alas ' to the hammer some years ago, and most of the specimens were scattered. Sir William
Gordon-Cumming, however, obtained the best o f them, and they are now in Altyre House,
near Forres, where there is a grand collection of heads of all hinds. ’0 visited Altyre twice
in 1890, but unfortunately found that German roe heads and Scotch ones had been mixed
indiscriminately, and there were no labels to show which were which. To the British
collector, therefore, their interest is gone, though there are many grand heads in Altyre
which, I feel sure, are genuine Scotch ones. None o f the following collections are big, but
they are the best o f to-day : Altyre House (Sir William
Gordon-Cumming) ; Drumduan Castle, Forres (formed
by the late C; Macpherson Grant, and now the property
o f Sir George Macpherson Grant) ; Ballindalloch Castle
(Sir George Macpherson G ran t® Moniack Castle (J.
Cameron, Esq.) ; Forres House|p|Colonel Gordon-
Cumming) ; Dupplin Castle (the Earl o f Kinnoull) ;
my own collection.
There are also a few good heads in the possession of
Earl Cawdor, Cawdor Castle ; Captain Brooke, Fairley,
Aberdeen ; Lord Lovat, Beaufort; Mr. C. M. P. Burn,
Pitcroy House, Blacksboat; the Duke o f Athole, Blair-
Athole ; the Earl o f Mansfield, Scone Palace ; Sir Arthur
Grant, Monymusk ; Mr. Sidney Steel, Perth ; whilst
Colonel Richardson o f Ballathie and Mr. Hume Graham-
Stirling o f Strowan have each a good head. Mr. H.
M. Warrand, too, has two exceptional heads, one of
which, a 12-pointer, is referred to later.
A head shot by Mr. Robert MoncriefF o f Perth at
Foulis-Wester, measuring 12-g- inches in length, is the
longest Scotch head I have seen, but it is a mediocre
example in other respects, and the horns are very close
together.
Now to say a few words about the best collections :—
1. Drumduan House, Forres (formed by the late C.
Macpherson Grant). — T h e collection is certainly the
largest and most varied I have inspected. . It is particularly rich in malformations.
The most remarkable of these is a io-pointer shot by the owner in Brodie Wood.
There are also two so - called perruque heads, one an extraordinary one. It was
found in Darnaway, and I remember how delighted the owner was the day he got it, as I
happened to call on him that day. The other one was found dead at Beaufort, and was
originally in my collection, but Macpherson Grant had a particular fancy for these
abnormalities, so I gave it to him. The horns are two heavy solid masses, very thick, about
8 inches long, and no points. There is also a head from Old Bar in Forfarshire, whose right
horn is o f extraordinary thickness, being 7 inches in circumference 2 inches above the
coronet. This fine collection has, curiously enough, only one really first-class normal head,
but it is a beauty, very rough, o f exceptional shape, beautiful coronets, and length o£ inches,
and Snowie o f Inverness, from whom it was bought, considered it the best head that ever
passed through his hands.
2. Ballindalloch Castle (Sir George Macpherson Grant).— Sir George has not many heads,
but they include three remarkably fine normal ones, whose measurements are respectively—
Length. Brow Point. Span.
n i 1 3f l\
io£ 2 f 6
10J ... 6£
Circumference of Coronet.
Bought in Elgin, and shot at Orton,
Speyside (figured)*
6J Ballindalloch.
Shot by owner at Ballindalloch.
and a single dropped horn quite unique in its way. I give a careful drawing o f this example,
which gives the reader a better idea than any verbal explanation. Without doubt, had there
been a pair o f horns o f the same buck it would be quite as remarkable as the great Lissadell
head, for the single horn is splendid in every other respect besides the extraordinary number
o f points. It was» found in the woods near Ballindalloch, and the owner noticed it one day
when paying a visit to one o f his crofters.
3. Altyre House, Forres (Sir William Gordon-Cumming).— Apart from the Roualeyn
Gordon-Cumming collection, there are several first-class heads that have been shot o f late
years by the owner and his friends; but having no sketch o f any exceptional Altyre head
now in that house, I give the portrait o f a very fine typical specimen in my own collection.
It was killed on that estate in 1889 (p. 209).
4. Forres House (Colonel Gordon-Cumming).— There are only about half-a-dozen heads
1 The left point has been broken oft' and another put on. This head cannot therefore be considered a perfect one.
2 E 2