“ Aweel, ye s e e ,.^ g ’ he remarked on being questioned as to , its' behaviour, “ he’sH
verra g u id R w g but hmMfeays * W o u | | w o u f ! ’ and ye dinna see him for twa days.”
Spaniels are very u sefulJoSBogs, and in many shootings.; no other kinds: are used, as
they are keen, h a v O :^ k a ^ H a n d are very plucky. I rememb*; once, at Cambusmore’ in
Sutherland,Ispeing a spaniel bringtng a roelj§>m nearly a mile away straight up to me. I
W aSos ted on some rising ground looking over the big wood-swamp which .extends for
several iJgR.to the',|®uth o f the Mound. The beaters had gone.-a long way back art® had
just con yn en® when I saw from m y lg s t , on one 0f tlle reguii^- passeS) a iltde whire
^spaniel cgasmSomethin g which I af first thought 'B H I f e eH rabbit; but; o fpBmin g to the
■ PPen i[ proved to be ajiqef It was interesting to^fe the movemenffijf'the two animals j i
they approached, for thqy canye forward over the open heather.. The little! deer would*®*
'h c E S come up to within about twelve yards, and would then start oif at i rapid p a c e f i r
S h e next few hundred yards till the (pursuer was again close t%S As the rod entered a strip
■ i f mote, or Ms open plantation, where I g i l d .still watch her, she adopted a zigzag course
by making r r t f jf f lo f f the pass to a distance o f jH yards or more t J f c l jS ig h t or left,
apparently trying to throw the dog off the scent, but this was n<S successful, though she
certainly mcreased thesdjstance between herself and her pursuer.
This;Swamp by the M B f l i s a favourite place for rpe in the early winter; and during',
this particular d a jg shooting Major Laing and I must have seen about thirty altogether, and
our day’s bag was nine.
A lm o s || j* ry animal with horns is a g o o c ftf'b a d g .b je c t j | the ch ase® we ourselyejl
make h im ,,® the instincts o f self-preservation aye principally aroused by constant persecution,
and i f is generally the case that in proportion‘d both the approach and the weapon^
■ f '4 es t&c ti||j become more sc ien tifit^ B d o the natural cunni§g and intelligenqti'of the
quarry J o . advance. fiSme beasts are not capable o f affording the higher fofitts d f venery;
but others are, and amongst them is the roe, so where' possible let us all give him the fair
play meted out to the stag.
The roebuck affords excellent sport with the rifle in certain districts, and where so
stalked he becomes vigilant and entirely worthy o f our consideration in every way.
Roe-stalking possesses many charms o f its own. In the first place, you can enjoy it at a
season when there is no other shooting going on ; secondly, it takes you out in the early
morning when all nature is full o f life and beauty, and before the heat o f the day commences ;
and thirdly, where the chase o f the animal is as systematically conducted as with red deer,
the nature o f the sport is everything that can be desired. I would therefore put forward a
plea that tenants and owners o f part-wood, part-forest lands in Argyle, Inverness, Ross, and
Aberdeen, should turn their attention to stalking the roe in preference to killing them during
the usual wood shoots. Many owners do so already, whilst others quite neglect the amusement
which lies at their doors, and will probably continue to do sq because it involves
getting up at two o’clock in the morning. There is no pressing the point that the roe is a
beast o f equal intelligence to the stag, for in nine cases out o f ten, i f the ground is at all
open, he is easily circumvented, and nowadays it is only the individual roebucks in certain
estates where they are regularly stalked that really call upon one to exercise the woodcraft
o f the hunter. Such a wily old fellow lived close to Ross’s house at Beaufort for several