should be handled frequently when young that it may be quite familiar to the touch otherwise it becomes shy after it has been used a few times and is very troublesome to catch towards evening or when the least tired it should never be fed for eight or ten hours at least before hunting young rats birds or are at all times good food for the and are to be recommended when they can be procured the may be used any time during the day till four o clock except in the depth of winter when it is advisable never to hunt it after three the o clock always handle a gently and place your hands under its arms be very careful never to snap at it when taking it out of a rabbit hole or to a certainty your fingers will suffer when shooting a should not be unless it is a very fast hunter or a e a small bell tied round the neck will be found useful and in a large very advantageous if a is a it is a good plan to blunt the long teeth which will enable the rabbit to free himself from his never turn a if shy too often into the same earth for if tired he is apt to lie up a to do so is sometimes indicated after a is blooded by its running continually to the mouths of the holes by a and by scratching when this is the case remove him immediately a box about four feet long is the best habitation for an open front made of iron great care should be taken to keep them quite clean and to give them plenty of air as they are when young particularly subject to many complaints in some of the southern but more especially in whether from the nature of the soil as some persons r it is matter of great doubt â remain sulky for of the year and cannot be induced to move even with a and will rather have their skins stripped from their backs than bolt although the greatest caution be used not to shake the earth the or make the least noise in bolt well only during the months of october november and december the routine of economy here laid down veiy strongly of the experience of one who used the net rather than the gun as his engine of destruction against the shooting in places where live for the most part under ground is the of slow sport to is as relates to the smaller animals to put the hand into a contrivance such as they boil in and squeeze to death a soft little animal such as one might imagine a in paradise to be is certainly not a worthy a true knight

49William Black

shooting where it may be had as a wild sport even if with the quick dash and excitement for which it is distinguished under its most favourable aspect is at all events of the fire side of is very neat practice for the young and certainly not beneath the dignity of his ambition but if got up in a for sixpence a blaze in with a kill the always for the skin there is something in it singularly dig a gun is neither a convenient nor a fitting agent in a nor rabbit shooting the sport of a gentleman anywhere save in wild or such rural districts as it of all of thâ the rabbit the o en british rabbit of english authors rabbit four kinds or varieties of the common rabbit and but the endless known to those who take an interest in these busy little animals would fill a to describe the greatest variety is found in the rabbit or sweetheart it is of this kind from which is the prize or rabbit that has been known to exceed fifteen pounds in weight on singular occasions and which often ten pounds the rabbit of the we have seen the largest in the isle wi t where in the districts bay and these creatures appear to enjoy an of their own their little heads and ears peeping forth from the dose as y as in a june meadow the as its name and open the kind like the hare will take shelter under the hedge bushes or short woods and and these two sorts make no bat breed in the most convenient places of their chosen locality some ancient authors have deemed the hare and rabbit but varieties of one species an error quickly discovered by modem in no instance has a been discovered to breed although a variety of the rabbit has occurred which at first led some to suppose that it was a breed between both animals the of structure are certainly great but the are equally so the variety we speak of was large of the hare colour bony and the flesh also was high the usual rabbit and it was said to be for we speak not after our own knowledge equal or superior to that of the the of england in which the rabbit is most plentiful are and with the isle of sandy it will be seen are most to the rabbit its habits but when we speak of numbers our mind naturally to spain the native of he rabbit where its habits are as liar as its flesh without speaking of the prodigious quantity of killed under the of it is not exaggeration to describe most of the provinces of the kingdom as with them the islands are celebrated for the number of they contain in colder they are kept within doors somewhat like our pet lap ears the islands above mentioned were once as with these animals as some german districts have been with the great water rat and in the time of the they the emperor for the means of them in these hot they are animals their flesh becoming so rank and as to its use as an article of food we need say nothing more of the of an animal so well known than that it will breed six or seven times in the year and produce or five young at each successive breeding this amazing increase would truly soon over the district but that in the wise of providence the rabbit is usually by enemies that almost equal its of when this is not the case it is found to do but comparatively little injury and in poor countries becomes invaluable as an article of food for the lower orders when this animal lives above ground its fur becomes more hairy the the is of several types as the english spanish russian and a small species called the french the best sort however by many degrees is the english his being by no means to this country but coming of various and scientific crosses some of our best have been bred from the spanish race and the british fox hound we have uttle opinion of the russian though the of that breed are excellent and still less value for the french animal so called whatever its origin the smooth is certainly the most generally useful of all the species of dogs used for finding and stopping to game once made his education is completed for life while the requires breaking more or less at the commencement of every season when age indeed has taken all fire and all pace out of the he will be found steady enough but so he would if he were dead and when the dash has left a sporting dog the sooner his breath it the better as the can hardly be expected to breed his own dogs for the gun we will afford him the counsel of an old in the choice of them always him to bear in mind that the or under the sun is the dog or merchant in selecting a before you test his quality or his teaching see that he has an open that the he is flew or short headed his eyes should he fall his rising to a point his ears long and well hung that is falling between his neck and jaws his neck and head must be set on straight that when he points his nose may turn up rather than otherwise let his shoulders be deep and well let down and his elbows well in he should have large straight legs small feet a little pointed standing fair and the balls small and open his should be narrow his back slightly his broad he be deep in the and short from the to the joint with flat sides fine marked veins his straight and a fine stem or tail set on

49William Black

high and straight having chosen a dog according to these suggestions take him into the field and observe how he mark if he be a gallant high going within himself his head well up and to the wind as endeavouring to catch a flying scent making his casts turns and offers neither hanging on the haunt nor for a ground scent see that he quarters his ground regularly and of any other dog in company without leaving the comers of his fields he must neither break field watch nor point at sight he shall not be hard nor near scented but wind his birds at long distances keep his point back without jealousy to bird dog or at a signal firom the hand or the word to ho the without caprice or standing when you call if he chap his point it is a good symptom if he mouth and his game it he his business if a has not been well trained when he comes upon the haunt or run of birds he will dash flourish jump run at shot and the like these however are merely the effects of high courage and may be cured by work and good teaching never beat a dog after he has done wrong but as nearly in the act as possible when you punish have him upon a training cord and do not loose him till he has become reconciled to you should you let him go before he will very likely the line round your hand and keep him at heel for some time and give him his liberty by degrees if you observe any signs of fasten the line to a stake and leave him behind you for a field or two then return and if he seems cheerful give him a piece of and caress him let him then off but still fast to the cord as soon as he beats finely you may remove it altogether when dogs are to the whip holding them up by a cord with a slip till they become alarmed will often succeed use the whip at the same time there are some dogs of such very timid dispositions that they will not bear any punishment these must be made to punish themselves by means of check and cross not knowing in this case whence the comes they do not take offence from or dislike to those with whom the they are hunting animals of all sorts are wonderfully quick in witness the learned pigs and so forth that perform such incredible as telling the hour by a watch and the like which is done by their observing from the that none of the audience can detect in like manner dogs come to read aright every expression of their master s ia ce but not till they have long experience of it have patience then with your team of and you be repaid with interest they not understand your looks by nor probably till they have seen the frown repeated a hundred times with which you greeted them when they soiled your first pair of white by leaping on â chapter x i pigeon this volume to treat of the various descriptions of shooting which offer themselves to the notice and for the of the yoimg amateur of the for this reason although we hold the practice of trap shooting at the dove tribe as far from a sporting it must be allowed a place in the present chapter we have in no part of this work entered upon the question of the comparative cruelty of rural sports because the theory of the of man s treatment of the lower animals would be involved in it a subject too subtle for philosophy and far too grave for tame pigeon shooting is in point of fact but one of the many forms of gambling it is never probably attempted except to decide a or to bring off a colonel says of the practice it is simply this â if you miss you are disgraced and if you kill you get no credit a pigeon shooting crack hand at this household species of may be the worst of general though it must be he mil be a good the first fashionable place of resort for was the old hats a public house on the road that took its name from the shooting carried on in the grounds attached to it where the pigeon was placed in a hole covered with an old hat which constituted the original or primitive trap of late years the red house at has the old hats and is now the great for shooting at the ordinary distance at which the stands from the trap is one and twenty yards the bounds within which the pigeon must fall to score vary from a of sixty to one hundred yards from the trap as a centre this trap is a shallow box twelve inches long aud eight or ten wide sunk into the ground so as to be level with it to this is a sliding lid with a string to it held by a person standing near to the from him he takes his directions to draw back the lid when his aim is taken and at the moment that he is shooting another bird is placed in the trap by the of thus the match goes on with astonishing rapidity â birds and guns being furnished even with more expedition than they can be used as a rule the pigeon match should use more powder and less shot than in ordinary sporting the larger the gun and the charge the wider the pigeon shooting range of the shot gun locks for these matches should have fine quick action and very powerful springs the most killing shot will he found no so much for the tame shooting of now for the of the wild sport as with the whole species of

49William Black

wild this sport is not a pursuit hut an you must wait for wild fowl and not follow them the true season for shooting is when the snow lies on the ground then they resort to the fields and may he turned to good account should it he and you cannot approach them even under cover of a hedge in consequence of the noise made hy the ice as you walk you will do well to lie in wait for their return from of course to of their flight the favourite food of the in cover is mast it will therefore he most frequently met with where trees abound having taken your station in the vicinity of them be in no to fire your bird has settled on his perch and taken his preliminary survey be but patient till he has done this and he may be shot at as easily as a barn door fowl but if you move the least before he has settled he will be off like a in september captain says whilst the leaves are yet green the or is very fond of in hedge rows particularly of oak and ash but when the leaves fall they confine pigeon shooting themselves more to the and such trees as are with the creeping ivy for the timid ever courts concealment and where it is next to impossible to spy it out as it is then certain to fly out the wrong side if left to itself the best way is having first stationed yourself at a favourable point to whistle to your attendant who must then face you and throw a or stick into the tree autumn is certainly the season in a point of view for the for then from the nature of its food its is more delicious than at any other time this is a bird and far less plentiful than it was like all of its tribe it however leaves us in the winter and returns to breed and rear its young in the spring mr speaks as indeed do all having experience of it of the excellent eating it is except when it on and becomes somewhat of taste by filling its inside with bread he says much of this is got rid of moreover he among the many virtues of the the property it has of assisting the in his duty where they exist in any quantity he states that the they make at night when unwelcome visitors intrude into their haunts prevents from using their air guns the instruments they usually employ for the destruction of on windy nights when there is strong moonlight need we here make for the dove no sports pigeon shooting man of any age sure would go about to do it violence its to the youthful of should seem as murder â murder most as in the best it is bat this most strange and let the fate of the ancient warn him who would draw on the bird of love ere you fire upon the think oh think of him who shot the the or of british authors the quest or provincial â this beautiful bird pigeon shooting whose exterior is of a grey tint into darker and hues like a s robe by the more colours chosen by a lady of quality to set off its is to our islands it is remarkable for the softness and exquisite of its as well as for its graceful form it is found in wooded districts of england in the southern and of scotland and in ireland the shyness of the bird is extreme before after which it becomes almost to young and in great numbers where it may be observed busy engaged in the different duties of as the food of is very various so the they commit on the green crops of the are very extensive they delight in grain and pulse they eat the roots of several one of which is picked up on the the crop of the farmer has frequently been well nigh destroyed by them they attack in quantities and reject few means of their the wild note of the is the of mild weather and forms as it were the melody of our groves it is not easily and requires infinite attention to a pair in the gardens built a nest which happened to be destroyed and they have been found to breed in the at but it would possibly require the passage of generations to enable m pigeon shooting them to forget their independence the wing feathers of which are very strong cause that flapping and tumultuous noise so often heard in our forests and so often the cause of their discovery they are veiy and retire in large flocks at times to a common place the name has been bestowed on the bird from the conspicuous marking of white that in the neck between the rich green and purple rays of the neck and breast the of these feathers are there character bill of medium strength with a slight angle nostrils nearly and covered with a soft short partly in front toes entirely divided hind toe of considerable length wings powerful rather pointed second longest types c c note breed on trees in winter but breed with facility the pigeon is a variety to which our refer the domestic pigeon of our the blue rock is the of the pigeon of the present day this species the hollow and bare rocks of the sea shore in the winter they feed on the and seeds of the region and on the land they are and pretty closely to the coast where their murmuring notes may be frequently distinguished pigeon h tin between the of the wave and the of the blast the rock dove is found on all the desolate shores of the north of scotland and the rocks and the of and are the breeding and

49William Black

of innumerable birds of this species that they are found in the regions of island in south wales and they are said to breed on some parts of the and shores of the generally we may say that the species has greatly of late years both pigeon shooting with the increase of population and the increasing persecution to which they are subjected not a third of the numbers that formerly our woods and forests are now seen but as their amount seemed to be with us some sixty years since it is small indeed to that spoken of in america â the passenger pigeon of that country darkening the air for miles when the flocks are on the wing and when they settle breaking down from their numbers the very forests on which they rest the or white pigeon is the that has supplied so much theme for the poet and the historian as the messenger of the lover and the the and the are two of the fancy of this species remarkable for a of structure from the original type their heads and bills are in proportion the former shorter and the latter longer than in their original the dove â this p is smaller and more slender than the true pigeon and its tail is not nearly so ample but it occurs in and in some of the northern and in scotland and ireland it appears to be more frequent in the wooded parts of than elsewhere in england but its with us is altogether rare sir w speaks of a specimen shot in the garden at hall â the bird had frequented a break of peas nearly ripe for several days and at last attracted the notice of the gardener as one not pi pigeon shooting known to him when it was afterwards sought for it was in the same place rose with noise and alighted on a neighbouring tree whence it was shot the was that of an bird thus we see it is only a that occasionally the ordinary bounds of its it is however regular in its visits reaching the british coast between the end of april and the commencement of may again to depart in the latter days of august or early in september the fidelity of these birds is said to be as singular as the attachment of the pigeon to its native locality the flight of the whole pigeon family is wonderfully rapid the the â this species seems almost confined to some of the southern of england pigeon speaking of it only as a bird it is found in the open parts of and where it sometimes its nests in rabbit holes and elsewhere it will seek for and decayed trees wherein to breed and sometimes it is found in the entangled bushes that are it is known to mix with the it is also at the same season and its food is alike the young is very good eating but not to the flesh of the when it has from the or field the of this species is remarkable for the sort of lustre of its breast feathers in conclusion we may remark that the is distributed over our islands that the the southern districts and the rock pigeon is most numerous towards the north in there are many varieties of this tribe some of whom have great beauty of as the blue pigeon and mountain witch and others as the ring tail pigeon extraordinary delicacy of the latter is found only in the woods of interior and when in season in the months is extremely fat and of most exalted of the too there is one species called the ground dove from its the roads and for food the size of a lark and of most delicate we doubt however whether in delicacy of any of the dove species our that favourite of our woods where she threads her leafy way or sits in loving note on the tree to every eye for of colours the palm in most cases be to the smaller birds of the american woods â just as fond brings to deck the insect s than the eagle s wings although his sporting claims are by no means of a prominent character the is entitled to a slight notice at all events seeing that he is an occasional agent of the and does him good service indirectly on occasion he may be very employed by those who follow rabbit shooting in cover for his perseverance is and when of the rough or haired species thorns and have no account with him the of the is the most domestic of all the race and one that has lately made and is stiu making great progress in the higher branches of science known to its the species called bull is capable of training to almost any purpose for which the dog is required we have already that one of that breed was of extraordinary excellence as a bad not j while of the smooth sort that accompany the of our i au a rare intelligence as a companion to the wonderful related of the â we offer the following instance of sagacity or second sights or whatever it was in a which should the reader say he would not have believed be seen we can only say we did see and did know whether to credit what we saw or not a frenchman who resided in the town of had a little black and tan that he had taught to dance of course to smoke a pipe to make a low bow on the mention of napoleon and to cut a of admiration at the words france this animal would fetch and carry anything anywhere only point to a wig that passed you in the street and it was in your hand the next moment and as for picking pockets handkerchiefs seemed to jump into his

49William Black

mouth it so happened that on a market day we were walking with the frenchman and his dog on the road leading to i it was summer weather and the dust lay very thick we had walked about a mile out and were returning into the town when suddenly he stopped and said at the point where we tamed to come back i dropped a among the dust we will wait till moustache it â â and off went the four footed an hour elapsed and no moustache appeared and we grew tired of waiting and the frenchman thinking he had lost his cur as well as his coin returned to his lodging the following morning we had occasion to see him early and while in his room there was a scratching at the door he opened it and sorely travel worn in rushed moustache with an old bag in his mouth which together with some bank notes and other money contained a piece this bag was subsequently claimed by a who in riding to fair picked up a silver coin that his pony kicked out of the dust this he had put into his bag and it was not till long after he missed it he remembered that while his business in the fair a strange dog had stuck closely to his heels and followed him to his bedroom when he retired for the night what occasion moustache had taken for his ur by what of nose he knew it contained his master s money was alike mysterious all that ever was â that the had his treasure and the reader has the tale to deal with it according to his pleasure the latest fashion introduced in is the variety known as the isle of breed its peculiarities are eyes covered with impenetrable curtains of hair which hang over them and a back that if cut into quarters would be enough for four of ordinary the direct origin of the according to who of course follows somebody else like that of many other well marked varieties of the dog is involved in much obscurity some consider his antiquity questionable while on the other hand it is not easy to mistake the dog so described by for any other than the s classes him the hound nor is it at all improbable that he is thus derived and that by frequent and he at length all the varieties we now meet with as to size colour and qualities our friend colonel smith places the at the head of the race of our dogs at the same time asserting that if there be an in great britain it is that to which he belongs nor is the arrangement of so placing the race to be re he says because we are accustomed to consider that as only to he then goes on to establish his position by learned to greek words and having done so states that among them â the â are constantly found endowed with the keenest and one of them related in s essays â the quaint old himself having the fact â was the guide of a blind man who when his road lay along a brook would draw his master to the farther side from the water s edge although it was there much more rugged and unfit to walk on this wa veiy intellectual but not equal to our own shooting is indeed a stirring subject â the pursuit oi at once the and most sporting of all our elsewhere we shall deal at some length with its natural history and social details â here we confine ourselves to the most approved methods of finding and this and of the woods these strangers â the â wherever they come from arrive generally in the british islands about the middle of october they then lodge principally abroad but the first of snow drives them into the woods and in november they are to be met with in cover whatever the nature of the weather in covers not too high or thick or where rides have been cut through the well grown timber with a team of small or is the most picturesque and of all the precaution of having â h tin j l posted before beating a cover is begun is very e for when a cock is flushed he should never be left if possible while in the land of the living the most favourite spots both in and out of cover â with the are of there or you may be sure of him if the beat has not lately been disturbed early in the season however his are among the on the margin of in and â subsequently in young woods and the skirts of at times he is very and will lie till the very bush he is m is struck at other times he is as much on the alert sometimes he will not fly a hundred yards after being at and will afford half a dozen shots should he survive long enough then again he is on the wing before you are half within range and do n t alight till he has put miles between himself and you to day he flies straight and slow so that it is hard to miss him to morrow his flight is twisted like a and rapid as a s stoop colonel who has bestowed upon this sport the name of the of shooting is extremely in his remarks upon it he says indeed that a real good feels more gratified by killing a or even a few than bags full of game that have been reared upon his o i or neighbour s estate but he very abruptly the means of so gratifying himself in a country where are scarce he tells you to be sure to put a v a shooting in a tree before you attempt to one a

49William Black

second time and when you have marked down a cock to remember bow veiy apt he is to run instead of rising from the spot in which you may have seen him drop if a cock flies away he and continues to rise wild you may go safely beyond where he may have last dropped and then back again to beat for him having some one to make a noise on the side where you had before advanced on him and he will then most likely either lie close or fly towards you k this will not do take your station quietly to as generally fly against the wind give a whistle when you are ready and let the other person then draw on and flush him his of mark will assist in and driving the cock forward and be a signal for your preparation infinitely the best cock shooting we have ever had was in â on the coast of and in the neighbourhood of these unite and there in the woods of belonging to a of our own we have met in flocks or an occurrence without parallel in our sporting career the manner of pursuing them is by two legged a company of boys or as natural and naked as any four footed and going to work with a zeal and instinct that would shame the best bred of or anywhere else these are as well broken to the sport as any crack train of dogs and take a delight in it that they are tâ shooting tlie matter bom indeed a of sport is the ruling passion of the irish peasant â strong even in his starvation god help him the taken in hand their proceed in line through the woods giving tongue when they flush a cock with mark cock and waiting for the sound of his funeral if no shot is fired or if fired a cry of down dead does not follow the report they resume their beating as before in these woods their late proprietor has shot fifty and sixty couples frequently in a day and the late duke of we believe when lord lieutenant of ireland received a pie as a present which contained twenty score of we have no right to suppose our young friends will ever set up their staff in this land of promise and therefore it is our duty to instruct them how to hope for a supply of this their game in less inhabited when in places likely to hold a cock let them towards evening try the banks of and at that time the birds are on the road or feed and consequently are more easily met with than when laid up in the snug harbour of some old bed or beneath the root of some monarch the wood in the deepest recesses of some wide cover when flushed he will do well to bear in mind that the seldom if ever on feeding ground the â the is the largest species in the shooting or familiarly speaking in that of and common to our british and covers these birds are winter of our and their is upon their first arrival they are to be found in covers on the sea shore or on when exhausted by the length of their flight they are sometimes so little shy that they can hardly be raised and may be killed in eat numbers while more frequently they are timid to excess they will perhaps rest a day or so in the we have mentioned and then are off to settle as it were for the winter they will then choose spreading woods inter with and other where there is low cover to be met with near and sheltered they visit us for he most part about the end of october and again in february numerous instances of their breeding have been made known season after season in this but still the cases when this occurs are isolated a pair or two here and there discover a favourable situation and are found but there is no breeding in chosen places as in the case of its near neighbour the jack the appears to be known in all parts of the world we have it in most parts of great britain and ireland that are suited to its existence it is found in and for a short space of the winter it in and even in and its range extends beyond the circle they have been found in italy and the east at and on the african with some varieties of they are to be met with amid the and in the districts of india generally as well as at the when it in this country a spot generally at a small distance from water here leaves a little perchance some moss may form its careless nest and here the hen will lay four or five eggs of the size of those of a pigeon in colour of a pale purple brown or dirty yellow white with brown one writer speaks thus of nests that were found the soil was dry and the grass tolerably long without and the trees oak and no thirty years growth another says that they are placed amongst dead grass and leaves with out any attempt at concealment in the eggs are found merely placed on the bare ground under or where the young fir was again springing from a space only just cleared of the old trees the most remarkable peculiarity in the formation of the is the structure of its bill an to the purposes of its existence no less curious than interesting the upper measures about three inches and is nearly its whole length compressed and curved at the tip which projects and forms a kind of which is very sensitive and capable of of its food principally worms which it from moist grounds by means of its sharp and pointed

49William Black

tongue the bill is by numerous veins the eye is large and so constructed as to catch the faintest rays of light â a necessity since it is a wanderer the of is singularly rapid and their feeding quite out of proportion with other birds they thrust their bills endowed as we have seen with a wonderful delicacy of feeling into the soft mud of the marsh or shore in search of the of insects and small worms and thus they bore the greatest part of the night for the food that is no sooner taken than it is in process of the measures about fourteen inches in length shooting twenty six in breadth and from nine to the is coloured in all this with subdued and like tints these in their turn varying from a dust light brown to a sort of grey to which last hue the forehead across the crown and there are four bars of black brown of a rich colour the two first the most marked a narrow band of or white them on the fore part of the neck and from the comers there are patches of brown of a pale colour the wings are brown with black and white or pale yellow tips marked outside with brown on the inner side with a sort of red brown the outer web of the first is usually the to a faint yellow while the dark colours are the spots upon it the tail has twelve feathers it is black cut into with brown the upper tips grey the under white a hue on the breast and marked with brown of various shades in various birds the back is an of brown yellow and grey with darker of brown and black the whole oi a light sand brown effect with of grey and darker and black the legs and base of the bill are pale pink at the tip of the bill it becomes nearly black this bird suffers severely in the hard of the winter from its peculiar habits of turning over the sand and dried leaves in search of food in this country the number of known to visit shooting us of late seasons is on the decline in ireland thej are very abundant â the districts and natural woods of certain of its absolutely with them there is much animal oil in and their time of is short the young birds run alone as soon as out of the shell it is said that in common with their tribe they are during the season of courtship that the sex of the is from external marks although in we find that the hen of the presents a narrow of white along the lower part of the exterior veil of the feather while in the cock bird the same feather at the same part is beautifully and regularly spotted with black and white we are not a competent judge not having a taste in feathers but have no doubt that is right in his experience that the is not in many birds clearly marked some say the hen is the larger bird the small pointed feather at the base of the wing of this bird is well known among artists as the most delicate brush used by them especially in miniature painting it is now greatly by almost as finely haired by the the on its t arrival is usually lean and fatigued it is often picked up under such circumstances in the most open near sea and is so to raise at such times that it is killed in numbers mr daniel tells us that when the first take shooting to tiie which they sometimes do in flights or numbers they choose the year old slopes or they themselves to the edges of the woods they lie up in ordinary as it were in of from seven to ten years gi the is often supposed to make a flight to ireland from our shores in seasons of severe frost the prevailing moisture of that being genial to the of the bird it is well known they leave us in numbers when a long hard frost may have prevailed it seems to be an in nature that the animal is a solitary one the beasts of prey for the most part singly the wilderness in quest of victims the birds who make their on the mountain top and pair singly the huge monsters of the deep who feast on approve of no competition in blood and thus too these smaller birds and animals who are greedy or rapid of appear averse to together this holds good of the species we are describing and indeed it is a fact that one such as the bird loves wiu not more food than wiu support one of these birds colonel says the enormous quantity these birds eat is scarcely indeed it would be the constant labour of one person to procure food worms or the of insects for two or three the difficulty of collecting a of such precarious determined us to try if bread and milk would not be shooting a good substitute and we found that by putting clean washed worms into the mess the bird soon acquired a taste for this new food and will now eat a basin of bread and milk in twenty four hours besides the worms it can procure are seldom seen to in the they do not like stormy weather and shift their quarters very much according to the climate thus they breed on the mountain heights of and remain among the throughout the year visiting the moist places of the according to the season in the summer amid the hills in the winter descending to the plains they breed also in the mountains of and indeed everywhere that nature teaches them their delicately bills can pick from the and the necessary supply of food here they remain until the

49William Black

sun and the frost alike their enemies shall have dried up the springs and till the ground shall have become too arid for their support till the insects are upon the wing or till the frost shall have the earth into one solid mass impenetrable to their bills when this occurs these cold loving birds must either wing their flight to other regions or perish it is said that the arrival of the is more or less influenced by certain winds blowing m their these are taken advantage of as they occur thus them that fatigue the of their wings though large does not enable them to support numbers nevertheless perish at sea numbers are picked up dead on the coast numbers alight on vessels during the passage varieties occur in this bird dr three â in the first the head is of a pale red body white and the wings brown the second is of a or rather cream colour and the third of a pure white one writer describes having met with a variety the colour of which was a fine pale ash with frequent bars of a very delicate tail brown tipped with white and the bill and legs flesh colour mr daniel speaks of the different sizes of that those found first in the season are the largest fly heavily and their heads especially the imder parts appear to be encircled with short feathers that these large birds are not so numerous with us as a smaller size which arrive in november and december with shorter bills and feathers that come about he says are also small and differ in their manner of flying are quicker of wing take long flights and are well known to be difficult to be shot from their not rising above the spray like the larger muffled but make their way for some distance as it were among the boughs a grey legged and a blue legged one a pure white bird has been seen we find indeed that varieties of climate among animals of whatever class almost invariably varieties of characters according to bill shooting lengthened and sensitive straight upper curved and projecting over into a in the compressed slightly curved at the tip and there dilated the tip of the fitting into that of the in the whole tribe legs and feet slim of moderate length only for a short space naked or altogether clothed with feathers wings moderate tips of the somewhat rounded but the first or second longest types c habits of several to a limited extent all or partially so on the approach of danger breeding and winter similar â t chapter xiv shooting like the the is a bird also visiting us in autumn and taking its leave in spring like the too it infinitely more in ireland than england and indeed in many districts of the former is the only bird the has to count upon with the exception of the and the cock the according to the old saw is a good bird whenever you can get it but it is not correct nevertheless to shoot it before the is in season in august a few are met on the â they are always to be found in the and on the of ireland but they are not fit to eat before november it is stated and truly that these birds have retreated in this country before the march of agricultural improvement whose pas is and the sport which forms our present subject is to be had in any perfection in but very few in england moreover the is o shooting a most capricious resident changing bis abode at almost every accident of wind or weather or both sometimes not one solitary individual is to be met with in their most accustomed haunts sometimes a falls in with a colony where he never before knew an individual of the species to resort many good game shots contend that shooting is a which no doubt they themselves have not learned and certainly some eminent hands at and give it up in disgust and despair of ever succeeding at it taken in all its bearings this sport is a very true general test of a s quality the flight of the bird is utterly altered by the state of the weather in warm cloudy or boisterous days he is as tame and as easily covered as a young in august the next morning with a brisk frost and a still clear atmosphere he flashes away like a bolt from a cross bow â like a swallow in the twilight an old with the scent of the is the only dog to shoot him to with any satisfaction this dog should be taught to also for in some grounds which the bird likes best to frequent it is not competent for too too solid flesh to venture says captain whom we hold in esteem as an authority on the subject of shooting birds which are not game lie best in windy weather when the should always be down wind as the birds when sprung generally face it and thus present finer and often cross shots but in boisterous weather though their flight be slower it is more irregular and therefore the aim is more difficult to take some recommend hunting up wind and heading the dog wide at a point instead of walking up in the usual way but the birds rarely allow of such a liberty being taken with them to say nothing of fresh birds being thus disturbed with a dog â that is one who on your walking down wind quarters his ground regularly before you with his nose in the wind making short turns from right to left at thirty or forty yards on each side of you â there is no plan like walking with the wind but with a dog not so highly accomplished i always prefer taking the contrary

49William Black

direction but then i use s no as the flight of is so rapid and at the same time often so if the mean to get he must fire the first barrel extremely quick unless indeed the birds lie unusually well but at a single bird he can if he please afford himself a little more time unless it rises wild the critical crisis at which you should in this latter instance endeavour to fire is just when the bird is reaching that distance when the shot will have the spread consistent with the proper degree of for down a bird so small as a this will of course vary exceedingly according as you may use loose shot or the notion that the slightest touch of shot will bring down the is wholly shooting it has often been seen to fly beyond sight after more than one has passed through it if you have reason to suppose you have hit your bird and it is marked down beat very close for it you may very probably find it dead though it has fled from the shot apparently as strong as ever try your ground very patiently and don t be afraid to beat it after noon though you may have tried it blank in the morning often return as regularly as they leave their feeding places neither must you take it for granted they feed in spots apparently suited to that purpose constantly haunts the most favourable for them to the eye do not hold a very probably there is something with their taste for your is formed by nature for an â his bill is exquisitely fashioned to give a keen perception of in weather when rise wild as soon as they flush throw your eye well forward and fire the moment they top the cover in which you raise them observing to suit your elevation to the distance a wild springing like a pigeon from a trap always takes a straight com se in the first of his flight if he offers an or a cross shot you must your aim accordingly and shoot well forward the common â the of the common british of english s is of very sober and yet so distinctly marked as to be very beautiful the upper colour is a dark brown black the feathers being relieved by a lighter brown so arranged in parts as to â all in lines there are two broad lines on the the crown and over the eyes of pale colours while from the to the eye there is an line of brown the back of the neck is of varied and irregular colour and the back and long have feathers edged with a border of light brown in lines at the back there is much black while the feathers are tipped with white the breast is dark wood brown into white as they advance lower on the breast and belly the chin is white the throat brown there are fourteen tail feathers the middle two are black largely dipped in bright yellow red shooting and sometimes with a deep and narrow band crosses the tip the of the tail are black and a orange shaded by the dark ground colour of the feathers the outer feather is white at the tip this bird is common all over great britain and ireland it with us in partial numbers and regularly but by far the greater quantity arrive in this country with other early winter again to towards the spring formerly these birds were most abundant in and would sell from each of late years they are infinitely more plentiful towards the north yet wherever the surface character of our permit their resort there will the be found of course as we advance northward among and we shall find them increase in plenty even to the western of scotland and to the remotest of them they appear to breed in every suitable locality of north britain and ireland in the breeding season they themselves on the edges of grounds or should these be too and extensive for their purposes they resort to the or to the shores of the northern lakes the ground nest is merely a out lined with such materials as are at hand the position a dry on raised ground in the southern districts the grounds of or the low moist grounds in forest tracks are selected the young remain long after and as long as the weather near their shooting breeding places but under un circumstances they will speedily change their quarters the frost of very severe weather however will sometimes keep them from removal till it is broken up again we have known where you would little calculate upon them â in low willow grounds among and scattered and we have seen them perch close to the of man in bound up weather in search of that moisture necessary to their existence the loud noise of the common heard in his descending flight made by the of its wings with the air was at one time thought to come from his throat its pipe as it sits among the is well known to the and marsh and even to the mere for it is often upon in but little suited to its ordinary habits its range is says it in and mr in extensive and in the districts of and russia and as breeding countries and the east is given it by various authorities while others it to europe says the birds of america are distinct the common is called the or its length is about or near twelve inches the bill a good three inches it about four the has many enemies among them the most destructive is perhaps the shooting blue hawk this bird in has a peculiar or jerk with the tail which it at the time in a like its flight is rapid but it is thin in

49William Black

august and not then very good eating about november it is as full and as the can desire it is not a shy bird except where it together when it becomes much more wary and timid there are often varieties of this as well as all the other species of the tribes there is the red â in a small flock of these was seen in speaks of a singular that was shot near â its throat breast back and wings were beautifully covered or with white and on its forehead was a star of the natural colour it had also a ring round the neck and tail with the tips of the wings of the same colour we have ourselves seen an odd brick or orange legged the is named by british authors the brown brown grey from the varieties of its winter and summer it is of the and not one of the true is known as hi north as the sea and is a native of north america the great major â in the southern districts of our island we find this as an occasional bird of passage it is of unusual occurrence both in ireland and scotland men shooting the that the great is nearly al met with in autumn comparatively few being found in the spring or on their re this is the great double or solitary of british authors so named from its habits of alone or in pairs its flight is heavy and peculiar and its tail out fan like its is very similar to that of the common with some it has sixteen tail feathers the five beautifully marked black bars on white and on belly sides and from the tip of the bill to the toes it might measure rather more than fourteen inches its weight about eight bill about four inches long the internal structure of the great is said to be remarkably similar to that of the the bird has been not met with in and in various parts of its most usual breeding continental range appears to be and and in â holland more rarely that in comparison with the common the bill and legs are short the bare for only a short distance above the joint three specimens of a large but which could not clearly be ascertained as a distinct species or whether it its bulk and change of from age and its solitary habits from ceasing to breed there is a species of infinitely more rare than the solitary it appears an between that and the tlie known specimens of this bird in england are few in number one was procured from queen s county ireland where it was shot and another was killed in the neighbourhood of in as we have not examined these specimens or others in the museum it will be more satisfactory to the reader to introduce that eminent sir w s description of this species â â s â first that its call is described as from that of other and its habits said to be similar an irish specimen produced by mr was shot at thrice without exhibiting fear or shyness it alighted after being fired at but a short distance from the same spot â the upper parts are nearly of a dusky brown varied by narrow bands of pale brown the under parts are also dusky brown alternately barred with pale yellow brown the tail containing twelve feathers has tlie half black the half brown barred with black or brown entirely to the knees the entire length of the bird is from ten to twelve inches of which the will measure from two to three â â ij g s s shooting the jack this little specimen of his species like his great type the solitary is much more easily shot than the common it lies closer flies slower and presents a much easier mark still as it undoubtedly is as a general rule the jack k like the after affording perhaps half a dozen shots as if he were but half awake will take to his wings and make use of them in good earnest moreover in windy weather he is as wild as the common is tame when you have flushed and marked him down you must take care he does not jack shooting rise secretly take a second flight or a long run and afterwards get up behind you the jack comes to us later and leaves earlier than the common and has rarely been known to breed in this country though a short he knows how to take care of himself and will often set the best dogs and men at defiance the jack â this is the pet of the both for its and its flesh as to the latter let people say what they will of the we will back the jack half or for a bit against any in the world it does not flock together like the common but chooses in pairs or singly its low or abode if the jack comes to us rather later than the larger it remains with us longer than others always staying through march when its feathers are approaching towards their full beauty at this time indeed it is far the in dress of any species of the bird either known in great britain or foreign its glossy back so richly in and its delicately distinct of wood brown and the yellow and the pure white underneath which so contrast these brighter hues its green grey legs and dusky bill and its plump but elegant form to render it one of our prettiest when five or six are seen together they look like animated gems or jewels as they rise from covert â their wings quivering in rapid jack shooting motion and glistening with brightness although these birds lie close enough they are far from being shy but will remain at times their

49William Black

heads and bills from the ground as children hide their in the mother s lap when they think to conceal themselves it is veiy whether they breed in these islands even in solitary instances for all attempts to find the nest have hitherto failed the bird has been shot during summer and this is the only for the supposition that they do so sir w says in an excursion to some years since we thought we had found a breeding station for this bird near tongue the there an intelligent man said that he frequently met with them and their young in august while shooting and every cross questioning that could be put would not allow him to think that he was mistaken by the young of the common he mentioned the breeding places frequented by them and which when visited were exactly the spots we should have expected or looked for a jack our search however was fruitless and far as this point is concerned we have been unable to fill it up in scotland the or as it is termed about two is from seven and a half to eight and a half inches long bill nearly two inches the tail and consists of twelve feathers lance like in shape the wings are black tipped with white the p jack shooting edged with white and shot with the under parts white the tinted with a grey black and brown the feet and legs and patches or broad bars of rich brown about the head an yellow separating them the eggs of the jack are the size of a lark s haunts the same as those of the common its range seems to be the parts of europe during the process of and it is a winter in france and central countries says that it in the neighbourhood of some writers have considered it identical with the indian species found in the n describes in his history of a bird he calls the jack as seen by thousands on the sea shore that it must be a bad who does not kill sixty at once with fine shot land that he killed eighty five at a single discharge that the flesh is excellent but the bird so small that he could eat twenty at a meal from all we know of this bird it would never be found in numbers according with this description says has probably mistaken the ox birds which fly in vast flocks for this s and s delight this is the of french writers the dog having now brought to a termination our notices of those birds which come properly under the of game as also our outlines of the natural history and characteristic properties of the dogs used in their pursuit we will proceed to the second portion of our work it and closing the first part with a brief sketch of an animal not absolutely connected with either but whose eminent sagacity and peculiar for the service of man render him a most useful agent both to the game and the wild fowl of all dogs take him in the the is perhaps the most generally sagacious we have found him beyond others of the sub gentle and useful it is our opinion that in most cases he might be made the most valuable of sporting dogs â his intelligence or instinct if such indeed it merely be appearing to be called into action in a greater variety of instances than in any other dog except the original mountain or shepherd dog as a he possesses a quality of value â that of his game without breaking it and as we have before said he may be brought into the field with without interfering with their province as a watch dog his fidelity is we ourselves possessed a dog of this species f that upon a night of lai s broke his chain through a long yard in which he was kept and taking an enormous leap upwards caught hold of a fellow by the dog the tail of bis coat who was entering the of a on the first floor and brought down the between his teeth nor did this content him for utterly a bit of poisoned meat thrown at him he pointed and at the thief till the alarm was given and the fellow discovered the same dog permitted a robin through a whole winter to take shelter in his den it was a most singular spectacle to witness for so much familiarity and as it seemed affection grew up between them that while and about between his shaggy or upon his head and body our would stand or lie perfectly still his small brown eyes and and his well clothed tail gently to and fro with satisfaction a feat of this dog deserves a boy belonging to the house had not returned home at the usual hour to the great alarm of ms mother the dog above mentioned seeming to share in the general disturbance followed the servant sent in one direction to seek out the but soon and lost sight of him and was the first to discover the boy s apparel on the water s edge and a few minutes after the boy himself in the river who was then sinking the noble animal plunged in and rescued the child who it appeared had run off with his elder brother s and being of a determined and independent character had ventured to swim by himself at the moment of time of the dog s approach he had got embarrassed and en i the dog tangled in bis machinery and must certainly have been drowned but for this assistance the fine animal now so common in britain is usually a cross between the original or dog and others of the race and is therefore found somewhat both in form and colour says that the hound seems to have

49William Black

crossed in with the present breed for even in some of these dogs are in size and fulness of body superior even to the irish although the latter is higher in the shoulder he of one that when desired to show himself would place his on the of any door these large dogs are usually white in colour with black spots while the original breed is smaller and totally black except portions of the tail and legs their is the forehead more arched and their expression their bodies too are usually more slim the black colour of the head is interrupted by the coloured patches between the nose and the eye the dogs are almost semi and seem to be as familiar with the water as an â swimming and and keeping in it with astonishing he is very large haired than the and carries his high at st john s a dog is reckoned to maintain his master during the winter drawing fish wood and so forth in the summer they are left in great numbers to maintain themselves and consequently not only suffer great but contract various diseases the dog this species of dog although he be deemed inferior to the shepherd dog in and of to watching holds the highest place for intellectual qualities we of one whose usual station was the open hall door of a gentleman s country mansion who appeared to think his peculiar usefulness consisted in guarding the solitary of the family he would view unmoved the exit of every party but a lady a child or his master at all times brought him to his feet and sent him over the forest or park by way of although but a second returned perhaps from a day s hard work in the woods so remarkably was this dog affected by individuals that in despite of his to beggars by and he was never known to bark at a woman beggar but would the attention of his master to her case in a variety of ways and always attend her to the lodge gates on departure a small common white owl was the pet of the children it used to the under a dark bush where the trees overhead formed an almost impenetrable shade our had a particular dislike to the species but always took great notice of this little creature who would fasten her big brown round eyes upon him with great but he knew perfectly well it was not to be and on the contrary would lead the youngest child who could just run alone by his to the dark bush in s humanity of brutes he tells us thus â a vessel was the dog on the beach of in the surf was rolling furiously eight poor were crying loudly for help but not a boat could be got off to their assistance at length a gentleman came on the beach accompanied by his dog he directed the attention of the animal to the and put a short stick to his mouth the intelligent and courageous fellow at once understood his meaning and sprang into the sea and fought his way through the waves he could not however get close enough to the vessel to deliver that with which he was chained but the crew joyfully made a rope to another piece of wood and threw it towards him he saw the whole business in an instant he dropped his own piece and immediately seized that which had been cast to him and with a degree of strength and determination almost incredible he ed it through the surf and delivered it to his master a line of communication was thus formed and eveiy man on board was rescued from a watery grave in truth the instances of courage and benevolence recorded of this species are so numerous that they would fill a volume we may speak of the cleverness of the french who has been made an excellent actor as in the case of the company of brought to london about fifty years ago by a frenchman that had been educated to play their parts in admirably fine ladies and gentlemen and dance bow md look and according to book the land dog we may remember m s and who could understand language and play at and commend walter scott s dog who found his and james s dog who his master and marvel at the who would never permit a false note in singing to pass unobserved by a howl and a growl or the shoe black s who brought customers to his master by the boots of the passengers who passed the door of the shop â must still assert that in benevolence and sagacity the dog of the species is superior to any other a gentleman put a marked shilling under a stone by the roadside first it to his dog the gentleman then with his friend rode forward three miles and then the dog received his signal from the master to return back for the shilling the dog turned back the gentlemen rode home but to their disappointment and surprise the hitherto faithful messenger did not return during the day it appeared he had gone to the spot where the shilling was deposited but the stone being too large for his strength to remove he had stayed howling at the place till two riding by and attracted by his seeming distress stopped to look at him when one of them removed the stone and seeing the shilling put it into his pocket not it to be the object of the dog s search the dog followed their horses for twenty miles remained undisturbed in the room where they followed the dog the into the and under one of the beds the possessor of the shilling his upon a nail by the bedside but when both travellers were asleep the dog took them in his mouth and leaping

49William Black

out of the window left open on account of the heat reached his master s home with his prize when from in the pocket everything but the shilling was enabled to be returned to the owner and the singular circumstance this anecdote very strongly that before related of the frenchman s for story we do not personally the s feat came actually under our own observation the dog from the race in many respects having greater freedom of joint and muscle being longer in the back of a more flowing and fur a thicker and more ears the st john s breed is preferred by as being the more intelligent with remarkable powers of scent and to an almost unlimited extent the fact of the superiority of the is we presume to be traced to their vicinity to the capital of the state everything being found more intelligent and sagacious within a reasonable distance of a metropolis that some years ago these dogs could be readily procured at and when well broken were veiy valuable that some gentlemen who purchased them found them so the dog capable of general that they have given up most other sporting varieties and contented themselves with these and indeed the places of the others perfectly well filled up this he to occur however principally in and districts he speaks of a valuable dog of this sort the property of a gentleman who resided near â whenever it was likely wild fowl would come in shore and that consequently would go along the to them then she was sure to be found waiting for and attending on them as long as they stayed either out of the sea or the river spite of ice or snow any that were shot she had been known to stay two entire days and nights and as was supposed without food waiting at the shore side to assist any shooting parties that might go out for at the time we allude to an intense frost of two or three weeks had frozen up every river and stream here indeed was and she truly had a sporting colonel the of these dogs to buy them ready broken as by the time they are trained by the process of half starving the chances are that they will have got over the a disease particularly in the kind he also gives us a hint of which our own experience has proved the wisdom never to use violent means to make him do what you want which will but to him any fault you may rate and beat him the dog the st john s breed of these dogs is chiefly used on their native coast by their sense of smelling is scarcely to be they will scent a wounded through a whole covert of game or a wild fowl through a or of it will therefore be seen that we have not placed the biography of this remarkable dog out of place to the game he is capable of rendering the most essential services some of the very best we have known having directly descended from him â indeed a friend of ours had a pure which was perfect at the business for this reason we have associated as will be seen with this race the or as the and of that sport no wild fowl â none of the hardy race of who go down to the sea in and occupy themselves in the dreadful trade of in search of water fowl â should ever be without one of these friends at his side it birds which are not â â game although mention has been made of the and the among the game birds of the british islands neither of them in fact belong to that class the when it is found is so constantly met with among that it seemed most convenient to associate its history with theirs and as the is now rarely seen at all it appeared where its reminiscences might be given in strict sporting indeed several others set down in the list of game birds do not belong to that tribe but as they were necessary to preserve the routine of shooting we thought it best to preserve the of our sport rather than the order of the acting still further upon that principle we purpose now treating of those land and birds not being game that are sought after by and concluding with wild fowl shooting as weu on the as on inland waters â the latter as followed on the q shooting the one of the most exciting sports to be had in great britain foremost among birds stands the â a of places and mid regions whose race seems fast wearing away as far as relates to these islands his chief abode now is in the and mountain of ireland to find him is the difficult point for the when met with he is an easy prey his flight is heavy and slow save when very suddenly flushed when he will and with considerable rapidity when shooting with a double gun on raising a which thus towers we would recommend one barrel being given to him on the instant the second may be sent after him when he has begun to if you bring down a and he is only winged or slightly hit bear in mind that he is at such times very dangerous to approach you will therefore take such precautions to destroy it as may least injure its for we count upon your intention to preserve it as a memorial of no very common â h c i i g h â shooting the as the days of are now or at least on their very last legs â it may be lawful to draw upon this bird a practice long among sports shooting the men more honoured in the breach than in the the keen and strict of

49William Black

water will indeed make no bones about knocking a on the head whenever he has the opportunity â for he is a sad of the family and like in general he is wary to a proverb perhaps there is no bird that flies or more difficult to get near on the land in passing from the to their fishing quarters fly altogether beyond range of shot and as fer as our experience of their habits went during a faithful of them in one of the greatest in to them at home is out of the question to contrive even the chance of a shot the only method seems to be to wait for them â of course in â in the twilight or when there is a moon abroad near the waters which they frequent for the purpose of feeding the will conceal himself imder a bank or in some close shade ashore or hiding in his under some high bank he may float down with the stream close to the lee shore till he comes upon them them from their size is of course not difficult and when hit they are generally done for as they will carry very little shot it will be well to remember the when only wounded makes a very fierce and dangerous resistance it is said that the best plan to out general him is to him for some time with a stick or a and after he has seized hold of it with his bill to watch an opportunity of putting a foot on his neck and natural history of the then either to despatch him outright or if he be merely and it is desired to bring him home alive to tie his bill and legs and cover up his head with a handkerchief are to be met with constantly on the and in those situations they are more readily approached they resort to small and where the banks are steep are come upon before they can see the the the common this bird is of singular habits active natural history of the during the night and at rest in its during the day mornings evenings and twilight are the periods at which its ill is heard afar at regular intervals like the warning gun of the the of the owl or the as some have it of the wild bull at these times he is flying across the in search of his food but it does not appear accurately known whether this peculiar and solemnly mournful call be a general appeal to his species or whether it be merely incident or to the period of in days of old when the was a frequent bird of our islands and its flesh esteemed a choice delicacy of the s table the cry of the night as the common people were wont to call it with the true night or mire drum was deemed of death a or an earthquake in the and indeed its nothing can well more ominous of evil than its hollow and call it appears late in autumn or in winter in very varying and unequal numbers in one year it is tolerably plentiful in another there shall be found few specimens of the species were unusually plentiful in the winter of both in england and in south scotland this bird has been known to breed in our its nest is made on the very edges of amid the and rushes a few leaves of water plants and some rushes will serve to line the little the it lays from seven to eight eggs of an colour it lives upon and vegetables though it claims of form with the in many respects it is its exact opposite it is not so it is instead of lean and looking and its brood instead of being fed by the mother for many days are in three days led out to supply themselves the young of the are very creatures all legs and neck while the s brood have a comfortable look shortly after breaking the shell that the food of the common is seized by watching after the manner of the true and that fish and are its food he says a land rail has been found in this bird s stomach the general appearance of its is that of a brown yellow with brown or black patches or fine of green and purple at the sides and neck the little this bird is also occasionally found and supposed to breed in this country in form it is somewhat to the small tribe its particular are the shores of rivers and water brush wood districts its nests are made on the ground and its habits are with the head drawn closely in so as to conceal the neck these birds have been killed as far north as and also in ireland although not often the is very rich glazed with green about the head and natural history of the neck and yellow and brown tints dotted with darker ones at the sides and the named the or the star reaching while the taking its character from its more constant habits have given it the title of the or the lazy the common â when was a favourite sport of the british nobility great pains were taken for the preservation of the species the heavy penalty of ten shillings was enforced upon every person who destroyed its twenty shillings upon him that killed the bird the the of the was a the flesh of the was sent to table the fat of the made into a with other was the bait of those in the mysteries of it is a shy bird but during the breeding season its great beauty has made it a choice ornament of park and forest although its natural abode lies in districts broken by vast pools and in such situations and during that large portion of the

49William Black

year in which it is a bird its attitudes are natural and graceful its dark purple and grey beautifully with white and light shades its crest its outstretched neck the bright hides and deep yellow bill the two broad of lengthened black feathers that relieve the pure white of the breast at the centre and its size which will exceed three feet â render it a striking object as it is seen now now its crest its long legs in the water feeding upon and attacking every tribe of fish within its capacity an old writer thus describes its â i have seen a that had been shot that had seventeen in his belly at once which he will in six or seven hours and then to fishing again i have seen a taken out of a s belly nine inches and a half long several gentlemen who kept tame to try what quantity one of them would eat in a day have put several smaller the and da ce in a tub and they have found him eat fifty in a day one day with another id this manner a single will destroy fifteen thousand in six months the takes his prey either in the water or hovering over it in shallow places with that bird s eye accuracy of his species he the element with his organ and down upon his prey with certainty his long neck a second imder water and the next rising on the wing the or yet alive in his bill he flies to the shore quickly to it and again returning to the waters for more it has been said that he more fish in a week than an in three months in the winter season however he but ill for the fish have retreated into the deep waters and even water rats or are scarce at such times his indolent patience seems to serve him instead of food and he will even take up with the sea weeds or lake of his locality in forests its long wings and legs give it an awkward and constrained appearance perched on branches of trees or flying along its legs and claws outstretched its attitudes might sometimes excite the its nest on tops of the highest trees or on cliffs that the sea shore in cultivated districts it will select the oldest timber to build upon generally in despite as it were of its timidity it chooses situations close to a the nests are made of sticks and the lined with wool and in building flock together sometimes they choose a solitary by the side of a or mountain stream and sometimes it is said though not they will breed upon the ground their produced by their habits of is so excessive that they will not be at the trouble of building a nest if they happen to find one ready made for their purpose these birds great britain and ireland they are said to be plentiful in and indeed they are generally spread over our islands where this bird is preserved in a it has been known to do mischief to the fish of thus describes a method for them â having first discovered the haunt of the get three or four small or and having provided a strong hook with a wire to it this is drawn just within side the skin of the fish beginning without side the and running it to the tail by which the fish will not be killed but continue for four or five days alive then having a strong line made of silk and wire about two yards and a half long it is tied to a stone at one end the fish with the hook being suffered to swim about at the other this being properly disposed in shallow water the will seize upon the fish to its own destruction we cannot but here close our notices with an extract from north s his love of sport is expressed too not to interest the young that are to the pursued on flood field and fell â that cloud like thy nest on yonder mass of pines to us thy flight seems the very of a long lone life of peace as thou thy wide wings on the bough beneath thee tower the ruins where many generations sleep thou like a dream nor thy gradually descending course for the eagle that fer above thy line of travel comes rushing from his prey in distant of the sea and again where he speaks of the of hall â hush stoop â kneel â crawl for by all our hopes of mercy a â a an dangling across his bill and now the has disappeared from morning dawn hath the fowl been fishing here â perhaps on that very stone for it is one of those days when are a in the and the knows that they are as likely to pass by that stone as any other â from morning dawn and tis now past be oh ye and never â never â shall he again fold his wings on the edge of his gaping nest on the trees that the only tower left of the castle another and we too can crawl silent as the serpent flash bang over he goes dead â no not dead but how unlike that flapping as head over heels he goes spinning over the to the serene of himself from sod or stone when his and his filled with fish for his far off brood he used the to lift his blue bulk into the air and with long depending legs at first floated away like a wearied thing but soon as his felt the current of air flowing urged and his easy course â and lazy no more leaving behind him ere you had shifted your motion in watching his cloud like career soon invisible among the woods into the

49William Black

silent twilight of many a wild rock and river scene beautiful and bewildering as the fairy work of sleep will he find himself brought who knows where to seek the in all his solitary haunts often when the are storm swept and the s bill would be baffled by the waves of and he sails away from his swinging tree and through some open dipping down to the secluded stream within the calm chasm and folds his wings in the air a better day a better hour a better minute for fishing could not have been chosen by mr who is already a par another â and another â but something mis from the rock into the water and suspicious though he leisurely addresses himself to a short flight up the channel round that tower like cliff standing strangely by itself with a crest of self sown shrubs thou to be alone for the thou loves not such very rocky rivers and fish with bitten shoulder seldom lies here â that s tasted prey chapter shooting the knot the land and water rails the the golden the grey and the the first of these little birds is a bird and in in point of rank and ancient name the most distinguished he is said to derive his name from king or whose he suited so exactly that the monarch was never happy but when he was devouring one the knot is more generally than shot though when the are frozen it to the sea side where the coast often bag a whole flock at one discharge where however the young has an opportunity of meeting it in any tolerable plenty he will find it afford him excellent practice the land rail in searching after the land or com of many districts â which indeed is about as profit b shooting the rail the able as looking for a needle in a hay â go if go you will into fields and and pieces the young meadows in ireland are with them but of all the family they are the most impossible to deal with to do it with even the shadow of a chance take into the range you purpose beating two or three close working steady and be always in the centre of them never forget the rail always keeps moving therefore whenever and wherever he gets up â should he ever arise â blaze away taking the most remote possibility of him with a single the only excuse a can offer himself for being found looking after rails is that a shot in hay harvest time is worth something for the purpose of keeping the hand in the water rail as this bird is really an the will not the trouble of bringing one â to table a patient shot will bag one perhaps in twelve hours â but that only by remembering to press him without an instant s interval should he happen to be found as the creature however is very poorly supplied with the resources of safety no doubt nature has given it discretion which is the best from danger if the water rail has taken refuge in a hedge or cover go in advance of your dogs which it will most probably be watching and and golden flush it yourself of course always fire at it when within sight a good water is in shooting the water rail the the is another bird but found during their winter shooting by the of our here it is met with singly but in the northern regions of america it goes in flocks of great numbers as many as seventy two having been killed at one shot by a mr a resident at s bay it is also a as rare to our bills of as its the knot as the chances of in with this bird axe few and far between the who has the luck to meet it must take such advantage of his good fortune as circumstances make most advisable the golden among the golden ranks next to the â some esteem them equally therefore it is good to shoot this beau on all occasions seeing that he is especial delicate eating it is resident among us all the year round and chiefly to the most secluded and keeping more than a gun shot generally clear of all danger or places of for the j shooting and colonel says golden were formerly killed in great numbers by means of horses we never saw the contrivance put in practice but bear testimony to the truth of the second plan he â if you fire at these birds as they fly over you tliey will dart down for a moment and spread in every direction so that by taking a random shot with your first barrel you may often bring down the birds to a one for your second golden may be looked for in all places where their favourite food worms are likely to be found the ireland seems the chosen land of the grey which is there met with in strong flocks but almost invariably associated with the or green the most wary that ever bore feathers the most probable method of this bird is to wait till he is on the wing this he by towering at first in close order and then descending and sweeping within a few feet of the in circles and it is when engaged in these he is most readily shot the according to the french proverb he who has not eaten the does not know what game natural history of the knot j is this may be all very true for there is no of taste for our part we think there is more virtue in the of a and the bosom of a than in a whole wilderness of old says colonel a great authority in fly round a dog in order to him with a

49William Black

dog therefore one may be able to kill several of these birds in the which they frequent the afternoon is the best time as prefer the during the morning this is the whose eggs are so popular the knot â this is the second bird in rank of the species or the most beautiful and abundant the of which along our is the or or of british authors the knot or red and ash coloured does not as as is known breed in england nor is it so regular an attendant upon our as the beautiful but at times it visits us in great numbers the seasons for its accustomed appearance are autumn and winter its summer and winter of respective red and hues has assisted in its various and its estimation as a bit for the of our northern and procured for it its present familiar name of knot as before stated it is a bird where it follows the retiring tides and in the soft mud of such where it almost regardless of danger although at times shy and of approach knots stay on our shores sufficiently long to change their summer dress the tops of the rocks in the different and in scotland and ireland are sometimes at fullest tide covered with them here they will sit and rest the live long day or until the waves sufficiently for them to pursue their search for food says he procured many specimens of them in holy island on the coast of with stones merely as they will shortly after their allow themselves to be approached within the distance of a few yards he also states that the nests are placed under or by the side of some the knot q or bush of grass or often concealed but exhibiting little except a little and pressing of the dried grass to the bottom the entire length of these birds is about seven inches and a half their breasts are and and where they pick up abundance of food they become an almost as as the after we find the of a orange the sides of the head are slightly spotted with a black while the crown and back of the head have the feathers with the same tints the middle of the back and long are of a dark brown save where with a orange colour or with yellow the under parts are pure white with small dark in centre the dark brown paler on the inside the shafts white and broad the tail is brown tinted with green and brown characters of bill of the same length or slightly longer than the head often gently curved soft and wings rather long sharp pointed the first longest and feet of middle length toes joined at the base and narrowly fringed on the edges with a small on the types t c in winter as we have said the or is the most natural history of the land rail numerous as well as the most beautiful species of the it is distributed along almost all our from north to south in winter the birds in almost innumerable on the shores and where they follow the tide in their feeding parties with great they hare the most picturesque effect possible thus crowded together after or before their either on the rocks or the beach they are from seven to eight inches long wherever in scotland or our own country the sea forms or the country is studded with there be sure this beautifully little creature may be seen in flocks in its attire hunting for the food the ox bird or the land rail or com â we cannot write of the land rail before dinner without a certain from the this fat little bird must not be confounded with the water rail besides that its bill is much shorter it is much more â indeed so much so as to be almost invisible but to tlie most and and it is made so strong in the lower limbs by the length of the leg and toes that its rapidity of motion appears next to miraculous what need of wings at all to a creature considering its proportions with such an enormous capacity of stretch talk of seven league boots indeed you must drop the and think ob corn of the railroad car it is named com from its noise or call â which may be heard now here now there now everywhere and thb land a l now nowhere and wherefore simply that the bird is an and you into the belief that he is at any spot the farthest from the actual one in many respects its habits are similar to those of the water rail for though the first seeks the thick grass meadows and moist and sheltered yet are its chiefly â taking to beds young grass or grain in moist places and low lying districts before any others here he will choose his position uttering his from a of earth and you shall be running on one side and the other and ever so far away after his the land call which possesses all the of distance the nest is made as carelessly as the a with some soft leaves or grass there it lays from ten to twelve eggs moss is sometimes introduced into the architecture of the nest and some natural hollow of the ground is always selected its eggs are of a dull white its food in summer insects worms and once took a mouse from the stomach of a com this bird will sometimes and swim in a singular manner we have read of a mr who possessed a young bird of this species that was fond of the water it would dart to the bottom and swim and splash about with the activity of a creature unused to any other element the com is found generally all over the british islands

49William Black

but we wish it were in more plenty it extends north to and it has however almost disappeared in several where it was frequent in the south of scotland ten years ago it was ful it is now very rare in the same the is only uttered during the season of we give s description of the and characters â over the eyes behind the and extending beyond the neck is a streak of grey into the colours on either side on the crown back of the upper parts and the ground colour or centre of the feathers is hair brown each being very edged with brown or a yellow tint of oil green the wing ob corn and feathers orange brown the a dull hair brown darkest on the inner the region of the eyes and sides of the neck are wood brown shaded into the throat and breast â the former of which is white tinted with grey the latter brown the centre of the belly is nearly white gradually to the sides and which are with a red orange barred with hair brown pink towards the base legs and feet brown this bird to and to africa its varieties are the spotted or spotted which is also a summer to the british shores the little which is called s or of british authors the upper parts of which are delicately and most beautifully spotted with pure white this has been taken as far north as the last we have to is the spoken of above by this bird is of than the rest of the but in and habits it is â similar characters of bill short strong at the base entering the of the forehead its outline slightly to the tip broad nostrils pierced in the wings at the angle armed with a or rather short second or third longest legs strong naked for natural history of the water rail a short space above the joint toes long slender to the base short nearly on the plane of the others types c c habits chiefly breed on the ground lay numerous eggs noisy and often the the water of british authors â this is a bird of habits that or flat and and it is of the family the most of the it is abundant neither in our own country nor in scotland perhaps however it will be more correct to say that the shy and wary habits of the bird render its haunts little to the perseverance the water i i of man its powers of flight are very limited for its wings are short and and ill adapted for n of motion thus instead of trusting to this mode of safety it itself amid the vegetation of a low country to for its awkward and fluttering flight we find it has been given a structure of feet and legs admirably adapted for swiftness while the shape of its bill head and form is slender to enable it with to pierce through the of plants and of its specimens of the water rail are often procured in the winter when it is driven by the severity of the season to haunts nearer the reach of man into some or covered place where it is sometimes even taken by the hand sir w that in his own vicinity the bird will be met with in winter in the wet that do not easily where no doubt it can still procure food the same thus describes au male shot in his neighbourhood the accuracy of s makes them especially valuable to young â this male bird has the crown and all the upper parts brown tinted with oil green the centre of each feather black on the centre of the back occupying nearly the whole feather but on the lower part and being in the centre only and there on the wings and tail allowing the pale colour to be the prevailing one nearly brown s the water rail on the forehead until beyond the line of the eyes tbe of each feather are strong and in a point the chin white the region of the eyes cheeks sides of the neck and under parts until in a line with the legs grey the black barred with white tips of the feathers wood brown forming a line of that colour along the centre of the vent joining with the under tail which are similar their half being black which sometimes appears mixed with them feathers barred with black and white the bill is brown at the tip at the base tile red becoming brighter and orange red upon the edges of the legs brown white varieties sometimes occur â characters are long compressed and slender long and wide nostrils pierced the middle of the length rounded short and wings the third and fourth of which are longest angle often armed with a legs of medium length bare above the joint long and slender feet toes to the base short near the plane of the others type r c habits cry of a power lay numerous eggs perch on rails fences or low trunks of trees feathers of the forehead with the shafts prolonged into points black this is a handsome bird breeding natural of the in the english and in and moist low grounds common to oar and the it is also known in ireland in the breeding season the of the is very fine being red of different shades varying from dusky to orange the head neck and breasts are usually of the paler tints faintest at the eyes and throat each feather of the crown being marked with a brown black the breast and sides are also marked with black the flank bars being wide and distinct there is a great deal of white underneath but barred and marked with dusky brown the ground upper colour is of a fine black glossy brown with a

49William Black

purple hue and crossed by bars of pale orange coloured brown the and tail are white and the rest of the tail black of a rich hue the extremity of the tail slightly into forks when shut the of the wings are a deep black on the outer and edges to white inside the shafts of all the bill is orange into black brown at the extremity the legs and feet are grey in winter the hues the whole has a tea green and black effect but the is really brown darker along the the black and white of the tail pretty much the same as its summer dress to these periods there are many variations of hue the eye is large and full the range of the is extensive in the summer as as in the the winter it is known in in the islands and many other parts in exterior form it the and several of the kind from the length of its hill neck and legs and its joints which remarks remove it from the more or lowly figure of the and true it was formerly held in high estimation as a table delicacy and well is not now altogether despised the seldom in sheltered places its whole structure appearing adapted to an life in the open and being like most of the kind very aud noisy and in this as well as in the harder construction of the bill unlike the true we give as the most correct of all the character of the from sir w bill very long strong at the base compressed bending upwards smooth rounded dilated at the tip projecting beyond the wings long with the shafts very strong first longest legs long naked for the greater part of their length outer toes connected by a more than half the length of the joint hind toe on the habits in winter in breeding season europe asia america types l the common or red grey common or red of british authors red the s this is a variety of the black more generally abundant than it and yet fer from common colonel describes the red as larger than the last species weighing about twelve and measuring about eighteen inches it appears the early in august and remains with us through the winter it is more noisy than the former species and the peculiar of its cry as it flies uttering a sort of it at once it chooses a locality close to the shore or beach where it can make use of its long bill in the soft sand or mud here it in small parties and here it associates with many of the other birds to whom its habits or form bear it is most known northward in our islands and is said i to be a attendant of autumn in ihe sister kingdom the e changes from the of the summer to the grey of the winter hues sir w relates that he has never missed parties of them in the end of august and in september mingling with others of the and which are considered of less common occurrence on the border he is speaking of the river at and banks of the on the he also the low shores between holy island and the coast as a frequent locality for these birds their habits are greatly similar to those of the black species the general range of the bird is not considered so extensive as the last mentioned variety being chiefly confined to some portions of europe not so north a few portions of india and its islands it has a larger bill with longer legs than the species for the rest its manner of raising food breeding c is the same as that of the black the common the common green or of british authors provincial â this may be termed the head of the and is the most noble in appearance its brightly varied and and its interesting habits to make it a great favourite with every this bird inland but as may be seen from the structure of its feet natural op the has an with the and tribes and its habits are therefore partly it also like these changes its it is however larger in size and though distinguished ia one or two species by its graceful an crest its are almost all like the whole of the british empire may boast the possession of the yet is it â from the numerous it was once in our country has greatly on its and once with the cry of the parent birds and absolutely thronged with their lively are now but scattered over with their lessened numbers the likes wet and pastures low moist meadows the grounds and sub wherever these are situated either on the shore or inland may be found the haunt of the they at first early in the spring then separate into pairs as they proceed to breed at the season of the inland are covered with them and tumbling about in their anxiety to the from approaching their nests and performing the while those beautiful of flight for which the tribe is remarkable and which exhibit to such advantage the peculiar beauty variety and of the feather tints as they are seen by dancing and darting to and fro in the summer they chiefly feed or at dusk eggs so named are those of the and the young birds flesh is by no means to be despised as a table delicacy the nests of this bird are found by dogs trained for the purpose their instinct of scent is made use of and they will point as at game till the eggs are taken in the full e of the the crown c is black finely with purple the feathers springing from the in a waving or crest are narrow long and black gracefully upwards and to be raised at

49William Black

will erect round the throat a yellow white is encircled a sort of oval patch on either side below the eye is pure white the of neck is pale brown beyond the most glossy black and purple the back and wings a splendid olive green having rainbow reflections of deeper tints of blue and steel colour and history of the golden beautifully while the belly is white the wings are steel blue or ash with white and chestnut red in parts the tail short black with white at extremity legs a dusky purple red the young have a little more yellow in the the colours of the female are slightly subdued the the golden â the presence or want of a hind toe seems to have decided our upon their distribution of the family there are two species of so called the great the golden also entitled stone and also the grey and the the last of which as the most interesting of the family we take as the head of the list although the smallest of the species it is scarcely ten inches long and its weight is no more than from seven to eight this bird is common in britain on islands where there are few or no inhabitants where they can the ground with their nests and as it were claim its inherent possession it occurs abundantly on our in winter and contrary to the habits of the grey species is seen in vast flocks it is thus known far and wide among the of scotland the of ireland and in our own country in every suitable locality in such when the ceased her t was silence all nothing can well be more noisy than this family let an intruder but approach the brood and off she flies wailing and out her singular cry in very advance of the enemy then after of the absence of danger she will away through the loved by the ere she again returns to her young the breeding begins to change as soon as the bird settles in her the nest is made with great carelessness and lined very indifferently with mere or materials close at hand the nest is a mere the golden ground or scratched hollow towards the young grown birds descend in flocks to the or wet meadows and towards winter they are again on the and become excessively shy just before that period they are killed in great numbers while describing those flight circles which bring them so near to the gun of the they resort greatly to and nothing can be more pleasing to the eye than the summer of this beautiful bird the deep soft rich black about its head and throat the white and yellow immediately with that hue on the sides and under tail the fine pale brown of the back and other parts the forehead streak of white the shot purple of its neck and the of yellow on each feather marking their contrast on this part from the of the neck where the feathers are dark in the and edged with gold colour and so on through the whole brightly the winter dress though not very brings more ash colour and grey to the feathers and a paler yellow while the hues between winter and summer are always richly varied the bill is black the legs grey the female in the distinctness and depth of the colours sir w that the correct limits of the species have not been ascertained and that the and american birds are distinct he is inclined to believe that the foreign golden is the c a smaller natural history of the grey bird but be possesses specimens from america as rt is said agreeing witb our bird in every particular this is the of french authors the third species of the true is a foreign one â the c and a most beautiful creature according to the specimens we have seen of it the the grey or of british authors â this bird is at least twelve inches long and twenty four broad its weight rather more than that of the golden we have no reason to conclude it to be a summer in england but in other parts of the year and after the breeding season it is often found assembled together in small although never in tlie same flocks as the more abundant kind the golden thus we see it on our north eastern in the islands in the south and generally on the borders of scotland its range is greatly more extensive according to different authors we may place it in the islands and northern europe as a summer and winter guest br believes that it in bay egypt and and on the highest hills has seen in june some birds on the islands the shops in london exhibit them early in the season but in the latter case they may have already put on their attire in the former some few birds may have been wounded and unable to the the dress of the grey kind is of different shades in each feather marked with grey ash or yellow while the summer contains a great deal of the richest black and the underneath parts much with white such as the vent tail c the upper portions of back c finely in each feather edged with white upper tail white barred with brown part of the distance central feathers coming to a point feathers black the shares in the nature of the and other birds of similar habits but in an inferior degree as soon as the brood leaves the egg the parent bird leads them about for as they are thickly covered with down they require less care than birds of the poultry kind the characters of the are thus described by the accurate pen of â bill rather strong on the towards the tip which is hard wide more than half

49William Black

the length of the bill nostrils pierced in the wings long pointed first longest legs rather short bare for a short space only above the joint toes connected by a small slightly on their edges or wanting types breed inland except during undergo a change t u other varieties of the the bird described by and others as the great is the common thick knee a variety of which is mentioned by and white under the name of the long legged whose alliance to the family is demon thb as well by its length of legs as its to the same open and extensive plains as the latter and not more than two eggs at a time one of its names being the it is scarcely needful to state that it is found in that county rather other varieties of the abundantly and in many other of the eastern and southern as well as in but not north it is found in ireland as also is the true the latter in the greatest abundance this bird also indifferently termed stone is of habits â the large round prominent ball of the eye proving its capacity for night it occasionally in the makes a nest in hollows on the bare ground and up its food somewhat from the ground the water and the marsh â worms and even small it is a finely marked bird of rich brown and yellow with white and cream underneath base of bill bright extremity black legs very long and yellow pure white under the throat under of wings with much white round the bare space of the eyes bright yellow xvii shooting the the and the the the the the the and the lark the this is one of tlie few british birds with which fable has been busy it is taken runs the story by means of an unhappy â that of the spectator be his attitude what it may and thus it remains till the net of the is thrown over it at present it is shot as its are and this is not a difficult matter when it can be met with the chief of the are the of and the and these are natives of our but partially themselves to the districts of shooting the the and thence northward so soon as they see a the begin to fight and desperate little fellows they are the sporting history of these birds tells us was formerly a very interesting subject and collected together numbers of gentry some to watch their habits some to shoot them more to see them and many more to eat them by all accounts the best of any their price was somewhere about two guineas a dozen â by costly feeding but that was after they had been stuffed with boiled wheat sugar and all sorts of shooting them is very dull sport they flush lazily and a tailor might bring them down with his goose the this is a of the family and ducks more than any of his seed or generation it seems to anticipate the flash of a gun so that shooting at them will be conceived a nice operation the large colonel thinks worth shooting for sake of their skins which make excellent and travelling caps the the true system of shooting this bird is always to have a second gun in reserve â if double so much the better because if you wing him he makes a great disturbance and brings all his mates about you you will get much nearer them than you did to the shooting the the c you wounded in working up to contrive to keep close to the land and well under cover of it the as this bird is not worth having when dead it will not be required that we give instructions for shooting it his chief value is on where he is very attractive to all kinds of wild fowl the reason is said to be that he acts as a while the other birds sleep â their custom in mid day the the frequent many of the of england in perfect clouds at certain seasons of the winter so to speak particularly during white in august when it is stormy they are very tame not at all taking offence if you kill a dozen or so of their company these the gallant colonel already quoted says are no doubt young birds this is capital sport for a he adds because if one or two are stopped the rest are sure to pitch down with or near them as thick as they can possibly together then is your time oh youth have at the brown of em the this bird only comes among us in winter and unless the weather be hard he is a particularly shy guest when a flock of alight they have natural history of the their regular posted and without great care getting near the main body is out of the question the also arrive as of foul weather and are rather more accessible than the they are to be shot both singly among and in and also in flocks on the ground where they pitch to feed on the grain shed during the harvest they feed also in meadows and like the domestic and on almost all kinds of the lark this least of the tribes that come under the s notice in snow and severe weather in vast flocks and now and then affords him a large return for his powder and shot with a long gun and lots of dust shot he shall put a dish upon his table that will enable him to understand the value the luxurious set upon singing birds the of our south downs are very pretty of the the â the while presenting some of with the family in its habits shorter structure and in that it has no spotted of feathers the

49William Black

of british authors is a breeding of great i the tain it is rare in ireland nor have we near so many of these on the mountains of and that we formerly could boast however there they still breed as also in parts of the scotland we extract from a careful observer of these birds mr of the of an interesting account of their habits he says they in their various about the middle or end of may where they remain together some days and then retreat to the mountains to breed always in the vicinity of the lakes choosing the more inaccessible and those in especial covered with the moss in these high places they make no nests but choose the a well covered gi where it is sheltered by some rocky fire ment the hills of scotland are also favourite of the although it is known with us in some numbers as a spring and we know nothing of its winter quarters it lays three eggs and upon insects and lucky the mortal of who sees before him a dish of these a of the bird as a table delicacy and in with our remark that its winter habits are unknown and its never noticed we give captain s anecdote â the sudden departure of the tribe alike remarkable for beauty of and excellent may sometimes be most satisfactorily accounted for without the of a or a some years ago a friend of mine had the good fortune to fell in with a small trip of these birds of which he secured two couples and sent them as a present to his grace the of york from whom he received that reply for which his grace is so remarkable at the period of their arrival at his grace was from home but sent strict orders for them to be kept in their feathers â the being a bird whose he had never seen it so happened that his grace was then about to hold an and therefore resolved that these choice should appear at his table on the occasion the were numerous and among them was one who had been educated at the st bees where it is said the and the polish differ a shade or two from those same at oxford at it fell to st bees lot to sit opposite these two of and as a stiff examination under was never known to improve the appetite for dinner st bees did not feel disposed to at length however a from the well up having assailed his he commenced operations in good earnest very shortly afterwards a gentleman on his right with a look hut few could have politely invited st bees to partake of the dish he was carving â no no replied our new made as he the fourth on his plate no thank ye i stick to t little occasionally visit bay and rather more frequently the shores of the their note is a whistle they are excessively cautious and fond of their young in the manner of the meeting the intruder which if a dog they will flutter before like the to be lame and returning by that sweeping flight common to their tribe the â or or sea lark of british authors this chiefly bird may by good luck be found by the on the sandy and shores of our islands it the whole year in our and is a lively little creature with the s remarkably shaded of and delicate it its eggs among the in some naturally formed out of the reach of the tide the food of this bird it may be seen is thus always within reach at the recess of the waves the whistle of is a shrill and sad note that being almost incessant their presence long before they are seen indeed their sober so with rock and stone sea and sky and sea weed by which they are surrounded that it is difficult to distinguish the from the portions of the creation in such situations they ue an active and bustling career either at work pursuing their food or sitting perched on the rocks or on the coast in innumerable s the titles although however we mention their as the most usual stations of these birds they are by no means their only ones along the shores of rivers they are occasionally found to breed choosing the loose for that purpose or the sand beds of the water courses they often occur inland â ten fifteen or twenty miles distance from the sea more especially in several of the eastern of england like the common they often exhibit extreme fear at the approach of strangers using every bird like to relieve their from the unwelcome intruder their eggs are few of a ash colour we a description of the of this noisy numerous and pretty class of the the chief peculiarity is a chin and collar of e white the neck followed by one of black passing into the brown of the upper parts of the the lower parts are a clean white some portions of the wings are grey brown others brown and tips of and white the brown with a clouded band the bill yellow with a black tip the legs yellow we have remarked many slight varieties of especially during the season of the little minor the little of british authors mr describes this rare bird as an occasional guest in our island although we cannot but deem it is often shot without remark says the as a british bird this interesting species rests on a single specimen procured by mr it was taken at in the habits of this become interesting to the as being somewhat at with the others the banks of rivers in preference to the coast but like the others it lays its eggs upon the sand without any attempt at a nest from the very young

49William Black

state of mr s specimen it is that it may have been bred in england and if so we may yet find the species as an occasional though perhaps the character of the banks of the rivers is not such as will suit its habits â the or of british authors this species is closely linked with our and distinguished only by its inferior bulk and by its its habits appear to be the same with the larger and it associates with it when thrown into the same it with us is known in in the districts and on the sandy and gravel of the its range is somewhat extensive although not common over europe and not known that we are aware either in scotland or ireland in the of this bird the collar round its neck is interrupted there is a great deal of yellow brown in the the back and wings are hair brown shafts of feathers deeper in tint the crown yellow brown the same and u natural history of the and much white about the wings tail while german specimens of this bird have been marked with a less yellow brown black bill legs black also its manner of running along the sands or with its head drawn down close on the shoulders is very peculiar but is similar to that of the the and this little bird the takes after the both in and the remarkable natural and of its and neck these birds are found in england in the districts where they breed and are met with in the spring and autumn in other parts of britain about the end of august most frequently in scotland in the and the and salt as passing to the on the of forth on the coast and on the shores of the they are occasionally frequent the vast numbers that formerly thronged our own country are no more to be seen population and the necessity of x the drained have compelled this singular tribe to their haunts and it is to be feared the time will come when the shall be but a tradition of our and an of our a writer of the last century thus describes their amount in some islands surrounded with where men seldom resort â i have often seen the ground so with eggs and nests and that one could scarce take a step without treading upon one of them the the and lose their when the breeding season is over the and the are taken in about thirty or forty yards in length in the isle of and the they were formerly abundant they would arrive about the end of april and continue the latter days of august these are supported by sticks at an angle of forty five degrees placed upon dry grounds or very low watered ones not from here the himself and the birds are by stale or stuffed birds to come under the as soon as he the success of his he a string they are enclosed and often knots and share the fate of the and the mode of the latter for the table is by with boiled wheat seed sugar or bread and milk during the process they are kept in a dark room where the very of their is to be observed or they are apt to ml away in a day or two if ever so little light is let into their dark these little creatures immediately do battle with each other nor will they leave off while life is left this died for love and that for glory may the say as he up the dead bodies and with the slain colonel thus describes their in a wild state â in the spring the as it is termed that is upon a rising spot of ground to where the species prepare to deposit their eggs then they take their stand at a the and small distance from each other and contend for the females this hill or place of resort for love and battle is sought for by the who habit it by the birds having trodden the turf somewhat bare though not in a circle as usually described we had occasion to remark that although the disposition of the never ceased in confinement it increased with the growth of the long feathers of the neck in spring when the least movement of either from their usual stand provoked a battle their actions in fighting are similar to those of the game cock â the head is lowered and the bill is held in a direction the indeed every feather more or less the former sweeping the ground as a shield to defend the more tender parts the erected and the tail partly spread upon the whole assuming a most ferocious aspect when either could obtain a firm hold with the bill a leap succeeded accompanied with a stroke of the wing but they rarely injured each other where assembled among other species the is known by the greater length of the legs the breeding is scarcely ever similar in any two of these birds and yellow brown and black deeply shaded in glossy purple are the chief of their beautiful and varying for the rest too well known by the to be described thi are from nine to eleven inches high natural history of the when erect the is often of more tints with more black and brown in the the feathers are strikingly with dark the is considerably less than her mate in size after the has left the its hues become very similar to some of the true and the or â as this bird is frequently brought down by the it is not in our pages it is a link between the web footed tribe and the and it is much larger than the either of the latter its legs appear formed only for swimming like those of

49William Black

the former class they are almost hid in the parts of the bird the toes are short fringed and the wings have somewhat the appearance of being sideways and thus it seems as little formed for rising in the air as for walking on land its habits entirely with its formation the and habits of this bird claim with the web footed class for it upon fish and passes its existence swimming and â just exhibiting the head above and darting completely under water at the least appearance of danger it is very shy and very difficult to be shot it occurs in wales and the north western of england where it is found to breed among the and flags of the picturesque of those districts the is for the most part white and black with the nests are made to float on the tops of the and rushes of the shallow pools it best loves to frequent and are only supported by the strength of the creeping roots of the weeds the was some time back a more numerous class than at present it was greatly sought after for the down of its breast which presents the most silvery and of a hue more silken than that of velvet as where once it settles its abode there it continues till its however much disturbed it may be imagined that not much difficulty occurred in finding its haunt and securing the bird although of a wary natural history of nature the female is much attached to her young and seeks out with the small and of river fish that are within her scope for her hungry brood after which she wiu conduct them to the nest under her wings or even it is said upon her back at the time of the down of their breasts is entirely wanting of this bird may truly be said what the poet has sung of the tribe of song birds â are their instincts faithful is their fire no foreign beauty to false desire the snow white and the crown the simple or the glossy down not their love the bird his well acquainted tints and hues the of and were formerly the most supplied with the or the common â in our of the different game and water birds of the british islands we have thought it unnecessary to class every variety of the different species few sporting writers give correct to the different links of the great families of british birds they mingle the and some of the with the more with the provincial customs of the to which the particular species resort than with truth the bed or is one of these the common or the common sandy or sand lark the common another frequently mistaken and continuing through the next of the or the the or the and the knot and other varieties of the we shall constantly find one species with another by every writer but the practical and true the will often pass for the or and as often for the knot or the while the little has been described as the ox bird passing by the common these several we now come to the a well known bird of our pastoral districts and sub it is a frequent of scotland where in the north even to and the it its european range is northward the islands and are known in china in the south of africa and in the east the characters of the are remarkable bill very long slender slightly compressed curved the tip nearly hard the projecting over the nostrils face wings rather long pointed rigid legs of middle length b h re for some length above the joint feet rather small toes before connected by a above the plane of the others the inland and to the in the cold season the s scream or shrill whistle is perhaps better known than most of the calls of the birds they are a noisy brave and somewhat tribe when the breeding season has commenced the heath or or sheep walk is alive with these creatures ere the ist streak of dawn has in colour and here with the gladness of the period the rise upon the wing uttering their singular note and whirl along in sweeping line slowly and stately while undisturbed at any intrusion they boldly fly before the face of the stranger natural history of the and with something like the noisy scream of the they will almost sâ em to attack him till in their turn by a shot or a stone the nest is a very careless one being on the ground and placed in a dry spot either of moss or heath even in a or field of new sown grain some grass or dry leaves forms its scanty the young of the common used to be deemed tender and excellent eating the of the head neck and breast is of a pale brown varying in depth of tint and darkest on the crown the shafts of the feathers of a deeper brown which at the forming those so common in birds the underneath parts are of a white but on the and sides the white is with of brown the upper parts are rich tinted shot with purple the feathers cut out in grey and ash colour and white there is a of purple also on the brown and the feathers are barred with ash colour and brown the tail is white barred with an brown tint and the bars with white bill deep brown at the tip and into a yellow legs and feet of a lead colour the of british authors c â this variety is not so common in england as the last mentioned nor does it breed with us its with the common are chiefly two its call expressed by its name of history of and its merely passenger visits to our in spring

49William Black

winter and autumn instead of the constant residence of the former it is said that in the north islands it is found to breed but little is known of its breeding stations and we think it a doubtful point as the summer birds that occasionally occur may have been stopped in their passage it was formerly and may now be a regular spring in ireland in passage northward to return in autumn in much smaller numbers according to s history a farmer not many miles from assured us ten years ago that he had shot some of these birds it is a pretty sight on an day when coming upon an isolated part of the coast to see a flock of and a smaller portion of feeding together in the salt pools formed among the and sand beds at ebb tide when they fly it is in the form closely together and dip low and high in the air as though they were in the water the common more with a sailing motion and the wings of both varieties being long pointed and strong are as admirably adapted to fly high as the and the s wings are ill constructed for length or rapidity of motion the differences of between these birds are slight the crown of the is separated in the middle by a paler streak of colour the tips of the feathers being for a broad space white while on either side they have patches history of the bald of brown to edge them there is more white on the upper part of the back of the next to the bill the space is white as also the sides of the head neck and parts with of dark brown the bill is of deeper hue red at the base and the legs are leaden grey colour thicker and somewhat shorter than in the common these birds do not change their at the period of the bald the comes under the head which family the rails and the or water fowls as well as the species as the common is a larger bird than the hen so it chooses larger streams and more it is more wary and less the is v the bald the of the of it is found rather in the southern of england becomes more rare northward and is altogether lost sight of in the regions of scotland its occurrence being confined to the neighbourhood of the smaller it is mentioned in the the bald arrives in north britain the first fine spring days and rarely stays through the winter unless an unusually mild one some of these birds with the of the kind and keep under while hunting for their food in the still waters they select par preference for a great length of time eating as is supposed whatever may come within their reach â pond weed insects c in the larger rivers of england they collect in immense numbers and are then caught by means of the used for catching fish while they are searching for the small fish and at breeding season they become scattered in pairs and so remain until the autumn when they together ia companies their nests are made in the river rushes or in the of the that are found near our they are of considerable size and they use the materials within reach in their construction as we have said the bald is a shy bird and except at the season of difficult of approach it flies with its long legs outstretched in its rear the it is said about its bald forehead appears rather a con natural of the of its bill to the crown than any absence of it is of a milk white the bill the dark grey of the general of the bird shaded with deep black forms a striking contrast with this white space the ce of the wings are of a glossy silver grey the are orange colour the legs dull green the of the toes out in to the straight of the the young upon escape from the shell are duly protected with a thick covering of strong stiff hair like down black everywhere but the head where it is red or yellow red varieties of the sometimes occur the â the like the visits us merely for the of our climate in the season of it is described as about eight inches long although such as we have shot we should have deemed shorter it about two or more its in hue is between that of a and a with us it is not melodious but in its summer where daylight for many weeks continues to the eye as in and other countries of similar it is esteemed one of the chief of the forest its note being both piercing and sweet it is known immediately from the by the brightness of a white mark above the eyes in days the was esteemed equal to the and a choice morsel for a the roman emperor it was to italy and for sale this bird is neither so wild nor so wary as its near neighbour the it is however sufficiently cautious and when flying in numbers takes a precaution from which we have borrowed our in war â that of or on some eminence or tree top to give notice of the approach of danger in the season of flight as the bird call it these little creatures were formerly taken in great numbers in common with the and the and indeed with all the other small by the and arts of the in the autumn he his machinery â his his and his birds the net is from ten to twelve yards long or more and two or three wide it is so formed as to be easy to rise on either side and the birds as any one may witness who will follow the wheat ear

49William Black

on the downs as birds in their passage fly against the wind the lays his net to gain the wind and if it is he will lay his net as far to the west as possible his call birds are selected carefully by the sweetness and power of their notes it appears that these birds never exert themselves more powerfully than when thus the free birds of their tribes into and gold and green the and yellow hammer the lark and a variety of others can be used for this purpose the h are those placed on a natural of the perch which the at will by means of a string when he would tempt the wild bird downwards it is remarked that when half a flock have been into the by the shrill call of the the remainder will alight near and from being by the are certain to become also victims of the whether curiosity love of song or bravery bring the wild birds so easily to the call it is impossible to determine that it should be desire seems unlikely for the male birds pipe and male birds are equally numerous if not more so than the female wild ones thus for the ladies or the s table this however is not the only trap laid for them as the do not on the ground are often thrown over trees and hedges in which they are taken the â this little bird of the kind makes but a short stay in our country is wild and flies in flocks and is perhaps the most wary of the smaller species in and and the cold regions generally the tunes his pipe as as many of the little although with us so dull and a bird to our tempted hither by the of our and the variety of our trees and hedge rows supply which form the of their food the season past they return to their beloved forests of and where they sing the live long day to the reward the partners of their cares in the season of building their nests in the hedges or low woods with and these they carefully conceal by those instinctive arts so common to the smaller tribes bending twigs the leaves and branches in artful to screen them from view they lay about six green eggs spotted considerably with the is from nine to ten inches long and sixteen or seventeen broad it considerably more than the its is lively and its flesh not equal to its smaller neighbour above the mentioned although a it arrives in great numbers about october and at first in all the bustle of settling may be shot at without much difficulty its back feathers are of shades of ash colour its head of a light ash its bill is black and the bird is immediately known from the length of its mouth hairs or whiskers its breast is spotted with dark colours on a light ground its is ash colour its bill is slender and soft capable only of attacking and insects eggs it is therefore one of the large class of helps to man s comfort and convenience as it to destroy the that the trees and vegetables cultivated by him the are while their food still hangs on the bush or remains on the ground after which time they have recourse to the moist for worms mr white says that it is rather surprising in the natural history of these charming that being of habits nearly akin to those of so many other small birds of the soft tribe such as c they should not be known to have bred together he also that the on the ground at night the period when the are principally spread for their over and meadow while in the day time it always high on the tops of the trees and it that considering the prodigious flocks that sometimes alight on our we secure but a small quantity of these birds in comparison with the numbers captured on natural history of the lark the continent whether they come to us at a more wary season we do not know however they become sufficiently tame when they suffer from a deficiency of food in hard weather but are then not so worthy the aim of the true as when they are full and fat the lark â one of our poets thus addresses this sweet â hail to thee spirit bird thou never that from heaven or near it thy full heart in strains of art higher still and higher from the earth thou like a cloud of fire the blue deep thou and singing stiu dost and soaring ever what objects are the fountains of thy happy strain what fields or waves or mountains what shapes of sky or plain what love of thy own kind what ignorance of pain it is indeed true of this bird the favourite of the space that its song is and and that as it upwards in the clear radiance of dawn its and far reaching note appears the of fullest day the lark is a bird nor is it difficult to form a between it and the and other small birds the when kept in confinement the pipe of the lark becomes and piercing it is only when its flight by way of encouragement to the female in the free native air that it possesses that bounding and elastic sweetness on which poets delight to it is a note of confidence and security to assure his mate that no danger and that he is near her to and to soften her cares this species have much courage they are often when for the female formidable to each other but their genial desires past they into timidity or show their bravery in a different and more manner we have ourselves often witnessed a struggle for victory in song between two of

49William Black

these birds and indeed with most of the and kind there seems to exist a love of from the note of or call of desire let a harp be placed on a lawn and played upon and it shall prove the of a number of grove each little throat shall contend with its music a lady of our acquaintance assured us that she had often been compelled to quit her instrument from the noise made in by these birds who would perch on the lower branches around her during their noisy efforts the different may be divided into the sky lark the wood and the they are known from other small species by the length of their heel or spur they build their nests upon the ground thinking that of turf can shelter and conceal them and choosing every soil in natural history of the hem preference to a one they also are observed to build so that every part of the nest is equally raised the edges are and slope a little the lark is constant in our islands however from one part of the country to another it lays four or five eggs of different sizes according to its variety of a dusky hue its general tints are brown and in some more lively than in others so as to be almost red on the crown of the head it bears a of feathers which it from birds of its class these it at will it its eggs in may although they have been seen even as late aa september dr that are an article of great importance in some of the continental countries â the duty paid at for to twelve thousand crowns per at a or for every sixty it is when the song of the bird leaves it that it flocks and becomes the prey of the bird the lark is a bird of passage in some countries chiefly the cold ones and thousands by the way in the chiefly by the net of the water hen or hen or common of british authors â this bird is the link between the and that of the as their wings are little formed for flight so the strong naked legs large feet and long toes seem to render land and water their chief elements indeed this species swim and with equal facility the water hen resort to pools and rivers where under cover of any sort of or marsh vegetation their breeding places may be constantly discovered and their nests found amid the and roots rather high up and sometimes six or seven feet from the water in the or willow its habits are by no means shy and it is a beautiful creature in the hen its that it will even come near dwelling places where food is regularly placed for it on the least alarm it will duck its head and fore part of body under the water and then plunge into the first hole or cover of where its bill alone will be above the still water of its preferred it is fond of on low trees or bushes and on will the water hen fly to some height and seek concealment on the tops of the highest trees in its vicinity the common or hen is abundant among the lesser and of scotland pursuit seems to the faculties of this bird as we have known it to remain as it were fascinated by the idea of danger among the vegetation where it will suffer itself to he caught without a struggle till it is in its young are numerous and covered with a black down thus describes the feathers of the in spring â the base of the bill and shield on the forehead now considerably enlarged is a bright red and well or the deep grey of the head throat neck and under parts this colour shades into a deep green on the upper parts at this season with deep reflections which are spread on the sides of the breasts the are nearly pale brown the outer edge of the first with the bend of the wing white the tail rounded at the tip is black shaded into deep oil green and shows the narrow cross dark incident to structure seen in various birds and in the on the lower part of the and vent the feathers are tipped with white which more or less on the centre of these parts and on the where the oil green the feathers are dashed with long streaks of white but those of the vent are deep black and run in upon them in an point the naked parts of the are bright red to the water hen low and often appear conspicuous the feet and legs are olive green in the female the colours are not so bright and the shield does not cover so large a space the bill is compressed but not very short the wings are short and the legs long the nest is made of sticks and or dry and when the hen is within it she is to and fro by the action of the water and wind underneath her we have seen the nest however disengaged by some and floating in the midst of the stream the eggs are sharp at one end and of green colour spotted with red the water hen from fifteen upwards this is the d of the is of somewhat habits to those we have mentioned when found in the solitary but by the tribe and wild animals here she is not so easily alarmed as where breeding in the vicinity of gentlemen s but when once disturbed has been known never again to resort to the same locality but at once seeks a new abode where summer and winter she will continue until destroyed by the or the more numerous enemies of the brute creation to whose invasion she is exposed

49William Black

without any means of protection the the the the are the most usual of the water as they cannot fly far they are more than most other of the birds w the water the water of british authors â mr thus the five original races of british dogs â the great household dog the the the and the large slow hound of these it will be seen the is not one remarks that in this list the races are confounded for the great household dog is with him the with no powers of scent and different from the to whom he attributes great of nose he looks upon the as the or british ver track while some writers only deem it the the british he looks upon as from the crooked legged of europe by greek writers sir w says that the praised by was identical with our water on various monuments this dog is figured the tribe is a numerous one and from the beautiful little creature known as charles the second s or the duke of s breed to the handsome by some deemed the most serviceable shooting companion to the of the entire sporting races the and the are the only two dogs called used in wood and water craft some call the smaller breed hi t by of the printed authorities vary considerably when making the definition of the one says the or gun of true perfect breed is of one general or whole colour â either black or black tan commonly called king charles s breed or red in different shades paler or deeper and another says the true english bred but little from the save in size of all species the has the truest attachment to the human race and is of the as well as the most affectionate disposition in form it is that of the small the colours of the hair being either black and white liver coloured and white brown or black the so termed water is best known by its in hunting and swimming in the water its hair also is a little harder and than the land the too well known as the gun to need is usually smaller than the water a dog greatly used in its shape is particularly graceful and its renders it a great favourite with used to this breed it is generally a white haired dog with rich red spots and black while the is black and is a smaller dog with shorter legs and shorter in the back it has also a shorter and head and is altogether of more compact frame and make the ears long and as well as the tail and legs and the hair all more curly than the larger king charles s is supposed to be the parent of the breed of dogs the the is almost similar in appearance to the latter but the s black coat is relieved in the or as it is indifferently called the or of by red spots above the eyes and on the breast and feet he has a shorter back and is fuller in the nose and the of is the most ancient of the races and the huge the most sagacious and courageous from very ancient times the breed has engaged much attention from in the east the greatest possible pains were taken to them for as all game was brought down by the gun or in so these races were considered the only ones fitted for these uses the race is somewhat famous in history the highest order of distinction in was founded in honour of a dog of this kind named that remained to the sovereign of that kingdom when the human race had deserted him in the motto of this order now called the order of the elephant is was faithful and the instinctive fidelity of this species is in the account given of a prince of who was driven on the english coast with his and his dogs and was taken up as a spy and brought before king of the east angles however was soon and became a great favourite with him on account of his skill in and hunting he was at last the murdered by a jealous of ms favour who concealed his remains in the woods none knew his fate till a dog worn by and grief came to and upon him with expressive gestures and the king followed him to the spot where the body lay the murder was as it was thought by the of the the was put into s boat and committed to the mercy of the waves unfortunately the purposes of justice were not in this case achieved for the wretch was borne to when to avoid the torture he accused as the of and was thus the occasion of the first the instances of attachment recorded of are most numerous they will sometimes take a liking for and even birds but their general fondness is for the human race there is one affecting example related of a in paris in it was so severe a frost that the was thickly frozen over but a had commenced when a number of youths chose still to continue the sport of one named a young student and the possessor of a small had only gone on the treacherous ice near the of the hotel when it broke and his body disappeared the small by his frantic grief gave the alarm but no assistance could be rendered and the poor creature s only served to warn others from the spot that day and the following night the animal remained to watch for his master s the re appearance and still the day after he was at his post some persons made him a of straw and some him food hut to these of kindness and admiration he remained he run backwards and forwards in great distress upon the ice

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but always came back to the same sleeping place he bit a soldier who would have forced him away who fearing that he was mad fired at and wounded him people came in crowds to gaze at the poor and at last a woman prevailed upon it to have its wound dressed she carried it home with her and we believe succeeded after a lapse of time in making it again comfortable and happy of the thousand pet of idle ladies we sometimes hear remarkable accounts of their cunning in orders given before them to which they were averse relative to their personal treatment and are made use of in but the who closer and is not so full of bustle as the is of the more utility to the colonel remarks with regard to that they are nine times out of ten so badly broken in as in general to be only fit to drive a large wood but if taught to keep always within half a gun shot they are the best dogs in existence for working among and they should be trained very young or they require an degree of and it is sometimes advisable at first to hunt them with a the fore foot tied up in the collar we another hint of a valuable experience â for and cock shooting cannot be too strong too short upon the leg or have too much courage to be in a perfect state of discipline they must follow a hare no further than whilst it is in view when once put into covert must not quit it to in the fields which some slippery ones will do and must be in their places twisting round every with and possess such of nose that neither nor can escape their search it will be perceived that if often become in favour of this sort of dog over every other it can be no easy ir to train up a team of one or two must be taught to fetch and or as some think but one in a team else in which shall carry the game they will break it for a general summary of desirable form in the take this â they should stand on short bony legs be powerfully made all over with a speaking eye a large head and large long drooping ears xviii wild fowl shooting shooting the wild swan that lovely rosy feet its silver boat many logical as well as this may be called the poetry of sport poetry is scarce â far more rare than the of have an idea â and so is wild swan shooting and can imagination conceive anything more above powder and patent shot work in general than assisting at the of a of the choir who out her life in the reader shall doubt the popular rumour that this bird makes her exit to soft music presently we wiu deal with his suspicion it need hardly be that the chances of shooting wild are few and between even the wild swan to the most constant nevertheless when the accident does arrive the appear to come not single but in colonel tells us on one occasion i knocked down eight at a shot â seven old ones and one brown one and nineteen pounds each and at something of the same extent was done bj somebody whose name is not preserved when are to be met with in these islands it is under circumstances most to them they seldom or never are foimd among us except when overtaken by the of an extremely severe winter and then their flight is very low and when they alight they are very easily approached their size too renders them a mark veiy difficult to miss so that when the gets within distance he can hardly avoid killing his bird though he may not find it quite so easy to bag him when in flight the swan should be shot at beneath the wing when sitting take him in the head always shoot at a from behind so as to throw your shot under the feathers they will turn almost anything short of if fired at on the surface colonel gives a very picture of and his man going about to wild on the coast of having made out a sort of all stuck over with these interesting specimens of he floated towards them in his having previously covered myself and my man with clean white linen and a white the must have had strong shooting the wild swan nerves to stand the approach of such we whether either the master or man would have stood their ground had they seen a of figures stealing upon them through the grey dawn in clean white linen and white upon the vexed question of the music made by the dying swan mr has an anecdote so interesting and so simple withal that we cannot resist it to our pages he has already related an incident of his early wild fowl shooting career and thus proceeds â â another stormy mid winter day a farmer sent to let us know that a flock of wild had appeared off the shore my brother and i instantly started with our duck guns when we had with our glasses from a rising ground we saw that the flock were resting some hundred yards from the land but had little doubt from the high wind that they would soon seek its shelter we accordingly chose different stations and crawling to them with the utmost caution waited patiently for upwards of an hour at last the by degrees and much turning and the shore opposite my brother but the water being shallow they began to feed as soon as their long necks could sound the bottom he was thus forced to rush down to the edge and take the distant shot one lay badly wounded had the wind been blowing towards

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the shore the swan was so he could not have made head against it but as it blew side natural history of the wild swan ways the creature ed to itself out into the waves every now and then uttering its wild there was no boat nearer than a mile we however set off full speed and with a at the launched into the deep the wind was blowing a perfect gale the waves over us to the skin and every time we our course we were in danger of being we had almost given up hope especially as the white foam of the bursting waves was so exactly like the object of our as to prevent our it at any distance when the at the called out i hear him all eyes were strained in every direction and the poor swan was at last seen rising over the like the spirit of the tempest there was much difficulty and some danger in getting it safe on board and in all probability we should never have perceived it had it not betrayed itself by its dying song the wild swan or of british authors â it is supposed by some eminent of the present day that there are several varieties of the wild swan and a couple or more of the in three killed by colonel at a shot of the latter variety the space above the bill was of bright yellow in another place he also killed three at a shot and of these the space above the bills was pale flesh colour the society have discovered another distinct species smaller and the wild swan different from the common which they have named after mr this is of internal very different from the tame swan it is usually less than a fourth of the size weighing from thirteen to pounds the average sixteen pounds the wild k in the wild and twenty upwards in the tame but these are slight differences compared to that of its and all to those found upon in opposition to the general on the of its we have col s testimony that the wild swan the swan possesses at least two notes of the musical even in a state who can therefore assert that the species may not have that and and were not correct in their of the swan s hear what says on the subject â that he had often heard sweetly singing in the lake as he rowed up and down in his boat too the learned declared there was in his family a very honest young man john a student in divinity who upon oath solemnly affirmed that once in the territory of in he was standing upon the sea shore early in the morning when he heard a most musical murmur composed of sweet and pleasant sounds and looking about him and climbing to the top of a certain he there an infinite flock of wild in a bay producing this most delightful harmony the sweetest in his life time he had ever heard this is at least as pleasant a fiction to read as one of la s and well doth the poetical make use of it who the last song of the swan with the hymn of on the lips of the good dying man to fact we find the s cry to be particularly wild and disagreeable and harsh enough in its to banish the least notion of the melody of its species the wild swan is found in the all the year round as it there this very elegant bird is a constant and that in large companies to z the wild swan the irish and indeed to the interior of that island as we have before alluded to the written of its melodious quality we can assert that we have heard sounds proceeding from a flight of vastly more harmonious than the race of water fowl are in the habit of producing they were not so far as our ear could detect separate notes but rather a and combined harmony â an idea which may be imperfectly given by comparing it with the sustained tones of an organ it is a remarkable feature in the natural of this bird that wherever it is found in a wild state it is white so to speak or at least but little from that hue except in new holland where it is black or of a tint scarcely removed from black perhaps in animated nature there is not a more beautiful sight than the flight of the royal of the there they are their stately way over and over lakes and perchance from icy or from or or far away m the and unknown regions of america do they hither come these were their summer dwell and breeding places with and and other ice bound european lands for there the sun never sets for weeks but nurses innumerable beds of insect food for their use and service professor thus and describes a flock covering the wide waters at the head of the wild swan or silent and asleep riding at anchor around s â tis now mid and lo in that a flock of wild have they dropped down from the into the water almost as pure as without having once folded their wings since they rose aloft to the northern hundreds of beyond the storm swept to look at the quiet creatures you might think that they had never left the circle of that little there they hang on their shadows even as if asleep in the sunshine and now stretching out their long wings â how apt for flight from to i they beat the liquid radiance till to the land flapping high rises the mist and wide the foam almost sufficient for a rainbow safe are they from all birds of prey the down on the the great or sea eagle on the as

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he from the before t e wild sailing with all wings hoisted like a fleet but nor eagle dares to try his on that stately bird â for he is bold in his beauty and for as he is the that swim and can also and though the one be a lover of war the other of peace yet of these it may be said â the eagle he is lord above the swan is lord below i to have shot such a creature â so so white â so high soaring and on the winds of midnight fer â a creature that seemed not merely a goose stranger in that but belonging to some mysterious land in another whose coast ships have been known to visit driving under bare poles through a month s snow storms â was an era in our lives once and once only we were involved in the glory of that event the creature had been in a dream of some river or lake of or listening across the waves roar the wolf s long howl from s shore when guided by our good genius and our brightest star we suddenly saw him sitting asleep in all his state within in a bay of the we blew his black bill into pieces â not a feather on his head but was touched and like a little pleasure boat caught in a the wild swan spun round and then lay motionless on the waters as if all her had gone by the board â the mighty foreign bird whose we had never hoped to touch but in a dream lying like the ghost of something that ought not to have been destroyed wild goose shooting in spite of the enthusiasm displayed by the writers on wild fowl shooting in their accounts of hair breadth â their moving accidents by flood â it reads like anything but sport there is certainly no for taste especially the taste that takes its pleasure in the mud on the coast or wild goose the bay of in a which nothing so much as a pig some men would imagine â crawling on all through a wilderness of only fit for a some think it capital fun and follow it on the as the are called a gallant colonel who has written on this amusement con to with those who don t or can t like it as much as himself and calls them and other hard names he tells you the usual way of forth for this purpose that is to say for wild fowl shooting is to drive to an inn on the coast call the waiter who an honest for whom the boots is immediately on his arrival he sees how eager you are to set sail his price accordingly you thousands of birds where he knows a boat can never get at them you with a few of his own killing at double their value and your day ends with a ten pound bill and perhaps a couple of sea this do n t look promising and yet the best way for the yoimg after this high is really to put himself into the hands of some professor of the science this individual wiu at all events him for the same with the thousand necessary for the craft and this is of the battle it is not any part of our design in these pages to teach the yoimg idea how to shoot wild fowl in the preserves of old we dare not do so in a work to deal with wild goose shooting tions in sporting is not amusement according to the general average idea of captain who wrote the last book upon the subject heads one of his leading chapters it and puts to it the motto man is and ever will be mad and mud certainly are not suited for a particularly tame spirit therefore we again repeat he who would follow them cannot do better than put himself into the hands of a professional and into a patent life preserving belt but there is a species of wild fowl shooting appropriate to persons in their senses and in this the young amateur may indulge as we proceed to lay before him many of the inland waters of england are the resort of wild fowl and these afford quite as much of this sport as any ordinary appetite can desire we will suppose our has fixed upon the spot for his diversion he will then select a suitable gun which is an indispensable provision let it be double and a good sized one fit to no shot with a good distribution next his care should be to have a perfect let this be an animal which wiu on occasion beat the rushes beds c he must be as mute as a wary and imder perfect command if not all these just as you are within shot of a flock of glorious he begins and your birds take french leave mr says a dog of a very cool temper will wild fowl better iâ r wild fowl shooting shooting â a noble sport as good in t as any of their wild â than another with quicker movements and perhaps a finer nose many of the in this shooting take refuge in and bushes and the keen tempered dog is apt to them thus losing time whereas the other slowly tracks them one by one to their hiding place his third essential is a small pocket thus equipped he enters upon his wild which of course the pursuit of all birds coming under the title of wild fowl as the method of sporting is the same with all so far as the principle is concerned our observations will be understood not only as to wild but to wild duck and shooting having reached the shore of the water which he purposes shooting the yoimg wild

49William Black

will look out for his game taking heed he himself is not observed for this intent he should creep cautiously to the first spot commanding a view of the usual of wild fowl let this be done with the care as the he is looking for so nearly the stones and and general covers they frequent that he will find it very difficult to distinguish one from the other should he make out any water fowls afloat in shore let him then with his glass the margin of the lake or wild fowl shooting stream and mark well if be there should he find that there is he may count on it being either ducks or if his sport lie on streams or rivers says mr he will find it very unsatisfactory as there are so many and which prevent his seeing the fowl they are close at hand and so many little and where they conceal themselves beyond the possibility of detection until the of their wings and the of the betray their hiding place this is no doubt true but the chase of water fowl in favourable circumstances by running streams particularly when there are preserves in the vicinity is very pretty sport still it will be snap shooting to a certain extent and chance shots only are to be reckoned on while fowl on open waters is more a matter of science and of this we are treating having once got sight of the birds the knows that his game is within reach and he goes about getting within shot of it let him search out some cover through which he may shoot at them in creeping to this shelter if practicable keep to of them for then there is less chance of their hearing or winding you having placed yourself within shot fire at them sitting with one barrel the other to salute them when they rise which they will do ducks are far more wary and difficult of approach than or so that in the former wild fowl shooting no precaution of silence or concealment should be lost sight of the great art too is to get sitting shots by which only a good account can be rendered of a flock of wild fowl when so found they are for the most part sleeping as for the purpose of feeding they resort to and on and their time for repose is the day their period of flight the earliest dawn and from twilight to dark at night these observations only apply to wild fowl shooting with a shoulder gun in distinction to the modem invention of them on salt water with guns introduced by colonel â at least into the list of a gentleman s with this sport as we have said it is not our design to deal it certainly does not come within the range of this work which to treat of the rural in which the gun is an agent and not of the toil or business of the birds of chase by â for by the hands of the the taste for shooting by sea or land we would under any circumstances be loth to for from it has sprung all the sin and sorrow to which our game laws have given existence a system when it is used as a of a morbid appetite that the very evil it was intended to remedy the spirit of our field sports is to afford a wholesome pursuit which shall link exercise with manly habits this new contrivance the natural history of the wild goose has the land with a plague of and and transformed the gentleman into an amateur poultry butcher when our bad game code shall be as it ought and must a bad foreign fancy will be got rid of and once again our woods and fields shall be sought by those who desire to take their in shooting the ore the wild goose or grey of british authors â this is but one of six wild species of that visit our islands in great quantities colonel thus them â the goose a variety of the common one the most common in ireland and scotland and a smaller the wild goose bird the goose still less than the former the grey the egyptian goose or goose and the white or laughing goose besides the red goose â a rare and very delicate species there are also other varieties of this species such as the c few if any of which however are to the ca n island the fly in flocks at very regular intervals of distance either going in a line abreast or in two lines joining in an angle in the middle in short precision they appear to select that figure which shall best stem the resistance of the air and lessen their by their manner of flying also they present as small a the wild goose mark as possible to the or and from the great height to which they rise and the distances they maintain from each other it is difficult nay almost impossible to hit more than one at a time the goose is remarkable for its in a wild state the female her eggs with great solicitude and the male bird often drives her off to take her place with a more noisy dignity the wild goose seldom lays above eight eggs it is known to live to a great age of the small goose colonel remarks that our late king william the fourth esteemed it beyond other wild fowl of the egyptian goose he thus relates â â two of these birds appeared some years ago in one of which was killed by john esq and the other by his keeper three egyptian were for some days in the winter of in the fields of and after being fired at about ten times the old was killed by one of the i was

49William Black

informed that they were at first so easy of access that i then concluded they must have taken flight from some gentleman s pond the next year again during the tremendous from the west a flock of about eighty appeared near the same place and two more were killed and sent me by the same man i have therefore no doubt of their instead of to this i suppose these birds were tiu of late years very scarce as mr has no specimen of them the laughing have the wild goose only been known to the of our islands for some years â since the frost of when a flock of eighty of them alighted on a field near the village of the cry of the goose is frequently heard when we cannot catch the least sight of the flock overhead it seems to pass from one to another like the of the sheep or the bay of the hound in pursuit it is seldom heard when they alight the bird is too known for any of its or internal notwithstanding the royal authority in favour of the variety of this fowl our gives preference over all the race to the species called by the natives the this bird the coast of ireland from head to bay in vast quantities the country people cook it by all conceivable and inconceivable and it is eaten at breakfast at the houses of the gentry done into a after too much wine which from head to bay and thence to again is a consequence of course it is really a most delicious relish this may seem a quaint style of doing a natural history notice but allowance must be made for the subject who drives fat oxen c the benevolent reader will apply of goose it is fit to say however that in the affair of the wild goose is no doubt a non belonging neither to the flesh fish or good red the most amusing t the wild goose natural historian in the world thus speaks of his obligations to this bird â a young goose is generally reckoned very good eating yet the feathers of this bird still increase its value i feel my obligations to this animal every word i write for however a man s head may be his pen is enough upon eveiy occasion it is happy indeed for poor authors that it requires no great effort to put it in motion but the feathers of this bird are still as valuable in another capacity as they make the and the warmest beds to sleep on of goose feathers most of our beds in europe are composed or supposed to be by in the on the and in all asia the use of them is unknown how it happens that the had not the use of feather beds is surprising tells us indeed that they made of feathers to lay their heads on and this serves as a proof that they turned feathers to no other uses as good feathers are a very valuable great numbers of are kept tame in the of which are plucked once or twice a year the feathers of are most in esteem those of ireland are reckoned the worst s bay also very fine feathers supposed to be of the same kind the down of the swan is brought from the wild goose always the same marks these marks are seldom found in the tame but both invariably retain a white ring round their tail which shows they are both descended from the natural history of the wild duck same original describes the flight of the wild goose its wonderful and harmony of accord and remarks that unlike the and the which journey in the obscurity of the night the are seen pursuing their route in broad day the dock the wild duck among wild ducks the male is called the and the young birds in size it is not equal to the tame duck in it but little from it its bill is yellow its neck is adorned with the brightest grass green feathers ending in a white ring the most apparent distinction between the wild and tame species is however in the colour of the legs â the wild duck the wild duck s legs are black those of the tame one yellow those ducks which feed much in the and have a broad bill bending upwards a large hind toe and a long tail those which feed in have bills and and a tail pointed a few of the wild duck tribe known to the as natives of our own the f european may be thus â first the the bird or with the head and neck of a bright bay the with a bill of lead colour and the back feathers marked with narrow black and white lines and well known by its whistling sound the black duck or or black the duck or the duck the wiu duck colonel says of this duck the only three i ever heard of on the coast appeared in a late severe winter i stopped them all though i got but one as the other two beat me in a sea the duck the golden eye the grey duck or the duck or duck swallow the duck winter duck sea or the duck the or broad duck the duck the velvet duck or double besides other varieties as these live much in the same manner as the the duck domestic ducks we shall only briefly touch upon them they resort together in flocks during the winter and fly in pairs during the summer the velvet ducks are seen more in summer than in winter ducks nests are constructed easily among heath and rushes of their favourite not fer from the water where they will lay twelve or fourteen eggs before they sit the hen remains on them about thirty days when

49William Black

the birds burst forth to take their first tumble in the water an old duck is often a cunning bird and will make her nest a considerable distance from the water for safety she has been known to do so upon an oak tree five and twenty feet from the a perilous proceeding for the young birds whose wing feathers are of the growth here they were dependent on the tenderness of their parent to convey them in her or feet to the water their necessary element wild ducks breed with us but not in great quantities the of mr of in observed a wild duck fly out of a large oak in which the year preceding there was a hawk s nest the nest was foimd to be in complete repair and contained two eggs recently laid by the duck in it the nest whether high or low is composed of singular materials the longest grass mixed with heath and lined within with the bird s own feathers will sometimes be the composition although in proportion to the climate the is more or less made the duck in the regions will the wild duck form itself a to lay in the approach of which it carefully lines it first with a of clay and grass then with moss then with feathers or down the duck which is about twice as large as the common duck makes her nest among the rocks or plants of the sea shore where after the nest like others of the species she will add to it a luxurious covering plucked from the soft inner down of her own breast this valuable the natives hunt for and carry away with nest and eggs when the bird will immediately set about another of which she is again robbed the third time she still but her down is exhausted and the supplies the loss with his own if this also is carried away both birds the place and breed there no more we find the of those that to us not nearly so high as those that breed here the wild duck at table that eats loose and you may assuredly take for a foreign traveller whose food by the way of waters was fish they love to choose a lake in the hood of woods with a marsh at one side and if a couple of them once alight hundreds by the constant call peculiar to this tribe will flock to the same spot the of the duck where it begins to enter the lungs opens into a kind of bony where the sound is reflected as in a great musical instrument wild ducks generally choose that part of the lake where they are inaccessible to the the wiu approach of the here in multitudes and long before the season for courtship they will be hurrying and about the whole day â never at rest but as if holding a general council of ways and means there they are in the middle of the lake now up now down always busy and always loud going off at night time to feed in the woods or or to adjacent meadows they are too wary to approach in the day time in the duck is called or bill they breed in this county colonel says that the of this species are easier found and show more sport than those of the common wild duck their flesh too is of superior there is a variety of this kind called the red for which as well as all other varieties of wild fowl i have found the coast of to be the best this no doubt is in consequence of its being nearest to holland from whence there are driven across the channel by a strong wind many birds that will seldom travel farther to the westward the birds brought principally to the london shops are the or taken in immense numbers by of which we the account given by mr daniel â the or is about the size of a one pound twelve its length is nineteen inches breadth two feet and a half the bill is broader than the s of a deep lead colour with a black tip the wild duck orange the head and neck deep with a small spot of white under the centre of the lower the lower part of the neck and breast and upper part of the back dusky black and wing nearest the body of a white marked with narrow lines of black the exterior wing and belly ash coloured and brown vent feathers and of tail black the tail consists of short feathers twelve in number of a deep grey the legs lead coloured secondary feathers regularly edged with a of white the female has the head of a pale brown the breast is rather of a deeper colour and belly the back marked like that of the male they are excellent eating a for is called a flight pond and has fastened to tall stout poles twenty eight or thirty feet long at the bottom of each pole is a box fixed filled with heavy stones sufficient to the poles and the instant an iron pin is withdrawn which the and poles flat upon the small willow boughs or the are small pens made of about three feet high for the reception of birds that strike against the and fall down and such is the form and of wing in the that they cannot ascend again from these little if they would besides the numbers which are usually knocked into these pens all chance of escape from them by the wing a will sometimes allow the haunt the wild duck of to be so great that the whole surface of the pond shall be covered with them previous to his attempting to take one upon such occasions he all the he can get to complete the slaughter by breaking

49William Black

their necks when all is ready the are roused from the pond and as all wild fowl rise against the wind the poles in that quarter are and fly up with the at the instant the begin to leave the of the water so as to meet them in their first ascent and they are thus beat down by hundreds the other method of french origin is the system where the himself with a number of made tame k the wild fowl are in a state of they will not follow the call of the towards the like that in which fish are caught in in such case a little dog is brought into he passes backward and forward between the reed hedges in which there are little holes both for the man to see and for the httle dog to pass through this the eye of the wild fowl who prompted by curiosity advance towards this little animal while he all the time keeps playing among the nearer and nearer the covered over by the sticks and till they follow him too far to sometimes the dog will not attract their attention till a red handkerchief or something as attractive be put about him the ducks are taught to under the water as soon as the rest are driven in the wild duck thousands on thousands are brought to market by these modes while of ancient and modem modes of we cannot avoid taking notice of that which is said to be the chinese method of these birds it equals the french for ingenuity the italian method of putting out their eyes is too cruel for our english habits but this chinese method might be followed without to humanity whenever the sees a number of ducks settled in any particular of water he sends off two or three to float among them these being made hollow swim on the surface of the water and on one pool there may be sometimes seen twenty or thirty of them the fowl are at first a little shy of coming near but by degrees they approach and as birds grow familiar with so the ducks gather around the and amuse themselves by their bills against them at last the is satisfied he can deceive them he puts his head into one of these hollow and making holes to breathe and see through he slowly into the water keeping his body under and nothing but his head above its surface he thus gets in among the wild fowl while they long used to see take not the least fright while the enemy is in the midst of them and an enemy he is for ever as he approaches a fowl he it by the legs and it under the water there he natural hi t by of the it under his aiid goes to the next till he has loaded himself when he has got his quantity without ever attempting to disturb the rest of the fowls on the pool he slowly moves off again and in this manner pays the flock a visit several times in the day this if true is by no means a method of duck murder and so far to be approved of the young reader will find in s industrious experiences some useful hints on wild duck shooting for our parts we have not been without our attachment to the diversion give us in any part of the world in the eastern of our own country in france or amid the hills of scotland where the lie like among the hills â some far off solitary pool or lake â clear water only in the centre and rushes thickly round â there might we not hope to see plentiful as duck â who knows â wild and from our crouching station and there might we not again amidst the and and and bustle of a first arrival do execution as of the â this the smallest of the duck species is also the most delicate and the most esteemed it is unfortunately more rare than the others but the numbers that come to this country vary greatly from season to season the about twelve or more and may measure about fifteen inches in length the male bird has the according to the received standard of the beauty among the tribe the bill is black the head and upper parts of the neck are of a bright bay the whole of its head and wings are very splendid the female has the same beautiful green patch on her wings as the male bird a few of these birds breed with us some years back great numbers were taken in but the is much reduced of late the internal structure of this bird is peculiar it has at the end of the adapted as it is said to the peculiar sounds it this is also the case of many others of the wild fowl tribe as we have mentioned in our account of the wild swan and goose the s nest is formed of rushes and lined with down and so placed as to swing to and rise and fall with the motions of the wind and water some authors speak of varieties of this bird as summer c is clearly wrong in his description of a bird of a much greater size in it as a its eggs are of the size of those of the pigeon they are white with brown spots the used to be made after this â where a pond by a wood is found the is to be raised this should be planted round with if possible in the event of the wood not clothing it three or four pipes or channels are then to be dug broad towards the pond and point like towards the end these are to be covered with supported by sticks bending from one side to another and

49William Black

so forming a sort of or vault gradually growing to the point at which it is terminated by a net reed hedges should to the edges of the pipes or channels which are thus hidden from the sight and behind which the places himself to pursue his operation when the wild fowl come down at night to feed the whistle is raised the is covered with brought thither by the s art who has scattered the over with seed c the ducks begin to pick up the grain and the wild fowl quickly imitate their example and thus are secured in the net â the burning a piece of turf at his nose that their exquisite sense of smelling may not put them on guard in frosty weather these birds come together in flocks of from twenty to thirty but are generally found the scattered even birds of one seldom keep long together the flight of the when flushed it rarely high it along the pool and gives the a fair chance it is no difficult matter to get near but you are apt to lose sight of him a close and sharp look out as he often flies away altogether colonel says of all the that a wild fowl could wish to meet with a flock of is the very first and for that reason probably it is becoming one of the in the of wild fowl shooting works i hy and hall strand new in turn s thick â s letters speeches by thomas with m of by permission from an ture by in the of the in to in red gilt edges â sâ or in proof of thâ on india price â s beauties of the poet seen o from by made expressly for the work ia the highest of art by or the of mr f with i in two post stories the italian poets a of the poems or and with ts of t and of t â vl ox by hunt ia one w p it e or the hotel by m sue with beautiful drawn by david â d on wood by the under deuce of bâ r heath iâ works published in bound m price s c the arch by thomas weight m a y wa a and in â on steel four of which are of remarkable buildings and and of one and seventeen on wood all br f w p s a ft one post notes of a from to grand by mr angel o in one poet in shooting i l of i â of l e full to the thb of guns and d by cr sporting dogs from original t in the style of the art by f w new books thb in small wonderful stories for children the of en by i in small ra story about a christmas in the century bt mrs four coloured in hunters and ob sketches of in lands beyond the sea bt mb in the horse and his rider in thb press in preparation in two narrative of the expedition to in of h mj for the of with f om the of esq now of by the hon henry r n and illustrations in tinted hy the king of s in england in the year bt c su s u i t w z by and hall and monthly series â of of l d mi â p m y hie of a new and as it to ns very spirited attempt to reduce the price of this of literature â â a er if the monthly series continues as well as it has the old three system is at an end the world will no longer be willing to pay thirty shillings for when for it can ei the best of the best â â e in one post cloth â the family sâ â â â fi a novel in this book if we mistake not we have the promise of a new writer of fiction not unworthy to take his place with the writer of castle and headlong hall a vein of genuine through page and equally itself in the conception of character and incident or in the construction of the sparkling dialogue which down before the of tiie reader â j in one volume post the life of including his by edward of a thb of t e a complete and judicious view of s life â â we recommend this â â in respect a most admirable piece of biography â monthly we cannot a more story of genius â to a style which would alone haye to the production of an interesting and striking mr a depth of knowledge and musical appreciation rare and remarkable an acceptable addition to our stores of biography more rich and complete in the assemblage of its materials than any previous publication on the subject â ul in two volumes post c t ft â the a story of ireland in by mrs s c hall mn best novel the is an to messrs and hall s monthly series â mrs hall s style is easy graceful and the death of the middle man in which the or death is introduced is described with thrilling l see next page r â l published hi one oo in ornamental boards price e in the of br bt art in the of as in that ot a rare kind and cheerful of the and habits of and happy middle life and vivid on â u on it or plays â mi â in one cloth edges price c st s eve oe these â in the life of an peasant by with u bt one of the best and productions of this fertile author the tale ia with g pathos and glimpses of beauty moral and over the ru lot of the irish like uie speaks of in a

49William Black

â hy when the one volume post price i â cloth a tour through the valley of the w of ti lu by ah and written and nicely and will be found a weu companion to pleasure may take up the valley of the or business may keep at home it is for in doors as well as out â â â â this work is one of the most agreeable we have ever seen as the author has paused not only to inquire at each place he visited but to reflect upon the result of his inquiries which he in a style highly and often learned â ar in price s the of of the this is one of the very best of the many excellent foreign works â library has made accessible to readers it presents us with a vivid of the mind and life of a man worthy to one who has with success by speculation and by action to improve the condition of his fellow man the v is with the spirit of moral and political wisdom and cannot fail to be widely read r the lessons of virtue by the most of au of a high and beneficent activity â â a of a good s me of a good man s â f ft af the race â â bull jâ j by and works of thomas in one mail a portrait price â d the life of ft in one price â m cloth past and present in one volume small price â cloth on heroes and worship vo ia the revolution s vol â ths ii â thb iii thâ in one volume crown price â it but there is old in small vo price i s critical and miscellaneous essay jn three vo price â cloth translation s b nd works of charles jn one volume oo price ll is cloth the papers by â in one volume price il by in one volume vo price u is cloth sketches by â a with by in one volume price il is cloth martin by in one volume cloth the old curiosity shop â with ill by g ft h k in one volume price is cloth of t of with b by q h k in two volumes post price u lâ â th american notes i â published work by of pa t issued every s beauties of the poets a â â i l ir of their principal female characters i vm eminent artists made work highest of art bt ob thb of mr edward with the with to be followed bt illustrations of burns and other popular british poets number four plates with the pen of a female writer imperial â proofs on india paper eight shillings proofs few will a of which l j ill be printed without letter press the beginning of a charming publication the of and single so that it deserves a frame and the whole series to a gallery a portrait of after is set in a border of exquisite grace english and appropriate and without a borrowed from the german it la of the utmost elegance then follow the black and blue eyes w the former to the song without caring for the consequences but the latter better pleased to heal the wounds they hare is embodied in two lovely girls with expression suited to the words st s love h o is a single female form of touching pathos and young j with her reflected from a mirror a pleasing fancy the last laughing eyes another by w is perfectly delicious and the whole are engraved the first by w and the rest by b in a style of great excellence they are quite with tender yet effective shadows and the whether we refer to costume or the frame work around at the same time finely correct and rich a neat and interesting letter press each ihe work is one of the fairest promise and in these days of for the really superior productions oi art must be a very popular public â ry k m by and way the halls and â p s in for t by j s g s j holland f c in under the op mr with bt s c hall s a each part contains plates and pages of letter press with prints imperial â f â india paper imperial of part just published hall house hall hall hall castle part the hall in the wood great hall the first volume thb first parts is prints imperial half bound des m contents k sa hall hall â na worth long â house house â â church interior â castle pen from the park â pen the court yard tower hall tâ the great chamber n ham hall a ve hall â west hall â â church church t â i st works tt a of foreign a p e volumes the of â just published by j st the german on the the â the end the interior of the with a map price lâ by j g â hie d â and the military frontier price lit doth ireland scotland and england by j q price â doth life in by madame de la price â doth celebrated crimes by alexander containing the the of saint of of tlie the de price doth history of the century by p c volumes post and second the literary portion of the history each price s doth history of the century by p c volumes and lu each doth and volume six price lit doth the political portion of the history history of ten years â the three days and y louis in two volumes price l s doth tales from the german specimens from the most celebrated authors by j and c a price lit doth history of germany the earliest period to the present

49William Black

time by p price t doth history of france by m translated by walter e the â doth to be completed in two volumes the second r f by hall the library of travel and the holy land and people thb and br with never was more never were the of â of travel more the is truly the social physical political and features of the are well and the reader is at home with the the the jew the and the volume ihe â w eh ar gilt â â egypt and notices op y and historical tb c b j a st john or au or â one hundred and twenty wood in me gilt edges price e ladies young and young couples mm â i m wi second edition in vo songs and bt samuel â this edition contains the in mr e second in post price a the irish sketch book by mb m a on wood thb s michael is precisely the writer who should sketch ireland as it is he hm the very characteristics of the and his narrative on with a never interest which leaves one no chance having once opened the book hut to read it to its very last ay and to profit by it too â one of the most valuable books of sketches that has been published many a day â as a whole the book is capital â or a through ireland in which every thing is taken as it and wit are in all the drawings we think the book uncommonly humorous and madly â works published in bound in ch a price â fifteen in outline of s tempest br j n in price â in nursery government os hints addressed to mothers and on ti of d br mrs second corrected and enlarged in three volumes poet â d the history of two lives by b in one volume doth price s f for â n a s of e showing the most approved methods of and ending the game together with situations and by william edition corrected ain enlarged with twenty pour printed in colours price cloth or bound in l hours of meditation b upon connected with the moral and social duties of life ow h â by james d to the queen in one price m the victims or the case of the british colonel captain and i n by captain r b edition with additions in one volume vo price lo m the book of a series of on as many different subjects in connection with morals religion and philosophy each essay an ancient symbol or moral the are and we toe book to our as thâ of a leaned aiid thinking mind â jou s poems in a handsome volume uniform italy price â poems the pilgrim op the songs and minor poems by samuel with twenty three in line by w r drawings by h by and hall under the of the society for the of useful knowledge a series of maps complete thb index in the half sprinkled edges gilt edges gilt back and edges half russia plain sprinkled edges gilt edges gilt back and edges in two plain plain s d s rf d â d a li s any numbers of the series may at present be obtained and are recommended to complete their sets without delay an index of more than places by the rev a m the size of the ss binding the maps specimen copies in various of binding may be seen at the and may have their copies bound in the best and strongest manner with india rubber backs by sending them through their or direct to strand half plain sprinkled edges gilt edges gilt back and edges half russia plain sprinkled edges gilt edges and edges in in two â s d j â rf s i strongly half bound india rubber backs price s coloured t a family with an index of places strongly bound in cloth with india rubber backs a school ing twenty one maps with index of price plain â coloured sâ â eighteen maps plain lis â d and modern strongly half in one volume price plain â coloured ll the stars on the six maps ss plain j s the world on the six maps s plain s d col map of england and wales coloured price st or mounted in case new map of london enlarged and with all the recent improve in a leather case price s d or on a sheet lâ m coloured l f published pocket county the stations laid down bt hall on s oh a sheet price d case price d and is each n d b england isle or of man ft ey j ter price â m each the a ee of the above ireland scotland and wales new travelling sound in with a price â a pocket travelling of the english with all the roads laid m and coloured corrected to the time engraved by hall tim â t have for and dear the maps bat la the middle ao that the whole when a thick volume in a exactly the without being too for the pocket of a great coat â the union journal and the arts and ornamental published on the first of every price one the art union has obtained the confidence of the artists a considerable portion of public patronage and been recommended by the as and as admirably calculated to advance the objects of artists and increase the taste for works of art and as at once by the excellence of its arrangements the variety and interest of its and the tone of its opinions thâ highest claims upon the support of all of art the foreign review on the b t of october six f by hai l in large u â hand w l and and two op

49William Black

all his anecdotes songs jokes stories and secrets bring us back from the pressure and cares of life to those happy days and nights when the heart was as light as the heel and both beat time to the sound of his fiddle the is a character looked upon by the irish rather as a musical curiosity than a being specially created to to their enjoyment there is something about him which they do not feel to be in perfect sympathy with their habits and amusements he is above them not of them and although they respect him and treat him kindly yet he is never received among them that spontaneous of warmth and cordiality with which they welcome their own the the in fact belongs or rather did belong to the gentry and to the gentry they are willing to leave him they listen to his music when he feels disposed to play for them but it only their curiosity instead of their hearts â a ct sufficiently evident fin m die m of their seldom attempting to to it tliis preference however of the fiddle to the is a feeling by change of times and circumstances for it is well known that in gone by when irish habits were purer older and more hereditary than they are now the harp was the favourite instrument of young and old ol high and low the only instrument that can be said to rival the fiddle is the but every person knows that ireland is a loving country and that our dances and other places of amusement and his sweetheart are in the habit of indulging in a certain quiet and affectionate kind of whisper the tones of which are sadly by the sharp jar of the it is not in fact an instrument adapted for love making the is an enemy to sentiment and it is an unpleasant thing for a pretty girl to herself put to the of out her at the top of her lungs which she must do or have the words lost in its drowsy and monotonous murmur the might do for war to which with a slight it has been applied but in our opinion it is fit to be danced to by an assembly of people who are hard of hearing indeed we little doubt its cultivation might be with good effect as a system of medical treatment suitable to the pupils of a deaf and dumb institution for if anything could bring them to the use of their ears its sharp and notes surely would effect that object the fiddle however is the instrument of all others most essential to the enjoyment of an dancing and love are very closely connected and of course the fiddle is never thought of or heard without awakening the tenderest and most agreeable emotions its music soft sweet t the thing for who under its of its and soft sweet and cheerful himself the very â it act like a upon him and produce in his head the irish s a bland and delightful that he finds himself making love just as naturally as he would eat his meals it opens all the of his heart puts in his veins gives honey to a tongue that was heaven knows sufficiently sweet without it and gifts him with a pair of feather heels that might envy and to crown all him while pleading his cause in a quiet comer with a of invention and an easy assurance which nothing can in fact with great respect for my friend mr the fiddle it is that ought to be our national instrument as it is which is most closely and agreeably associated with the best and happiest impulses of the irish heart the very language of the people themselves is a proof of this for whilst neither harp nor is ever introduced as peculiarities of feeling by any reference to their influence the fiddle is an agreeable instrument in their hands in more senses one s highest notion of flattery towards the other sex is boldly expressed by an image drawn from it for when he that he can by words impress such an agreeable delusion upon his sweetheart as to make her imagine that there is a on every of the house there can be no more strongly or beautifully expressive of the charm which from the tones of that sweet instrument is very often hit by his own at a time when he least expects it when pleading his cause for instance and promising golden days to his fair one he is not met by ay ay it s all very well now you re enough of but wait till we d be a year married an maybe like many others that promise what you do you d never come home to me up your fiddle behind the door by which she means to charge him with the probability of being agreeable when abroad but in his own family having thus shown that the fiddle and its music are mixed op strongly with feelings and amusements i m now time to say something of the in ireland it is impossible on looking through all classes of society to find any individual so perfectly free from care or in stronger words so completely happy as the especially if he be blind which he generally is his want of sight his other wants and whilst it his not only renders him unconscious of their loss but gives a greater zest to those that are him simple and innocent as they are he is in truth a man whose lot in life is happily cast and whose lines have fallen in pleasant places the phase of life which is presented to him and in which he moves is one of innocent mirth and harmless enjoyment marriages dances and merry of all descriptions create the atmosphere of mirth and happiness which he

49William Black

ever breathes with the dark designs the crimes and of mankind he has nothing to do and his light spirit is never depressed by their influence indeed he may be said with truth to pass through none but the of life to hear nothing but mirth to feel nothing but kindness and to communicate nothing but happiness to all he is at once the source and the centre of all good and friendly feelings by him the aged man forgets his years and is agreeably cheated back into youth the a pleasant moment from his toil and is happy the care worn ceases to remember the anxieties that press him down the boy is with delight and the child is charmed with a pleasure that he feels to be surely such a man is important as filling up with enjoyment many of the pauses in human misery he is a thousand times better than a and is a true philosopher without knowing it every man is his friend unless it be a rival and he is the friend of every man with same exception every house too every heart and every hand is open to bim he never knows what it is to want a bed a dinner or a shilling good heavens what more than this can the thb irish o of the human heart desire for my part i do not know what others might aim at but i am of opinion that in such a world as this the highest proof of a wise man would be a wish to live and die an irish and yet alas i there is no condition of life without some remote or sorrow many a scene have i witnessed connected with this very subject that would tears from any eye and find a tender pulse in the hardest heart it la indeed a melancholy alternative that the poor lad to an employment that is ultimately productive of so much happiness to himself and others this alternative is seldom resorted to unless when some poor child â perhaps a favourite â is deprived of sight by the terrible of the small in life there is scarcely anything more touching than to witness in the innocent invalid the first effects both upon himself and his parents of this the helplessness of the pitiable and his total dependence on those around him â his with the relative situation of all the places that were familiar to him â his tottering and timid step his affecting call of where are you joined to the bitter consciousness on her part that the light of affection and innocence will never sparkle in those beloved eyes again â all tliis a scene of deep and bitter sorrow when however the sense of his passes away and the cherished child grows up to the proper age a fiddle is procured for him by his parents if they are able and if not a is made up among their friends and neighbours to buy him one all the family with tears in their eyes then kiss and take leave of him and his mother taking him by the hand leads him as had been previously arranged to the best in the neighbourhood with whom he is left as an there is generally no fee required but he is engaged to hand hi master all the money he can make at om the he is enough to at them such is tho m simple process of putting a blind boy in the way of becoming with the science of melody in my native parish there were four or five â all good in their way but the of the district was the for m where properly lived i never could actually discover and for the best reason in the world â he was not at home once m twelve months as says in the play he was a kind of a here and â a stranger nowhere this however mattered little for though perpetually shifting day after day from place to place yet it somehow happened that nobody ever was at a loss where to find him the truth is he never felt disposed to travel because he knew that his interest must by doing so the consequence was that wherever he went a little of local fame always attended him which rendered it an easy matter to find his whereabouts was blind from his and as usual owed to the small the loss of his sight he was about the middle size of rather a slender make and possessed an intelligent countenance on which beamed that singular expression of inward serenity so peculiar to the blind his temper was sweet and even but capable of rising through the of his own humour to a high pitch of and enjoyment the dress he wore as far as i can remember was always the same in colour and fabric â to wit a brown coat a sober tinted cotton waistcoat gray stockings and black poor i think i see him before me his head erect as the heads of all blind men are the fiddle case under his left arm and his staff held out like a exploring with the nature of tiie ground before him even although some happy leads him onward with an eye an honour of which he will boast to his companions fi r many a mortal month to come the first time i ever heard i lay was also the i thb irish ever heard a fiddle well and distinctly do i remember the occasion the season was summer â bnt summer then â and a new house g to frank thomas had been and was just ready to receive him and his family the of irish houses in the country generally consist at first of wet clay and when this is sufficiently well and hardened a dance is known to be an excellent thing to

49William Black

bind and prevent them from on this occasion the evening bad been appointed and the day was nearly half advanced but no appearance of the the state of excitement in which found myself could not be described the name of m had been ringing in my ears for god knows how long but i had never seen him or even heard his fiddle every two minutes i was on the top of a little eminence looking out for him my eyes straining out of their and ray head dizzy with the prophetic expectation of rapture and delight human patience however could bear this suspense no longer and i privately resolved to find or perish i accordingly proceeded across the a distance of about three miles to a place called where i found him waiting for a guide at this time i could not have been more than seven years of age and how i wrought out my way over the lonely hills or through what mysterious instinct i was led to him and that by a path too over which i had never travelled before must be left until it shall please that power that guides the bee to its home and the bird for thousands of miles through the air to disclose the principle upon which it is accomplished on our return home i could see the young persons of both sexes flying out to the little eminence i spoke of looking towards the spot we travelled fi om and immediately in again clapping their hands and shouting with delight instantly the whole village was out young and old â râ moment to satisfy that the in m was correct after which about a dozen of the sprang forward with the speed of so many to meet us whilst the elders returned with a but not less satisfied manner into the houses then commenced the usual battle as to whom should be honoured by permission to carry the fiddle case oh that fiddle case i for seven long years it was an honour exclusively allowed to myself whenever attended a dance anywhere near us and never was the lord s â to which by the way with great respect for his it bore a con resemblance â carried with a heart or a more eye but so it these little things are great to men blood you re welcome how is every bone of you we you up no we didn t give you up never heed him sure we knew very well you d not the boys â â de i ah won t you sing there was a devil came over the wall to be sure he will but wait till he comes home and gets his dinner first is it off an empty stomach you d have him to sing give me the fiddle case won t you no to me never heed them you promised it to me at the dance in boys the truth none of can get the fiddle case my fiddle hasn t been well for the last day or two and can t bear to be carried by any one myself blood alive sick is it â an what her why some o the doctors says there s a in her an others that she has got the but i m goin to give her a dose of when i get up to the house above ould harry says she s with fiddle an if that s true the irish maybe some o won t be in luck til be able to spare a young fiddle or two among many a tiny hand was clapped and an eye was lit up with the hope of getting a young fiddle fi r gospel itself was never looked upon to be more true than this assertion of s and no wonder the fact is he used to amuse himself by making small of deal and horse hair which he carried about with him as presents for such as he took a fancy to this he made a serious business of and carried it on with an importance becoming the intimation just given indeed i remember the time when i watched one of them which i was so happy as to receive from him day and night with the hope of being able to report that it was growing larger for my firm belief was that in due time it would reach the usual size as we went along with his usual tact got out of us all the information respecting the several of the neighbourhood that had reached us and as much too of the village gossip and scandal as we knew nothing can exceed the overflowing kindness and affection which the irish is received on the occasion of a dance or merry making and to do him justice he loses no of his importance from habit and his position among the people his t and power of are necessarily cultivated and not one of his jokes ever fails â a circumstance which his humour for nothing on earth it so much as knowing that whether good or bad it will be laughed at by the way was a bachelor and though blind was able as he himself used to say to see through his ears than another could through the eyes he knew voice at once and every boy and girl in the parish by name the moment he heard them speak on he is bound for he either b m of or at least is offered refreshment after comes the moment to the but all this is done by due and solemn preparation first he calls for a pair of with which he or seems to his then asks for a piece of and in an instant half a dozen boys are of at a break neck pace to the next to procure it whilst in the mean time he deliberately

49William Black

a piece out of his pocket and his bow but heavens what a ceremony the opening of that fiddle case is the of the blind man as he runs his hand to the key hole â the turning of the the taking out of the fiddle â the â and then the first sound as the bow is drawn across the strings then comes a then a delicious saw or two again another â and away he goes the favourite tune of the good woman for such s the etiquette upon these occasions tlie house is immediately with the neighbours and a preliminary dance is taken in which the old folks with violence are literally out and forced to join then come the ah jack you could says an can still you have a kick in you yet v why seen in my time the old man will reply bis brow relaxed by a remnant pride aud the of the moment but you see the breath isn t what it used to be ine when could dance the on the bottom of a ten but think a glass o do us no harm that â well well â i m sure thought my days over an you matched any how rejoined the carried aa light a heel as ever you did woman of her years ever seen could cut the id her you would know the tune on her feet still the is the good woman would say wo the h ii have no now as there was in my days that glass but as good eh here s to you both and long may ye live to shake the toe i s great stuff come now at down jack till i give you your ould favourite these were happy moments and happy times which might well be looked upon as the simple manners of country life with very little of moral shadow to obscure the which lit op the irish heart and hearth into humble happiness with his usual good nature never forgot the younger portion of his audience after entertaining the old and he would call for a key one end of which he placed in his mouth in order to make the fiddle sing for the children their song beginning with oh ma will squeeze my wig this he did in a manner through the medium of the key that the words seemed to be spoken by the instrument and not by himself after this was over he would sing us to his own accompaniment another favourite there was a devil looked over the wall which generally closed that portion of the entertainment so kindly designed for us upon those moments i have often witnessed marks of deep and pious feeling occasioned by some memory of the absent or the dead that were as beautiful as they were affecting if for instance a son or daughter happened to be removed by death the ther or mother remembering the air which was loved best by the departed would pause a moment and with a voice of sorrow say there ib one tune that i would like to hear to think of it and to hear it i do for the sake of them that s gone â my that s low it was ho that loved h his ear is closed m against it now but for his sake â ay for your sake â we will hear it once more always played such tunes in his best style and amidst a silence that was only broken by sobs suppressed and the other tokens of profound sorrow these however of natural feeling soon passed away in a few minutes the smiles returned the mirth broke out again and the lively dance went on as if their hearts had been incapable of such affection for the dead â affection at once so deep and tender but many a time the light of plays along the stream of irish feeling when cherished sorrow lies removed from the human eye down from the surface these preliminary amusements being now over is conducted to the dance house where he is carefully in the best chair and immediately the dancing it is not my purpose to describe an irish dance having done it more than once elsewhere it is enough to say that is now in his glory and proud may the young man be who fills the honourable post of his companion and sits next him he is a living store house of intelligence a travelling for the parish â the lover s text book â the young woman s best companion for where is the courtship going on of which he is not where is there a marriage on the with the particulars of which he is not acquainted he is an authority whom nobody would think of questioning it is now too that he his jokes about and so correct and well trained is his ear that he can frequently name the young man who dances by the peculiarity of his step ah ha you re there sure i d know the of your irons any where is it that you for down to to the for dan m but i what u you have l that grace on the irish h can do it devil o your likes i see any where i ll lay to a penny that you could dance your own â the the brown girl â upon a spider s without it don t be in a hurry grace dear to tie the knot wait for you several times in the course of the night a plate is brought round and a collection made for the this was the moment when used to let the jokes fly in every direction the timid he into liberality the vain he praised and the he assailed by open hardy satire all managed however with such an under current

49William Black

of good humour that no one could take offence no joke ever told better than that of the broken string whenever this happened at night would call out to some soft fellow blood alive ned martin will you bring me a candle i ve broken a string the young man forgetting that he was blind would take the candle in a hurry and fetch it to him i t a candle to a dark man i isn t a a beauty boys â look at him girls â as as a it is to say that the mirth on such occasions was another similar joke was also played off by him against such as he knew to be at the collection smith i want a word you i m goin across the as r as ned s and i want you to help me along the road as the night is dark to be sure i ll bring you over as snug as if you on a clean plate man alive thank you you ve the in you an kind father for you maybe i ll do as much for yoa some other time never spoke of this until the trick was played off after which he published it to the whole parish and of was made the standing jest for being so silly as to m think that night or day had any difference to a man could not see thus passed the life of m and thus pass the lives of most of his class serenely and happily as the sailor to his ship the to his gun so is the attached to his fiddle his hopes and pleasures though limited are full his heart is light for he comes in contact with the best and brightest side of life and and ihe consequence is that their mild and mellow lights are reflected on and firom himself lam ignorant whether poor is dead or not but i dare say he the boy to whose young spirit he communicated so much ht and who often danced with a and careless heart to tiie pleasant notes of his fiddle m whither living or dead peace be with yon who is en the writer of this nod felt y ry much flattered on the above of himself read w c â ik x a ths dancing master ik those old times when the and of were more simple and pastoral than they are at present dancing was as one of the chief amusements of h f and the master looked upon as a person necessary to the proper of our national of all tiie amusements peculiar to our population dancing is by the moat important although certainly much less so now than it has been within our own in ireland it may be considered as a just indication of the spirit and character of the people so much so that it would be extremely difficult to find any test so of the irish heart and its varied impulses as the dance contemplated in its most spirit in the first place no people dance so well as the irish and for the best reason in the world as we shall show dancing every one must admit although a most delightful amusement s not a simple nor distinct nor one on the contrary it is merely else than a happy and agreeable method of enjoying music whole spirit and character must necessarily id upon the power of the heart to feel the melody to which the limbs and body move every nation therefore remarkable for a of music is also remarkable for of dancing unless religion or some other adequate obstacle arising from an condition of society to prevent it music and being in fact as dependent the one on the other as cause and effect it requires argument to prove that the irish i back are so alive fo the should in a high degree at the other and accordingly it is so nobody unless one who has seen and also felt it can the incredible nay the inexplicable of the heart which a dance to the of ireland indeed it not so much enthusiasm as inspiration let a stranger take his place among those who are assembled at a dance in the country and mark the change which takes place in s whole temperament physical and moral he first rises up rather his own sweetheart and assuming such a station on the floor as renders it necessary that both should face the he on the dance then goes quietly at the outset gradually he begins to move more by and bye the is up and a crack of the fingers is heard in a minute afterwards both hands are up and two cracks are heard the and brightness of his eye all the time keeping pace with the growing enthusiasm that is coming over him and which eye by the way is most lovingly fixed npon or we should rather say into that of his modest partner from that partner he never receives an open gaze in return but in of this an occasional glance quick as thought and brilliant as a seems to pour into him a delicious fury that is made up of love â sometimes a little oi kindness pride of his activity and a force of momentary happiness that description now the dance in earnest up he bounds in a fling or a crack go the fingers â cut and go the feet heel and toe right and left then he the right heel up to the ham up again the left the whole face in a furnace heat of delight â i your move your elbow this to the quicker quicker man alive or you ll lose sight of me i that s the girl handle your the country feet that s it to me for our side of the house i and thus does he

49William Black

proceed with vigour and an and a truth of lime that arc especially when we consider the of enjoy which he has to direct the conduct of his partner whose face is lit up into a modest blush is evidently tinged with his enthusiasm â for who could resist it â but it is exhibited with great natural grace joined to a delicate vivacity that is equally gentle and animated and in our opinion precisely what dancing in a female ought to be â a of exercise and innocent enjoyment there are a considerable variety of dances in ireland from the simple of two up to the country dance all of which are there are however others which are serious and may be looked upon as the of the pathetic spirit of our country of the latter i fear several are altogether lost and i question whether there be many persons now alive in ireland who know much about the which from the word it begins with must necessarily have been danced only on mournful occasions it is only at wakes and customs in those remote parts of the country where old are most clung to that any of the and others of our forgotten dances could be obtained at present i believe the only serious one we have is the or as they term it in the country the long i myself have witnessed when very young a dance which like the was performed but by one man this however was the only point in which they bore to each other any resemblance the one i allude to must in my opinion have been of or descent it was not necessarily performed to music and could not be danced the of a stick and handkerchief it was addressed to an individual passion and was one of those dances that were used in pagan rites and had the henry o seen it there is no doubt but he would have seized upon it as a of his system having now said all we have to say here about irish dances â it is time we should say something about the irish and be it observed that we mean him of the old school and not the poor creature of the present day who unless in some remote parts of the is scarcely worth description and has little of the national character about him like most persons of the professions the old irish dancing master was generally a bachelor having no fixed residence but living fi om place to place within his own beyond which he seldom or never went the were his and his visits to their houses always brought a holiday spirit along with them when he came there was sure to be a dance in the evening after the of he himself good supplying them with the music in return for this they would get up a little collection for him probably to a couple of shillings or half a crown which some of them under pretence of taking the snuff box out of his pocket to get a pinch would delicately and slip into it lest he might feel the act as bringing down the dancing master to the level of the mere he on the other hand not to be in kindness would at the conclusion of the little desire them to lay down a door on which he usually danced a few favourite to the music of his own fiddle this indeed was the great master feat of his art and was looked upon as such by himself as well as by the people indeed the old dancing master had some very outlines of character peculiar to himself his dress for instance was always far above the s and this was the pride of his heart he also made it a point to wear a the country master or hat be the e me shocking bad or but above all things his soul within him was set upon a watch and no one could gratify him more than by asking him before company what o clock it was he also contrived to carry an ornamental staff made of mahogany or some rare of cane which if possible had a silver and a silk this the dancing masters in general seemed to consider as a kind of or of office without which i never yet knew one of them to go but of all the parts of dress used to them from the we must place as standing r before the rest the dancing master s and stockings for shoes he seldom wore the utmost limit of their ambition appeared to be such a neatness about that part of them in which the genius of their business lay as might indicate the lightness and activity which were expected from them by the people in whose opinion the finest the shoe and the most leg uniformly the most accomplished teacher the irish dancing master was also a great hand at and indeed some of them were known to s between as well as individual lovers with all the ability of a first rate unlike the the dancing master had fortunately the use of his eyes and as ther is scarcely any scene in which to a keen observer the of the passions â to wit glances of the hand and stealthy â are more frequent or significant so is it no wonder that a sagacious on such as he generally was knew how to avail him self of them and to become in many instances a necessary to their issue in the times of our it pretty frequently happened that the dancing master professed another accomplishment which in ireland at least where it is bom with us might appear to be a superfluous one we mean that of or to speak more correctly playing schools of this class were nearly as common in those times as schools

49William Black

and it was not at all for one man to teach both after all the old dancing master in spite of his most to the contrary bore in simplicity of manners in habits of life and in the happy spirit which be received from and impressed upon society a distant but not indistinct resemblance to the between these two however no good feeling the one looked up at the as a man who was and placed above him whilst the other looked down upon him as a through whom those he taught practised their this petty was very amusing and the boys to do them justice left nothing undone to keep it up the had certainly the best of the argument whilst the other had the advantage of a higher professional position the one was more loved the other more respected perhaps very few things in humble life could be so amusing to a mind or at the same time capable of affording a better lesson to human pride than the almost miraculous skill with which the dancing master contrived when travelling to carry his fiddle about him so as that it might not be seen and he himself mistaken for nothing but a this was the blow his vanity could receive and a of endless vexation to all his tribe our manners however are changed and neither the nor the master possesses the fine mellow tints nor that depth of colouring which formerly brought them and their rich household associations home at once to the heart one of the most amusing specimens of the master that i ever met was the person alluded to at the close of my paper on the irish under the of thb country dancing ma t r back this man had been a in the army for some time where he had learned to play the fiddle but it appears that he possessed no relish whatever for a military life as his of it without even the usual form of a discharge or together with a back that had become from frequent could abundantly testify it was from the latter circumstance that he had received his back was a light little fellow with a rich crossed by a lofty strain of english which he picked up whilst abroad in the army his sat as tight upon him as he could readily wear them and were all of the shabby genteel class his t lack coat was a closely worn second hand and his face quite as much of the second hand as the coat i think i see his little little white stockings his breeches his hat smart in its cock but brushed to a and standing upon three hairs together with his tight questionable coloured gloves all before me certainly he was the little cock living â quite a blood ready to fight any man and a great of the sex whom he never addressed except in that high flown style so agreeable to most of them called by their the complimentary and by their the he was in fact a public man and up to everything you met him at every fair where he only had lime to give you a wink as he passed being just then engaged in a very particular but he would tell you again at cock fights he was a very busy personage and an angry better from half a crown downwards at races he was a knowing fellow always shook hands with the winning and then looked about that folks might see he was hand and glove with people of importance the house where back kept his school which was open only aft er the hours of labour was an cabin the roof which at a particular spot was supported by a post that stood upright from the poor it was built upon an situation and command d a fine view of the whole for miles about it a pleasant sight it was to see the modest ud pretty girls in best and ribbons in little groups from all directions accompanied by their partners or lovers making way the fragrant fields of a calm evening to this happy scene oâ in amusement nd yet what an of general life with its plots and did this tiny of society present there was the the the and the as sharply marked within this their humble sphere as if they appeared on the world s stage with half its wealth and all its temptations to draw forth their prevailing there too was the bully the the liar the and the coward each as perfect and distinct in his kind as if he had run through a lengthened course of fashionable or spent a fortune in acquiring his particular character the elements of the human however and the passions that make the general business of life are the same in high and low and exist with impulses as strong in the cabin as in the palace the only difference is that they have not equal room to play back s system in originality of design in comic conception of decorum and in the easy practical assurance with which he wrought it out was never equalled much less surpassed had the impudent little rascal confined himself to dancing as usually taught there would have been so ludicrous or uncommon in it but no he was such a sticks for example in everything that no other mode of instruction would satisfy him dancing why it was the least part of what he taught or professed to teach in the first place he undertook to teach every one ol i bad the honour of being his pupil â to a the country in the most manner as lie secondly he was the only man he who could in the most agreeable and polite style teach a how to salute or as he termed it how to a this he taught he said with

49William Black

great success he could every and how to make the most beautiful bow or on by only one that would cause a thousand le if they were all present to think that it was particularly intended only for o th he taught the whole art o courtship all and success as it was practised in paris the last he could them how to write love and to the great of ments which was supposed to be by when he was writing love to both his wives he was the only person who could the famous called sir de or the drag which comprehended itself all the advantages and beauties of his whole system â in which every was at liberty to pull every where he and every was at liberty to go wherever he pulled her with such advantages in prospect and a method of instruct tion so agreeable it is not to be wondered at that this establishment was always in a most flourishing condition the is he had it so contrived that every gentleman should salute his lady as often as possible and for this purpose actually invented dances in which not only should every gentleman salute every lady but every lady by way of returning the compliment should render a similar kindness to every gentleman nor had is male pupils all this back of salutation to themselves for the little rascal commenced first and ended last in order he said that they might the manner himself i do this and as moral model and because it s part o my system â i and then he would up his little hard ce that was too barren to produce e than an smile and like a over the floor in a manner that he thought irresistible whether back was the only man who tried to reduce kissing to a system of education in this country i do not know it is certainly true that many others of his stamp made a knowledge of the arts and modes of courtship like him a part of the course the forms of love letters c were taught their of both sexes with many other polite particulars which it is to be hoped have h for ever one thing however to the honour of our country women we are bound to observe which is that we do not remember a result with virtue to follow from the little fellow s system which by the way was in this respect peculiar only to himself and not the general custom of the country several unquestionably we had more than might otherwise have taken place but in no one in have we known any case in which a female was brought to or shame we shall now ve a brief sketch of s manner of begging our readers at the same time to rest assured that any sketch we could give would fall short of the original â walk out an your room an let miss go out along you an come in as mrs faith i m master hi make a bad hand ol it co but sore it s something to have h re to keep me ia â is that by way of compliment mr you should ever an always to a in an tone for that s the cut and retire come up here now that we re a little an you miss come up along him miss you are of your five positions and your fifteen attitudes i believe yes sir very well miss â â can perform the positions also yes sir but you remember i stuck at the attitude sir â no well do you know how to a it s hard to say sir till we try but tm very to lam it do my best an the best can do no more very well now me you approach your in this style bo n politely as i do miss will you me the honour of a heavenly don t bow ma am you are to you know a little lower you now you say the greatest pleasure in life sir an many thanks for there now you are to make another politely an say thi you kind sir i owe you one now proceed to as as i can sir i believe â â yes sir you are to imitate me but sir did you see me my lips or up my breeches be s first make a a bow i mane to miss stop again sir are you goin to the why one would think that it s about to of her for ever you are gently gently there i well that s an improvement back practice will do ally but don t so loud though where s our room folks go out me of you for an mrs s face now appears peeping in at the door lit up with a comic expression of genuine from whatever cause it may have proceeded an where s mrs sir are we both to come in together certainly both â turn them out i say sir it s said than done some of us â i know that but practice is every thing the bow legs are strongly against you i grant hut tut â why if your toes where your heels is you d be exactly in the first well both of you turn out your look street your â â your under your ome arm an walk into the middle of the your head up stop take care o the post now take your i mane in your right hand give it a flourish mrs â mane â if s not you s to well flourish your and thin make a graceful bow to the company and â â and â i m your most â â i m your most man alive i tha not a bow look at this a bow for you

49William Black

why instead of a bow you i as if you goin to sit down with an in your back weu practice is every n there s luck in leisure dick will you come up and if you can meek any thing of that step you re a lad jou re a lad with a pair o h an thb country dancing master i to lam to dance but don t man i m but tu make a graceful slip o you yet can you meek a not rights dr i doubt well i know that but you ought to know how to meek both a bow and a you marry a wife it t come wrong for you to know how to her a have you the and you yes sir very well on them the on the right foot or what ought to be the right foot tm the upon what ought to be the left are you ready yes sir â come then do as i bid you upon an sink upon rise upon an sink upon rise upon sir you re upon an upon the very thing you ought not to do but god help you i sure you re left legged ah it ud be a long time before you d be able to dance or the college upon a drum head as i often did however don t if i could only get you to know your right leg â but god help you sure you hav nt such a thing â from your left i d make something of you yet dick the irish dancing masters were at drawn among themselves but as they seldom met tbey were forced to abuse each other at a distance which they did with a and to the space between them back had a rival of this description who was a sore thorn in his side his name was and from having been a horse he gave up the turf and took to the calling of a dancing master sent a message te him to the effect that if he could not dance j g on the drum head he had better his tongue for ever to this replied by asking if he was the man to dance the upon the saddle of a blood and the animal at a three quarter gallop at length the friends on each side from a natural lore of fun prevailed upon them to decide their claims as follows each master with twelve of his pupils was to dance against bis rival with twelve of his the match to come off on the top of hill which commanded a view of the parish i have already mentioned that in s school there stood near the middle of the floor a post which according to some new of his own was very convenient as a guide to the dancers when going through the figure now at the spot where this post stood it was necessary to make a curve in order to form part of the figure of eight which they were to follow but as many of them were rather impenetrable to a due conception of the line of he forced them to turn the post rather than make an acute angle of it which several of them did having thus much we proceed with our narrative at length they met and it would have been a matter of much difficulty to determine their relative merits each was such an admirable match for the other when back s pupils however came to perform they found that the absence of the post was their ruin to the post they had been trained â accustomed with it they could dance but wanting that they were like so many ships at sea or of course a scene of ludicrous confusion ensued which turned the laugh against poor back who stood likely to with shame and in he was in an agony turn the post i he shouted stamping upon the ground and his little hands with fury the post oh for the honour of don t be the post i if you love me alive the post the country dancing be the will distance us replied bob likely to be the post to him any how any money shouted the little fellow any money for long sam he d do the post to the life mind it boys dear mind it or we re lost a bit they heed me it s a flock of bees or sheep they are like sam where are you the post you oh dear if we had even a rod or a or a we might do yet but anyhow we had in for it s only worse at this stage of the proceedings came over and making a low bow asked him how do you feel ther for such was back s name sir replied back bowing low however in return ru take the shine out of you yet can you a me â that s the chat come show them what s than fifty posts â partners like for ever the scene that ensued all description the fact is the little fellow had them trained as it were to kiss in and the spectators were literally with laughter at this most novel and ludicrous character that back gave to his defeat and the ceremony which he introduced the truth is he turned the laugh completely against his rival and off the ground in high spirits exclaiming he know how to a why the poor never kissed any woman but his mother an her only when she was for such reader is a slight and very imperfect sketch of an irish dancing master which if it possesses any merit at all is to be ascribed to the circumstance that it is drawn from life and however most of the points essential to our conception of the character mary

49William Black

thb irish match though this word at a glance may be said to explain yet lest our english or scotch readers might not clearly understand its meaning we shall briefly give them such a definition of it as wiu enable them to comprehend it in its full extent the irish match maker then is a person selected to conduct of the heart between lovers themselves in the first instance or where the principal parties are between their respective when the latter happen to be of opinion that it is a safer and more prudent thing to consult the interest of the young folk rather than their in short the match maker is a person engaged in from one party to another the messages letters tokens presents and secret communications of the tender passion in whatever shape or character the parties may deem it proper to them the match maker therefore is a general in all such matters of love or interest as are designed by the or their to in the honourable bond of marriage for with nothing morally improper or or approaching to the character of an will the regular irish match maker have any thing at all to do the match maker therefore after all is only the creature of necessity and is never engaged by an to remove such preliminary obstacles as may stand in the way of his own direct operations in point of the match maker is nothing but a who after the plan cf the attack has been laid down away some of the thb match â the advance is made the opened in due form and the entered by the principal party we have said much to prevent onr fair neighbours of england and scotland firom that because such a character as the irish match maker exists at all are personally ent in that energy which is so necessary to express the notions of t e tender passion has proved to the satisfaction of any rational mind that modesty mid assurance are inseparable â that a blushing face may accompany a courageous nay a desperate heart â and that on the contrary an abundance of assurance may be associated with a very handsome degree of modesty in love matters i grant modesty is of an whose character in this respect has been unconsciously hit off by the poet indeed he may truly be termed which means when translated that in looking for a wife an is a boy of an easy face and remarkable modesty at the head of the makers and far above all stands the irish of whose abilities in this way it is impossible to speak too highly and let not our readers imagine that the duties which upon her as well as upon match makers in general are slight or easily discharged to conduct a matter of this kind great tact knowledge of character and very delicate handling are necessary to be faithful to both parties not to give offence to either and to detection in case of secret bias or partiality demand talents of no common order the amount af fortune is often to be regulated â the good qualities of the parties placed in the best or what is often still more judicious in the most suitable light â and when there happens to be a c of the it must be furnished from her ov d invention the is to be softened the contemptuous tone mary of the proud lowered without offence the and sometimes the over reached now all this requires bu able hand a match making in general among the irish does indeed i question whether the that ever attempted to manage a treaty of peace between two hostile powers have a more difficult card to play than often to the lot of the irish match maker the however from her confidential intercourse with the sex and the respect with which both young and old of them look upon her is peculiarly well qualified for the ofi she has seen the youth shoot up and into the young man â she has seen the young man into the husband and the husband very frequently lost in the wife now the marks and tokens by which she noted all this are as in the young of this day as they were in the young of fifty years ago she consequently knows from experience how to manage each party so as to bring about the which she so devoutly wishes upon second thoughts however we are inclined to think after all that the right of upon this point does not exclusively belong to the or at least that there exists another person who it with her so strongly that we are scarcely capable of their respective claims this is the the in ireland is a woman who goes from one relation s house to another from friend to friend from acquaintance to acquaintance â is always welcome and well treated the very extent of her makes her independent so that if she receives an nt otherwise a cold reception from one she never feels it to affect her comfort but on the contrary carries it about with her in the shape of a complaint to the rest and details it with such a rich spirit of enjoyment that we believe in our soul some of her friends knowing what p tion it gives her actually her from pure kindness thb irish match maker hie is the very of industry unless when asleep no mortal living ever saw her hands idle her employment is knitting whether she sits stands or walks there she is with the end of the under her arm knit knit knitting she always and and whenever a is going forward she can tell you at once in what s house the was used last and where it is now to be had and when it has been got she is all and business

49William Black

ordering and commanding about her â her large red three hanging at her side a lump of chalk in one hand and a oi in the other ready to mark the pattern whether it be wave square or diamond the is always dressed with neatness and comfort but generally wears something about her that reminds one of a day gone by and may be considered as the lingering of some old custom that has into this slight as it is her to many for it stands out as the memorial of some old and perhaps affecting associations which at its very appearance are called out om the heart in which they were it is impossible to imagine a happier life than that of the she has no trouble no care no children nor any of the various claims of life to disturb or her wherever she goes she is made and finds herself perfectly at home the whole business of her life is carrying about intelligence making and projecting matches songs and telling old stories which she does with a not often to be et with she will sing you the different sets and variations of the old airs repeat the history and traditions of old interpret dreams give the origin of old local customs and tell a ghost story in a style that would make your hair stand on end she is a bit of a too an extensive and i c s very skilful and lucky among in is a perfect gentleman s magazine in way â a regular r of lore a and of social dealing in that is time worn or old and it with such a quiet and antique air that would imagine her life to be one not of years but of centuries and that she had passed the greater portion of it long as it was in wandering by the of old romance such a woman the reader wiu at once perceive is a formidable for popular with the indeed there is but one consideration upon which we would be inclined to admit that the latter has any advantage over her and it is that she is the a word which is a tower of strength to her not i g all professional but against such characters as would intrude even upon any of her subordinate or as it is difficult to decide between her and the so much so indeed that we are disposed to leave the claim for in this respect each in the same harness and as they are so well matched we will allow them to on side by side drawing the of the neighbouring villages slowly but surely towards the land of matrimony in humble country life as in high life we find in nature the same principles and motives of action let not the mother of rank nor the husband hunting for a moment that the plans and with which they endeavour to secure some wealthy fool for they daughter are not known and practised â ay and with as much and by the of their own sex in these matters they have not one of superiority over the lowest and most it gossip of a country village where the arts of women are almost as practised and the small scandal as detailed as in the highest circles of fashion thb irish match maker the t ui great master of the art of match is the s who is nothing more or less the of the for as the is never of the male sex so the is never of the female with respect to their habits nd modes of life the only difference between them is that as the is never idle so the never works and the latter is a far superior authority in old popular prophecy and as a match maker however the infinitely short of the for the is that this branch of naturally within the and spirit of a woman our readers are not to understand that in ireland there exists like the or dancing master a distinct character openly known by the of match maker no such thing on the contrary the they undertake are all performed under false colours the business in â is dose and secret and always carried on with the mystery veiled by the sanction of some other occupation one of the best specimens of the kind we ev met was old mary was a tidy creature of middle size who always went dressed in a short crimson much faded a red and blue and a coloured gown of the same fabric when walking which she did with the aid of a light staff at the top she g kept the hood of the cloak over her head which gave to her whole figure a picturesque effect and when she threw it one could not help admiring well her small but features agreed with the cap of white linen with a plain muslin border which she wore a pair of blue stockings and sharp pointed shoes high in the heels completed her dress her features were good natured and irish but over the whole countenance there lay an expression of quickness and sagacity contracted no doubt by an habitual of t penetration and at the time i saw her she was very old and i believe bad the reputation of being tne last in that part of the who was known to go about fix m to house spinning on the an instrument which has now passed away being more conveniently replaced by the spinning wheel the manner and style of s visits were different from those of any other who could come to a farmer s house or even to an humble cottage for to the inmates of both were her services equally rendered let us suppose for instance the whole female part of a s assembled of a summer evening about five o clock each

49William Black

engaged in some domestic employment in runs a lad who has been sporting about exclaiming whilst his eyes are lit up with delight mother mother here s mary down the get out no she s not bad to me but she is that i may never stir if she isn t now the whole are instantly at the door to see if it be she with the exception of the prettiest of them all who site at her wheel and immediately begins to over an old irish air which is sadly out of tune and well do we know notwithstanding the mellow tones of that sweet voice why it ia so and also why that youthful cheek in which health and beauty meet is the colour of crimson oa mary darling a thousand to you what you away so long mary sure you won t lave us this month o sundays mary are only a few of the cordial expressions of hospitality and kindness with which she ia received but whose cheek but a moment ago was why is it pale as the lily what news mary asks one of her â you ll tell us everything won t you i have no bad any how â an as to thb irish match maker you all â let me alone no have no bad news god be praised but good news s cheek is again crimson and her lips ripe and red as with the sweet soft smile of her country exhibiting a set of teeth for which many a would thousands and giving out a breath more delicious than the fragrance of a summer meadow oh no wonder indeed that the kind heart of mary in its recesses a message to her as tender as ever was from man to woman an where s the welcome from you that s my now don t be jealous sore you all know is an ever an always was if it s not upon my it s in my heart mary an from that heart you re welcome she rises up and kisses mary who gives her one glance of meaning accompanied by the slightest imaginable smile and a gentle but significant pressure of the hand which to her heart and a sense of through her whole spirit nothing now remains but the opportunity whidi is equally sought for by mary and her to hear without interruption the purport of her lover s communication and this we leave to lovers to imagine in ireland however odd it may seem there occur among â he very poorest classes some of the hardest and most in match making that ever were heard of or known now strangers might ne that all this dose proceeds from a spirit naturally near and sordid but it is not so the real secret of it lies in the poverty and necessity of the parties and chiefly in tjie bitter experience of their parents who having come together in a state of are anxious each as much at the expense of the other as possible to prevent their children from the same and misery which they themselves felt many a time have matches been suspended or mary t broken one party to give his son a slip of a pig or another his daughter a pair of blankets and it was no unusual thing for a match to say never mind i have it all settled but the slip one might naturally wonder why tho e who are so and up m this subject do not strive to prevent early marriages where the poverty is so great so they ought but it is fi settled usage of the country nd one too which have never been in the habit of considering as an evil we have no doubt that if they once began to reason upon it as such they would be very strongly disposed to check a custom which has been the means of themselves and their y offspring in misery and not in guilt mary like many others in this world who are not conscious of the same failing smelt strongly of the shop in other words her conversation had a strong matrimonial tendency no two beings ever lived so decidedly to each other in this point of view as the match maker and the mention the name of an individual or a family to the and the medium through which her memory passes back to them is that of her professed employment â a at m don t you know young of i do replies the and what about him why he was married to day to ould jack m ey s daughter well god grant them luck an happiness poor things x do indeed his s wake an funeral well â ould of â a corpse he made for his years an well he looked but indeed i by the colour that in his cheeks and the limbs remaining for the twenty four hours his departure that ome of the ud follow him afore the year was thb h match maker out an so she did thb daughter poor thing by of a could she got over at a dance stretched him that very day was eleven months an god knows it was from the heart my grief hem for her â to see the poor laid low so soon but a consumption sets in sure we all know what s to happen churchyard they sleep â the make both their beds in heaven this day the very reverse of this but at the same time as professional was mary god save you mary god save you kindly â h let me look at you aren t you red m s son â i am mary an mary how is and the world an can t complain dear in such times how are all at home well mary thank god an you you hard of

49William Black

my grand s death big i did god rest him sure it s well his poor man by the same that i know on that helped him an it a he was married in a blue coat an an wore a scarlet waistcoat that you d see three miles off oh well i it an he was out that to the priest s house ned says i an i him a button on the right knee afore you get the words said said he a smile an he slipped ten into my hand as he spoke ru do it said he and thin a fig for the i â because you see if there s a button of the right knee left the â this day s friday god stand us and harm i â can do neither hurt nor harm to or body an is the superstition mary sure that s a great he left two fine slips o girls behind him he did so â as good girls as there s in the parish an kind mother for them she ll be i m she bein a fresh good woman why if s very likely mary if s natural what can a lone woman do such a large on her hands having some one to manage it for her an her from bein imposed on but indeed the first thing she ought to do is to marry off her two is loss of time in regard that if s hard to say how a an might agree and often known the mother herself when she had a fi an her to be as unnatural to her as if she was a stranger to and that the same blood did nt run in their veins not saying that mary m will or would act that way by her own for indeed she s come of a kind ould stock an ought to have a good heart tell her when you see her that a day or two her â let me ee â the day after to morrow will be palm sunday â why about the holidays indeed i will mary with great pleasure an dear her that i ve a thing to say to her â that i had a long dish o about her a friend o mine you won t forget now oh the a forget t thank you dear god mark you to grace i when you re a little maybe i ll be a friend to you yet this last intimation was given with a kind of mysterious benevolence very visible in the complacent of her face and with a twinkle in the eye full of grave humour and considerable self importance leaving the mind of the person she spoke to in such an agreeable uncertainty as thb irish match m rendered it a matter of great difficulty to determine whether she was or only in jest but at all events throwing the of inquiry upon the ease and tact with which mary could involve two young persons of sexes in a mutual attachment were very remarkable in truth she was a kind of matrimonial who went through the country holding her torch now to this heart and again to that â first to one and then to another until she had the parish more or less in a flame and when we consider thb materials of which the irish heart is composed it is no wonder indeed that the labour of the in ireland at such a rapid rate during the time that between the period of its being made out if mary instance met a young woman of her accidentally â and it was wonderful to think how regularly these accidental meetings took place â she would address her probably somewhat as follows â how are you a bravely thank you mary how is yourself indeed thin a bit o the health we complain of this pain in the back comes upon us the last time i seen your mother she was of a i hope she s poor woman hut bad to the thing her f she has as h a foot as e er a one of us an can dance s brush as well as ever she could an i m proud to hear it i s brush and it was she that could do it sure i her wedding day like ay far an near her me as a an the made girl that ever came from like do i it an how the squire himself an the ladies from the big house came down to see herself an your ther the bride and groom â an a feverish mary it on every hill head you d get a brush oh it was her for that â an is there no news at all at the word mary where ud i get news sure it s always on the that ought to have the news for u i woman alive an maybe i have too i was to a o mine about you the other day a friend o yours mary i why what friend could it her a o mine â ay an of yours too maybe you have more friends than you think â and kind ones too as far as you well goes t any rate ay have you an friends that e er a in the parish be proud io hear named in the one day her i we re in luck thin for that s more than i knew of an who may these great of ours be mary i as a boy as ever broke bread the same boy is and says he if i had in i d think it too little for that girl but poor lad he s not or happy in his mind in regard o that i m says he that she d put scorn upon me

49William Black

an not think me her an no more i am says he again where all would you get the likes o â poor boy my heart for him t well can t you fall in love him yourself mary whoever he is indeed an if i was at your age it would be no shame to me to do so but to tell you the the often ever the likes of paul came me paul i why mary replied smiling with the assumed lightness of indifference is that your beauty if it is why keep him an make much of liim thb i j there is ihe hearts an tongues of some people â one from another â aâ the way they behind others backs i well well i m sure that wasn t the way he spoke of you an god forgive you for down the poor boy as you re believe you re the only girl would do it who me i tm not him down i him up nor down i have neither good nor bad to say about him â the b s a black stranger to me to know his an he s m you these months an to be at the dance on friday next in jack s new house now good bye keep your own counsel till the time comes an mind what i said to you it s not behind every ditch the likes of paul grows i my be you t thus would mary depart just at the critical moment for well she knew that by her information and leaving the heart something to find out she took the most effectual steps to and sustain that kind of interest which is apt ultimately to even fix m its own agitation into the attachment she is anxious to promote the next day by a meeting accidental she comes in contact with paul who honest lad had never probably bestowed a thought on in his life morrow paul â how is your s son morrow mary â my s son wants but a good wife mary an it s not every set day or night that a good wife is to be had paul â that is a good one as you say for there s many o them in the market as they i about you to a of mine th other day â an i m you re not worth all the abuse we gave you mary more power to you mary i i m to you but ia the friend in the poor girl i when your name slipped out an her the point of a rush ud take a drop of blood out o her cheek the way she up ah mary says she if ver i know you to it to man or my lips i ll never open to you to my day when i looked at her an the tears in her black eyes i thought i didn t see a favoured girl for both ce and figure this many a day than the same is that long jack s daughter of the same but paul if a syllable o what i you hut mary honour bright do you think me a stay that i d go and inform on you paul shell be at the dance on friday next in jack s new house so an think o what i to thus did mary very quietly and bind two young hearts together who probably might otherwise have never for a moment even thought of each other of course when paul and met at the dance on tiie following friday the one was the object of the attention to the other and each being prepared to strong of attachment fix m the opposite party everything fell out exactly according to their expectations sometimes it happens that a of a fellow during his calf love will employ a male friend to plead his suit with a pretty girl who if the principal party had might be very willing to marry him to the credit of our fair however be it said that in scarcely one instance out of twenty does it happen or has it ever happened that any of them ever fails to punish the faint heart by the lady upon what is called the or thb irish match make b whom he to make love for him in such a case it is j supposed that the latter will speak two words for himself and one for his friend and indeed the result bears out the supposition now nothing on earth the heart of the established match maker so much as to hear of such a disaster a she over his misfortune for months and his shame to the bounds of her own little world him as a poor pitiful creature who had not the courage to up for himself or â to employ them that could in fact she much the same feeling against him that a regular physician would towards some weak minded patient who prefers the ignorance of a to the skill and services able and educated characters like mary are st disappearing in ireland and indeed in a country where the means of life were generally inadequate to the wants of the population they were calculated however warmly the heart may look back upon the memory of their services to do more harm than good by young folks to enter into early and marriages they certainly sprang up firom a state of society not thoroughly formed by proper education and where the language of a people too was in many extensive districts in such a state of transition as in the of affection to render an absolutely necessary we have ourselves witnessed marriages where the husband and wife spoke the one english and the other irish each being able with difficulty to understand the other in all such cases mary was

49William Black

invaluable she spoke irish and english and indeed was acquainted with every thing in the slightest or most remote degree necessary to the conduct of a love affair from the first glance up until the priest had pronounced the last words â or to speak more correctly until tbe throwing of the bob ob the that the irish are a ready people is a ct to tiie truth of which testimony has been amply borne both by their friends and enemies many causes might be brought forward to account for this questionable gift if it were our intention to be philosophical but as the matter has been so generally it would be but a waste of logic to prove to the world that which the world cares not about beyond the mere ct that it is so on this or any topic one illustration is worth twenty arguments and accordingly instead of a theory we shall relate a story b ind the hill or rather mountain of lies one of those deep and almost valleys on which the practised eye of an would dwell with delight as a not likely to be invaded by the feet of the and his red coats in point of fact the spot we speak of was from its peculiarly isolated position nearly invisible unless to such as came very close to it being so completely hemmed in and concealed by the round and of the mountain hills you could dream of its existence at all until you came upon the very of the which led into it this advantage of position was not however its only one it is true indeed that the moment you had entered it all possibility of its being applied to the purposes of at once vanished and you consequently could not help exclaiming what a pity oc t l bo safe and a nook should not have a single spot on which to erect still house or rather on which to a sufficient stream of water to the elevation necessary for the process of if a actually came to the little chasm and cast his eye over it he would immediately perceive that the of a private still in such a place was a piece of folly not generally to be found in the plans of those who have recourse to such this absence however of the requisite was only apparent not real to the right about one hundred yards above the entrance to it ran a ledge of rocks some fifty feet high or so along the lower brows near the ground grew thick masses of long heath which covered the entrance to a cave about as large and as high as an ordinary farm house through a series of small in the rocks which formed its roof descended a stream of clear soft water precisely in body and volume such as was actually required by the but unless by lifting up this mass of heath no human being could for a moment imagine that there existed any such or so unexpected and easy an entrance to it here there was a private still made by the hand of nature herself such as no art or ingenuity of man could equal now it so happened that about the period we write of there lived in our parish two individuals so to each other in their pursuits of life that we question whether throughout all the instinctive of nature we could find any two animals more destructive of each other than the two we mean â to wit bob the and little george the was an old well trained fellow of about fifty years or more steady and sure and with all the characteristic points of the high bred about him he was a man thin but with a nose that could scent the tread of a n bob oa tf a im dark deep â â t md w itâ and w always to be engaged in whereabouts his te foe little george that him in his very might then be to be was â ot his sagacity aod in and little george was for always baffled and that too wider circumstances where escape seemed which we are about to detail occurred at that period of time the wisdom of our advisable to impose a â ne upon the whole in which the still and worm might be found thus opening a door and fraud and as it proved in most cases rendering the aa to suffer for an offence they never ae the guilty who planned and it the consequence of such a law was that still were always certain to be erected either at ths very verge of the neighbouring or as near them as the circumstances of convenience and situation would permit the moment of course that the hue and cry of the and his was heard upon the wind the whole apparatus was immediately heaved over the to the next from the fine imposed by parliament was necessarily raised whilst the and offending district actually escaped the state of society by such a and barbarous as was dreadful in the course of a short time law suits battles and io an extent the whole country that the who such commotion w r c to their own act as soon as they found how it worked necessity together with the mother of in is also the of many an accidental discovery liad been so frequently defeated by little george that be never to rest until he had secured him and george on the other hand frequently told him â for they were otherwise on the best terms â that he defied him or as he himself more expressed it that he defied the the world and bob latter however was a very sore thorn in his side and drove him from place to and from one haunt to another until he began to despair of

49William Black

being able any longer to him or to find within the parish spot at all suitable to with which was not acquainted in this state stood matters between them when fortunately discovered at the hip ot hill the natural we have just briefly a man as we have of great of resources but there existed in the same parish another who him in that cunning which is so necessary in or such a old hound as this was m a little fellow with bow legs who be said rather to creep in his motion than to walk george and were intimate friends of joint against the and to tell much of the mortification and many of the which experienced at george s hands sub to be attributed to e was a from none of the motives which generally others of tliat he was in truth an philosopher â a natural never out of some new es and we have reason to think m ht have been the â or or of his ay had he only received a scientific education not honest who troubled his head about an experiment but only thought of making a good running and the the first thing of course that george did to consult and both accordingly took a walk bob or up to the scene of their future operations on examining it find perceiving its advantages it might well be said that tiie look of exultation and triumph which passed between them was not unworthy of their respective characters this will do said george eh â don t you think well put our finger in s eye yet i over his beard and after a second glance gave one grave grin which spoke volumes it ll do said he but there s one point to be got over that maybe you didn t think of an you know that half a half a point is enough for â what is it wliat do you intend to do with the smoke when the fire s lit there ll be no that down let see but as much smoke as come out of an ould woman s an he d have us george started and it was clear by the vexation and disappointment which were visible on his brow that unless this could be managed their whole plan was and the cave of no value what s to be done he inquired of his cooler if we can t get over this we may bid good bye to it never mind said i ll it and do still ay but how it s no matter let us not lose a minute in to work lave the other thing to me an if i don t account for the smoke without the entrance to the still i ll give you lave to crop the ears off my head george knew the cool but steady self for which was remarkable and without any further they both proceeded to follow up their j of operations in those times when might be truly con as almost universal it was customary for farmers to build the their out houses with secret chambers and other requisite necessary for carrying it on several of them had private stores built between false walls the entrance to which was only known to a few and many of them had what were called sunk in hidden recesses and hollow for the purpose of the and afterwards of turning and it until it was sufficiently hard to be dried and ground from the mill it was usually conveyed to the still house upon what were termed a kind of car that was made without wheels in order the more easily to pass through and which no wheeled vehicle could encounter â in the course of a month or so george and aided by their friends had all the apparatus of c together with still head and worm set up and in full work and now inquired his companion how will you manage about the smoke for you know that the two worst against a private a is a smoke by day an a fire by night i know that replied an a smoke well have for id a little wouldn t do us come now an ril show you they both ascended to the top where had closed all the open of the roof with the exception of that which was directly over the fire of the still this was at best not more than six inches in breadth and about twelve long over it he placed a piece of strong plate iron with holes and on this he had a fire of turf beside which sat a little boy who acted as a the was simple but effective of turf were at every side of them and the boy was instructed if the whom he well knew ever to heap on fuel so as to increase the smoke in such a manner as to induce him to suppose that all he saw of it pr merely from the fire before him in fact the â bob or â from tiie cave below was so identified with and lost in that which was from the fire that bo human being could penetrate the mystery iâ not previously acquainted with it the writer of this saw it daring tha j of and to the although told that the still house was within a circle of three hundred the point he stood on being considered l centre ob more than one occasion he from home and spent a whole night in the witb that indescribable which such a sc ie to as well as from his irrepressible hear the ld stories and legends with the recital of which they generally pass the night in this way well provided against the indeed better readers are aware of as they shall under stand by and by â did george and fir

49William Black

proceed for the greater part of a winter without a visit from several successful had come off which had of course turned out highly profitable and they were just now preparing to commence their last not only for the season but the last they should ever work together aa george was making preparations to go early in the spring to ev running was going on to and the had been thrown into the still from the worm of which projected the strong r as the commenced â last term meaning the spirit in its pure and finished state on this occasion the two were more than ordinarily anxious and certainly doubled their usual precautions against a for they knew that s visits resembled the of a hawk or the springs of â tiger more than any thing else to which they could compare them in this they were not disappointed the was about half finished he made his attended by a strong party of reluctant for indeed it is to tlie military t they never delight in the people at of a ns they generally tiie it had been arranged that the â t the iron plate whistle a tune the moment that the or a red coat or in any person whom he did not know should appear accordingly about o clock in the morning they heard the little fellow in his highest key up that well known and yery significant old irish air called go to the devil an shake â case applied to the id any thing but an be the pins was usual oath be the pins it s over with ns s here s the sign fer a and listened very gravely out a take it easy said he r z have half a about the hills any one as like t fe a your r ht hand is to left did t i knew we d get over fi we d be out of hi power well my good lad said the what s this fire for what is it for is it yes if you don t let me blow your brains out and get you and afterwards this he said with a thundering voice a horse at the same time why sir said the boy it s a still i am but be the hole o my coat if you tell upon me upon these be soon where is the still then an tlie stiu house is it as tb the stiu or is they wouldn t tell me that why didn t you say moment yon were watching bob ob i meant sir replied the lad with a oe that spoke of pure that it was the i was an i was to whistle upon my fingers to let the boy at that fire on the hill there above know he was who told you to do so â little george sir an m ay ay right enough there my lad â two of the most notorious they are both but now like a good boy tell me the truth an i ll ve you the price of a pair of shoes do you know where the still or still house is because if you do an won t tell me here are the soldiers at hand to make a prisoner of you an it they do all the world can t prevent you â rom being hanged drawn and â oh bad may seize the morsel o me knows that but if you ll give me the mon sir tell you who can bring you to it for he me that he knew an offered to bring me there last night if i d steal him a bottle that my mother keeps the holy water in at home he d put in it well my lad who is this boy do you know harry or mankind sir i do my good boy â well it s a son of his sir an look sir do you see the smoke farthest up to the right sir to the right yes â well tis there sir that is and he says he knows how long have you been watching here this is only the third day sir for me j but the rest them boys above has been here a good while have you seen nobody stirring about the hills since you came this was a g to harry who was a and made be necessary vessels fur thb â â only sir i seen two men an empty sack or two across the hill there above at this moment the military came up for he had himself ran forward in advance of them and he repeated the substance oi his conversation with our friend the upon examining the of his countenance in which there certainly was a deficiency of meaning they agreed among themselves that his appearance justified the truth of the story which he told the and upon being still they w re confirmed that none but a stupid like himself would to his keeping any secret worth knowing they now separated themselves into as many detached parties as there were fires burning on the hills about tv era the himself to make for that which had in his keeping for he could not help thinking that the s was too natural to be they were just in the act of separating themselves to pursue their when the lad said â look sir look sur i bad be from me but there s a still any way sure i often seen a still s just like the one that philip the mended in george s bam boys exclaimed â â stoop stoop they are coming this way and don t see us no hang them no they have discovered us now and are off towards by jove this will be a bitter trick if they succeed confound them they are

49William Black

bent for which is my own property and i may be hanged but if we do not them it is i myself who will have to pay the fine the pursuit instantly commenced with a speed and vigour equal to the ingenuity of this singular act of on the himself being long firom practice in this and being further stimulated by the loss which he dreaded made as beautiful a run of d nd of it as of his it was all in vain however he merely got to i e the head and worn heaved across the ditch his own property and to reflect after it tiiat he was certain to haye the double of b made standing joke of for life and of paying for the jest out oi own in the meantime he was bound of course to the still and report the aod as he himself tbe in question the fine was to the shilling upon the very i that if he had been active and man would have et up a still so convenient to his and this of keeping in reserve w or second set of apparatus for the purpose of acting the and the waa afterwards often practised with success but tbe of it waa undoubtedly m although the honour of the discovery was attributed to b the matter however did not end here in a â afterwards some wag in other ge â ge correct information sent to touching the locality of the and the secret of ei on this n the latter brought a larger party than usual him but it waa only to ei he in a position if still more than i the first indeed the oâ in the but nothing else every and connected with the process had been removed with the exception o to which wa attached by a bit of the following friendly note â â mr fa this bottle and drink own t it was the day to look m and thb a while you were speaking to the little boy that made a of you being then under your nose let it be drunk in the same place and don t forget while doing so to health of g s the went abroad like and was known indeed for a long time it was the standing topic of the parish and so sharply was it felt by that he could never keep his mr when did you see little george â a question to which ho wa mt known to g v a dis reply irish the fate of frank m hate met and the various classes that x general society and we feel ourselves bound to say that in no instance have we ever met any individual no matter what his class or rank in life who was really indifferent to the subject of dreams and they are topics that interest the imagination in all and the head of age is inclined with as much interest to a ghost story as the young and eager ear of youth wrought up by all the and apprehensive powers of early it is true the belief in ghosts is fast disappearing and that in is already almost gone but with what new wonders they will be replaced it is difficult to say the physical and natural we suppose will give us enough of the marvellous without having recourse to the spiritual and supernatural steam and gas if science advance for another half century at the same rate as she has done in the last will give sufficient exercise to all our faculties for wondering we know a man who travelled eighty miles to see whether or not it was a fact that light could be conveyed for miles in a pipe under ground and this man to our own knowledge po the organ of mar to a surprising degree it is singular too that his fear of ghosts was in proportion to this to wonder as was his disposition when snug in a chimney comer to talk incessantly of such topics as were calculated to excite it in our opinion ghosts and will be seen wherever are talked of and a belief in their fate or frank m and nourished so long as the powers of the imagination are kept warm and active by exercise they will create for themselves such images as they are in the habit of or dwelling upon and these when the individual happens to be in the appropriate position will even by the mere force of association the particular that is in the mind as an illustration of this i shall mention two cases of apparition which occurred in toy native parish one of which was that of a ghost and the other of the to those who have read my traits and stories of the irish the first which shall may possess some interest as being that upon which i founded the tale of the ll mass the circumstances are simply these there lived a man named m at the hip of one of the hills which divide the county of from that of this m had two sons one of whom was in the habit of tracing of a sunday whenever there happened to be a fall of snow his father it seems had frequently remonstrated with him upon what he considered to be a of the lord s day as well as for his general neglect of mass the young man however though otherwise harmless and was in this matter quite insensible to paternal reproof and continued to trace whenever the of labour would allow him it so happened that upon a christmas morning i think in the year there was a deep fall of snow and young m instead of going to mass got down his cock stick â which is a staff much thicker and heavier at one end than at the other â and prepared

49William Black

to set out on his favourite amusement his father seeing this him seriously and insisted that he should attend prayers his enthusiasm for the sport however was stronger than his love of on and he refused to be guided by his s advice the old man during the got warm and on finding that the son scorned hia authority he knelt down and prayed if the boy in following his own win he might never return from the mountain as corpse the which was as as it was and senseless might have startled many a mind from a purpose that was to say the least of it at with religion and the respect due to a father it had no effect however upon the son who is said to have replied that wh ther he ever returned or not he was determined on going and go accordingly be did he was not however alone for it appears that three or four of the neighbouring young men accompanied him whether their sport was good or not to the purpose neither am i able to say but the story goes that towards the latter part of the day they started a larger and darker hare than any they had ever seen and that she kept on before th n bit by bit leading them to suppose that every succeeding cast of the cock stick would bring her down it was afterwards observed that she also led them into the recesses of the mountains and that although they tried to turn her course they could not succeed in doing so as evening advanced the companions of m began to feel the folly of pursuing her farther and to the danger of losing their way in the should a snow storm come upon them they therefore propose to give over the chase and return home but m not hear of it if you wish to go home you may said he as for me til never leave the hills till i have her with me they begged and entreated of him to and return but all to no purpose he appeared to oe what the scotch call jf y â that is to act as if he were moved by some impulse that leads to deaths and from the of which a man cannot withdraw himself at length on finding him obstinate they pursuing the hare directly into the heart of the and returned to their respective h tub or frank tf in the hie of the most terrible snow remembered ha tiiat part of the came on and tha consequence was tiiat the willed young man who had equally trampled on the of and parental authority was ven over for lost as soon as the tempest became still the neighbours assembled in a body and proceeded to look the snow however had fallen so heavily that not a single mark of a footstep could be seen nothing but one wide waste at white hills met the eye wherever it turned and of m no trace whatever waa â or could be his ther now remembering the character of his was nearly distracted the body had not yet been found still by every one who witnessed the sudden rage of the storm and who knew the escape or was felt to be impossible every day for about a week parties were out among the hill seeking him but to no purpose at length there came a and was found on a snow wreath lying in a posture within a circle which he had drawn around him with his cock stick his lay opened upon his mouth and his hat was pulled down so as to cover it and ce it is unnecessary to say that the rumour of his death and of the circumstances under which he left home created a most extraordinary sensation in the country â a sensation that was the greater in proportion to the uncertainty occasioned by his not having been foimd either alive or dead some affirmed that he had crossed the mountains and waa seen in others that een in in but despite of agreeable reports waa at length made dear by the appearance of the body as just stated happened that the house nearest the spot where he by was man named i think â bnt of name i am not certain ii io was a herd or care to irish dr porter then bishop of the of this house was the most lonely and desolate looking that be imagined it was at least two miles distant from any human habitation being surrounded by one wide and dreary waste oi dark by this house lay the route of those who had found the corpse and i believe the door of it was borrowed for the purpose of it home be this as it may the witnessed the melancholy procession as it passed slowly through the mountains and when the place and circumstances are all considered we may admit that to ignorant and superstitious people whose minds even upon ordinary occasions were strongly affected by such matters it was a sight calculated to leave behind it a deep if not a terrible impression time soon proved that it did so an accident is said to have occurred at the funeral which i have alluded to in the midnight mass and which is certainly in fine keeping with the wild spirit of the whole melancholy event when the procession had advanced to a place called a large dark coloured hare which was instantly recognised by those who had been out with him on the hills as the identical one that led him to his te is said to lave crossed the road about twenty yards or so before the coffin the story goes that a man struck it on the side with a stone and that the blow which would have killed any ordinary hare not only did it

49William Black

no injury but occasioned a sound to proceed from the body resembling the hollow one by an empty barrel when struck in the meantime the and the sensation began like every other to die away in the natural progress of time when behold a report ran abroad like that to use the language of the people frank m was ap seldom indeed was the rumour of an apparition composed of materials so strongly calculated to win popular or to rational investigation as every not the b of m a or a so many such circumstances are properly intelligible continue to yield to testimony which would not convince the judgment on any other subject the case in question furnished as fine a specimen of a true ghost story freed from any suspicion of or design as could be submitted to a philosopher and yet notwithstanding the array of apparent facts ted with it nothing in the world is or of easier solution one night about a after his funeral the daughter of the herd a girl about fourteen while lying in bed saw what appeared to be the likeness of m who had been lost she screamed out and covering her head with the bed clothes told her father and mother that frank m was in the house this alarming intelligence naturally produced great terror still who notwithstanding his belief in such matters possessed a good deal of moral courage was cool enough to rise and examine the house which consisted of only one apartment this gave the daughter some courage who on finding that her father could not see him ventured to look out and she then could see nothing of him herself she very soon fell asleep and her father attributed what she saw to fear or some accidental combination of shadows proceeding from the furniture for it was a clear moon light night the light of the following day a great deal of their apprehensions and comparatively little was thought of it until evening again advanced when the fears of the daughter began to return they appeared to be prophetic for she said when night came that she knew he would appear and accordingly at the same hour he did so this was repeated for several successive nights until the girl from the very of terror began to become so to the as to venture to address it id the name of god she asked what is troubling you do appear to me of to some ei your own or the answer alone might settle m in the of its appearance being as it was an u count of one of the most ludicrous that ever a was upon i m not allowed said he to â to any of my friends for i parted with them in anger but i m come to tell you that they re about my breeches â a new pair that i got made for christmas day an as was up to trace in the i thought the cold ua do an of i didn t put the new pair an me my for aj he added is that you may my that none of them is to wear â they must be given in charity this serious and intimation the was duly communicated to the and h was found that the were exactly as it had them course was considered as proof of the truth of its mission now became not only but quite and the il became a with the and the on the other hand soon lost his in her he told bar that his were bearing home his body the or poles on which ihey earned him had cat his and him great the of the also was known to be true and of course the and of the with this of the i and p sons by began to l the in older satisfy of tl of what they ki heard however was and the â hâ of anxiety or w with the â their all but the of f rank if on and ten to i by da ht the fell into states of and while the fits lasted long him upon the subject of god the blessed virgin and heaven took place between them he was aa and gave the best of advice swearing and every evil of oar were with a degree of eloquence quite surprising common fame had now a topic dear to her heart and never was a ghost made more of by his best than she made of him the whole country was ii a and i well remember the crowds t rt to the lonely little cabin in the mountains now the scene of matters so interesting and important not single day passed in which i should think from ten to twenty thirty or persons were not present at these singular nothing was talked ž thought of and as i can well testify of i would myself have gone to s were it not i had that perhaps the ghost might take such a fancy of appearing to me as he had taken to an with the and it so happens that when i see the of an individual nailed down in the â and gloomy operation iâ i experience no particular wish to look upon it again many persons might imagine that the herd s daughter was acting the part of an by first and then continuing such a delusion k any one however was an it was the ghost and not the girl as her ill health and wasted cheek might well testify the appearance of m continued to haunt her fi r months the reader is aware that he was lost on christmas day or rather on the night of it and i remember seeing her in the early part of the following during which time she was stiu the of a imagination everything in fact that

49William Black

could be done her was done they brought her to a priest name irish who lived down at for the purpose â f getting her cured as he had the reputation of of that kind they brought her also to the doctors who also did what they could for her but all to no purpose her fits were longer and of more frequent occurrence her appetite left her and ere four months had elapsed she herself looked like a as the ghost himself could do for the life of him now this was a pure case of illusion and precisely similar to that detailed so by the and to others mentioned by the image of m not only appeared to her in day light at her own house but subsequently followed her wherever she went and what proved this to have been the result of organization produced at first by a heated and excited was that as the story went she could see him with her eyes shut whilst this state of mental and physical feeling she was a subject of the most intense curiosity no matter where she went whether to chapel to fair or to market she was followed by crowds every one feeling eager to get a glimpse of the girl who had actually seen and what was more spoken to the ghost â a live ghost now here was a young girl of an temperament and imagination leading almost a solitary life amidst of a lonely and desolate character who happening to bo strongly impressed with an image of horror â for surely such as the body of a dead man seen in with such p h frightful circumstances as filial and a father s were calculated to give it â cannot shake it off but on the a victim to the disease which it g there is not an image which we see in a fever or a wh â ther of angel or devil or an of any kind that ii not bv or of the to that under thb f of frank m which s daughter i saw her several tunes and clearly that her pale ce dark eye and very intellectual forehead gave indications of such temperament as under her circumstances would be apt to receive strong and fearful impressions from images calculated to excite terror especially of the supernatural it only now remains for me to mention the simple method of her cure which was effected without either priest or doctor it depended upon a word or two of advice given lo her father by a very sensible man who was in the habit of thinking on these matters somewhat above the superstitious of the people if you wish your daughter to be cured said he to her father leave the house you are now living in take her to some part of the country where she can have companions of her own class and state of life to mingle with bring her away from the place altogether for you may rest assured that so long as there are objects before her eyes to remind her of what happened she will not mend on your hands he father although he sat rent free took this excellent advice even at tt sacrifice of some comfort for nothing short of the temptation of easy circumstances could have induced any man to reside in so wild and remote a solitude in the course of a few days he removed from it with hia family and came t reside among the cheerful aspect and intercourse of human u e the consequences were precisely as the man had told him in the course of a few weeks the little girl began to find that the visits of the were like those of angels few and far between she was sent to school and what with the confidence derived from human society and the of new objects and images she soon â perfectly recovered and ere long was thoroughly set free from the fearful creation of her own brain now there is scarcely one of the people in my native parish who does not believe that the spirit of this man came back to irish the world appeared to this is fast coming when these empty disappear and we shall entertain more becoming notions of god than to such senseless could be played by the of a departed b ng his permission we might ad well assert the beings which surround the couch of the madman or have a real existence as those hot up terror weak nerves or blood spot where the body of m was found is now marked by a little heap of stones has been collected since the melancholy event of his death every person who passes it throws a stone upon the heap but thk old â is practised or what it means i do not know it be simply to the spot as a visible means of ihe memory of the occurrence s house the scene of supposed is a ruin which could scarcely be seen it the green spot which was a garden and which now shines at a distance like an with no i or it is a q ot no solitary will ev visit nor indeed wiu the in the popular nonsense of to pass it without a it is under any a and barren but when looked in connection with what we have just it is desolate and tub in the preceding paper we have given of what the country and we t the looked upon as a genuine in of apparition it to thb io be a dear distinct case all those and which hj an naturally and without go to the formation of truth there was but one in and that was ihe ludicrous and inadequate nature of the moral motive for what unsteady and den tory motions of providence must we not entertain when

49William Black

we see the order and pose of this vine will so completely degraded and by the fact of a human returning to this earth again for the us of the claim to a pair of breeches when we see the succession to crowns and and the inheritance io large property and great personal rank all left â e that ruin and desolation have come upon nations and families in attempting their and when we see a dispute about a pair of breeches â by a p revelation another life we cannot help why the supernatural intimation was per in the one ease and not in the other especially when their relative differed so to follow up this question however by on a principle so absurd would place in a position so perfectly unreasonable and capricious that we do not to press the so ar os admission of divine interference in such a manner justify us in doing having detailed the case of i s daughter however we take our leave of the and the ghost and turn now to another case which came under our own observation m ion with a man named frank martin and the before however we shall by way of introduction endeavour to give our readers a few short particulars as to their origin character and conduct and as we happen to be on this subject we cannot avoid that we have not by us copies of two most valuable works upon it irish from the pen of our learned and admirable thomas we allude to his fairy and his history of the of the popular two works which cannot be without delight at the happy manner in which so much learning and amusement so much solid information and all that is agreeable in extensive are combined with the of the word fairy we do not intend in a sketch like this to puzzle our readers it is with the tradition connected with the thing we have to do and not with a of learned speculations which appear after all to be yet unsettled the general opinion at least in ireland is that during the war of in heaven the angels were divided into three classes the first class consisted of those faithful spirits who at once and without hesitation to the standard of the the next consisted of those who openly and followed the great sharing eternal along with him the third and last consisted of those who during the mighty clash and uproar of the hosts stood timidly aloof and refused to join either power these says the tradition were hurled out of heaven upon earth and some into the waters of the earth where they are to remain ignorant of their fate until the day of judgment they know their own power however and it is said that nothing but their hopes of salvation prevent them from at once the whole human race such is the broad basis of the general superstition but our history and conception of the popular fairy falls far short of the historical dignity associated with its origin the the people is a creature generally dressed in green irritable capricious and quite unsteady in its principles and dealings with mankind sometimes it singular proofs of ingenuity but on the contrary is f by were mortal capacity it is impossible to say in dealing ths rival i that it whether its conduct will be found benevolent or otherwise for it often has happened that its threats of injury have ended in kindness and its promises of protection terminated in malice and treachery what is very remarkable too is that it by no means appears to be a mere spirit but a being with passions and other natural wants like ourselves indeed the society or community of appears to be less self dependent than ours inasmuch as there are several offices among them which they not only cannot perform but which render it necessary that we should jt e stolen and with them for the express purpose of performing for them like us they are married and given in marriage and rear families but whether their offspring are subject to death is a matter not exactly the some traditions affirm that they are and others that they are as immortal as the angels although possessing material bodies to our own the fairy in fact is supposed to be a singular mixture of good and evil not very moral in its actions or objects often very and sometimes benevolent when kindness is least expected from it it is generally supposed by the people that this singular class of creatures enjoy as a kind of right the richest and best of all tke fruits of the earth and that the top grain of wheat c and thi apple c all belong to them and are taken as their own exclusive property they have other acknowledged rights which they never suffer to be with for instance wherever a meal is eaten upon the grass in the open field and the are not shaken down upon the spot for their use there they are sure to leave one of their curses called or the hungry grass for whoever passes over that spot for ever afterwards is liable to be struck down with and hunger and unless he cap taste a morsel of bread he will nor can recover the weakness in this i e irish tion however is not natural for if the person meal or flour as would lie on the point of a he will break the spell of the and recover his former strength such spots are said to be generally known by their superior they are always round and the of these little circles is seldom more than a single step the grass that grows upon them is called as we have said hungry and is accounted for as we have already stated indeed the walks and haunts of the are

49William Black

to be considered as very sacred and for instance it is dangerous to throw out dirty water after dusk or before sunrise lest in doing so you them on their passage for these little gentry are peculiarly fond of neatness and cleanliness both in dress and person bishop for the gives as humorous and correct a notion of their personal habits in this way and their to reward cleanliness in servants as could be written we shall ourselves relates short anecdote or two touching them before we come to frank martin s case to our readers that we could if we wished fill a â y three of with anecdotes and legends connected with our irritable but good humoured little s wife was for several years afflicted a kind of complaint which nobody could properly understand she was sick and she was not sick she was well and she was not well she was as ladies wish to be who love their lords and she was not as such ladies wish to be in nobody could tell what the with her was she had a at the heart which came heavily upon her husband for with the help of god a appetite than the amounted to could not be met with of a summer s day the poor woman was delicate beyond belief and had no appetite at all so she had nt a little relish a or a or a bit o anyway lor sore ot d help thb rival her i hadn t the for the or tho o sour along it especially as she bo poorly and indeed for a woman in her condition â for sick as she was poor always was made to believe her in that condition â but god s will be done i she didn t care a an a grain o salt was as welcome to her â glory be to his name â as the roast an boiled that ever was dressed an why not there was one comfort she wouldn t be long him â long him it little what she got but sure she knew herself that from the at her heart she could never do good the little bit o now and then an sure if her own husband it to h who else had she a right to expect it from well as we have said she lay a invalid for long enough doctors and of all sorts sexes and sizes and all without s benefit until at the long run poor was nearly brought to the last pass in striving to keep her in the bit o the seventh year was now on the point of closing when one harvest day as she lay her hard condition on her bed beyond the kitchen fire a little woman dressed in a neat red cloak comes in and sitting down by the hearth says well you ve had a long of it there on the broad o yer back for seven years an you re as far bein cured as ever aye said the other in that s what i was this ov and a sorrowful thought it is to me it s yer own t thin says the little woman an indeed for that matter it s yer t that ever you there at all how s that asked sure i wouldn t be here if i could help it do you think it s a comfort or a pleasure to me to be rack and no the other i do not but til tell you the truth for the last seven years you have been us i am t irish o the good people an as i have a r ard for you tin com to let you know the why yon ve been so long as you are for all the time youve been ill if you ll take the to your out yer dirty dusk an before sunrise at the very time we re yer door which we pass twice a day now if you avoid this if you throw it out in a different place an at a different time the complaint you have will lave you so will the at the heart an you ll be as well as ever you if you don t follow this advice why remain as you are an all the art o man can t cure you she then bade her good bye and disappeared who was glad to be cured on such easy terms immediately complied with the of the fairy and the consequence was the next day she found herself in as good health as ever she enjoyed during her life m had married a wife and of course it was to have a house in which to keep her now had taken a bit of a farm about six acres but as there was no house on it he resolved to build one and that it might be a comfortable as possible he selected for the site of it one of e green circles that are supposed to be the of the warned against this but â he was a man and not much given ta fear he s aid he would not change such a pleasant situation for his to oblige all the in europe he accordingly with the building which he finished off very neatly as it â â u on t occasions to give one s neighbours aud friends a house warming so in compliance with this good and pleasant old custom having brought home the wife in the course of the day got a and a lot of and gave those who had come to see him a dance in the evening this vas all very well and the fun and wore proceeding briskly a noise was heard night th rival had pet in like a and of ribs and on the top of the house the folks

49William Black

assembled all listened and without doubt there was nothing heard but crushing and heaving and pushing and groaning and panting as if a thousand little men were engaged in pulling down the roof come said a voice which spoke in a tone of command work hard you know we must have s house down before midnight this was an unwelcome piece of intelligence to who finding that his enemies were such as he could not cope witli walked out and addressed them as follows â gentlemen humbly ax yer pardon for on place to you but if you ll have the to let me alone this begin to pull down and remove the house to morrow morning this was followed by a noise like the clapping of a thousand tiny little hands and a shout of build half way l the two above the and after another hearty little shout of exultation there was a brisk rushing noise and they were heard no more the story however does not end here for digging the foundation of his new house found the full of a â of gold so that in leaving to the their he became a richer man than ever he otherwise would have been had he never come in contact with them at all there is another instance of their interference mentioned in which it is difficult to say whether their simplicity or benevolence is the most amusing in the north of ireland there are spinning meetings of unmarried females frequently held at the houses of farmers called every young woman who has got the reputation of being a quick and expert where the is to be held at an hour usually before a metal in the dip and on these occasions she ia accompanied her sweetheart or some male relation who carries her wheel and her safely across the fields or the road as the case may be a is indeed an animated and joyous sc and one besides which is calculated to promote industry and decent pride scarcely anything can be more cheering and agreeable than to hear at a distance breaking the silence of morning the light hearted voices of many girls either in mirth or song the humming sound of the busy wheels upon a little it is true by the noise and of the and the voices of the ers as they call the together with the name f the girl and the quantity she has spun up to that period for the contest is generally commenced two or three hours before day break t m ful spirit is also sustained by the prospect of a with which by the way eveiy and when the fair victor is declared she is to be looked upon aa the queen of the meeting and treated with the necessary respect but to our tale every one knew m to be the best conducted boy and the industrious too in the whole parish of a hard was it to find a young fellow who could handle a or hook in better style or who could go through his day s work in a more creditable or manner in addition to this he was a fine well built handsome young man as you could meet in and so sign was on it maybe the pretty girls weren t likely to pull each s caps about him however was as prudent as he was good and although he wanted a wife yet the sorrow one of him but preferred taking a well handed smart girl who was known to be well behaved and industrious like himself here however was the puzzle lay on him for instead of one oi that kind there were in the neighbourhood no less than a dozen of them â all equally fit and willing to become hia wife tub rival and all good looking there were t to whom he thought above the rest but so nicely balanced were and sally that for the life of him he could not make up hia mind to decide between them each of them had won her and it said by them who ought to know that neither of them could over match the other no two girls in the parish were better mr to be so and the consequence was they had every one s good word and good wish now it so happened that had been pulling a cord with each and as he knew not how to decide between he thought he would allow them to do that themselves if they could he accordingly gave out to the neighbours that he would hold a on that day week and he told and especially that he had made up his mind to marry whichever of them won the for he knew right well as did all the parish that one of them must the agreed to this very good telling sally that sally would surely win it and sally not to be in civility telling the same to her well the week was nearly past there but two days till that of the when about three o clock there walks into the house of old a little woman dressed in high shoes and a short red there was no one in the house but at the time who rose up and placed a chair near the fire and asked the little red woman to sit down and rest herself she accordingly did so and in a short time a lively chat commenced between them so said the strange woman there s to be a great in m s â indeed there is that good woman replied smiling a little and blushing to the back of that again because die knew her own fate depended on it and continued the little woman whoever the wins a husband irish k â ay it f well whoever gets will be a for the moral of a good boy

49William Black

nothing but the truth anyhow replied sighing for fear you may be sure that she herself might lose him and indeed a young might sigh from many a worse reason but said she changing the subject you appear to be tired honest woman an i think you had better eat a bit an take a good drink of thick milk to help you on your journey thank you kindly a said the woman til take a bit if you at the same time that you won t be the poorer of it this day twelve months sure said the girl you know that what we give from kindness ever an always leaves a behind it yes when it is given from kindness she accordingly helped herself to the food that placed before her and appeared after eating to be ery much refreshed now said she rising up you re a very good girl an if you are able to find out my name before tuesday morning the day i tell you that you ll win it and gain the husband â why i never saw you before i don t know who you are nor where you live then am i ever find out your name you never saw me before sure enough said the old woman â an i tell you that you will never see me again but once an yet if you have not my name for me at the close of the you ll lose all an that will leave you a sore heart for well i know you love so saying she went away and left poor quite cast down at what she had said for tc tell the truth she loved very much and had no hopes of able to find out the rival l the name of the little woman oa which it appeared to her much depended it was very near the same hour of the same day that sally was sitting alone in her father s house thinking of the when who should walk into her but our the little red woman god save you honest woman said sally â this is a fine day that s in it the lord be praised it is said the woman as fine a day as one could wish for indeed it is have you no news on your travels asked sally the only news in the neighbourhood replied the other is this great that s to take place at m s they say you re either to win or lose him then she added r closely at sally as she spoke i m not very much afraid of that said sally with confidence but even if i do lose him may get as good it s not easy as good rejoined the old woman an you ought to be very glad to win him if you can let me alone for that â ud sally s a good girl i allow but as for she never saw the day she could me behind her won t you sit an rest you she added maybe you re tired it s time for you to think of it the woman but she spoke nothing but she added to herself on reflection â it s better late than never â i ll sit awhile till i see a little closer what she s made of she accordingly sat down and upon several subjects such as young women like to talk about for about half an hour after which she arose and taking her little staff in hand she bade sally good bye and went her after passing a little the house she looked back and could not speaking to herself as follows â m t t k s smooth and bat she the heart she s tight and neat but she no meat poor now made all possible inquiries about the om woman but to no not a soul she spoke to about her ever seen or heard ot such a woman she felt very and began to lose heart for there is no doubt if she missed it would have cost her many a sorrowful day she knew she would never get his equal or at least any one that she loved so well at last the day came and with it all the pretty is in the neighbourhood to s among the rest the two that were to decide their right to him were doubtless the pair by far and every one admired them to be sure it was a and merry place and many a light laugh and sweet song rang out from pretty lips that day and sally as every one expected were fer ahead of the rest but so even in their spinning that the could not for the life of them declare which it was neck and neck and head and head between the pretty creatures and all who were at the ie t themselves wound up to the highest pitch of interest and curiosity to know which of them would be successful the day was now more than half gone and no difference was between them when to the surprise and sorrow of every one present s broke in two and so to all appearance ended the contest in favour of her rival and what added to her mortification she was as ignorant of the red little woman s name as ever what was to be done ah that could be done was done her brother a boy of about years of age happened to be present when the accident took place having been sent by his father and mother to bring them word how the match went on between the rival an was accordingly despatched with thb rival all speed to m ii â the in order to get the mended that s last but hopeless chance s anxiety that his sister should wm was of course very

49William Black

great and in order to lose as little time aâ possible he struck across the country passing through or close by forth a place celebrated as a resort of the what was his astonishment however as he passed a tree to hear a female voice sin g in accompaniment to the sound of a wheel the following words â there s a girl in this town doesn t know my name bat my name s trot there s a girl in this town said the lad who s in great distress lor c he as broken her and lost a husband now goin to m s to get it mended what s her name said the little red woman the little woman immediately whipped out the from her own wheel and giving it to the boy desired him to bring it to his sister and never mind m y ou have little time to lose she added so go back and give her this but don t tell he how you got it nor above all things that it was even trot that gave it to you the lad returned and giving the to his sister as a matter of course her that it was a little red woman called even trot that sent it her a circumstance which made tears of delight start to s eyes for she knew now that even trot was the name of the old woman and having known that she that good would happen to her she now ed her and never did human fingers let down the thread so rapidly the whole were amazed at the quantity which from time to time filled her the hearts of friends to rise and those of sally s party to pink as hour after hour she wi s fast ap s t her rival who now spun if possible with double speed on finding up with her at length they were again even nd just at that moment in came her the little red woman and asked aloud is there any this that knows my name this question she asked three times before pluck up courage to answer her she at last s a in tliis town does know name your name is even trot â trot ay said the old woman and so it is and let that name l e your guide and your husband s through life go steadily along but let your step be even stop little keep always advancing and never have cause to the day that you first saw even trot we need scarcely add that won the and the husband and that she and lived long and happily together and have only now to wish kind reader that you and i may live longer and more happily still frank martin and thb when a superstition is once impressed strongly upon the popular the fiction always the shape and form which the peculiar imagination of the country is constituted to body forth this faculty depends so much on climate temperament religion and occupation that the notions of supernatural beings though generally based upon one broad peculiar to all countries differ so essentially respecting the form character habits and powers of these beings that they appear to have been drawn from sources widely â frank and to an there can be no greater proof that this of their being nothing but the of our own brain and of assuming that shape only which has uniformly been impressed upon our imagination at the precise period of life such impressions are strongest and most permanent and the reason which ought to combat and investigate them least capable of doing so if these possessed the of truth and reality their appearance to mankind would be always uniform and but they are beheld so to speak through different prejudices and impressions and consequently change with the through which they are seen just as light assume the hue of the glass through which it passes hence their different shape character and attributes in different countries and thâ frequent absence of rational with respect to them even in the the force of imagination alone is capable of up and out that which never had existence and that too with as much apparent distinctness and truth as if it were real go to the lunatic asylum or the mad house and it may be seen in its strong delusion and positive terror before i close this portion of my little i shall relate an anecdote connected with it of which i myself was the subject some years ago i was seized with a fever of so terrific a character that for a long time i lay in a state hovering between life and death unconscious as a log without either hope or fear at length a crisis came and aided by the strong of an unbroken constitution i began to recover and every day to regain my consciousness more and more as yet however i was very fer from being out of danger for i felt the malady to be still so fiery and oppressive that i was not surprised when told that the slightest mistake in my medicine or would hav brought on a events thank god my recovery advanced irish at the same time the that wild and picturesque in the highest d ee indeed was such a combination of the beautiful and hideous seen unless in the dreams of a feverish brain like mine or the distorted reason of a madman at one side of my bed looking in upon me with a most and was a compared with which the vulgar representations of the devil are itself whilst on the other was a female countenance beaming in beauty that was ethereal â thus in ct was my whole bed for they as as they could sometimes flitting about and seeming to crush and one another but never leaving my bed for a moment here

49William Black

were the features of a dwarf there an angel apparently fresh from heaven here was a gigantic demon with his huge mouth placed in his ce and his nose across it whilst the like grinned as if he were vain and had cause to be vâ un of his beauty this fellow annoyed me much and would i apprehended have done mean injury only for the angel on the other â de he made perpetual attempts to come at me but was as often by that creature indeed i feared none of them so much as i did the who evidently had a design on me and would have rendered my situation truly pitiable were it not for the protection of the who always succeeded in keeping him aloof upon me and in self preservation threw my right arm to the opposite side and grasping the by the nose found i had caught my poor old nurse by that useful organ while she was in the act of offering mc a drink for several days i was in this the victim of images produced by disease and the excitement of consequent upon it gradually however they began to dis and i felt manifest relief for they were succeeded by impressions as amusing now as the form r had been distressing ned frank martin and tliat there was a serious dispute between my right foot and my left aa to which of them was entitled to and what was singular my right hand arm and shoulder most supported the right foot as did the limbs the left the head alone with an it honour maintained a strict the truth was i imagined that all my limbs were endowed with a consciousness of individual existence and i felt quite satisfied that each and all of them possessed the faculty of reason i have frequently related this anecdote to my friends but i know not how it happened i never could get them to look upon it in any other light than as a specimen of that kind of fiction which is termed drawing the long bow it is however as true as that i now exist and relate the and what is more the arguments which i am about to give are the same that were used by the rival and their respective the discussion i must observe was opened by the left foot as being the discontented party and like all discontented parties its language was so very violent that had its opinions prevailed there is no doubt but they would have succeeded in completely my constitution left foot brother addressing the right with a great show of affection but at the same time with a ol strong discontent in the big toe brother i don t how it is that you have during our whole lives always taken the liberty to consider yourself a better foot than i am and i would feel much obliged to you if you would tell why it is that you claim this superiority over me are we not both equal in every thing right foot be quiet my dear brother we are equal in every thing and why therefore are you discontented left foot because you presume to consider yourself the better and more foot irish n right foot let us not dispute my dear brother each is equally necessary to the other what could do without you nothing or at least very little and what could you do without me very little indeed we were not made to quarrel left foot very hot i am not disposed to quarrel but i trust you will admit that i am as good as you every way your equal and in many things your superior do you hear that i am not disposed to quarrel you rascal and how dare you say so here there was a strong sensation among all the right members who felt themselves insulted through this outrage offered to their chief right foot since you chose to insult me without provocation must stand upon my right left off to a â there again what right have you to be termed right any more than i â go it left pitch into him we are equal to him and his from the friends of the left the matter was now likely to become serious and to end in a row what s the matter there below the head don t be fools and make yourselves ridiculous what would either of you be with a or a cork leg which is only another name for a wooden shoe any day right foot since he me i tell him that ever since the world began the prejudice of mankind in all nations has been in favour of the right foot and the right hand strong sensation among the members surely he ought not to be ignorant of the proverb which says when a man is peculiarly successful in anything he that man knew how to go about it â he put the right foot foremost t cheers from the right party left that s mere special pleading â the right foot there does not mean you because you happen to be such mt it means the foot which from its position under the frank martin and thb happens to be the proper one loud applause from the left members right fact you know you are weak and feeble and awkward when compared to me and can do little of yourself that s a left why certainly i grant i am the gentleman and that you are very useful to me you from the left hand ours is the aristocratic side â hear the i come what have you to say to that hand addressing his opponent you may be the aristocratic party if you will but we are the useful who are the true of the constitution you poor of nobility left hand the heart

49William Black

is with us the seat and origin of life and power can you boast as much loud cheers right foot why have you never heard it said of an excellent and worthy man â a fellow of the right sort a â ai a mark of his sterling qualities his heart s in the right place how then can it be in the left f much applause left which is an additional proof that mine is that place and not yours yes you â we have the heart and you cannot deny it right we admit he with you but it is merely because you are the weaker side and require his protection the best part of his energies is given to us and we are satisfied left you admit then that our party keeps yours in power and why not at once give up your right to â why not resign right let us put it to the vote left with all my heart it was accordingly put to the vote but on telling the house it was found that the parties were equal both then appealed very to mr speaker the head who after having heard their respective arguments himself very gravely irish ii ami informed them much after the of sir that much might be on both but one thing said he i beg both parties to and very seriously to consider in the first place there would be none of this nonsense about were it for the feverish and excited state in which you all happen to be at present if you have common sense enough to wait until you all get somewhat cooler there is little doubt but you will feel that you cannot do without each other as myself as i before i ve no specific opinion upon which could never have taken place were it not for the heat of feeling which is between you i know that might and has been said upon both sides but as for me i nod significantly to both parties and say nothing one thing however i do say and it is this â take care ou right foot and you that by pursuing this senseless quarrel too far it may not happen that you will both get stretched and tied up together in a wooden when be out of the question and nothing but a c stillness shall remain between yon for ever i shake and have now seriously this case which as an illustration of my argument possesses a good deal of interest iâ another key to the absurd doctrine of here was i at the moment strongly and seriously impressed with a that a quarrel was taking place between my feet about the right of going foremost nor was this absurdity all i actually believed for the time that all my limbs were endowed with separate life and reason and why all simply because my whole system was in a state of unusually strong excitement and the nerves and blood stimulated by disease into a state of such in fact is the condition in which every one must necessarily be who thinks he sees a spirit and this which is known to be an fact being admitted it follows of course that the same causes will other things being frank martin and the alike produce the fame effects for instance does not tha terror of an apparition occasion a violent and increased action of the heart and system similar to that of fever not the very hair stand on end not merely when the imaginary ghost is seen but when the very of it is strong is not the action of the too in proportion to that of the heart and the nervous system in pro portion to that of both what then is this but a fever the time being which is attended by the very the fear of which created it for in this case it so happens that the cause and effect naturally each other a case of imagination which in a man it probably the strongest and most unaccountable on record it that of a person â an who imagined that at a certain hour of the day a or came into his bedroom and him inflicted several heavy upon his body with the of his whip and such was the power of here that the marks of the lash were visible in black and blue streaks upon his flesh i am inclined to think however that this stands very much in need of confirmation i have already mentioned a case of illusion which in my native parish i speak of s daughter who saw what she imagined to be the ghost of m who had been lost among the i shall now relate another with the of which i also was myself an the man s name i think was martin and he followed the thoughtful and somewhat melancholy occupation of a he was a bachelor and wrought journey work in every farmer s house where he could get employment and notwithstanding his supernatural vision of the he was to be both a quick and an excellent workman the more sensible of the country people said he was but more superstitious of them maintained that he had a n and them his will the shoe i irish n is a malignant which by a subtle compact made any one whom it can induce by the fairest promises to into a mastery over them by its unhappy victims to it otherwise it is and must be like the oriental their slave and to perform such tasks as they wish to impose upon it it will promise endless wealth to those whom it is anxious to to its authority but it is at once so malignant and ingenious that the party entering into the contract with it is always certain by its to break through his engagement and thus become slave

49William Black

in his turn such is the nature of this wild and fearful superstition which i think is st disappearing and is now but rarely known in the country martin was a thin pale man when i saw him of a sickly look and a constitution naturally feeble his hair was a light his beard mostly and his hands of a singular delicacy and whiteness owing i dare say as much to the soft and easy nature of his employment as to his health in everything else he was as sensible sober and rational as any other man but on the topic of the man s was peculiarly strong and indeed i remember that the expression of his eyes was singularly wild and hollow and his long narrow temples sallow and now this man did not lead an unhappy life nor did the malady he under seem to be productive of either pain or terror to him although one might be apt to imagine otherwise on the contrary lie and the maintained the most friendly intimacy and their â which i fear were one sided ones â must have been a source of great pleasure to him for they were conducted much mirth and laughter at least on his side well frank when did you see the i there s two dozen of em in the shop the weaving shop this minute there s a little ould fellow on the martin and thb fair b top of the an all to be rocked while i m the sorrow s in them but they are the greatest little bo they are see there s another of them at my go out o that you or bad to me if you don t but til lave you a mark ha i cut you thief you frank aren t you o them is it me what ud i be o them for sure they have no power over me and why haven t they frank i was against them what do you mean by that â why the priest that me was by my to put in the prayer against the â an a priest t refuse it when he s â an he did so its well for me that he did â let the alone you little â see there s a thief if them my â you see it was their intention to make me king o the â is it possible ax them an they ll tell yon what size are they frank oh little fellows with green coats an the little shoes ever you seen there s two o them â both ould acquaintances o mine â along the beam that cold fellow with the bob wig is called jim jam an the other with the three cocked hat is called nick plays the pipes give us a tune or til you â come now shore now â listen i the poor fellow though weaving as fast as he could all the time yet bestowed every possible mark of attention to the music and seemed to enjoy it as much as if it had been real the are a species of which is brushed into tho to keep the thread round and and to it from being by the the reed u but who can tell whether that which we look upon as â may not after all be a fountain of happiness greater perhaps than any which we ourselves enjoy i forget who the poet is who says are thy laws the s finer than the view her landscape drew so fair as draws many a time when a mere child not more than six or seven years of age have i gone as r as frank s weaving shop in order a heart divided between and fear to listen to his conversation with the good people from morning night his tongue was going almost as incessantly ns his and it was well known that at night whenever he awoke out of his sleep the first thing he did was io put out his hand and push them as it were off his bed go out o this you thieves you go out o this now an let me alone is this any time to be the pipes an me wants to sleep go off now if do you ll see what i ll give to morrow sure i ll be new s and if behave maybe i ll lave the o the pot there now poor things they re sure they re gone poor cap that doesn t like to lave me and then the harmless would fall back into trust was an innocent slumber about this time there was said to have occurred a very remarkable circumstance which gave poor frank a vast deal of importance among the neighbours a man named frank thomas the same in whose house m held the first dance at which i ever saw him as detailed in a former sketch â this man i say had a child sick of what complaint i cannot now remember nor is it of any importance one of the tables of thomas s house was built against or rather into a forth called or properly forth and it was said to m by the and gave it a character peculiarly wild in my eyes was that there were on the southern side of it two or three little green which were said to be the of children over which it was considered and to pass at all events the season was mid summer and one evening about dusk during the of the child the noise of a hand saw was heard upon the forth this was considered rather strange and a little time a few of those who were assembled at frank thomas s went to see who it could be that was in such a place or what they could be at â

49William Black

o late an hour for every one knew that nobody in the whole country about them would dare to cut down the few white that grew upon the forth on going to examine however judge of their surprise when after surrounding and searching the whole place they could discover no trace of either saw or in with the exception of themselves there no one either supernatural visible they returned to the house and had scarcely sat down when it was heard again within ten yards of them another examination â i the premises took place but with equal success now however while standing on the forth they heard the in a little hollow about a hundred and fifty yards below them which was completely exposed to their view but they could see nobody a party of them immediately went down to ascertain if possible what this singular noise and invisible ud our could mean but on arriving at the spot they heard the to which were now added and the driving of nails upon the forth above whilst those who stood in the forth continued to hear it in the hollow on comparing notes they resolved to send down to s for frank martin a distance of only about eighty or ninety yards he was soon on the spot and moment s hesitation solved the irish i tb the said he see busy they are but what are they frank they are a child s coffin he replied they have the body already made an they re now the lid together that night the child certainly died and the story goes that on the second evening afterwards the carpenter who was called upon to make the coffin brought a table out from thomas s house to the forth as a temporary bench and it is said that the and necessary for the completion of his task were precisely the same which had been heard the evening but one before â neither more nor less i remember the death of the child myself and the making of its coffin but i think that the story of the supernatural carpenter was not heard in the village for some months after its frank had every appearance of a about him at the time i saw him he might be about thirty four years of age but i do not think from the of his frame and health that he been alive for several years he was an object of considerable interest and curiosity and have i present when he was pointed out to strangers as the man that could see the good people with respect to his solution of the supernatural noise that is easily accounted for this superstition of the coffin making is a common one and to a man like him whose mind was familiar with it the illness of the child would naturally suggest the probability of its death which he immediately associated with the â agents to be foimd in his unhappy malady â â â a of a legend of wh t man woman or child has not heard of our renowned the great and glorious fin m not one from cape clear to the s nor from that back again to cape clear and by the way of the giant s brings me at once to the of my story well it so happened that fin and his gigantic relatives were all working at the in order to make a bridge or what was still better a good stout across to scotland when fin who was very fond of his wife took it into his head that he would go home and see how the poor woman got on in his absence to be sure fin was a and so the sorrow thing in life brought him back only to see that she was snug and comfortable and above all things that she got her rest well for he knew that the poor woman when he was with her used to be subject to nightly and that kept him very anxious decent man striving to keep her up to the good spirits and health that she had when they were first married so accordingly he pulled up a fir tree and after off the roots and branches made a walking stick of it and set on his way to or rather fin lived at this time on the very tip of hill which faces a cousin of its own called that rises up half hill half mountain on the east east by south as the sailors say when they wish to a now the truth is for it must come out that honest fin s affection for his wife though cordial enough in itself was by no manner or means the real cause of his journey home there was at that time another giant named â some irish say he was irish and some say he was scotch but whether scotch or irish sorrow doubt of it but he was a larger no other giant of the day could stand before him and such was his strength that when well vexed he could give a stamp that shook the country about him the fame and name of him went and near and nothing in the shape of a man it was said had any chance with him in a fight whether the story the note by the messrs chambers in whose journal the above legend appeared a most extraordinary between my illustration of s strength and that of the giant to by the messrs chambers â the above gives a good idea of the strange which the national humour and have thrown over most of the early popular legends of ireland fin or m is the same half being who figures as in s s poems he waa probably a distinguished warrior in some early stage of the history of ireland authorities the fifth and the ninth

49William Black

centuries whatever his real age and whatever his real qualities he was afterwards looked back to as a giant of immense and strength and became the subject of numerous wild and warlike legends both in ireland and in the of scotland our poets of the middle ages give evidence of the great then i y both and the son of for instance in represents his hero robert as making allusion to these two personages at the in who died in their names into his poem ms palace of honour great and fin and how they should be gods in ireland as they say another poem of obscure but of the same age as thâ above entitled an of the e dwarf s part of ike play the extravagant popular notions of the day respecting the stature of not only fin and but of fin wife of it says â ay when he danced the â â â â â after he grew at eleven mile wide was his mouth his teeth were ten miles square he upon his stand and the stems down with his hand and set them in a gold above his wife s hair a of is true or not i cannot say but the report vent that by one blow of his fist he a and kept it in his pocket in the shape of a to to his enemies when they were about to fight him undoubtedly he had given every giant in ireland a considerable beating fin m himself and he swore by the solemn contents of s that he would never rest night or day or summer till he would serve fin with the same if he could catch him fin however who no doubt was cock of the walk on his own had a strong to meet a giant who could make a young earthquake or a when he angry so lie accordingly kept about from place to place not much to his credit as a to be sure whenever he happened to get the hard word that was on the scent of him this then was the of the whole movement although he put it on his anxiety to see and i am not saying but there was some truth in that too however the short and the long of it was reverence be it spoken that he heard was coming to the to have a trial of strength with him and he was naturally enough seized in consequence with a very warm and sudden fit of affection for his wife poor woman of the wife it may be enough to say â she took the for all the in france and not be till her leg a though she was and tender â in irish as appears from mr s present sketch fin and his dame were kept within something moderate as respects and strength at the same time that enough of the giant is retained to contrast enough with the moderate and natural feelings assigned to them and the and on which they and their enemy are represented as acting t britain irish who was delicate in her health and leading a veiy lonely uncomfortable life of it he assured them in his absence he accordingly pulled up the fir tree as i said before and having it into a walking stick set out on his travels to see his darling on the top of by the way in truth to state the suspicions of the country at the time the people wondered very much why it was that fin selected such a windy â ix t for his dwelling house and they even went so far as to tell him as much x j i â iv v u what can you mane mr m said they by your tent upon the top of where you never are without a breeze day or night winter or summer and where you re often forced to take your without either going to bed or turning up your little finger ay an where besides there s the sorrow s own want of water â why said fin ever i was the height of a round tower i was known to be fond of having a good prospect of my own and where the neighbours could i find a spot for a good prospect than the top of as for water i am sinking a pump t and goodness as soon as the s made i intend to finish it now this was more of fin s philosophy for the real state of the case was that he pitched on the top of in order that he might be able to see coming towards the house and of course that he himself might go to look after his distant transactions in other parts of the country rather than â but no matter â we do not to be too hard on fin â a common name tor tne cloud or rack that hangs as a of wet weather about the peak of a mountain t there is upon the top of this an opening that bears a strong resemblance to the of an there is also a stone upon which i have heard the rev smith f t c now of the adjoining parish say that he found characters and if i do not mistake i think he t f them a of all we have to say is that if he wanted a spot from which to keep a sharp look out â and between ourselves he did want it â or or its own cousin he could not find a or more convenient situation for it in the sweet and sagacious province of god save all here said fin good on putting his honest face into his own door fin an you re welcome home to your own you bully i here followed a that is said to have made

49William Black