all the trophies dating From within the last fifty years. The average of Blair heads. is very
good, and remarkably;* as no introductions .have taken place theife One marked feature
of the heads, in contrast to more northern heads, is the constahcgijf the “ bay ” tines, which
are nearly always well S eiiloped. In the .ball-room are the pick o f the heads, amongst
which are many grand examples o f what Highland heads should really be ; but I doubt i f
there is one superior to the example figured (see p. 127).
7 . Braemore, Sir John Fowler’s beautiful home in Ross-shire, boasts, among a fair
collection, a head which is probably better known than any other in the North. It is that
o f a stag which was famous at one time in the district for having been so frequently stalked
in vain, till he eventually fell to the rifle o f Colonel Holmes, Sir John’s brother-in-law.
Its symmetry is almost ideal, its beam good, and span (though I have not the measurements)
quite exceptional. In one feature alone does it slightly fall away-— the brpws not being
particularly good and the “ bays ” being weak. There is little doubt that this grand stag
had just passed its prime (see above).
4. T h e remarkable stag killed at Eskadale in August 1892 I look upon as an old friend,
for I was within 40 yards o f him twice— first in 1890, and again in 1891. Mr. Heath was
then the tenant at Eskadale, and most kindly used to let me go each year to stalk a roebuck
on his ground. On the second occasion Hugh Ross (the Eskadale stalker) and I were
creeping along the h ills id e soon after dawn. I was in front for the moment, and saw a
small birch, some 40 yards below me, agitating violently. We o f course immediately
collapsed on the ground, and had no sooner done so than out walked the big Eskadale stag.
Mr. Heath was most anxious to shoot him, I knew, and I had no leave to do so, so there
was nothing for it but to put up my rifle and see where one would like to hit him and then
— take it down again. This stag, as soon as his horns were clean, moved into Beaufort
for the autumn, and Mr. Heath, whose last y.ear it was, never obtained a shot. From one’s
own selfish point o f view the cruel part o f the affair was that, when Ross told his master
how near we had been and what a chance we had had on the second occasion, the latter said,
“ W hat a thousand pities he didn’t shoot him ! ” And they say there is no such thing as luck !
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