illeil by a poacher in Gle rly in the collection of Roualeyn Gordon-Cumming, and now owned by Colonel
i; length, 364 in.; extreme span, 35 in.; brow points, 13% in. in length.
Stags’ Heads
Next year, 1892, the tenant o f Eskadale was Mr. Lawrence Hardy. A t the beginning of
August a young friend from India, who had never seen a wild stag before, came to stay. He
was sent out, as usual, with Hugh Ross at dawn to look for a roebuck along the side o f the
big wood. They o f course ran bang up against the big stag standing at about 50 yards,
broadside, in a corn-field. The young .sportsman fired and the stag galloped away. When
he had gone about 150 yards, Ross suggested that another barrel might be useful. Accordingiy
another shot was fired, and down went the Eskadale monarch, with a bullet through
the back o f his neck.
I have not the measurements o f this splendid head, but in this case I did not take them,
as they are immaterial. It is a head which o f course would measure well, but its great
beauty lies in its extraordinary thickness and wonderful roughness. I have never seen a
head so rough or so beautifully beaded.
5. Colonel Gordon-Cumming, the author o f W ild Men and W ild Beasts in India, has in
his house at Forres a famous head which formerly belonged to his brother Roualeyn, the
South African hunter, who bought it for a large sum from old Snowie in Inverness, Its