the late Lord Lovat and the present owner. In form and quality they qfesely resemble th S
big Guisachan and Esfcadale heads.
O f 'other extraordinary examples which I have not seen and examined, the following
information is communicated;|iy friends.
Lord Alexander Paget1 states that there is the head o f a stag, killed some lorty years
ago by Lord Tanquerville in Ardverikie, which has a span JÇjjfctx all) o f 42 inches.
Lord Hindlip kindly sends me p a r t ic u la rS f the widest h e llfe ve r killed in Invermark.
The stag in question §j|s shot by Lord Wemyss (then Lfflrd'sËlcMB I t has 55 points on the
right horn and 4 on the left, well developed, and has the remarkable span (inside) o f 39
inches, beam 5 inches, length 33 f, inches. , ' ■
In Mar Lodge for many years a 39-inch-span h e « h e ld the place o f honour, but it
has lately given place to another-hJIfj liner all round, and o^i^Mpnches over the cups.
Lord Iveagh has, I am told, a remarkable head o f 16 points, which he k illed many years
ago in Ardverikie.
F IR S T -C L A S S H E A D S
I come now to firsi-.claslSjieads, in which we may fairly include any head with
perfectly-developed points) a length o f over 34.inches, and a span inside exceeding 32 or 3-3
inches. A t first the sportsman might suppose that such were n um e rR , but th « .g f i |g th e
case. Many forests cannot show a single head o f such dimensions, yet on reviewing
collections as a whole the numbers in existence are too great to include in any work except
one which would give a complete list o f Scotch heads. I have therefore thought it best to
give a tabulated list o f a few o f the best first-class heads recently killed in Scotland.
SOME FIRST-CLASS HEADS
1 p - I ^
Span. g f j § - ; I • Remarks.
The Marquis of Breadalbane I 37 A beautiful head, but rather spindly, of extraordinary
span, shot by the Marchioness of Breadalbane.
Now in Black Mount Forest Lodge (figured).
The Duke of Athole ... , . i
Colonel Gordon-Cumming
t ‘ 3+i
I 34
34 h . ' 5 Shot by Lewis Way, Esq., Glen Tilt, October 1876.'
Weight 16 stone 7 lbs. cleans--A very curious head,
with almost straight horns, forming a complete equilateral
triangle. Now in Blair Castle (figured).
A stag who knew a thing or two about winter feeding
and how to take care of himself. Poached in Braemar.
Brow points 13 inches (figured). Nowin Forres House.
Sir W. Ogilvie Dalgleish . 2 ! 34 3% 4| Killed by owner in Glen Bruar Forest, Perthshire
(figured). Now in Errol Park.
Lord Alexander Paget. . 2 I 354 29 6 Weight 19 stone. Killed in .Corrie Varnie, Auehnavj
shellach, September 1871, probably the best head
ever killed in that forest. Shot by owner (figured).
1 Since this was written Lord Alexander Paget has
e of the best stalkers and shots of his day.
/ay, and his death will be lamented by many who km
SOME FIRST-CLASS HEADS— continued.
Owner. I PPoinSts. ! Length. Span. Beam Remarks.
Lord Alexander Paget 9 34i 33 4f Corrour, 10th October 1892. Shot by owner.
John Hargreaves .
' 9.. 33 30 4f Killed in Corrie Bhran, Gaick. Shot by the late J.J
Hargreaves, sen.
8 35 2Zi 4i ’ Killed in Cairn Thomais, Gaick, by owner.
9 33i 29l 4t Killed Corrie Diareaig, Gaick, by owner, 1894.
A Royal,, no measurements taken. Shot by Colonel
Rhodes in Gaick, of beautiful shape (figured).
These four heads are the best killed in Gaick of recent
years, and till lately were at Maiden Erlegh, Berks.
W. Stirling . . . . m 1 3 4 26 5^ Good points, very even head, Monar.
i i 32f 32 4| Monar.
j 34 3° 4& Monar.
T. W. Gill . . . .
n 1 1
3\
34 North Morar..
The Earl of Ancaster . 12 33 6J- Shot at Gildcrmorie, Ross-shire, by owner.
H 34 26 7 Glcnartncy. Shot by- owner.- A very thick head.
Sidney Loder 13 30 27 6 Shot in Glen Cannich, 1892. Weight 17 stone 2 lbs.
(single-
horned stag)
33 6h Athole Forest, 1890. Weight 17 stone 7 lbs.
• -8 I ■ 32 3 4 6 Benula Forest, 1894. Weight 17 stone 10 lbs.
T h e above, all killed within the last twenty years, include the best examples from several
o f the best Highland forests, and we see that most houses on well-managed estates have only
two or three such heads to show.
Sir George Macpherson Grant at Ballindalloch has three grand heads, which come quite
at the top of the first-class standard. Sir E. Loder has three beauties, a io - (figured), a 12-,
and a 14-pointer, killed by himself at Kintail in 1894. In the grand collection at Gordon
Castle are several such heads, notably a l o-pointer (figured) and a 14-pointer, both o f which
were killed by the Earl o f March, and hang in the smoking-room. In Balmacaan there is a
grand collection, made by the Earls o f Seafield, as also at Dunrobin and Auchnacarry, though
I have not seen that formed by the present Lochiel.
Judging mainly from the heads passing through the hands o f the taxidermists, the best
o f the present day are now coming, for the most part, from the. following forests : Athole,
Invermark, Drummond Hill, Ben Alder, Gaick, Langwell, Dunrobin (the wood deer),
Killilan, Kintail, Guisachan, Glenquoich, Beaufort and Farley, Affaric, Glenfeshie, Brawlen,
Coignafearn, Struy, Lochrosque, Morar, Monar, and Mar.1
Curiosities o f horn-growth where the stag, owing to injury during the growth o f the
horn, throws out points or branches in any direction are now so common and ( if one may
use such a paradox) so regular in their irregularity, that all sportsmen know what they are
like. They are never beautiful, and it is very seldom that they are interesting. There are
the “ Cromie ” heads o f Jura, which seem to occur, according to Mr. Henry Evans’s account,
1 The season that has just closed has certainly been a good one, and Mr. William Macleay, in a note (ist November) in
which he states that there has been no head killed which excels, says that the best heads of the year have eome from Glen
Affaric, Clnnic, Glenquoich, Killilan, and Knoydart.