/""^ 
 
 theyyoodlanders 
 
 By the Tide 
 
 B 3 572 171 
 
 A Son of the Marshes 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
WITH THE WOODLANDERS 
 
 AND 
 
 BY THE TIDE 
 
WITH THE WOODLANDERS 
 
 AND 
 
 BY THE TIDE 
 
 BY 
 
 A SON OF THE MARSHES 
 
 AUTHOR OF *ON SURREY HILLS,' 
 
 'WITHIN AN HOUR OF LONDON TOWN,' 'ANNALS OF 
 
 A FISHING VILLAGE,' 'FOREST TITHES,' ETC. 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 J. A. OWEN 
 
 SECOND EDITION 
 
 WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS 
 
 EDINBURGH AND LONDON 
 
 MDCCCXCIII 
 
 * / I All Rights reserved 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 I. WITH THE WOODLANDERS, 
 II. POACHERS AND POACHING, 
 
 III. OLD HEDGEROWS, 
 
 IV. ALDERS AND REEDS, . 
 
 V. WHEN MARCH WINDS BLOW, . 
 VI. WHERE GRASS IS GREEN, 
 VII. BRITISH GAME-BIRDS, . 
 VIII. CHANCE SHOTS AND ODD FISH, 
 IX. WANDERERS, 
 X. MORE ABOUT FOWLING ON LONGSHORE, 
 
 PAGE 
 I 
 
 41 
 
 59 
 80 
 
 H3 
 
 148 
 174 
 227 
 253 
 280 
 
 M3171SO 
 
WITH THE WOODLANDERS, 
 AND BY THE TIDE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 WOODLAND folk-lore is fast dying out : very little 
 will be left to us after another quarter of a century 
 has elapsed. The older folks now rarely speak 
 openly about those matters which formed common 
 topics of conversation forty years ago in our wood- 
 land districts. Indeed their sons and daughters 
 profess to laugh at the superstitions (sic) in which 
 their parents still firmly believe. But their ridicule 
 is really affected : their actions constantly prove 
 them to be firm believers, in spite of themselves, 
 in what they gathered as little children from their 
 
 A 
 
WITH THE WOODLANDEKS. 
 
 elders. Only those who lived among the wood- 
 landers forty years ago know what their daily lives 
 were like. There are still some lonely enough home- 
 steads scattered here and there through the forest ; 
 but roads intersect it now in all directions, whereas 
 at the time I allude to no roads existed only a 
 network of tracks, amongst which I frequently went 
 astray until I learned to know the country well. 
 
 Neighbours, so-called, lived far apart. "I'll 
 jest step over an' fetch Will's missis to ye, dame 
 you bein' so uncommon poorly like," was the 
 sort of thing often heard amongst them ; " Will's 
 missis " living probably a couple of miles away. 
 Six, and even eight miles away from a doctor many 
 of them were ; so no wonder the women - folks 
 were well skilled in simple remedies, productions 
 of their own garden-plots, for "mother" always 
 had a bit of ground for her herb-garden. It was 
 not very often that a doctor was required, and 
 chiefly when those accidents occurred that house- 
 hold medicines cannot alleviate. 
 
 Of the town's people or their ways they knew 
 nothing : in fact, all town - dwellers were looked 
 on with suspicion, when through changes they 
 
WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 were obliged to deal with them as, for instance, 
 when some of the woodlanders' horses and carts 
 were required when that first big house was being 
 built, where house had never been before. When 
 that great event took place, one said "he waunt 
 able not jest then to do it," alluding to some 
 offered job; another remarked that he'd "'sidder 
 on it " ; at last one bolder than the rest said he'd 
 "chance it." Now this really meant that he had 
 his doubts about getting paid for the carting ; 
 but when he found himself promptly paid on the 
 Saturday for his week's work, and paid well, with 
 the further guarantee that this would be the rule 
 if he continued on with the work, his ideas about 
 " chance " or chances changed completely. Much 
 the same state of affairs existed when some of 
 the young fellows were required for ground men- 
 labourers. " Not if they knowed it ; they waunt 
 a-goin' to; they never had. They reckined they 
 wouldn't do so ; what was the use on it ? " 
 
 Here again, at last, one or two ventured, as 
 pioneers for the others ; and not only did these 
 give satisfaction for it was work they had been 
 accustomed to daily, and what they were required 
 
WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 to do was to them a comparatively easy task 
 but the first week's pay was to them a complete 
 revelation. They had heard about such money 
 being earned by those who, at intervals few and 
 far between, visited the outside world ; but they 
 never had believed it to be truly stated. Civil, 
 hard-working fellows they all were, full of manly 
 independence. In my own daily work I came in 
 constant contact with them, but they kept aloof 
 from the other workmen as a rule. In the morning 
 they were on the works to a minute ; in the even- 
 ing, when the day's work was done, they were 
 lost sight of in the woods. 
 
 Years passed before I could say that I knew 
 much about these woodland dwellers, but I got 
 to understand them at last. Personally I have 
 found them fiercely conservative, and I never found 
 fault with them on that score. Their knowledge, 
 though not gained through books, made them keen 
 observers of human nature. In their own peculiar 
 way they would patiently thresh matters out. It 
 might be months before any signs would be given 
 for or against a new movement; but given either 
 way, it was final. 
 
WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 One strangely reserved character, a master of 
 all woodcraft in the opinion of his comrades, whose 
 goodwill I had tried to gain in order that we 
 might have a sociable chat together but, as I 
 thought, to no purpose, said one day as I was 
 leaving the works, " You strolls about middlin' 
 o' nights like, don't ye ? If you likes to come 
 along o' me some night to my shanty, 'tis a tidy 
 distance off like, you're welcome." I found him 
 to be a keen intelligent man, and from him I 
 learned much of the woodlanders and their ways 
 of thinking, of woodcraft, and of all things living 
 under green leaves. It could only be expected 
 that those who from one generation to another 
 have lived in the very centre of natural life should 
 be as observant of all Nature's various aspects as 
 the wild creatures around them ; and they have 
 also their own theories about natural phenomena 
 theories which very frequently proved to be im- 
 portant facts. Their lives being spent in the open 
 air, summer and winter, they have to observe all 
 weather-signs. The old people used to be so 
 proficient in this that many of the farmers, such 
 as they were at the time I allude to, would take 
 
WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 their opinions unhesitatingly when the crops were 
 about. 
 
 In all the years I have known them many now 
 I never knew one who did not, the first thing 
 in the morning and the last thing at night, give 
 his opinion about the weather. Being so much 
 alone for their employment as a rule was, from 
 the very nature of it, to a certain extent solitary 
 they pondered over matters, and worked them 
 out in their own way. In calm or in storm, in 
 sunshine or darkness, they found matters to pon- 
 der over deeply. No matter how hard their work 
 was, they were always in close touch with the 
 object under consideration. Their religious feel- 
 ings were naturally strong ones ; for they believed 
 literally in all they read in their Bibles, and acted 
 on that belief, each one according to his or her 
 light. Theirs was and it is now in some parts 
 that I still visit a stern puritanical faith, one 
 that was upheld against all new-comers unflinch- 
 ingly. Obedience to parents, one of the chief 
 features in it, was carried to such a pitch as to 
 become almost tyranny. 
 
 I was able to associate closely with these people, 
 
WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 for my work lay in their midst, and I belonged 
 to them by force of sympathy. It was a pleasure 
 to me to be able to tell them where many of 
 their beautiful woodland legends originated : some 
 of them had, indeed, direct bearing on the book 
 they read and studied so deeply the Bible, in 
 fact. And with the aid of my pencil I could make 
 matters clearer at times than they would other- 
 wise have been. As I supplemented any little 
 information I gave by reading to them from works 
 treating on the subjects under discussion, and 
 offered them the books to read for themselves, 
 I was eased of too great responsibility in the 
 matter ; and if there is one thing the wood- 
 dwellers prize more than another it is " book 
 larnin'," as they call it. "To git hold on a book, 
 an' read away at it, hard words an' all, an' no 
 spellin', an' to be able to write like print," was 
 at that time something to be talked about in 
 their isolated dwellings. 
 
 One poor old soul observed : " I was afeard as 
 he'd never git at what father an' me wanted to 
 tell Tom in furrin parts ; but, bless ye, he was 
 that patient-like, never sayin' a word afore we'd 
 
WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 done ; an' then he writ it and read it to us. He'd 
 said in it all as we wanted to say, an' more as 
 we could 'a said like. An' then he 'rected it to 
 Tom so plain why, bless ye, I could see where 
 'twas goin' myself, an' I'm but a poor schollard." 
 Trifles are very large factors in making people 
 happy. No matter what they might tell me, I 
 never smiled at them ; indeed it is not in my 
 nature to smile much, I fear. And they, like 
 myself, were terribly in earnest about the matters 
 of daily life. For do not fresh problems present 
 themselves almost hourly the why and the where- 
 fore of those things that are continually taking 
 place around us ? When the mists covered the 
 hills and formed themselves into strange masses, 
 as the currents of air played on them, it was small 
 wonder if they likened one of the weird shapes 
 to some figure vividly described in a passage they 
 had recently pondered over. So closely were some 
 of them in touch with nature, that they might 
 have been called spiritualists of the woodlands. 
 The wild creatures to them were all definite 
 powers for good or evil in their direct relation- 
 ship to man ; and in nearly all cases that I was 
 
WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 brought into contact with, they were in my opin- 
 ion correct in their theories. They did not try 
 to convince one ; they simply said they " knowed 
 it, an' that was enuf fur them." 
 
 Men, women, and children could give the calls 
 of any creature, furred or feathered, which they 
 were in the habit of seeing daily, no matter 
 what the cry might be, rage, or fear, or that of 
 gentle warning, or the soft calls of mating-time. 
 "Mother" this was the universal title for all 
 married women who had children very rarely 
 exercised the gift of woodland tongues. They 
 would tell you they had " done it often enough 
 when they was gals, but sich foolishness was 
 done with now." I have heard young women 
 whistle beautifully, mimicking the songs of the 
 birds, the blackbird and thrush particularly. They 
 fashioned simple instruments by the fireside, which 
 were easily carried in the pocket, the whole lot 
 of them, with which they mimicked the calls of 
 the various species. If they wished to see whether 
 a stoat, weasel, crow, or jay was about, they 
 would place their lips on the back of one hand 
 and squeal horribly, the cries becoming weaker 
 
io WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 each time, exactly like those of a rabbit caught 
 in a trap, or fixed by a stoat or weasel. Crows, 
 magpies, and jays know very well what that cry 
 means : it is as a dinner-bell to them, for after 
 the stoat or weasel leaves a rabbit, a feathered 
 company come to eat him. As the evening got 
 more dusky, the boys would come out in their 
 gardens, which were surrounded by the fir-woods, 
 to call the owls to them. They would hiss and 
 snore like the white owl the barn - owl ; hoot, 
 click, and bark like the wood-owl the brown or 
 tawny owl ; and squeak like mice, for the pleas- 
 ure of seeing the owl swoop towards the place 
 where the sound or sounds proceeded from. 
 
 "You bide still, an' see ef I don't fetch him in 
 this 'ere fir close to our gate," said one to me. I 
 did " bide still," being very much interested in the 
 whole performance. First he locked his hands 
 together with the thumbs upright, and into the 
 hollow of the hands he blew between the thumbs. 
 This was the hooting-machine ; and it was simply 
 perfect. Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo'e hoo ! rang out 
 the fourth note being longer than the others. Then 
 followed the click of the bill, as the fine bird snaps 
 
WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 11 
 
 it in pleasant anticipation of mouse, finishing up 
 with the bark when the bird springs from his rest- 
 ing-place. All this was done to perfection by the 
 boy; but the master-touches were yet to come. 
 With a small piece of twig he rattled tick, tick, 
 tick, tick, tick, like the short patter of a mouse 
 on dry leaves; for all mice travel intermittingly, 
 there is a short rush, and then a halt for a few 
 seconds. No owl was visible yet, but the bird had 
 got close to, when he heard the rustle. As the 
 lad squeaked as a mouse will when he runs at 
 night, he looked up and pointed : there was the 
 owl ready for his mouse. When the bird caught 
 sight of us, he departed in the same noiseless 
 fashion in which he had arrived. 
 
 I have not heard white owls hoot, they do hoot 
 at times, or bark; but the eagle-owl, wood-owl, 
 long-eared owl, and the short-eared owl, together 
 with the little owl, also the coquimbo or prairie- 
 owl, all bark and mew at times. The little owl as a 
 good barker surpasses all the others ; he has barked 
 at me many a time. When the long -eared owls 
 have young ones, you can hear these mewing in 
 the woods at dusk, just like a lot of kittens. 
 
12 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 The beautiful white owl will, at times, come and 
 perch on a bough right over some path in the 
 woods, and will sit there quite regardless to all 
 appearance of those who may pass beneath him. 
 The satin-like white of the bird's breast fixes the 
 eye at once, and this, with the full dark eyes set 
 in his heart-shaped face, gives him a most weird 
 look in the gloaming. No one attacks him then : 
 they look on him with fear, for he is no longer 
 a bird but a feathered form of evil, come to warn 
 them of coming misfortune ; whilst a white mouse 
 caught or seen in a dwelling-house always denotes 
 death. 
 
 Simple facts of everyday life only do I treat of here. 
 I do not profess to give a sketch of any imaginary 
 woodland Arcadia. No such poetical place has 
 ever existed, nor ever will, whilst common human- 
 ity with all its hopes and fears, and its tumultuous 
 passions, has play. But one thing I am sure of: 
 all the fads brought out by a certain class for the 
 so-called improvement of woodland people have 
 miserably failed, and ever will fail. " 'Tis our 
 wotes, not us, as they wants," they say, and this 
 sums up the whole matter. I have nothing to do 
 
WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 13 
 
 with politics, being only a roadside naturalist. I 
 simply look on at the working of the very com- 
 plicated political machinery. Loyal people the 
 woodlanders have always been, and they are that 
 now ; but they have been, as they call it, " soaped 
 over a bit, and they ain't a-goin' tu hev no more 
 on it." Folks are very conservative, indeed, at 
 heart in the woodland districts. 
 
 It is the same with the people we are describing 
 as it is with townsfolk, in that some families have 
 lived honest hard - working lives from generation 
 to generation, their sons and daughters turning 
 out well, a pleasure and a comfort to the old folks ; 
 others have gone a different way. There is a 
 distinct line drawn under green leaves for those 
 who do not act exactly as they ought to; but 
 there are nature's ladies and gentlemen there, 
 and nothing is said or done to wound the feelings 
 of the erring ones although they are very quietly 
 forced to see that some of their doings are not 
 liked. 
 
 Black doings consulting the Wise Woman, for 
 instance are detested by the puritanical dwellers 
 of the wilds. " Bad comes on it : never a soul 
 
14 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 yet tampered with evil without sufferin' for't. 
 There's the word o' Scripture agin it dead agin 
 it. The devil will have his own soon enough, 
 without folks helpin' him to git 'em. He don't 
 want no helpin', Old Cocky Hoop don't." 
 
 I have seen scores of faces of both men and women 
 that would have served as perfect models for paint- 
 ings of historical subjects depicting the times of the 
 Covenanters and Puritans. Hard-headed, earnest 
 people these, who spoke about the ways of the Lord 
 and the thundering of His chariots often in their 
 daily course of life. That earnest way of living, 
 which kept them pure both in body and soul, I have 
 heard called " being under the iron sway of super- 
 stitious fanaticism." If those who speak thus had 
 only a portion of their childlike faith in the here- 
 after, it would, I think, be better for them. Even 
 heedless boys are cynics now, their parents being 
 only old-fashioned blocks to stumble over. If this 
 is the effect of the New Light that has been so 
 freely flashed upon us lately, God help the forth- 
 coming generation ! From childhood I have only 
 known one rallying-cry, " Fear God ; honour the 
 Queen ! " If those who are so extremely anxious 
 
WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 15 
 
 for the benefit of their fellow-creatures did benefit 
 them, there might be something to be said in their 
 favour; but their only object seems to be that of 
 benefiting themselves. New-comers and their fads, 
 many of them mischievous and very inconvenient 
 ones, are not in touch with the people, and they 
 never will be. 
 
 Some of the folk-lore and the innocent devices 
 employed by the lasses at certain times are harm- 
 less enough in all ways. Not one of the girls 
 would plead guilty to the slightest suspicion of 
 romance in their composition, indeed the word is 
 only used by them to denote all that is wild and 
 extravagant, and yet, unconsciously to themselves, 
 they are full of it. Their surroundings foster it. 
 Some of the songs we have listened to for the 
 lasses can sing, or could all told of love and 
 happy marriage, or of disappointed affections and 
 early graves. Very often, still, I find myself break- 
 ing out into a stave of a good honest greenwood 
 song. 
 
 But there is a darker side to what I am writing 
 about, for forest blood runs hotly, as it has ever 
 done. One spot that I know well a deep sullen 
 
16 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 mill-pool surrounded by trees, with a foot-bridge 
 over it has a very evil reputation : they say it is 
 haunted. 
 
 Two men once wanted to marry the same woman 
 a difficult matter, looked at properly and being 
 rivals, they were, as is usually the case, bitter foes. 
 On a disastrous night they met on the bridge over 
 the mill-pool, and one of them was never seen again. 
 Months afterwards the remains of a body were found 
 entangled in the submerged tree-roots. In out-of- 
 the-way places such things were not looked into so 
 sharply as they are now. The man that was left 
 alone on that foot-bridge was ever afterwards a 
 miserable cov/ard in the dark. I knew that from 
 personal observation. So well indeed was this 
 known, that the little school-children used to mock 
 at him. He had a miserable end. As in all other 
 places on the face of the earth, good and evil can be 
 found side by side in the woodlands. 
 
 I have observed that all, townsfolk as well as 
 rustics, hold up their hands for Sunday-schools. 
 No matter whether they belong to the Church of 
 England or to the Nonconformists, all working folks 
 are agreed there. There is a spontaneous acknow- 
 
WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 ledgment on the people's part that these work for 
 good. The father of a young family observed to 
 me quite recently, "It ain't what I believes I 
 knows best about that but I don't want my young 
 ones to think as I do about things, leastways not 
 yet a while. Them 'ere Sunday-schools is good 
 things ; they don't larn nothin' but what's good 
 there." 
 
 One worthy old soul, a mother in Israel, was wont 
 to expound to me, as we sat in the chimney-corner, 
 about visions and the Witch of Endor. These had 
 been ; "there was nothin' on the face o' the airth to 
 perwent sich things agin happenin'." I never said 
 a word, only nodded to her from time to time. 
 After a fresh pinch of snuff she would break out 
 again about the elect coming in a whirlwind with 
 their chariots of fire. Presently she would put on 
 her spectacles, and then we had it, chapter and 
 verse. 
 
 Every now and again I nodded to her, just to let 
 her see I was following her very closely. She must 
 have been a shining light in the little Bethel she 
 attended, for I never heard so much in so short a 
 space of time in my life before, as she gave me one 
 
18 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 night. As the husband and son had gone out, she 
 might have thought it a proper time to improve the 
 state of one whom she evidently considered to be a 
 lost sheep. I had more than enough of whirlwinds 
 and chariots, as well as of visions, whilst I lived with 
 them. 
 
 The robin, the woodman's companion, naturally 
 comes in for his full share of folk-lore : he cries 
 when things look "peaked/ 5 when, for instance, 
 in certain changes of the atmosphere before hard 
 weather sets in, the buds on the leafless trees 
 stand out like sharp points the beech -tree tips 
 particularly. Directly the leaves are off the trees, 
 you see preparations making for the coming spring- 
 time. 
 
 " You can't hide from a robin ; they're bound to 
 find ye out," they say. This is very true : the bird 
 will surely come to you in the most out-of-the-way 
 places. "Don't ye see they got to do it; they 
 comes to see if any little children wants happin' up 
 with leaves again. No matter who 'tis, they feeds 
 a robin when he comes ; an' he knows what's comin' 
 when he cries to ye." All birds being sure indica- 
 tors by their cries and movements as to what the 
 
WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 19 
 
 weather is likely to be, they are more noticed than 
 other creatures ; and the robin particularly, from 
 his peculiarity of coming direct to man. Sheep 
 tell the shepherd by their movements all he requires 
 to know, and he prepares accordingly. " The hills 
 are drawing nigh," they say; "we shall have wet 
 before long : " and the rain does come, more or 
 less of it. 
 
 The wryneck, or cuckoo's mate, or the rinding 
 bird, as he is called by the bark-strippers or " bark- 
 flayers," makes his pee-pee-peet heard in spring 
 when the oak sap rises, and the rind, or bark, is 
 taken off after felling. The golden-crested wren is 
 called the bee-bird, because it is the smallest bird 
 they are acquainted with. This is a very good 
 country name for the little creature. 
 
 If a bird pecks at a window, or takes shelter in 
 any house, dire will be the consternation of the 
 inmates : words of comfort are useless ; if you are 
 wise, hold your tongue, and wait for daylight, or 
 you will have it proved to you conclusively that 
 you are no better than " a misbelieving heathen." 
 
 There are two kinds of the so-called "witch- 
 knots " : one of these consists of only a bunch of 
 
20 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 leaves matted together, because the little twigs have 
 got interlaced somehow ; but the genuine and much- 
 prized witch-knot is a woody wart-like protuberance, 
 mostly of the shape of a small puff-ball. It is found at 
 times on other trees ; but the beech produces these 
 circular nobs more, I think, than other trees. These 
 are knocked off, and, as treasures, pocketed and 
 religiously kept as a cure, and also a preventive, of 
 rheumatism. I have seen some of the old ladies 
 turn their very large pockets out when they could 
 not feel just what they wanted, and one or two 
 witch-knots would be sure to come out, beautifully 
 polished by constant friction against the "jumbles" 
 those bag-like pockets contained. A knuckle-bone, 
 white and glistening, would also be sure to turn 
 up, or rather out. This article was considered to 
 keep cramps away from the one who carried it. 
 
 But dearly prized above all was some article kept 
 for luck. Any prized article might be mourned over 
 if they lost it, but the idea of losing the " luck " was 
 too much even to dream about. 
 
 A good old creature gave me as a parting gift a 
 luck-stone. It was one of the quaintest, most elfish- 
 looking, grinning heads I have ever seen ; and it 
 
WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 21 
 
 had been carved by some rustic genius, or rather 
 fashioned from a large peach-stone, having two 
 small white beads inserted for eyes. The holes in 
 the beads served as eye-pupils. The thing's head 
 was fixed to a wooden button, a little dog's-toothed 
 patterned collar of red and black was fixed round 
 it, and the name of the whole was " Jobber." I 
 carried "Jobber" long about with me to laugh at, 
 and make others laugh, when I was far away from 
 the giver; but at last I gave the fetish away to a 
 woodland friend who had often looked at it with 
 longing eyes : he told me over and over again that 
 there was " summut in it." There was certainly 
 enough quaint mischievous ugliness in that little 
 figure-head to frighten some. Luck or no luck, I 
 parted with "Jobber," and the only things I missed 
 were his own impish features. 
 
 It is considered a sad misfortune to let the old- 
 fashioned eight-day clocks run down, or to let the 
 wood - embers die out in the hearths, either in 
 summer or in winter. I have seen the master of 
 the house draw the clock up before going to bed, 
 and tap the face of it, as if he were bidding good 
 night to one of his own children. 
 
22 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 That cruel piece of folk-lore which leads to bor- 
 ing a hole in an ash-tree, and placing a poor little 
 shrewmouse in it alive, and then plugging the 
 hole up, so as to convert the tree into what they 
 call a shrew-ash, supposed to be useful for curing 
 certain diseases in cattle, is no longer practised in 
 the southern woodlands, although until very re- 
 cently the custom obtained in the New Forest. 
 Cast horse - shoes and sprigs of the mountain- 
 ash can still be seen fixed to stable-doors almost 
 everywhere. 
 
 The carters, the older men, on some of the old 
 manor farms, have told me strange tales of spells 
 being thrown over their horses. Fortunately, I 
 can keep my features at times fairly under con- 
 trol, and I have never offended, so far as I know, 
 one single member of this class of people. I do 
 not wish to do so if I can help it, for I respect 
 them. Some have, however, paid dearly for their 
 ridicule, which is bad coin to try to pass in the 
 woodlands. " Up - end yerself!" (Stand up!) 
 the insulted one will cry, and the thing is done; 
 and, as a rule, a good job is made of it. Men 
 and women who have left the country when they 
 
WITH THE WOODLANDbRS. 23 
 
 were in their teens, hold firmly to these folk-lore 
 traditions in spite of some would - be scientists, 
 who say there is a cause for everything, if we 
 could but find it. We do not find the causes 
 for certain things we never shall ; and so hu- 
 manity will hope and doubt and fear to the last. 
 
 Some of the traditions that have been handed 
 down to us are so pure and good, that they must 
 have originated at some time or other from a 
 good source alone. Yet a certain class are most 
 earnestly trying to sweep away with a moneyed 
 broom the folk-lore and traditions of ages, and 
 to remodel a class of people that have been, and 
 are now, of very rugged but kindly natures. 
 
 As in the Obi's practices in the West Indies, 
 personal malice is brought to bear on victims by 
 those who work on the credulity of their dupes. 
 
 " I say, mister, do ye believe in witchcraft ? 
 I bin goin' to ask ye lots o' times, fust chance 
 I had ; now I got it," said a rustic to me one 
 day. 
 
 " No, I do not ; and I hope you have not got that 
 nonsense in your head." 
 
 " Ah, well, you don't know about everything*" 
 
24 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 This I at once acknowledged, at the same time 
 telling him I did not feel particularly anxious to 
 know muc% about the matter in question. 
 
 " I don't want to 'fend [offend] ye," he persisted ; 
 " I want to tell ye 'bout them 'ere pigs o' mine 
 what was witched. Now, look here, I killed my 
 pig and bought another ; but, ye see, that 'ere fresh 
 pig died the week arter I bought un. I goes an' gits 
 another pig, puts un in the werry same sty, and he 
 dies too." 
 
 " Did you lime-white your sty out after you had 
 lost your first pig ? " 
 
 "No; what for? what's lime-white tu do with 
 pigs? never did lime-white 'em, don't mean to; 
 them 'ere two pigs was witched. I went to the 
 wise woman you dunno who she is, an' I ain't 
 a-goin' tu tell ye; but she pinted out a hook- 
 nosed old varmint o' a woman as lived in a shanty 
 all by herself up in the moor. Her place was 
 close to a spring, where she could come an' dip 
 her pitcher. If she'd bin 'bliged tu cross runnin' 
 water, she couldn't ha' lived there : runnin' water 
 takes all the powers o' mischief out o' them sort 
 o' cattle. Well, the wise woman told me that if 
 
WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 25 
 
 I could draw a drap o' blood from that old varmint, 
 all the witchcraft would leave that 'ere pig - sty. 
 I got on to that 'ere job quick; but waunt she 
 desprit artful ? Two marnin's she didn't cum 
 out. You knows them 'ere big shawl-pins, with 
 black tops to 'em, don't ye ? well, I nips one o' 
 they from my missus, unbeknown to her like, and 
 carts it about with me, all ready fur the job. The 
 third marnin' I laid up fur her in the fuzzes, an' 
 arter a bit I sees her cum hobblin' out fur tu git 
 water; then I slips up behind her an' jobs that 
 ere shawl - pin into her three or four times, fur 
 witchin' my pigs. Massey oh ! didn't she squawkul 
 an' squall, like some old hen. She dropped her 
 pitcher, an' got back indoors quicker 'an she cum out; 
 an' I kicked her pitcher tu bits, I did." 
 
 This was too much for me : I told him in rough 
 and unmeasured words what I thought of him, 
 winding up by saying that if I had been about 
 when the atrocious deed was done, I should have 
 done my best to get him three months' hard labour. 
 The truth of the matter I found out was this : 
 the poor old creature who had been so brutally 
 treated had warned some woodland lass against 
 
2 6 WITH TtiE IVOODLANDERS. 
 
 going to the wise woman. Love - charms and 
 philtres were in request centuries ago, but so they 
 are now in some places I could mention. I knew 
 the ways of that wise woman, and also knew her 
 personally, and I could have placed hands on her 
 at any time. Those love-potions are not harmless 
 ones if fairly administered in a man's drink. There 
 are those who know the real nature of one very 
 beautiful but horribly dangerous vegetable pro- 
 duction that in its season is so very common in 
 forest districts the scarlet fungus that grows at the 
 foot of some trees. One of the properties only one 
 out of many is this : it will make a chattering, 
 silly fool of a wise man. This is a very unpleasant 
 subject, and one about which I do not care to say 
 too much. Those who have written about the 
 innocent unsophisticated dwellers of the woodlands 
 have written utter nonsense. I have known some 
 of these so-called innocent dwellers of the woods 
 go just as far as they possibly could with safety, 
 in order to gain their own ends. One of the 
 companions of my younger days, a fine good-looking 
 fellow, only escaped by the skin of his teeth from 
 having a potion of this kind given him by a lass 
 
WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 who did not attempt to conceal her open admira- 
 tion. The girl's own sister, however, prevented 
 its being administered to him. But from the first 
 I have held those who live under green leaves in 
 high esteem : their sterling honesty, their handiness 
 in all they set their hands to, their determination 
 not to be beaten over difficult jobs these qualities, 
 added to their stubborn independence, make them 
 prime favourites of mine, and to this class I owe 
 the greater part of my knowledge of the southern 
 counties. 
 
 Often has one or another of the woodmen brought 
 me news of stray visitants and birds sights that they 
 knew would have interest for me. One day, for 
 instance, I was told that great flocks of bramblings 
 were in some particular old beech-woods, a pair of 
 the birds being brought to me as specimens. This 
 was in the winter -time, and as they fed directly 
 the sun got high enough to make the snow-covered 
 country glisten, I started very early for the five 
 miles' walk through the deep snow ; bitterly cold 
 it was, and the stars were shining brightly. 
 
 Snow-covered woodlands have a silent beauty of 
 their own, more especially when the hard - frozen 
 
28 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 hoar-frost has covered them. Although I was well 
 clothed and walking at a quick step, the wind seemed 
 to cut through me like a knife ; soon, however, I 
 was sheltered by the high banks of the woods through 
 which my road ran. After clearing the woods and 
 getting on to the open road, I was reminded of the 
 hard times by little dark heaps which lay here and 
 there, the bodies of thrushes and red-wings, so com- 
 pletely starved that they were merely frames cov- 
 ered with feathers ; and, frozen to death, they had 
 tumbled out of the cover in the hedge where they 
 had been roosting. In such bitter weather as this 
 these birds wander from their usual haunts in search 
 of food, getting weaker and weaker until they flutter 
 into the first bit of cover which presents itself by 
 the roadside as night comes on, there to die. 
 
 It was hard trampling through and over the snow, 
 but I got into a nice glow as it was getting lighter, 
 and made for the cottage of one of my woodland 
 friends which was about a mile from the beech-wood. 
 A nice cup of hot tea, with just a suspicion of some- 
 thing in it, added considerably to my comfort. 
 
 " 'Nation seize ye ! " cried the man as he handed 
 me the cup, " hev ye been out all night and got lost ? 
 
WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 29 
 
 We shall be goin' to work some morning and find 
 ye stiff and dead, damned if we shan't ! Ye makes 
 me say these things to yer. Ef I sarved ye right, 
 I should lay this 'ere old scrub-broom over your head! 
 What brought ye out this time o' morning ? " 
 
 " To look at a lot of bramble finches feeding under 
 the beeches in the Long Walk when the sun gets 
 up. Charley brought me the news." 
 
 " Jog along with me then, for I be goin' by 
 there." 
 
 It was a sight to be remembered as the sun rose, 
 that long line of fine trees sparkling in all their 
 jewelled bravery. The wind had swept the path 
 clear of snow before it had time to freeze, so that 
 the thick dead leaves were only held by the frost ; 
 here I found that the bramblings were settled in 
 flocks of two and three hundred in order to stock 
 out the beech-mast, which was hidden underneath 
 them. 
 
 From the giant hollies the chuck of the blackbird, 
 followed by the weep of the robin and the chit- 
 chit-chit of the wren, could be heard. Some wood- 
 pigeons clapped off from the woods that fringed 
 the trout-stream, the little tinkling falls of which 
 
30 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 were now a mass of icicles. Twink-twink-twink- 
 twink, then came the harsh notes of the bramblings. 
 A 'fine sight was this, for the lover of birds to see 
 them busily at work in such numbers ; sorry indeed 
 should I have been to have missed it ; for although 
 these birds have always frequented these woods from 
 time to time, they have never been seen in such 
 numbers as this. 
 
 You are not able to go just where you like in the 
 woodlands, even if it is wild land. Those who come 
 into the country for a few weeks or months, as the 
 case may be, to write on rural matters, go away 
 little wiser than they came. If there is one thing 
 these people dislike more than another, it is being 
 questioned ; and if the course is persisted in, strangers 
 get told a good deal, but little that is useful. To one 
 rash individual who tried to interview me I gave 
 valuable information, which if published would outdo 
 Baron Munchausen. Brain-suckers are in force just 
 now, and our villages and rural population get too 
 much written about. 
 
 Owlets, as the large moths are called, find scant 
 favour with the woodlanders : they rob the bee- 
 hives, they say. I have known some of the 
 
WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 31 
 
 sphinxes enter the old - fashioned skeps. The 
 death's-head moth is a real terror to any household 
 that it may visit ; so are bats. Things of darkness 
 they call these. One touching ceremony is still 
 observed by the old people who keep bees that of 
 going to the hives and telling the inmates when 
 a death takes place in the family. One of my 
 rustic friends once told me he would get me some 
 moon-seed. The wonderful properties of this small 
 moon-wort fern, which are still firmly believed 
 in, would cause my readers to smile if I related 
 them. Some curious old copies of works on herbs 
 are still to be found in the homes of the wood- 
 land families, in which all the planetary influences 
 are minutely given. These are most precious 
 property, jealously guarded from profane eyes. The 
 best and most costly work on botany of the pres- 
 ent day would be regarded as dirt compared with 
 their old musty treasures, for they deal with some 
 of those mysteries of Nature, those problems they 
 have been trying to work out in their own fashion 
 all their lives. 
 
 The black art, the fancied possession of forbidden 
 knowledge, although repudiated by the greater por- 
 
32 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 tion, has some strange fascination for them. I 
 was the involuntary listener to a conversation that 
 ran as follows : 
 
 " What's that ye say ? Old Bitters dyin' ? " 
 
 " Ay, he is dyin' hard : he can't go his journey 
 yet ; an', mark my words, he wunt be 'lowed to 
 start on it afore he gives up them 'ere black books 
 o' his. I knows who they wus reckined tu pass tu, 
 when old Bitters passed away. But if he can't go 
 afore them 'ere desprit wicked things is burnt, 
 t'other wunt hev 'em." Then lowering his voice, 
 he added : " I've heerd that queer nggers in red 
 and black are in them 'ere books, an' signs o' 
 planets. If you 'members, he warn't never soci- 
 able like ; an' he muttered tu himself at times. 
 But it ain't fur me to judge him nohow. If he 
 goes afore mornin', we shall know them 'ere things 
 is burnt. I wouldn't handle one on 'em myself for 
 a fortin." 
 
 The poor fellow did pass away in the night, and 
 the next morning it was whispered all over the 
 hamlet that "Old Bitters' black books was burnt 
 to tinder." 
 
 All this may read strangely in this nineteenth 
 
WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 33 
 
 century of ours, but it is the plain truth, and very 
 much more of the sort could be told. Wise women, 
 so-called, did not, however, rely on country people 
 for their ill gains. From towns where the church- 
 bells are ringing continually for service, men and 
 women still leave the sound of their calling to glean 
 information from a foul old hag ; and this within 
 an hour of London town. Infinite mischief, beyond 
 alllrepair, has she caused her dupes to pay for, and 
 they have to hold their tongues over it. 
 
 When first I settled among the woodland folk, 
 I fancied they must get up to go to work in the 
 middle of the night, so very early did they rise; 
 but they went to bed early too. Until I got used 
 to it, I was very often startled out of my sleep 
 by the cries of wild creatures. Who could sup- 
 pose that the hooting and barking of an owl was 
 the signal to let others know some were passing 
 by, in the darkness, to their work ? But so it was. 
 One of the youngsters where I lived for a time 
 used to respond to this with the scream of the 
 vixen, when she answers reynard's bark. From the 
 hill-tops could be heard the blowing of cow-horns 
 some of them were masters in the art of horn- 
 
 c 
 
34 WITH THE IVOODLANDERS. 
 
 blowing: between three and four in the morning 
 in summer, and five o'clock in the morning in 
 winter, these people were about, and none went 
 out without having had some hot tea and some- 
 thing to eat. Timber-felling in the spring, and 
 copse-cutting; hoop-shaving in winter, and char- 
 coal-burning. Just for a change some would do 
 a bit of harvesting, but nearly all their time was 
 spent in and about the woods and the moors : they 
 always had some job in hand there, or one to look 
 forward to. Eight miles a-day, each way, was not 
 considered too much to walk, out and home. I 
 have done eighteen myself very comfortably; but 
 when the distance was over this, they camped out, 
 in forest style, and very comfortable camping- 
 quarters they made for themselves. Firs were 
 felled, and a hut built and thatched, with a wattle 
 door, packed with heather, very quickly. 
 
 By their camp-fires I have often listened as they 
 related circumstances that had occurred in the past ; 
 but the greatest treat to me was to hear them 
 talk in their quiet unassuming fashion of all the 
 mysteries of southern wood-craft. At that time I 
 had just returned from a visit to my native marshes 
 
WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 35 
 
 and the bleak foreshores, so I was able to tell them 
 about the wild creatures, and other matters, that 
 dwellers inland rarely see. I have been hunting 
 about in these districts for years, and yet have not 
 ,seen one quarter of what I still hope to see. Some 
 fresh thing comes to the front, in one way or 
 another, almost daily. 
 
 The vegetable growth and the insect life that 
 gathers about old trees are a vital necessity to 
 many creatures. I have known owls, jackdaws, 
 woodpeckers, starlings, squirrels, and great bats 
 and these latter not of the smaller species all 
 have their homes in one large decaying tree. And 
 "Jackup" is to be found established in the branches 
 above, and a large family of hedgehogs will be 
 settled below him. The creatures all leave their 
 peculiar traces, which are easily distinguished if 
 you are at all versed in wood-lore. 
 
 Those castings at the foot of the tree, for instance, 
 dropped accidentally by the bird, are quite enough 
 to tell you that the owl is there; and jackdaws, 
 squirrels, and starlings announce the fact of their 
 presence in the same unmistakable fashion. One 
 or two round holes, the openings to the old or 
 
36 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 the new nest, if we may call a small tunnel with 
 a few chips at the bottom a nest, will tell that the 
 woodpecker has located himself in that trunk. As 
 to the bats, your nose will quickly inform you of 
 their habitat. 
 
 That the jackdaw is a small crow, and the rook 
 a larger member of the same family, is quickly proved 
 by one action common to these birds. They both 
 place one foot on any substance, living or dead, 
 before pulling it to pieces, holding it down so as 
 to get a purchase on it with their bills. 
 
 It is fortunate for all things created that there is 
 as much true humanity in the world as there is, in 
 spite of the cruelty that is only too common, not 
 only in "the dark places of the earth," but where 
 there is supposed to be more light. Now and again 
 one comes across humans of the rougher type (sic) 
 that have a strong love for life in all its shapes. 
 One lad I knew got twenty-two half-fledged jack- 
 daws out of some old trees where the parent birds 
 had been shot ; and not only these but four owls 
 with them. After the sun has gone down three 
 men will go through the trees ; two with guns, 
 the third carries a stick. When they come to a 
 
WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 37 
 
 decayed tree, the men with the guns place them- 
 selves one on either side of it, a little way back 
 from its trunk. Then the man with the stick raps 
 vigorously, and as decayed wood is an especially 
 good conductor of sound, this causes a terrible row 
 within the hollowed receptacles. The sleeping birds 
 fancy that their tree is coming down ; out they dash, 
 they get shot, and the poor half-fledged young ones 
 are left to perish. To use the lad's own homely 
 words, he " Couldn't stick it out nohow ; he heard 
 the young jacks there hollering for grub, and the 
 owls whined ; so he swarmed up and took out the 
 lot of them ; ain't it more marciful than leaving 'em 
 to die of hunger ? Some on 'em I can sell, an' the 
 rest can go loose when they can feed on their own 
 hook." 
 
 I always think there is something pathetic in the 
 appearance of premature wisdom a young jackdaw 
 has it is enough to melt the hardest heart. One 
 of that lad's "lot" found a home with me; I could 
 not resist the expression of the creature when he 
 brought it to me. Fully fledged he certainly was, 
 but the skin round his gape was soft. He could not 
 feed himself, and as he perched on the finger of the 
 
38 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 kind lad who had saved him from a cruel and 
 lingering death, he held his head down, humped 
 his shoulders up, and uttered a weak quavering jar- 
 kee-kee ! which appealed irresistibly to me, so that 
 he was forthwith taken in to be comforted and 
 coddled up. Here he is now, and he has all the 
 little ways of a spoilt child, giving way to temper 
 at times in the most ludicrous manner possible. He 
 gets into mischief very frequently, so that the 
 mistress declares that she does not know what he 
 will come to. 
 
 Although so many different forms of life will make 
 their habitat in the same old tree, or use it as a 
 place of shelter, either for purposes of rest or for 
 breeding in, yet each individual creature knew his 
 own side of the house, so to speak, and how to keep 
 it. Yet I have watched most amusing squabbles 
 amongst them. As soon as the young jackdaws 
 could perch, you might see them all out on one 
 of the tree limbs nearest the hole they had been 
 hatched out in. If the green woodpecker, in shin- 
 ning up and round the trunk, poked his crimson 
 topped head up near the branch they were sitting 
 on, dire would be the commotion that ensued. The 
 
WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 39 
 
 young birds' feathers would bluff out, and a concert 
 of quavering cries would be heard from the whole 
 family. Then this brings the old birds crashing 
 down through the leaves from the top boughs to 
 see what is the matter, which does not put the yaffle 
 out in the least degree. He simply dodges round 
 the limbs, now here and now there, finally setting 
 up a defiant yike ! as he dashes down to some 
 emmet -heaps near to his own little nook in the 
 wreck, which was once a grand tree. 
 
 Sometimes the squirrels and the starlings would 
 fall out, and then there would be a rare to-do ! for 
 the squirrels would stamp, chatter, and whisk about, 
 whilst the starlings could hardly give vent to their 
 indignation in sufficiently quick terms. They dived 
 in and out of the holes where their nests were, 
 puffed out the feathers of their throats until the 
 hackle feathers stood out, and chattered their 
 loudest, now and again mournfully whistling by 
 way of a change. 
 
 Probably there was a good reason for all this 
 disturbance ; for the squirrel will now and again 
 indulge his carnivorous propensities just like some 
 other creatures who are supposed to be vegetarians. 
 
40 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 As to the bats, they are best left alone. A 
 quaint-looking, long-legged individual I know, who 
 has more practical information about life, furred 
 and feathered, than most folks have, because, as 
 he says, " I've paid for it, dear boy paid for it," 
 will sometimes, when I come across him, tap his 
 unusually large nose and say, " Bats overhead, in 
 that hole I can smell 'em." At this I am apt to 
 walk on, for my own scent is keen. " Come back, 
 my boy, and see me hustle 'em out of it," he cried 
 one day. I went back, and he got the lot out. I 
 have never stopped to witness a bat-rout since. 
 
POACHERS AND POACHING. 41 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 i 
 
 POACHERS AND POACHING. 
 
 I DO not intend to touch in any way on the game- 
 laws, or to give the very barest description of the 
 methods employed by those who poach and capture 
 the creatures without the leave of others. It is a 
 great pity that those who have explained, for the 
 benefit of a too credulous public, how the thing is 
 done, have not been capable enough to prevent its 
 recurrence. In the present chapter I only offer a 
 few sketches from life of some so - called delin- 
 quents I have known. 
 
 " I am on his track," one guardian of the covers 
 observed to me, as he saw a man walking on the 
 highroad ; " I shall have him to a dead certainty." 
 But he spoke prematurely, for the individual pointed 
 
42 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 out led the guardian of the covers such a dance, and 
 hoodwinked him so completely, that the small boys 
 of the district laughed over the matter. If you 
 require a good gun, one that you can rely on, you 
 must pay for it ; and so you must if you wish to have 
 good and efficient keepers. The pittance that some 
 gentlemen pay their so-called keepers is really not 
 enough to keep them honest. A great awkward, 
 ignorant fellow, as " fore-right " as a bull at a hedge, 
 is hardly the person to place in a position of re- 
 sponsibility, and he is sure to get himself into hot 
 water. There is one thing to be said good men 
 would not stop one week with some of those who 
 pass as game-preservers, save the mark ! 
 
 Some depredations had been committed in a 
 country place I knew, without the offenders having 
 been brought to book for it ; so the principal parties 
 interested in the matter met in the parlour of the 
 one small inn of the locality, to devise some plan or 
 plans for their capture. This was at about three 
 o'clock in the afternoon. Everything was arranged 
 to the perfect satisfaction of all parties, apparently, 
 but the landlord formed one of the committee. 
 Quite by accident, as it seemed, one of the villagers 
 
POACHERS AND POACHING. 43 
 
 presently strolled in for a pint. A few whispered 
 words passed Uetween him and the landlord, and 
 the man left. Half an hour later distant shots were 
 heard following each other in rapid succession. 
 The guardians of the home coverts heard them, 
 and rushed off to find that a complete slaughter 
 had been rapidly effected. 
 
 The next morning one of the principals in that 
 shoot walked by those covers a public path ran by 
 the side of the largest and he found the " head-un " 
 stroking his stubbly chin, and using at intervals the 
 strongest language he was capable of. " He'd have 
 'em, if he watched day and night for 'em." This 
 he said to the man who was so innocently walking 
 round. The latter replied that " he hoped he might 
 git 'em ; for sich goin's on, in broad daylight, in a 
 little village like theirs was parfectly scand'lous." 
 
 Some people are as clever in laying traps for 
 others as monkeys in cocked hats might be; less 
 clever indeed, one ought to say. 
 
 There are men, however, whose unflinching but 
 unassuming efforts to carry out their duties have 
 gained for them the respect of the very class they 
 are continually at war with. I am not fond of the 
 
44 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 word poacher ; it is not a nice name to give to 
 furred or feathered creatures, still less to men, but 
 the title has been used so long that it will never 
 be dropped now. It has become time-honoured at 
 least, for it dates from the time that the red-deer 
 were the objects of pursuit and capture. The 
 hunting instinct is strong in all Englishmen; with 
 some poachers sport is the main object; one man's 
 wits being pitted in some cases against those of 
 half-a-dozen other men, has lent some attraction to 
 the thing. In six cases out of ten it may be esti- 
 mated that the one man wins. 
 
 I have no desire to defend the practice of poach- 
 ing in any way, far from it ; for those who rear 
 large quantities of game have to pay a very heavy 
 price for it. I have known some of the keenest 
 game -preservers of the past time, before driving 
 and other, to my mind, objectionable practices were 
 in vogue : stern men they were in all matters con- 
 cerning poaching, but they never suffered from it 
 to the extent that some do now not one quarter 
 of it ; and for this reason, their keepers were good 
 men like their masters. If they found a poacher, 
 one that they knew to be one, they never tried to 
 
POACHERS AND POACHING. 45 
 
 implicate a man in a hurry, or, as we should express 
 it, to make a job of it beforehand. " I have not 
 found you at work, and I hope you won't give me 
 the chance ; but you are trespassing, so you clear 
 out," was the sort of exhortation given. One man 
 who was caught red-handed, before they led him off, 
 after he had been convicted, said to the keeper: 
 "You warned me right enough, an' I've got it, 
 three months hard ; but you ain't got nuthin' to do 
 with that, fur I bin up afore, fur a job in another 
 place." Then he added wistfully, " If you has a 
 broken rabbit at any time, fur mercy sake, let 'em 
 have it," meaning his wife and children. 
 
 To this appeal the man addressed answered, 
 " Confound you ! Do you mean me to help to keep 
 them, now you are going ? I never heard of such 
 confounded impudence ! " The poacher knew full 
 well, however, in spite of this speech, that he had 
 not appealed in vain. The same head-keeper a 
 man in the full sense of the word one of our great 
 animal painters painted the portrait of his magnifi- 
 cent retriever with a pheasant in his mouth, and 
 presented it to him, said one morning, " We have 
 got Ned, Squire." 
 
46 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 " Where is he ? " 
 
 "In the brewhouse, with two keepers looking after 
 him." 
 
 " Confound the rascal ! Bring him into the gun- 
 room to me," said the Squire. 
 
 When he was presented there " Ned " looked like 
 some animated scarecrow : his clothes had been 
 literally torn to pieces in the fierce struggle that 
 ensued before he was captured. For fear the poor 
 wretch might catch cold through the general airi- 
 ness of his vestments, his captors had given him a 
 couple of " horns " of the generous home-brewed ale. 
 From the way in which he occasionally placed his 
 hand to his side, giving himself a gentle rub, it was 
 quite evident also that he had received some heavy 
 "rib binders." His two captors had not had all 
 the fun on their side either, for one of them had a 
 lively " mouse " under each eye, and the other mate 
 had his mouth so altered that his pronunciation was 
 very much interfered with. 
 
 " So you are here again, you rascal, are 
 you ? " 
 
 " Yes, I be, Squire, but I wouldn't ha' come if 
 I could ha' perwented it like." 
 
POACHER'S AND POACHING. 47 
 
 " You told me the last time you were here I 
 should not see you again, if you could help it." 
 
 " I meant it, Squire ; 'tain't no fault o' mine as 
 I'm here now." 
 
 After looking at the man and then at the two 
 under- keepers, with the greatest difficulty keeping 
 himself from smiling, the Squire replied that he 
 supposed not. 
 
 " What did he get for the last affair ? " he asked. 
 
 " Six months, Squire, I'm sorry to say." Here 
 Ned broke in with, " An' if I has another dose 
 like that, Squire, I shan't be a trouble no more." 
 
 " Are you married ? " 
 
 " No, Squire, but I be thinkin' on it." 
 
 "Who are you courting, you rascal? Some 
 decent girl, I'll be bound; it generally is so." 
 
 " Yes, Squire, you're right there ; she's a lot 
 better than I be, or she wouldn't be much." 
 
 "What shall we do with him, D ?" But 
 
 before the head - keeper could answer Ned broke 
 in, " For mercy sake, Squire, make a under-keeper 
 on me. I bin a poacher, an' I be one now, or else 
 I shouldn't ha' bin here. If ye will I'll sarve ye 
 faithful as a dog. Give me this one chance." 
 
48 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 Looking him full in the face for one moment the 
 Squire said, " I will." 
 
 I saw Ned some months after the Squire had 
 taken him. He was a prime favourite with all, 
 from the head-keeper to the grooms in the hunting 
 stable, and he did his duty honestly and efficiently. 
 As the good old Squire remarked, his doubtful 
 investment had turned out well. 
 
 Gentlemen with high-bred dogs, held securely in 
 leash when walking on highroads the public roads 
 object to being told by the ignorant Jacks-in- 
 office not to let their dogs get in the covers. 
 This sort of thing at one time would have been 
 simply impossible. Numbers of boards are stuck 
 up on the outskirts of paltry little covers, stating 
 that all dogs found straying will run the risk of 
 being shot. This is simply sickening. I have 
 travelled for miles often without seeing a dog un- 
 less I have chanced to come upon a keeper with 
 his retriever or a shepherd with his dog. If these 
 matters were properly looked into I very much doubt 
 if some of these notice-boards have any right to 
 be there at all. I have seen home covers border- 
 ing on highroads close to populous villages, the 
 
POACHERS AND POACHING. 49 
 
 pheasants, hares, and rabbits dotting about the 
 road like farmyard things, and yet no boards were 
 up to warn people off; and the very numerous 
 school children did not throw stones at them, for 
 the simple reason that they belonged to the old 
 Squire. Where the children were allowed to go 
 gathering blackberries, I have seen more game 
 about than will ever be seen again under similar 
 circumstances. 
 
 How creatures are captured I shall not even 
 surmise here ; there has been a little too much 
 of the amateur poacher literature about lately. Is 
 it likely that those who have the knowledge will 
 spread it broadcast ? But if our readers have the 
 notion that the clever procurer of contraband game 
 is some slouching hob-nailed ruffian in a beer- 
 stained, dirty, velveteen coat and hob- nailed shoes, 
 with a bludgeon tucked under his arm, it will be 
 well to get rid of that idea at once. 
 
 In southern counties poaching has become a 
 refined woodland science. 
 
 " I wish you would tell me when you are com- 
 ing," said a keeper jeeringly to one of this class, 
 whom he had tried to capture, but failed. They 
 
 P 
 
50 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 had chanced to meet on the highroad. " Do warn 
 me next time you are coming." 
 
 The poacher, with fist clenched ready for instant 
 attack if necessary, replied, " I will come to-night, 
 at twelve." 
 
 It was a rough night, the keeper did not see 
 the man who had promised to come ; but next 
 day one of his under-keepers showed him some- 
 thing that convinced him to his sorrow that the 
 one he had jeered at had been, though not in 
 the place where he had expected him. Thick wits 
 pitted against keen ones are apt to get the worst 
 of it. 
 
 A man who is always talking to his friends about 
 having his eye on people, and placing his hands 
 on them, is little heeded ; it is the quiet one, 
 that moves about as if, had the choice been given 
 him, he would have preferred the cloisters of some 
 monastery, who is feared by all breakers of sylvan 
 laws. As one who had got into trouble observed, 
 "Them 'ere gentlemen keepers licks ye clean. I'd 
 scarce put the toby in when he says, ' I want 
 you.' Where he come from got over me. I 
 thought as I'd hev a scrap for it, for there was 
 
POACHERS AND POACHING. 
 
 only he ; but, bless ye, that didn't fit nohow, for 
 he warn't half so smooth as he looked, I ken tell 
 ye. He was a good un too, an' no mistake, for 
 he let me off only I was fool enough to start 
 agin somewhere else." 
 
 Over - cunning, also, at times overreaches itself; 
 setting traps in certain places, and springing them 
 afterwards, with rabbits' flick scattered about to 
 indicate a supposed struggle, is not the wisest 
 trick to play, when some people are in the habit 
 of walking through the woodlands especially when 
 these tricks are played for the purpose of stopping 
 up paths if possible. There is a great deal in 
 everything ; but it is apt to be made unpleasant 
 for some when such little games are frustrated 
 at times. 
 
 I prefer not to dilate on any of the ruffianly 
 proceedings that have taken place at different 
 times in connection with poaching ; the public 
 papers give us more than enough of that. These 
 sketches relate of those who have done the thing 
 for the pure love of it, and chiefly because it 
 was something they ought not to have done. If 
 it could only be known how many, now in very 
 
52 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 respectable positions of society, had done a little 
 of it in their time, simply because they could not 
 help it, how much shocked some good people would 
 be. There is a witchery under green leaves that 
 holds people at times. One long - legged, gaunt 
 trespasser in this matter was the woodland clown 
 of the district. His captors had always something 
 to laugh at when they caught him ; he certainly 
 was barefaced at times. How many fines he had 
 paid, it would be difficult to say ; but the lot would 
 mount up to a very heavy sum. He was other- 
 wise perfectly harmless ; for so far as my own per- 
 sonal knowledge went, he never hurt any person 
 or thing except the creatures he went in pursuit 
 of, but very rarely did he miss getting what he 
 set his mind on. One day, just as he had taken 
 a fine rabbit from a flam, and was about to break 
 its neck, some one spoke from behind him " At 
 your old game, then ? " Coolly turning round, the 
 man saw his old acquaintance the keeper. 
 
 " What do ye mean about game ? this ain't no 
 game, I can tell ye ; I'm real earnest tryen my 
 hardest to do good to this poor lunatic rabbit. I 
 was comin' along, and sees him pokin' his head 
 
POACHERS AND POACHING. 53 
 
 fust inter one hole, then inter another. I could 
 see he was a stranger, an' that he was shy a-goin' 
 in other people's houses like. So thinks I to my- 
 self, if it was anybody but me comin' along you'd 
 git some mischief done to ye. I gits over, where 
 you sees me, to make him go into a hole. I've 
 only tried to do him a good turn, that's all." 
 
 " You don't think that tale will answer, do you, 
 eh?" 
 
 " It will, if you lets it ; you ain't forced to dis- 
 believe it, are ye ? " 
 
 " What have you got in your basket ? " 
 
 " My dinner." 
 
 " Well, turn it out. Ah, I thought so pheasants' 
 eggs." 
 
 "Only a dozen, that's all." 
 
 " That's your dinner, is it ? " 
 
 "Now look here, keeper, you listen to me for a 
 minute. Of all the tricks that was ever played on 
 a poor innercent feller, this is about the wust. My 
 natur ain't of a savage sort, but if I could drop on 
 the willian as put them 'ere eggs in my basket, I 
 should most likely hurt him with the fust thing I 
 could lay my hand on. They was put there by 
 
54 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 somebody that got a grudge agin' me, when I went 
 to find a hole all to himself for that werry rabbit 
 what you has in your hand." 
 
 Unfortunately Barnaby's story was not believed, 
 for his veracity at all times was questionable : if 
 he was obliged to speak the truth, he invariably 
 mildly protested against it, as bad form. Like the 
 Heathen Chinee we read of, Barnaby invariably 
 wore a childlike smile on his countenance. When 
 he paid one of his numerous fines he would smile, 
 and say how very hardly some people used him, 
 but he'd " forgive 'em," poor creatures. 
 
 Once he was caught with a couple of brace of 
 pheasants. " Yes, here they are, poor things they 
 will come to me. I can't make it out, they will 
 come. But bless ye, here they are, I don't want 
 'em they ain't no use to me, you hev 'em." As 
 this offer was made to the owner of the birds, and 
 on the very property where he had caught them, it 
 very naturally roused some dander. 
 
 Gudgeon and minnow streams, the children's 
 waters, are closed in many districts, and the stickle- 
 backs in country streams are no longer seen. What 
 is the meaning of this ? Something is wrong some- 
 
POACHERS AND POACHING. 55 
 
 where. When toddlers fished these streams and 
 brooks, trouts and eels were numerous ; now you 
 will not find them. In all the cases that I have 
 known, directly boards were put up by the rivers, 
 brooks, and mill - streams, warning people not to 
 fish under the penalty of being prosecuted, the fish 
 in some mysterious manner disappeared. It is one 
 of the common remarks you will hear in all direc- 
 tions now, " Where are the fish ? " Before they 
 were preserved the water fairly stunk of fish, and 
 now they are gone. Many a thing is far better let 
 alone. Poaching I mean fish -poaching has had 
 nothing to do with the matter ; for, from the nature 
 of the waters that supplied these brooks and streams 
 with fish, it would be impossible to poach them. 
 There are certain waters that can be done nothing 
 with in that way. 
 
 Dogs are looked on now with far more suspicion 
 than ever they were, and with less reason. The 
 silliest little muck of a mongrel, that would certainly 
 run away from a rat, is credited with unheard - of 
 destroying powers if game is handy. In fact, near 
 some of the well-boarded coverts to which I have 
 alluded, where far more game is frightened than killed, 
 
56 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 dogs are not allowed at any of the cottages round. 
 I have never kept a dog at any time of my life, 
 because my pets have hardly been of the kind that 
 you could expect dogs to live with in perfect peace ; 
 but I am well acquainted with the animals, and 
 know a good dog when I see one, especially when 
 it is at work. The term " lurcher " I know is a 
 name of reproach, and yet the best so-called lurchers 
 I have known have been well-bred beautiful crea- 
 tures. The fault does not lie in the animal, but in 
 the use the creature is put to. The wonderful in- 
 telligence, speed, and strength combined, and its 
 silence above all, fits the creature pre-eminently for 
 the purpose for which it is used. I have known 
 some famous lurchers in whom the best greyhound 
 blood in England ran freely; and I venture to state 
 that if any man who knew what he was about was 
 compelled to live in some isolated place where he 
 had to provide himself with food, and he had only 
 the use of his hands and a dog to get it, he would, 
 without one moment's hesitation, prefer that dog 
 to be a lurcher. I have seen some beauties in my 
 time, perfect models of animal form, that had had 
 a first-class greyhound for father, and a very clever 
 
POACHERS AND POACHING. 57 
 
 and beautiful collie for mother. No wonder the 
 progeny of these knew something. When I heard 
 that one of these same clever and handsome lurchers 
 had been wantonly shot, I felt as if a murder had 
 been committed. 
 
 " I swore I'd shoot his lurcher if I got a chance," 
 said one good fellow I knew ; and the dog had been 
 a pill, and no mistake. " One day chance came, 
 and I covered her; but I didn't pull, I hadn't the 
 heart to do it. Her master was in the road, and 
 she was on my side, where I had hid up. I showed 
 myself with my double, but not for fear of me 
 did the man turn white. He was no cur, but he 
 trembled for his dog, for he was as fond of her 
 as if she had been his own child. " I could have 
 done it, Tommy," I said, "but you see I haven't, 
 she's had one more chance given her." 
 
 " Thank ye, master, for not hurtin' her ; you won't 
 see us round your beat no more," and Tommy kept his 
 word. Things were better managed then, I think. 
 
 One of the most arrant poachers I ever knew, 
 in order to save himself from utter ruin, joined a 
 Rifle regiment. He was the best shot in it ; and 
 more than that, he was prized highly, because he 
 
58 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 provided the officers' mess, when they were on 
 foreign service, and his own mess as well, with 
 many a game dinner when they were on short 
 rations. The poor fellow fell in action, and those 
 who were left behind lamented him greatly, for 
 they said the best caterer for knick-knacks a regi- 
 ment ever had was gone thus proving, in the most 
 direct manner, that if great talents are not fully 
 appreciated in one place, they may be in another. 
 The hunting instinct is one that belongs to Eng- 
 lishmen, and it has been one of the causes that in 
 past times enabled us, as a nation, to do what we 
 have done, to hold our own. Colonel Peter Hawker, 
 that rare old sportsman, writing at the beginning 
 of the century, said (of professional poachers) : "Per- 
 haps many of those who prescribe laws are not 
 aware that most poachers are in a society, and 
 have a stock purse to support each other, by which 
 means they are enabled to snap their ringers at a 
 five-pound penalty." And again : " It absolutely re- 
 quires a very old sportsman, who has discovered all 
 the secrets of poachers, to strike at the roots of 
 this evil, and not legislators, who are worthy of a better 
 officer 
 
OLD HEDGEROWS. 59 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 i 
 
 OLD HEDGEROWS. 
 
 OLD hedges are rapidly disappearing from the face 
 of the country. They can certainly be seen lining 
 the road and bounding the fields, but these, with 
 very few exceptions, are of recent growth ; possibly 
 some of them may be from twenty to thirty years 
 old. Many of the older ones have been split, cut 
 down, and allowed to shoot out in fresh growth; but 
 this course of hedge-trimming does not afford places 
 of shelter such as the old ones gave. 
 
 Our present system of farming on a large scale 
 has had much to do with the destruction of fine old 
 hedgerows. If large fields are required, or if it is 
 thought that they are necessary, the men have only 
 to cut down and grub up the hedges of three or four 
 
60 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 smaller ones, and the thing is done, though it does 
 not always prove a financial success. 
 
 Many of the old hedges that have passed away 
 are not forgotten, for men whose ages run from fifty- 
 five years up to seventy have the history of these by 
 heart. When they were boys, those old hedgerows 
 were their hunting-ground ; and besides this, their 
 fathers had given them records of the same. Two 
 generations of hedge-lore the men had gathered and 
 treasured up. 
 
 The more modern hedges are composed of quicker 
 growths, very different from the old ones ; for black- 
 thorn, crab, whitethorn, bullace, laced and interlaced 
 with great trailing brambles, formed there thick 
 shelters. Trees, too, at various distances stood 
 like great buttresses in the middle of them oaks, 
 ashes, and elms. The ground the hedges covered 
 would be viewed with astonishment now, for some 
 of them were double ones, with a deep water-run 
 between, in order to carry the water, in wet seasons, 
 from the upland fields down to the grazing meadows 
 below. 
 
 At all seasons of the year have I hunted in the 
 old hedges. And what can escape the sharp eyes of 
 
OLD HEDGEROWS. 61 
 
 boys when on the hunt, eager to know all that can 
 be known of the interesting and beautiful things 
 around them animals, birds, fish, insects, and last, 
 but not least, flowers ? When a boy tells you he 
 has looked for certain things and not found them, 
 you need not waste your time in looking for them : 
 snowdrops, Lent lilies, primroses, violets, both blue 
 and white all these, and others in their seasons, 
 were found by us boys for our sisters, or those the 
 boys considered their friends. 
 
 If we did not find them in sufficient quantities in 
 one spot, with a shout we would dash off to another. 
 Great handfuls of kingcups and cuckoo-flowers were 
 gathered, to be placed in old-fashioned jugs, with a 
 fringe of glossy dark-green leaves of the kingcups 
 round them : we boys knew where the hedges faced 
 south, and where the meadows were sheltered by 
 these. If the smaller ones reached home without 
 their elder brothers, and with their little knuckles 
 stuck close to their noses, sobbing, the ash-plant oil 
 would be freely administered. But by such as we 
 boys were, the history of the hedgerow sanctuaries, 
 as they once existed, have been handed down : the 
 young life of two generations climbed up them, 
 
62 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 crawled through them, and got torn clothes, 
 scratched hands and faces, and then made fresh 
 acquaintance with the aforementioned ash-suckers 
 when they arrived at home again. 
 
 When crops were off, the fields and hedgerows 
 came in for our inspection. I was the only one of 
 the lot who owned a natural history book, and that 
 being of the old popular sort, was quickly put on one 
 side : I found that the accounts there given did not 
 tally very well with what I saw for myself. This at 
 the time was a great puzzle to me. 
 
 When we found the young of the corncrake dark 
 sooty little creatures, just escaped from their shells, 
 I wondered why birds, which in their habits were 
 so much like partridges, should be so very different 
 in their colouring when they were young ! Why 
 should the great shrike come when the other shrikes 
 were not to be seen ? These and other matters 
 exercised me much ; and indeed they do still at 
 times. On one of those old hedges I refer to, I 
 have seen the great grey shrike looking like a small 
 magpie. Even now in the season, although the 
 hedge has been grubbed for these fifteen years 
 past, the great shrike pays a fleeting visit to 
 
OLD HEDGEROWS. 63 
 
 the meadow through which at one time that fine 
 hedge ran. 
 
 Bryonies, vetches, the convolvuli, traveller's joy, 
 or old man's beard, "bethvine," thistles, mulleins, 
 and arums, kexes, or teasles, all grew in the hedge 
 bottoms : a wealth of vegetation in the summer, a 
 mass of rich glowing colour in autumn, and in win- 
 ter the branches were crimson with wild berries 
 yielding food for the birds. 
 
 Here the hedge-sparrows built their early nests, 
 also the blackbirds and thrushes, followed by the 
 finches. When the crops were ready for reaping, 
 clouds of birds flew from the corn-fields up to the 
 hedge and back again. Dormice, field-mice, rats, 
 rabbits, and hares sheltered there ; as well as stoats 
 and weasels to look after the others : there was 
 room for all. 
 
 As I write, a group comes before me, sitting under 
 a hedge, with their poor curs between them, during 
 a driving hailstorm, each one holding forth on the 
 merits, or at any rate the fancied ones, of his hum- 
 ble four-footed companion. The others are now 
 gone; I am the only one left out of that group. 
 Hedges that covered small brooks in, the feeders 
 
64 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 that led from the water - meadows to the main 
 stream, were sources of real trouble to us at times 
 for this reason, they hid so much from us ; we could 
 not get what we wanted out of them, although we 
 knew perfectly well it was there. The finest water- 
 cresses and the largest forget-me-nots grew under 
 the tangled thorn branches. How new, how full of 
 interest and mystery much of it was to us in those 
 early years ! 
 
 One such hidden stream I remember especially 
 well, since, as time went on, that arched-in brook 
 was one of my most valued hunting spots ; for on 
 one side corn-fields started, bordered near the brook 
 by fine oaks. In their season wild ducks, teal, 
 woodcock, snipe, moor-hens, and little grebes have 
 all been procured from this place. As the place 
 faced south, and the sides of the brook were steep, 
 when other places were frozen this kept open. 
 Sometimes water-rails made it their home, but they 
 did not stay, for their habitat proper is among reeds 
 and lush water-tangle. Even one place of refuge 
 improved away makes a difference ; and when hun- 
 dreds cease to exist, it makes a very great difference, 
 so far as numbers go, to a county. For all wild 
 
OLD HEDGEROWS. 65 
 
 things have their travelling lines, and so well at 
 one time was this known that they were looked for 
 in certain haunts almost to a day, if the weather had 
 been right for them. The great hedges of the grass- 
 meadows, and the corn-fields that adjoined, had 
 strips of rough coarse grass and scrub on each side 
 of them, dented in by the hoofs of cattle on one 
 side and of horses on the other. When the acorns 
 fell, the pigs that were turned out did not pick them 
 all up, nor did the rooks, with all their hunting ; for 
 thousands fall and drop into hoof-prints, get covered 
 with leaves there, and are passed over. It is the 
 same with grain in the corn-fields : when the fields 
 are carried, a countless quantity of grains drop from 
 the ears, and are stamped into the furrows by the 
 horses' feet, to be rolled in by the waggon-wheels 
 clean out of sight of all creatures, if the fields remain 
 fallow. When the rain falls after proper autumn 
 weather has been and gone the furrows, if the rains 
 have been heavy, run with water. Then the wild 
 ducks come and dabble, spatter, spatter, spatter ! up 
 and down the furrows. They sift the grain out ; 
 their bills are formed for that. The holes under the 
 trees, also, where the acorns have fallen, get filled 
 
 E 
 
66 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 with water ; the outer skin gets soft, and the inner 
 skin of the acorn readily slips. Here again the 
 ducks have fine food, to which they are very partial. 
 Acorns that have matured in the way I have men- 
 tioned have a very different flavour from those that 
 have just dropped. I have sampled all woodland 
 fruits and berries which are not actually poisonous, 
 and have found out that acorns, like crab -apples, 
 are best when ripened off underneath the leaves. 
 
 First the homes of wild creatures go, then their 
 food, and then there is nothing for them but to 
 clear out also. So far as some of our small birds 
 are concerned (I mean those home-bred birds that 
 should be seen all the year round), there is a close 
 time, we know: this the bird-catcher can answer 
 for. But increased facilities for railway travelling 
 now, in all directions, land these gentry in the very 
 heart of districts that a few years ago were as un- 
 known to them as the heart of Africa. Forty or 
 sixty miles from London is nothing to them now, 
 if their catches are good. Permission is readily 
 given by some, for the sake of thinning the small 
 birds off; others resolutely refuse it, because they 
 will not have birds destroyed wantonly. Some men 
 
OLD HEDGEROWS. 67 
 
 would kill even a singing lark. I have only missed 
 one bird, in the full sense of the word, and that 
 is the goldfinch. Sometimes for months together 
 we do not even hear the note of one, let alone 
 seeing the bird. The hawfinch, that at one time 
 was thought rare, is in some districts in the 
 country more frequently seen now than the gold- 
 finch. 
 
 One class of hedgerow birds I never fail to see 
 in their season these are the migrants that frequent 
 the woodland hedges. The first to come is the 
 chiff-chaff; and for some little time after arriving 
 this small migrant is silent, as if the journey had 
 been a little too much for him, and had made 
 him feel serious. But after a few days you hear 
 his "chevy, chef, chef, chif!" The notes of mi- 
 grants vary : when they first arrive they are mostly 
 tired out ; then when they get well rested and well 
 fed they tune up. After the little chiff-chaff comes 
 the willow-wren, and he is followed by the wood- 
 wren. Then the sedge - warbler, and the curious 
 grasshopper-warbler ; the white-throat, lesser white- 
 throat, blackcap, and nightingale complete the list. 
 All these we can find now, breeding in one woodland 
 
68 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 hedge, which is about three hundred yards in length. 
 Robins of course are there also. 
 
 Food and shelter are the two chief objects of all 
 insect feeders. As the lush wild growth that hides 
 their nests forms the food-supply and also the shelter 
 for their insect prey, all goes well. Some places 
 are avoided by migrants, because the sour ground 
 there will not allow plant-life to flourish properly. 
 One can tell by the soil that the banks and sides 
 of the hedges are composed of, what birds will be 
 found there in the season. The nightingale, for 
 instance, is very fastidious about locality. I have 
 seen the nests of all the birds above mentioned, 
 both with their eggs and their young. The study 
 of hedgerow life is a most pleasing one, for other 
 creatures besides birds live in and about hedges. 
 It is very remarkable, but about breeding-time the 
 young ones very rarely come to grief through crea- 
 tures of prey. If you are fortunate, or I will say 
 patient enough to find their nests, you will see the 
 full complement of eggs or of young birds. This 
 may be because these birds build as a rule round 
 the outskirts of game covers where predatory crea- 
 tures are killed off. 
 
OLD HEDGEROWS. 69 
 
 It is a most amusing sight to see young robins 
 stand and look for the first time with open mouths 
 at some little rabbit coming out of their stop, whilst 
 they themselves are searching along the banks with 
 their parents for food. Young blackbirds and 
 thrushes act in the same way, just as if they were 
 utterly astonished to find other young things differ- 
 ent to themselves about. 
 
 What can surpass a ragged hedge in the month 
 of June one that has once been " splashed," well 
 banked up, the deep " gripe " or ditch cleared, and 
 then left to make its own wild growth ? Some 
 people will go far to see less beauty than they can 
 find at home close to their own doors. 
 
 June comes, bringing with it a cloudless sky and 
 great heat. It is the first day of the month, and 
 I am wandering along the hedge that I have indi- 
 cated. It is a tangle of dog-roses : great masses 
 of rose-colour there are, mixed with honeysuckle; 
 the vine-like leaves of the bryony show here and 
 there ; the vetches are climbing up ; as to the ferns, 
 they are in all the tender green freshness of early 
 summer; foxgloves, where the sun falls nearly all 
 the day, are in flower, their rich spikes of flower- 
 
70 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 bells showing conspicuously. Mothmullein plants 
 are abundant here on the hedge-banks, their cool 
 green leaves looking as if they were covered with 
 the richest velvet pile. They are not in flower yet : 
 they will show their towers .of delicate blossoms 
 presently. One of the richest bits of colour I have 
 seen was made up with three cock-pheasants and 
 some mullein in flower. The flashing reddish purple, 
 golden-yellow, and blue colouring, as the birds moved 
 in and out of the soft primrose mullein blossoms and 
 their cool green leaves, was a beautiful sight for one 
 who is contented with small pictures. 
 
 Nothing can equal the perfume from wild hedge- 
 blossoms in their dewy prime : there is a mingling 
 of all that is good and fresh from Nature's own 
 distillery. 
 
 Mole-heaps show all along the hedge-banks. I 
 think the little gentleman in the black velvet coat is 
 the means, to a certain extent, of turning up a food- 
 supply for the soft -billed birds, so called. The 
 robin and the hedge - sparrow, however, clear the 
 floor at times. They are, in their way, determined 
 fighters when it comes to a disputed point about 
 food. Blackbirds, thrushes, sparrows, and finches 
 
OLD HEDGEROWS. 71 
 
 stand on one side if either one of these birds chances 
 to be there. Often have I watched the proceedings, 
 and seen the robin and the hedge-sparrow have it 
 all to themselves, after driving away the others. 
 The robin holds his tail up, cocks his head on one 
 side, and with his bright eyes looks at the hedge- 
 sparrow, standing like a little soldier; the other 
 merely picks at the food, flirts his wings, and shuffles 
 round about, just as it suits him. But these two 
 do not quarrel with each other, for each bird knows 
 well what the other can do. 
 
 Although nesting is going forward in full force, 
 as it is yet early in the season the cock birds sing. 
 They do this where there is little chance of their 
 being observed, for they sing within a short distance 
 of their mates. It makes a vast difference on which 
 side of a hedge you go to look at birds. I need 
 scarcely explain this : my readers can easily judge 
 for themselves why. But it is a fact that one side 
 of a hedge may not appear to be tenanted by birds, 
 when the other side is alive with them ; for hedge- 
 banks composed of generous gravelly loam, well 
 dressed by the natural top-dressing of leaf-mould, 
 are the favourite haunts of birds in their nesting- 
 
72 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 time. We can hear their singing, for the thrushes 
 and blackbirds have rested for a time. The simple 
 act of passing through a gate in the hedge reveals 
 to us a migrant paradise, only one out of thousands 
 which are to be found on the tops of our glorious 
 Surrey hills. 
 
 Here is a fine open bit of mossy greensward, 
 dotted, not covered, with junipers, low firs, and 
 magnificent clumps of dog - roses and briars. A 
 belt of noble beeches surrounds it, and this is circled 
 round again by firs. Here the sun shines nearly 
 the whole day long, and the butterflies are flit 
 flit flitting all over the sward and dog-rose clumps ; 
 here the white-throats are in force, the larger species 
 especially. One throws himself up above the mass 
 of rose-blossoms that conceal his mate who is sit- 
 ting snugly below, then drops down, almost touching 
 the flowers ; he jerks up again, chattering and sing- 
 ing, his crest up and wings quivering. To look at 
 him, you would imagine that he had much to say 
 which was very important, and that some imperative 
 bird-law only allowed him a few moments in which 
 to say it. It is soon over : he catches something, 
 and glides like a mouse with it to his mate below. 
 
OLD HEDGEROWS. 73 
 
 That butterfly-like bird, the wood-warbler, sings 
 a half-hearted little song as he flutters over the tops 
 of the beech twigs : he knows that he has come a 
 long way to sing it, and that he has to go back 
 again ; and his notes seem to tell you that the 
 sooner it is all over the better he will like it. Then 
 suddenly you hear chipped out, " chiff, chiff, chiff, 
 cheff!" to any extent; and when that stops, the 
 faint mouse-like chirp, or tweet, of the golden-crested 
 wren comes from the firs. 
 
 Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap ! that is the green wood- 
 pecker "shinning" round and up the dead limbs 
 of one of the old beeches. Then for a time all is 
 still : you can see by their gentle flickerings that a 
 faint air up aloft is gently moving the tender, bright, 
 yellow, green leaves of the top shoots of the beeches, 
 but not enough to make a rustle. The scent from 
 the firs and junipers, mingled with wild roses and 
 clumps of mignonette, which grows here in profu- 
 sion, appears to float to and fro ; one's lungs are filled 
 with the life-giving air of the woodlands ; then a 
 bird sings, a loud, full, liquid song, as distinct from 
 that of any other bird as day is from night. The 
 place is filled with it. No matter where or when 
 
74 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 you hear it, you will, if you love bird-music, stand 
 still and listen to that weird wild song; for the 
 bird fairly wails : it is a full, rich, wailing chant. 
 On the top shoot of a low fir sits the small dull- 
 coloured singer, his little breast heaving, and his 
 throat - feathers puffed out to their utmost, as he 
 gives vent to his song, whilst his slender needle- 
 pointed bill is opening to its widest stretch. This 
 is the grey and brown, sharp-billed, shuffle-winged 
 hedge-sparrow. 
 
 The nightingale and blackcap sing and nest in 
 this spot, generally one pair of nightingales and two 
 pairs of blackcaps ; for both birds to a certain extent 
 are local in their habits. You will take great inter- 
 est in the song of either of these birds as you pass 
 along, but you will stop to listen to the hedge- 
 sparrow. One gravelly hollow, a very short dis- 
 tance from the place I have been describing, sunk 
 in the hillside facing direct to the south, is a fav- 
 ourite nesting - place for woodlarks. These fine 
 songsters, as their name indicates, are partial to 
 the outskirts of the woodlands ; they keep near, but 
 just out of them. 
 
 The afterglow of a summer night, if nine o'clock 
 
OLD HEDGEROWS. 75 
 
 can be called night, throws a rich glow over the 
 whole hillside. In the distance the Southdown 
 hills show as great lines of purple haze ; near to us 
 a rich glow, which is neither red nor purple, creeps 
 and flickers. 
 
 As we stand near a large oak watching the fern- 
 owls dashing to and fro, just over the heads of the 
 rabbits that are out feeding, overhead a sweet song 
 trills out from an unseen singer, the woodlark is 
 singing his evening song, and sometimes it is 
 carried far into the night. 
 
 A little below the gravelly pit or hollow runs a 
 wood path, or ride, seldom used for traffic, except 
 when copse-cutting is carried on ; the trees at some 
 time or other had been cut and the roots grubbed 
 up to make it. Now you may not see a single tuft 
 of brambles, or torey-grass, before the process takes 
 place; but when such places are cleared a bit for 
 the purpose I have mentioned, these spring up in 
 rank luxuriance. As rough water-runs are made on 
 either side, to prevent them from being stodged up 
 when the rains fall, even in the hottest summers 
 there is moisture, and all things are fresh, cool, and 
 flourishing. Here you can hear the grasshopper- 
 
76 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 warbler reeling off his fishing-reel song, and if you 
 keep hidden, very quiet, and restraining, with Spar- 
 tan-like fortitude, any exclamation when the horrible 
 midges and stout flies bite you, you may possibly 
 see the bird itself. 
 
 There is a market for birds' nests and eggs ; and 
 if people want them and are willing to pay for them, 
 they can have as many so-called British specimens 
 from the Continent as they choose to buy. Ask 
 any field-naturalist how long he hunted for the nests 
 of the grasshopper-warbler, and the fire-eyed chat 
 or Dartford warbler so called because the first 
 specimen of this prince of hidelings was procured at 
 that place, and he will surprise you by his answer. 
 
 Summer is over, and the migrants that nested in 
 the glad summer-time have gone back to where 
 they came from. Winter is drawing near, for the 
 schoolboys' " blue-backed game-birds," the fieldfares 
 or bluefelts, have arrived. The leaves are nearly 
 off the hedges, but they make a brave show with the 
 berries, which, when they get thoroughly frost- 
 ripened, the birds will eat. Some ripen much 
 faster than others, so that the food-supply comes in 
 rotation. Some rough fruits and berries can only 
 
OLD HEDGEROWS. 77 
 
 be made fit for birds by hard weather ; and this is 
 one more example of the eternal fitness of things. 
 The wren chatters, turns his tail over his back, and 
 is very busy near his nest, which has been deserted 
 for some time by his numerous family. Probably 
 the little fellow thinks they may require that snug 
 home again to roost in at night, if the weather gets 
 rough. At present he is only on a tour of inspec- 
 tion, to see if some other creature has been before 
 him, with that same purpose in view. Some 
 creatures that " lay up " that is the woodland 
 name for shelter are very innocent and perfectly 
 harmless ; others are not so : I have had my fingers 
 bitten at times before I got as well acquainted with 
 wild things as I am now. But I have not yet been 
 bitten by a viper. It is not pleasant to find you 
 have got one of these creatures in a deserted nest 
 which once belonged to a mouse that the reptile no 
 doubt had swallowed, before taking the little crea- 
 ture's home to himself, to live in it for the winter. 
 The dormouse has finished his grass house, and 
 sleeps in it at night ; in a short time he will curl up 
 for his long rest. The wood-mouse, called by some 
 the garden-mouse, because it leaves the woods to 
 
78 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 feed in the gardens, might easily be taken for the 
 dormouse, unless the tail of the pretty bright-eyed 
 creature was noticed. For both frequent the 
 hedges ; the dormouse has his grass nest above, 
 the wood-mouse has his nest below. Both creatures 
 are fawn-coloured above and lighter tinted under- 
 neath ; one mark serves to distinguish them when 
 they are seen running close to each other the dor- 
 mouse has a bushy tail, that of the wood-mouse is 
 finer. 
 
 If the hedge - banks are examined now all the 
 tangle is dry and bare for only the stems of the 
 mulleins, foxgloves, and ferns remain some of the 
 clever shifts of the migrants, in order to avoid 
 detection, will be seen. There is the nest you 
 took so much trouble to find : you can see now 
 why you did not succeed ; for a large root-leaf of 
 the mothmullein hung directly over the entrance 
 to the nest, the nest itself being worked into a root- 
 hollow. There it shows plainly enough now, with 
 the mid-rib of the leaf still hanging there. As to 
 the tree-pipit's nest, well, your feet have passed 
 over it, without stepping on it, twenty times. 
 
 Two keen bird-nesters, who could climb like cats, 
 
OLD HEDGEROWS. 79 
 
 friends of my younger days, made it a point to 
 search for a nest that they knew was there, but 
 which could not be found, when the leaves were off 
 the trees and hedges. Then they wondered how it 
 was possible for them to have missed it. 
 
 Small roads or tracks can now be plainly seen, 
 where four-footed things have gone to and fro hares 
 and rabbits, as well as hedgehogs and mice. You 
 can trace all now ; before, you only heard the rustle 
 of leaves as they moved beneath them. There is 
 enough rustling too, just now, for the blackbirds 
 are picking and scratching, like so many partridges, 
 among the fallen leaves at the bottom of the still 
 dry ditch. If you startle them with a yell, out they 
 shoot, and over the hedge they go like hawks. 
 When the day is closing they will sound their clear 
 good-night notes before going to roost. Then the 
 woodcocks will come to hunt amongst the fallen 
 leaves, and will find plenty to eat there. 
 
 A vast amount of life, varied to a degree, can be 
 found in and about our beautiful English hedge- 
 rows. 
 
8o WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ALDERS AND REEDS. 
 
 I WAS about to dive down into one of the numerous 
 hollows in some woods which I frequented much, 
 when I was hailed by a stalwart young woodland 
 friend of mine, who was returning from his day's 
 work. 
 
 " You be like them ' come-backs ' (guinea-fowls) 
 of mine on the wander again," said he. " If you 
 ain't nothing better in hand, you an' me ken hev 
 a looter roun', arter I've had my supper. You likes 
 out-o'-the-way places an' old tumble-down houses." 
 
 " It ain't only the place I wants to take ye to 
 see," said he, when he rejoined me; "that's pretty 
 enough, an' ye'll want to make a pictur of it, I 
 know. But there's more than that, a mate of mine 
 
ALDERS AND REEDS. 81 
 
 lives in the old house what part of it can be lived 
 in and he wants to see ye about summut. Marks- 
 man has been telling about that there fly ye made 
 him." 
 
 There was no right-of-way through the woods, 
 but my friend, as woodman, could go anywhere in 
 the domain, and I, as his friend, might accompany 
 him. A blue -eyed, fair -haired young giant he is, 
 one with whom I have walked many a mile in this 
 district, and not a sound or a sight was ever lost 
 upon " Waggle." 
 
 " Listen to the heave -jars; ain't they a-tunin' 
 up?" he remarked, presently. "On that slope, 
 where the copse stuff was cut last year, it lies warm, 
 and the sun is on it all the day near ; if there's one 
 heave -jar lays there, I tell ye there's a dozen. I 
 don't meddle with 'em, but now and again I just 
 goes up to see their noovers. They'll sun theirselves 
 just like chickens do, and I've had them flip up 
 right in my face when they've been laying in the 
 leaf -mould or among the dead leaves an' stams. 
 You can't see 'em them heave-jars is wuss to see 
 than woodcocks, an' they're bad enough. An' ) r et 
 you'd think you'd see all that was on that bare slope. 
 
 F 
 
82 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 An' do you hear they owls a-mewing there, like so 
 many young kittens ? The first young uns o' this 
 year they are. Just bide still a moment, an' ye'll 
 hear one o' the old uns bark. Now ain't that like a 
 tarrier yappin' ? " 
 
 Once more we dived down into a wooded hollow, 
 and we were in front of the old place we had come 
 to see. 
 
 " Will that do fur a pictur to paint ? " asks the 
 young giant, as he leaves me to look round whilst 
 he goes in search of his friend, to whom he will 
 presently introduce me as " the one who made the 
 Owlet " of great fame. It was one of the most 
 beautiful subjects for the pencil that I had ever 
 seen. There was a great pool of water fringed with 
 reeds, and shut in by the woods, a calm pool, with 
 great masses of weeds floating on its surface, the 
 only clear space being towards the centre. This 
 was caused by the rush of a trout-stream that we 
 could see shooting into it. 
 
 The afterglow of evening was on the pond, the 
 trees, and the mill buildings, now falling to decay. 
 The sluice was there, and through the broken sluice- 
 boards the water rushed under the old mill into the 
 
ALDERS AND REEDS. 83 
 
 trout -stream, below the rails of the sluice-gates, 
 which were covered with green moss. From some 
 broken boards close to the sloping bank a white 
 head peeped out ; from our standpoint this looked 
 like the head of an owl, but the glass showed me 
 it was a cat on the look-out for mice. This place 
 has a peculiarly mournful beauty of its own. The 
 mill and the buildings surrounding it were falling, 
 though the principal timbers, of solid oak, still 
 held up the rest in some mysterious fashion. The 
 whole looked as if a good kick would make it 
 topple over. The roof-tiles, covered with lichens 
 of many colours, had sagged down in hollows. In 
 some parts where it had broken through, the ends of 
 the rotten laths that had at one time supported them 
 showed. The top part of what had been the half- 
 hatch door of the mill hung by one rusty hinge, 
 and through this opening could be seen the ruin 
 inside. Great beams had fallen, and the water 
 was whirling round some, and under others. This 
 lonely, beautiful bit of water had been one of the 
 hammer -ponds when iron was smelted here. And 
 when from some cause the industry fell off, the 
 place had been converted into a mill. Then there 
 
84 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 had not been work enough for this, and all had 
 gone to ruin. The mill-house was tenanted from 
 time to time only by woodmen. 
 
 A shrill whistle attracts our attention to the 
 house below us, and we hit the boards to frighten 
 the cat, which still persistently pokes her head out 
 of the hole in the boards ; then, picking our way 
 very carefully down a flight of crumbling steps, 
 we find ourselves in the garden below a real old- 
 fashioned one, full of vegetables and those old-time 
 flowers which are now again, happily, becoming 
 such favourites with people of good taste. 
 
 In the garden we were met by the occupant of 
 this ruined domain for the time being, a fine- 
 looking fellow, and a kindly one, who told me he 
 bided there with his old mother. " You'd better 
 look round the old shant'," said he, "before the 
 light sinks." 
 
 We found what had once been a fine woodland 
 house in its last stage of dilapidation. The bricks 
 were crumbling for several yards up the walls ; 
 the ridge-tiles were heaved up and overlapped each 
 other, at the uninhabited end especially. "These 
 big yews in front of the door keeps our part dry,'' 
 
ALDERS AND REEDS. 85 
 
 said the young man. The trees had shot up and 
 covered one end of the house-roof. Many a gen- 
 eration had passed in and out of that doorway, 
 between their pillar-like trunks ; but they were still 
 in full vigour, with no sign of decay about them. 
 
 " Come in and have a drop of mother's old mead," 
 spake our host " it won't hurt ye ; mother makes 
 it out o' honey, jest as it comes from the hive, and 
 that's reckoned wholesome by our folks. Then you 
 an' me '11 go up the pond. I wants to talk to ye 
 about summat. Waggle, here, can talk to mother, 
 an' taste that there old mead again." 
 
 We walked quietly to the sluice; then my com- 
 panion said, " Marksman thought I'd better see 
 if ye was to be got at. There be summat kills the 
 old gal's ducks, not the old but the young uns; 
 they gits pulled under the water, an' no one sees 
 no more on 'em. It worrits her, the loss o' them 
 ducks, an' she will hev it there's summat wrong 
 with this 'ere pond." 
 
 " Show me where the ducks get pulled under." 
 
 " Why, when they Grasses this 'ere broadest bit 
 o' open water, in front o' the slush, to git on that 
 'ere bit o' boord what slopes down fur 'em to land 
 
86 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 like. We don't let 'em stay out on the water o' 
 nights, fear o' the foxes. I've seen two on 'em 
 go down myself, both at one time ; not in daytime, 
 but when they come across this 'ere bit fur to be 
 shut up o' nights. I've druv 'em in early to-night. 
 Now Marksman made sure as ye could tell me 
 what it is as pulls 'em under." 
 
 " Have you got any pike about ?" 
 
 " What's that ? " 
 
 " Why, jacks." 
 
 "Jacks ? yes, lots on 'em. I catches 'em some- 
 times on night-lines, baits 'em with a trout." 
 
 " Well, it's just a large jack that takes the old 
 lady's ducks." 
 
 "No, can't be that ; I've tried fur un all sorts 
 o' ways with roaches, daces, gudgeon, and trout ; 
 it wun't hev none on 'em." 
 
 " And yet you say something takes the ducks. 
 Is there any fish at the mouth of that stream that 
 runs into the pond ? " 
 
 "'Tis just alive with 'em, one sort or t'other. 
 Marksman said as how you'd be sure to know 
 all about it." This the young man reiterated 
 persistently. 
 
ALDERS AND REEDS. 87 
 
 " Well, this is what happens to your ducklings : 
 that big jack swims up to the mouth of the feeding- 
 stream, to pick up a fish here and a fish there, 
 just to pass the time till the little ducks, which 
 are a delicacy to him, are on the water. If there 
 is one the right size to suit him, he has it ; if not, 
 he goes back to other feed. By-and-by he returns 
 to the deep water, and lies, probably in a long hole 
 in the wall, near the old sluice-gates. He keeps near 
 the mouth of the stream all the day, and is here again 
 in the evening when the ducks come home." 
 
 " But how be I to get him ? " 
 
 " Do you happen to have any sparrow-threshing 
 poles ? " 
 
 " If ye mean they bat-folding poles, I've got a 
 pair o' them, hard to beat, fourteen feet long, 
 straight as gun-barrels, and tough as wire; regular 
 good uns you may bend but you'll not break 'em." 
 
 Those bat-folding poles fully deserved his praise, 
 for they were a pair of beautiful well - seasoned 
 ground ash saplings. 
 
 " Now, what next ? " said their owner. 
 
 " Some wood-mice," I replied, " if you can turn 
 out any." 
 
88 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 " If you means them big uns with sandy backs, 
 white bellies, and long tails, most like sleep-mice, 
 we has a middlin' lot. I be ketching 'em reg'lar 
 with tile - trap downfalls ; kills 'em dead they 
 does." 
 
 "Now you listen to me : take this piece of new 
 pike-line, there is new snap-tackle on it, very strong 
 too; lash the line round the top of your pole for 
 about a foot down, you know how ; no pulling of 
 it off if you tried, and to-morrow evening, just 
 before the ducks come home, have your rod and 
 line ready, hook one of your dead wood-mice in 
 his back, drop him gently on the water where the 
 ducks swim over, and wiggle it to and fro. You 
 will have that jack directly the snap-tackle is in 
 him. Haul him out quick; that affair of yours 
 would pull a donkey out." 
 
 " Ah, I sees it now ; I never tried anything on 
 the top where he took them ducklings from. I'll 
 try that caper fast enough." 
 
 After getting my friend away from "mother's 
 wholesome mead," and bidding my new acquaint- 
 ance good-night, we started on our homeward way ; 
 but not through the woods Waggle sagely re- 
 
ALDERS AND REEDS. 89 
 
 marked that the roads were wider. The reason 
 for this choice was soon evident ; for at intervals, 
 as we proceeded, he assured me very emphatically 
 that " the mead was as good as any he'd tasted 
 in his martil life." Not only this, but he showed 
 off in various imitative exercises, called forth by 
 the associations of the night. He mewed like the 
 young owls, and yapped like the old ones, finishing 
 up with a long-drawn, tremulous hoot. Then he 
 gave the cry of a rabbit when the stoat is on him ; 
 after that the sound of a hare in trouble, shrieking 
 "Aunt aunt aunt!" So very natural was this 
 last performance, that it brought some one crashing 
 down into the road from the cover some distance 
 behind us. We were soon out of sight, but Waggle 
 remarked that it would be as well to keep quiet a 
 bit. I quite agreed with him as to this, and we 
 presently parted company, Waggle turning back a 
 moment, just to observe again that "there mead 
 was real good, an' no mistake." 
 
 This walk was taken at the beginning of the week, 
 and I had almost forgotten about those precious 
 ducklings, and was preparing to go as usual to my 
 own home in the country town, a good number of 
 
90 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 miles away, to spend the Sunday there, when the 
 young man appeared whom I had fitted up with 
 that strong tackle. 
 
 " That there caper did it," he cried, with a merry 
 laugh. " I got him right off; he was a real good 
 un. Mother's that glad, she's sent summat in this 
 basket for ye. Marksman was right when he said 
 you was the one to see." 
 
 Since my first visit to the lonely pool, as I always 
 call it, I have at different times wandered up and 
 down the whole length of the waters that at last 
 run into the Wey ; water - courses that are little 
 known, forming small lakes and great pools, where 
 reeds and sedges grow in rank luxuriance. Nearly 
 all the streams run through moorland bogs. At 
 the present time fish are abundant in these waters, 
 but the fishing is preserved. Wild-fowl, with the 
 exception of ducks, teal, coots, moor - hens, and 
 rails, are occasional visitants. At one time things 
 were different. The snipes do not breed here, for 
 their favourite haunts have been drained, I have 
 a great desire to describe, before they pass away, 
 in the course of changes that are inevitable, a long 
 line of alders and reeds that runs, with breaks here 
 
ALDERS AND REEDS. 91 
 
 and there, for miles ; this is as the place exists at 
 the time I am writing. 
 
 In some of the woodland meadows the streams 
 have cut their way in the most extraordinary man- 
 ner. In one meadow there are so many zigzags 
 that it looks as if the spade and pick had been at 
 work there ; yet it is the natural course of the 
 water, and the result of the wear of ages on the 
 banks. The neighbouring meadow has a straight 
 run through, where the water ripples merrily along, 
 without hindrance. When the streams pass under 
 the road through low arches as a rule, two in 
 number they widen out. This is caused by the 
 cattle coming to drink here, from the walled farms 
 that are close to these low bridges. The last of the 
 old families that lived in these ancient farmhouses, 
 generation after generation, lie in the quaint church- 
 yards : nearly all of the farms have fresh tenants. 
 It is truly remarkable to note how many old tomb- 
 stones have the same Christian names and surnames 
 on them. 
 
 By the way, these old farms do not lend them- 
 selves to modern improvements very readily ; they 
 answered the purpose of those they were built for 
 
92 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 long ago, but all those who think to alter old farm- 
 steads to suit the present day and its requirements 
 will be deceived or disappointed. That is the reason 
 so many of them have been pulled down. They 
 have given place to other buildings constructed on 
 modern principles, not so picturesque, but infinitely 
 more fitted for their purpose. 
 
 I remember well how, years ago, the farmer's 
 lads would saunter down from the farm to the 
 bridge, and look over the low white rails, appar- 
 ently at nothing ; then one would produce from his 
 pocket a line, which he would wind round his hand, 
 a thin water-cord line it was. As they only had lei- 
 sure late in the summer evenings, it would be a sort 
 of night-fishing they went in for. About a foot from 
 the hook a good perch-hook on stout gut a float 
 was fixed. This was made of a piece of willow with 
 the bark on it three inches long, the ends stained 
 to take off the staring light colour of the wood. 
 The line was tied exactly on the middle of this, 
 two notches being cut for that purpose. A good 
 big worm was fixed on the hook, and all was ready. 
 The lad would let the line rapidly off his hand into 
 the sharp stream, and the worm, held up by the 
 
ALDERS AND REEDS. 93 
 
 willow float, shot under one of the arches. Before 
 it was half-way through, tug tug would be felt. 
 There was no need to strike, for the fish, in the 
 act of turning, after taking the worm, hooked them- 
 selves. Many a good fry of trout, which had been 
 caught in that primitive fashion, would some of 
 those carter-lads have for breakfast. If two lads 
 were on the bridge, one only fished, the other 
 watched the proceedings ; if four of them were 
 there, two went at it one to each arch. That 
 would certainly not be allowed now, although the 
 trout are in the streams still, and have their hovers 
 under these bridges as of old. 
 
 The streams that run through common lands 
 have been fished in from time beyond our parish 
 records, yet I have known men constitute them- 
 selves the guardians of such. In one hamlet I often 
 visited, a person who came from no one knew where, 
 rented the largest unoccupied house. Before he 
 had been in the place six months he made himself 
 obnoxious by conceiving the idea that the common 
 stream, under his management, could be converted 
 into a very nice fishing - water for the exclusive 
 pleasure of himself and his friends. He even went 
 
94 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 so far as to have notice-boards put up, notifying 
 to the public that all who fished there would be 
 prosecuted. Besides this, he had gratings put up 
 at each end of the run to keep the trout from wan- 
 dering. To such a degree did he bounce about 
 and "put on side," that some of the dwellers in 
 that small hamlet began to think they must have 
 been doing wrong for years by fishing in the stream. 
 There was a sturdy few, however, who maintained 
 the contrary opinion, and in the hearing of one of 
 these the man was heard to remark that the stream 
 was worth fishing in now, "thanks to his super- 
 vision." On one long-remembered Sunday morning, 
 after he had gone to the parish church, three men 
 strolled to the water, carrying each of them a large 
 dish -shaped basket, made of thin strips of wood, 
 capable of holding half a bushel. The mills were 
 not running, and the stream was low, so that they 
 were able to get in the water without much dis- 
 comfort. Then they frightened the trout to their 
 hovers, and that done, they pushed their long 
 dish-shaped baskets under the banks, and in that 
 manner scooped the trout clear out of the stream. 
 After that they pulled down the notice-boards, and 
 
ALDERS AND REEDS. 95 
 
 so settled the matter for the self-constituted trout- 
 preserver. 
 
 I have just returned from a week's ramble ; it 
 takes that time in the long summer days to explore, 
 as I have been doing, those nine miles of boggy 
 water-courses, from their spring-heads high up in 
 the hills, to the place where they deliver their 
 waters into the river Wey. No matter what these 
 streams run through, alders, reeds, or quaking- 
 bogs, their beds are of stone; not the hard iron- 
 stone of the uplands, which was smelted in and 
 about this district in times past, but still bearing 
 a close resemblance to it. Up in the moors the 
 rills cut their way through peat, in some places 
 three and four feet in depth. The large stones 
 in the bed of the main stream made rare hovers 
 for the trout to lie in ; and there are good thick 
 fish, with golden backs, spotted with dark spots 
 and small vermilion ones, having cream - coloured 
 stomachs. Strong these are when hooked, and they 
 make a good fight of it before they are grassed; 
 for the stream swirls, rushes, and ripples along in 
 fine style. In some places the stream follows the 
 main road so very closely that you could throw 
 
96 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 your fly, hook and land your fish, without moving 
 from the road ; but notice - boards, which in this 
 instance are placed here by those who have a 
 perfect right to forbid trespassers, in very plain 
 terms forbid your doing anything of the kind. 
 There is, however, no need for notice - boards in 
 the parts where the stream runs through alder- 
 bogs; there will be no fear of your trespassing 
 long on these. And yet, in spite of danger, the 
 bogs, the swamps, and the reed - beds, and the 
 huge clumps of tussock -grass that rise out of the 
 water like so many small islands, as well as a 
 wealth of beautiful but treacherous greenery, have 
 been explored in past times by that class of men 
 who, if they wanted a wild creature of some par- 
 ticular kind, had it. 
 
 Very few notice-boards were to be seen at that 
 time; they were only, in fact, at the entrance to 
 covers. Sign-posts even were scarce. One lonely 
 road I know, which is situated at the foot of 
 the hills, used to have a very bad name, and not 
 without reason. It is now lighted up with oil- 
 lamps having strong reflectors. Things are cer- 
 tainly progressing in all directions. " The quakes" 
 
ALDERS AND REEDS. 97 
 
 were, however, looked after in those days. There 
 were two brothers I often associated with who 
 have now, like myself, laid aside the gun and the 
 rod, for the simple reason that under the new 
 conditions there is no further use for them, who 
 would take a day or even two just to see what 
 was moving there. The mode of proceeding was 
 as follows having been with that pair more than 
 once, I can tell all about it. As soon as it was 
 dark, the evening before one of these expeditions 
 was to take place, one of the party would walk up 
 to the edge of the swamp with a broad plank an 
 inch thick and twelve feet in length on his shoulder, 
 and hide it in the reeds. Before the early vapour 
 had ceased to rise from the moor, two or at the 
 most three figures would slip through the ash copse, 
 pull the plank out from the reeds, wade up the 
 stream to the swamp, and after that no more would 
 be seen of them for that day. No matter how 
 urgently they might be needed, no one would be 
 able to tell where they might be found. A coil 
 of strong but thin line would be produced. This 
 was sure to be of the very best quality, for the 
 rope-maker rope-spinner he was called of their 
 
 G 
 
98 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 little hamlet always received very particular in- 
 structions when the order to make line for this 
 purpose was given. I remember how he used to 
 assure the men who paid him for it, in an emphatic 
 manner, that it "wud pull a hoss out o' a bog, 
 let alone a man, or a couple on 'em, for that 
 matter." With ash pole ten feet long, pulled out 
 of some tussocks, their equipment was complete. 
 If it was necessary for the men to communicate 
 with each other, they did it in whispers; but as 
 a rule, a sign, a motion of the hand or fingers, 
 was enough. 
 
 The pole would be used to probe with in the 
 green weeds which grew in wide patches between 
 the tussocks where the alders were bunched to- 
 gether. I have seen it go down full five feet 
 without its resting on anything solid. Then the 
 plank had to be used ; it would be pushed out 
 over the quake, and the lightest of the party would 
 shoot over with the pole, probe quickly, and come 
 back. If all was right, we went over if not, we 
 tried elsewhere; for we knew that if we could get 
 fairly in the tussock-humps we could look round. 
 How to get there was the problem ; but by swing- 
 
ALDERS AND REEDS. 99 
 
 ing over on the great alder -limbs that hung low 
 for many of the large trees were falling, and 
 some already down made a bridge over a few of 
 the worst and widest places we gained the humps 
 of grass. Hundreds of these there were, a few 
 feet apart ; they were more like clumps of pampas- 
 grass than the ordinary tussock-grass, their growth 
 was so luxuriant. Great bunches of marsh -mari- 
 golds, masses of them that it would take both 
 arms to encircle, grow in the spaces between the 
 tussocks. Yellow irises shoot up in all directions, 
 and the flowers of the forget - me - nots show in 
 blue patches. These are larger here than they 
 are on the borders of the swamp. There is a 
 mass of colour all about you in the various swamp 
 blossoms, whilst above is the dark -green foliage 
 of the alders, through which you get glimpses of 
 blue sky without a cloud. 
 
 For the expedition which I am describing, pro- 
 visions had been provided, including a large flat 
 stone bottle of home-brewed beer, which was placed 
 in a bog-spring to keep it cool until wanted. In 
 the bag were the solid portions of the refreshments, 
 and two drinking - horns. It would never do to 
 
ioo WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 stop in these swampy localities through a long day, 
 working on empty stomachs ; if you did so you 
 would certainly have the " shakes " at night, in 
 spite of the summer weather. Of all the grasses 
 that grow in swamps or bogs, the oat-grass always 
 arrests the eye most. Great sheaves of it are here, 
 and very beautiful it is, for the tassels show a light 
 crimson against the fresh green leaves and stems. 
 As you look at them, you might fancy you were 
 looking at small reeds instead of this great patch of 
 reed-like grass ; but as you turn from them to the 
 reeds, you find that the resemblance is only a 
 slight one. 
 
 Our leader has gone away somewhere, leaving 
 me buried in the soft centre of a tussock-hump, 
 where I enjoy myself to my heart's content watch- 
 ing the live things that are all around me. I am 
 well hidden from sight, so large is the tussock and 
 so high are the grasses that fall in graceful curves 
 all about the base of it. As I lie half dozing, yet 
 with my eyes wide open, I hear something go 
 crack. Very quietly leaving my nest, I go to see 
 if my companion has got bogged, an accident likely 
 enough to have occurred. But no ; before I have 
 
ALDERS AND REEDS. 101 
 
 gone a dozen yards over the humps, we meet. 
 Without a word he points with his finger in the 
 direction he has come from, turns about again, 
 and I follow him. Three great humps are near, 
 having about a foot run of deep slush, into which 
 his pole has already probed ; and pointing to the 
 centre of this, he whispers, " Look ! " There I 
 saw a fox's lair, and the odds and ends of his larder ; 
 a very well supplied one it was, too. 
 
 " Let's get back tu where you was curled up ; 
 'tis too near the edge of the bog fur chattering here," 
 he whispered. 
 
 When we did get there, he " reckoned we might 
 as well hev summut to eat before we get 'lear' 
 like." In the course of our meal, in low tones, he 
 told me he had awakened the fox from a sound 
 sleep. As Reynard looked up in amazement at 
 him, not yet quite wide awake, he had struck at the 
 animal, but missed him ; the fox had not stayed 
 for the blow to be repeated. 
 
 "He's had a lot of 'Old Kind-hearted's ' ducks, 
 ain't he ? He've missed a lot on 'em lately ; and 
 sarve him right. Last huntin' time they found a 
 varmint up in the covers, and lost him in ten min- 
 
102 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 utes. I knowed one, if not two foxes, layed in this 
 'ere place; and they makes for it over the humps 
 and water. So I tells the huntsman that the one 
 they was after hed trotted off to the alder swamp 
 and layed up there, snug. 
 
 " Then Old Kindey snaps out, ' What do you 
 know about it ? you ain't been there, hev ye, eh ? ' 
 So he turns, and sez he, ' Don't you take no notice 
 o' him,' and the huntsman didn't ; but he called 
 the hounds, and went tu find a fox furder on. That 
 'ere fox may hev all his ducks afore I lets him know 
 on't. I shan't forgit neither, the time I cut his 
 reeds fur him. His pond's full o' jacks ; but he 
 wun't let nobody fish, nor yet ketch 'em hisself. 
 Reg'lar dog-in-the-manger is Old Kindey. Well, 
 when I cut them 'ere reeds, the jacks had worked 
 up in 'em from the pond, thick lots on 'em. I 
 asks him if I could hev a couple, but he said No ; 
 the Squire wouldn't like it if he knowed it. It 
 was in the old Squire's time, mind ye, and he was 
 in furrin parts at the time. That riled me ; fur 
 he rents the pond, and the mill, and the rights of 
 fishing is his. You knows how we stack them reeds, 
 don't ye ? same as shocks of wheat. Well, I cuts a 
 
ALDERS AND REEDS. 103 
 
 lane like in the middle on 'em, and stacks my shocks 
 o' reeds 'longside on it. Then I poles the punt 
 round the other side and cuts, leavin' the medder 
 all quiet like. I knowed a lot o' them there jacks 
 would git up that trench I'd cut. Afore I cum 
 away I claps a couple o' shock afore the mouth 
 o' thet trench. Then I chains the punt up, and 
 if I didn't actooally forgit tu take him the key ! 
 I knowed he wouldn't bust the padlock, if he did 
 want tu use her, 'cause he'd hev tu git a new one if 
 he did that. 
 
 " Next mornin' I cum 'cross fields way, and 
 brings my hedge - trimmin' bill. Bless ye ! you 
 should hev heard him chouter 'bout my forgettin' 
 tu bring him the key o' the punt. But I tells him 
 I waun't used to chouter, and he better draw sum 
 water off, or he could cut his own reeds. I knowed 
 they was all sold, else he wouldn't ha' wanted me 
 to cut 'em ; he'd ha' let 'em stood and rot fust. 
 Well, when he'd let off a goodish bit, I gits out 
 the punt it was middlin' slushy over my knees 
 and I goes tu cut right in the middle where my 
 trench was out of sight. I gits my hedge-trimmer, 
 and looks in the place I'd cut. Massy ! oh, waun't 
 
104 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 there a lot o' them jacks, and no room fur 'em to 
 rush about. I hits the big uns behind the head, 
 they was quite enough fur me the rest could go. 
 
 " My father's told me lots o' times as the one 
 afore Kindey wus as bad concarnin' fishin' as he 
 is; and this 'ere young un what's at school now, 
 is comin' along just the same, so I've heerd. But 
 it ain't no use ; fish is wild things, and if we wants 
 'em, we has 'em." 
 
 Presently one of the plumes of oat-grass quivers, 
 bows down, and then the stem falls. After that 
 another in the same manner, then there is a stir 
 on the weed-covered water-run something is strug- 
 gling to get across it. It is a water-vole, with two 
 stems of oat-grass carried crossways in his mouth. 
 These voles are vegetable-feeders, and all the day, 
 and it may be for part of the night, they are work- 
 ing hard, cutting and carrying. 
 
 " Why take all this trouble to get into a danger- 
 ous swamp and out again ? " some of my readers 
 may ask. It was to see where the wild ducks and 
 the teal came to feed, sifting and spattering with 
 their sensitive bills for the seeds of the wild grasses, 
 and the reeds that ripen and fall in the waters, 
 
ALDERS AND REEDS. 105 
 
 over which they nod and sway, springing up there 
 for centuries, beautifying nature's wilds, where all 
 is self-sown. Also to watch the rails as they leave 
 their nests, to slip like rats through the great 
 masses of rich golden - orange kingcup blossoms 
 and green leaves ; and to see the moor-hens flit 
 hither and thither, decking and clucking, anxious 
 that their sooty little young ones should come to 
 no harm. To note the little red - polled linnets 
 clinging and climbing like so many titmice about 
 the twigs of the alders where they breed ; and to 
 see the kingfishers settle on the alder branches and 
 the bowed - down stems of the oat - grass. Gold- 
 finches fly twittering through the leaves ; coming 
 from the common just outside and settling down 
 for a few moments to drink on the edge of the 
 stream, then away again twittering as they fly. 
 These and many more things took me there, and 
 last, but not least, good trout. " Poaching," you 
 say. No, this was common land. 
 
 If a man should be hindered from fishing in any 
 place such as the one I have been describing, even 
 where he had offered to pay for it, or the "Squire" 
 had given him permission, he might just as well 
 
io6 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 quit the spot at once, for no fish would he get 
 there. There are some still living who remember 
 how lawless men held sway in and about this dis- 
 trict until they were hunted down. Very reticent 
 men these were; and there are still some who re- 
 semble these in more ways than one. If they 
 give you in their own way to understand that they 
 " wun't hev no fishin' ; " well, let them alone, and go 
 somewhere else where things are different. 
 
 Some of the old low houses, very solid structures, 
 standing just off the water's edge, have histories 
 of their own which would fill a volume ; but here 
 we have only to do with the wild things of the 
 woods, the fields, the hills, and the swamps. One 
 old mill which stands quite alone, having a tower 
 on one side of it, which might be that of a church, 
 but without a roof, will be remembered in this 
 locality for generations to come. A bad deed was 
 most providentially hindered from completion by 
 the miss-fire of a gun here. 
 
 All these large ponds, we have been told, and I 
 believe the information was correct, were once ham- 
 mer - ponds in the iron time. Some of the best 
 edge-tool makers are still to be found about this 
 
ALDERS AND REEDS. 107 
 
 neighbourhood. Little blear-eyed, thirsty Chubby, 
 of whom I told in ' On Surrey Hills/ lived here, 
 where he had a widespread reputation for his bill- 
 hooks and axes. 
 
 Things are, however, changing here as elsewhere, 
 though perhaps more slowly. One great bog is now 
 being drained. I went on the edge of it. I could 
 get no farther ; my field-glasses did the rest for me. 
 At last I could see the real bottom : the alders were 
 bending over great rifts in fat black peat, ready to 
 fall, for the water in swamps floats all up. The 
 tussocks that have built themselves up century after 
 century, on platforms consisting of their own 
 decayed leaves, look like great pillars with huge 
 crowns of grass on the top of them. They stand 
 up from the dark peat floor, three, four, and five 
 feet high, still flourishing luxuriantly. If you 
 attempted to walk on that floor, you would cer- 
 tainly go down. When all this was in its primitive 
 state, the leaves of the tussock-grass on those humps 
 trailed in the water that surrounded them ; twice 
 the height of a man, you could sink out of sight. I 
 believe that when these swamps are finally cleared, 
 they will come across a few curious things, if there 
 
io8 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 is any truth in country traditions and in some of 
 these there is very much. 
 
 Where in one place the water, after flowing 
 through the park-lands of a noble mansion, made its 
 exit again by the highroad, it was through the 
 remains of a ruined bridge. The principal arch 
 had caved in, and one end of the bridge had fallen, 
 so that the water forced itself through the fallen 
 masses of brickwork just where it could, and then 
 rippled on as before. This at one time was no 
 doubt a chace, and the fens and meres surrounding 
 it provided an ample store of fish and fowl for the 
 religious establishments that once overlooked the 
 whole of this valley. History repeats itself, and 
 others have recently been built near the old ones. 
 A short distance across country a new religious 
 house has been established, and the vesper-bell is 
 heard as of old, its tones floating over the waters 
 that surround its bell-towers. 
 
 When I saw this district forty years ago, it was 
 far wilder than it is now ; yet a good deal of it 
 remains in its primitive state still. But the wild- 
 fowl no longer come in their seasons to cover the 
 face of the waters as they once did. There were 
 
ALDERS AND REEDS. 109 
 
 rough fields where the snipe and the plover rested, 
 which are now market-gardens in the most flourish- 
 ing condition. An enterprising individual surprised 
 the natives by renting these useless swamps. Some 
 of them, after having drained them, he dug out, and 
 then he made splendid water-cress beds there, with 
 the natural springs running through them. He 
 found, too, that the poor hungry soil that would 
 only grow torey-grass, moss, and rushes, when it 
 had been broken up by the plough, left for a time to 
 sweeten, and then well dressed with the rich soil 
 from the swamps, fat as it was with much decayed 
 vegetation, would grow almost anything. The rich 
 peat soil he used for the hungry lands that rose 
 above the places he had drained. When he first 
 began his operations, the older folks shook their 
 heads, saying it would never do, for 'twas against 
 all reason, with much more to the effect that " fools 
 and their money were soon parted." They were 
 greatly astounded when this wilderness began "to 
 blossom like the rose." I have seen many market- 
 gardens, but none like these, which he made to 
 bring forth life vigorously in tree and plant. 
 
 This ought to be the beginning of the end so far 
 
i io WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 as these bog-lands are concerned ; such an example 
 cannot surely fail to be followed, for it has already 
 paid so well. The very best of garden produce, 
 tons upon tons of it, has gone to market from spots 
 where it seems but yesterday that we listened to the 
 hum and the bleat of the snipe. The change was at 
 first a bewildering one. Strangers are now draining 
 and building here in all directions; and they do 
 well, for there is scenery to delight the eye, hills 
 and dales, woods and waters, such as can be found 
 in few of our English counties. Old mills, old 
 houses, and old trees are still to be found by the 
 lover of these. One comes upon a pool of water, 
 bristling with great sword-like sedges and slim 
 tasselled reeds sometimes, just after a mere bend of 
 the road, beyond one of the new mansions with its 
 trim lodge. Here the pike still plunge, and the 
 water-rail groans and grunts when he hears that 
 sound. He glides and slips along like a rat, as he 
 runs across the floating reeds in front of one. 
 
 Poets and sentimentalists have written about the 
 "dismal swamp" and its horrors ; here is a sketch 
 of one, as I know it. The alders on its edges are 
 draped with hoary moss ; most of them are growing 
 
ALDERS AND REEDS. in 
 
 in the water, or rather their roots have sunk beneath 
 it. They will soon fall bodily into it, as hundreds 
 of them have already done. As you lean over the 
 old crumbling bridge, and look over the pool through 
 the openings in the reeds and sedges, towards the 
 great thickets of willow, sallow, and alder that line 
 the sides of the feeding-stream down to the pool, 
 there is something weird and dreary about the idea 
 that one bend in the road has taken you from the 
 glaringly new to the hoary old. As I passed the 
 trim lodge lately, a smart carnage came out and 
 passed by on its way to the railway station ; I could 
 hear the whistle of the engine and the rush of the 
 train, whilst here all was silent save the slush up of 
 a pike in the reeds, and the strange notes of the rail 
 and the moor-hen mixed with those of creatures we 
 could not see. 
 
 The particular experiment I referred to has done 
 good in every way ; for substantial cottages have 
 been erected where the farmer's cattle were apt to 
 get bogged and smothered. Those who work in the 
 prospering market -gardens and the water -cress 
 beds live in these. And not only that, but there is 
 a change in the people themselves, one much for the 
 
H2 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 better. They are beginning to see that leaving 
 things as they have always been from their begin- 
 ning is not the best way by any means. Useless 
 and dangerous places have been converted into 
 valuable property, which gives employment to large 
 numbers, requiring a great amount of labour in 
 spade-husbandry. I have watched these changes 
 with great interest : we have had our day, others 
 must now have theirs. Still, I confess I regret the 
 vanished wild life ; arid I am not alone in this, for 
 the old companion with whom I used to explore the 
 swamps deplores the loss, every time we come across 
 each other to talk of the days when our blood ran 
 hotly in our veins, and no silver tinged our hair. 
 When I walk over those hunting-grounds again, it 
 may not be through alders and feathered reeds. 
 
WHEN MARCH WINDS BLOW. 113 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 WHEN MARCH WINDS BLOW. 
 
 CLOUD-SHADOWS flit rapidly over the slopes of a 
 long valley that runs the whole length of the 
 glorious top of one of our Surrey hills. From 
 one of the hill-roads that leads directly to London 
 town a rustic gate opens into the fir-wood. A 
 notice-board is fixed there, giving the strictest in- 
 junctions to keep to the narrow track in passing 
 through, on your way down to the long hollow 
 that looks like some huge railway cutting. The 
 banks and the track itself are covered with the 
 finest turf: they run through and over the very 
 crest of the hill, far away to woodlands in the 
 distance. Thorns and furze dot the slopes, here 
 and there mingled with brambles : there are not 
 
 H 
 
ii4 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 enough of them to form a cover for game, but suffi- 
 cient for the creatures that frequent the slopes of 
 that hollow. 
 
 I have known the place for many years, and it 
 is still a famous hunting-ground for a naturalist : 
 there are the same species living there, furred and 
 feathered, which we used to find in that place 
 thirty-seven years ago. It is far from the other 
 places I have written about. At one time I went 
 frequently there, but life's changes have kept me 
 from the locality for very many years. In the 
 course of conversation with a friend of my younger 
 days, whom I met again by accident lately, on 
 one of my long journeys, he had taken service 
 with the gentleman who owns this fine estate, 
 I found that matters went on now in the same way 
 that they did when I used to have free range there 
 so long ago. 
 
 " Come and give us a look round," he said, 
 heartily; "you are quite welcome: that double- 
 barrelled glass of yours won't hurt anything. The 
 shooting is all over, and there's lots of things flitting 
 about that will please you." 
 
 I was glad to except this invitation. I had been 
 
WHEN MARCH WINDS BLOW. 115 
 
 thinking that I must find fresh hunting - grounds 
 somewhere. Yes; I knew that spot when pere- 
 grines, harriers, kites, buzzards, all passed over 
 that hollow in the hill. The rabbits that were 
 there in hosts proved too great a temptation for 
 some of them, and a few captures were made. A 
 splendid kite in mature plumage, that had come 
 from there, I once examined ; also a falcon in 
 her red plumage that had been shot in the act 
 of carrying off a partridge which she had struck. 
 She was afterwards beautifully set up with her 
 quarry, and I remember very well that so long 
 as the case remained in the bird - preserver's 
 window I spent all my spare time in looking at 
 it. At that period of my life I did not own one 
 single work on natural history ; my studies were, 
 as they still are, from the life, only then exclu- 
 sively so. 
 
 The life of a bird and the study of a dead one 
 will give you the very best knowledge, however. 
 A very careful study of any dead bird or animal 
 will show you why they are able to do the wondrous 
 things that man marvels at, being formed for the 
 very purpose they so admirably carry out. The 
 
ii6 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 Great Power that made them perfect, they praise 
 continually, all the time they live, by fulfilling the 
 end they were made for; and the Creator alone 
 understands the mysteries of all. Let scientists 
 bow their heads, for the highest one among them 
 all knows not yet the path of a bird on flight. 
 Patient men, naturalists, devoted to their study 
 in spite of everything, through good and ill fortune, 
 have done all that they are capable of doing to put 
 as much of the real truth as they are able to gain 
 before the public ; but much still remains hidden 
 from us. 
 
 The study of the Creator's works makes one 
 feel glad to live and to be permitted to know a 
 little out of so much infinite greatness, but also 
 to rest content where we are not permitted to 
 know more. The rest is reserved for us elsewhere. 
 Earnest searchers after nature's secrets in all parts 
 of the world, are trying to discover the great bird- 
 nurseries of some of our migrants. It would take 
 a whole company of devoted searchers, all their 
 lives, to explore the desolate Siberian tundras. 
 Nearer home, within a few days' journey, we have 
 the marshes of Central France and the Spanish 
 
WHEN MARCH WINDS BLOW. 117 
 
 marismas. Even these, when thoroughly explored, 
 will give a vast amount of new information. Inland 
 waters, marshes, lakes, compared with which the 
 once-famed Whittlesea Mere would only be a mere 
 plash, are there to harbour and supply food for 
 hosts of creatures. By the way, why is it that the 
 great reed-warbler or babbler, that looks like a 
 water-thrush, so very rarely crosses the Channel ? 
 It is certainly somewhat strange, for he is numerous 
 enough on the other side of it. All birds move about 
 more or less, but some very much more rarely than 
 others this large reed-babbler, for instance. 
 
 I must crave my reader's indulgence for this long 
 preamble, and we will now turn to the birds that 
 are with us when March winds blow. They have 
 lately been blowing till they reach the point we may 
 term a gale, for this has been a ''farmer's March" 
 quite blustering enough to make the rooks hold 
 a noisy meeting on the great beeches four miles 
 away, at the foot of this hill district, where they 
 have nested and roosted for many years. It is very 
 difficult to get at rook records accurately, but there 
 I know they have been flapping, hopping, and 
 croaking and cawing to their hearts' content. But 
 
n8 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 that has ceased for some time : although March 
 came in, as the old folks say, like a lion, he is just 
 now going out like a lamb. Some quibbling is 
 raised at times, over matters concerning bird-life, 
 that any farmer's lad would laugh at, all owing to 
 folks forgetting that the weather varies so much 
 in different localities. Some favoured spots in our 
 southern counties are visited by migrants weeks 
 before these are popularly supposed to be on flight. 
 They come to this long sheltered hollow in the 
 hill-top; so do the rooks. Father rook has done 
 showing off: he does not throw his tail up over 
 his back, droop his wings, and softly cackle as he 
 presents some choice morsel to the object of his 
 affections ; for his courting time is over, and now 
 he has his mate to provide for as she sits closely 
 on her nest. Soft days in March are not to be 
 trusted ; we have repeatedly seen the hen rooks 
 sitting, covered with snow, with the cock birds 
 roosting close by the side of them. They do talk to 
 one another then most eloquently : the rook is de- 
 voted to his mate ; he works and slaves hard for her, 
 from morning to night. 
 
 A storm of snow or hail does not kill the young, 
 
WHEN MARCH WINDS BLOW. 119 
 
 as might be supposed ; for when the mother bird 
 gets thickly covered with snow, father rook is there 
 on the edge of the nest, with his feathers shaken 
 clear of snow, ready to take her place, with most 
 affectionate gabbles, directly she rises to flap herself 
 free from the falling snow. In less than five 
 minutes' walk from my home I can stand and 
 watch all the domestic arrangements of these very 
 industrious and sagacious birds ; and the longer 
 I watch them, the greater is my admiration for 
 them. 
 
 At times a favourite feeding-place of theirs gets 
 well worked out. Then they have to take a wider 
 range, in hard times a very wide one. The rook, 
 in spite of his apparently deliberate movements, is 
 a grand flighter ; but his flight is a very deceiving 
 one to ordinary observers, for it takes a good trained 
 falcon to capture a rook in fair flight. No snipe 
 ever twisted sharper than a rook when it was 
 necessary for him to do so. But now, and here, 
 there is not any cause for his exerting himself 
 beyond gathering food from the sunny slopes of 
 the hollow to flap away with to his mate, who is 
 sitting in the beech-trees in the vale below. A bird 
 
120 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 possessed of good qualities, which are exerted free 
 of all costs for man's benefit, is the rook. 
 
 The beautiful wheatears frequent this hollow, not 
 in great numbers, but a dozen or more pairs may be 
 seen in the course of a morning's ramble. A timid 
 little fellow is the wheatear: a rook passing over 
 makes him dive for shelter under any tuft, stone, 
 or dead leaves that so frequently gather in bunches 
 at the base of brush-growth. His note is very like 
 that of the shrike, who will come presently to the 
 same happy hunting-grounds ; the chack ! chack ! 
 draws your attention to the wheatear, as it does 
 to the shrike. The furzechat, with his black head 
 and red breast, has been here all the winter, also 
 the fire-eyed chat, the Dartford warbler. When 
 the hounds draw for a fox, these are in a state of 
 scolding excitement. The whinchats will come pres- 
 ently. The furzechat or stonechat ought, I think, 
 to change names with the whinchat for the last- 
 named bird, so far as habits and habitat go, deserves 
 the title far more, in my opinion, than the black- 
 headed stonechat, or furzechat, as it is usually 
 called with us. 
 
 The cuckoo, when his time comes, will shout all 
 
WHEN MARCH WINDS BLOW. 
 
 day here, and far into the night. I have known 
 him come before his time apparently, for I have 
 seen him shooting through falling snow - flakes. 
 "He's gone again," they say presently; but the 
 bird has only retired to some sheltered cover with 
 a southern aspect, where, warm and dry, he will 
 feed on creatures that have sheltered there with 
 himself. Some of our readers may wonder why 
 all birds do not seek out such favoured spots, 
 instead of starving in hard weather. For numbers 
 such places would be useless. Insect-feeders must 
 have insects in some form or other, either mature 
 or immature. That is why, as a rule, they are 
 found in the places where insect-life exists in a 
 torpid state. If hard weather would kill out some 
 of the insects, it would be a gain stoat-flies, for 
 example. "Stouts" make their appearance when 
 the leaves are green. A " stout " came in the most 
 gentle murmuring manner and bit a friend of mine 
 in the back of his hand. The place puffed up, the 
 arm swelled, and for two days he was not able to 
 use it. 
 
 Legions of small snails cover the slopes. There 
 is a local saying that the reason the mutton from 
 
122 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 South Down sheep is so delicious is because the 
 sheep, in closely cropping the fine velvet-like turf, 
 eat enormous quantities of these tiny creatures. 
 These come and go as atmospheric changes take 
 place, although they never go far, certainly : on 
 warm moist mornings and evenings you would 
 crush hundreds at every step that you might take 
 on the turf. Worms come out in thousands at 
 such times; then the plovers are busy. At one 
 time all the poor earth-worm was thought fit for 
 was to go fishing with. Now he is known to be 
 one of earth's workers for man's benefit ; and not 
 only that, but he affords first-rate food for a great 
 number of birds, and for some animals. 
 
 In hard weather I have found many of the larger 
 birds dead and dying, but never yet a golden- 
 crested wren. Active as ever, he is to be seen 
 inspecting the branches and stems of the firs 
 snow-covered where he built his nest in the sum- 
 mer. This little creature, not so large as many of 
 the humming-birds, braves our severest winters 
 at least in the south of England. Some one may 
 have picked up dead specimens of the wee creature, 
 but I have not done so, although I have been out 
 
WHEN MARCH WINDS BLOW. 123 
 
 and about in winters that the old people very fitly 
 called "trimmers." 
 
 The sun shines warmly for March, taking into 
 consideration the height we are at, compared with 
 the valleys below us. The wind hums through the 
 firs with their fresh green tips, and the clouds scud 
 along from the south in bright patches. No great 
 vapour mountains are they at this time, but light 
 flakes of bright cloud sailing along, all shapes and 
 all sizes, in the blue overhead. As the wind comes 
 from the south, it is soft, and just the kind of day 
 for all creatures to exult in after the winter has left 
 us. Over one great patch of the rough torey-grass, 
 so frequently seen on hillsides grass that snow and 
 frost bleach almost white, but yet leave it tough as 
 wire in bunches, thickly matted two pairs of kes- 
 trels are hovering. They are certainly after mice 
 the meadow voles ; you will find these on the hills 
 where the grass grows rank. These creatures take 
 advantage of bright warm days to come from their 
 burrows underground, and to glide in and out among 
 the tough dead leaves of the torey-grass. This is 
 quite a different movement from the brisk run of the 
 summer-time. I have been close to these mice, 
 
i2 4 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 when they were gliding through a tuft, without see- 
 ing the whole of their bodies, closely as I watched 
 them, before they reached their holes again. This 
 proves how keen the sight of the mouse-falcon must 
 be to come down from the height he swings at in 
 order to capture a gliding mouse. In other articles 
 I have stated that he is a bird-killer sometimes : 
 why not ? He is formed for his work ; like the 
 elegant hobby, whose wings are so long that when 
 at rest in certain positions the bird looks like some 
 huge swallow. Small unconsidered trifles form the 
 principal part of the kestrel's food. In another 
 week, if the weather remains genial, he and his 
 mate will be darting and playing antics in the air, 
 before looking for some deserted nest to lay their 
 eggs in. If they go far from this they may get 
 captured ; but here, on the estate, as little trapping 
 of wild creatures is done as possible. Professional 
 bird-catchers, those who capture linnets principally, 
 capture the kestrel more frequently than any other 
 hawk. This they do in spite of themselves, for 
 it is the so-called brace-birds (the decoy-birds on 
 sticks) that the hawk comes for. Very rarely 
 does he miss his mark : a flash, and the call-bird 
 
WHEN MARCH WINDS BLOW. 125 
 
 is gone. The visit is sure to be repeated, and 
 the second one generally proves fatal to the kestrel, 
 unless some one requires him of the bird-catcher 
 for a pet. He makes a very nice one, if you know 
 how to treat him. As this domain is surrounded 
 on all sides, independently of its own covers, and 
 the woods are principally fir, sparrow-hawks are 
 in force here, not through being neglected or over- 
 looked by the keepers, certainly far from it; but 
 the huge rabbit-warren, with its countless rabbits 
 ranging from all sizes, suits the taste of the spar- 
 row-hawk exactly. The warren is open ground, 
 so the hawks can see who is about. The rabbits 
 do not form their bill of fare exclusively the 
 young and the half-grown rabbits I mean, of course. 
 But small heaps of feathers here and there, close 
 to the wood-side, under some brush-growth, tell 
 plainly that thrushes, blackbirds, and finches have 
 all had to contribute to the hawk's bill of fare. 
 The feathers of the redwing I have seen at times; 
 but the whole skeleton of that bird has been there 
 as well, proving that it had died through hard 
 times in the severe winter, and not from the 
 pounce of a bird of prey. As for the fieldfares, 
 
126 WITH THE WOOBLANDERS. 
 
 those gifted calculators of gun-shot distance, that 
 roost in the torey-grass of the hillside like larks, 
 and are now chattering and skirling to each other 
 about their spring visit to Norway and other places 
 over the water, I have never seen one of them, 
 nor the remains of any, that had been killed by 
 a hawk. 
 
 There is one wood joining this estate where, 
 from some reason best known to the hawks them- 
 selves, they nest regularly. Three, four, and some- 
 times five nests have been found in this fir-wood, 
 which is only a small one. When the full com- 
 plement of eggs has been laid, or the young hatched 
 out, the keepers make a raid on their favourite 
 nesting site. They take the eggs, kill the young 
 and the old birds if they can, for sparrow-hawks 
 are keen and wary birds to deal with. I have 
 known a lot of scheming done before a small male 
 sparrow - hawk has been brought to book. Old 
 females, grey on the back, with their breasts 
 beautifully barred, that look more like small male 
 goshawks than what they really are, will, like the 
 goshawk they so closely resemble, kill anything 
 from a pheasant to a partridge, a rabbit, or a 
 
WHEN MARCH WINDS BLOW. 127 
 
 mouse. These grand creatures watch for their 
 quarry from their perch on the edge of the cover. 
 Pot-hunters, some call them ; but this is not fair 
 or just. To see one of these sparrow-hawks dash 
 after a partridge and cut it down is a fine sight 
 for a naturalist, though of course a sorry one for 
 a game-preserver. 
 
 Ten or fifteen miles are as nothing to a bird 
 of prey : if in the course of his hunting the bird 
 finds a place to suit him, and has a good kill with- 
 out much trouble, he remembers it and comes again 
 next day, very frequently bringing his mate with 
 him. Sometimes large estates, owing to compli- 
 cated questions of law, are not worked for a few 
 years : then is the time for wild creatures to make 
 a settlement, and it is an opportunity which they 
 are prompt to avail themselves of. All wild crea- 
 tures are quite capable of taking care of number 
 one to perfection, and the real work of a game- 
 keeper is simply to prevent poaching if he can. 
 As to "looking after things," as the saying goes, 
 none of them require that any more than do the 
 wood-pigeons. I know it is a very easy matter 
 to make any creature that is wild, in a state of 
 
128 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 nature, dependent on man, if he takes to feeding 
 it in its haunts. The things will come for food, 
 most surely, for it saves them the trouble of search- 
 ing for it. Sometimes I have missed hedgerow 
 birds on my rambles by the sides of coverts, and 
 could give a good guess that they had got to spots 
 not far from where the pheasants were fed. 
 
 The brown owl, long-eared owl, and the short- 
 eared owl are found on the estate I am describing. 
 Before the present owner had this, the owls were 
 knocked over in the most merciless manner ; so 
 all the young covert stuff that had been planted 
 on the bare portions of the hill was killed by the 
 mice eating the tender bark of the young trees. 
 Everything, in fact, had gone wrong together, 
 a state of complete ignorant muddle it was. But 
 matters are all right there again now, and the 
 plantations are woods, making the best and warm- 
 est of covers for all things. 
 
 Then there is the woodcock-owl, marsh-owl, or, 
 as he is known in the woodlands, the short-eared 
 owl. Although you will certainly find him in the 
 bents on the sand-downs, the dry flags and rush 
 clumps of the marshes also, he does not confine 
 
WHEN MARCH WINDS BLOW. 129 
 
 himself strictly to either of the localities I have 
 mentioned. The bleached torey- grass of a shel- 
 tered hillside suits him quite as well. When my 
 readers are looking at either of the three owls 
 I have mentioned in the Zoological Gardens or 
 in the South Kensington Natural History Museum, 
 I trust they will give them credit for possessing 
 all the qualities they may appear to be deficient 
 in. I have watched them for many years. One 
 of the pets I have described elsewhere a little 
 owl was my constant companion when I was at 
 home : in my painting-room, and on my writing- 
 table, often has the fine bird taken up my pen or 
 one of my pencils and gravely examined it, looking 
 the while as if he wondered why I could use either 
 so long without playing with him or talking to 
 him. It seems to me as though the spirit of de- 
 struction reigns supreme in some ignorant natures : 
 some would shoot their own mother if they found 
 her with a large pair of wings fixed by some 
 mysterious millinery process to her shoulders. 
 With such, however, we have nothing to do. 
 
 If the fieldfare come to grief, it is through the 
 brown owl or the short-eared owl ; for the short - 
 
 I 
 
130 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 eared owl will run through tussocks like a moor- 
 hen. All owls are nimble on their feet, but some 
 of the more lightly formed ones the bird under 
 notice is one of them can run with great speed. 
 The brown owl when on the ground runs like a 
 Cochin China fowl, and he looks not unlike one, 
 with the exception of his head. 
 
 So far as rabbits are concerned, they swarm 
 here. In past years I have known them sold at 
 ridiculous prices; and I have also known them 
 carted off, strange as it may read now, to be put 
 on the manure-heap in the Valley farmyard. So 
 no one misses those that are taken as food by the 
 creatures above-named. 
 
 A pair of magpies had been here shortly before 
 my visit, but I was told they were not on the estate 
 now. It may not be generally known that in the 
 woodlands this bird is credited with unlimited know- 
 ledge of a peculiar kind ; in fact, you will hear the 
 folks there say frequently that a couple of magpies 
 are a match for the devil. How they arrived at 
 that conclusion I do not know ; but one thing I 
 certainly do know, and that is a pair of magpies' 
 wings fixed on the door inside, are firmly believed 
 
WHEN MARCH WINDS BLOW. 131 
 
 to have the power of keeping all evil from entering 
 the house. As I respect all traditions, I made no 
 inquiries after that pair of magpies ; but I felt con- 
 fident that their wings were firmly fixed on the 
 inside of my friend's cottage-door. 
 
 This hill, and the hills beyond, are of chalk for- 
 mation, and pools, naturally formed by the hollows 
 that indent the surface, attract the waders and 
 swimmers for a short time as they pass on their 
 migrations to and fro, from the north and north- 
 east to the south and south-west. The farm hands 
 are surprised at times whilst they are ploughing by 
 seeing strange birds at least such as are strange 
 to them come from the clouds and settle to feed 
 in the furrows. These will be herring-gulls and 
 terns : the terns are far more frequent in putting in 
 for port than the gulls. It is a strange sight to 
 those who have never lived on the coast ; but there 
 is really nothing to wonder at in the birds coming 
 up for a short time to relieve their hunger, and it 
 is a rooted habit that of following the plough like 
 rooks. 
 
 A couple of herring-gulls if you can get them, be 
 it well understood make a good dinner after they 
 
132 WITH THE WOODLANDERS: 
 
 have been following the plough for a week. Hoodie- 
 crows I have had nothing to do with, I leave crows 
 on their merits ; but gulls I can say something 
 about, for I dined off one recently, and can affirm 
 that the flesh was as sweet and pure as the plumage 
 of the bird itself. 
 
 Wild rabbits will leave their warren sanctuary, 
 if they can find outlets to do so, to go to the 
 ploughed fields to make their stops the homes 
 for rearing their young in. They do this frequently, 
 close to where man is carrying on some of his 
 numerous occupations. One stop I looked at was 
 close to a saw - mill in the woods which had 
 been temporarily set up for cutting the timber on 
 the spot. These shallow burrows, lined with the 
 doe's soft flick, are in some spots very numerous, 
 and generally the doe rears the young all right ; 
 but how she enters the burrow to suckle them, 
 or how she leaves it, is one of the sights a natural- 
 ist is favoured with but rarely not once in seven 
 years. 
 
 The fox noses them at times, and scratches 
 them out. As to the badger, what could be more 
 delicate for his very accommodating appetite than 
 
WHEN MARCH WINDS BLOW. 133 
 
 tender young rabbits ? They put flesh on to his 
 ribs after his fast often a long and compulsory one 
 in winter. So he digs for them in the most 
 business-like manner, just like a mole. He knows 
 where they are exactly his nose tells him that 
 and in less than two minutes the fore-part of him is 
 buried ; all you will see will be his hind-legs working 
 vigorously, and a lot of earth moving. But he gets 
 his rabbits; hungry stomachs are hard to reason 
 with. The badger is, I know as a rule, nocturnal 
 in his habits, so is the fox; but where the places 
 that they frequent are quiet and secluded, they will 
 at times hunt by day for their food. A vixen and 
 her mate at times reverse the order of things : like 
 humans, woodland wild creatures are governed by 
 circumstances. 
 
 I have at different times met with the fox and the 
 badger in spots where I certainly did not expect to 
 see them ; and when I have gone where, according 
 to my reckoning, they ought to have been so far 
 as locality could be relied on they were not there. 
 Very contradictory experiences one has in looking 
 for wild things. 
 
 Occasionally a couple of curlews will drop on the 
 
134 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 uplands in some great field, or on some large bare 
 piece of sheep feeding-ground ; but very rarely do 
 they get shot, for the curlew's tactics are very 
 puzzling to those who are only accustomed to shoot 
 pheasants and partridges. He is far more trouble- 
 some than profitable as quarry for the gun. Get 
 at a curlew on a bare ploughed field, or on a sheep- 
 walk, if you can. The stone-curlew, the Norfolk 
 plover, or thick-knee, stays on this hill for a time 
 when his season comes. He is as wary as his sickle- 
 billed namesake ; once in three or four years only, a 
 specimen gets shot. This certainly says much for the 
 bird's acuteness. When I first knew this place, years 
 ago, a bittern located in a swamp hollow at the foot 
 of the hill. The bird was not shot ; it was driven 
 out of its covert by the villagers at the foot of the 
 hill, for making the noise that it did at times. 
 
 The whole of this line of country, even at the 
 time of writing this, is intersected by green roads, 
 some of them old highways, long since disused; 
 but the greater portion are green roads or tracks 
 that run over the hills and at the foot of the 
 hills, by the woods and through the woods, over 
 heaths and commons, but always in some dip or 
 
WHEN MARCH WINDS BLOW. 135 
 
 hollow out of sight of the ordinary run of travellers. 
 They start direct from the coast from Portsmouth 
 to London through the New Forest, and from 
 Brighton to London through the Weald, which is 
 crossed and re-crossed in all directions. From the 
 heart of the Weald itself Hampshire, Surrey, 
 Sussex, and Kent a network of green lanes runs. 
 The purposes they were once used for are now for- 
 gotten, at least by the rising generation. They may 
 have chanced to hear of these when they were 
 children. Contraband or smuggling at one time 
 was a notorious fact well known to all who lived in 
 the country mentioned. The Pilgrims' Way is quite 
 distinct from these green rides. Those who are not 
 well versed in the roads might get mixed somewhat ; 
 but to all intents and purposes the Way the pilgrims 
 travelled of old is as plain to trace still as it was at 
 the time they went by it to visit Thomas-a-Becket's 
 tomb. 
 
 I will conclude this chapter by mentioning some 
 of the birds and animals to be found where the Way 
 runs at the foot of this hill, by which the river Mole 
 winds with a course as twisting as the nose of the 
 little animal from which it takes its name. 
 
13& WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 It is too early for birds to nest in March, as a 
 rule. Some have young by the middle of the month, 
 but this is exceptional, only with a few species 
 does it occur. All birds, however, are moving about, 
 and some of them are showing themselves off 
 bravely. Even the jay's voice is softened as he 
 raises his crest, droops his wings a little, spreads 
 his tail out, and gabbles to his mate, who no doubt 
 considers the whole performance a most enchanting 
 one. By the copse-side the pheasant struts in the 
 bright sunlight, his ear - tufts erected, and his 
 crimson cheek puffed out, his breast shining like 
 burnished copper. He has not put all his war- 
 paint on yet, his full toilet will be completed 
 presently. But he is getting himself ready for 
 battle, and for conquest too, for the pheasant can 
 fight with a will. Overhead, the wood-pigeons clap 
 their wings, spread their tails out, and float above 
 him. The moor-hen visits the dead sedges, flirting 
 up his tail, bobbing his head, and clucking. Pre- 
 sently his mate joins him. A cock moor-hen is 
 a very handsome bird at this season, for his 
 plumage, although sober-looking at a short distance, 
 is found to be very rich when you have the bird 
 
WHEN MARCH WINDS BLOW. 137 
 
 in your hand. The scarlet shield above the base 
 of the bill, and his brightly tinted legs and feet, 
 claim attention, if he is only a moor-hen. To 
 casual observers these birds would only appear to 
 be aimlessly picking, poking, and clucking about; 
 but this is a mere ruse on their part, in reality 
 they are looking out a spot for their nest. The 
 pair that claim our attention just now had a nest 
 in that particular sedge-bed last year, and they 
 intend to have one there again, if all goes well, 
 this year. 
 
 About the water-rail, just before breeding-time, 
 I have a few words to say. A more hideling 
 feathered creature than he is at other times you 
 could not meet with ; but just before the actual 
 time for nesting comes round he actually swaggers. 
 Whether it is because he has nothing to fear from 
 pike just now, I cannot say; but there is the bird 
 daintily walking along the edge of the reeds and 
 sedges, flirting his tail, picking and poking, running 
 nimbly hither and thither, then standing still to flirt 
 his tail again, and go on as before. 
 
 Water-rails are fairly numerous in the river- 
 tangle on the Mole, in fact, I have seen more 
 
138 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 dead birds than I liked, which had been shot in 
 the winter-time. About this I have nothing to 
 say, but it proves that more of them are about 
 than people think. I like to see the quaint bird, 
 and to hear him grunt and squeak. Presently 
 he will be heard and not seen ; for when the young 
 are out of the nest, both parents, like the moor-hens 
 and the coots, will have to beware of pike. For 
 these by that time will have fully completed their 
 arrangements for a future supply of pike, and will 
 be coming back with voracious appetites and full 
 sets of teeth to the sedges and reed-beds, to snap 
 young water-fowl. Waders or swimmers, young 
 ducks or teal, grebes, coots, moor-hens, and rails, 
 all are liked by the hungry pike, and down they 
 go. If the pike are large, the older birds come 
 to grief; but these are very cautious, and keep 
 their young chicks in the most shallow and dense 
 part of the beds, where the fierce fish are not able to 
 swallow them, because the water is too shallow for 
 the fish to work their way up. 
 
 The little grebe, or dabchick, is very busy now, 
 making his arrangements for his damp nest, although 
 he will not actually begin it for a week or more 
 
WHEN MARCH WINDS BLOW. 139 
 
 yet. He and his mate are enjoying themselves, 
 at any rate, diving here and there, rising from 
 the water and flying at a great pace round and 
 round, all the time they are on wing uttering a 
 series of sounds like the creaking of a rusty hinge 
 on a wooden gate. This is what the grebe's love- 
 song sounds like to me, and I have heard it many 
 times. He is a merry little fellow, and has given 
 me many hours of profitable amusement at various 
 times and seasons. When the bird does sit up- 
 right, and runs his bill over his satin-like breast- 
 feathers, he always puts me in mind of a good- 
 tempered, fussy little man trying to unbutton his 
 waistcoat. 
 
 The crested plovers, the lapwings, seek the up- 
 land fallows now. It is most amusing to see the 
 lapwing play up to his mate, for he runs up to 
 her and bows with his crest raised, runs round 
 her, cries " Pewit," softly, " Pee-weet-weet," lowers 
 his breast to the ground, works about as if he 
 was on a pivot for a few moments ; then up he 
 springs, mounts high up, and comes swooping down, 
 causing his wings to hum again, crying, " Pewit- 
 Pewit- weet- weet-weet . ' ' 
 
140 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 Gradually the haunts of woodcock and snipe are 
 passing away ; all that are known to me now I 
 could count on the fingers of one hand. Shooting 
 has not been the cause of their decreasing numbers, 
 it is the present system of drainage. Their feeding- 
 grounds are breaking up in all directions. I have 
 just left one of the old haunts and breeding- 
 places for woodcocks, but not for snipes. They 
 have left it as a nesting-site, although a few come 
 to feed there at times, not very frequently. The 
 woodcocks, a few pairs only, remain to breed in 
 certain quarters ; but they will not be found there 
 very long. 
 
 Fir-woods and hills are in the distance, covered 
 with brown heather, lit up for a short time by 
 red clouds that follow the sinking sun. Nearer 
 to us is a large stretch of high moorland, dotted 
 over with thick clumps of low firs, scrub - oaks, 
 stunted birches, and heather. The soil is as varied 
 in character as it can well be gravel, sand, peat, 
 and large stones cropping up, a jumble of soil and 
 vegetation. Brown heather there is, old and tough, 
 as well as young shoots of heath springing up in 
 all directions under the cover of the old heather; 
 
WHEN MARCH WINDS BLOW. 141 
 
 patches of whortleberry-shrubs in rank luxuriance, 
 that will make cover but bear no fruit they are 
 too thick and high for that ; rush - clumps and 
 moss, torey-grass and the finest green turf; small 
 shallow pools where the rush - clumps grow, and 
 patches of quaky ground of all sizes, also of various 
 degrees of moisture. So far as a feeding-ground 
 is concerned, there could be no better; but half a 
 mile below their old nesting-place a wood covered 
 on its slopes with beeches, oak, fir, thorns, and 
 bracken, not to forget huge holly-clumps a fine 
 mansion has been built, timber felled, roads made, 
 hill-quakes drained, and water conducted from the 
 moor above to supply the mansion below. When 
 all this actually reduced their nesting - haunt to 
 quite half its dimensions, no wonder the birds 
 became few in number. The few pairs that come 
 about there now keep to the top of the wood on the 
 fringe of the moor. 
 
 The brown owls hoot, and hoot again. From 
 the wood, with lazy flapping flight just clearing 
 the low trees on the edge of it on the moor-side, 
 a couple of birds appear. From their flight, any 
 ordinary observer would take them to be a pair 
 
142 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 of owls on the hunt, so very owl-like at this season 
 is the flight of the woodcocks. As the birds clear 
 the trees for the more open moorland this flight 
 alters, and in the evening light they look like two 
 hawks buffeting each other. No owl-like flapping 
 now, for they are tilting. This is the play of the 
 woodcock just before nesting. The bird must have 
 moist feeding-grounds, but his nest is, as a rule, 
 placed in a dry situation. 
 
 There is very little done now in the way of 
 tealing that is, springeing for woodcocks : the 
 birds are not numerous enough for that in this 
 district. Drain - pipes have had the same effect 
 in the decrease of woodcocks and snipes as they 
 have had in causing fowl to leave the moorlands. 
 The woodcock is a very interesting bird ; as regards 
 exquisite pencilled plumage, he takes the first place. 
 After him, in the matter of delicate pencilling, 
 come the wryneck and fern-owl, goat-sucker, or 
 heave- jar. As things are now, we never expect 
 to be asked to look at a woodcock running about 
 with her chick on the edge of the moor again. 
 The way that the bird conceals himself if squat- 
 ting in dead leaves can be called doing that is 
 
WHEN MARCH WINDS BLOW. 143 
 
 marvellous. One or two handfuls of scattered 
 leaves and a bit of dead bramble is enough for 
 him. Not much has he to fear from any prowler 
 of the air ; for if a hen-harrier a bird very rarely 
 seen on the moor now should by chance sight 
 him as he squats, his tail is spread out like that 
 of a fan - tailed pigeon, and he ducks his head. 
 If the sparrow - hawk, hunting for food for his 
 ravenous young, sights the cock flitting through 
 the trees, whilst he sits silently watching on some 
 limb close to the trunk of a tree, and gives him 
 a chase, he has his pains for nothing; for the 
 long - billed, full - eyed, swift - winged bird shoots, 
 twists, and doubles in and out of the network of 
 branches and twigs with such lightning speed that 
 the hawk has no chance of a capture. The first 
 bit of cover the cock sights below him he dashes 
 into, and is lost to view. 
 
 For weeks I have been out in all directions, 
 over the hills and through the hollows at their 
 feet, over commons and through moorland - bogs, 
 as far as I dare go, and in all places something 
 is going on. Changes are taking place, and others 
 are threatened. Fir-woods that at one time were 
 
144 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 sanctuaries for wild creatures are such no longer. 
 The blackcock, the black-grouse, has left them, 
 never, I fear, to return. Where only narrow 
 woodland - tracks ran through, and the stems of 
 the furze-bushes were covered at the roots with 
 heather, heath, and whortleberry-shrubs so thickly 
 that on summer nights I have rested there, most 
 luxuriously, on a green couch of nature's own pro- 
 viding, wide paths have been recently cut in 
 squares. I mean, the fir - woods are intersected 
 by wide tracks as though they were allotment- 
 gardens. Even the jays, one can see, are dis- 
 gusted with such doings. What a vast difference 
 there is between heath and heather ! Heather 
 makes, with its delicate blossoms of blush - white 
 and purple, a garden of the wild moors; heath, 
 when it is breast - high and old very old and 
 wiry causes one to exclaim forcibly if, to put 
 the thing mildly, one has to force one's way 
 through it. It flies back and switches you in the 
 face most unpleasantly. 
 
 At one time I could find snipes in any meadow 
 that had rills running through it, natural drains, 
 within five minutes' walk of Dorking town. No 
 
WHEN MARCH WINDS BLOW. 145 
 
 one thought about going farther than that for 
 snipe-shooting, and very fair snipe-shooting it was 
 for a woodland district. I have seen the birds 
 close to dwelling - houses and railway stations. 
 The meadows were used for grazing purposes. One 
 little fellow I knew, ten years old, went out with 
 his father once to beat snipes up. Child-like, he 
 was all eyes and ears for the sport. The boy's 
 parent was a good snipe-shot. Not many minutes 
 had he tapped about under his father's directions, 
 for snipe at times can be almost trodden on, 
 before up got another long - bill with a scape, 
 scape, scape. 
 
 "Look out, father! what's that?" yelled the 
 boy. Bang ! and the bird dropped. 
 
 " Go and pick him up, my man ; you know 
 where he dropped." Off darted the youngster in 
 high glee to the spot, looked, and went back to 
 his father with a long face, saying, " It ain't a 
 bird at all, father, it's a great striped toad ; it 
 squats there, an' I can't pick it up." 
 
 When the snipe dropped, it had placed itself 
 in the usual attitude for the purpose of conceal- 
 ment before life left it ; the position of the bird 
 
 K 
 
146 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 and the light stripes on the upper plumage made 
 it look very toad-like. So very closely does the 
 snipe's plumage fall in with withered herbage, that 
 you might be the length of any ordinary room 
 from one and yet not see the creature. But the 
 snipes have gone from those water-meadows, and 
 so have the fish. 
 
 The otter, one of the greatest ornaments and 
 the most interesting creature that the river Mole 
 still can boast of, will be in fine form in a week 
 or two ; for what with eels just getting about, 
 frogs, rabbits, and other little items, he will cer- 
 tainly whistle for pure gladness of heart, because 
 for him the winter is past and gone. 
 
 In the sheltered willow - holts the little chiff- 
 chaff chatters as yet feebly his chiff-cheff-cheff-chiff, 
 chevy-chevy-chevy, chiff-cheff-chiff. On and about 
 the old trees in the park the "yaffle" yikes, and 
 the nuthatch sends forth his liquid flute-like call ; 
 while the wryneck, just arrived, chatters out a 
 half-hearted peet, peet-peet, peet-peet! He will 
 find his voice presently and make good use of it. 
 
 On the topmost limbs of the dead and dying 
 trees, for most of these old woodland giants for 
 
WHEN MARCH WINDS BLOW. 147 
 
 which this park is famous have nearly lived their 
 life out, the two species of black-and-white wood- 
 peckers execute their curious kettle-drum solo, or 
 we might say their side-drum rolls. Through the 
 woods and over the river the pied drummers are 
 heard. Tap, tap, tap ! then comes the roll exe- 
 cuted with faultless precision ; tap, tap, and the 
 roll again. So loud is it that the hare frolicking 
 in the field sits up to listen. When March winds 
 blow is the time for their most joyous perform- 
 ance; whilst those who watch Puss just now see 
 that " Mad as a March hare " is a proverb not 
 without reason. 
 
148 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 WHERE GRASS IS GREEN. 
 
 A BRIGHT morning in the pleasant month of May 
 finds me in a moorland water-meadow, which I 
 have reached from the hills above it. On one 
 side runs the highroad, bordered by a few sleepy- 
 looking old-world farmhouses and one or two cot- 
 tages equally ancient. Pollard willows are dotted 
 along the line of the stream, which flows with 
 many a curve and abrupt turning; and from the 
 stream little rills branch off, to form finally a very 
 small pond, which is fringed round with rushes, 
 and lies close to the road. 
 
 Here two children, a boy and a girl, are busy; 
 their school satchels are slung at their sides, and 
 they are enjoying themselves in the interval be- 
 
WHERE GRASS IS GREEN. 149 
 
 tween a very early breakfast and lesson-time. The 
 girl sits and holds a wide -mouthed bottle ready 
 for "the robins" for by this name the young- 
 sters call the sticklebacks which her companion 
 is catching by means of a worm tied round its 
 middle with a thread. The youngsters tell me 
 they are going to take the little fish to "teacher," 
 who has got a big glass box with water in it an' 
 green weeds an' robins. They look grand in it 
 too, she adds. Quite a subject for one of Birket 
 Foster's pictures of country children these are. 
 
 I have seen a great many fish in my time, but 
 in my opinion there is no other so pretty as is 
 our little male stickleback in his nesting season. 
 He is lit up with crimson, golden green, and 
 silver; the small fellow seems literally afire. And 
 indeed his looks do not belie him, for a more 
 fiery and pugnacious little fish never moved in 
 water than the stickleback at this season. 
 
 It is near school-time, and as the children get 
 up to go with their prize, I pick a large cool leaf 
 from a bunch of marsh-marigolds and place it on 
 the top of their bottle, and then pass over the 
 meadow. No spade has ever touched this soil, 
 
150 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 dark and rich as it is ; all the earth - turning has 
 been done by moles. They abound, and bushels 
 after bushels of earth that would grow anything 
 has been heaved up by these powerful little ani- 
 mals. The soil gets spread about by the cattle 
 that feed here at times, and it forms a rare top- 
 dressing. Beside these little rills titlarks, or 
 meadow-pipits, nest ; you may see one of the birds 
 looking at you as she sits not a yard distant from 
 the spot where you stand. The smoke curls lazily 
 from the chimneys of the cottages, which are just 
 within the woods close to the meadow; birds are 
 singing merrily, and life of all sorts is in full 
 swing. 
 
 From a moorland bank at one end of this meadow 
 a considerable fall of water rushes into the stream : 
 it is one of the numerous outlets for the water 
 from the moors above to the moors below. As 
 the fall is about four feet in height, the continual 
 run has formed a deep hole, just large enough for 
 a man to stand and turn round in. At the time 
 I speak of, a certain kingfisher was in the habit 
 of perching on a spray that nods just over this 
 little pool; he is there this morning. Kingfishers 
 
WHERE GRASS IS GREEN. 151 
 
 are not easy birds to watch, but as the pollards 
 stand close to the fall of water, we may manage 
 to get sufficiently near for our glass to bring him 
 into such close view that it seems as though we 
 might stroke his bright blue feathers if we wished. 
 What a picture it makes, this pure spring water 
 as it tumbles down the fresh green of the young 
 tangle that surrounds it ! But on no canvas could 
 the bubble and the sparkle of it all be reproduced, 
 as the water winds and leaps round about and 
 over the moss-covered moorland stones; whilst the 
 swallows dash up and down the stream, over the 
 meadow, and back again. 
 
 From some tree in the woods close at hand 
 cuckoo ! cuckoo ! cuckoo ! is shouted out ; the 
 willow -wrens and the chiff-chaffs add their little 
 notes to swell the harmony; a little further down 
 there is the swirl and ripple of the brook. The 
 kingfisher is still there, and if I am not mistaken, 
 good trout are in the bubbling fall beneath him. 
 Now he plunges, not into the middle of the pool, 
 but just on one side of it, for little fish gain their 
 strength in shallow water that runs sharply. What 
 he has got we do not see clearly ; it is a fish of 
 
152 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 some sort, however, and he begins to whack it 
 about before he swallows it, after perching again 
 on his favourite spot over the fall. No bird lends 
 itself to the bird-preserver's art with less satisfac- 
 tory results than does this flashing bright bird, so 
 full of active life. Indeed, he is difficult to set 
 up, difficult to paint, and hard to watch. If you 
 wish to see what the gay creature is, you must 
 see him alive. 
 
 At one time a broad cart-track, made with heavy 
 logs, ran over the stream in this meadow. One 
 end of this has slipped from the bank, and the 
 whole is under water. This naturally caused some 
 obstruction to the course of the stream ; the water 
 rushed under it, scooping out a large hollow. As 
 I stand looking at this, birds are for the moment 
 forgotten, and I seem to be stretched out on the 
 edge of that bank once more, as on evenings long 
 past, with a stick about four feet in length and a 
 good gut line, having a nice red worm at the end 
 of it. This I gently drop in the water above those 
 planks, and allow it to float down. Swish ! comes 
 something from underneath them but, ah, the 
 rod, like the gun, has long since been laid aside ! 
 
WHERE GRASS IS GREEN. 153 
 
 A walk of eight miles through beautiful green 
 lanes brings me at last to one of those water-mills, 
 which look as though they had been built for all 
 time a large building of stone and brick work, 
 now moss-covered and weather-stained. It is quite 
 closed in by woods, so that it cannot be seen from 
 any of the main roads ; you might pass near it 
 hundreds of times and not know that a mill was 
 there; and as it stands in a hollow, the sound of 
 the splash, splash, splash of the great mill-wheel 
 is shut off from the ear. A tide-mill it is, and a 
 navigable canal having locks runs up to the tum- 
 bling bay of the sluice. Three miles below it there 
 is another mill, but a much smaller one. The first 
 of these has been a mill of note in its time ; and 
 indeed an accurate account of it is given in the 
 Domesday -Book. There are others of the same 
 type to be found in this county. In this case 
 dwelling-house, farm-buildings, and mill stand to- 
 gether, and are equally well and solidly built a 
 combination which is not often seen. 
 
 My work on one occasion led me to stay some 
 time in the neighbourhood of this mill, and as in 
 my childhood I had been well acquainted with tidal 
 
154 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 mills and their workings, it was of great interest to 
 me to wander about the place during the long sum- 
 mer evenings when the business of the day was 
 over, and in time I got to be very intimate with 
 the occupiers. 
 
 The mill, like others I have known was built over 
 arches. Flounders and eels were the fish caught 
 below the mill, and in the streams and ponds above 
 it, trout, pike, carp, tench, and roach were abundant. 
 Angling clubs were not thought about at that time, 
 and the railway had not yet reached it, as it has 
 since done, waking up the folks a bit, and bringing 
 down proficient anglers by the score to fish in these 
 prolific waters. 
 
 The place was far enough away from the tide 
 for the water to be brackish only. As the miller 
 said, it had only a " smatch " taste of the salt, 
 which did not prevent some very fine trout from 
 frequenting that tumbling bay. All these tidal 
 mills have histories, although you will rarely get 
 the owners or occupiers to talk about them. No 
 class as a rule are more reserved ; if one set of men 
 more than another have the blessed faculty of mind- 
 ing their own business and looking after it, millers 
 
WHERE GRASS IS GREEN. 155 
 
 have. In past times this was not without good 
 reason ; indeed there were spots about their mills, 
 which, if any little venturesome snipes of boys were 
 found prospecting near, perhaps laying their heads 
 together to go under one of the grim arches in 
 search of "crow -fish" as they call the stickle- 
 backs, they had good cause to remember it. I write 
 now of things that we dared not have hinted at in 
 the days of my boyhood. I can do it now, for 
 the owners of the mill, and those who were wont 
 to bring burdens that had travelled further than 
 from the adjoining farms, have long since passed 
 away. 
 
 A scene of the olden time comes back to my 
 mind's eye. 
 
 "Ain't you a goin' tu hev that 'ere alder-copse 
 o' yourn cut, neighbour ? 'Tis gittin ? most oncom- 
 mon high and thick like." 
 
 " Well, I dunno 'bout that 'ere ; fur ye see that 
 'ere thick alder-copse runs up to the mill-door, and 
 it keeps my garden loo " sheltered from the wind. 
 " If it waun't fur that 'ere copse bein' where 'tis, 
 I reckins as I shouldn't git the craps of reddishes 
 as I do. No, I shan't hev it cut, not in my time, 
 
i $6 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 I tell ye; it ken grow till it all falls inter the 
 bog." 
 
 " No 'fence to ye, on'y they tells me they're givin' 
 a middlin' figger for hoops jest now." 
 
 "Ah, well, I be thankful tu say as I ain't druv 
 for money; so that hedge will jest bide where 'tis 
 for my time." 
 
 A fortnight later the cottagers who lived near 
 the mill were much disturbed by accounts of " a 
 most unairthly sight " that had been seen by old 
 Shadrac, the miller's man, who looked after the 
 cows and kept the house-garden in order. He had 
 been up with one of the cows that was ailing, he 
 said, and when he came out of the gate close to 
 the alder-copse of which we have spoken, " riggers 
 on hossback, with flaming soords in their hands, 
 had actooally cum near tu where he stood rooted 
 to the ground with fear like." Then they had van- 
 ished. " There waun't a sound to be 'eerd frum 
 un," he said. When he had summoned courage 
 to look up again there was nothing to be seen. 
 He added, too, that the sight had "fattened" him so, 
 that he had been in bed for nearly two days, shak- 
 ing with fear, and that his master had been over 
 
WHERE GRASS IS GREEN. 157 
 
 two or three times a-day to inquire after him, and 
 to talk the matter over with him. 
 
 " Massy oh, an' save us ! what is the world cumin' 
 to when figgers like that 'ere was 'lowed tu git loose 
 and walk the airth ? " 
 
 When this much-valued gardener and cow-tender 
 got about again, and the cottagers near pressed him 
 for fresh information on the subject, he simply told 
 them " as how he didn't want tu hear no more on't ; 
 he had got over it, by a marcy, and let it goo." 
 
 The real version of the affair that might have been 
 given by that nice old man Shadrac, had he chosen, 
 was as follows : On the particular night in question, 
 eight pack-horses, each carrying a heavy burden, 
 and ridden by men who carried cutlasses drawn 
 ready for the worst, had come along towards the 
 mill. The hoofs of the horses were muffled, each 
 man having his own set of mufflers, which he put 
 off and on as emergency required. Old Shadrac 
 had been very busy working for hours, under cover 
 of the darkness, making a breach in the low bank, 
 which, when finished, he filled up with a double- 
 wattled hurdle, plastered with mud. This had been 
 pulled on one side by him as the horses approached, 
 
158 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 after they had entered the copse he replaced it ; and 
 as the riders did not return in the same direction 
 from which they had come, the old humbug had 
 had plenty of time to mend up the bank and to 
 work himself up into an edifying condition of 
 fright. 
 
 One thing I knew well as a boy, although we 
 never talked of it some of those tidal mills had 
 large square openings close to the sides of the 
 great wheels, and a trap-door in the floor above 
 opening on to them. Apparently these were there 
 in order that, when they swept up the mill-floor 
 above, all the dust could be swept down by that 
 way into the water below ; but I have heard some 
 of the old men and women chuckle together, in 
 later times, as they hinted at the uses to which 
 some of these places were put. 
 
 Although I have spoken lightly here of what might 
 be called the more harmless side of contraband, it is 
 certain that there were some in our community who 
 carried dark secrets to their graves with them. It 
 was wonderful, though, how these " unairthly sights " 
 ceased to alarm the folks after the new police regu- 
 lations came into force. 
 
WHERE GRASS IS GREEN. 159 
 
 " You're here, then," my very wide-awake young 
 friend Tommy remarks, as I reach what he calls 
 his fishing-place, a weir on the river where he 
 has a trap for catching eels. " Why didn't ye cum 
 afore ? them black and white drummers don't rattle 
 away in the poplars now same as they did a while 
 back. Their drummin' time is over, I reckon ; no, 
 not quite, there's one at it now. If we get in the 
 boat-house and hide, you'll perhaps see him with 
 your glasses. Them old poplars is half rotted; 
 them black an' white places is funkies, musheroom 
 things, an' holes." 
 
 " I wish I could see it, Tommy I can hear it 
 well enough." 
 
 " I could ha' had a cock-bird fur ye last week. 
 But bide up here side o' me a bit. Old Poll Nine- 
 eyes wunt be lookin' after me agin fur a good bit, 
 fear o' another eel crawlin' up her jessymine, an' 
 gettin' in her best room." 
 
 " What nonsense have you got in your mind now, 
 boy ? " 
 
 "Well, you see she's bin a bitter weed tu me. 
 They do say as she was crossed in love when she 
 was young long time that ago, I reckins ; and 
 
160 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 that's why she spends best part o' her time lookin' 
 after other people. She was a wusser to me afore 
 that 'ere eel got into her best room, just after it 
 hed bin spruced up for the summer. Old Flint, 
 he has the right o' catchin' all the eels and t'other 
 fish in this part o' the river, an' I works for him. 
 'Tain't much o' pay, but I makes it suit me. I 
 has all the frog-mouthed eels, there ain't none 
 too many of them ; he has all the sharp-nosed 
 silver-bellied uns. 
 
 " People cums for the fishin' here, an' they pays 
 old Flint ; then I puts them over in the punt, an* 
 they pays me fur that. She told him as she'd 
 had her eye on me for some time, an' that I was 
 takin' advantage of him. A nice man old Flint 
 would be to play with. But I believe she was 
 tryin' to make up to him ; he's lost his missus a 
 good bit now. Well, one day she told him that 
 I'd ketched a bushel o' fish with rod and line, and 
 that I'd sold 'em." 
 
 " Had you done that, Tommy ? " 
 
 "Course I had. They was all big bream; I 
 baited that big deep hole close to us for three 
 days afore I started fishin'. I got a lot, but I 
 
WHERE GRASS IS GREEN. 161 
 
 didn't know as she was watchin' me. I got over 
 it all right with old Flint, but I paid her out. I 
 ketched the biggest frog-mouthed eel as ever you 
 see, an' I kept him in the well o' the punt a while 
 o' purpose for her. 
 
 " She was feedin' her bantams one mornin' at the 
 back o' the house, an' I see the winder o' her best 
 bedroom up a bit at the bottom. So I goes quick 
 to the punt, gits the eel, slips up the garden path, 
 drops him in the room, and slips out again quick. 
 It waun't long afore I heard her givin' tongue, 
 full clapper. She'd gone into the room an' found 
 that 'ere eel tangled up in her long white winder 
 curtains. She got him out of that somehow, and 
 then he crawled all over her carpet an' twisted 
 hisself round the legs o' her table what she rubs with 
 a old silk han'kercher. 
 
 "Then the old gal throwed up the winder an' 
 hollered as if the house was afire. Old Flint was 
 comin' down for the night's ketch. She called 
 him in, an' he ketched the eel for her an' brought 
 him out. He give him to me, and she see him 
 do it, for her garden-hedge jines the boat-house. 
 She said I'd put the eel in, but he told her 'twas 
 
 L 
 
1 62 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 nonsense to talk like that, for the frog-mouthed eels 
 was all the perks as I was 'lowed to hev, an' I 
 couldn't afford to throw 'em inter folk's winders, 
 i "Her room was mucked all over, an' she did give 
 tongue. But she ain't watched me since then ; 
 perhaps she's feared another big eel might crawl 
 up her jessymine an' in at her winder agin." 
 
 I thought that I knew nearly all there was to 
 be known about the fern-owl, rightly so named; 
 for the waxen-looking cool green brake and the 
 bird are almost inseparably connected. But here 
 again I have had my spirit humbled, for recent 
 visits to a fern-owl and her young ones, during 
 the last nine days, have proved that one can learn 
 something fresh from the same creature every time 
 one is fortunate enough to be able to make a 
 lengthened observation of it. In the early part of 
 June of the present year, I was slowly walking over 
 a portion of one of our beautiful commons, and as 
 I crossed the main road that ran through it to get 
 on the sward again, a sheep-track through the fern 
 caught my eye; this I followed for a few yards, 
 close to the side of the road. A dead thorn-branch 
 
WHERE GRASS IS GREEN. 163 
 
 lay across the track; to avoid it I stepped round 
 a bush, when up flapped a fern-owl, almost under 
 my nose, and it dropped down in the fern in front 
 of me. I looked down ; there was nothing to be 
 seen except a small bare place where a furze-bush 
 had been cut, leaving the dead carpet of dry furze- 
 needles underneath. This small patch was as bare, 
 so far as any purpose of concealment was concerned, 
 as the sheet of paper I am writing on. At least so I 
 thought. 
 
 Just as I was moving away some bits of chalk 
 caught my eye or rather there was one piece of 
 chalk, the others, on looking close, proved to be 
 the broken egg-shells of the fern-owl. Close to 
 the fragments lay what looked like a short, crooked 
 bit of dead furze stem ; as I was bending over it 
 I saw the supposed bit of crooked, withered stem 
 move ever so little, so I stepped back very cauti- 
 ously, for I thought I saw the back of a large viper 
 that had half buried itself in the hot dry furze, and I 
 wished to find out which way his head pointed; 
 for in spite of all my captures, which had been 
 hitherto safe ones, I knew well the penalty I 
 should pay if I blundered. Once more I looked, 
 
1 64 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 and this time at a glance saw what that semblance 
 of a crooked bit of furze stem really was. Two 
 young fern-owls about three days old were there; 
 they squatted in the hot sunshine, looking most 
 curious creatures, covered with down and long 
 hair-like bristles, patched and spotted with dingy 
 brown, dirty yellowish-grey, and stone colour, in 
 exact mimicry of their resting-place; the bristles 
 round their young gapes were very thick. 
 
 They knew instinctively that some strange crea- 
 ture was looking down on them, and they crouched, 
 keeping their crooked position, lower down in the 
 slight depression which their movements or their 
 mother had made in the dry needles, till they 
 looked more like a bit of crooked dry stem than ever. 
 
 Leaving them, I made a slight circuit to find 
 the mother, which did not take me long to do, 
 for she was in the road squatting, with trailed 
 wing and outspread tail, looking like a grey stone. 
 " Chack, chack ! " she cried, as loud and as dis- 
 tinctly as any fieldfare, with short beats of her 
 wings held downwards. Never at any time were 
 they raised as they are in the ordinary flight of 
 the bird; her tail also was inclined, and spread 
 
WHERE GRASS IS GREEN. 165 
 
 out like a fan. Five times I put her up, and she 
 repeated the "chack" with the same manoeuvres 
 each time. Then she was left in peace that day; 
 but from time to time, for nine days, I visited 
 this most interesting family. Very cautiously did 
 I peer round that bush in order to watch their 
 domestic arrangements. The young ones grew 
 apace, but they never moved from the spot they 
 had been hatched out in. Like toads, they had 
 hollowed out their resting-place so that their backs 
 were almost level with the top of the dry furze-needle 
 litter. 
 
 One day the mother-bird was fast asleep, hovering 
 her two chicks, not for warmth certainly, for the 
 spot where they lay was hot in the daytime and 
 warm all through the dewless nights. To all ap- 
 pearance there was just a tuft of dead furze lying, 
 as you may see thousands of tufts in the course of a 
 mile's walk. As I bent eagerly over her, to observe 
 better one of the most perfect and harmless de- 
 ceptions I have ever seen, one of my feet just 
 touched the dead thorn-branch already mentioned. 
 For one moment a large dark eye met my own, 
 and then there was a "flip" and a "chack," 
 
i66 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 and the bird was gone. The very last visit I paid 
 them their feathers were coming fast; but never 
 at any time did their position, sleeping or waking, 
 give you the least idea that the objects were birds 
 at all. 
 
 I venture to say very little escapes my notice 
 when I am on the root ; but that hen fern - owl 
 did twice, although I was looking down on her 
 resting-place within a yard of where she was crouch- 
 ing. I did not see her until she dashed up almost 
 in my face. The hen-bird is much lighter in her 
 markings than pater heave-jar; in fact a beautiful 
 and intricate mingling of dull brown, dull ochre- 
 tinged grey, and soiled whites compose the tints of 
 her plumage. 
 
 I have tried to the best of my ability to give some 
 idea of my new experience concerning this beautiful 
 and extraordinary bird, but no words of mine could 
 reproduce the exact picture of one of the most 
 perfect bits of natural mimicry that it has ever 
 been my good fortune to witness. It is not often 
 that a field - naturalist has the opportunity of 
 studying at his leisure a family of fern-owls, or, 
 as they are locally called, heave-jars, for so long a 
 
WHERE GRASS IS GREEN. 167 
 
 time as I have stated. I made sketches of the three, 
 and of the place they rested on. 
 
 "Well, Charlie, have the nightingales brought 
 their young out all right in that tuft of ivy that 
 hangs over the bank on the side of the road ? " I ask 
 a young, broad-shouldered lad. 
 
 " Yes, they're all right ; the old birds have got 
 'em out in the copse : they're flyers now, a nice lot 
 on 'em there is. There's some chance now perhaps 
 o' hearin' nightingales again, since my boss, old 
 Cricket, dropped on them 'ere London bird-catchers. 
 That warn't a bad stroke o' old Cricket's, was it? 
 No, it did a power of good." 
 
 Cricket, or old Crick, as he was more familiarly 
 called, missed hearing or seeing numerous nightin- 
 gales that frequented one very beautiful spot in 
 the grounds. Thinking they had been cleared 
 out there, he made for another favoured spot where 
 he knew them to be, and hid up in order to watch. 
 
 He had not been quiet long before he saw two 
 men coming up the coach-road : his retriever was 
 with him. When the men arrived they unpacked 
 their clap-traps, baited each of them with a meal- 
 worm, and placed them on the ground under the 
 
168 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 shrubs. It does not take long to trap nightingales. 
 And this was the talk the keeper heard, as he related 
 it to me one day when I met him on his rounds. 
 
 "This is about the best place, pardner, as we've 
 fell in with, if you ask me. Did yer hear that ? why, 
 they must come in regular famblies; we've just 
 copped another, I heard the trap go down." 
 
 " They must be reg'lar chawbacons in this 'ere 
 part o' the world ; they only wakes up once a-week, 
 and goes to sleep again directly. The last one 
 we've copped makes eight on 'em ; we'll be up in 
 the smoke before two o'clock, we ain't more 'an 
 half a mile from a station." 
 
 " Right you are, pardner. Why, look here, if 
 we could have a run of luck like this for a week, 
 we could start a regular knock-out o' a bird-shop 
 in fust -class style with the pieces that these bloomin' 
 nightingales would fetch us. We ain't done bad 
 as it is. A most good - natured swell the party 
 must be as owns this property, to let us come an' 
 ketch 'em an' no notice took on it. We'll pick 
 up our traps now, pardner, an' go before we does 
 see any on 'em about. But if you ask me, there 
 ain't no chance o' sich a thing takin' place here." 
 
WHERE GRASS IS GREEN. 169 
 
 " Oh yes, there is," a voice replied from behind 
 them, and the keeper stepped out and placed his 
 hand on the nearest one's coat-collar. His "pard- 
 ner" rushed forward to release him, but stopped 
 short ; for the keeper had shortened his hold of 
 his stout holly staff, and his retriever stepped for- 
 ward, looking very wicked. " Now then, stop that ! 
 It's no use ; down with your traps and cage ; don't 
 let me have to tell you twice about it. Open the 
 cage and let them all go ; you have caught them 
 all here. I've been watching the pair of you from 
 the time you started trapping. Now bring your 
 traps and cage to me, you will never use them 
 again." 
 
 " What's yer goin' to do with us now, guv'nor ? " 
 
 "Why, follow you down to the lodge-gate, and 
 give you in charge." 
 
 " Now, look here, guv'nor, have you got any kids 
 o' yer own ? " 
 
 " Well, yes, I have ; but what's that got to do 
 with it ? " 
 
 "Not much perhaps, guv'nor; but both on us has 
 got kiddies at home, up in the smoke, an' if you 
 does what you says, both our lots o' kids will have 
 
170 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 rough dues before we gets back to 'em again. Just 
 think on it a bit, will yer, for you've had the drop on 
 us heavy like." 
 
 " If I let you go, will you promise not to come 
 here again ? " 
 
 "Yes; it ain't likely, considerin' the way you've 
 bowled us over, as we should feel the least bit in- 
 clined to." 
 
 " Very well, you can go ; and the next time you 
 hear about chawbacons waking up once a -week, 
 don't you believe it." 
 
 I was speaking to one of my rustic friends about 
 the fish being dropped about in the fields, away from 
 water. "Ah," he said, "that ain't nothin' ; them 
 'ere herons is right down artful ; they've had a 
 roughish time on it lately, all this 'ere burnin' heat. 
 The fust showers we gits, off go them herons again : 
 they knows all about it ; 'rectly a freshet cums down 
 the stream an' gits in the ponds, out clutters the 
 fish from the holes where they've bin hidin', like 
 mad things they are, rollin' an' wrigglin' out o' 
 their senses for pure joy ; they gits anywheer, most 
 special if the water runs over the grass. Them 
 herons gits sumthin' then. An' when they flaps 
 
WHERE GRASS IS GREEN. 171 
 
 over the fields with their pouches full o' fish, them 
 'ere sparrer-hawks that sets on the fir-tops waitin' 
 for the young pigeons to come out for their first fly, 
 gits a sight on 'em, an' goes fur 'em. They can't 
 hurt 'em much, but the herons gits frightened an' 
 chucks out some o' the fish. That's how fish gits 
 littered about. 
 
 " Come on along o' me, I got sumthin' to show 
 ye, not ten yards from here, right in the path. 
 What do ye think of that now for a bit o' bird- 
 plasterin' ? Ye ain't a-goin' to pull that out, look 
 here ! " Hooking his middle finger into the hole, 
 he pulled with all his strength, but nothing moved. 
 It was where a nuthatch had plastered a hole up, 
 where a limb had rotted, in order to guard her nest 
 of leaves below. 
 
 " I calls 'em tree-climbers. Bit of good work, 
 ain't it ? She must ha' gone a middlin' distance to 
 git her mud an' stuff sich weather as this is, eh ? " 
 
 The hole so cleverly plastered up, on examination 
 proved to be enough for a man to get his arm in 
 up to the snoulder. It was breast-high, and faced 
 directly on to the path in fact, it was impossible 
 to pass by it without brushing the bole of the beech 
 
172 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 in which the hole was. But the bird had so cleverly 
 imitated the colour and texture of beech - bark, 
 leaving a round hole just large enough for her to 
 enter, that you might have passed by it every day 
 and not have noticed it, unless you had seen the 
 old bird go in or out. You could see her eggs 
 through the hole, and the young after they were 
 hatched, for they were not molested. Wary as the 
 bird is, she, like others, preferred to nest close to a 
 frequented road. 
 
 For some reason or other which it is impossible 
 to conjecture, some animals, and many of the wildest 
 and most suspicious birds, will persist, in spite of all 
 efforts to deter them, in making their homes as close 
 to humans as is possible. 
 
 A vixen has had her cubs this year close to a 
 noble mansion, and to a well-frequented bridle-path. 
 I have passed it every night and morning all the 
 time she has been there. 
 
 Those who had the right to do so dug her out 
 of her earth, but the cubs were not large enough 
 to shift for themselves, so they turned the lot down 
 again. That very night she shifted them all a mile 
 and a half away to some large rabbit - burrows. 
 
WHERE GRASS IS GREEN. 173 
 
 Then when some of the men of the estate went 
 there to do some ferreting, out bolted the lot and 
 went back to their first earth. They have left it 
 now ; for after they are able to eat meat without 
 help, their mother takes them out in the open 
 that is, they make a place to curl up in whilst 
 they are receiving instructions in the art of thieving 
 and killing from the vixen. 
 
 Here they will be in clover for a time ; but cub- 
 hunting is drawing near, and that lot of young foxes 
 will soon have to make use of the instinct of self- 
 preservation so largely developed in their family. 
 
 Even the fawn and white coloured field-mouse, 
 or garden - mouse as he is very properly called, 
 must need leave his sheltered domain and make 
 his nest on the edge of the road. Sixteen men 
 passed over that little creature's nest morning and 
 evening without trampling on it. If I had not 
 seen one of the young ones, in the old one's ab- 
 sence, come out of it for a walk, I should never have 
 suspected it was there. It was a most clever struc- 
 ture, its very exposed situation being its chief safe- 
 guard. 
 
174 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 BRITISH GAME-BIRDS. 
 
 OUR game-birds have been so exhaustively written 
 about by competent authorities, that if the present 
 chapter treated of sporting matters I should feel 
 diffident about offering it to my readers. I do not 
 propose to give more than some notes by a wander- 
 ing field-naturalist, whose delight it is to watch the 
 habits of those creatures that by good luck may come 
 in his way, a delight unmixed with the slightest 
 desire to kill any one of them. 
 
 The capercaillie, wood-grouse, or cock of the wood, is 
 the king of his family. He was at one time a native 
 of the pine-forests of Great Britain, lingering on in 
 Ireland until about the year 1760, and in Scotland 
 
BRITISH GAME-BIRDS. 175 
 
 he was recorded up to 1780. In 1827 or ^28 
 attempts were made to reintroduce him into his 
 old haunts, with the result that the grand birds im- 
 ported from Sweden were successfully established 
 in Perthshire in 1837, an d they may now be con- 
 sidered as fairly plentiful in the numerous localities 
 suitable for him. As the capercaillie bird naturally 
 frequents the fir- woods of large extent, he flourishes 
 best where these as a rule form the principal timber 
 trees ; yet he is also found in oak and brush coverts. 
 Owing to the large size of the bird, ordinary ob- 
 servers, seeing him suspended with other game- 
 birds in some game-dealer's shop, might think it 
 a very easy matter to bring him down; but this 
 is not the case: his plumage, which is coloured 
 with grey, warm brown, and that of his upper 
 breast with dark, bright green, falls in so well with 
 the trunk, branches, and foliage of the tree he 
 perches upon, that he rushes down, and swoops 
 up and away, before a shot can be fired at him. 
 Snap-shots are frequent when capercaillie shooting. 
 He moves about on the ground a great deal at 
 certain times and seasons in quest of the various 
 berries which form the greater portion of his food ; 
 
176 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 but he feeds largely on the tender tips and shoots 
 of the Scotch fir-tree, as well as on the wild berries 
 peculiar to fir regions, and the green tips from the 
 varied undergrowth, with insects and worms. The 
 bill of the bird is a most formidable one, fashioned 
 more like that of a bird of prey than that of a 
 grouse; of this he can make good use to defend 
 himself when necessary. 
 
 When the ancient forests were destroyed, at least 
 the greater part of them, in order to kill off the 
 wolves that were so numerous in the time of Queen 
 Mary, it had been necessary in the winter to pro- 
 vide shelters where those who were forced to travel 
 by night could take refuge from them, the caper- 
 caillie with other forest creatures suffered. Those 
 mighty forests were destroyed principally by fire; 
 a small portion of some of the older ones remain, 
 just enough to show of what mighty trees they 
 were at one time composed. Red-deer, boar, wolves, 
 foxes, martins, roes, wild-cat, as well as the birds, 
 from the goshawk to the capercaillie, had to shift 
 their quarters. And besides this, early invaders 
 fired some of them in order to root out those 
 determined inhabitants of the land who had taken 
 
BRITISH GAME-BIRDS. 177 
 
 refuge in them in the hope of escaping from the 
 conquerors of their land. 
 
 A few trees having been felled, the resinous sap 
 oozed out freely, and the wood fired when the wind 
 was blowing in the right direction. Then the whole 
 forest was on fire. Unless one has wandered in old 
 fir-woods (we mean those that are now called old), 
 one would hardly credit how resinous it all is, it 
 oozes down the trunks, dropping off in great half- 
 fluid tears of resin on the fir-needles, which are dry 
 as tinder, and from a foot to a couple of feet in 
 depth; snap a bough off, and you will see how it 
 will bleed " turcumtine," as the foresters have it. 
 No wonder the fire rages when it once gets hold. 
 I have seen this on a small scale when it cleared 
 the hillside; and excepting for the whortle-bushes 
 and brambles, that hillside is bare now. 
 
 Birds of the same species, and even birds from 
 the same brood, vary greatly, and the capercaillie 
 is no exception to this ; for there is as much differ- 
 ence in the size and weight of these birds as there 
 is in large and small turkeys. To illustrate my 
 meaning, last year, 1892, I had the good fortune 
 to purchase one of the finest cock capercaillies in 
 
 M 
 
i;8 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 full breeding plumage that I have ever seen or 
 can hope to see. All those who saw him said 
 that he must have been one of the giants of his 
 race. The bill of that bird was as large as that 
 of a small golden eagle, and it looked quite as 
 dangerous. 
 
 The hen capercaillie is very small in comparison 
 with the cock-bird; if the plumage was not richer 
 than that of the grey hen, the female of the black- 
 cock, it might easily be taken for a rather large 
 specimen of that bird. As a game-bird for the 
 table, opinions vary about its merits. I have eaten 
 capercaillie with which I certainly could find no 
 fault, but if a common barn-door fowl had been 
 on the table, I should have gone for the fowl. He 
 is a noble bird to look at, and when he plays up to 
 his sober-coloured beauties, he is most interesting. 
 I think that it is a fact to be proud of, from the 
 natural history point of view, that the cock of the 
 wood can be found once more in our midst. 
 
 The black-grouse, which comes next in importance 
 to the capercaillie, is to be found more or less in 
 any wild grounds that are suited to it. In some 
 
BRITISH GAME-BIRDS. 179 
 
 of the southern counties year by year he has been 
 getting scarce, yet it was not so a few years ago, 
 and it is to be regretted that things have come to 
 such a pass as they have done. But when some 
 men rent shootings, they are not contented unless 
 they kill all they can for reasons best known to 
 themselves. At one time the black-cock and grey 
 hen bred freely where I lived for a time on the 
 mossy moors. Even the old woodmen felt proud 
 of the birds, for they would come and show off 
 closely enough for them to see all their strange 
 antics very distinctly. They knew well the dif- 
 ference between a couple of woodmen mending 
 a splashed bank and two men with a gun and 
 dog after them. Even when the axes were at 
 work timber-trimming, and the chips were flying, 
 they never heeded the sounds, but would come sail- 
 ing down from the great warren fir-wood to play 
 up on the bright green velvety turf of the moor. 
 " Massy alive ! cum up airly along o' me to-morrow 
 mornin' an' ye'll see 'em dance. Git up when I 
 do, 'bout half-past four, an' git sum breakfast fust. 
 'Tis a good hour an' a halfs walk from this 'ere 
 shanty o' mine. We has to go middlin' up hill 
 
i8o WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 and down dale, to where they cums to cut their 
 capers." 
 
 It was a clear morning, and a soft one for the 
 middle of March, as we stepped out on the sward 
 from the little garden-gate. " When the sun gets 
 well over the hill and shines on the slopes, it will 
 suit them well," I observe. 
 
 "Jest about, I reckins," says my companion, who 
 is as usual gaitered right up to his thighs ; " most 
 likely we'll run up agin summit o' sum sort afore 
 we gets there, goin' through the pasture-woods, if we 
 keep our eyes open. It wun't be long afore it gits 
 middlin' light." 
 
 There was life in the air and life in the fresh 
 sharp scent of the fir-woods, and even in the leaf- 
 mould, the decayed and decaying fir-needles, which 
 would soon be covered with the young growth of 
 whorts and heather. Rabbits scuttle away at the 
 sound of our footsteps, that is all the intimation 
 we have as yet that other creatures besides our- 
 selves are stirring. 
 
 " Hear them 'ere magpies," said my companion, 
 presently; "there's a couple on 'em gittin' into mis- 
 chief soon as iver 'tis light enough fur 'em to see ; 
 
BRITISH GAME-BIRDS. 181 
 
 they're harryin' a thrush's nest. Don't the old uns 
 holler, they'll hev 'em out on't ; reg'lar thieves is 
 magpies. I wants to git one, but they ain't easy 
 to git hold on ; only old hosscoper l Jack has got 
 one roun' here, but he's a sight more cunnin' 
 and artful 'an what his master is, an' that's sayin' 
 summut." 
 
 We were in a long narrow valley between two 
 hills, only one out of many ; the district is a succes- 
 sion of hills and dales, with water at the bottom 
 of all. Not a sound was heard there, and nothing 
 living was in sight in the air above us nor on the 
 ground below. The fresh sharp breath of the 
 morning was heavy with all the odours from the 
 trees and the fresh tangle beneath ; for even in 
 hard winters you will find all things growing fresh 
 and green under the shelter of the firs. 
 
 " I allus thinks as 'tis whisht like," said my com- 
 panion, "the fust thing afore the sun climbs the 
 hill. When he gits roun' the side, he'll light them 
 'ere firs up, an' fall on the slopes an' then, if they 
 ain't flighted over the t'other hills, we are most 
 sure tu see 'em. I'll go an' git my tools out o' 
 
 1 A fraud of a horse-dealer. 
 
i82 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 the brake where I hides 'em afore they cums over ; 
 they wun't see me : they're shy things is black- 
 game oncommon shy if they cums on ye suddin 
 like. Now you git in my brake shanty, behind 
 this 'ere old thorn, an' keep yer eyes open." 
 
 In front of us, for some hundred yards or more, 
 was a clear space of moorland hollow, one of thou- 
 sands, clear of all trees, but covered with the richest 
 and thickest moss that it is possible to find in any 
 county in England ; emerald - green it is, tipped 
 with lemon colour, and pale rose and warm golden 
 brown, cotton - grass bents shooting up through 
 it. Patches of dark peat are there, dry and crum- 
 bling, the dead heather roots showing like a grey 
 network through the dark -brown soil. Straggling 
 bits and bunches of thorns, dead and withered, 
 covered over with moss as grey as the dead bits 
 of thorn they cling to ; stones are scattered all 
 about, not in heaps or wild disorder, but a few 
 here and a few there, with wide spaces between 
 them, the outcrop of the moor, weather - stained 
 and lichen-covered, in pale greys, drabs, and sulphur 
 yellows. Then, again, are rush-clumps, red-brown 
 at their bases, and the freshest of greens at their 
 
BRITISH GAME-BIRDS. 183 
 
 tips, all growing bright, fresh, and vigorous in 
 nature's wild moor, garden, or waste, call it which 
 you will, though it is surely far too beautiful to 
 have the name of waste applied to it. 
 
 Now all is glistening in the sun for some dis- 
 tance ; a part is broken up by sandy patches, where 
 stunted birch - clumps, about the size of currant- 
 bushes, try to grow. Raised a little above these 
 patches are bits of the finest and shortest turf 
 that ever was nibbled by our pinwire dotters. " If 
 they're comin' at all, they'll be here now the sun's 
 up, to cut capers on one o' them 'ere bits o' fine 
 turf," says my friend. " Here they be ! " Yes, 
 there the grey hens were, round their black prince, 
 picking about just as if they had seen all his per- 
 formance before, and were not much impressed 
 by it at any rate not this morning. But the 
 splendid fellow went through it all : he bubbled 
 and crooned and wheezed or sniffed to perfection, 
 with his curved tail over his back, his wings trailed, 
 and his neck inflated and stretched out just as 
 if he must do it or die in the effort. Then spring- 
 ing up, he commenced a general walk round, 
 crooning and bubbling as before, his wattles look- 
 
1 84 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 ing like bits of cloth from a soldier's coat, about 
 as full of his own importance as a bird can well 
 be. "That 'ere's a werry nice tale he's a-tellin' 
 to them 'ere hens, an' they believes it all, I'll 
 warrant. There they go ! What moved 'em ? 
 Look there ! there goes a fox ; why, he nearly had 
 one on 'em." 
 
 As I have observed elsewhere, increased popula- 
 tion, with the draining of boggy lands, has made 
 the black -grouse scarce where they once were 
 plentiful. In Kent, where they once used to be 
 numerous, none now breed. In Surrey and Sussex 
 they were reintroduced early in the present century. 
 In the New Forest they have never been extinct; 
 and they are fairly plentiful on Exmoor. There are 
 some to be got in the moorlands of the Midlands. 
 In Scotland the bird is distributed generally. 
 
 The young birds are very fond of ants' eggs and 
 other insect food. In spring they favour the 
 catkins and twigs of birch, alders, and willows; 
 later on the tops of the heather furnish a diet ; 
 in the autumn the various moorland berries are 
 enjoyed. Then they visit the stubble-fields, hav- 
 ing an especial liking for barley. In winter the 
 
BRITISH GAME-BIRDS. 185 
 
 tops and green buds of heath, whortleberry, and 
 cranberry plants are what they mostly live on. 
 Favourite haunts of the young of the black-grouse 
 are the moist, swampy, rush-covered moors, where 
 they can feed on the juicy rush seeds. 
 
 The red grouse, Scotland's own bird, is one of 
 the gamest birds on the list; although suspended 
 from the game - dealer's shop, he appears as 
 merely a red bird with dark markings, and white 
 flecks here and there, the feathers all ruffled any- 
 how. Becky, becky, becky, beck, beck, beck, c'm 
 back, c'm back, c'm back ! I hear as I tramp over 
 the moors, no gun, only a trusty staff in hand; 
 for I am just a lover of nature wandering over the 
 heather before the sun has cleared the early mists 
 away. C'm back, c'm back, becky, becky, becky, 
 back! and then, gock, gock, gock! 
 
 Birds with clean sharp - cut wings dash hither 
 and thither through the mist, these are golden 
 plover; for they, with their small companions the 
 "plover's pages," the neat little dunlins, as all 
 grouse-shooters know well, frequent the haunts of 
 the red grouse. The heather is in flower, for the 
 twelfth of August is drawing near, and all the 
 
186 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 wealth of moorland vegetation is in rank luxuri- 
 ance, scenting the air. Although the warm heavy 
 mist is rolling slowly away here and there, nothing a 
 few paces away can yet be seen very distinctly ; but 
 moorland mists come and go at times very quickly, 
 and it will be clear presently. 
 
 Once more the call rings out, C'm back, beck, 
 beck ! The sun is well up and the mists float 
 away; there is the wide moor in all its dewy 
 freshness, and the grouse show here and there, 
 on knolls, on stones, and on little open spots, 
 where stones crop up and tufts of vegetation are 
 scattered about. These spots are dry and warm, 
 for the sun falls direct on them. There at least 
 is one brood within range the hen grouse, with 
 her well-grown family, who will soon be as large 
 as herself; they are easily made out by their 
 lighter colour. And there is the cock, a bold 
 brave bird, one that every Highlander blesses as 
 he hears its call. Head held up, his scarlet 
 combs erected, and tail well up over his back, his 
 rich dark chestnut plumage shining in the sun, 
 his dark under parts with crescent marks of white, 
 in fine contrast with the grey littered patch he is 
 
BRITISH GAME-BIRDS. 187 
 
 standing on, he gives out his call of C'm back ! 
 It may be that some bird of prey is about, or that 
 the bird may be giving his fearless challenge to 
 others not seen by human eyes; but there he is 
 with his family, one of the handsomest game-birds 
 of Great Britain. 
 
 Grouse-shooting I shall not touch upon, so much 
 has been written on the subject by veterans who 
 have shot the moors when they were young, as well 
 as when their hair turned grey. One that I am 
 proud to own as a friend and as a fellow-naturalist, 
 belongs to that band of veteran grouse-shooters. So 
 far as the present chapter goes, it matters little 
 to me whether the grand game-birds are shot over 
 dogs, or if they are driven birds ; whether they rise 
 and twist like snipes, or if they lie like stones. If 
 they cart well on clear frosty days, or if they will 
 not cart at all, does not concern us here. There is 
 a special literature devoted to grouse-shooting, so I 
 need only touch lightly on the natural history of the 
 birds. Grouse -shooting certainly is the means of 
 distributing vast sums of money in different direc- 
 tions among all classes, wherever the sport is carried 
 on. I have called the grouse Scotland's bird. Taking 
 
188 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 a broad view of the matter, I think this is not far 
 from the truth ; but the Border counties are well 
 sprinkled with them ; and though the red grouse is 
 now confined to the northern counties of England 
 Yorkshire is at the present time famous for its 
 grouse-moors England can fairly claim the bird at 
 present as one of her own. 
 
 A well-set-up active figure comes up before me, 
 one of middle height. In his best days it would have 
 taken a good man to have withstood him. His 
 grey eyes even now are as keen as a hawk's. Older 
 than myself he is in years, but fully as active. On 
 the bonny brown moors I see him with his couple of 
 famous setters. The dogs find : they are a perfect 
 couple, and know their business well. Their mas- 
 ter draws up, the birds rise, October grouse going 
 away like the wind. His keen eyes glance along the 
 barrels, two reports ring out, and a couple of cock 
 grouse clap their wings together and fall stone-dead 
 on the heather. This is sport, the poetry of sport. 
 
 The eagle, the peregrine, the harrier, and the gos- 
 hawk also the fox, wild cat, marten, and stoat, 
 all these kill the grouse when they have opportunity. 
 The vipers, too, that swarm on the moors, kill and 
 
BRITISH GAME-BIRDS. 189 
 
 swallow the young grouse chicks as long as these 
 are little. They are only fulfilling the law of natu- 
 ral life, according to which one creature in proper 
 proportion forms the food-supply of another. It 
 matters little in what manner they are killed. The 
 birds of prey do this, as a rule, instantly, and the 
 predaceous animals effect it with one bite. I have 
 made this a special study, so I can speak as to it. 
 And a good shot drops them in their tracks, whilst 
 there is small chance of the creatures being killed 
 by a bad one. He will miss them altogether. 
 
 The ptarmigan might be called the snow-grouse, 
 for he lives and flourishes above the heather. Bare 
 rocks, hurled together in wild disorder, and capped 
 with glistening snow, are the places where ptarmi- 
 gan flourishes. There, compared with other game- 
 birds, he lives without molestation. The bird has 
 three distinct changes in the colour of his plumage 
 in the course of twelve months : in spring, autumn, 
 and winter these are. The changes are very re- 
 markable ones ; if we attempted to describe them, it 
 would require more space than can be given here. 
 The ptarmigan's spring would be when we were 
 
WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 having our summer, for the seasons are late in the 
 mountain districts of Scotland. 
 
 At different times I have seen a fair number of 
 these birds ; indeed any one wishing to see the 
 changes of plumage I have mentioned, can see them 
 in the South Kensington Museum of Natural His- 
 tory. Thousands of so-called ptarmigan come to 
 this country ; but these are really willow-grouse in 
 winter plumage. They are larger than real ptarmi- 
 gan. A cock ptarmigan can be picked out from any 
 number of willow-grouse easily ; for the ptarmigan 
 has a black streak running from the base of the bill 
 to the eye, and a little beyond it, which the willow- 
 grouse has not. Some have risked their lives in 
 order to be able to give the life-habits of the ptar- 
 migan to the public ; others have spent large sums 
 to enable them to see the birds on their nests, and 
 to see them with their young. If they had not done 
 this, those who do take some interest in natural life 
 ,and its surroundings would not have been able to 
 see what they do now, close to their own homes in 
 London. 
 
 One of the noblest of the game-birds that England 
 
BRITISH GAME-BIRDS. 191 
 
 at one time could call her own the great bustard 
 has passed away. This magnificent bird could at 
 one time be seen in England ; for the large bare 
 spaces at that time and the early part of the last 
 century that were to be found in so many counties, 
 were the haunts of the noble bustard. Some of 
 these were Wiltshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Sussex, 
 Cambridgeshire, Yorkshire, Berkshire, and Kent. 
 As the cock-birds ranged from 15 lb., 20 lb., to 30 Ib. 
 in weight, they were sought after and finally exter- 
 minated. The Bird Preservation Act was not in 
 force then. One of our records of the past, which 
 is rigidly authentic, tells us that a keeper in Nor- 
 folk used to look for their tracks in the snow, and 
 then feed them with cabbage-leaves. The tender 
 heart-leaves are enticing to other birds beside bus- 
 tards. When they had fed well up to the bait, he 
 constructed a hide, put down more tender leaves, 
 well within shelter, and also within shot-range. 
 Then he placed a concealed battery of duck-guns, 
 pointing dead on to their feeding-place. When all 
 was quite ready, he tied strings to the triggers of the 
 guns, carried the strings back to his hiding-place, 
 put down more feed, and waited. The noble birds, 
 
i 9 2 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 having so often had a good feed from choice tender 
 green stuff, fed up to it as unsuspiciously as domes- 
 ticated turkeys would do. When they were well 
 within, range, the keeper gathered all his strings up 
 very gently, and pulled. Nine bustards fell to one 
 murderous discharge only one discharge out of 
 many ; but this was the greatest number he ever 
 got at one time. When it is taken into considera- 
 tion that hundreds of birds were killed in lonely 
 places, their minor haunts, so to speak, remote from 
 their noted and well-known haunts, it is no wonder 
 that this stately and noble bird, the noblest without 
 exception of all our British game-birds, was exter- 
 minated. I am well aware that at intervals, few 
 and far between, bustards have visited some of their 
 old haunts, but only to be killed there. There are 
 other gentlemen, however, who, when these birds 
 have visited their estates all honour to them have 
 done everything in their power to preserve them. 
 
 H. M. Upcher, Esq. of Feltwell, near Brandon, 
 when he was in the fen on January 24, 1876, was 
 told by one of his men that a strange bird was 
 about ; and on going to the place pointed out he 
 saw a fine cock bustard. The bird allowed him to 
 
BRITISH GAME-BIRDS. 193 
 
 look at it for a short time and then rose, flying 
 round him. This gentleman at once gave the most 
 positive orders for the grand bird's protection. 
 Lord Lilford heard about it, and he most gener- 
 ously offered to send a hen-bird from his magnifi- 
 cent aviaries to turn down as a mate for it, hoping 
 that it might be induced to stay. This latter, 
 through misfortune, was found dead in a deep dyke 
 or ditch. Again Lord Lilford, on hearing of it, 
 offered to find another hen-bird, which offer was 
 gladly accepted, and the hen was duly turned 
 down ; but the cock disappeared and was seen no 
 more. When game-birds go, it is a difficult mat- 
 ter to get them back again, or even to get them 
 to stay for a time. 
 
 The bustard plays up in the breeding season. He 
 holds his head up, puffs his neck out, while his 
 feather whiskers stand out well away ; his tail is 
 held up and outspread like a fan, and the wings 
 are half drooped. So he prances round about, a 
 noble bird to behold. Like other game-birds, he 
 plays up even when confined in aviaries and these 
 are now the only places in England, I am sorry 
 to say, where you can see the bustard do this ; for 
 
 N 
 
194 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 all practical purposes, in this country the bird is 
 missing. 
 
 The little bustard, a dwarf compared to his giant 
 relative, is frequently met with in the eastern and 
 southern counties, frequently at least compared 
 with the larger bird I have mentioned. There is 
 no necessity for our going into details as to its 
 general habits and habitat, these agree with those 
 of the great bustard. Taking into consideration 
 the risk they -run when they do visit us, the wonder 
 is that they are found at all. 
 
 The pheasant is a thoroughly naturalised importa- 
 tion. At the present time nearly all our pheasants 
 are more or less crossed with the ring-necked species. 
 The so-called old English pheasant is very rarely 
 seen now. I do not think this is of much conse- 
 quence, for the crosses are the handsomest birds 
 in many instances. 
 
 If there is one bird more than another that will 
 put temptation in the way of youth, it is the 
 pheasant. Why will he persist, evening after even- 
 ing, when the trees are leafless, in roosting on the 
 top branches of some slim tree, directly over a well- 
 
BRITISH GAME-BIRDS. 195 
 
 frequented highroad, not singly, but in twos and 
 threes dotted about ? No one knows why, but they 
 do this. And the strangest part of it is, they very 
 rarely come to grief in such open places. I certainly 
 have known of one such case, but that was excus- 
 able. A merry party were returning from a great 
 rabbit-shooting on the borders of Sussex, and most 
 of them were young fellows. As it was drawing 
 near Christmas time, they were chatting about the 
 pleasant duties to be performed at this festive time, 
 the sacred rites of mistletoe, for one, was discussed. 
 When they were nearing home, and the horses were 
 trotting sharply, one of them said, " Look at that 
 bunch of mistletoe in front, just overhead ! Pull up, 
 driver, one of us will shoot that down ; hold the 
 horses tight in. You shoot, Harry," was said to 
 one of the party ; " you know very well you want it 
 more than we do." 
 
 The young fellow got out of the trap, they handed 
 him his gun, he aimed and fired, and down tumbled 
 a fine cock pheasant. 
 
 "Pick him up!" "Jump in!" "You're a nice 
 mistletoe poacher, you are," cried his friends. 
 " Driver, let the horses go ! " 
 
196 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 As this took place within thirty yards of a keeper's 
 cottage, the order to let the horses go was on their 
 part a very wise one. 
 
 Pheasants that have not been reared artificially 
 know how to take care of themselves perfectly. 
 Some come to grief, but not to the extent the pub- 
 lic is led to believe at times. Instead of being 
 feathered idiots, as is implied, they are very wide- 
 awake birds indeed. A few pheasants have been 
 magnified into a sackful at times, and from that to 
 a cart-load. For the sake of experiment, let one 
 of those who inform the public so glibly how things 
 are done, get a small sack, fill it full of hay, and 
 walk along any country road at night. Then let 
 him see how far he will go with it without being 
 challenged. If people were all asleep with their hands 
 in their pockets, and their ears stuffed with cotton- 
 wool, wholesale poaching might be carried on. 
 
 Bad beer, and what is far worse, doctored spirits, 
 lead loafing louts, whose highest feat has been the 
 capture of a couple of tough rabbits, to speak fool- 
 ishly about what they have done, and what they 
 will yet do; but the man who really does do it 
 keeps his mouth shut, and he would scorn to be 
 
BRITISH GAME-BIRDS. 
 
 197 
 
 seen in the company of the former. Why pheasants 
 should be considered to be so irresistible is a puzzle : 
 in fact this is not really the case ; if it were, as some 
 would make out, the covers would be decimated. 
 
 A cock pheasant going full bat, with the bright 
 sun of a winter's morning shining on his magnificent 
 plumage, is a fine bit of bird-life as he shoots through 
 the keen bright air full-feathered and strong, his long 
 tail spread out, the two central feathers swaying. 
 He goes like a rocket, no wonder the name of 
 rocketer has been given him. Pheasants are grand 
 birds, the ornaments of the wood and the fields that 
 border them. When the goshawk was used in past 
 times in order to supply the larder, this hawk must 
 have been deadly to the pheasant, for the bird waits 
 either on the fist, or perched on the bough of a tree. 
 Even at the present time, as falconry is reviving, the 
 pheasant feels the fatal grip of that fierce hawk. 
 
 The partridge is familiar to all who live in the 
 country. Every child that toddles after its brothers 
 and sisters of larger growth through the fields and 
 meadows, knows well the call of the partridge, and 
 the whirring flight of the bird. 
 
198 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 If Scotland can claim the red grouse as her 
 national game - bird, England may certainly lay 
 claim to the grey partridge as her own, although 
 the compact-looking active bird is to be found in 
 suitable localities throughout the United Kingdom. 
 Cultivation, which is as a rule so injurious to 
 wild game-birds, has proved beneficial so far as 
 the propagation of the partridge is concerned ; for 
 he, like the sparrow, thrives best close to the corn- 
 fields, or we might say wherever agricultural pursuits 
 are in full working order. 
 
 The bird's range is a varied one. He is in the 
 fields as a general rule, no matter whether the 
 crops of wheat, oats, barley, turnips, or marigolds 
 are on or off. The greater part of the year is passed 
 by the partridge in the fields. Some writers have 
 mentioned moor-partridges in a way that might 
 almost lead the general public to believe that 
 we have two distinct species of the bird, or at 
 least a well-marked variety of the common one; 
 but this is not the case, we have only one grey 
 partridge. 
 
 When I write of fields as the bird's principal 
 habitat both by day and night, our readers must 
 
BRITISH GAME-BIRDS. 199 
 
 understand that the hedgerows and banks that 
 enclose those, also the tufty borders of the grazing 
 meadows, are to be included. Moor-partridges are 
 wild bred birds which have been brought out on 
 the moors, which are separated, in our southern 
 counties, only by a splashed bank from the corn- 
 fields. Having been hatched out on the moor, 
 they, together with old birds, naturally frequent 
 it; and they "jug" or squat closely together there 
 at night. The fields are visited certainly, but the 
 principal food -supply will be gleaned from their 
 wild hatching-out place ; and they fly farther and 
 run longer distances, also they are a little smaller 
 and darker, than those that keep to the corn and 
 the root lands entirely. The food they get on the 
 moors is in a great degree like that of the black- 
 cock and red grouse, and their flesh is naturally 
 darker than that of the other birds. The coveys 
 found on the moors are wilder also, and far more 
 gun - shy than are those of the lower grounds. 
 When they are on wing you can very often watch 
 them fly clean out of sight without dropping. 
 These little differences are all we have been able 
 to observe between the two ; and in the Surrey 
 
200 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 heath-lands we have a goodly number of these moor 
 birds. 
 
 Scattered grains of corn, various seeds from the 
 vegetation of the fields, far too numerous for us 
 to mention, and those creeping and flying hosts 
 that frequent the corn-lands slugs, worms, beetles 
 in their mature and their immature stages, flies 
 and green food, with bits of green sharp gravel, 
 swallowed to help digestion, form the principal 
 bill of fare of this bird. Those that live on the 
 moors eat the green tender shoots of the heather, 
 and in their season the whortleberries and those of 
 the dewberry or trailing bramble. 
 
 The finest birds for size and plumage are found 
 in some of the southern and eastern counties. 
 Where the corn and marsh lands join each other, 
 there is the perfect home for our birds. How often 
 have I seen the coveys come whirring from the 
 yellow corn on to the wide green flats which were 
 quivering in the heat, in order to visit some of 
 the countless ant - hills, where the great hares 
 resting between the old mole - heaps started up 
 as the birds dashed over them ! Golden corn-fields, 
 vast stretches of green flats bordered by the tide, 
 
BRITISH GAME-BIRDS. 201 
 
 whilst a few sails dotted the water, made a very 
 agreeable picture. The partridges found something 
 there to please them certainly, for added to ants' 
 eggs, there were grasshoppers in thousands. As 
 you moved along you would be covered by these 
 nimble skipjacks. Good food and shelter, with 
 warmth, for at that time our marsh summers were 
 hot ones, made all the difference to the size and 
 plumage of the partridges which were found there 
 in such great abundance. One of my friends who 
 shot on his own marshes, with one of Manton's 
 doubles, using either a Spanish pointer or a curly- 
 coated setter only seen now in old sporting works 
 such as Daniels, and others of a like nature 
 used to leave a brace now and then when he 
 passed our house. It was proper partridge-shooting 
 then, not driving, and what was considered a fair 
 day's sport then would be laughed at now. But 
 the birds were cleanly killed by real sportsmen who 
 knew how to shoot. Some of our readers will 
 probably say mine are old-fashioned ideas. So 
 they may be, but I am not able to alter them. 
 When a brace was given to us in those days the 
 feathers had a bloom on them like that on a bunch 
 
202 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 of grapes. No sportsman at that time would allow 
 the plumage of the birds that fell to his gun to be 
 "mucked about" if he could possibly help it. Fishing 
 and shooting are, I know, wide apart as sports, but 
 the good old rule for feather will apply equally well 
 to fin in this matter. 
 
 A good all-round angler, if he has had luck, 
 will turn the fish out of his creel in perfect order, 
 a layer of fish and a layer of sedge or fern alter- 
 nately. Out they come, a glittering heap, with their 
 scaling perfect ; and when treated in this manner they 
 form really the most beautiful pictures of still life the 
 eye can rest on. 
 
 The partridge, like that blessed bird of the High- 
 lander, the red grouse, is considered to be a bird 
 of good omen throughout the whole length and 
 breadth of the country-side ; for when his cheery 
 call sounds from furrow and ridge the spring is 
 coming, and summer will follow. Then also there 
 is good to be got from the fresh scent of the 
 ploughed fields, for there is truly life in the earth. 
 
 The plough has been left turned up on its side 
 on the edge of this large field for two hours or more; 
 warm showers have fallen at intervals through the 
 
BRITISH GAME-BIRDS. 203 
 
 day and the sun has gone down, leaving a great 
 broad line of saffron light edging the tops of the 
 distant hills, with a great mass of warm grey rain- 
 clouds above it. Plovers come flapping from the 
 sheep-walks on the hills above to the freshly turned 
 furrows below; it is too dusky to see them after 
 they have settled, but their murmuring Weet- 
 weets fall on the ear; and then comes the Chir- 
 chir-chir-chir-chir up-up-chir-er-er, chir-chir-up, 
 of the partridges with a rush. Others sail over- 
 head as we lean over the old wooden gate that 
 leads into the field ; and a long jerking shadow 
 flits past us, crossing the furrows, it is a solitary 
 hare that is hastening to join a regular hare frolic 
 on the slopes of the upland pastures. 
 
 No game-bird that I am acquainted with is more 
 able to take care of itself than the partridge is. 
 I have known the birds lose their wits at times 
 under exceptional circumstances, but not very 
 often, for the partridge is the picture of dashing 
 alertness. 
 
 It has always been a joy to me to see a large 
 covey melt away, so to speak, out of sight in a 
 fallow field where they have been confidently feed- 
 
204 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 ing, when we have very cautiously let them know 
 that we were looking directly at them. The old 
 cock, that at times would stand nearly on end, just 
 to look all round him, I have seen lowering himself, 
 as if some spring within him was gently getting 
 limper and limper. Through my field-glass I have 
 noted the outside birds raise their clean-cut heads 
 for a second or two, then lower them, depress their 
 tails to the ground, and glide towards the others; 
 a few brown dots showing, now here, now there, 
 and the large covey is soon invisible if on a fallow 
 field not stubble, but old fallow lea. All our game- 
 birds possess this moon-seed property of making 
 themselves practically invisible when there is any 
 necessity for their doing so. 
 
 Before these violent changes occurred in our fav- 
 ourite Surrey moorland haunts, I used often to 
 amuse myself by watching black-game being pro- 
 perly set up in a glass case. A black-cock in full 
 breeding plumage is one of the most imposing and 
 conspicuous birds you can look at, though the 
 bird is out of his proper place when he is with 
 the bird -preserver. The place to observe him is 
 when he goes to feed on a dark patch of moor-bog, 
 
BRITISH GAME-BIRDS. 205 
 
 with white and grey bleached stones cropping out 
 of it : you will not see him before he dashes up 
 in front of you, but this has often taken place 
 when my eyes and ears have been opened to their 
 widest. 
 
 These few notes taken from the life, made as 
 I have wandered sketch - book and note - book in 
 hand, with the birds before me, in the summer 
 and also in the bitter winter weather, have nothing 
 to do with keepers or poachers. The so-called 
 exposure of poaching manoeuvres is utter nonsense. 
 Rest assured that when keepers grind their teeth 
 in impotent rage at certain jobs, they do not know 
 much about how the thing is done, or they would 
 certainly put a stop to it to save their places ; 
 and poachers who are up to their business hold 
 their tongues about it. When I read of whole 
 coveys being netted, field after field, I feel simply 
 disgusted at the statements, for if ever a bird 
 slept with one eye open it is the partridge. As 
 to the green plover that frequents the same open 
 fields, he walks in his sleep, and moans out his 
 Pewit-weet-weet-weet ! 
 
 One thing I am positive of, twenty pheasants 
 
206 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 come to grief for every single partridge. I should 
 just like to see the fields at least in the southern 
 counties swept over with gossamer -silk nets in 
 the way some gentlemen, who know so precisely 
 how the thing was done, try to explain so lucidly. 
 
 Partridges pair, and they are devoted parents, 
 not only when the chicks are out, but also when 
 their broods are fully fledged. The wiles and shifts 
 both parents will use to lure you away from their 
 young, whom you so frequently startle from off some 
 of the numerous ant-hills that crop up from the 
 turf and ferns, must be seen to be credited; it 
 would be useless to attempt the description of it. 
 Broken wings, broken legs, fits, and death-throes, 
 all are gone through, close to your feet, in less 
 time than it has taken us to mention these as- 
 sumed afflictions, giving the young plenty of time to 
 get to cover in all directions, and into all sorts of 
 places. Then, again, if you keep very quiet, you 
 will presently hear the old birds call, and in less 
 than a minute the little family will be busy round 
 some ant-heap, as if nothing had disturbed them 
 at all. 
 
 No one ever dreams of hurting the innocent crea- 
 
BRITISH GAME-BIRDS. 207 
 
 tures ; there is the traditional folk-lore, and there 
 are woodland laws, fully recognised by all classes. 
 These have not the least bearing on the game-laws, 
 but they are equally strict, and must be acted upon. 
 Even if some did feel disposed to break them, they 
 could not do it unless they were willing to be " cut " 
 by all wood dwellers. 
 
 Two very different kinds of ant-hills supply the 
 eggs or ant-pupae to the young of game-birds, and 
 of partridges in particular. First, there are the 
 common emmet - heaps, or ant - hills, which are 
 scattered all over the land ; go where you will, 
 you will find them. These the birds scratch and 
 break up, picking out the eggs as they fall from 
 the light soil of the heaps; the partridges work 
 them easily. But the ant-eggs proper I am 
 writing now from the game - preserving point of 
 view come from the nests or heaps of the great 
 wood-ants, either the black or the red ants. These 
 are mounds of fir-needles, being in many instances 
 as large at the bottom in circumference as a 
 waggon - wheel, and from two to three feet in 
 height even larger where they are very old ones. 
 They are found in fir-woods, on the warm sunny 
 
208 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 slopes, under the trees as a rule, pretty close to 
 the stems of the trees. The partridges and their 
 chicks do not visit these heaps, for they would get 
 bitten to death by the ferocious creatures. The 
 keepers and their lads procure the eggs of these, 
 and a nice job it is; a wood-pick, a sack, and a 
 shovel are the implements required for the work. 
 Round the men's gaiters or trousers leather straps 
 are tightly buckled, to prevent if possible the great 
 ants from fixing on them, as they will try to do 
 like bull-dogs, when the heaps are harried. The 
 top of the heap is shovelled off, laying open the 
 domestic arrangements of the ant-heap, and showing 
 also the alarmed and furious ants trying to carry off 
 their large eggs to a place of safety ; but it is all 
 in vain eggs and all, they go into the sack. In 
 spite of every precaution, the ant-egg getters do 
 get bitten severely, for the ants would fix anything. 
 They spit, as the men term it, their strong acid 
 venomously. When a lot of heaps have been 
 harried, it smells as if some coarse kind of aromatic 
 vinegar had been poured out under the trees. 
 
 The ants revenge themselves in this fashion : they 
 fix you with their pincers, then bending their bodies 
 
BRITISH GAME-BIRDS. 209 
 
 between their legs, they eject the acid into the 
 wound their strong pincers have made. Thou- 
 sands of the creatures can be seen, raised up on 
 their legs, their bodies bent underneath and for- 
 wards, spraying formic acid in all directions. If 
 you place your hand over the great hollow in the 
 heap, it will get finely covered with it. I have been 
 bitten by wood-ants, and have had to bear it, but 
 it was a sore experience. No notice is taken of 
 what a keeper or his lad may say when under 
 punishment from ant-bites ; they had need be foj- 
 given if they use improper words to the grind- 
 stone, after they have come home from ant-egg 
 getting. 
 
 These'heaps are harried for the home-bred birds 
 that is, home and hand fed ones, both pheasants and 
 partridges, hatched out by small game-hens game- 
 fowl kept specially for that purpose from the eggs 
 that have been taken from the outlying nests. 
 Other strains of the domestic fowl are used, but 
 the game - hens are the favourite foster - parents. 
 When the birds are fed with the eggs, as many 
 of the ants as it is possible to get rid of are kept 
 out, but some are sure to be mixed up with the 
 
 o 
 
2io WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 eggs, and these fix on the feeding birds, making 
 them jump off the ground. The common emmets 
 the creatures that the wild birds feed on, their young 
 broods particularly are harmless, but the large 
 wood-ants are not. I have known them pull crea- 
 tures to pieces and eat them up so cleanly, that 
 their skeletons have been far better prepared than 
 you would see them among specimens got up for 
 anatomical purposes ; in fact some, who know what 
 the ants can and will do, place small animals and 
 birds, ranging from rabbits, squirrels, and mice, to 
 birds from the size of a partridge down to the 
 golden-crested wren, in their nests. If a perfect 
 skeleton is required of a viper, snake, slow-worm, 
 toad, frog, or either of the lizards, place the reptile 
 in one of these fir-needle heaps in some lonely 
 place in the fir-woods, one that is not likely to 
 be visited, and you will get what you want. 
 
 In a dead hard winter, in fact such a one as we 
 frequently experienced, our friend the partridge is 
 not put to it as his larger associates are, for the 
 bird naturally is a ground one; all his living is 
 got from it : he lives, broods, and jugs there. No 
 matter how deep the snow may be, or how intense 
 
BRITISH GAME-BIRDS. 211 
 
 the frost, it does not cover up all places completely. 
 Brambles, thorns, and dead bracken, torey - grass 
 and bent tuffets, may to all appearance look covered 
 up, but it is not really so ; underneath all is warm 
 and dry, and not a vestige of snow will you find 
 there, unless you kick it in with your foot, or hit 
 it with your stick to make it fall. Nature's own 
 pure covering this is wherewith to protect her 
 children. They know where to go, and how to 
 form their shelters from all the winds that blow. 
 As to feeding, not one-tenth part of the wild fruits 
 and berries are gathered by human hands ; and 
 as to the plants that bear seed of some kind, who 
 can tell how many provide food for the game-birds ? 
 for they ripen and fall, being unconsidered hedge- 
 row and field-plant provender. I have just returned 
 from rough - meadow lands, snow-covered, whither 
 I went in order to watch outlying coveys feeding in 
 the snow. 
 
 Hawkweeds, thistles, ground brambles the trail- 
 ing kind that runs over the pastures in places here 
 and there, forming low clumps a few inches in height 
 are not exactly what a farmer would like to see in 
 his pasture-lands ; but as some of these at one time 
 
212 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 were part of the common lands, cultivation has not 
 quite got rid of the vegetation indigenous to common 
 land. No matter what the farmer may think, the 
 birds know this is their own feeding-range. For 
 the hedge-dykes that surround these rough pastures 
 have a growth of their own, of kixes, wild parsnips, 
 mothmullein, long grass, and brambles, all which are 
 very long in decaying. They dry up hard and droop 
 down ; their stems may be broken by the winds, but 
 there they are, snow-covered certainly, but warmly 
 covering in the dry ditches below them, thus forming 
 fine warm shelters for the partridges. Birds do not 
 feel cold as common humanity does ; for quite 
 putting on one side the feather quilts with which 
 they are covered, their blood is much hotter than 
 our own that of game-birds particularly so. 
 
 There they are, about the middle of the field, 
 heads down, backs up, and their tails drooped, busily 
 feeding round the dead stems of some weeds and 
 low brambles. Ten or a dozen of them there are, I 
 fancy ; for you can always count for more than you 
 can see at all times, and we can plainly see the 
 bunched-up backs of nine. 
 
 They are picking and scratching round and 
 
BRITISH GAME-BIRDS. 213 
 
 amongst the trailing brambles : none of the bram- 
 bles lose all their leaves in the winter; green and 
 withered leaves can be seen on them, no matter 
 how hard the weather may be. As the small fruit 
 with large seeds is not considered worth picking, 
 it drops when dead ripe and falls on the ground; 
 the pulp rots but the seeds remain there, well pro- 
 tected by the tangle above them, and the birds know 
 of it. When hard times come they know where food 
 can be found, and they get it as a rule. There are 
 no rules, however, without exceptions. 
 
 Partridges jug or roost in a sort of round-robin 
 fashion, their heads turned outwards and their tails 
 of course the reverse way. This is all right, and 
 very nice when weather permits it ; but just before 
 the sun, like a globe of fire seen through the cold 
 grey clouds, gets very low down, the partridges make 
 for warmer quarters. I have remarked in some of 
 my books on natural life, furred and feathered, 
 how very closely wild creatures at times will come 
 to the localities where man has his home and sur- 
 roundings. The subject of this chapter is a keen 
 bird, and from time beyond record his race have 
 kept near the tillers of the soil. 
 
214 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 If I wished to find a covey at night in such 
 weather as I have just come in from, my mous- 
 tache and beard stiff with ice, I should know 
 where to look for them, and I should find them, 
 snug and warm as toast, where no breath of wind 
 or biting frost could reach them ; but just where that 
 particular place is I must certainly decline to tell, 
 and for very excellent reasons. I do not kill birds, 
 nor have I the least wish to do so. One thing, 
 however, I will say about it, and that is, the part- 
 ridges would be where most would probably never 
 dream of searching for them. 
 
 The bird's natural enemies are comparatively few, 
 taking into consideration his ground habitat- Rap- 
 tores in southern countries the sparrow-hawk ex- 
 cepted are very few ; and this hawk rarely kills the 
 partridge, for the reason that hedgerow birds are so 
 abundant, and they are a far easier quarry than our 
 swift bird. I could, if I thought it necessary, give 
 authentic information of the large bags of partridges 
 made in past years, but as this chapter deals more 
 with the natural history of the brave bird than with 
 the sport he provides for the sportsman, such records 
 need not be given. 
 
BRITISH GAME-BIRDS. 215 
 
 Although the larger raptores in southern countries 
 are conspicuous by their absence, when migrating 
 time comes round some of these long and wide- 
 winged beauties pass over the southern countries in 
 small numbers, a couple of pairs or a single pair, 
 as the case may be. Sometimes a few buzzards 
 a very few, either the rough - legged, common, or 
 honey buzzard, which all come to grief are brought 
 singly to me to look at, and there it ends. 
 
 The only chance we have now of looking at one 
 or two of the larger sort is when the corn is cut, 
 and the partridges feed and shelter more in the 
 root-crops, turnips or swedes by preference. Man- 
 golds, or " wuzzles," they work as well, but the 
 turnips are favoured by them most. Harriers at 
 one time the hen-harriers were frequently to be 
 seen on the wide heaths, commons, and moors 
 which were so very numerous in this district 
 Surrey. These, when changes came about, were 
 killed of course at least folks killed as many as 
 they could. 
 
 After forming their hunting-grounds for so many 
 years, it is not to be wondered at if a pair still pay 
 a passing visit when on flight, for the line of country 
 
2i6 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 is still the same : that at any rate has not altered in 
 its formation, although new-comers have scratched 
 about a bit. 
 
 " What are you looking at, my man, so deeply ? " 
 I ask of a lad who was sheep tending. 
 
 " Why, them 'ere big birds, hawks o' some sort ; I 
 think they be arter the partridges." 
 
 "Where?" 
 
 " Oh, you'll see 'em, no fear, they are gone up 
 the walley now, they'll come back agin; they've 
 bin goin' backwards an' forrards fur some time 
 now. Don't ye hear the birds holler? they're fat- 
 tened at 'em, I ken tell ye. There they be ! ain't 
 they big uns ? " 
 
 A pair of hen - harriers these were, partridge 
 hawking, the grey cock and the larger ring-tailed 
 hen, a fine sight. They had not struck a quarry 
 yet, for partridges do not let hawks get them if 
 they can help it. The pair evidently thought they 
 had been wasting time for no purpose, for they 
 dashed past, over to a large field of swedes; and 
 here something must have told them they would 
 meet with better success, for they set to work like 
 a couple of pointers. 
 
BRITISH GAME-BIRDS. 217 
 
 We could see nothing of the partridges' for the 
 leaves. Once the ring -tail made a pounce, and 
 we could hear the covey shriek in terror, but no 
 capture was made. Presently the harriers changed 
 their tactics, and they hunted the lines of swedes 
 backwards and forwards for a time, nearly over 
 the whole length ; then they shot back and worked 
 across it, beginning at the far end and working 
 towards us. Not a foot of that field did that 
 pair appear to miss, for the two of us were stand- 
 ing on a bit of a nob of ground overlooking the 
 field. 
 
 "They're workin' on 'em up close now, jist the 
 same as my old dog corners my sheep ; them 'ere 
 partridges wun't be able to put up with much, more 
 on it." 
 
 Nor did they; for at the last flight up, the whole 
 covey dashed out screaming from the corner of the 
 field : like lightning the hawks pounced clap 
 clap ! A cloud of feathers flew as each struck 
 their bird, and that pair of harriers breakfasted on 
 partridges. 
 
 It was the fashion in the days of my youth for the 
 farmers to have sparrow clubs. These murdering 
 
2i8 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 institutions were in great force, and they entailed on 
 every farm a sparrow-shooter, a good-sized lad as a 
 rule, who knew a lot when his father was not near 
 him. Now no matter where you might see that lad, 
 you would be sure to see one of the farm sheep- 
 dogs. It was not on duty with him, but both boy 
 and dog understood each other well. One of these 
 sparrow-shooters, about my own age, on a farm 
 where I visited, was a lad that had gone to the same 
 school as myself, so that we became confidential at 
 once. " I say, there's a lot o' partridges in the 
 swedes," said the boy. 
 
 " I know there is ; but we don't dare meddle with 
 them they are game-birds. Besides, we couldn't 
 hit them flying if we tried." 
 
 "Well, we don't want to hit 'em flyin', do we? 
 Do you think as every bird as is shot is killed flyin' ? 
 I knows they ain't. You look here old Mike the 
 keeper was always braggin' about his shootin', an' 
 about bein' able to git birds quick when they was 
 wanted. Well, he was carryin' on one day down at 
 the ' Prince George,' and master was in the best 
 room, an' he heard him hollerin' about. Next mor- 
 nin', when he come for orders, the master told him 
 
BRITISH GAME-BIRDS. 219 
 
 he must have half-a-dozen brace to send off by coach 
 in two hours' time. * It won't be any trouble,' he 
 said, ' for you can shoot.' You should 'a seen old 
 Mike tear off. He comes to me and asks if I'd seen 
 'em in the forty-acre stubbles, an' I told him yes. 
 Well, if he didn't crawl along the hedge, an' let fly 
 into a covey feedin' ; he slaughtered four on 'em he 
 let drive both barrels. I slipped along after him, 
 an' see him do it. After that he looks over another 
 field, an' there was a lot runnin' up a furrer. He 
 raked 'em, killed the lot leastways one on 'em 
 fluttered over the hedge; I got that. Over he 
 comes, an' he started a bit ; then he begins to talk 
 big, an' taxes me with havin' that bird. I says yes, 
 I knows I have, for I see you shoot one lot feedin', 
 an' the other runnin' up the furrer. You can shoot, 
 Mike. Then he said he didn't want the bird, it was 
 only his fun, I could keep it. No, they don't shoot 
 all on 'em flyin'. Look here, I'm sparrer-shootin', I 
 ain't s'posed to shoot them on the wing. If them 
 partridges feeds close up in the swedes, they ain't far 
 off. I've bin watchin' them leaves wiggle about ; I 
 shall take 'em for sparrers an' shoot. You stop an' 
 see me have a pull. Nobody wun't know on it, fur 
 
220 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 ye see I'm sparrer-shootin'. They're a comin' 
 nearer; look at them leaves a movin'. Jack can 
 hear 'em, look at his ears cockin' up. Git down 
 as low as ye can behind the hedgerow. Don't 
 ye hear 'em rustlin' ? I shan't let em get much 
 nearer, for fear o' blowin' 'em to rags and tatters. 
 Look out, now, I'm a-goin' to let drive." Bang 
 went the old single Manton. " I've got 'em ! " cried 
 the boy. 
 
 There was no mistake about it, for a duck's tail 
 showed for a moment, then two feet worked in the 
 leaves and dropped. Before a word could be uttered, 
 duck number two sprang from the leaves and 
 tumbled over dead. "Come on, Jack," said my 
 companion ; " if we stops here, all the lot on us will 
 git transported." 
 
 Charles II. is generally credited with first trying 
 to introduce the French partridge, or Guernsey red- 
 leg, into this country. Why this handsome game- 
 bird should have the adjective French tacked before 
 its name, I do not know, for the bird has a very con- 
 siderable Continental range. It is supposed to have 
 been fairly introduced into some places on the Con- 
 tinent, which, however, claim it as indigenous to the 
 
BRITISH GAME-BIRDS. 221 
 
 soil. As to this, I am not able to say anything. 
 The red-legged partridge is now well established in 
 some of the eastern and southern counties. It has, 
 I know, the character of driving away our native 
 bird the grey partridge ; but this is not correct, the 
 habits of the two birds are different. I have never 
 seen the two birds in the same locality, and I have 
 never known a case of inter-breeding. But my 
 experience may be of a limited nature, and I assert 
 nothing. 
 
 The bird appears to me to be somewhat akin to 
 the francolins. Here, in suitable localities, it breeds 
 if let alone ; but I fear more birds are quietly got rid 
 of for their supposed ill-feeling towards our native 
 bird than any one hears about. I know something 
 of the process. There is the beautiful creature on 
 her eggs under a torey tuffet laced with sprigs of 
 young thorn. A figure draws near with stealthy 
 footstep and raised stick. Down comes the stick, 
 the bird is killed, and the eggs trampled under foot, 
 as if the bird was a hen-harrier. " Them 'ere damned 
 Frenchies kills t'others," is the explanation surlily 
 given, if you ask for one ; a poor one certainly, for 
 they have never once been caught by them doing 
 
222 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 that. This bird has more than once within my ex- 
 perience dashed down in flocks or huge coveys, 
 quite exhausted, on some parts of our foreshores. 
 Whether it was that a fog had sprung up and drifted 
 inshore from off the water, puzzling the birds on 
 their inland flights for all birds move at times so 
 that they had flown out to sea in the fog from the 
 French side of the water, at last making English 
 soil, no one knew. There the partridges were, and 
 for a time completely done for, so far as flying went. 
 Great numbers were easily captured by those who 
 had the luck to be strolling about where they settled 
 down, close to the water's edge. 
 
 It is impossible, even now, to chronicle all the 
 remarkable movements of birds at different times, 
 for hundreds have not, one is sorry to say, the 
 least interest in such matters, beyond that of eat- 
 ing the birds that fall in their way. Where birds 
 not commonly seen can be disposed of, it is a 
 different matter then the pocket is benefited. 
 
 The nimble little fellow, the quail, that visits us in 
 the spring and leaves us as a rule in the fall, might 
 be called a dwarf partridge. Some winter with us, 
 a few only at one time. I knew where he could be 
 
BRITISH GAME-BIRDS. 223 
 
 found in some fields that were at the foot of one of 
 the Surrey hills, close to a railway station, where 
 the little fellow's call of " Bit by bit," or as others 
 had it, "Wet, my weet wet, my weet," was fre- 
 quently heard. I knew they were quails, for I had 
 a fine cock from there ; his call had been the cause 
 of his death. One bird out of several might be 
 spared, I thought, for natural history purposes, so 
 I had him. 
 
 At that time I painted my birds in the surround- 
 ings in which I found them. When I got a bird, a 
 considerable armful of tangle went home with him 
 from the spot where I found it. If I were to gather 
 together all my earlier work, given as soon as it was 
 done to my young companions who roamed the 
 fields with me, I often think I should be astonished 
 at the quantity of it. Full of artistic faults no doubt 
 the drawings would be ; indeed they received plenty 
 of criticism from our elders. I never asked them to 
 look at my humble efforts, but they gave it all the 
 same. Bitterness of heart it caused me as a boy 
 of thirteen. I felt I had done no wrong, and yet I 
 was made to feel in some way small and foolish. 
 "This was too much worked up," "that was too 
 
224 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 hard," and " the other was too highly coloured ; " 
 " it was a great pity I did not give my mind to 
 other things and let" birds alone." There was no 
 call for this. I was at that time physically delicate, 
 and a sensitive youngster ; however, I had my way, 
 being determined to have it. 
 
 But I am forgetting myself, the quail has led me 
 to do this ; for as I write I am once more in that 
 rough field, thick with thistles, burdocks, dock, 
 sorrel, ox-eye daisies, kixes, hawkweed, and many 
 other plants, the whole under-surface being covered 
 with tussocks and bent tufts. 
 
 Here it was that I listened to the simple call of 
 the quail, and here I got my bird. That field is 
 now fine pasture-land. I hear the corncrake and 
 the partridge, but " Wet, my weet wet, my weet," 
 we never expect to hear again, the quails' feeding- 
 grounds having been improved away. The quails 
 imported into this country in the quail season are 
 larger and better marked, I think, than those found 
 wild here. Quite recently I compared some sky- 
 larks from the Continent with some of our English 
 field-larks, and noticed the same difference. This 
 may be caused by a warmer climate, and possibly 
 
BRITISH GAME-BIRDS. 
 
 225 
 
 a more varied food-supply. It is certain that such 
 a difference does exist. As the quail is a bird of 
 passage, and one of the most noted in ornithological 
 records of the earliest dates, he no doubt attains 
 his fullest development in those countries that are 
 best conducive to his wellbeing. Sometimes there 
 is a notice made of quails being shot when every 
 one has supposed them to have been far over seas ; 
 this is nothing to wonder at, other birds beside 
 these will also stay behind at times. 
 
 A dainty little fellow is the quail, and perfectly 
 contented to pipe his simple call in surroundings 
 such as those amongst which I have found him 
 many years ago. 
 
 In conclusion, I wish to remark that as the years 
 pass on I think a revision will be effected in the so- 
 called classification of wild creatures, although some 
 at the present day consider dry-bone-dust theories 
 to be as unalterable as the laws of the Medes and 
 Persians. But having for some years pondered 
 over this matter, I think that such must ultimately 
 be the case. 
 
 If such a change comes, I think that the great 
 bustard will be placed at the head of the plovers; 
 
226 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 the general habits of the bird are plover-like. 
 Nature has no violent breaks in her perfect system. 
 The great bustard, the little bustard, and the stone- 
 curlew lead down to the plovers ; if you look at 
 them closely they seem to be near akin. When I 
 see a bustard, in my own mind I always class him 
 as a giant plover. 
 
 This may not be a new thought ; many others 
 may have had the same ideas as I have on this 
 question. Only sometimes, when I am looking at 
 the few stray feathers that I own, the desire will 
 come that some day a not far distant one I hope, 
 if I am to see it some things may be made yet a 
 little clearer than they are at present. 
 
CHANCE SHOTS AND ODD FISH. 227 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 % 
 CHANCE SHOTS AND ODD FISH. 
 
 THE gun and the rod were formerly used by the 
 working classes far more than they are at the pres- 
 ent time. And indeed the gun was necessary for 
 the protection of the crops in different stages of 
 their growth, just after planting as well as when 
 they arrived at maturity; especially in isolated 
 districts, where for miles nothing met the eye on 
 each side of the long sun-scorched roads in the 
 summer time except fruit - orchards, and gardens 
 used for growing vegetables and fruit. It was only 
 natural that the owners should seek to protect their 
 harvests from the feathered thieves. 
 
 Hedgerow fruit is all very well for birds when 
 the season of cultivated fruits is over, but not 
 
228 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 before that. Many of the insect - feeders, with 
 their young, just before leaving us for their winter 
 quarters, play havoc, if permitted, with the smaller 
 fruits. Strange to say, inland districts, well wooded, 
 do not suffer nearly so much as those close to the 
 tide or the tidal rivers ; for just at the time when 
 bush-fruits are ripe, most of the birds are beginning 
 to think about going back to where they started 
 from, over the water; and day by day they feed 
 and flit nearer to the coast-lines, a few families at a 
 time, until the fruit-gardens and orchards are alive 
 with small birds of one sort and another, and all of 
 them feeding on the fruit. This had to be seen to ; 
 so, as nearly every house had a gun in it of some 
 kind or other, those who worked in the orchards 
 and gardens had not much difficulty in finding one 
 for those of their sons who had been promoted to 
 the proud position of bird-shooting. These were 
 not fowling-pieces, only the ordinary light guns, 
 " snipe guns " they were called, in order to 
 distinguish them from the others. The larger 
 farmhouses generally had a complete battery 
 hanging by leather loops over the broad mantel. 
 But now and then you w r ould see one or two of 
 
CHANCE SHOTS AND ODD FISH. 229 
 
 the lads with guns that had come from their 
 own homes. 
 
 These bird -shooters were not taken at random 
 for the job; some small amount of diplomacy 
 would be used beforehand about the matter. First 
 the master or one of his sons would inquire in a 
 very quiet fashion if any of the young ones had 
 a hankering after a gun, which inquiry generally 
 brought out the information that two or three on 
 'em had got some most " owdacious larruppings " 
 for meddling with their parent's guns. As these 
 " larruppings " were of a severe character, the very 
 fact of a boy's running the risk of one to gratify his 
 ruling passion proved beyond doubt their mother's 
 assertions that the young rips had " got it in 'em." 
 One by one, under some plausible pretext or other, 
 the rips would be asked to attend one of their 
 masters with his gun, a light single one, round 
 ' the farm. After a shot or two, the lad would be 
 asked if he would like to have a shot at a bird. 
 
 " I should, jest about, Master Ned. Jest you let 
 me hev a go at a sparrer." 
 
 " A sparrow, you young varmint ! why, you couldn't 
 shoot into a barn if the doors were kept open for ye." 
 
230 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 " Oh ! couldn't I ? " 
 
 " Well now, look here, I'm goin' to load her light 
 for ye ; there she is, full-coeked. Do ye seen them 
 yaller-hammers ? " 
 
 " Not now, I don't." 
 
 4 'How's that?" 
 
 " Why, ain't they flew frum the hedge into the 
 weeds in the field?" 
 
 " Now look here if you gives me any more o' 
 that, you young imp, I'll trim an ash sucker for ye, 
 jest for ye to see how ye like that. Here ye are, 
 walk 'em up, give 'em fair rise ; and, don't kill 'em 
 <M." 
 
 The rip snaked up, the birds rose, and down 
 dropped a fine cock yellow-hammer. 
 
 " You're a nice un : now come here and tell me what 
 you had that larrupping for, three weeks back." 
 
 "Well, you knows Josher's p'inter?" 
 
 "What p'inter?" 
 
 " Why, Josher's weathercock p'inter, what my 
 father drawed an' cut out o' copper, an' painted 
 natural as life. Larry's father's orchard is at the 
 back o' his place ; there was him, an' * Loader,' an' 
 ' Finny,' an' ' Genus,' an' me. Larry got the gun, an' 
 
CHANCE SHOTS AND ODD FISH. 231 
 
 Finny got me to shoot at Josher's p'inter, when he 
 p'inted east'ard. I knocked his head a one side on 
 him. An' Josher was lookin' out o' his back winder, 
 an' see me shoot ; an' that's how I cum to hev a 
 larrupping." 
 
 " How about the p'inter, eh ? " 
 
 " Father set him to rights agin." 
 
 Some who were not so proficient as the rip above 
 sketched were only allowed to shoot blank charges 
 for a time. Never at any time were heavy charges 
 used, for fear of cutting the shoots about. The birds, 
 as they dipped from one lot of fruit to another, 
 require quick shooting between the rows. This sort 
 of thing in course of time made good shots of 
 the boys. Many of the best shots I ever knew 
 rough-shooters, no doubt, they would be called now 
 had their early training in the fruit-orchards and 
 gardens. The birds knew perfectly well what they 
 had to expect, and they acted accordingly ; the craft 
 shown at times by them was something to wonder 
 at. I have known wild pigeons come great dis- 
 tances to feed on the peas alone. In after-years, 
 when some of the boys had moved far away from 
 their early home, the gun was handled by them still 
 
232 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 to good purpose. Even now the sight of a fine 
 fowling-piece will make the eyes of some of my old 
 chums, who have had to lay up the gun for good, 
 glisten again, and will send their thoughts back far 
 away to the time when they were young. 
 
 Although I have pleaded for the birds, there are 
 times when under stress of weather they commit se- 
 rious depredations on field crops, more particularly 
 on fields devoted to market produce. Thousands of 
 skylarks, hundreds of wood-larks and titlings, will 
 all take heavy tithes of it. It is, to say the least of 
 it, a curious sight to see these birds, with missel- 
 thrushes, blackbirds, redwings, common thrushes, 
 and snipes, all rise from a patch of savoy cabbages. 
 Where the birds peck and make holes, the wet gets 
 in and rots them. The snipes are there for a differ- 
 ent purpose that is, to probe about the soft places 
 where the water drops from the leaves when it thaws 
 a little. 
 
 The swallows are twittering to their young broods, 
 which are well on the wing, and are just now resting 
 on the top of the large chimney of the old thatched 
 farmhouse for a little while, before they make the 
 circuit of the farmyard and outbuildings again, for 
 
CHANCE SHOTS AND ODD FISH. 23.3 
 
 they are not firmly feathered yet. So still is it that 
 their cheerful song sounds quite loudly. The poultry 
 are all quiet ; even the ducks are standing on one 
 leg by the side of their pond, fast asleep, with their 
 heads half buried in their back feathers. The hum 
 of bees comes from the garden, a dreamy hum that 
 would lull you off to sleep if you listened to it long. 
 Some sparrows fly up on the thatch, and give out 
 their chisick, chisick, chisick ! then all is still for a 
 time. 
 
 Suddenly one of the hens that has a brood of 
 chicks screams out her alarm-note. Something is 
 wrong, for she is in a state of the greatest excite- 
 ment, with her chicks all under her. 
 
 Very quietly the master takes his gun down from 
 over the fireplace, where it is kept : the row has 
 roused him from his after-dinner forty winks. He 
 looks out from the door, but nothing is to be seen. 
 Just as he is going in again, a grey-brown bird shoots 
 over, above the spot where the hen has got her chicks. 
 As this bird rises, he fires : for the moment he thinks 
 he has missed it, and the hawk is nearly over the 
 barn when something evidently goes wrong with it, 
 for it hangs in the air for a moment, drops one 
 
234 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 wing, and beats with the other at a most rapid rate ; 
 turns over, rights again, spreads its tail out, and 
 then comes down dead. In those days the gun was 
 always ready to hand for a chance shot. 
 
 " What is it, Mark ? What do you want of me ? " 
 asks the farmer, as a labourer comes up to him, evi- 
 dently with some request. 
 
 " Why, I've cum to ask ye if ye have a rabbit that 
 ye ken give me fur my young un ; he's bin down 
 now fur a long time, an' he's just gettin' about agin." 
 
 " Have we got one, mother ? " 
 
 " No, father. I wish we had for the poor child's 
 sake." 
 
 " Can you shoot, Mark ? " 
 
 " I could one time, master, an' I thinks as I could 
 now." 
 
 " Well, look here, take my double she is loaded 
 and see if you can get a young one or a couple out 
 of that young clover-field. I must be going out, or 
 I'd try and get you one." 
 
 Not long afterwards a couple of shots rang out, 
 and the man returned with a couple of rabbits, also 
 with the news that he had discovered a heap of 
 guinea-fowls' eggs where those shy birds had nested 
 
CHANCE SHOTS AND ODD FISH. 235 
 
 away in company, without having been found. If 
 the mistress could find him a trug he would bring 
 them in, there was such a lot of them ! 
 
 This illustrates the feeling that used to exist be- 
 tween the employer and the employed ; the people 
 about the farms helped to protect what was on them. 
 If, in a case such as I have mentioned, something a 
 little out of the usual routine was required, it was 
 freely asked for, and as freely granted. For in those 
 days of sturdy independence and self-respect, a 
 master knew that if a man asked a favour from him 
 he needed it. 
 
 Rough-shooting, so called to distinguish it from 
 cover-shooting, has a charm above any others for 
 those who have been used to it. Where game was 
 not strictly preserved, rough-shooting was the order 
 of the day in our North Kent districts ; for every 
 man shot on his own grounds or on those he rented, 
 and at times he freely invited his friends to come 
 with him : one condition only had to be remembered, 
 no hares were to be shot ; they were left for coursing. 
 
 The partridges, owing to the great extent of their 
 feeding-grounds, were very strong on the wing, and, 
 as a rule, wild as hawks at certain seasons. What 
 
236 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 might get up when the dogs pointed was a matter 
 for speculation it might be a short-eared owl, a 
 stone curlew or the great curlew, or a covey of 
 partridges. Nothing was done in a hurry : if it 
 was only a snipe, and he was missed, the reason 
 for this would be calmly talked over, and the bird 
 would be sought for and put up again if possible. 
 Even the dogs, the rough -coated setters and the 
 Spanish pointers, went to work deliberately. When 
 the dykes were crossed they looked up them and 
 down them, to see what was moving Jack-hern, 
 coot, flappers, rail, or moor - hen ; nothing was 
 thought beneath their notice if they were fowl. 
 But although our men were good shots as a rule, 
 exceptions did exist the bags at times were light 
 ones; for it was a difficult matter, under certain 
 weather influences, to get within range of birds 
 on exposed places, their hearing is so very quick. 
 Then again they will squat like stones; and the 
 reason for these very opposite tactics on their part 
 has not yet been explained. In any case, whatever 
 the luck might be, the birds that were shot were 
 nicely put away in the men's large shooting-jacket 
 pockets, so that they should look well when turned 
 
CHANCE SHOTS AND ODD FISH. 237 
 
 out for inspection. Perhaps there is not time for 
 this sort of thing now ; the fowl that have reached 
 me lately have been sadly tumbled. 
 
 Wood - pigeons are very wary, quick - sighted, 
 strong - winged birds. All know this that have 
 watched them, or brought them down with the 
 gun. At times they appear to get bewildered: I 
 have had an example of this recently on one of 
 our hills close to Dorking. As a rule I am out 
 in all weathers snow, frost, rain, or fog. A very 
 heavy fog had settled on the top of the hill when 
 I was about the middle of it ; so heavy it was that 
 the water dropped from the bare twigs of the trees 
 like rain. From a lot of beeches on the left of me, 
 as I walked, two shots were fired, one after the 
 other, as fast as the triggers could be pulled. Then 
 over my head, like a gale of wind, a flock of wood- 
 pigeons passed : a thousand of them there were, if 
 there was one. 
 
 As the shots were very close, I slipped down into 
 a mossy hollow, where one of the old bridle-paths 
 ran : the fog being thick, the shots were quite 
 close enough to be unpleasant. Having known 
 some sad accidents take place in foggy weather, 
 
238 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 I did my best to avoid one. Hardly had I got 
 out of harm's way, when the pigeons passed over 
 me on their way back to the part where they had 
 left some of their number behind. Again two 
 shots rang out above me, and the pigeons rushed 
 over as before to the firs. What could be the 
 meaning of it, I wondered ? 
 
 In less than five minutes back they were again : 
 this time a single shot was fired, followed up in 
 about ten minutes by another. As I had my field- 
 glass and they were low down, I could see all I 
 wanted whilst they passed and repassed overhead, 
 for the fog broke now and then, as the wind 
 moved it. 
 
 Why the birds should have received that number 
 of shots, and still have returned for more, is out of 
 my reckoning. The next day was clear and bright, 
 but cold : where the pigeons had gone to then, I do 
 not know ; I did not see them, nor did I hear any 
 shooting. Birds are in one place one day, and gone 
 the next. As one pigeon-shooter told me, "If you 
 don't ketch 'em on the flop, you loses 'em ; most 
 special them 'ere furrin pigeons what cums and 
 goes." 
 

 CHANCE SHOTS AND ODD FISH. 239 
 
 Those who wander for chance shots pass through 
 very lonely places at times ; and those shooters 
 with whom I associated were men who were, as a 
 rule, much influenced by the mysteries of nature. 
 Many a time have I rested to talk over the wild 
 records of past times with them, when out on the 
 search for fowl. My companions, like myself, were 
 brim-full of the traditions of the flats. There was 
 one spot that was under a ban, owing to local 
 traditions, which had a fascination for me from 
 my earliest childhood. 
 
 Where the tide works its own way, if you wish 
 to get to a special place I know of, you must go 
 in certain directions to it. It is not the least 
 use going by a boat, although you could pull to 
 it direct; for the moment you got on shore you 
 would be trespassing. This was fiercely resented 
 by all classes, rich or poor, so no one trespassed 
 as a rule, thus saving a lot of trouble on both sides. 
 Now to reach one place where fowl were abundant, 
 we had to go six miles from our own hamlet before 
 we could get to a narrow track that led to one of 
 the smallest and most secluded fishing hamlets that 
 I should imagine ever existed. If ever a place could 
 
240 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 be called out of the world, that might have been. 
 A long narrow lane, with high hedges on each side, 
 led you to the grey-flint-towered church : through 
 the churchyard you passed on to a wood which 
 adjoined it so closely, that the branches of some 
 of the outside trees almost touched the churchyard 
 wall. Through the wood a path led down to the 
 few scattered houses; then came the flats and the 
 tide. 
 
 It was a quiet God's-acre, that daisy-dotted rest- 
 ing-place, for no one visited it except on Sundays. 
 Nothing was to be heard but the jackdaws in the 
 old tower, and the chatter and whistle of the star- 
 lings that built there. The magpies that were very 
 numerous in the district would sit on the wall or 
 gate of the church, and chatter when they heard 
 footsteps ; or walk, with their beautiful tails thrown 
 up, through some of the long grass and tangle that 
 grew there. Great brambles grew by the side of 
 the wall, covered in the season with the finest 
 blackberries that could be found anywhere; but 
 they were never touched except by the birds, for 
 all the traditions connected with that last resting- 
 place were sad ones. The fringe of the wood 
 
CHANCE SHOTS AND ODD FISH. 241 
 
 spread in the shape of scattered bushes, most of 
 them large thorns, for some distance out on the 
 flats. As the drainage from the upland fields fell 
 into the dykes of the flats just here, certain fowl, 
 such as ducks, teal, and snipe, haunted it. Best 
 of all, it was free for us at any rate to shoot there, 
 and to take a friend with us if we chose to do so ; 
 but I generally went then, as I do now, alone. Not 
 that I ever brought one bird from there, for the gun 
 was only the pretext for my visit ; the wild beauty 
 of the place as the sun went down, the cries of 
 fowl and their manoeuvres before they flighted for 
 the night, had more charms for me than shooting 
 had. The place had a bad name, for it was a 
 dangerous place to be out on at night, when the 
 tide covered the flats almost within a stone's-throw 
 of the hamlet, if it could be called one ; so I always 
 left them before dusk fell. 
 
 Turning my face homewards, full of thoughts 
 about things such as I have at last after all these 
 years been able to put before my kind readers, I 
 have seen great masses of clouds, purple and gold, 
 sinking down behind that grey church. The wood 
 that hid the greater part of it was a mass of deep 
 
 Q 
 
242 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 grey shadow, the top part of the trees catching a 
 flush of rosy light as the sun got low. More un- 
 fortunate accidents have taken place there, in past 
 times, than in any other place in this district, which 
 is lonely even now. The few that now shoot there 
 give the place a bad report. This has nothing to 
 do with the people for, if their blood runs hot, 
 they are kindly folks. It is owing to the treacher- 
 ous nature of the waters and the flats that border 
 on them. 
 
 One Christmas eve, as the bells were ringing 
 their glad tidings out over the waters so near to 
 the old church, two fowlers were coming in from 
 the tide. How the catastrophe happened no one 
 knew, but the boat drifted in bottom upwards, 
 and two days afterwards the fowlers were found 
 stretched on the ooze. 
 
 There is no such thing as extermination to be 
 feared so far as wild-fowl are concerned, although 
 the reclamation of valuable land for grazing and 
 building purposes from the sea has necessarily 
 done away with the decoys that captured them 
 in such vast numbers, as our decoy records prove. 
 There are only more left to go elsewhere. Because 
 
CHANCE SHOTS AND ODD FISH. 243 
 
 creatures that visit us are no longer to be cir- 
 cumvented as they used to be, it is not that they 
 do not come here as before ; for they do, but not 
 to stay where they once did in fancied security. 
 
 It was this very feeling of security that was the 
 cause of their destruction in hosts for the market. 
 Where their food is, there they still come ; only 
 they are all on the alert now. If they have tradi- 
 tions of their own, they have been handed down 
 of late years in minute detail for the benefit of 
 all fowl that may visit the grass-covered ooze 
 flats, and the sands where at one time they could 
 come and nest, and also feed without molestation. 
 They are not able to do this any longer. Yet 
 listen on flats that I know now, at night, and 
 then say if the fowl are altogether gone. 
 
 " Have you had any sport, Billy ? " I ask a 
 dried - up - looking individual who is dressed in 
 stained cord trousers, nearly covered with what 
 was once a white apron. Over these he wears 
 a flannel jacket, set off by a rusty battered drain- 
 pipe hat of the old orthodox pattern. 
 
 " No, it ain't a bit o' use ; ye see this 'ere weather 
 
244 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 is sickenin' hot for fish, they wun't bite at nothin'. 
 'Tis no use, I knows, comin' out ; but I can't keep 
 indoors, it does me good only to looter along 
 the banks an' look at the water; 'tis pleasant-like 
 to look at things, if the fish wun't bite. I bin 
 saunterin' up the stream that runs from the moor ; I 
 knows there is good trout there, but the holes they 
 lay in is covered over with great bramble-bushes; 
 they lop right over to t'other bank o' the stream ; 
 there ain't no chance at all for nothin'. This 'ere 
 spell o' hot weather has smothered the water with 
 flies an' caterpillars ; what the fish wants, they 
 sucks in without hardly movin' for it, an' then 
 they lays up. If this keeps on 'twill ruin fishin'." 
 
 Of all the anglers I have ever known, and I have 
 seen many in my time, Billy, for originality, I think 
 eclipsed them all. 
 
 The loss of his precious old hat would have 
 ruined him, battered and rusty as it was, for it 
 contained all his choice fishing-gear. The inside 
 of it was fitted up in the most ingenious manner : 
 hooks and lines, silk, wax, and wax ends, all could 
 be found by him in that venerable head-covering. 
 If any one had been wicked enough to bonnet Billy, 
 
CHANCE SHOTS AND ODD FISH. 245 
 
 he would have had a considerable tangle to get out 
 of his mop of iron-grey hair ; but the most reckless 
 respected that fishing-tackle repository, and the old 
 man too. He only owned one rod which had been 
 made by himself a pike rod with tin ferrules, that 
 had been broken in the middle in a tussle with a 
 pike which Billy nearly landed, that had got a head 
 on him, the old fellow said, like a donkey. He had 
 spliced it with waxed ends. This he only used when 
 pike-fishing ; for other purposes he cut one from the 
 river-side. Billy was generally credited with know- 
 ing all the haunts of the fish in the river : one 
 thing he certainly could always tell, and that was 
 where to go for them when they fed. 
 
 The spell of hot weather has brought thunder 
 up ; a few showers have fallen, followed by a 
 steady downpour. Billy rubs his hands, and in- 
 forms all his fishing acquaintances that " this 'ere 
 rain will do a power o' good." The river rises 
 higher and higher ; the bridges over the mill-stream 
 are impassable, for the water is up on a level with 
 their top rails. The millers shout out from the 
 garden of the mill-house that they reckon there 
 is a fine lot of eels in the eel-trap, if they could 
 
246 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 get at them ; but this they are not able to do, 
 for the water is waist-high on the bottom floor 
 of the mill. A rushing, swirling, clay-coloured 
 torrent is now that usually sluggish river called 
 the Mole. Rabbits, rats, moor-hens, dabchicks, 
 rails, and otters are all out in the fields the 
 rabbits and birds showing openly, the otters and 
 rats under cover close to the water. It is still 
 raining heavily, and I am out for purposes of 
 observation. 
 
 I like to watch the various ways in which wild 
 creatures shift for themselves when driven to ex- 
 tremities. The rabbits, moor-hens, rails, and rats 
 will find plenty to eat on the edge of the fields ; 
 and the otters will kill and eat any of these, if they 
 get hungry. The greater part of these flooded-out 
 creatures feed openly, but they keep close to cover 
 of some sort into which they can dash if alarmed. 
 Nothing could live in the river at the rate the 
 rain is coming down now. The brooks that lead 
 into the river are bank-high, kept back by the 
 water rushing down mid-stream, for the brook 
 is six and seven feet in depth now; the pollard- 
 willow stems are showing only half their height. 
 
CHANCE SHOTS AND ODD FlStf. 24? 
 
 As to the huge burdocks, only the tips of some 
 of their bur-bunches can be seen just above the 
 water. Where the brook runs into the river, a 
 circular space has been formed ; there is a deep 
 hole here at all times, but now the flood is out, 
 the whereabouts of that hole can only be distin- 
 guished by the slow circular movement of the water 
 at this particular spot : it is a slow heavy swirl 
 round, and that is all. 
 
 I am simply amusing myself by threshing the 
 trees and bushes in order to make the rats jump 
 into the water for at such times they plump into 
 it like stones from the trees, into which they have 
 climbed; when, on looking over the fields, I make 
 out a figure coming in my direction. I can see 
 that it is muffled up in a long light coat, and that 
 is all. Directly, however, it gets near enough for 
 me to see the drain-pipe hat, I know it is Billy. 
 
 He did not seem pleased to see me, but when 
 he found that I was not fishing, he was all smiles 
 directly. I had seen him fish in that dull swirling 
 hole : we should never have thought about fishing 
 there in a flood, but Billy knew something. 
 
 " Are ye goin' to stop an' see me fish ? If ye 
 
248 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 are, keep quiet an' don't move about, an' I'll show 
 ye somethin'." 
 
 From his sacred hat he drew forth a line of the 
 finest water cord, with a stout gut perch-hook on 
 it; then he fixed on a blue float with white top, 
 pulled out a stick from the bushes near, where he 
 had hidden it on one of his former visits, tied the 
 line on, and said he should bait. From one of 
 the pockets of his old coachman's coat he next 
 fetched out a large worm -bag. 
 
 "These ain't bramlin's, nor yet red uns; you 
 wants big uns here for 'em to see, for the water's 
 thick, an' they're hungry. These is dew - lobs ; 
 ain't they picturs ? I knows how deep to go 
 I don't need to plum it." 
 
 He dropped his line in about a yard from the 
 swirl. Now the float was in it, the white top 
 showing out from the discoloured water; then it 
 was gone. Billy struck, and out he fetched a 
 bream that could not have weighed less than two 
 pounds. 
 
 "Have somethin' better afore long," he muttered, 
 as he dropped the fish behind him. Down swings 
 the float, and it goes under with a rush. Billy 
 
CHANCE SHOTS AND ODD FISH. 249 
 
 strikes, up comes the float and line, minus the 
 stout gut and perch-hook. "That's a jack, hold 
 hard ! I'll have ye ! " From his hat he fetched 
 a gimp trace with a small pike-hook whipped on ; 
 and this time Billy put two large lob-worms on, 
 and threw in. Down went the float as before. 
 
 After a few moments, up it popped, and then 
 went down : the old boy struck all right this time, 
 as he said ; and he landed as nice a pike with 
 his primitive-looking tackle as any one would wish 
 to see. 
 
 Baiting with a couple again, just to see if there 
 was another, but without any result, he changed 
 his trace for a gut perch-hook as before, and went 
 on fishing. Bream, roach, dace, and perch did he 
 keep pulling out of that hole, all large fish, until 
 he had a great flashing scaly heap behind him ; 
 in fact, he said he thought he must leave a few 
 for another day. But the best of the sport was 
 yet to come. 
 
 A few yards up the stream, a great pollard 
 stem jutted half across it under water, forming a 
 sort of dam in the stream. The water was per- 
 fectly quiet, and clearer than it was in the hole. 
 
250 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 From a movement that he caught sight of just 
 beyond the stem, Billy thought he would try and 
 see what he could get there. 
 
 He was well rewarded for his experiment, for 
 in a very short time he caught three good trout. 
 "Now," said Billy, "I shall go home: you'll 
 have some on 'em, wun't ye ? They're real good 
 uns." 
 
 The old fellow's luck made him very chatty as 
 I walked home beside him ; his heavy bag he 
 would carry all himself. " It don't do to go by 
 the look o' things at times," he observed ; " any 
 port is a good un in a storm. All the fish in that 
 part of the river go where you see me pull these 
 out ; they gets out o' the rush o' the river, an' 
 they feeds in the brook. You keep it to yerself, 
 if ye don't care to fish." 
 
 But I did care, for that brook taught me more 
 about natural history of one kind and another 
 than I at that time could have thought possible. 
 Billy and his piscatorial hat have vanished from 
 the scene, for the good old fisherman has gone 
 home long ago. The brook is there, so are the 
 fish in flood-time, but I am not able to go there 
 
CHANCE SHOTS AND ODD FISH. 251 
 
 now if I wished, for the property has changed 
 owners. 
 
 In some places fish are very difficult to catch 
 if they are any size; in other spots you may pull 
 them out, as a farm youngster once told me, 
 as fast as you like to put your line in. Now, to 
 look at, this pond was one of the most ordinary 
 character : it was only a small pond in a clayey 
 meadow, fringed round with bushes on all sides 
 excepting one. 
 
 The bottom was continually trampled and stirred 
 up for a considerable distance out quite one-half 
 of the pond by the cattle going to drink on that 
 side, and by their standing in it up to their bellies 
 to cool themselves in the summer time. So that 
 the part of the pond which was too deep for them 
 to wade in was small. The ducks and geese 
 swam and dabbled there also. I have passed the 
 place frequently of late the pond is close to the 
 farmyard; and although the old-fashioned farm- 
 house is nothing to look at, yet it has the repu- 
 tation now that it had in my younger days, when 
 I fished there, of being the best tench -pond in 
 the district. So far as I have been able to glean, 
 
252 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 this pond has not been looked after or cared for, 
 beyond not being suffered to be fished to death. 
 
 If you were allowed a day's fishing, you were 
 not supposed to ask for another directly after- 
 wards; as no one did so, all things went well. 
 The fish were of a nice size, from a pound in 
 weight up to two pounds real beauties, that 
 would take a nice worm freely. I have lived to 
 see waters that teemed with fish at one time 
 ruined and made almost tenantless by modern 
 bungling or improvements so called. Fish are 
 quite capable of taking care of themselves if al- 
 lowed to do it ; they know what suits them better 
 than we do. 
 
 The very best fish I have ever seen or eaten, 
 and the most handsome I have ever painted, were 
 odd fish, got from odd bits of water, where they 
 had been left for years with all their natural 
 enemies, man excepted, to take their own chance. 
 
WANDERERS. 253 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 WANDERERS. 
 
 A WHALE had been seen several times, spouting, as 
 it passed up and down the open channel opposite 
 my native village on the coast of North Kent, 
 and efforts had been made to drive the great 
 creature into shallow water, so that it might be 
 stranded and killed, but all to no purpose. At 
 last, under the direction of a notable old sea-dog, 
 who went by the name of Dick the Whaler, the 
 feat was accomplished, to the great mortification 
 of those who had tried but failed to do the busi- 
 ness. Some of Dick's partisans and admirers, in 
 order to commemorate the event, requested one of 
 his friends who enjoyed the reputation of being 
 a regular " dabster " at verse - making, to compose 
 
254 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 something worthy of the occasion, in order still 
 further to humble the pride of the other leader. 
 
 The poet was supplied with a bundle of quill 
 pens, plenty of ink and paper, and besides these, 
 two large dumpy bottles of "ager mixter," so called. 
 After two days had elapsed a deputation went to 
 see what he had succeeded in producing. This 
 was received by the wife, who told them that the 
 work was proceeding well, but they must not 
 "worrit him." On the fourth day she let them 
 know that they could now come up for the verses. 
 With all the gravity befitting the situation, these 
 were handed over that evening; the poet also 
 contributing a tune which he had composed to 
 suit them. They began as follows : 
 
 "There cummed unto our coast a whale, 
 A very big whale indeed, 
 T'others couldn't catch un, 
 But we did 
 Hip, hip, hip, hooray !" 
 
 Our village was not critical, and the verses were 
 sung and roared through the quiet streets to the in- 
 spiriting accompaniment of a drum and a key-bugle. 
 
 Whenever I hear of a stray visitant, some bird 
 or other that is unusually uncommon, the first 
 
WANDERERS. 255 
 
 line of that absurd composition is apt to recur to 
 my mind. 
 
 The night-crow, white-topped heron, or night- 
 heron, we are told by a recognised authority of 
 the present day, was recorded first in May 1872 ; 
 but it had been to my own knowledge shot fre- 
 quently without the fact being noticed. Like the 
 bittern, it only reaches us to be shot. Early im- 
 pressions are very lasting, and having been " bird- 
 struck " even as a youngster, I remember as though 
 it had only taken place yesterday, how old Craft 
 brought in from the marshes, where he had shot 
 it, the finest night -heron that had been seen by 
 us. That was long before the year 1872. 
 
 As a rule old Craft was very communicative as 
 to his luck, but on the particular afternoon to 
 which I refer he stood before the bar of " The 
 Royal Anchor," with his gun and a bunch of birds, 
 in a decidedly glum state of mind. The worthy 
 landlord chaffed him about it, asking what ailed 
 him ? Had he seen a wreck ? Had he run out 
 of "ager" medicine? Had his pigs cut their 
 throats, swimming down the creek again? This 
 last allusion referred to what was usually a danger- 
 
256 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 ous topic to touch on, but as the questions were 
 followed up by a glass of his " most pertickler," 
 offered free of cost, and as the landlord usually 
 was ready to purchase any fowl that old Craft 
 wanted to sell, the reference to a tussle he had 
 had, in night-shirt and cap, with his cantankerous 
 swine was allowed to pass. 
 
 " Now then, Craft, what ails ye ? " he was 
 asked again, as he put down his glass. 
 
 " Well, I shot and missed him," was the laconic 
 but vague reply. 
 
 " Sure-ly, ye ain't pulled on that 'ere new coy- 
 man, have ye ? " The coy man referred to was 
 the man in charge of the great duck-decoy. 
 
 " No, 'twas a bird ; I never sin one like it 
 afore." 
 
 This statement reaching the ears of the cus- 
 tomers in the bar-parlour (birds concerned every 
 one in various ways), out they walked to hear 
 about it. "Wet up, Craft, an' yarn it off to us." 
 
 " I was comin' over the last ma'sh afore you 
 gits to Stangate creek, when up gits a bird some- 
 thin' bigger 'an a coot, with white feathers a- 
 hangin' down his back. I got a bit flustered, 
 
WANDERERS. 257 
 
 seein' as 'twas most onusual - like, an' missed 
 him." 
 
 " 'Twas a trick o' that 'ere furrin heathen o' 
 a coyman, Craft," said the landlord, "you may 
 depend on it. He'd catched one o' them 'ere 
 cat-scratchin' coots, and tied his missus's apern- 
 strings roun' its neck." 
 
 " Ay," added one of his chums, " them 'ere 
 heathens frum the shires is most fit to do any 
 outlandish work. Josher here reckins as he'll 
 pull a stroke-oar in coyman's boat afore long." 
 
 " 'Twas only last week he went down to the 
 long splash for to git a couple o' ducks; 'tis a 
 good place for 'em, you know. Well, there waun't 
 a sign o' one above or below. He couldn't mek 
 it out nohow, for he'd niver missed seeing on 'em, 
 if he didn't git 'em. It reg'lar dumbfounded 
 Josher ; and presently out from the reeds cums 
 a couple o' ducks with white feathers in their 
 beaks, cuttin' most owdacious capers on the 
 water, tossin' their heads up, quackin' an' spinnin' 
 about in most onairthly fashion. Josher watched 
 'em fur a time, then he shot 'em. That ''ere coy- 
 man, to keep t'others from cumin' to shoot there, 
 
258 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 though it waun't nowhere near the landmarks fur 
 the coy, had clipped their wings, put feathers 
 in their beaks, an' turned 'em out there, to scare 
 fowl away, the heathen ! If he don't ha' done 
 cuttin' them capers he'll find his coy raised, an' 
 he wun't want it done more 'an once, we reckins. 
 Depend on it, Craft, 'twas a coot that warmint 
 had figgered up with apern-strings." 
 
 These remarks only made Craft feel indignant. 
 " Had any on 'em sin him in specks ? Had any 
 on 'em sin him fed with a spoon, or led about by 
 his little gal?" 
 
 No one replying to these questions, he left his 
 bunch of birds, seized his gun, and went out, 
 stating in the most emphatic manner that "he 
 would hev the creeter if 'twas in the ma'sh, if he 
 raised the coy over it." 
 
 Perhaps I might as well explain what raising 
 the coy means. The ducks come into the decoy 
 or decoys, as the case may be from open waters 
 early in the morning, leaving it to feed again 
 as evening draws near. It is when resting in 
 the decoy that they are coaxed up one of the 
 decoy - pipes and get captured. Extreme quiet 
 
WANDERERS. 259 
 
 must be maintained if the capture is to be a 
 fortunate one, for it is absolutely necessary that 
 the fowl should never leave the decoy-pond except 
 of their own accord. To be frightened off a few 
 times would ruin the working of it all, and heavy 
 penalties are incurred by wilful disturbance. "To 
 raise the coy " was the worst threat that any of the 
 more daring spirits could venture on in the marshes, 
 for the decoy was generally respected as sacred. 
 
 In from the marshes proudly walked Craft on 
 the day after the conversation I have related, with 
 the strange bird, its beautiful head - plumes lov- 
 ingly arranged on the dark neck and shoulders. 
 
 Craft was triumphant : he marched to " The 
 Royal Anchor" and showed his bird; the news 
 spread, and thither all the choicest spirits flocked 
 after him. What bird was it ? No one knew, but 
 it was universally set down as " a Frencher o' some 
 sort." Then one of them suggested that the bird 
 should be shown to Mr Grind the lawyer, who 
 was supposed to know everything. This was done, 
 but he said that he had never seen such a handsome 
 bird before, and did not in the least know what 
 it was. Then as a last resource they sent for 
 
260 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 Dick the Whaler. He looked at it, turned his 
 quid, rubbed his chin, and spoke : " If its feet was 
 webbed-like, but they ain't, I should fancy 'twas 
 one o' them 'ere pingin (penguin) things, fur some 
 o' they outlandish things has top-knots ; but this 
 'ere is afore my recknin'." After this sage utter- 
 ance the bird was given over to the care of the 
 host : all settled down to make themselves com- 
 fortable, and Dick had to tell over again how the 
 whale was beached. In the small hours two 
 figures were seen going home a little unsteadily, 
 full of whales, top-knot herns, and " mixter." 
 
 " Can you tell me where your fine raven was 
 procured ? " I asked a man who was walking 
 up the street with one tucked under his arm like 
 a rooster. 
 
 " From Sussex," he replied. " The friend that 
 sent him to me said that a few pairs lingered 
 there yet." 
 
 This was some years ago. I fear they may have 
 been rooted out by this time. This fine hand- 
 some bird is one of our wanderers ; from the 
 earliest time he has been an object of considera- 
 tion, and all have credited him with superhuman 
 
WANDERERS. 261 
 
 intelligence, and regarded him as a bird of evil 
 omen. This to a certain extent is not a matter 
 of wonder, for he is one of nature's scavengers, 
 and where he thinks his services are required 
 there he will be. He may now be considered as 
 practically banished from England; though he would 
 come again if folks would let him, but they will 
 not ; he is outlawed, and a price put on his head. 
 In past times, when people threw objectionable 
 matter into the streets, he, with the kites to help 
 him, cleared all up. I have seen ducks and pigs 
 doing the same thing: these creatures once did 
 nearly all our sanitary work, so far as the streets 
 were concerned ; but it did not keep the cholera 
 from the place. It came, and the ravens came in 
 advance of it ; but why they did so remains a mys- 
 tery that could never be accounted for by those of 
 us who escaped that horrible visitation. It is not 
 the least use trying to account for everything in 
 the matter-of-fact- manner in which things are 
 usually disposed of at the present time. I have 
 thought it all over, but to no purpose ; I know 
 only that when the scourge left the place the ravens 
 were seen there no more. 
 
262 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 With the fierce and hardy Scandinavian sea- 
 rovers the raven was a bird of note, though for 
 what purpose he was used by them we have no record 
 left to tell us. It has been conjectured by those 
 whose deep research into historical matters give their 
 views great weight, that the ravens (of which two 
 varieties existed then as now, the black and the 
 black - and - white raven) were carried by these 
 rovers in their war-ships, to be turned out when 
 on their exploring and plundering expeditions. 
 They watched the flight of the bird, and if it 
 did not return, they sailed in the same direction, 
 feeling certain that land of some kind must lie 
 where the raven had made for. That fierce race of 
 sea-kings evidently knew far more about the real 
 nature of the bird than we do at the present 
 time. 
 
 With the part the raven played some have 
 associated the Greenland, Iceland, and Norwegian 
 falcons, the noble gerfalcons, so called ; but the 
 raven is well known to have been an important 
 factor, though a mysterious one, in all their high- 
 handed proceedings. The pied raven belongs to 
 the Faro Isles, and is called after them. 
 
WANDERERS. 263 
 
 If the Scandinavians were originally - of Asiatic 
 origin, the record of the raven having been used 
 by Noah no doubt must have been handed down 
 to them. We have no authority for this theory, 
 beyond the bare probability to which slight his- 
 torical fragments point. In past times the bird 
 no doubt owed his life in some measure to the 
 belief that ancient members of his race fed the 
 prophet Elijah. Where the Bible formed the only 
 literature of the household and it was read and 
 acted on in a literal manner it is no wonder that 
 this bird went free. Some of the quiet women of 
 our coast their types are now only seen in paintings 
 when they spoke were listened to with respect, 
 for they would wrestle in spirit, as they called it, 
 with the head of the house until he was full of it, 
 and gave in. If it had "been shown to them," 
 as they would say, that a certain thing should 
 not be done, as a rule it was left alone by the 
 men-folk. 
 
 The last ravens' nest which was harried, to my 
 knowledge, was upset by some one hired for the 
 job, and not by the person one might have expected 
 to do it. If it was supposed that ill-luck would 
 
264 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 thus be diverted from the latter I cannot say. One 
 thing is certain the man who gave the order for 
 the ravens' destruction has been dead for years, 
 while the man who harried the nest is alive still 
 and hearty, although nearly seventy years old. 
 Last summer he climbed up one of the finest 
 trees in the district like a squirrel. 
 
 The late E. T. Booth, whose matchless collec- 
 tion, which he generously left for the public benefit, 
 shows his ardent search for the beautiful feathered 
 creatures that are to be found in our island, has a 
 good word to say for the raven. Writing in 1876, 
 after a visit to Perthshire, he observes : " Few, if 
 any, of these ravens (referring to some he saw 
 there) had been bred in the immediate neighbour- 
 hood, having in all probability crossed the hills 
 from the northern countries or the western islands. 
 At that time of year they were perfectly harm- 
 less on the ground, preying only on wounded game 
 or hares, and, as they always left that quarter 
 before the breeding season, their visits were bene- 
 ficial rather than otherwise." And again he says : 
 "They were at all times so eager to make a meal 
 off the dead game with which we baited our traps, 
 
WANDERERS. 265 
 
 that I have known between two and three hun- 
 dred captured in a single season ; not that we 
 wished to destroy them, but positively they insisted 
 on getting into the traps we were forced to keep 
 set, in order to check the increase of more de- 
 structive vermin." 
 
 I have quoted from this high authority because 
 some, I know, have considered me a little one- 
 sided and enthusiastic in pleading, as I still hope 
 to do, for the preservation of some of the creatures 
 in our country. Fortunately I do not stand alone 
 in this. If ever a man studied the habits of birds 
 impartially, it was E. T. Booth. 
 
 The raven has interested me at all times; not 
 that my chances of studying him have been numer- 
 ous, but I have made the most of those I had. 
 That he admirably fills the place for which he was 
 formed, no one that has seen him can doubt. He 
 is, I think, the closest feeder of any bird I am 
 acquainted with. " Waste not, want not," is evi- 
 dently the principle he works upon. One might 
 say of him as the negro said of the shark, " Him 
 berry clean feeder, sah." 
 
 That grand bird the cob, or great black -backed 
 
266 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 gull, whose wings extend five feet four inches, feeds 
 on the same dead body at times as the raven, side 
 by side, Odin's bird and the sea-vulture. This bird 
 wanders ; and it is a curious circumstance that the 
 pure -looking sea-bird should be credited with far 
 greater power for mischief than even the raven : 
 yet such is the case. They go over the same kind 
 of hunting-grounds, feed on the same kind of food, 
 living and dead, and get trapped with the same 
 baits. Owners of grouse-moors, I conclude, if they 
 had their choice, would prefer to be visited by the 
 ravens sooner than by the cobs. As the gull flaps 
 along, his keen eyes detect the dead and wounded 
 birds left after shooting. Down he swoops, and on 
 the prey he gorges like a vulture not on carrion, 
 but on game. The next day he returns to find 
 some more ; and then others, seeing him making 
 off in the same direction day after day, follow in 
 the same course, for they know food is to be had 
 of some sort. So that after a time a couple of pairs 
 will hunt the moor regularly. 
 
 As the swallowing capacity of these birds is enor- 
 mous, they are shot or trapped as soon as possible. 
 I have seen the cob in many places, and in all 
 
WANDERERS. 267 
 
 weathers, looming out through a sea-fog, resting on 
 the sands in fine weather, and beating about when it 
 is rough. He is a bird that you will not forget after 
 you have once seen him. With our coast people he 
 used not to be a favourite. When the small gulls 
 left the tide for the fields, they looked for rough 
 weather ; but it might pass over, and they hoped it 
 would. But when they saw the cob on the flats they 
 were sure of it, and pulled their boats up on the 
 beach. 
 
 It is curious how perfectly innocent creatures 
 should by some folks get inevitably associated with 
 the causes of misfortune. The bird only obeys his 
 instincts of self-preservation in coming on the flats 
 for a time ; but the very fact of the creatures being 
 one of the means of warning them of the coming 
 storm, caused it to be regarded as something uncanny. 
 I should like to see him again where I have watched 
 him in past years ; but he will come there no more in 
 my time. Where he wanders it would be hard to 
 say. The cob's eyes are very different from those of 
 the raven ; but they see much more than you can 
 fathom, and they have the look of old, experienced 
 eyes. 
 
268 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 That beautiful bird, the waxwing, wrongly called 
 the Bohemian chatterer, for it is really a very quiet 
 creature, visits us from time to time ; some have 
 been shot recently. It would not interest my readers 
 to give the dry details of their visits as they have 
 occurred, so I leave them out of the question. This 
 bird is a very remarkable one, with its fine crest and 
 the red wax-like tips to the tail and some of the wing 
 feathers; but although they are such lovely crea- 
 tures, a few years ago they caused no little uneasi- 
 ness in places they visited : in some way or other 
 they got to be associated with coming trouble of a 
 vague nature. 
 
 Red berries are sure to attract these birds, partic- 
 ularly those of the wild-rose and mountain -ash. As 
 the waxwing is a voracious feeder, it is far more con- 
 cerned about its stomach than its safety, and suffers 
 accordingly. I have lately seen an account of one 
 that allowed a miserable creature to get so close to 
 it that when he fired he almost blew it to pieces. 
 Our shores are certainly not hospitable ones for 
 wanderers. 
 
 The nutcracker, that curiously spotted bird that 
 looks like a jackdaw and woodpecker blended into 
 
WANDERERS. 269 
 
 one, visits us, but it is very uncertain in its appear- 
 ance. Some birds keep only to places where the 
 supply of food is confined to certain limits ; and this 
 bird appears to be one of these, having a decided 
 preference for fir-woods. That it has been killed in 
 Scotland is not to be wondered at ; but it is a rare 
 visitant, blown over, probably much against its will, 
 from more northern countries. Nothing surprises 
 me more than the general opinion concerning the 
 flights of rare visitors. Frequently I have been asked 
 where are the real homes of some of the wanderers 
 that reach us, and I have answered to the best of 
 my ability ; but it is very difficult to determine the 
 real home of birds that are certainly known to have 
 several in the course of a year. Our most common 
 birds are for ever on the shift, hundreds in a place for 
 a few days, and then gone again. How do they fly, 
 thousands of miles some of them, without resting ? 
 They do not do this ; but they do not stay here. 
 Would you, or could you, walk one hundred miles, 
 or half that distance, without resting ? Certainly not ; 
 the idea would be ridiculous. And the birds could 
 no more keep on flying for thousands of miles than 
 you could keep on walking your fifty or a hundred. 
 
270 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 They must rest, and they do rest where they can, on 
 their journey. If you get a map you will see if it is 
 not possible for them to do this after leaving England. 
 How long would it take swift-winged birds to cross 
 over to France, and from there to other places ? 
 
 The various works published on birds, our own 
 British birds particularly, give more or less detailed 
 accounts concerning the killing of some of these 
 wanderers; but all rare birds, so called, do not 
 get into the hands of preservers or collectors. In 
 my young days I was in close touch with men 
 and lads that sailed the sea in all directions : 
 these were well acquainted with the birds they 
 saw on the water, and upon the distant shores 
 they visited. They had their own names for them, 
 but that did not alter the birds in the least. As 
 they were fishermen and fruit-boat men a few only 
 of the latter their chances of observation were 
 endless. Boys were rigidly excluded from the 
 company of men in our community, and all the 
 wondrous information (as it appeared to me then) 
 was given me by lads who sailed with their fathers, 
 supplemented at times by a sight of the bird-skins; 
 for all the vessels carried fowling-guns. They knew 
 
WANDERERS. 271 
 
 how to skin the birds and to prepare them ; not 
 for bird-preservers, but for ladies' muffs, and for 
 feather capes tippets, as they were called at that 
 time. 
 
 I have seen very fine feather capes made from 
 bird-skins brought home by them, and also some 
 feather-work of a very novel character. The local 
 artist would be coaxed by one or two clever ladies, 
 always single ones, to draw the figure of some 
 bird or birds on a sheet of the finest paper they 
 could lay their hands on, after it had been pro- 
 perly stretched on a board. Often they could 
 not decide how the bird should be drawn : a week 
 or fortnight would pass over; then as a rule they 
 would pick out the first sketch that had been shown 
 them. As these preliminary studies afforded some 
 very pleasing afternoons and evenings, time was 
 not considered. The drawing having been made, 
 the bill and feet were painted, as well as a back- 
 ground. Then with strong gum they fixed the 
 feathers from the skins a kind of feather - tiling 
 it was, beginning naturally at the tail and finish- 
 ing at the bill of the bird. I have seen very 
 beautiful examples of this kind. The East India 
 
272 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 Company was a power in the land then, and some 
 who sailed in their magnificent ships brought boxes 
 of splendid bird - skins home for their sisters, as 
 well as drawings by native artists of the birds 
 that the boxes contained. When these drawings 
 were carefully traced off, the result was very 
 superior in all respects to the work of our local 
 genius. 
 
 As I said before, the boys had little to do with 
 the affairs of their parents from the confidential 
 point of view ; and fine young fellows, men every 
 inch of them, were classed as boys. And I can 
 assure my readers that this sort of thing has not 
 yet quite died out along the foreshores. Those 
 lads who had visited foreign shores were eagerly 
 sought out by the fowler when they reached port. 
 From morning to night they yarned away about 
 birds, questioning, comparing, and wondering; for 
 the lads had seen birds as they were coming and 
 going that the fowler had only seen on the shores. 
 Practical natural history would be fully discussed 
 sitting on the sides of a turned-up whale-boat. 
 
 I think that, if it could be got at, the list of 
 unrecorded birds that have visited us would far 
 
WANDERERS. 273 
 
 exceed those recorded ; for the reason that some 
 of them are very much alike, and when shot for 
 food they have been plucked and eaten without 
 questioning. If two or three geese were procured 
 and the crew required them for dinner, no matter 
 how rare one or the lot might be, it would 
 have required far greater powers of persuasion 
 than could be employed at that time of day to 
 prevent them from being cooked. 
 
 The greenshank, in general form and habits like 
 the redshank, save for its green legs and larger size, 
 is one of those wanderers that travel at express 
 speed. It is not such a common bird as its red- 
 legged relative. Like the green sandpiper, it is seen, 
 when on flight, in spots suitable for resting; and 
 like the former bird, the greenshank, it follows the 
 line of the hills that have moors near them : the 
 wilder they are, the better for the bird. But even 
 in places that are not likely to be disturbed it does 
 not stay ; it only rests and moves on. 
 
 I have seen the bird, and I have also seen 
 different accounts of its habits by various writers; 
 no two being alike, yet all true. One simple fact 
 may be remembered by those who are from cir- 
 
 s 
 
274 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 cumstances forced to draw their knowledge of birds 
 from books namely, that one and all, from the 
 most common to the rarest, can and do adapt 
 themselves to surrounding influences. With some 
 few exceptions, which I need not refer to here, 
 birds that are not molested are perfectly fearless. 
 
 Some writers have stated that the greenshank 
 is one of the most difficult birds to study, or to 
 get within shot of. Why should any one want to 
 shoot it ? Another states that he has lifted a 
 greenshank off her nest, out on the open moorland, 
 more than once. This gentleman, when fowling 
 in Sutherlandshire, passed in his punt within 
 thirty feet of thousands of those wary birds, the 
 oyster-catchers ; from never having been disturbed, 
 they were perfectly fearless, and they took no more 
 notice of him than they would of a seal floating by. 
 He did not fire at the birds, we have his word for 
 that. 
 
 Seals are far more numerous than they are sup- 
 posed to be by the general public. They can be 
 seen mixed up with the young of sea-birds ; some 
 of these jabbering and squalling because the young 
 seals have usurped their resting-places. Floating 
 
WANDERERS. 275 
 
 by in calm weather, your glass will show you this 
 and more. 
 
 Within a few miles from London, as travelling 
 goes now, the gannets in their seasons can be seen 
 flying and plunging with almost clock-work regular- 
 ity, following the shoals of fish out over the sand- 
 bar. It is a dangerous place that sand-bar ; some 
 of those who last visited it have not the least desire 
 to repeat the trip. If these sanctuaries did not 
 exist, our waters would soon be lifeless. Happily 
 they do, and to them the feathered wanderers 
 come in countless hosts, as they have ever done. 
 Those seen on the shore-line, great as their numbers 
 may be, are really only the fringe, so to speak, of the 
 vast congregations that resort to the sanctuaries of 
 the dreaded sand-bar. 
 
 The regular wanderers come now, as they have 
 done from time beyond record, but not to the same 
 places. The bittern, little bittern, hoopoe, and 
 golden oriole would nest in England, I think, if 
 they were permitted to do so. 
 
 Recently, birds have passed over the Surrey hills 
 and woodlands in the night-time, from north-east 
 to south-west, that by their trumpet - notes told 
 
276 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 plainly what they were, rare birds so-called, who 
 have found out fresh haunts where they know they 
 are safe. 
 
 The little stint, or he might be called a dwarf 
 sandpiper, a delicate creature, six inches in length, 
 is a feathered wonder. After breeding in Siberia, 
 these little mites dash away to Africa and India; 
 they also visit our own shores in considerable num- 
 bers. They look like small ox-birds, dunlins. One 
 writer who has seen as much, or I may say more, of 
 rough weather, watching the arrival and departure 
 of wanderers, than generally falls to the lot of one 
 observer, has called them " flighters," and a very 
 appropriate term it is. 
 
 Beside me, as I write, are the wings of the 
 curlew, snipe, sanderling, and the common gull. 
 The first three show at a glance that they were 
 formed for long continuous flight. Their journey, 
 we know, is broken like that of other wanderers, 
 but they go a vast distance before they break it. 
 The wings of the gull are after a different fashion, 
 being formed to enable the bird to beat to and 
 fro, now here and now there, and to tack about. 
 The divers proper, sprat - loons or sprat - divers, 
 
WANDERERS. 277 
 
 have short stiff wings ; but when fairly in flight, 
 they would shoot past any gull like rockets. 
 
 With a few words about those large wanderers, 
 the grey geese, I must close. Its name is used 
 as synonymous with stupidity, yet nothing could 
 be wider of the mark; for our domestic goose 
 is by far the most sagacious bird we have in a 
 state of domestication. As to the wild geese, all 
 who know anything about them practically, will 
 agree that the bump of cautiousness has with 
 them reached its fullest development. 
 
 The brent or black geese are sea - geese, and 
 these keep to the tide. The three grey geese I 
 have mentioned include the grey lag, the bean, 
 and the pink-footed goose. Unless by good for- 
 tune a specimen is procured on the spot, it is 
 almost impossible to tell with a glass to which of 
 the three species geese belong when feeding in 
 the fields. I have seen small gaggles at times, 
 but though one could tell that they were wild 
 grey geese, I have never been allowed to get near 
 enough to tell which variety they were. 
 
 If a specimen is procured, it by no means proves 
 that the gaggle it was shot from were all of the 
 
278 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 one species. The eastern counties are, from the 
 nature of the wide open spaces found there, far 
 more favourable grazing - grounds for them than 
 any that could be found in the southern districts. 
 Those birds I have seen were probably tired-out 
 stragglers that had dropped from the main body 
 when on flight, to go forward again when thor- 
 oughly rested. Punt-fowlers rely on brent-geese 
 for sport and profit when fowling on the tide. 
 They do at times, in most extraordinary and ex- 
 ceptional circumstances, get a shot at grey geese, 
 but not very often. For these go to feed out in 
 the great open spaces, flying out to the sands and 
 sand-bars to rest and sleep, where there is not 
 the least chance of getting at them. 
 
 The grey geese are far more plentiful in Scotland 
 and Ireland than in England. This we have no 
 cause to regret, for the birds graze very closely ; 
 and when they visit young crops it is a very seri- 
 ous matter, for they feed in the most systematic 
 manner. Having very powerful wings, great dis- 
 tances to them are as nothing in going out to 
 their feeding -grounds. To see them, if you did 
 not know a little about their movements, you 
 
WANDERERS. 179 
 
 might think they were resting somewhere in the 
 immediate neighbourhood ; but you would be de- 
 ceived, for their resting-place might be twelve or 
 twenty miles away. 
 
 Even in their nesting habits the wanderers are 
 to a certain extent contradictory, for the grey lag 
 goose breeds in the moss - hags of the moors. 
 Curlews, golden plovers, and dunlins nest on the 
 open moors, at the time when the linnet sings 
 from the tangle above them. At that time you 
 can hear the crow of the grouse-cock, the whistle 
 of the plover, and the pipe of the dunlin : they 
 are all there when their season comes round. 
 Being early breeders, they are ready to go before 
 the linnet has got his first brood out in the yellow 
 broom. Great birds come shrieking and wheel- 
 ing about, beating in all directions, except where 
 their young are squatting. These are curlews. 
 There is not the least necessity for this, but they 
 seem to do it just to keep up the character which 
 has been given them, that of guardians of the moors. 
 
28o WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 MORE ABOUT FOWLING ON LONGSHORE. 
 
 I WAS talking late one evening about the damage 
 that had been caused by a very heavy inshore 
 gale, with one of my friends of the North Kent 
 marshes, when a message was brought that a 
 couple of men wished to see me. Going to the 
 door, I found there two individuals whose exploits 
 in the smuggling line I have mentioned elsewhere. 
 Muffled up to their eyes they were, and they 
 carried their duck -guns under their arms, the 
 locks as usual being bound round with the leg of 
 an old worsted stocking. " We wants ye," said 
 they, "to cum along the beach with us, to see 
 the work this 'ere gale's done 'tis a sight; an' 
 the birds is howlin', croakin'. an' whistlin' like 
 
MORE ABOUT FOWLING ON LONGSHORE. 281 
 
 mad. Hark to 'em." Their cries were plainly 
 enough to be heard ; some of them were passing 
 directly overhead, making for the tide. It was 
 just what I wanted. There was no moon, but 
 after the gale the sky was perfectly clear, a deep 
 blue, with the stars twinkling merrily ; one of those 
 nights on which you can see things in the distance 
 more plainly than when it is bright moonlight. 
 
 Telling my kind host that I should not be home 
 before morning, I caught up my gun and made 
 for where my friends were waiting for me. Before 
 I reached the door, however, my host's daughter 
 suggested that, if I must go, I had better leave 
 my gun at home, for the beach-hills were dangerous 
 to travel through after a storm. I hesitated for one 
 moment, then went back and placed it in the gun- 
 rack, and bidding her a hearty good night I dashed 
 out into the darkness ; for, to confess the truth, I 
 feared lest I might be persuaded to stop where I 
 was. 
 
 " Where's your gun ? " was the first question. 
 
 " I left it in the gun-rack." 
 
 " Ah yes ; somebody as we won't mention asked 
 ye to leave it, for fear you'd shoot yourself in the 
 
282 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 dark. Well, you knows best about that, but you 
 ought to ha' brought it with ye." To which my 
 only reply was that I could help to gather the 
 birds they shot, and I would carry them as well, 
 leaving them quite free for all the shooting. With 
 this they were contented. " They had got me 
 with them," they said, "and that was all they 
 cared about." The elder of the two, however, 
 muttered something to himself about "wimmen 
 folks bein' extra pertickler keerful, when mistletoe 
 was about." 
 
 We passed through the silent streets of our fish- 
 ing village, keeping the middle of the road to pre- 
 vent our footsteps from waking the sleepers, for 
 sea-boots rattle terribly on cobble-stones and pave- 
 ments. Past the great sluice we go, over a marsh 
 on to the sea-wall, steadily making for the beach. 
 As we near two large posts that do duty as fishing- 
 guides, we are challenged by a coast-guard, and told 
 to stand. 
 
 " What are you about ? " he asks. 
 
 " Coin' to the beach fur a shot or two, if we can 
 get it." 
 
 " All right, I know you; but who's that with you?" 
 
MORE ABOUT FOWLING ON LONGSHORE. 283 
 
 "A friend o' ours." 
 
 " Give your name." 
 
 This is familiar to the guardian of the coast, and 
 he asks me to give his respects to my father when 
 I go back to Surrey again, for he was his old school- 
 mate. They know a good deal about each other in 
 small communities such as ours. 
 
 A couple of miles of very wary travelling brings 
 us to the beach, where for some moments we are 
 lost in wonder at the sight that presents itself. As 
 far as we can see, nothing but huge hillocks of 
 shingle are visible, quite as large as good - sized 
 cottages, with regular lanes between each ; they had 
 been thrown up by the waves during the late gale. 
 
 " What do ye think on it ? Looks queer at 
 night, don't it ? Jist hear them birds hollerin'," 
 remarked one of my companions. " The tide flows 
 in a hour's time ; we ken git further down, an' 
 look at things afore it flows. All the birds is out 
 on the slub a mile off; there wun't be a chance 
 fur a shoot yet." 
 
 It was a wild tramp under that clear, dark-blue, 
 midnight sky, and one which I shall never forget. 
 How far those heaps extended we did not know, 
 
284 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 for after we had tramped about a mile, we collected 
 a large armful of dry seaweed and placed it in a 
 hollow, where we sat on it. A death-like stillness 
 was all around, save when the fowl called to each 
 other. We sat in silence for some minutes, each 
 occupied with his own thoughts. 
 
 Presently a, hissing whisper reaches us : it is the 
 tide coming in over the sand-flats a mile away. 
 Now is the time to hear the voices of the night ; 
 for as each swift wave bears food of some kind 
 before it, all sand-loving creatures hasten to meet 
 the flow. Hosts of fowl are passing overhead, far 
 out of sight, but not out of hearing ; from the great 
 marshes, ten miles away, they come to meet the 
 tide. Now we can hear the break and lap of the 
 waves, for the tide rushes in here like a mill-race. 
 Nearer and nearer come the babel of bird-voices. 
 Then my friends break the silence in excited 
 undertones, as they check off the various species 
 according to their call-notes. 
 
 " Hark at them wigeons, we-ohing about. You 
 shall hev we-oh, my pretty boys, directly ! Hear 
 'em 'ere mallards ; why, there's a whole crew on 
 'em close handy ! Cuss that 'ere bargender duck ! 
 
MORE ABOUT FOWLING ON LONGSHORE. 285 
 
 She makes as much noise as a Newfoundland dog 
 with her barkin' ; she ought to have her head blowed 
 off for it, that she did. There's jack-herns about ; 
 jest hear 'em raspin' their coughs out ! If we 
 knocks one of 'em over instead of a duck, it wun't 
 be much of a bite. Hear that ? " 
 
 "Well, what is it?" 
 
 "Why, that 'ere screamin' holler on the water; 
 there 'tis agin : you surely hears it now." 
 
 Over the fast -flowing tide comes a cry which, 
 if once heard, is not soon forgotten. It is the half- 
 human cry of some sprat -divers exulting over a 
 good meal after the storm. Snipes pass over, not 
 quietly, but shouting their loudest, scape, scape, 
 skep, skep ! These birds are certainly full of con- 
 versation when feeding on the tide. The curlews' cry 
 is heard continually, whistle and wail, wail and 
 whistle, easily distinguishable above all the others. 
 A solitary oyster-catcher, so far as we can judge 
 from the notes, can be heard at intervals. A mixed 
 crowd of dunlins and sanderlings fly chattering by 
 us, very close as we know, though we cannot see 
 them yet. There are plenty of geese about also, 
 but as they can see in the dark, and according to 
 
286 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 fowling tradition never sleep, the chances are very 
 much against the gunners. The common gulls cry 
 shrilly, and the cobs bark in harsh, hacking notes ; 
 they are awake like the rest, for birds in stormy 
 weather feed when they can. 
 
 Nets stretched on stakes let you know what birds 
 move at night over the sand-flats ; also how very 
 early some other birds get up in the morning to 
 pull them out of it. Turning to his companion, 
 the shooter next to me said 
 
 " We've come out on a fool's errand. If I'd 
 know'd it, I'd ha' stopped at home. When we 
 started I thought we should ha' had a job to load 
 an' fire fast enough, but not a shot shall we git 
 to-night or mornin' proper; the minster hev just 
 banged out three o'clock. Them 'ere fowl won't 
 come inshore, not a bit on it. Jest hear how 
 restless they are hollerin' ; I've heerd my father 
 speak of the same thing arter a storm. There's a 
 body o' some sort out over the bar wants to come 
 in. An' the fowl knows it's out there; they've 
 seen it, an' they won't settle till it comes ashore. 
 If it don't, Shoreland's lights will be seen agin, 
 lookin' for it all along foreshore.'* 
 
MORE ABOUT FOWLING ON LONGSHORE. 287 
 
 This was enough for me, and I at once proposed 
 returning. Rather to my surprise, they were ready 
 at once ; so, although we started with great ex- 
 pectations, we came home without firing a shot. 
 
 After a heavy gale, when the fowl can feed, 
 they do so voraciously ; and there is then a vast 
 amount for them to feed on, for the slub and 
 sand get stirred up to some considerable depth, and 
 a whole host of marine creatures with it. The 
 fowl then fill their stomachs and retire into the 
 marshes to rest in the most expeditious manner, 
 without coming so close inshore as they would 
 do at other times. There is another matter to be 
 taken into consideration. On those clear nights 
 when the sky is indigo - blue overhead, the fowl 
 can see you distinctly although you cannot see 
 them. I have found a moonlight night, with cloud- 
 scuds passing over the moon, the best time for 
 night-fowling, if you know where your companions 
 are posted, and can trust implicitly to their keep- 
 ing their places. Terrible accidents have taken 
 place from this important matter being neglected. 
 No shore-shooter, if he is worth the name, ever 
 places himself within range of his companion's 
 
288 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 gun; in fact, one who would draw on the range 
 of another would not be allowed to do it a second 
 time. The unwritten laws of the foreshores are 
 not to be lightly broken by any one. 
 
 All birds are endowed with great intelligence. 
 It is not all who are able to make friends with 
 them or with animals ; but those who can do this 
 are more than astonished at what they are able to 
 teach. Any wild animal or bird will at times 
 outwit a dozen men or boys; and so far as the 
 latter are concerned, it is saying much for the 
 creature's astuteness, for boys have the hunting 
 instincts all over them, from the crown of their 
 head to their feet, if they be true boys and healthy 
 ones. A man may have all the birds that money 
 can get for him in the finest aviaries ; he may 
 have the most costly works on the subject, from 
 Audubon and Gould down to Lilford, and yet 
 he may know nothing about the real life of the 
 creatures ; for that knowledge can only be got out 
 of doors in their haunts, and to get it is the work 
 of a lifetime. Yet all these works are of course 
 excellent and good in their way, though I learned 
 more on a dreary wind-swept beach in my early 
 
MORE ABOUT FOWLING ON LONGSHORE. 289 
 
 years, and far more in after-life in the woods and 
 on the hills of our southern counties, than ever 
 books could tell me, though I have had access 
 to some of the best. 
 
 Keen-witted creatures the fowl are when alive, 
 and wonderful travellers ; and the command to 
 increase and multiply has been carried out to 
 perfection, as the shores of the whole known world 
 prove. Man himself, with all his arts and modern 
 weapons, is very often left with empty pockets when 
 he goes out after fowl ; the best fowlers on the tide 
 will come home at times without even a little jack- 
 snipe, as the keenest angler will come home now 
 and again without a gudgeon. Fowlers in my shoot- 
 ing-days were men who worked at their trade as long 
 as there was work to do, or as long as the weather 
 allowed them to do it. There has been a great rev- 
 olution in business matters since that time, and 
 very fortunate it is for all. Things were rough at 
 times and wages low ; when our men shot it was in 
 order to sell the fowl. It would take three or four 
 ducks to provide a meal for even a small family, 
 they are small birds when picked; and as to curlews, 
 well, any healthy person, man or woman, could eat 
 
 T 
 
290 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 three at a meal comfortably. Six full curlews well 
 hung and nicely cooked, if nothing else was served, 
 I should call about enough for two people. A 
 searching north-easter will let you know what teeth 
 were given for. After being out for hours, with 
 only a pipe of tobacco as a stop-gap, one feels as if 
 one could eat even " hoody-crow pie." Fortunately 
 there was always a sale for the beautiful fowl, and if 
 one fowler had bad luck, a companion who had been 
 more fortunate shared his bag with him ; the next 
 day matters might be reversed. 
 
 As a rule, the day's sport, when the fowls were 
 sold and the money laid out for home use, after 
 paying for powder and shot, was worth one large 
 loaf, one ounce of tea, one ounce of tobacco, and a 
 pound of bacon to. cut in rashers and fry, making 
 a meal for the family, who anxiously waited for 
 father's return. But this was when matters went 
 fairly well; many a time have I seen them all 
 come in from different points of the marshes with- 
 out a bird. 
 
 Wild ducks, or mallards, as they are called, 
 were shot as a rule at flight-time, coming in or 
 going out to their feeding - grounds. The early 
 
MORE ABOUT FOWLING ON LONGSHORE. 291 
 
 morning, just as it is getting light, is a very good 
 time for trying for them in any open stream 
 running into the marshes. They are the most 
 valuable fowl, both as regards size and table 
 qualities ; and as a rule the most difficult to get, 
 for they can hardly be called sea-ducks, although 
 they go in large numbers to rest on the open sea. 
 Those at least which come to us from foreign 
 shores do so: our home-bred birds, which when 
 dead are easily picked out from the others on 
 account of their superior size, visit the open sea 
 when compelled ; the others do it continually, 
 going out to sea in the day and coming inland 
 to feed at night. The widgeon is the shore- 
 shooter's best friend, their numbers are so great ; 
 and feeding as they do on the sea grass and weed, 
 they are about when the others are not. Fowling 
 on the tide as a matter of course bags the largest 
 number; but when parties are out after widgeon, 
 the shore -shooters lay up where they think the 
 birds will come when put off the water by the 
 shot. If they know each other, they generally 
 agree to fire together if the birds come within 
 range, and divide the spoil. Beautiful birds they 
 
292 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 are when on the wing, with breasts like satin : 
 breast, by the way, is a fowler's word ; to be cor- 
 rect one should rather say under -plumage. These 
 birds are extraordinarily cunning. The young ones 
 of course often fall easy victims on their first 
 journey ; but a drake widgeon, one that has escaped 
 for several seasons from punt - guns, shore - guns, 
 and decoys, knows something. It is these learned 
 birds that we - oh so much ; they look after the 
 safety of the others as much as they can, and after 
 their own safety particularly. 
 
 If any one of those who have written about the 
 cruelty of sport were turned out with a company 
 of widgeon - shooters for the night, without too 
 much inside their stomachs, to wait in a hole 
 dug in the slub, or at the very best in an old tub 
 lined with straw, for the fowl, he would fancy 
 the cruelty lay on the other side. Indeed before 
 morning he might have come to consider himself 
 a very ill-used individual ; having to grope on the 
 ooze for fowl in mud-pattens is not cheerful work, 
 even if you have brought three or four down. 
 Shore - shooting is the hardest sport existing, so 
 far . as the bag is concerned ; it is a game of 
 
MORE ABOUT FOWLING ON LONGSHORE. 293 
 
 chance, and the chances are in favour of the birds. 
 There is no fear that those wild - fowls that do 
 not breed in England will be exterminated, if they 
 are shot at or decoyed when they come to our 
 shores ; for if the supply in the United Kingdom 
 were to fail, Holland alone could glut the market : 
 it is from Holland that our markets are chiefly 
 supplied. 
 
 Teal are delicate little creatures (miniature ducks 
 you might call them). A slight blow will kill a 
 teal. Sometimes by great good fortune a single 
 shooter, or a party of guns, may fall in with a 
 lot, but this is an exceptional piece of good for- 
 tune. The decoys get the pick of them ; they 
 are dainty feeders, and they find food especially 
 prepared for them there. A teal drake, in my 
 opinion, when in full plumage, is one of the hand- 
 somest members of the family he belongs to. 
 These birds are very quick on the wing, and 
 require to be waited on at once when they spring. 
 Red - headed pochards, or dun - birds, fall to the 
 fowlers at times, but to a certain extent they are 
 local in their choice of feeding-grounds ; the Essex 
 marshes and mud-flats are favoured by them more 
 
294 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 than the Kentish shores. Scaup-ducks get knocked 
 over on the mussel-scalps at times ; they generally 
 find their way to the bird-preservers. 
 
 Food has much to do with a bird's reputation for 
 table purposes ; yet I have made experiments with 
 so-called carrion feeders for the table, and better 
 birds I have never eaten ; so that it is often only in 
 the idea of the thing. The hooded crow, dun crow, 
 Danish crow, the grey crow of the shore, the dun 
 crow of the shore-shooters, by all these names is 
 the hooded crow known in different localities, fol- 
 lows the sportsmen like their shadows, but at a safe 
 distance from gunshot. He is near cousin to Odin's 
 own bird, the raven. Like his larger relative, he is 
 wise, and he employs all his five wits for his own ben- 
 efit alone. Drifting to and fro up and down the edge 
 of the shore, circling high up over the beach and the 
 benty sand-hillocks, just to see if any one with a gun 
 is crouched in one of the countless hollows made by 
 the tide, he keeps watch all day long for a fowl that 
 may drop wounded out of sight. Where sand and 
 beach pebbles are hurled up, in all sorts of ridges, 
 hills, and hollows, there he hunts in the most deter- 
 mined manner. He heeds not any of the calls he 
 
MORE ABOUT FOWLING ON LONGSHORE. 295 
 
 may hear from feeding fowl ; after flapping down to 
 them for a moment, back he comes to these parts of 
 the beach I have mentioned. He knows that fowl 
 come there also ; and the shooters know it too, and 
 there they come to lie in wait for them, or to put 
 them up out of the bents and tide-flashes. 
 
 Curlew, grey plover, snipe, and woodcock are very 
 partial to this broken foreshore. So quickly do the 
 birds dash out of the bent tussocks, and with such 
 marvellous speed do they twist in and out of the 
 scattered hillocks, that the chances are far more in 
 their favour than in that of the guns. I know this 
 well : once upon a time I got myself tripped up in 
 these bents, and my gun went off as I fell. I rose 
 and reloaded, my companion quietly observing, "It 
 might have been worse." He moved on a few yards, 
 when up got a snipe, darting and scaping in the most 
 frantic manner. It was a snap-shot, and, as we 
 thought, a miss, when all at once one wing dropped. 
 He was down but where ? That was the question. 
 The old saying about looking for needles in bundles 
 of hay could have been very well applied to the 
 search for that snipe on the broken shore. The 
 water-spaniel had been left at home, tired out with a 
 
296 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 rough turn he had got the day before ; so we could 
 look for it ourselves. We agreed to walk wide apart, 
 until we got to where the bird appeared to drop, and 
 then to come and meet each other. As we drew 
 down towards the spot where the snipe dropped his 
 wing, from a hollow in front of us out dashed a dun 
 crow, darting like any hawk. I fired, and missed him 
 clean ; my friend let drive and hit him : for Hoody 
 mounts up, cuts some capers, and then comes down 
 whirling like a shuttlecock. In the hollow he had 
 darted from we found a few fragments of the snipe, 
 and as my friend (like myself) had the gift of using 
 forcible language in unlimited quantities, something 
 was said. 
 
 " I let him have it, didn't I ? " 
 
 " Well, it looked like it ; but you are not able to 
 count much on a dun crow." 
 
 " No ; the devil eat him, for gobblin' that 'ere 
 snipe: there's a shilling gone clean, true as I'm a 
 sinner. I'll have him, if I wear the soles o' my 
 boots off lookin' for him." 
 
 " All right ; but no crow-hunting with loaded guns 
 for me. I have had one bit of bad luck ; I do not 
 want another." 
 
MORE ABOUT FOWLING ON LONGSHORE. 297 
 
 " What shall we do, then ? " 
 
 " Why, lay the guns down in this strip of thick 
 bents, and stick this bit of drift-wood up where 
 we lay them, so that we can place our hands on 
 them easily without having to hunt about for them." 
 
 "All right, we shall sail now; let's have that 'ere 
 damned crow." 
 
 It was easier said than done. Scrunch, scrunch, 
 rattle, rattle, over the beach, but no dun crow. 
 "Where have he got to, eh?" There again was 
 the question. " The father of evil must ha' helped 
 him hide ; but we'll have him yet." 
 
 As we were looking close to the edge of the 
 tide, out from a hollow half filled with sea-weed 
 rushed the crow, yelling like a madman. With a 
 yell louder still than the crow's, my companion, 
 who was some distance off, told me to board him. 
 For the second time that day I went sprawling, 
 my feet having been noosed by the wiry treacher- 
 ous bents. 
 
 "I'm a-comin', I'll have him where is he?" 
 The crow was out of sight. " There he goes ! All 
 right, you can sail, I'm overhaulin' on yer now; 
 it's no good your hollerin' for mercy, not a bit on 
 
298 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 it. You gobbled that 'ere snipe. I got ye now." 
 Not quite, for the man's feet caught in the tough 
 wire-like blite roots, and into a shallow salt-water 
 pool he went head first. 
 
 Once more we lost that crow ; ten minutes after- 
 wards we saw him making his way across a small 
 deep creek. " If I drowns, I'll have ye. Yes, if I 
 goes under with ye ; " and so saying the shooter 
 at once proceeded to take off the heavier portion 
 of his clothing. But this wet job he was spared, 
 for a mussel-picker on the scalps, on the other 
 side of the narrow deep creek, came running up 
 to see who or what it was that had been wrecked ; 
 and seeing him the crow made for shore lower 
 down, ran up a gripe, and there our companion 
 caught him. The catch was mutual, for our 
 friend's right hand was bleeding when he held 
 the bird up. A dun -crow can fight. "Ah, you 
 can holler ; you eat that 'ere snipe, didn't ye, eh ? 
 Take that 'ere fur it." Whack! 
 
 The life of a shore-shooter has a beneficial effect 
 in training the man, for it gives him self-command 
 and patience, combined with keen observation ; 
 and without these qualities you will never get 
 
MORE ABOUT FOWLING ON LONGSHORE. 299 
 
 near enough to fowl to shoot them. I have been 
 outwitted hundreds of times by wild creatures, 
 sometimes to my great delight, and again at times 
 to my very great mortification. 
 
 It has only been in the latter part of my life 
 that I have been able to fully understand wild 
 creatures ; there is so very much for you to forget, 
 before you can really know a little of the truth. 
 Superficial observation is useless ; theories are both 
 dangerous and misleading, with regard to the 
 beautiful and gifted creatures formed to have their 
 place with us on the earth and the waters. They 
 are gifted with a rare intelligence, which at times 
 is most baffling to man's understanding. There 
 is good reason for birds being so frequently men- 
 tioned in one of the oldest and best of books. As 
 to the legitimacy of killing these for food, if 
 bullocks were shot in a meadow and dressed 
 there, according to some enlightened ones that 
 would be cruel sport ; but as they are killed in 
 the slaughter - house, it only represents to these 
 good and highly sensitive people so many sirloins 
 and legs of mutton of the very best and tenderest 
 quality. 
 
300 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 A man I knew kept fowls for the table, pure 
 Dorkings. As they grew plumper every day he 
 would take a basket with food in it, scatter it 
 among them, and sigh deeply. After a few days 
 of this, with a mournful countenance he would 
 give the order for a couple to be placed in a 
 fatting-coop ; then, when he had satisfied himself 
 that they were just right, he would send for a 
 man to wring their necks, giving him a shilling 
 for the job ; and while the deed was doing he 
 would go off on a long walk. His wife and 
 daughters were as tender-hearted as he was ; it 
 ran in the family. Yet the servants always noticed 
 that, whatever they might eat or leave on the 
 dinner-table, they invariably finished up the fowls. 
 This was possibly on the same principle as ac- 
 tuated one of the kings of the Cannibal Islands, 
 who ate his grandfather out of respect. 
 
 Before concluding this chapter, I will give a 
 list of the swimmers and waders that a shore- 
 shooter (if he be fortunate enough to get them) 
 would offer for sale as food for the table. Mal- 
 lards, widgeons, red-headed pochards, dun-birds, 
 teal, geese (but these very rarely, for they are 
 
MORE ABOUT FOWLING ON LONGSHORE. 301 
 
 shot on the tide as a rule), curlews, jack-curlews, 
 whimbrel (in the season), godwits (rarely), grey 
 plover and golden plover, peewits, green plovers, 
 woodcocks, snipes, jack-snipes, redshanks, dot- 
 terels (occasionally), sanderlings, dunlins, and stints. 
 Other birds were fit to eat, but the list I have 
 given comprised nearly all that were sold at the 
 time I used to go with shooters. 
 
 If a man fancies he knows too much, or if he 
 feels unduly elated over what little he does know, 
 let him find some lonely shore (there are some 
 such still), and there let him join a company of 
 poor but honest shore-shooters. In less than a 
 fortnight his fancies will leave him. Some of the 
 truest and noblest hearts I have ever known beat 
 under a fisher's and fowler's blue jersey. 
 
 Sport it was certainly, the best that a man could 
 have ; but in many cases it was necessary sport. 
 There the birds were, if you could get them ; 
 straight shooting meant putting money into empty 
 pockets. Very few that had the means to do so 
 could resist buying a tempting bunch of fowl fresh 
 from the tide. In the first place, they are very 
 beautiful, their plumage is so bright and pure ; more 
 
302 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 than that, there is a mystery about them, they 
 come and go at no man's bidding; to and fro, 
 here to-day, gone to-morrow. Birds of the night, 
 or at least of the darkness, they might be fitly 
 called : the shores at night are never silent, not 
 even in summer. The fowl are gone for a brief 
 time, but some small waders remain, to pipe and 
 twit to the gentle ripple of the tide when it is 
 calm and quiet. 
 
 Times and often have I wandered along the 
 shore long after the sun has dipped, leaving be- 
 hind it that rich light haze that floats along so 
 full of warm colour just off the land. Through 
 it the fishing-boats drift like purple shadows ; the 
 gulls are at rest in the marshes behind the sea- 
 wall ; nothing is to be heard but the murmur of 
 the tide, and the pipe of the dotterel as it starts 
 up unseen before you in the twilight. The long- 
 shore is at rest. 
 
 Again, a bank of clouds, with a gleam of silver on 
 their top edges, breaks away ; then the moon lights 
 up for a short time a waste of waters, for it is full 
 flood-tide with the wind dead on shore. The waves 
 
MORE ABOUT FOWLING ON LONGSHORE. 303 
 
 come thundering up to their utmost limit, nearly 
 reaching the base of the huge sea-wall. The fowl 
 have returned ; they are passing overhead from open 
 water, for it is far too rough for them to-night. 
 How they gabble and cry ! The moon is now 
 completely hidden ; unless the wind shifts and 
 clears all, we shall leave the beach : three times 
 have we been down with the spray drifting over 
 us. To and fro the birds are rushing, over and 
 through the very crests of the waves that leap in 
 thunder up the beach ; they are curlews, their wail 
 betrays them. It is not often they behave in this 
 way, but to-night they are as restless as the foaming 
 waters; sensitive creatures at all times they are. 
 All old seafaring men note the ways of fowl, those 
 of the waders particularly. One circumstance con- 
 nected with them I can well remember. For nearly 
 a day before one of the most disastrous gales of 
 many years, hosts of waders were shooting along 
 close inshore in long continuous lines. Where 
 they came from no man knew, or where they were 
 going to. Before the last great mob were out of 
 sight the gale burst in all its fury; it had been 
 
304 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 
 
 blowing hard before, now it was in full force. 
 Great poplars, that had long been landmarks for 
 those at sea, as they stood three miles away in 
 the marshes, were seen to go down ; reed-stacks 
 vanished, being whirled all over the place in frag- 
 ments like wisps of straw. Some few men, and a 
 few only, kept the beach ; the rest went indoors to 
 smoke and think. The women, married and single, 
 with shawls drawn closely over their heads, gathered 
 to comfort each other if they could ; for some of 
 their men were out. When there was a lull in 
 the storm they sought the beach; but they did not 
 stay there long, for battered forms began to come 
 ashore. 
 
 About the vexed question of the foreshores in 
 certain districts I shall say nothing, it is no busi- 
 ness of mine ; I have left the tide. But if the 
 British public do not care to claim what they have 
 had for centuries and that is the right to shoot on 
 the foreshores within and beyond high-water mark 
 why, they must just put up with things. When a 
 certain class try to claim the foreshores, within 
 the limits of flotsam and jetsam, to make money 
 
MORE ABOUT FOWLING ON LONGSHORE. 305 
 
 out of them to let them out, in fact, for shooting 
 wild -fowl matters require looking into. Things 
 have changed, of course, greatly of late years ; but 
 I do think that such a course would never have 
 been attempted, or even dreamed about, in those 
 younger days when I fowled along shore. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 PRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACK WOOD AND SONS 
 
Catalogue 
 
 of 
 
 Messrs Blackwood & Sons' 
 Publications 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL CLASSICS FOR ENGLISH READERS, 
 
 EDITED BY WILLIAM KNIGHT, LL.D., 
 
 Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of St Andrews. 
 
 In crown 8vo Volumes, with Portraits, price 3s. 6d. 
 
 Contents of the Series. 
 
 DESCARTES, by Professor Mahaffy, Dub- 
 lin. BUTLER, by Rev. W. Lucas Collins, 
 M.A. BERKELEY, by Professor Campbell 
 Fraser. FICHTE, by Professor Adamson, 
 Owens College, Manchester. KANT, by 
 Professor Wallace, Oxford. HAMILTON, by 
 Professor Veitch, Glasgow. HEGEL, by 
 the Master of Balliol. LEIBNIZ, by J. 
 
 Theodore Merz. Vico, by Professor Flint, 
 Edinburgh. HOBBES, by Professor Croom 
 Robertson. HUME, by the Editor. SPIN- 
 OZA, by the Very Rev. Principal Caird, 
 Glasgow. BACON : Part I. The Life, by 
 Professor Nichol. BACON : Part II. Phil- 
 osophy, by the same Author. LOCKE, by 
 Professor Campbell Fraser. 
 
 FOREIGN CLASSICS FOR ENGLISH READERS, 
 
 EDITED BY MRS OLIPHANT. 
 
 DANTE, by the Editor. VOLTAIRE, by 
 General Sir E. B. Hamley, K.C.B. 
 PASCAL, by Principal Tulloch. PET- 
 RARCH, by Henry Reeve, C.B. GOETHE, 
 by A. Hayward, Q.C. MOLIERE, by the 
 Editor and F. Tarver, M.A. MONTAIGNE, 
 by Rev. W. L. Collins, M. A. RABELAIS, 
 
 by Walter Besant, M.A. CALDERON, by 
 E. J. Hasell. SAINT SIMON, by Clifton 
 W. Collins, M. A. CERVANTES, by the 
 
 In crown 8vo, 2s. 6cl. 
 
 Contents of the Series. 
 
 Editor. CORNEILLE AND RACINE, by 
 Henry M. Trollope. MADAME DE 
 SEVIGN, by Miss Thackeray. LA FON- 
 TAINE, AND OTHER FRENCH FABULISTS, 
 
 by Rev. W. Lucas Collins, M.A. SCHIL- 
 LER, by James Sime, M.A., Author of 
 'Lessing, his Life and Writings.' TASSO, 
 
 by E. J. Hasell. ROUSSEAU, by Henry 
 Grey Graham. ALFRED DE MUSSET, by 
 C. F. Oliphant. 
 
 ANCIENT CLASSICS FOR ENGLISH READERS, 
 
 EDITED BY THE EEV. W. LUCAS COLLINS, M.A. 
 
 Complete in 28 Vols. crown 8vo, cloth, price 2s. 6d. each. And may also be had in 
 14 Volumes, strongly and neatly bound, with calf or vellum back, 3, 10s. 
 
 Contents of the Series. 
 
 TERENCE, by the Editor THE COMMEN- 
 TARIES OF CAESAR, by Anthony Trollope. 
 TACITUS, by W. B. Donne. CICERO, by 
 the Editor. PLINY'S LETTERS, by the 
 Rev. Alfred Church, M.A., and the Rev. 
 W. J. Brodribb, M.A. LIVY, by the 
 Editor. OVID, by the Rev. A. Church, 
 M.A. CATULLUS, TIBULLUS, AND PRO- 
 PERTIUS, by the Rev. Jas. Da vies, M.A. 
 DEMOSTHENES, by the Rev. W. J. 
 Brodribb, M.A. ARISTOTLE, by Sir Alex- 
 ander Grant, Bart., LL.D. THTJCYDIDES, 
 by the Editor. LUCRETIUS, by W. H. 
 Mallock, M.A. PINDAR, by the Rev. F. 
 D. Morice, M.A. 
 
 THE ILIAD, by the Editor. 
 HOMER: THE ODYSSEY, by the Editor. 
 HERODOTUS, by George C. Swayne, M.A. 
 XENOPHON, by Sir Alexander Grant, Bart., 
 LL.D. EURIPIDES, by W. B. Donne. 
 ARISTOPHANES, by the Editor. PLATO, by 
 Clifton W. Collins, M.A. LUCIAN, by the 
 Editor. .ESCHYLUS, by the Right Rev. 
 the Bishop of Colombo. SOPHOCLES, by 
 Clifton W. Collins, M.A. HESIOD AND 
 THEOGNIS, by the Rev. J. Davies, M.A. 
 GREEK ANTHOLOGY, by Lord Neaves. 
 VIRGIL, by the Editor. HORACE, by Sir 
 Theodore Martin, K.C.B. JUVENAL, by 
 Edward Walford, M.A. PLAUTUS AND 
 
 Saturday Review. " It is difficult to estimate too highly the value of such a series as 
 this in giving ' English readers ' an insight, exact as far as it goes, into those olden times 
 which are so remote, and yet to many of us so close." 
 
CATALOGUE 
 
 OF 
 
 MESSES BLACKWOOD & SONS' 
 
 P UBL1CA TION S. 
 
 ALISON. 
 
 History of Europe. By Sir AECHIBALD ALISON, Bart., D.C.L. 
 
 1. From the Commencement of the French Revolution to 
 
 the Battle of Waterloo. 
 
 LIBRARY EDITION, 14 vols., with Portraits. Demy 8vo, 10, 10s. 
 ANOTHER EDITION, in 20 vols. crown 8vo, 6. 
 PEOPLE'S EDITION, 13 vols. crown 8vo, 2, 11s. 
 
 2. Continuation to the Accession of Louis Napoleon. 
 
 LIBRARY EDITION, 8 vols. 8vo, 6, 7s. 6d. 
 PEOPLE'S EDITION, 8 vols. crown 8vo, 34s. 
 
 Epitome of Alison's History of Europe. Thirtieth Thou- 
 sand, 7s. 6d. 
 
 Atlas to Alison's History of Europe. By A. Keith Johnston. 
 
 LIBRARY EDITION, demy 4to, 3, 3s. 
 PEOPLE'S EDITION, 31s. 6d. 
 
 Life of John Duke of Marlborough. With some Account of 
 
 his Contemporaries, and of the War of the Succession. Third Edition. 2 vols. 
 8vo. Portraits and Maps, 30s. 
 
 Essays : Historical, Political, and Miscellaneous. 3 vols. 
 
 demy 8vo, 45s. 
 
 ACROSS FRANCE IN A CARAVAN : BEING SOME ACCOUNT 
 
 OF A JOURNEY FROM BORDEAUX TO GENOA IN THE "ESCARGOT," taken in the Winter 
 1889-90. By the Author of ' A Day of my Life at Eton.' With fifty Illustrations 
 by John Wallace, after Sketches by the Author, and a Map. Cheap Edition, 
 demy 8vo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 ACTA SANCTORUM HIBERNLE ; Ex Codice Salmanticensi. 
 
 Nunc primum integre edita opera CAROLI DE SMEDT et JOSEPHI DE BACKER, e 
 Soc. Jesu, Hagiographorum Bollandianorum ; Auctore et Sumptus Largiente 
 JOANNE PATRICIO MARCHIONE BOTHAE. In One handsome 4to Volume, bound in 
 half roxburghe, 2, 2s.; in paper cover, 31s. 6d. 
 
 AGRICULTURAL HOLDINGS ACT, 1883. With Notes by a 
 
 MEMBER OF THE HIGHLAND AND AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 AIRMAN. 
 
 Manures and the Principles of Manuring. By C. M. AIRMAN, 
 
 D.Sc., F.R.S.E., &c., Professor of Chemistry, Glasgow Veterinary College; 
 Examiner in Chemistry, University of Glasgow, &c. Crown 8vo, 6s. 6d. 
 
 Farmyard Manure : Its Nature, Composition, and Treatment. 
 
 Crown 8vo, Is. 6d. 
 
List of Books Published by 
 
 AIED. Poetical Works of Thomas Aird. Fifth Edition, with 
 
 Memoir of the Author by the Rev. JARDINE WALLACE, and Portrait. Crown 8vo, 
 7s. 6d. 
 
 ALLARDYCE. 
 
 The City of Sunshine. By ALEXANDER ALLARDYCE, Author of 
 
 1 Earlscourt,' 'Balmoral: A Romance of the Queen's Country,' &c. New and 
 Revised Edition. Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 Memoir of the Honourable George Keith Elphinstone, K.B., 
 
 Viscount Keith of Stonehaven, Marischal, Admiral of the Red. 8vo, with Por- 
 trait, Illustrations, and Maps, 21s. 
 
 ALMOND. Sermons by a Lay Head-master. By HELY HUTCH- 
 
 INSON ALMOND, M.A. Oxon., Head-master of Loretto School. Crown 8vo, 5s. 
 
 ANCIENT CLASSICS FOR ENGLISH READERS. Edited 
 
 by Rev. W. LUCAS COLLINS, M.A. Price 2s. 6d. each. For List ofVols., seep. 2. 
 
 AYTOUN. 
 
 Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers, and other Poems. By W. 
 
 EDMONDSTOUNE AYTOUN, D.C.L., Professor of Rhetoric and Belles-Lettres in the 
 University of Edinburgh. New Edition. Fcap. Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 ANOTHER EDITION. Fcap. Svo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 CHEAP EDITION. Is. Cloth, Is. 3d. 
 
 An Illustrated Edition of the Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers. 
 
 From designs by Sir NOEL PATON. Small 4to, in gilt cloth, 21s. 
 
 Bothwell : a Poem. Third Edition. Fcap., 7s. 6d. 
 
 Poems and Ballads of Goethe. Translated by Professor 
 
 AYTOUN and Sir THEODORE MARTIN, K.C.B. Third Edition. Fcap., 6s. 
 
 Bon Gaultier's Book of Ballads. By the SAME. Fifteenth 
 
 Edition. With Illustrations by Doyle, Leech, and Crowquill. Fcap. Svo, 5s. 
 
 The Ballads of Scotland. Edited by Professor AYTOUN. 
 
 Fourth Edition. 2 vols. fcap. Svo, 12s. 
 
 Memoir of William E. Aytoun, D.C.L. By Sir THEODORE 
 
 MARTIN, K.C.B. With Portrait. Post Svo, 12s. 
 
 BACH. 
 
 On Musical Education and Vocal Culture. By ALBERT B. 
 
 BACH. Fourth Edition. Svo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 The Principles of Singing. A Practical Guide for Vocalists 
 
 and Teachers. With Course of Vocal Exercises. Second Edition. With Portrait 
 of the Author. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 The Art Ballad : Loewe and Schubert. With Musical Illus- 
 
 trations. With a Portrait of LOEWE. Third Edition. Small 4to, 5s. 
 
 BAIRD LECTURES. 
 
 Theism. By Rev. Professor FLINT, D.D., Edinburgh. Eighth 
 
 Edition. Crown Svo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 Anti-Theistic Theories. By the SAME. Fifth Edition. Crown 
 
 Svo, 10s. 6d. 
 
 The Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures. By Rev. ROBERT 
 
 JAMIESON, D.D. Crown Svo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 The Early Religion of Israel. As set forth by Biblical Writers 
 
 and modern Critical Historians. By Rev. Professor ROBERTSON, D.D., Glasgow. 
 Fourth Edition. Crown Svo, 10s. 6d. 
 
 The Mysteries of Christianity. By Rev. Professor CRAWFORD, 
 
 D.D. Crown Svo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 Endowed Territorial Work : Its Supreme Importance to the 
 
 Church and Country. By Rev. WILLIAM SMITH, D.D. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 BALLADS AND POEMS. By MEMBERS OF THE GLASGOW 
 
 BALLAD CLUB. Crown 8vo, 7s. 6d. 
 
William Blackwood and Sons. 
 
 BELLAIRS. 
 
 The Transvaal War, 1880-81. Edited by Lady BELLAIRS. 
 
 With a Frontispiece and Map. 8vo, 15s. 
 
 Gossips with Girls and Maidens, Betrothed and Free. New 
 
 Edition. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. Cloth, extra gilt edges, 5s. 
 
 BELLESHEIM. History of the Catholic Church of Scotland. 
 
 From the Introduction of Christianity to the Present Day. By ALPHONS BEL- 
 LESHEIM, D.D., Canon of Aix-la-Chapelle. Translated, with Notes and Additions, 
 by D. OSWALD HUNTER BLAIR, O.S.B., Monk of Fort Augustus. Cheap Edition. 
 Complete in 4 vols. demy Svo, with Maps. Price 21s. net. 
 
 BENTINCK. Racing Life of Lord George Cavendish Bentinck, 
 
 M.P., and other Reminiscences. By JOHN KENT, Private Trainer to the Good- 
 wood Stable. Edited by the Hon. FRANCIS LAWLEY. With Twenty -three full- 
 page Plates, and Facsimile Letter. Third Edition. Demy Svo, 25s. 
 
 BESANT. 
 
 The Revolt of Man. By WALTER BESANT. Tenth Edition. 
 
 Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Readings in Rabelais. Crown 8vo, 7s. 6d. 
 BEVERIDGE. 
 
 Culross and Tulliallan ; or Perthshire on Forth. Its History 
 
 and Antiquities. With Elucidations of Scottish Life and Character from the 
 Burgh and Kirk-Session Records of that District. By DAVID BEVERIDGE. 2 vols. 
 Svo, with Illustrations, 42s. 
 
 Between the Ochils and the Forth ; or, From Stirling Bridge 
 
 to Aberdour. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 BICKERDYKE. A Banished Beauty. By JOHN BICKERDYKE, 
 
 Author of ' Days in Thule, with Rod, Gun, and Camera,' ' The Book of the All- 
 Round Angler,' ' Curiosities of Ale and Beer,' &c. With Illustrations. Crown 
 Svo, 6s. 
 
 BIRCH. 
 
 Examples of Stables, Hunting-Boxes, Kennels, Racing Estab- 
 lishments, &c. By JOHN BIRCH, Architect, Author of 'Country Architecture,' 
 &c. With 30 Plates. Royal Svo, 7s. 
 
 Examples of Labourers' Cottages, &c. With Plans for Im- 
 proving the Dwellings of the Poor in Large Towns. With 34 Plates. Royal Svo, 
 
 7s. 
 
 Picturesque Lodges. A Series of Designs for Gate Lodges, 
 
 Park Entrances, Keepers', Gardeners', Bailiffs', Grooms', Upper and Under Ser- 
 vants' Lodges, and other Rural Residences. With 16 Plates. 4to, 12s. 6d. 
 
 BLACK. Heligoland and the Islands of the North Sea. By 
 
 WILLIAM GEORGE BLACK. Crown Svo, 4s. 
 
 BLACKIE. 
 
 Lays and Legends of Ancient Greece. By JOHN STUART 
 
 BLACKIE, Emeritus Professor of Greek in the University of Edinburgh. Second 
 Edition. Fcap. Svo, 5s. 
 
 The Wisdom of Goethe. Fcap. 8vo. Cloth, extra gilt, 6s. 
 Scottish Song : Its Wealth, Wisdom, and Social Significance. 
 
 Crown Svo. With Music. 7s. 6d. 
 
 A Song of Heroes. Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 BLACKMORE. The Maid of Sker. By R. D. BLACKMORE, 
 
 Author of 'Lorna Doone,' &c. New Edition. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 BLACKWOOD. 
 
 Blackwood's Magazine, from Commencement in 1817 to April 
 
 1895. Nos. 1 to 954, forming 157 Volumes. 
 
 Index to Blackwood's Magazine. Vols. 1 to 50. Svo, 15s. 
 
List of Books Published by 
 
 BLACKWOOD. 
 
 Tales from Blackwood. First Series. Price One Shilling each, 
 
 in Paper Cover. Sold separately at all Railway Bookstalls. 
 
 They may also be had bound in 12 vols., cloth, 18s. Half calf, richly gilt, 30s. 
 Or the 12 vols. in 6, roxburghe, 21s. Half red morocco, 28s. 
 
 Tales from Blackwood. Second Series. Complete in Twenty- 
 four Shilling Parts. Handsomely bound in 12 vols., cloth, 30s. In leather back, 
 roxburghe style, 37s. 6d. Half calf, gilt, 52s. 6d. Half morocco, 55s. 
 
 Tales from Blackwood. Third Series. Complete in Twelve 
 
 Shilling Parts. Handsomely bound in 6 vols., cloth, 15s.; and in 12 vols., cloth, 
 18s. The 6 vols. in roxburghe, 21s. Half calf, 25s. Half morocco, 28s. 
 
 Travel, Adventure, and Sport. From * Blackwood's Magazine.' 
 
 Uniform with 'Tales from Blackwood.' In Twelve Parts, each price Is. Hand- 
 somely bound in 6 vols., cloth, 15s. And in half calf, 25s. 
 
 New Educational Series. See separate Catalogue. 
 
 New Uniform Series of Novels (Copyright). 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth. Price 3s. 6d. each. Now ready : 
 
 WENDERHOLME. By P. G. Hamerton. 
 THE STORY OF MARGREDEL. By D. Storrar 
 
 Meldrum. 
 
 Miss MARJORIBANKS. By Mrs Oliphant 
 THE PERPETUAL CURATE, and THE RECTOR. 
 
 By the Same. 
 SALEM CHAPEL, and THE DOCTOR'S FAMILY. 
 
 By the Same. 
 
 A SENSITIVE PLANT. By E. D. Gerard. 
 LADY LEE'S WIDOWHOOD. By General Sir 
 
 E. B. Hamley. 
 KATIE STEWART, and other Stories. By Mrs 
 
 Oliphant. 
 
 VALENTINE, AND HIS BROTHER. By the Same. 
 SONS AND DAUGHTERS. By the Same. 
 MARMORNE. By P. G. Hamerton. 
 REATA. By E. D. Gerard. 
 
 BEGGAR MY NEIGHBOUR. By the Same. 
 
 THE WATERS OF HERCULES. By the Same. 
 
 FAIR TO SEE. By L. W. M. Lockhart. 
 
 MINE is THINE. By the Same. 
 
 DOUBLES AND QUITS. By the Same. 
 
 HURRISH. By the Hon. Emily Lawless. 
 
 ALTIORA PETO. By Laurence Oliphant. 
 
 PICCADILLY. By the Same. With Illustra- 
 tions. 
 
 THE REVOLT OF MAN. By Walter Besant. 
 
 LADY BABY. By D. Gerard. 
 
 THE BLACKSMITH OF VOE. By Paul Gushing. 
 
 THE DILEMMA. By the Author of ' The 
 Battle of Dorking.' 
 
 MY TRIVIAL LIFE AND MISFORTUNE. By A 
 Plain Woman. 
 
 POOR NELLIE. By the Same. 
 
 Others in preparation. 
 
 Standard Novels. Uniform in size and binding. 
 
 complete in one Volume. 
 
 FLORIN SERIES, Illustrated Boards. Bound in Cloth, 2s. 6d. 
 
 Each 
 
 TOM CRINGLE'S LOG. By Michael Scott. 
 THE CRUISE OF THE MIDGE. By the Same. 
 CYRIL THORNTON. By Captain Hamilton. 
 ANNALS OF THE PARISH. By John Gait. 
 THE PROVOST, &c. By the Same. 
 SIR ANDREW WYLIE. By the Same. 
 THE ENTAIL. By the Same. 
 Miss MOLLY. By Beatrice May Butt. 
 REGINALD DALTON. By J. G. Lockhart. 
 
 SHILLING SERIES, Illustrated Cover. Bound in Cloth, Is. 6d. 
 THE RECTOR, and THE DOCTOR'S FAMILY. \ SIR FRIZZLE PUMPKIN, NIGHTS AT MESS, 
 
 PEN OWEN. By Dean Hook. 
 
 ADAM BLAIR. By J. G. Lockhart. 
 
 LADY LEE'S WIDOWHOOD. By General Sir E. 
 
 B. Hamley. 
 
 SALEM CHAPEL. By Mrs Oliphant. 
 THE PERPETUAL CURATE. By the Same. 
 Miss MARJORIBANKS. By the Same. 
 JOHN : A Love Story. By the Same. 
 
 By Mrs Oliphant. 
 THE LIFE OF MANSIE WAUCH. By D. M. 
 
 Moir. 
 PENINSULAR SCENES AND SKETCHES. By 
 
 F. Hardman. 
 
 &c. 
 
 THE SUBALTERN. 
 
 LIFE IN THE FAR WEST. By G. F. Ruxton. 
 VALERIUS: A Roman Story. By J. G. 
 Lockhart. 
 
 BON GAULTIER'S BOOK OF BALLADS. Fifteenth Edi- 
 tion. With Illustrations by Doyle, Leech, and Crowquill. Fcap. 8vo, 5s. 
 
 BONNAR. Biographical Sketch of George Meikle Kemp, Archi- 
 tect of the Scott Monument, Edinburgh. By THOMAS_BONNAR, F.S.A. Scot., 
 Author of ' The Present Art Revival,' &c. 
 Illustrations. Post 8vo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 With Three Portraits and numerous 
 
William Blackwood and Sons. 
 
 BRADDON. Thirty Years of Shikar. By Sir EDWARD BRADDON, 
 
 K.C.M.G. With Illustrations by G. D. Giles, and Map of Oudh Forest Tracts 
 and Nepal Terai. Demy 8vo, 18s. 
 
 BROUGHAM. Memoirs of the Life and Times of Henry Lord 
 
 Brougham. Written by HIMSELF. 3 vols. 8vo, 2, 8s. The Volumes are sold 
 separately, price 16s. each. 
 
 BROWN. The Forester : A Practical Treatise on the Planting 
 
 and Tending of Forest-trees and the General Management of Woodlands. By 
 JAMES BROWN, LL.D. Sixth Edition, Enlarged. Edited by JOHN NISBET, D.CEc., 
 Author of ' British Forest Trees,' &c. In 2 vols. royal 8vo, with 350 Illustra- 
 tions, 42s. net. 
 
 BROWN. Stray Sport. By J. MORAY BROWN, Author of ' Shikar 
 
 Sketches,' 'Powder, Spur, and Spear,' 'The Days when we went Hog-Hunting." 
 2 vols. post 8vo, with Fifty Illustrations, 21s. 
 
 BROWN. A Manual of Botany, Anatomical and Physiological. 
 
 For the Use of Students. By ROBERT BROWN, M.A., Ph.D. Crown 8vo, with 
 numerous Illustrations, 12s. 6d. 
 
 BROWN. The Book of the Landed Estate. Containing Direc- 
 tions for the Management and Development of the Resources of Landed Property. 
 By ROBERT E. BROWN, Factor and Estate Agent. Royal 8vo, with Illustrations, 21s. 
 
 BRUCE. 
 
 In Clover and Heather. Poems by WALLACE BRUCE. New 
 
 and Enlarged Edition. Crown Svo, 4s. 6d. 
 
 A limited number of Copies of the First Edition, on large hand-made paper, 12s. 6d. 
 
 Here's a Hand. Addresses and Poems. Crown Svo, 5s. 
 
 Large Paper Edition, limited to 100 copies, price 21s. 
 
 BRYDALL. Art in Scotland; its Origin and Progress. By 
 
 ROBERT BRYDALL, Master of St George's Art School of Glasgow. Svo, 12s. 6d. 
 
 BUCHAN. Introductory Text-Book of Meteorology. By ALEX- 
 ANDER BUCHAN, LL.D., F.R.S.E., Secretary of the Scottish Meteorological 
 Society, &c. New Edition. Crown Svo, with Coloured Charts and Engravings. 
 
 [In preparation. 
 
 BUCHANAN. The Shire Highlands (East Central Africa). By 
 
 JOHN BUCHANAN, Planter at Zomba. Crown Svo, 5s. 
 
 BURBIDGE. 
 
 Domestic Floriculture, Window Gardening, and Floral Decora- 
 tions. Being practical directions for the Propagation, Culture, and Arrangement 
 of Plants and Flowers as Domestic Ornaments. By F. W. BURBIDGE. Second 
 Edition. Crown Svo, with numerous Illustrations, 7s. 6d. 
 
 Cultivated Plants : Their Propagation and Improvement. 
 
 Including Natural and Artificial Hybridisation, Raising from Seed, Cuttings, 
 and Layers, Grafting and Budding, as applied to the Families and Genera in 
 Cultivation. Crown Svo, with numerous Illustrations, 12s. 6d. 
 
 BURGESS. The Viking Path. A Tale of the White Christ. 
 
 By J. J. HALDANE BURGESS, Author of 'Rasmie's Buddie,' 'Shetland Sketches,' 
 &c. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 BURROWS. Commentaries on the History of England, from 
 
 the Earliest Times to 1865. By MONTAGU BURROWS, Chichele Professor of 
 Modern History in the University of Oxford ; Captain R.N. ; F.S.A., &c. ; 
 "Offlcier de 1'Instruction Publique," France. Crown Svo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 BURTON. 
 
 The History of Scotland : From Agricola's Invasion to the 
 
 Extinction of the last Jacobite Insurrection. By JOHN HILL BURTON, D.C.L., 
 Historiographer-Royal for Scotland. New and Enlarged Edition, 8 vols., and 
 Index. Crown Svo, 3, 3s. 
 
 History of the British Empire during the Reign of Queen 
 
 Anne. In 3 vols. Svo. 36s. 
 
 The Scot Abroad. Third Edition. Crown Svo, 10s. 6d. 
 
List of Books Published by 
 
 BURTON. 
 
 The Book-Hunter. By JOHN HILL BURTON. New Edition. 
 
 With Portrait. Crown 8vo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 BUTE. 
 
 The Roman Breviary : Reformed by Order of the Holy 
 
 (Ecumenical Council of Trent ; Published by Order of Pope St Pius V. ; and 
 Revised by Clement VIII. and Urban VIII. ; together with the Offices since 
 granted. Translated out of Latin into English by JOHN, Marquess of Bute, 
 K.T. In 2 vols. crown Svo, cloth boards, edges uncut. 2, 2s. 
 
 The Altus of St Columba. With a Prose Paraphrase and 
 
 Notes. In paper cover, 2s. 6d. 
 
 BUTT. 
 
 Miss Molly. By BEATRICE MAY BUTT. Cheap Edition, 2s. 
 
 Eugenie. Crown Svo, 6s. 6d. 
 
 Elizabeth, and other Sketches. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 Delicia. New Edition. Crown Svo, 2s. 6d. 
 
 CAIRD. 
 
 Sermons. By JOHN CAIRO, D.D., Principal of the University 
 
 of Glasgow. Seventeenth Thousand. Fcap. Svo, 5s. 
 
 Religion in Common Life. A Sermon preached in Crathie 
 
 Church, October 14, 1855, before Her Majesty the Queen and Prince Albert. 
 Published by Her Majesty's Command. Cheap Edition, 3d. 
 
 CALDER. Chaucer's Canterbury Pilgrimage. Epitomised by 
 
 WILLIAM CALDER. With Photogravure of the Pilgrimage Company, and other 
 Illustrations, Glossary, &c. Crown Svo, gilt edges, 4s. Cheaper Edition with- 
 out Photogravure Plate. Crown Svo, 2s. 6d. 
 
 CAMPBELL. Critical Studies in St Luke's Gospel : Its Demon- 
 
 ology and Ebionitism. By COLIN CAMPBELL, D.D., Minister of the Parish of Dun- 
 dee, formerly Scholar and Fellow of Glasgow University. Author of the ' Three 
 First Gospels in Greek, arranged in parallel columns.' Post Svo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 CAMPBELL. Sermons Preached before the Queen at Balmoral. 
 
 By the Rev. A. A. CAMPBELL, Minister of Crathie. Published by Command of 
 Her Majesty. Crown Svo, 4s. 6d. 
 
 CAMPBELL. Records of Argyll. Legends, Traditions, and Re- 
 collections of Argyllshire Highlanders, collected chiefly from the Gaelic. With 
 Notes on the Antiquity of the Dress, Clan Colours, or Tartans of the Highlanders. 
 By Lord ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL. Illustrated with Nineteen full-page Etchings. 
 4to, printed on hand-made paper, 3, 3s. 
 
 CANTON. A Lost Epic, and other Poems. By WILLIAM 
 
 CANTON. Crown Svo, 5s. 
 
 CARR1CK. Koumiss; or, Fermented Mare's Milk: and its 
 
 uses in the Treatment and Cure of Pulmonary Consumption, and other Wasting 
 Diseases. With an Appendix on the best Methods of Fermenting Cow's Milk. 
 By GEORGE L. CARRICK, M.D., L.R.C.S.E. and L.R.C.P.E., Physician to the 
 British Embassy, St Petersburg, &c. Crown Svo, 10s. 6d. 
 
 CARSTAIRS. 
 
 Human Nature in Rural India. By R. CARSTAIRS. Crown 
 
 Svo, 6s. 
 
 British Work in India. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 CAUVIN. A Treasury of the English and German Languages. 
 
 Compiled from the best Authors and Lexicographers in both Languages. By 
 JOSEPH CAUVIN, LL.D. and Ph.D., of the University of Gbttingen, &c. Crown 
 Svo, 7s. 6d. 
 
William Blackwood and Sons. 
 
 CHAKTERIS. Canonicity ; or, Early Testimonies to the Exist- 
 ence and Use of the Books of the New Testament. Based on Kirchhoffer's 
 'Quellensammlung.' Edited by A. H. CHARTERIS, D.D., Professor of Biblical 
 Criticism in the University of Edinburgh. 8vo, 18s. 
 
 CHENNELLS. Recollections of an Egyptian Princess. By 
 
 her English Governess (Miss E. CHENNELLS). Being a Record of Five Years' 
 Residence at the Court of Ismael Pasha, Khedive. Second Edition. With Three 
 Portraits. Post 8vo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 CHESNEY. The Dilemma. By General Sir GEORGE CHESNEY, 
 
 K.C.B., M.P., Author of 'The Battle of Dorking,' &c. New Edition. Crown 
 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 CHRISTISON. Life of Sir Robert Christison, Bart., M.D., 
 
 D.C.L. Oxon., Professor of Medical Jurisprudence in the University of Edin- 
 burgh. Edited by his SONS. In 2 vols. 8vo. Vol. I. Autobiography. 16s. 
 Vol. II. Memoirs. 16s. 
 
 CHURCH. Chapters in an Adventurous Life. Sir Richard 
 
 Church in Italy and Greece. By E. M. CHURCH. "With Illustrations. 
 Demy 8vo. [In the press. 
 
 CHURCH SERVICE SOCIETY. 
 
 A Book of Common Order : being Forms of Worship issued 
 
 by the Church Service Society. Sixth Edition. Crown 8vo, 6s. Also in 2 vols. 
 crown 8vo, 6s. 6d. 
 
 Daily Offices for Morning and Evening Prayer throughout 
 
 the Week. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Order of Divine Service for Children. Issued by the Church 
 
 Service Society. With Scottish Hymnal. Cloth, 3d. 
 
 CLOUSTON. Popular Tales and Fictions: their Migrations 
 
 and Transformations. By W. A. CLOUSTON, Editor of ' Arabian Poetry for Eng- 
 lish Readers,' &c. 2 vols. post Svo, roxburghe binding, 25s. 
 
 COCHRAN. A Handy Text-Book of Military Law. Compiled 
 
 chiefly to assist Officers preparing for Examination ; also for all Officers of the 
 Regular and Auxiliary Forces. Comprising also a Synopsis of part of the Army 
 Act. By Major F. COCHRAN, Hampshire Regiment Garrison Instructor, North 
 British District. Crown Svo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 COLQUHOUN. The Moor and the Loch. Containing Minute 
 
 Instructions in all Highland Sports, with Wanderings over Crag and Corrie, 
 Flood and Fell. By JOHN COLQUHOUN. Cheap Edition. With Illustrations. 
 Demy Svo, 10s. 6d. 
 
 COLVILE. Round the Black Man's Garden. By ZELIE COL- 
 VILE, F.R.G.S. With 2 Maps and 50 Illustrations from Drawings by the 
 Author and from Photographs. Demy Svo, 16s. 
 
 CONSTITUTION AND LAW OF THE CHURCH OF 
 
 SCOTLAND. With an Introductory Note by the late Principal Tulloch. New 
 Edition, Revised and Enlarged. Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 COTTERILL. Suggested Reforms in Public Schools. By C. C. 
 
 COTTERILL, M.A. Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 CRANSTOUN. 
 
 The Elegies of Albius Tibullus. Translated into English 
 
 Verse, with Life of the Poet, and Illustrative Notes. By JAMES CRANSTOUN, 
 LL.D., Author of a Translation of ' Catullus. 1 Crown Svo, 6s. 6d. 
 
 The Elegies of Sextus Propertius. Translated into English 
 
 Verse, with Life of the Poet, and Illustrative Notes. Crown Svo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 CRAWFORD. An Atonement of East London, and other Poems. 
 
 By HOWARD CRAWFORD, M.A. Crown Svo, 5s. 
 
 CRAWFORD. Saracinesca. By F. MARION CRAWFORD, Author 
 
 of 'Mr Isaacs,' &c., &c. Eighth Edition. Crown Svo, 6s 
 
10 List of Books Published by 
 
 CRAWFORD. 
 
 The Doctrine of Holy Scripture respecting the Atonement. 
 
 By the late THOMAS J. CRAWFORD, D.D., Professor of Divinity in the University 
 of Edinburgh. Fifth Edition. 8vo, 12s. 
 
 The Fatherhood of God, Considered in its General and Special 
 
 Aspects. Third Edition, Revised and Enlarged. 8vo, 9s. 
 
 The Preaching of the Cross, and other Sermons. 8vo, 7s. 6d. 
 The Mysteries of Christianity. Crown 8vo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 CROSS. Impressions of Dante, and of the New World ; with a 
 
 Few Words on Bimetallism. By J. W. CROSS, Editor of ' George Eliot's Life, as 
 related in her Letters and Journals.' Post 8vo, 6s. 
 
 CUMBERLAND. Sport on the Pamir Steppes, in Chinese 
 
 Turkistan, and the Himalayas. By Major C. S. CUMBERLAND. With Map and 
 numerous Illustrations. In 1 vol. demy Svo. [In the press. 
 
 CURSE OF INTELLECT. Fcap Svo, 2s. 6d. net. 
 
 CUSHING. 
 
 The Blacksmith of Voe. By PAUL GUSHING, Author of 'The 
 
 Bull i' th' Thorn,' ' Cut with his own Diamond.' Cheap Edition. Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 DAVIES. 
 
 Norfolk Broads and Rivers ; or, The Waterways, Lagoons, 
 
 and Decoys of East Anglia. By G. CHRISTOPHER DAVIES. Illustrated with 
 Seven full-page Plates. New and Cheaper Edition. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 Our Home in Aveyron. Sketches of Peasant Life in Aveyron 
 
 and the Lot. By G. CHRISTOPHER DAVIES and Mrs BROUGHALL. Illustrated 
 with full-page Illustrations. Svo, 15s. Cheap Edition, 7s. 6d. 
 
 DE LA WARR. An Eastern Cruise in the ' Edeline.' By the 
 
 Countess DE LA WARR. In Illustrated Cover. 2s. 
 
 DESCARTES. The Method, Meditations, and Principles of Philo- 
 sophy of Descartes. Translated from the Original French and Latin. With a 
 New Introductory Essay, Historical and Critical, on the Cartesian Philosophy. 
 By Professor VEITCH, LL.D., Glasgow University. Tenth Edition. 6s. 6d. 
 
 DEWAR. Voyage of the " Nyanza," R.N.Y.C. Being the Record 
 
 of a Three Years' Cruise in a Schooner Yacht in the Atlantic and Pacific, and her 
 subsequent Shipwreck. By J. GUMMING DEWAR, late Captain King's Dragoon 
 Guards and llth Prince Albert's Hussars. With Two Autogravures, numerous 
 Illustrations, and a Map. Demy Svo, 21s. 
 
 DOGS, OUR DOMESTICATED : Their Treatment in reference 
 
 to Food, Diseases, Habits, Punishment, Accomplishments. By 'MAGENTA.' 
 Crown Svo, 2s. 6d. 
 
 DOUGLAS. John Stuart Mill. A Study of his Philosophy. 
 
 By CHARLES DOUGLAS, M.A., D.Sc., Lecturer in Moral Philosophy, and Assistant 
 to the Professor of Moral Philosophy, in the University of Edinburgh. Crown 
 Svo, 4s. 6d. net. 
 
 DOUGLAS. Chinese Stories. By ROBERT K. DOUGLAS. With 
 
 numerous Illustrations by Parkinson, Forestier, and others. New and Cheaper 
 Edition. Small demy Svo, 5s. 
 
 DU CANE. The Odyssey of Homer, Books I.-XII. Translated 
 
 into English Verse. By Sir CHARLES Du CANE, K.C.M.G. Svo, 10s. 6d. 
 
 DUDGEON. History of the Edinburgh or Queen's Regiment 
 
 Light Infantry Militia, now 3rd Battalion The Royal Scots ; with an Account of 
 the Origin and Progress of the Militia, and a Brief Sketch of the Old Royal 
 Scots. By Major R. C. DUDGEON, Adjutant 3rd Battalion the Royal Scots. 
 Post Svo, with Illustrations, 10s. 6d. 
 
William Blackwood and Sons. 1 1 
 
 DUNCAN". Manual of the General Acts of Parliament relating 
 
 to the Salmon Fisheries of Scotland from 1828 to 1882. By J. BARKER DUNCAN. 
 Crown 8vo, 5s. 
 
 DUNSMORE. Manual of the Law of Scotland as to the Rela- 
 tions between Agricultural Tenants and the Landlords, Servants, Merchants, and 
 Bowers. By W. DUNSMORE. 8vo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 ELIOT. 
 
 George Eliot's Life, Related in Her Letters and Journals. 
 
 Arranged and Edited by her husband, J. W. CROSS. With Portrait and other 
 Illustrations. Third Edition. 3 vols. post 8vo, 42s. 
 
 George Eliot's Life. (Cabinet Edition.) With Portrait and 
 
 other Illustrations. 3 vols. crown 8vo, 15s. 
 
 George Eliot's Life. With Portrait and other Illustrations. 
 
 New Edition, in one volume. Crown 8vo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 Works of George Eliot (Standard Edition). 21 volumes, 
 
 crown 8vo. In buckram cloth, gilt top, 2s. 6d. per vol.; or in Roxburghe 
 binding, 3s. 6d. per vol. 
 
 The following is the order of publication : 
 
 ADAM BEDE. 2 vols. [Vol. I. Ready. 
 
 THE MILL ON THE FLOSS. 
 
 FELIX HOLT, the Radical. 
 
 ROMOLA. 2 vols. 
 
 SCENES OF CLERICAL LIFE. 2 vols. 
 
 DANIEL DERONDA. 3 vols. 
 
 SILAS MARNER, and JUBAL. 2 vols. 
 
 THE SPANISH GIPSY, and THEOPHRASTUS 
 
 SUCH. 2 vols. 
 ESSAYS. 1 vol. 
 
 MlDDLEMARCH. 3 VOlS. 
 
 Works of George Eliot (Cabinet Edition). 21 volumes, 
 
 crown 8vo, price 5, 5s. Also to be had handsomely bound in half and full calf. 
 The Volumes are sold separately, bound in cloth, price 5s. each. 
 
 Novels by George Eliot. Cheap Edition. 
 
 Adam Bede. Illustrated. 3s. 6d., cloth. The Mill on the Floss. Illus- 
 trated. 3s. 6d., cloth. Scenes of Clerical Life. Illustrated. 3s., cloth. 
 Silas Marner: the Weaver of Raveloe. Illustrated. 2s. 6d., cloth. Felix 
 Holt, the Radical. Illustrated. 3s. 6d., cloth. Romola. With Vignette. 
 3s. 6d., cloth. 
 
 Middlemarch. Crown 8vo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 Daniel Deronda. Crown 8vo, Vs. 6d. 
 
 Essays. New Edition. Crown 8vo, 5s. 
 
 Impressions of Theophrastus Such. New Edition. Crown 
 
 8vo, 5s. 
 
 The Spanish Gypsy. New Edition. Crown 8vo, 5s. 
 
 The Legend of Jubal, and other Poems, Old and New. 
 
 New Edition. Crown 8vo, 5s. 
 
 Wise, Witty, and Tender Sayings, in Prose and Verse. Selected 
 
 from the Works of GEORGE ELIOT. New Edition. Fcap. 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 The George Eliot Birthday Book. Printed on fine paper, 
 
 with red border, and handsomely bound in cloth, gilt. Fcap. 8vo, 3s. 6d. And 
 in French morocco or Russia, 5s. 
 
 ESSAYS ON SOCIAL SUBJECTS. Originally published in 
 
 the 'Saturday Review.' New Edition. First and Second Series. 2 vols. crown 
 8vo, 6s. each. 
 
 FAITHS OF THE WORLD, The. A Concise History of the 
 
 Great Religious Systems of the World. By various Authors. Crown 8vo, 5s. 
 
 FARRER. A Tour in Greece in 1880. By RICHARD RIDLEY 
 
 FARRER. With Twenty -seven full-page Illustrations by Lord WINDSOR. Royal 
 8vo, with a Map, 21s. 
 
12 List of Books Published by 
 
 FERRIER. 
 
 Philosophical Works of the late James F. Ferrier, B.A. 
 
 Oxon., Professor of Moral Philosophy and Political Economy, St Andrews. 
 New Edition. Edited by Sir ALEXANDER GRANT, Bart., D.C.L., and Professor 
 LUSHINGTON. 3 vols. crown 8vo, 34s. 6d. 
 
 Institutes of Metaphysic. Third Edition. 10s. 6d. 
 
 Lectures on the Early Greek Philosophy. 4th Edition. 10s. 6d. 
 
 Philosophical Remains, including the Lectures on Early 
 
 Greek Philosophy. New Edition. 2 vols. 24s. 
 
 FITZROY. Dogma and the Church of England. By A. I. 
 
 FiTzRoY. Post 8vo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 FLINT. 
 
 Historical Philosophy in France and French Belgium and 
 
 Switzerland. By ROBERT FLINT, Corresponding Member of the Institute of 
 France, Hon. Member of the Royal Society of Palermo, Professor in the Univer- 
 sity of Edinburgh, &c. 8vo, 21s. 
 
 Agnosticism. Being the Croall Lecture for 1887-88. 
 
 [In (he press. 
 
 Theism. Being the Baird Lecture for 1876. Eighth Edition, 
 
 Revised. Crown 8vo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 Anti-Theistic Theories. Being the Baird Lecture for 1877. 
 
 Fifth Edition. Crown 8vo, 10s. 6d. 
 
 FOREIGN CLASSICS FOR ENGLISH READERS. Edited 
 
 by Mrs OLIPHANT. Price 2s. 6d. For List of Volumes, see page 2. 
 
 FOSTER. The Fallen City, and other Poems. By WILL FOSTER. 
 
 Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 FRANCILLON. Gods and Heroes ; or, The Kingdom of Jupiter. 
 
 By R. E. FRANCILLON. With 8 Illustrations. Crown 8vo, 5s. 
 
 FULLARTON. 
 
 Merlin : A Dramatic Poem. By RALPH MACLEOD FULLAR- 
 TON. Crown 8vo, 5s. 
 Tanhauser. Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 Lallan Sangs and German Lyrics. Crown 8vo, 5s. 
 
 GALT. 
 
 Novels by JOHN GALT. With General Introduction and 
 
 Prefatory Notes by S. R. CROCKETT. The Text Revised and Edited by D. 
 STORRAR MELDRUM, Author of 'The Story of Margredel.' With Photogravure 
 Illustrations from Drawings by John Wallace. Fcap. Svo, 3s. net each vol. 
 
 Annals of the Parish, and The Ayrshire Legatees. 2 vols. 
 
 Sir Andrew Wylie. 2 VOls. [Immediately. 
 
 The Provost, and The Last of the Lairds. 2 vols. [in the press. 
 
 The Entail. 2 vols. [In the press. 
 
 See also STANDARD NOVELS, p. 6. 
 
 GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 
 
 Scottish Hymnal, With Appendix Incorporated. Published 
 
 for use in Churches by Authority of the General Assembly. 1. Large type, 
 cloth, red edges, 2s. 6d.; French morocco, 4s. 2. Bourgeois type, limp cloth, Is.; 
 French morocco, 2s. 3. Nonpareil type, cloth, red edges, 6d. ; French morocco, 
 Is. 4d. 4. Paper covers, 3d. 5. Sunday -School Edition, paper covers, Id., 
 cloth, 2d. No. 1, bound with the Psalms and Paraphrases, French morocco, 8s. 
 No. 2, bound with the Psalms and Paraphrases, cloth, 2s.; French morocco, 3s. 
 
William Blackwood and Sons. 13 
 
 GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 
 Prayers for Social and Family Worship. Prepared by a 
 
 Special Committee of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Entirely 
 New Edition, Revised and Enlarged. Fcap. Svo, red edges, 2s. 
 
 Prayers for Family Worship. A Selection of Four Weeks' 
 
 Prayers. New Edition. Authorised by the General Assembly of the Church of 
 Scotland Fcap. Svo, red edges, Is. 6d. 
 
 One Hundred Prayers. Prepared by a Committee of the Gen- 
 eral Assembly of the Church of Scotland. 16mo, cloth limp, 6d. 
 
 GERARD. 
 
 Reata : What's in a Name. By E. D. GERARD. Cheap 
 
 Edition. Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Beggar my Neighbour. Cheap Edition. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 The Waters of Hercules. Cheap Edition. Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 A Sensitive Plant. Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 GERARD. 
 
 The Land beyond the Forest. Facts, Figures, and Fancies 
 
 from Transylvania. By E. GERARD. With Maps and Illustrations. 2 vols. post 
 Svo, 25s. 
 
 Bis : Some Tales Retold. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 A Secret Mission. 2 vols. crown Svo, 17s. 
 GERARD. 
 
 Lady Baby. By DOROTHEA GERARD. Cheap Edition. Crown 
 
 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Recha. Second Edition. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 The Rich Miss Riddell. Second Edition. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 GERARD. Stonyhurst Latin Grammar. By Rev. JOHN GERARD. 
 
 Second Edition. Fcap. Svo, 3s. 
 
 GILL. 
 
 Free Trade : an Inquiry into the Nature of its Operation. 
 
 By RICHARD GILL. Crown 8vo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 Free Trade under Protection. Crown Svo, 7s. 6d. 
 GOETHE. Poems and Ballads of Goethe. Translated by Pro- 
 fessor AYTOUN and Sir THEODORE MARTIN, K.C.B. Third Edition. Fcap. Svo, 6s. 
 
 GOETHE'S FAUST. Translated into English Verse by Sir 
 
 THEODORE MARTIN, K.C.B. Part I. Second Edition, crown Svo, 6s. Ninth Edi- 
 tion, fcap., 3s. 6d. Part II. Second Edition, Revised. Fcap. Svo, 6s. 
 
 GORDON GUMMING. 
 
 At Home in Fiji. By C. F. GORDON GUMMING. Fourth 
 
 Edition, post Svo. With Illustrations and Map. 7s. 6d. 
 
 A Lady's Cruise in a French Man-of-War. New and Cheaper 
 
 Edition. Svo. With Illustrations and Map. 12s. 6d. 
 
 Fire-Fountains. The Kingdom of Hawaii : Its Volcanoes, 
 
 and the History of its Missions. With Map and Illustrations. 2 vols. Svo, 25s. 
 
 Wanderings in China. New and Cheaper Edition. Svo, with 
 
 Illustrations, 10s. 
 
 Granite Crags : The Yo-semite Region of California. Illus- 
 trated with 8 Engravings. New and Cheaper Edition. Svo, 8s. 6d. 
 
 GRAHAM. Manual of the Elections (Scot.) (Corrupt and Illegal 
 
 Practices) Act, 1890. With Analysis, Relative Act of Sederunt, Appendix con- 
 taining the Corrupt Practices Acts of 1883 and 1885, and Copious Index. By J. 
 EDWARD GRAHAM, Advocate. Svo, 4s. 6d. 
 
 GRAND. 
 
 A Domestic Experiment. By SARAH GRAND, Author of 
 
 1 The Heavenly Twins,' ' Ideala : A Study from Life.' Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 Singularly Deluded. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
14 List of Books Published by 
 
 GKANT. Bush-Life in Queensland. By A. C. GRANT. New 
 
 Edition. Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 GKANT. Life of Sir Hope Grant. With Selections from his 
 
 Correspondence. Edited by HENRY KNOLLYS, Colonel (H.P.) Royal Artillery, 
 his former A.D.C., Editor of ' Incidents in the Sepoy War ; ' Author of ' Sketches 
 of Life in Japan,' &c. With Portraits of Sir Hope Grant and other Illus- 
 trations. Maps and Plans. 2 vols. demy 8vo, 21s. 
 
 GRIER. In Furthest Ind. The Narrative of Mr EDWARD CAR- 
 
 LYON of Ellswether, in the County of Northampton, and late of the Honourable 
 East India Company's Service, Gentleman. Wrote by his own hand in the year 
 of grace 1697. Edited, with a few Explanatory Notes, by SYDNEY C. GRIER. 
 Post 8vo, 6s. 
 
 GUTHRIE- SMITH. Crispus : A Drama. By H. GUTHRIE- 
 
 SMITH. Fcap. 4to, 5s. 
 
 HALDANE. Subtropical Cultivations and Climates. A Handy 
 
 Book for Planters, Colonists, and Settlers. By R. C. HALDANE. Post 8vo, 9s. 
 
 HAMERTON. 
 
 Wenderholme : A Story of Lancashire and Yorkshire Life. 
 
 By P. G. HAMERTON, Author of 'A Painter's Camp.' New Edition. Crown 
 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Marmorne. New Edition. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 HAMILTON. 
 
 Lectures on Metaphysics. By Sir WILLIAM HAMILTON, 
 
 Bart., Professor of Logic and Metaphysics in the University of Edinburgh. 
 Edited by the Rev. H. L. MANSEL, B.D., LL.D., Dean of St Paul's ; and JOHN 
 VEITCH, M.A., LL.D., Professor of Logic and Rhetoric, Glasgow. Seventh 
 Edition. 2 vols. 8vo, 24s. 
 
 Lectures on Logic. Edited by the SAME. Third Edition, 
 
 Revised. 2 vols., 24s. 
 
 Discussions on Philosophy and Literature, Education and 
 
 University Reform. Third Edition. 8vo, 21s. 
 
 Memoir of Sir William Hamilton, Bart., Professor of Logic 
 
 and Metaphysics in the University of Edinburgh. By Professor VEITCH, of the 
 University of Glasgow. 8vo, with Portrait, 18s. 
 
 Sir William Hamilton : The Man and his Philosophy. Two 
 
 Lectures delivered before the Edinburgh Philosophical Institution, January and 
 February 1883. By Professor VEITCH. Crown 8vo, 2s. 
 
 HAMLEY. 
 
 The Life of General Sir Edward Bruce Hamley, K.C.B., 
 
 K.C.M.G. By ALEXANDER INNES SHAND. With two Photogravure Portraits and 
 other Illustrations. 2 vols. demy Svo, 21s. 
 
 The Operations of War Explained and Illustrated. By 
 
 General Sir EDWARD BRUCE HAMLEY, K.C.B., K.C.M.G. Fifth Edition, Revised 
 throughout. 4to, with numerous Illustrations, 30s. 
 
 National Defence ; Articles and Speeches. Post Svo, 6s. 
 Shakespeare's Funeral, and other Papers. Post Svo, 7s. 6d. 
 Thomas Carlyle : An Essay. Second Edition. Crown Svo, 
 
 2s. 6d. 
 
 On Outposts. Second Edition. Svo, 2s. 
 
 Wellington's Career ; A Military and Political Summary. 
 
 Crown 8vo, 2s. 
 
 Lady Lee's Widowhood. New Edition. Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Cheaper Edition, 2s. 6d. 
 
 Our Poor Relations. A Philozoic Essay. With Illustrations, 
 
 chiefly by Ernest Griset. Crown Svo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d. 
 
William Blackwood and Sons. 
 
 HARRADEN. In Varying Moods : Short Stories. By BEATRICE 
 
 HARRADEN, Author of 'Ships that Pass in the Night.' Eleventh Edition. 
 Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 HAERIS. 
 
 Danovitch, and other Stories. By WALTER B. HARRIS, 
 
 F.R.G.S., Author of The Land of an African Sultan; Travels in Morocco,' &c. 
 Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 A Journey through the Yemen, and some General Remarks 
 
 upon that Country. With 3 Maps and numerous Illustrations by Forestier and 
 Wallace from Sketches and Photographs taken by the Author. Demy 8vo, 16s. 
 
 HAWKER. The Prose Works of Rev. R. S. HAWKER, Vicar of 
 
 Morwenstpw. Including ' Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall.' Re- 
 edited, with Sketches never before published. With a Frontispiece. Crown 
 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 HAY. The Works of the Right Rev. Dr George Hay, Bishop of 
 
 Edinburgh. Edited under the Supervision of the Right Rev. Bishop STRAIN. 
 With Memoir and Portrait of the Author. 5 vols. crown 8vo, bound in extra 
 cloth, 1, Is. The following Volumes may be had separately viz. : 
 
 The Devout Christian Instructed in the Law of Christ from the Written 
 
 Word. 2 vols., 8s. The Pious Christian Instructed in the Nature and Practice 
 
 of the Principal Exercises of Piety. 1 vol., 3s. 
 
 HEATLEY. 
 
 The Horse-Owner's Safeguard. A Handy Medical Guide for 
 
 every Man who owns a Horse. By G. S. HEATLEY, M.R.C.V.S. Crown 8vo, 5s. 
 
 The Stock-Owner's Guide. A Handy Medical Treatise for 
 
 every Man who owns an Ox or a Cow. Crown 8vo, 4s. 6d. 
 
 HEDDERWICK. Lays of Middle Age ; and other Poems. By 
 
 JAMES HEDDERWICK, LL.D., Author of 'Backward Glances.' Price 3s. 6d. 
 
 HEMANS. 
 
 The Poetical Works of Mrs Hemans. Copyright Editions. 
 
 Royal 8vo, 5s. The Same with Engravings, cloth, gilt edges, 7s. 6d. 
 
 Select Poems of Mrs Hemans. Fcap., cloth, gilt edges, 3s. 
 HERKLESS. Cardinal Beaton: Priest and Politician. By 
 
 JOHN HERKLESS, Professor of Church History, St Andrews. With a Portrait. 
 Post 8vo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 HEWISON. The Isle of Bute in the Olden Time. With Illus- 
 
 trations, Maps, and Plans. By JAMES KING HEWISON, M.A., F.S.A. (Scot.), 
 Minister of Rothesay. Vol. I., Celtic Saints and Heroes. Crown 4to, 15s. net. 
 Vol. II., The Royal Stewards and the Brandanes. Crown 4to, 15s. net. 
 
 HOME PRAYERS. By Ministers of the Church of Scotland 
 
 and Members of the Church Service Society. Second Edition. Fcap..8vo, 3s. 
 
 HOMER. 
 
 The Odyssey. Translated into English Verse in the Spen- 
 serian Stanza. By PHILIP STANHOPE WORSLEY. New and Cheaper Edition. 
 Post Svo, 7s. 6d. net. 
 
 The Iliad. Translated by P. S. WORSLEY and Professor CON- 
 
 INQTON. 2 vols. crown Svo, 21s. 
 
 HUTCHINSON. Hints on the Game of Golf. By HORACE G. 
 
 HUTCHINSON. Eighth Edition, Enlarged. Fcap. Svo, cloth, Is. 
 
 HYSLOP. The Elements of Ethics. By JAMES H. HYSLOP, 
 
 Ph.D., Instructor in Ethics, Columbia College, New York, Author of 'The 
 Elements of Logic.' Post Svo, 7s. 6d. net. 
 
 IDDESLEIGH. 
 
 Lectures and Essays. By the late EARL of IDDESLEIGH, 
 
 G.C.B., D.C.L., &c. Svo, 16s. 
 
 Life, Letters, and Diaries of Sir Stafford Northcote, First 
 
 Earl of Iddesleigh. By ANDREW LANG. With Three Portraits and a View of 
 Pynes. Third Edition. 2 vols. post Svo, 31s. 6d. 
 
 POPULAR EDITION. With Portrait and View of Pynes. Post Svo, 7s. 6d. 
 
1 6 List of Books Published by 
 
 INDEX GEOGRAPHICUS : Being a List, alphabetically ar- 
 
 ranged, of the Principal Places on the Globe, with the Countries and Subdivisions 
 of the Countries in which they are situated, and their Latitudes and Longitudes. 
 Imperial 8vo, pp. 676, 21s. 
 
 JEAN JAMBON. Our Trip to Blunderland ; or, Grand Ex- 
 cursion to Blunder-town and Back. By JEAN JAMBON. With Sixty Illustrations 
 designed by CHARLES DOYLE, engraved by DALZIEL. Fourth Thousand. Cloth, 
 gUt edges, 6s. 6d. Cheap Edition, cloth, 3s. 6d. Boards, 2s. 6d. 
 
 JEBB. A Strange Career. The Life and Adventures of JOHN 
 
 GLADWYN JEBB. By his Widow. With an Introduction by H. RIDER HAGGARD, 
 and an Electrogravure Portrait of Mr Jebb. Third Edition. Small demy Svo, 
 10s. 6d. 
 
 JENNINGS. Mr Gladstone : A Study. By Louis J. JENNINGS, 
 
 M.P., Author of 'Republican Government in the United States,' 'The Croker 
 Memoirs,' &c. Popular Edition. Crown 8vo, Is. 
 
 JERNINGHAM. 
 
 Reminiscences of an Attache'. By HUBERT E. H. JERNINGHAM. 
 
 Second Edition. Crown Svo, 5s. 
 
 Diane de Breteuille. A Love Story. Crown Svo, 2s. 6d. 
 
 JOHNSTON. 
 
 The Chemistry of Common Life. By Professor J. F. W. 
 
 JOHNSTON. New Edition, Revised. By ARTHUR HERBERT CHURCH, M.A. Oxon.; 
 Author of ' Food : its Sources, Constituents, and Uses,' &c. With Maps and 102 
 Engravings. Crown Svo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 Elements of Agricultural Chemistry. An entirely New 
 
 Edition from the Edition by Sir CHARLES A. CAMERON, M.D., F.R.C.S.I., &c. 
 Revised and brought down to date by C. M. AIKMAN, M.A., B.Sc., F.R.S.E., 
 Professor of Chemistry, Glasgow Veterinary College. Crown Svo, 6s. 6d. 
 
 Catechism of Agricultural Chemistry. An entirely New 
 
 Edition from the Edition by Sir CHARLES A. CAMERON. Revised and Enlarged 
 by C. M. AIKMAN, M.A., &c. 92d Thousand. With numerous Illustrations. 
 Crown Svo, Is. 
 
 JOHNSTON. Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Acts, 1883 and 
 
 1889 ; and the Ground Game Act, 1880. With Notes, and Summary of Procedure, 
 &c. By CHRISTOPHER N. JOHNSTON, M.A., Advocate. Demy Svo, 5s. 
 
 JOKAI. Timar's Two Worlds. By MAURUS JOKAI. Authorised 
 
 Translation by Mrs HEGAN KENNARD. Cheap Edition. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 KEBBEL. The Old and the New : English Country Life. By 
 
 T. E. KEBBEL, M.A., Author of 'The Agricultural Labourers,' 'Essays in History 
 and Politics,' ' Life of Lord Beaconsfield.' Crown Svo, 5s. 
 
 KING. The Metamorphoses of Ovid. Translated in English 
 
 Blank Verse. By HENRY KING, M. A., Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford, and of 
 the Inner Temple, Barrister-at-Law. Crown Svo, 10s. 6d. 
 
 KINGLAKE. 
 
 History of the Invasion of the Crimea. By A. W. KINGLAKE. 
 
 Cabinet Edition, Revised. With an Index to the Complete Work. Illustrated 
 with Maps and Plans. Complete in 9 vols., crown Svo, at 6s. each. 
 
 History of the Invasion of the Crimea. Demy 8vo. Vol. VI. 
 
 Winter Troubles. With a Map, 16s. Vols. VII. and VIII. From the Morrow of 
 Inker-man to the Death of Lord Raglan. With an Index to the Whole Work. 
 With Maps and Plans. 28s. 
 
 Eothen. A New Edition, uniform with the Cabinet Edition 
 
 of the ' History of the Invasion of the Crimea.' 6s. 
 
 KLEIN. Among the Gods. Scenes of India, with Legends by 
 
 the Way. By AUGUSTA KLEIN. With 22 Full-page Illustrations Demy Svo, 15s. 
 
William Blackwood and Sons. 17 
 
 KNEIPP. My Water -Cure. As Tested through more than 
 
 Thirty Years, and Described for the Healing of Diseases and the Preservation of 
 Health. BY'SEBASTIAN KNEIPP, Parish Priest of Worishofen (Bavaria). With a 
 Portrait and other Illustrations. Authorised English Translation from the 
 Thirtieth German Edition, by A. de F. Cheap Edition. With an Appendix, con- 
 taining the Latest Developments of Pfarrer Kneipp's System, and a Preface by 
 E. Gerard. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 KNOLLYS. The Elements of Field-Artillery. Designed for 
 
 the Use of Infantry and Cavalry Officers. By HENRY KNOLLYS, Colonel Royal 
 Artillery ; Author of ' From Sedan to Saarbriick,' Editor of ' Incidents in the 
 Sepoy War,' &c. With Engravings. Crown 8vo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 LAMINGTON. In the Days of the Dandies. By the late Lord 
 
 LAMINGTON. Crown Svo. Illustrated cover, Is. ; cloth, Is. 6d. 
 
 LANG. Life, Letters, and Diaries of Sir Stafford Northcote, 
 
 First Earl of Iddesleigh. By ANDREW LANG. With Three Portraits and a View 
 of Pynes. Third Edition. 2 vols. post Svo, 31s. 6d. 
 
 POPULAR EDITION. With Portrait and View of Pynes. Post Svo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 LAWLESS. Hurrish : A Study. By the Hon. EMILY LAWLESS, 
 
 Author of ' A Chelsea Householder,' &c. Fourth Edition. Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 LEES. A Handbook of the Sheriff and Justice of Peace Small 
 
 Debt Courts. With Notes, References, and Forms. By J. M. LEES, Advocate, 
 Sheriff of Stirling, Dumbarton, and Clackmannan. Svo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 LINDSAY. The Progressiveness of Modern Christian Thought. 
 
 By the Rev. JAMES LINDSAY, M.A., B.D., B.Sc., F.R.S.E., F.G.S., Minister of 
 the Parish of St Andrew's, Kilmarnock. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 LOCKHART. 
 
 Doubles and Quits. By LAURENCE W. M. LOCKHART. New 
 
 Edition. Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Fair to See. New Edition. Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 Mine is Thine. New Edition. Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 LOCKHART. 
 
 The Church of Scotland in the Thirteenth Century. The 
 
 Life and Times of David de Bernham of St Andrews (Bishop), A.D. 1239 to 1253. 
 With List of Churches dedicated by him, and Dates. By WILLIAM LOCKHART, 
 A.M., D.D., F.S.A. Scot., Minister of Colinton Parish. 2d Edition. Svo, 6s. 
 
 Dies Tristes : Sermons for Seasons of Sorrow. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 LORIMER. 
 
 The Institutes of Law : A Treatise of the Principles of Juris- 
 prudence as determined by Nature. By the late JAMES LORIMER, Professor of 
 Public Law and of the Law of Nature and Nations in the University of Edin- 
 burgh. New Edition, Revised and much Enlarged. Svo, 18s. 
 
 The Institutes of the Law of Nations. A Treatise of the 
 
 Jural Relation of Separate Political Communities. In 2 vols. Svo. Volume I., 
 price 16s. Volume II., price 20s. 
 
 LOVE. Scottish Church Music. Its Composers and Sources. 
 
 With Musical Illustrations. By JAMES LOVE. Post Svo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 LUGARD. The Rise of our East African Empire : Early Efforts 
 
 in Uganda and Nyasaland. By F. D. LUGARD, Captain Norfolk Regiment. 
 With 130 Illustrations from Drawings and Photographs under the personal 
 superintendence of the Author, and 14 specially prepared Maps. In 2 vols. large 
 demy Svo, 42s. 
 
 M'CHESNEY. Kathleen Clare : Her Book, 1637-41. Edited by 
 
 DORA GREENWELL M'CHESNEY. With Frontispiece. In 1 vol. crown Svo. 
 
 [In the Press. 
 
 M'COMBIE. Cattle and Cattle-Breeders. By WILLIAM M'CoMBiE, 
 
 Tillyfour. New Edition, Enlarged, with Memoir of the Author by JAMES 
 MACDONALD, F.R.S.E., Secretary Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland. 
 Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 
1 8 List of Books Published by 
 
 M'CKIE. 
 
 Works of the Rev. Thomas M'Crie, D.D. Uniform Edition. 
 
 4 vols. crown 8vo, 24s. 
 
 Life of John Knox. Crown 8vo, 6s. Another Edition, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Life of Andrew Melville. Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 History of the Progress and Suppression of the Reformation 
 
 in Italy in the Sixteenth Century. Crown 8vo, 4s. 
 
 History of the Progress and Suppression of the Reformation 
 
 in Spain in the Sixteenth Century. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 M'CRIE. The Public Worship of Presbyterian Scotland. Histori- 
 cally treated. With copious Notes, Appendices, and Index. The Fourteenth 
 Series of the Cunningham Lectures. By the Rev. CHARLES G. M'CRIE, D.D. 
 Demy 8vo, 10s. 6d. 
 
 MACDONALD. A Manual of the Criminal Law (Scotland) Pro- 
 
 cedure Act, 1887. By NORMAN DORAN MACDONALD. Revised by the LORD 
 JUSTICE-CLERK. 8vo, 10s. 6d. 
 
 MACDONALD. 
 
 Stephens' Book of the Farm. Fourth Edition. Revised and 
 
 in great part Rewritten by JAMES MACDONALD, F.R.S.E., Secretary, Highland 
 and Agricultural Society of Scotland. Complete in 3 vols., bound with leather 
 back, gilt top, 3, 3s. In Six Divisional Vols., bound in cloth, each 10s. 6d. 
 
 Stephens' Catechism of Practical Agriculture. New Edition. 
 
 Revised by JAMES MACDONALD. With numerous Illustrations. Crown 8vo, Is. 
 
 Pringle's Live Stock of the Farm. Third Edition. Revised 
 
 and Edited by JAMES MACDONALD. Crown 8vo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 M'Combie's Cattle and Cattle - Breeders. New Edition, 
 
 Enlarged, with Memoir of the Author by JAMES MACDONALD. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 History of Polled Aberdeen and Angus Cattle. Giving an 
 
 Account of the Origin, Improvement, and Characteristics of the Breed. By JAMES 
 MACDONALD and JAMES SINCLAIR. Illustrated with numerous Animal Portraits. 
 Post 8vo, 12s. 6d. 
 
 MACDOUGALL AND DODDS. A Manual of the Local Govern- 
 ment (Scotland) Act, 1894. With Introduction, Explanatory Notes, and Copious 
 Index. By J. PATTEN MACDOUGALL, Legal Secretary to the Lord Advocate, and 
 J. M. DODDS. Tenth Thousand, Revised. Crown 8vo, 2s. 6d. net. 
 
 MACINTYRE. Hindu - Koh : Wanderings and Wild Sports on 
 
 and beyond the Himalayas. By Major-General DONALD MACINTYRE, V.C., late 
 Prince of Wales' Own Goorkhas, F.R.G.S. Dedicated to H.R.H. The Prince of 
 Wales. New and Cheaper Edition, Revised, with numerous Illustrations. Post 
 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 MACKAY. A Sketch of the History of Fife and Kinross. A 
 
 Study of Scottish History and Character. By M. J. G. MACKAY, Sheriff of these 
 Counties. Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 MACKAY. 
 
 A Manual of Modern Geography ; Mathematical, Physical, 
 
 and Political. By the Rev. ALEXANDER MACKAY, LL.D., F.R.G.S. llth 
 Thousand, Revised to the present time. Crown 8vo, pp. 688, 7s. 6d. 
 
 Elements of Modern Geography. 55th Thousand, Revised to 
 
 the present time. Crown 8vo, pp. 300, 3s. 
 
 The Intermediate Geography. Intended as an Intermediate 
 
 Book between the Author's 'Outlines of Geography' and 'Elements of Geo- 
 graphy.' Seventeenth Edition, Revised. Crown 8vo, pp. 238, 2s. 
 
 Outlines of Modern Geography. 191st Thousand, Revised to 
 
 the present time. 18mo, pp. 128, Is. 
 
 First Steps in Geography. 105th Thousand. 18mo, pp. 56. 
 
 Sewed, 4d. ; cloth, 6d. 
 Elements of Physiography and Physical Geography. New 
 
 Edition. Rewritten and Enlarged. With numerous Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 
 
 [In the press. 
 
William Blackwood and Sons. 19 
 
 MACKENZIE. Studies in Eoman Law. With Comparative 
 
 Views of the Laws of France, England, and Scotland. By Lord MACKENZIE, 
 one of the Judges of the Court of Session in Scotland. Sixth Edition, Edited 
 by JOHN KIRKPATRICK, M.A., LL.B., Advocate, Professor of History in the 
 University of Edinburgh. 8vo, 12s. 
 
 MACPHERSON. Glimpses of Church and Social Life in the 
 
 Highlands in Olden Times. By ALEXANDER MACPHERSON, F.S.A. Scot. With 
 6 Photogravure Portraits and other full-page Illustrations. Small 4to, 25s. 
 
 MTHERSON. 
 
 Summer Sundays in a Strathmore Parish. By J. GORDON 
 
 M'PHERSON, Ph.D., F.R.S.E., Minister of Ruthven. Crown 8vo, 5s. 
 
 Golf and Golfers. Past and Present. With an Introduction 
 
 by the Right Hon. A. J. BALFOUR, and a Portrait of the Author. Fcap. 8vo. 
 Is. 6d. 
 
 MACRAE. A Handbook of Deer-Stalking. By ALEXANDER 
 
 MACRAE, late Forester to Lord Henry Bentinck. With Introduction by Horatio 
 Ross, Esq. Fcap. 8vo, with 2 Photographs from Life. 3s. 6d. 
 
 MAIN. Three Hundred English Sonnets. Chosen and Edited 
 
 by DAVID M. MAIN. Fcap. 8vo, 6s. 
 
 MAIR. A Digest of Laws and Decisions, Ecclesiastical and 
 
 Civil, relating to the Constitution, Practice, and Affairs of the Church of Scot- 
 land. With Notes and Forms of Procedure. By the Rev. WILLIAM MAIR, D.D., 
 Minister of the Parish of Earlston. Crown 8vo. [New Edition in preparation. 
 
 MARCHMONT AND THE HUMES OF POLWARTH. By 
 
 One of their Descendants. With numerous Portraits and other Illustrations. 
 Crown 4to, 21s. net. 
 
 MARSHALL. It Happened Yesterday. A Novel. By FREDERICK 
 
 MARSHALL, Author of 'Claire Brandon,' 'French Home Life.' Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 MARSHMAN. History of India. From the Earliest Period to 
 
 the present time. By JOHN CLARK MARSHMAN, C.S.I. Third and Cheaper 
 Edition. Post Svo, with Map, 6s. 
 
 MARTIN. 
 
 Goethe's Faust. Part I. Translated by Sir THEODORE MARTIN, 
 
 K.C.B. Second Edition, crown Svo, 6s. Ninth Edition, fcap. Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Goethe's Faust. Part II. Translated into English Verse. 
 
 Second Edition, Revised. Fcap. Svo, 6s. 
 
 The Works of Horace. Translated into English Verse, with 
 
 Life and Notes. 2 vols. New Edition. Crown Svo, 21s. 
 
 Poems and Ballads of Heinrich Heine. Done into English 
 
 Verse. Third Edition. Small crown Svo, 5s. 
 
 The Song of the Bell, and other Translations from Schiller, 
 
 Goethe, Uhland, and Others. Crown Svo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 Madonna Pia : A Tragedy : and Three Other Dramas. Crown 
 
 8vo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 Catullus. With Life and Notes. Second Edition, Revised 
 
 and Corrected. Post Svo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 The * Vita Nuova ' of Dante. Translated, with an Introduction 
 
 and Notes. Third Edition. Small crown Svo, 5s. 
 
 Aladdin: A Dramatic Poem. By ADAM OEHLENSCHLAEGER. 
 
 Fcap. Syo, 5s. 
 
 Correggio : A Tragedy. By OEHLENSCHLAEGER. With Notes. 
 
 Fcap. Svo, 3s. 
 
 MARTIN. On some of Shakespeare's Female Characters. By 
 
 HELENA FATJCIT, Lady MARTIN. Dedicated by permission to Her Most Gracious 
 Majesty the Queen. Fifth Edition. With a Portrait by Lehmann. Demy 
 Svo, 7s. 6d. 
 
2O List of Books Published by 
 
 MAR WICK. Observations on the Law and Practice in regard 
 
 to Municipal Elections and the Conduct of the Business of Town Councils and 
 Commissioners of Police in Scotland. By Sir JAMES D. HARWICH, LL.D., 
 Town-Clerk of Glasgow. Royal 8vo, 30s. 
 
 MATHESON. 
 
 Can the Old Faith Live with the New ? or, The Problem of 
 
 Evolution and Revelation. By the Rev. GEORGE MATHESON, D.D. Third Edi- 
 tion. Crown 8vo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 The Psalmist and the Scientist ; or, Modern Value of the Reli- 
 gious Sentiment. Third Edition. Crown Svo, 5s. 
 
 Spiritual Development of St Paul. Third Edition. Cr. 8vo, 5s. 
 The Distinctive Messages of the Old Religions. Second Edi- 
 tion. Crown 8vo, 5s. 
 
 Sacred Songs. New and Cheaper Edition. Crown 8vo, 2s. 6d. 
 MAURICE. The Balance of Military Power in Europe. An 
 
 Examination of the War Resources of Great Britain and the Continental States. 
 By Colonel MAURICE, R.A., Professor of Military Art and History at the Royal 
 Staff College. Crown 8vo, with a Map, 6s. 
 
 MAXWELL. 
 
 A Duke of Britain. A Romance of the Fourth Century. 
 
 By Sir HERBERT MAXWELL, Bart., M.P., F.S.A., &c., Author of 'Passages in 
 the Life of Sir Lucian Elphin.' Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 Life and Times of the Rt. Hon. William Henry Smith, M.P. 
 
 With Portraits and numerous Illustrations by Herbert Railton, G. L. Seymour, 
 and Others. 2 vols. demy Svo, 25s. 
 POPULAR EDITION. With a Portrait and other Illustrations. Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Scottish Land Names : Their Origin and Meaning. Being 
 
 the Rhind Lectures in Archaeology for 1893. Post Svo, 6s. 
 
 Meridiana : Noontide Essays. Post Svo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 MELDRUM. The Story of Margredel : Being a Fireside His- 
 tory of a Fifeshire Family. By D. STORRAR MELDRUM. Cheap Edition. Crown 
 8vo. 3s. 6d. 
 
 MICHEL. A Critical Inquiry into the Scottish Language. With 
 
 the view of Illustrating the Rise and Progress of Civilisation in Scotland. By 
 FRANCISQUE-MICHEL, F.S.A. Loud, and Scot., Correspondant de 1'Institut de 
 France, &c. 4to, printed on hand-made paper, and bound in roxburghe, 66s. 
 
 MICHIE. 
 
 The Larch : Being a Practical Treatise on its Culture and 
 
 General Management. By CHRISTOPHER Y. MICHIE, Forester, Cullen House. 
 Crown Svo, with Illustrations. New and Cheaper Edition, Enlarged, 5s. 
 
 The Practice of Forestry. Crown Svo, with Illustrations. 6s. 
 M1DDLETON. The Story of Alastair Bhan Comyn; or, The 
 
 Tragedy of Dunphail. A Tale of Tradition and Romance. By the Lady MIDDLE- 
 TON. Square Svo, 10s. Cheaper Edition, 5s. 
 
 MILLER. Landscape Geology. A Plea for the Study of Geology 
 
 by Landscape Painters. By HUGH MILLER, of H.M. Geological Survey. Crown 
 Svo, 3s. Cheap Edition, paper cover, Is. 
 
 MINTO. 
 
 A Manual of English Prose Literature, Biographical and 
 
 Critical: designed mainly to show Characteristics of Style. By W. MINTO, 
 M.A., Hon. LL.D. of St Andrews ; Professor of Logic in the University of Aber- 
 deen. Third Edition, Revised. Crown Svo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 Characteristics of English Poets, from Chaucer to Shirley. 
 
 New Edition, Revised. Crown Svo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 Plain Principles of Prose Composition. Crown Svo, Is. 6d. 
 The Literature of the Georgian Era. Edited, with a Bio- 
 graphical Introduction, by Professor KNIGHT, St Andrews. Post Svo, 6s. 
 
William Blackwood and Sons. 21 
 
 MOIR. Life of Mansie Wanch, Tailor in Dalkeith. By D. M. 
 
 MOIR. With 8 Illustrations on Steel, by the late GEORGE CRUIKSHANK. Crown 
 8vo, 3s. 6d. Another Edition, fcap. 8vo, Is. 6d. 
 
 MOLE. For the Sake of a Slandered Woman. By MARION 
 
 MOLE. Fcap. Svo, 2s. 6d. net. 
 
 MOMERIE. 
 
 Defects of Modern Christianity, and other Sermons. By 
 
 ALFRED WILLIAMS MOMERIE, M.A., D.Sc., LL.D. Fifth Edition. Crown 
 8vo, 5s. 
 
 The Basis of Religion. Being an Examination of Natural 
 
 Religion. Third Edition. Crown Svo, 2s. 6d. 
 
 The Origin of Evil, and other Sermons. Eighth Edition, 
 
 Enlarged. Crown Svo, 5s. 
 
 Personality. The Beginning and End of Metaphysics, and 
 
 a Necessary Assumption in all Positive Philosophy. Fifth Edition, Revised. 
 Crown Svo, 3s. 
 
 Agnosticism. Fourth Edition, Revised. Crown Svo, 5s. 
 Preaching and Hearing ; and other Sermons. Fourth Edition, 
 
 Enlarged. Crown Svo, 5s. 
 
 Belief in God. Third Edition. Crown Svo, 3s. ^ 
 
 Inspiration ; and other Sermons. Second Edition, Enlarged. 
 
 Crown Svo, 5s. 
 
 Church and Creed. Third Edition. Crown Svo, 4s. 6d. 
 
 The Future of Religion, and other Essays. Second Edition. 
 
 Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 MONTAGUE. Military Topography. Illustrated by Practical 
 
 Examples of a Practical Subject. By Major-General W. E. MONTAGUE, C.B., 
 P.S.C., late Garrison Instructor Intelligence Department, Author of ' Campaign- 
 ing in South Africa.' With Forty-one Diagrams. Crown Svo, 5s. 
 
 MONTALEMBERT. Memoir of Count de Montalembert. A 
 
 Chapter of Recent French History. By Mrs OLIPHANT, Author of the ' Life of 
 Edward Irving,' &c. 2 vols. crown Svo, 1, 4s. 
 
 MORISON. 
 
 Doorside Ditties. By JEANIE MORISON. With a Frontis- 
 piece. Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 ^Eolus. A Romance in Lyrics. Crown Svo, 3s. 
 There as Here. Crown Svo, 3s. 
 
 *** A limited impression on hand-made paper, "bound in vellum, 7s. 6d. 
 
 Selections from Poems. Crown Svo, 4s. 6d. 
 
 Sordello. An Outline Analysis of Mr Browning's Poem. 
 
 Crown Svo, 3s. 
 
 Of " Fifine at the Fair," " Christmas Eve and Easter Day," 
 
 and other of Mr Browning's Poems. Crown Svo, 3s. 
 
 The Purpose of the Ages. Crown Svo, 9s. 
 
 Gordon : An Our-day Idyll. Crown Svo, 3s. 
 
 Saint Isadora, and other Poems. Crown Svo, Is. 6d. 
 
 Snatches of Song. Paper, Is. 6d. ; Cloth, 3s. 
 
 Pontius Pilate. Paper, Is. 6d. ; Cloth, 3s. 
 
 Mill o' Forres. Crown Svo, Is. 
 
 Ane Booke of Ballades. Fcap. 4to, Is. 
 
22 List of Books Published by 
 
 MOZLEY. Essays from 'Blackwood.' By the late ANNE 
 
 MOZLEY, Author of ' Essays on Social Subjects ' ; Editor of ' The Letters and 
 Correspondence of Cardinal Newman,' 'Letters of the Rev. J. B. Mozley,' &c. 
 With a Memoir by her Sister, FANNY MOZLEY. Post 8vo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 MUNRO. On Valuation of Property. By WILLIAM MTJNKO, 
 
 M.A., Her Majesty's Assessor of Railways and Canals for Scotland. Second 
 Edition, Revised and Enlarged. 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 MURDOCH. Manual of the Law of Insolvency and Bankruptcy : 
 
 Comprehending a Summary of the Law of Insolvency, Notour Bankruptcy, 
 Composition - contracts, Trust - deeds, Cessios, and Sequestrations ; and the 
 Winding-up of Joint-Stock Companies in Scotland; with Annotations on the 
 various Insolvency and Bankruptcy Statutes ; and with Forms of Procedure 
 applicable to these Subjects. By JAMES MURDOCH, Member of the Faculty of 
 Procurators in Glasgow. Fifth Edition, Revised and Enlarged. 8vo, 12s. net. 
 
 MY TRIVIAL LIFE AND MISFORTUNE: A Gossip with 
 
 no Plot in Particular. By A PLAIN WOMAN. Cheap Edition. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 By the SAME AUTHOR. 
 POOR NELLIE. Cheap Edition. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 MY WEATHER-WISE COMPANION. Presented by B. T. 
 
 Fcap. 8vo, Is. net. 
 
 NAPIER. The Construction of the Wonderful Canon of Loga- 
 rithms. By JOHN NAPIER of Merchiston. Translated, with Notes, and a 
 Catalogue of Napier's Works, by WILLIAM RAE MACDONALD. Small 4to, 15s. 
 A few large-paper copies on Whatman paper, 30s. 
 
 NEAVES. 
 
 Songs and Verses, Social and Scientific. By An Old Con- 
 tributor to ' Maga.' By the Hon. Lord NEAVES. Fifth Edition. Fcap. 8vo, 4s. 
 
 The Greek Anthology. Being Vol. XX. of ' Ancient Classics 
 
 for English Readers.' Crown 8vo, 2s. 6d. 
 
 NICHOLSON. 
 
 A Manual of Zoology, for the use of Students. With a 
 
 General Introduction on the Principles of Zoology. By HENRY ALLEYNE 
 NICHOLSON, M.D. D.Sc., F.L.S., F.G.S., Regius Professor of Natural History in 
 the University of Aberdeen. Seventh Edition, Rewritten and Enlarged. Post 
 8vo, pp. 956, with 555 Engravings on Wood, 18s. 
 
 Text-Book of Zoology, for Junior Students. Fifth Edition, 
 
 Rewritten and Enlarged. Crown 8vo, with 358 Engravings on Wood, 10s. 6d. 
 
 Introductory Text-Book of Zoology, for the use of Junior 
 
 Classes. Sixth Edition, Revised and Enlarged, with 166 Engravings, 3s. 
 
 Outlines of Natural History, for Beginners : being Descrip- 
 tions of a Progressive Series of Zoological Types. Third Edition, with 
 Engravings, Is. 6d. 
 
 A Manual of Palaeontology, for the use of Students. With a 
 
 General Introduction on the Principles of Palaeontology. By Professor H. 
 ALLEYNE NICHOLSON and RICHARD LYDEKKER, B.A. Third Edition, entirely 
 Rewritten and greatly Enlarged. 2 vols. 8vo, 3, 3s. 
 
 The Ancient Life-History of the Earth. An Outline of the 
 
 Principles and Leading Facts of Palseontological Science. Crown 8vo, with 276 
 Engravings, 10s. 6d. 
 
 On the "Tabulate Corals" of the Palaeozoic Period, with 
 
 Critical Descriptions of Illustrative Species. Illustrated with 15 Lithographed 
 Plates and numerous Engravings. Super-royal 8vo, 21s. 
 
 Synopsis of the Classification of the Animal Kingdom. 8vo, 
 
 with 106 Illustrations, 6s. 
 
William Black wood and Sons. 
 
 NICHOLSON". 
 
 On the Structure and Affinities of the Genus Monticulipora 
 
 and its Sub-Genera, with Critical Descriptions of Illustrative Species. Illustrated 
 with numerous Engravings on Wood and Lithographed Plates. Super-royal 
 8vo, 18s. 
 
 NICHOLSON. 
 
 Thoth. A Komance. By JOSEPH SHIELD NICHOLSON, M.A M 
 
 D.Sc., Professor of Commercial and Political Economy and Mercantile Law in 
 the University of Edinburgh. Third Edition. Crown 8vo, 4s. 6d. 
 
 A Dreamer of Dreams. A Modern Romance. Second Edi- 
 tion. Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 NICOLSON AND MURE. A Handbook to the Local Govern- 
 ment (Scotland) Act, 1889. With Introduction, Explanatory Notes, and Index. 
 By J. BADENACH NICOLSON, Advocate, Counsel to the Scotch Education 
 Department, and W. J. MURE, Advocate, Legal Secretary to the Lord Advocate 
 for Scotland. Ninth Reprint. 8vo, 5s. 
 
 OLIPHANT. 
 
 Masollam : A Problem of the Period. A Novel. By LATJKENCE 
 
 OLIPHANT. 3 vols. post 8vo, 25s. 6d. 
 
 Scientific Religion; or, Higher Possibilities of Life and 
 
 Practice through the Operation of Natural Forces. Second Edition. 8vo, 16s. 
 
 Altiora Peto. Cheap Edition. Crown 8vo, boards, 2s. 6d. ; 
 
 cloth, 3s. 6d. Illustrated Edition. Crown 8vo, cloth, 6s. 
 
 Piccadilly. With Illustrations by Richard Doyle. New Edi- 
 tion, 3s. 6d. Cheap Edition, boards, 2s. 6d. 
 
 Traits and Travesties ; Social and Political. Post 8vo, 10s. 6d. 
 Episodes in a Life of Adventure ; or, Moss from a Rolling 
 
 Stone. Fifth Edition. Post 8vo, 6s. 
 
 Haifa: Life in Modern Palestine. Second Edition. 8vo, Vs. 6d. 
 The Land of Gilead. With Excursions in the Lebanon. 
 
 With Illustrations and Maps. Demy 8vo, 21s. . 
 
 Memoir of the Life of Laurence Oliphant, and of Alice 
 
 Oliphant, his Wife. By Mrs M. O. W. OLIPHANT. Seventh Edition. 2 vols. 
 post 8vo, with Portraits. 21s. 
 
 POPULAR EDITION. With a New Preface. Post 8vo, with Portraits. 7s. 6d. 
 
 OLIPHANT. 
 
 Who was Lost and is Found. By Mrs OLIPHANT. becond 
 
 Edition. Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 Miss Marjoribanks. New Edition. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 The Perpetual Curate, and The Rector. New Edition. Crown 
 
 Safim 3 Chapel, and The Doctor's Family. New Edition. 
 
 Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. . 
 
 Katie Stewart, and other Stories. New Edition. Crown 8vo, 
 
 cloth, 3s. 6d. , 
 
 Valentine and his Brother. New Edition. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Sons and Daughters. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Katie Stewart. Illustrated boards, 2s. 6d. 
 
 Two Stories of the Seen and the Unseen. The Open Door 
 
 Old Lady Mary. Paper covers, Is. 
 
 OLIPHANT. Notes of a Pilgrimage to Jerusalem and the Holy 
 
 Land. By F. R. OLIPHANT. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 OSWALD. By Fell and Fjord ; or, Scenes and Studies in Ice- 
 land. By E. J. OSWALD. Post 8vo, with Illustrations. 7s. 6d, 
 
24 List of Books Published by 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Introductory Text-Book of Geology. By DAVID PAGE, LL.D., 
 
 Professor of Geology in the Durham University of Physical Science, Newcastle, 
 and Professor LAPWORTH of Mason Science College, Birmingham. With Engrav- 
 ings and Glossarial Index. Twelfth Edition, Revised and Enlarged. 3s. 6d. 
 
 Advanced Text-Book of Geology, Descriptive and Industrial. 
 
 With Engravings, and Glossary of Scientific Terms. New Edition, by Professor 
 LAPWORTH. [In preparation. 
 
 Introductory Text-Book of Physical Geography. With Sketch- 
 
 Maps and Illustrations. Edited by Professor LAPWORTH, LL.D., F.G.S., &c., 
 Mason Science College, Birmingham. Thirteenth Edition, Revised and Enlarged. 
 2s. 6d. 
 
 Advanced Text-Book of Physical Geography. Third Edition. 
 
 Revised and Enlarged by Professor LAPWORTH. With Engravings. 5s. 
 
 PATON. 
 
 Spindrift. By Sir J. NOEL PATON. Fcap., cloth, 5s. 
 Poems by a Painter. Fcap., cloth, 5s. 
 
 PATON. Body and Soul. A Romance in Transcendental Path- 
 ology. By FREDERICK NOEL PATON. Third Edition. Crown 8vo, Is. 
 
 PATRICK. The Apology of Origen in Reply to Celsus. A 
 
 Chapter in the History of Apologetics. By the Rev. J. PATRICK, B.D. Post Svo, 
 
 PAUL. History of the Royal Company of Archers, the Queen's 
 
 Body-Guard for Scotland. By JAMES BALFOUR PAUL, Advocate of the Scottish 
 Bar. Crown 4to, with Portraits and other Illustrations. 2, 2s. 
 
 PEILE. Lawn Tennis as a Game of Skill. With latest revised 
 
 Laws as played by the Best Clubs. By Captain S. C. F. PEILE, B.S.C. Cheaper 
 Edition. Fcap., cloth, Is. 
 
 PETTIGREW. The Handy Book of Bees, and their Profitable 
 
 Management. By A. PETTIGREW. Fifth Edition, Enlarged, with Engravings. 
 Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 PFLEIDERER. Philosophy and Development of Religion. 
 
 Being the Edinburgh Gifford Lectures for 1894. By OTTO PFLEIDERER, D.D., 
 Professor of Theology at Berlin University. In 2 vols. post Svo, 15s. net. 
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL CLASSICS FOR ENGLISH READERS. 
 
 Edited by WILLIAM KNIGHT, LL.D., Professor of Moral Philosophy, University 
 of St Andrews. In crown Svo volumes, with Portraits, price 3s. 6d. 
 
 [For List of Volumes, see page 2. 
 
 POLLARD. A Study in Municipal Government : The Corpora- 
 tion of Berlin. By JAMES POLLARD, C.A., Chairman of the Edinburgh Public 
 Health Committee, and Secretary of the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce. 
 Second Edition, Revised. Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 POLLOK. The Course of Time : A Poem. By ROBERT POLLOK, 
 
 A.M. Cottage Edition, 32mo, Sd. The Same, cloth, gilt edges, Is. 6d. Another 
 Edition, with Illustrations by Birket Foster and others, fcap., cloth, 3s. 6d., or 
 with edges gilt, 4s. 
 
 PORT ROYAL LOGIC. Translated from the French ; with 
 
 Introduction, Notes, and Appendix. By THOMAS SPENCER BAYNES, LL.D., Pro- 
 fessor in the University of St Andrews. Tenth Edition, 12mo, 4s. 
 
 POTTS AND DARNELL. 
 
 Aditus Faciliores: An Easy Latin Construing Book, with 
 
 Complete Vocabulary. By A. W. POTTS, M.A., LL.D., and the Rev. C. DARNELL, 
 M. A., Head-Master of Cargilfield Preparatory School, Edinburgh. Tenth Edition, 
 fcap. Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 
William Blackwood and Sons. 25 
 
 POTTS AND DARNELL. 
 
 Aditus Faciliores Graeci. An Easy Greek Construing Book, 
 
 with Complete Vocabulary. Fifth Edition, Revised. Fcap. 8vo, 3s. 
 
 POTTS. School Sermons. By the late ALEXANDER WM. POTTS, 
 
 LL.D., First Head-Master of Fettes College. With a Memoir and Portrait. 
 Crown Svo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 PRINGLE. The Live -Stock of the Farm. By ROBERT O. 
 
 PRINGLE. Third Edition. Revised and Edited by JAMES MACDONALD. Crown 
 Svo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 PRYDE. Pleasant Memories of a Busy Life. By DAVID PRYDE, 
 
 M.A., LL.D., Author of ' Highways of Literature,' ' Great Men in European His- 
 tory,' ' Biographical Outlines of English Literature,' &c. With a Mezzotint Por- 
 trait. Post Svo, 6s. 
 
 PUBLIC GENERAL STATUTES AFFECTING SCOTLAND 
 
 from 1707 to 1847, with Chronological Table and Index. 3 vols. large Svo, 3, 3s. 
 
 PUBLIC GENERAL STATUTES AFFECTING SCOTLAND, 
 
 COLLECTION OF. Published Annually, with General Index. 
 
 RAE. The Syrian Church in India. By GEORGE MILNE RAE, 
 
 M.A., D.D., Fellow of the University of Madras; late Professor in the Madras 
 Christian College. With 6 full-page Illustrations. Post Svo, 10s. 6d. 
 
 RAMSAY. Scotland and Scotsmen in the Eighteenth Century. 
 
 Edited from the MSS. of JOHN RAMSAY, Esq. of Ochtertyre, by ALEXANDER 
 ALLARDYCE, Author of 'Memoir of Admiral Lord Keith, K.B.,' &c. 2 vols. 
 Svo, 31s. 6d. 
 
 RANKIN. The Zambesi Basin and Nyassaland. By DANIEL J. 
 
 RANKIN, F.R.S.G.S., M.R.A.S. With 3 Maps and 10 full-page Illustrations. 
 Post Svo, 10s. 6d. 
 
 RANKIN. 
 
 A Handbook of the Church of Scotland. By JAMES RANKIN, 
 
 D.D., Minister of Muthill ; Author of ' Character Studies in the Old Testament, 
 &c. An entirely New and much Enlarged Edition. Crown Svo, with 2 Maps, 
 
 7s. 6d. 
 
 The First Saints. Post Svo, Vs. 6d. 
 
 The Creed in Scotland. An Exposition of the Apostles' 
 
 Creed. With Extracts from Archbishop Hamilton's Catechism of 1552, John 
 Calvin's Catechism of 1556, and a Catena of Ancient Latin and other Hymns. 
 Post Svo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 The Worthy Communicant. A Guide to the Devout Obser- 
 vance of the Lord's Supper. Limp cloth, Is. 3d. 
 
 The Young Churchman. Lessons on the Creed, the Com- 
 mandments, the Means of Grace, and the Church. Limp cloth, Is. 3d. 
 
 First Communion Lessons. 25th Edition. Paper Cover, 2d. 
 RECORDS OF THE TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH. Celebrated in April 1884. Published under 
 the Sanction of the Senatus Academicus. Large 4to, 2, 12s. 6d. 
 
 ROBERTSON. The Early Religion of Israel. As set forth by 
 
 Biblical Writers and Modern Critical Historians. Being the Baird Lecture for 
 1888-89. By JAMES ROBERTSON, D.D., Professor of Oriental Languages in the 
 University of Glasgow. Fourth Edition. Crown Svo, 10s. 6d. 
 
 ROBERTSON. 
 
 Orellana, and other Poems. By J. LOGIE ROBERTSON, 
 
 M.A. Fcap. Svo. Printed on hand-made paper. 6s. 
 
 A History of English Literature. For Secondary Schools. 
 
 With an Introduction by Professor MASSON, Edinburgh University. Cr. Svo, 3s. 
 
26 List of Books Published by 
 
 ROBERTSON. Our Holiday among the Hills. By JAMES and 
 
 JANET LOGIE ROBERTSON. Fcap. 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 ROBERTSON". Essays and Sermons. By the late W. ROBERT- 
 
 son, B.C., Minister of the Parish of Sprouston. With a Memoir and Portrait. 
 Crown 8vo, 5s. 6d. 
 
 RODGER. Aberdeen Doctors at Home and Abroad. The Story 
 
 of a Medical School. By ELLA HILL BURTON RODGER. Demy 8vo, 10s. 6d. 
 
 ROSCOE. Rambles with a Fishing-Rod. By E. S. ROSCOE. 
 
 Crown 8vo, 4s. 6d. 
 
 ROSS. Old Scottish Regimental Colours. By ANDREW Ross, 
 
 S.S.C., Hon. Secretary Old Scottish Regimental Colours Committee. Dedicated 
 by Special Permission to Her Majesty the Queen. Folio. 2, 12s. 6d. 
 
 RUTLAND. 
 
 Notes of an Irish Tour in 1846. By the DUKE OF RUTLAND, 
 
 G.C.B. (Lord JOHN MANNERS). New Edition. Crown 8vo, 2s. 6d. 
 
 Correspondence between the Right Honble. William Pitt 
 
 and Charles Duke of Rutland, Lord - Lieutenant of Ireland, 1781-1787. With 
 Introductory Note by JOHN DUKE OF RUTLAND. 8vo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 RUTLAND. 
 
 Gems of 'German Poetry. Translated by the DUCHESS OF 
 
 RUTLAND (Lady JOHN MANNERS). [New Edition in preparation. 
 
 Impressions of Bad-Homburg. Comprising a Short Account 
 
 of the Women's Associations of Germany under the Red Cross. Crown 8vo, Is. 6d. 
 
 Some Personal Recollections of the Later Years of the Earl 
 
 of Beaconsfield, K.G. Sixth Edition. 6d. 
 
 Employment of Women in the Public Service. 6d. 
 
 Some of the Advantages of Easily Accessible Reading and 
 
 Recreation Rooms and Free Libraries. With Remarks on Starting and Main- 
 taining them. Second Edition. Crown 8vo, Is. 
 
 A Sequel to Rich Men's Dwellings, and other Occasional 
 
 Papers. Crown 8vo, 2s. 6d. 
 
 Encouraging Experiences of Reading and Recreation Rooms, 
 
 Aims of Guilds, Nottingham Social Guide, Existing Institutions, &c., &c. 
 Crown 8vo, Is. 
 
 SCHEFFEL. The Trumpeter. A Romance of the Rhine. By 
 
 JOSEPH VICTOR VON SCHEFFEL. Translated from the Two Hundredth German 
 Edition by JESSIE BECK and LOUISA LORIMER. With an Introduction by Sir 
 THEODORE MARTIN, K.C.B. Long 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 SCHILLER. Wallenstein. A Dramatic Poem. By FRIEDRICH 
 
 VON SCHILLER. Translated by C. G. N. LOCKHART. Fcap. 8vo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 SCOTCH LOCH FISHING. By "BLACK PALMER." Crown 8vo, 
 
 interleaved with blank pages, 4s. 
 
 SCOTT. Tom Cringle's Log. By MICHAEL SCOTT. New Edition. 
 
 With 19 Full-page Illustrations. Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 SCOUGAL. Prisons and their Inmates; or, Scenes from a 
 
 Silent World. By FRANCIS SCOUGAL. Crown 8vo, boards, 2s. 
 
 SELLAR'S Manual of the Acts relating to Education in Scot- 
 land. By J. EDWARD GRAHAM, B.A. Oxon., Advocate. Ninth Edition. Demy 
 Svo, 12s. 6d. 
 
William Blackwood and Sons. 27 
 
 SETH. 
 
 Scottish Philosophy. A Comparison of the Scottish and 
 
 German Answers to Hume. Balfour Philosophical Lectures, University of 
 Edinburgh. By ANDREW SETH, LL.D., Professor of Logic and Metaphysics in 
 Edinburgh University. Second Edition. Crown Svo, 5s. 
 
 Hegelianism and Personality. Balfour Philosophical Lectures, 
 
 Second Series. Second Edition. Crown Svo, 5s. 
 
 SETH. A Study of Ethical Principles. By JAMES SETH, M.A., 
 
 Professor of Philosophy in Brown University, U.S.A. Post Svo, 10s. 6d. net. 
 
 SHAD WELL. The Life of Colin Campbell, Lord Clyde. Illus- 
 
 trated by Extracts from his Diary and Correspondence. By Lieutenant-General 
 SHADWELL, C.B. With Portrait, Maps, and Plans. 2 vols. Svo, 36s. 
 
 SHAND. 
 
 The Life of General Sir Edward Bruce Hamley, K.C.B., 
 
 K.C.M.G. By ALEX. INNES SHAND, Author of 'Kilcarra,' 'Against Time,' &c. 
 With two Photogravure Portraits and other Illustrations. 2 vols. demy Svo, 21s. 
 
 Half a Century ; or, Changes in Men and Manners. Second 
 
 Edition. Svo, 12s. 6d. 
 
 Letters from the West of Ireland. Reprinted from the 
 
 1 Times.' Crown Svo, 5s. 
 
 SHARPE. Letters from and to Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe. 
 
 Edited by ALEXANDER ALLARDYCE, Author of ' Memoir of Admiral Lord Keith, 
 K.B.,' &c. With a Memoir by the Rev. W. K. R. BEDFORD. In 2 vols. Svo. 
 Illustrated with Etchings and other Engravings. 2, 12s. 6d. 
 
 SIM. Margaret Sim's Cookery. With an Introduction by L. B. 
 
 WALFORD, Author of ' Mr Smith : A Part of his Life,' &c. Crown Svo, 5s. 
 
 SIMPSON. The Wild Rabbit in a New Aspect ; or, Rabbit- 
 Warrens that Pay. A book for Landowners, Sportsmen, Land Agents, Farmers, 
 Gamekeepers, and Allotment Holders. A Record of Recent Experiments con- 
 ducted on the Estate of the Right Hon. the Earl of Wharncliffe at Wortley Hall. 
 By J. SIMPSON. Second Edition, Enlarged. Small crown Svo, 5s. 
 
 SKELTON. 
 
 Maitland of Lethington ; and the Scotland of Mary Stuart. 
 
 A History. By JOHN SKELTON, Advocate, C.B., LL.D., Author of 'The Essays 
 of Shirley.' Limited Edition, with Portraits. Demy Svo, 2 vols., 28s. net. 
 
 The Handbook of Public Health. A Complete Edition of the 
 
 Public Health and other Sanitary Acts relating to Scotland. Annotated, and 
 with the Rules, Instructions, and Decisions of the Board of Supervision brought 
 up to date with relative forms. Second Edition. With Introduction, containing 
 the Administration of the Public Health Act in Counties. Svo, 8s. 6d. 
 
 The Local Government (Scotland) Act in Relation to Public 
 
 Health. A Handy Guide for County and District Councillors, Medical Officers, 
 Sanitary Inspectors, and Members of Parochial Boards. Second Edition. With 
 a new Preface on appointment of Sanitary Officers. Crown Svo, 2s. 
 
 SKRINE. Columba: A Drama. By JOHN HUNTLEY SKRINE, 
 
 Warden of Glenalmond ; Author of ' A Memory of Edward Thring.' Fcap. 4to, 6s. 
 
 SMITH. For God and Humanity. A Romance of Mount Carmel. 
 
 By HASKETT SMITH, Author of ' The Divine Epiphany,' &c. 3 vols. post Svo, 
 25s. 6d. 
 
 SMITH. 
 
 Thorndale ; or, The Conflict of Opinions. By WILLIAM SMITH, 
 
 Author of ' A Discourse on Ethics,' &c. New Edition. Crown Svo, 10s. 6d. 
 
 Gravenhurst ; or, Thoughts on Good and Evil. Second Edi- 
 tion. With Memoir and Portrait of the Author. Crown Svo, 8s. 
 
28 List of Books Published by 
 
 SMITH. 
 
 The Story of William and Lucy Smith. Edited by GEORGE 
 
 MERRIAM. Large post Svo, 12s. 6d. 
 
 SMITH. Memoir of the Families of M'Combie and Thorns, 
 
 originally M'Intosh and M'Thomas. Compiled from History and Tradition. By 
 WILLIAM M'COMBIE SMITH. With Illustrations. Svo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 SMITH. Greek Testament Lessons for Colleges, Schools, and 
 
 Private Students, consisting chiefly of the Sermon on the Mount and the Parables 
 of our Lord. With Notes and Essays. By the Rev. J. HUNTER SMITH, M.A., 
 King Edward's School, Birmingham. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 SMITH. The Secretary for Scotland. Being a Statement of the 
 
 Powers and Duties of the new Scottish Office. With a Short Historical Intro- 
 duction, and numerous references to important Administrative Documents. By 
 W. C. SMITH, LL.B., Advocate. Svo, 6s. 
 
 "SON OF THE MAKSHES, A." 
 
 From Spring to Fall; or, When Life Stirs. By "A SON OP 
 
 THE MARSHES." Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Within an Hour of London Town : Among Wild Birds and 
 
 their Haunts. Edited by J. A. OWEN. Cheap Uniform Edition. Crown Svo, 
 3s. 6d. 
 
 With the Woodlanders, and By the Tide. Cheap Uniform 
 
 Edition. Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 On Surrey Hills. Cheap Uniform Edition. Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 Annals of a Fishing Village. Cheap Uniform Edition. Crown 
 
 Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 SOKLEY. The Ethics of Naturalism. Being the Shaw Fellow- 
 ship Lectures, 18S4. By W. R. SORLEY, M.A., Fellow of Trinity College, Cam- 
 bridge, Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Aberdeen. Crown 
 Svo, 6s. 
 
 SPEEDY. Sport in the Highlands and Lowlands of Scotland 
 
 with Rod and Gun. By TOM SPEEDY. Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged. 
 With Illustrations by Lieut. -General Hope Crealocke, C.B., C.M.G., and others. 
 Svo, 15s. 
 
 SPROTT. The Worship and Offices of the Church of Scotland. 
 
 By GEORGE W. SPROTT, D.D., Minister of North Berwick. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF SCOTLAND. Complete, with 
 
 Index. 15 vols. Svo, 16, 16s. 
 
 STEPHENS. 
 
 The Book of the Farm ; detailing the Labours of the Farmer, 
 
 Farm-Steward, Ploughman, Shepherd, Hedger, Farm-Labourer, Field-Worker, 
 and Cattle-man. Illustrated with numerous Portraits of Animals and Engravings 
 of Implements, and Plans of Farm Buildings. Fourth Edition. Revised, and 
 in great part Rewritten by JAMES MACDONALD, F.R.S.E., Secretary, Highland 
 and Agricultural Society of Scotland. Complete in Six Divisional Volumes, 
 bound in cloth, each 10s. 6d. , or handsomely bound, in 3 volumes, with leather 
 back and gilt top, 3, 3s. 
 
 Catechism of Practical Agriculture. New Edition. Revised 
 
 by JAMES MACDONALD, F.R.S.E. With numerous Illustrations. Crown Svo, Is. 
 
 The Book of Farm Implements and Machines. By J. SLIGHT 
 
 and R. SCOTT BURN, Engineers. Edited by HENRY STEPHENS. Large Svo, 2, 2s. 
 
 STEVENSON. British Fungi. (Hymenomycetes.) By Rev. 
 
 JOHN STEVENSON, Author of 'Mycologia Scotica,' Hon. Sec. Cryptogamic Society 
 of Scotland. Vols. I. and II., post Svo, with Illustrations, price 12s. 6d. net each. 
 
William Blackwood and Sons. 29 
 
 STEWAET. 
 
 Advice to Purchasers of Horses. By JOHN STEWAET, V.S. 
 
 New Edition. 2s. 6d. 
 
 Stable Economy. A Treatise on the Management of Horses 
 
 in relation to Stabling, Grooming, Feeding, Watering, and Working. Seventh 
 Edition. Fcap. 8vo, 6s. 6d. 
 
 STEWAET. A Hebrew Grammar, with the Pronunciation, Syl- 
 
 labic Division and Tone of the Words, and Quantity of the Vowels. By Rev. 
 DUNCAN STEWART, D.D. Fourth Edition. 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 STEWAET. Boethius : An Essay. By HUGH FRASEE STEWAET, 
 
 M.A., Trinity College, Cambridge. Crown 8vo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 STODDAET. Sir Philip Sidney : Servant of God. By ANNA M. 
 
 STODDART. Illustrated by MARGARET L. HUGGINS. With a New Portrait of 
 Sir Philip Sidney. Small 4to, with a specially designed Cover. 5s. 
 
 STODDAET. Angling Songs. By THOMAS TOD STODDAET. 
 
 New Edition, with a Memoir by ANNA M. STODDART. Crown 8vo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 STOEMONTH. 
 
 Etymological and Pronouncing Dictionary of the English 
 
 Language. Including a very Copious Selection of Scientific Terms. For use in 
 Schools and Colleges, and as a Book of General Reference. By the Rev. JAMES 
 STORMONTH. The Pronunciation carefully revised by the Rev. P. H. PHELP, M. A. 
 Cantab. Eleventh Edition, with Supplement. Crown 8vo, pp. 800. 7s. 6d. 
 
 Dictionary of the English Language, Pronouncing, Etymo- 
 logical, and Explanatory. Revised by the Rev. P. H. PHELP. Library Edition. 
 New and Cheaper Edition, with Supplement. Imperial Svo, handsomely bound 
 in half morocco, 18s. net. 
 
 The School Etymological Dictionary and Word-Book. Fourth 
 
 Edition. Fcap. Svo, pp. 254. 2s. 
 
 STOEY. 
 
 Nero; A Historical Play. By W. W. STOEY, Author of 
 
 ' Roba di Roma.' Fcap. Svo, 6s. 
 
 Vallombrosa. Post Svo, 5s. 
 
 Poems. 2 vols., 7s. 6d. 
 
 Fiammetta. A Summer Idyl. Crown Svo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 Conversations in a Studio. 2 vols. crown Svo, 12s. 6d. 
 
 Excursions in Art and Letters. Crown Svo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 A Poet's Portfolio : Later Eeadings. ISmo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 STEACHEY. Talk at a Country House.. Fact and Fiction. 
 
 By Sir EDWARD STRACHEY, Bart. With a Portrait of the Author. Crown Svo, 
 4s. 6d. net. 
 
 STUEGIS. 
 
 John-a-Dreams. A Tale. By JULIAN STURGIS. New Edi- 
 tion. Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 Little Comedies, Old and New. Crown Svo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 SUTHEELAND (DUCHESS OF). How I Spent my Twentieth 
 
 Year. Being a Record of a Tour Round the World, 1886-87. By the DUCHESS 
 OF SUTHERLAND (MARCHIONESS OF STAFFORD). With Illustrations. Crown 8vo, 
 7s. 6d. 
 
 SUTHEELAND. Handbook of Hardy Herbaceous and Alpine 
 
 Flowers, for General Garden Decoration. Containing Descriptions of upwards 
 of 1000 Species of Ornamental Hardy Perennial and Alpine Plants ; along with 
 Concise and Plain Instructions for their Propagation and Culture. By WILLIAM 
 SUTHERLAND, Landscape Gardener ; formerly Manager of the Herbaceous Depart- 
 ment at Kew. Crown 8vo, 7s. 6d. 
 
3O List of Books Published by 
 
 TAYLOR. The Story of my Life. By -the late Colonel 
 
 MEADOWS TAYLOR, Author of 'The Confessions of a Thug,' &c., &c. Edited by 
 his Daughter. New and Cheaper Edition, being the Fourth. Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 THOMSON. 
 
 The Diversions of a Prime Minister. By Basil Thomson. 
 
 With a Map, numerous Illustrations by J. W. CAWSTON and others, and Repro- 
 ductions of Rare Plates from Early Voyages of Sixteenth and Seventeenth Cen- 
 turies. Small demy 8vo, 15s. 
 
 South Sea Yarns. With 10 Full-page Illustrations. Grown 
 
 8vo, 6s. 
 
 THOMSON. 
 
 Handy Book of the Flower- Garden : being Practical Direc- 
 tions for the Propagation, Culture, and Arrangement of Plants in Flower- 
 Gardens all the year round. With Engraved Plans. By DAVID THOMSON, 
 Gardener to his Grace the Duke of Buccleuch, K.T., at Drumlanrig. Fourth 
 and Cheaper Edition. Crown 8vo, 5s. 
 
 The Handy Book of Fruit -Culture under Glass: being a 
 
 series of Elaborate Practical Treatises on the Cultivation and Forcing of Pines, 
 Vines, Peaches, Figs, Melons, Strawberries, and Cucumbers. With Engravings 
 of Hothouses, &c. Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged. Crown 8vo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 THOMSON. A Practical Treatise on the Cultivation of the 
 
 Grape Vine. By WILLIAM THOMSON, Tweed Vineyards. Tenth Edition. 8vo, 5s. 
 
 THOMSON. Cookery for the Sick and Convalescent. With 
 
 Directions for the Preparation of Poultices, Fomentations, &c. By BARBARA 
 THOMSON. Fcap. 8vo, Is. 6d. 
 
 THORBURN. Asiatic Neighbours. By S. S. THORBURN, Bengal 
 
 Civil Service, Author of 'Banmi; or, Our Afghan Frontier,' 'David Leslie: 
 A Story of the Afghan Frontier, ' ' Musalmans and Money-Lenders in the Pan- 
 jab.' With Two Maps. Demy 8vo, 10s. 6d. net. 
 
 THORNTON. Opposites. A Series of Essays on the Unpopular 
 
 Sides of Popular Questions. By LEWIS THORNTON. 8vo, 12s. 6d. 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THE HIGHLAND AND AGRICUL- 
 TURAL SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND. Published annually, price 5s. 
 
 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. From 'Blackwood's 
 
 Magazine.' Uniform with 'Tales from Blackwood.' In 12 Parts, each price Is. 
 Handsomely bound in 6 vols., cloth, 15s. ; half calf, 25s. 
 
 TRAVERS. Mona Maclean, Medical Student. A Novel. By 
 
 GRAHAM TRAVERS. Tenth Edition. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 TULLpCH. 
 
 Rational Theology and Christian Philosophy in England in 
 
 the Seventeenth Century. By JOHN TULLOCH, D.D., Principal of St Mary's Col- 
 lege in the University of St Andrews ; and one of her Majesty's Chaplains in 
 Ordinary in Scotland. Second Edition. 2 vols. Svo, 16s. 
 
 Modern Theories in Philosophy and Religion. Svo, 15s. 
 Luther, and other Leaders of the Reformation. Third Edi- 
 
 . tion, Enlarged. Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Memoir of Principal Tulloch, D.D., LL.D. By Mrs OLIPHANT, 
 
 Author of 'Life of Edward Irving.' Third and Cheaper Edition. 8vo, with 
 Portrait, 7s. 6d. 
 
 TWEEDIE. The Arabian Horse: His Country and People. 
 
 By Major - General W. TWEEDIE, C.S.I., Bengal Staff Corps; for many years 
 H.B.M.'s Consul-General, Baghdad, and Political Resident for the Government 
 of India in Turkish Arabia. In one vol. royal 4to, with Seven Coloured Plates 
 and other Illustrations, and a Map of the Country. Price 3, 3s. net 
 
William Blackwood and Sons. 31 
 
 VEITCH. 
 
 The History and Poetry of the Scottish Border : their Main 
 
 Features and Relations. By JOHN VEITCH, LL.D., Professor of Logic and 
 Rhetoric in the University of Glasgow. New and Enlarged Edition. 2 vols. 
 demy 8vo, 16s. 
 
 Institutes of Logic. Post 8vo, 12s. 6d. 
 
 The Feeling for Nature in Scottish Poetry. From the Ear- 
 liest Times to the Present Day. 2 vols. fcap. 8vo, in roxburghe .binding, 15s. 
 Merlin and other Poems. Fcap. 8vo, 4s. 6d. 
 Knowing and Being. Essays in Philosophy. First Series. 
 
 Crown 8vo, 5s. 
 
 Dualism and Monism ; Or, Relation and Reality : A Criticism. 
 
 Essays in Philosophy. Second Series. In 1 vol. crown 8vo. [In the press. 
 
 VIRGIL. The ^Eneid of Virgil. Translated in English Blank 
 
 Verse by G. K. RICKARDS M.A., and Lord RAVENSWOBTH. 2 vols. fcap. 8vo, 10s, 
 
 WAGE. Christianity and Agnosticism. Reviews of some Recent 
 
 Attacks on the Christian Faith. By HENRY WAGE, D.D., Principal of King's 
 College, London ; Preacher of Lincoln's Inn ; Chaplain to the Queen. Post 8vo, 
 10s. 6d. net. 
 
 WADDELL. An Old Kirk Chronicle : Being a History of Auld- 
 
 hame, Tyninghame, and Whitekirk, in East Lothian. From Session Records, 
 1615 to 1850. By Rev. P. HATELY WADDELL, B.D., Minister of the United 
 Parish. Small Paper Edition, 200 Copies. Price 1. Large Paper Edition, 50 
 Copies. Price 1, 10s. 
 
 WALFORD. Four Biographies from c Blackwood ' : Jane Taylor, 
 
 Hannah More, Elizabeth Fry, Mary Somerville. By L. B. WALFORD. Crown 
 
 WARREN'S (SAMUEL) WORKS: 
 
 Diary of a Late Physician. Cloth, 2s. 6d. ; boards, 2s. 
 Ten Thousand A- Year. Cloth, 3s. 6d. ; boards, 2s. 6d. 
 Now and Then. The Lily and the Bee. Intellectual and 
 
 Moral Development of the Present Age. 4s. 6d. 
 
 Essays : Critical, Imaginative, and Juridical. 5s. 
 WEBSTER. The Angler and the Loop - Rod. By DAVID 
 
 WEBSTER. Crown 8vo, with Illustrations, 7s. 6d. 
 
 WENLEY. 
 
 Socrates and Christ : A Study in the Philosophy of Religion. 
 
 By R. M. WENLEY, M.A., D.Sc., Lecturer on Mental and Moral Philosophy in 
 Queen Margaret College, Glasgow ; formerly Examiner in Philosophy in the 
 University of Glasgow. Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 Aspects of Pessimism. Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 WERNER. A Visit to Stanley's Rear-Guard at Major Bartte- 
 
 lot's Camp on the Aruhwimi. With an Account of River-Life on the Congo. 
 By J. R. WERNER, F.R.G.S., Engineer, late in the Service of the Etat Indepen- 
 dant du Congo. With Maps, Portraits, and other Illustrations. 8vo, 16s. 
 
 WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY. Minutes of the Westminster 
 
 Assembly, while engaged in preparing their Directory for Church Government, 
 Confession of Faith, and Catechisms (November 1644 to March 1649). Edited 
 by the Rev. Professor ALEX. T. MITCHELL, of St Andrews, and the Rev. JOHN 
 STRUTHERS, LL.D. With a Historical and Critical Introduction by Professor 
 Mitchell, 8vo, 15s. 
 
 WHITE. 
 
 The Eighteen Christian Centuries. By the Rev. JAMES 
 
 WHITE. Seventh Edition. Post 8vo, with Index, 6s. 
 
 History of France, from the Earliest Times. Sixth Thousand. 
 
 Post 8vo, with Index, 6s. 
 
32 Books Published by William Blackwood and Sons. 
 
 WHITE. 
 
 Archaeological Sketches in Scotland Kintyre and Knapdale. 
 
 By Colonel T. P. WHITE, R.E., of the Ordnance Survey. With numerous Illus- 
 trations. 2 vols. folio, 4, 4s. Vol. I., Kintyre, sold separately, 2, 2s. 
 
 The Ordnance Survey of the United Kingdom. A Popular 
 
 Account. Crown 8vo, 5s. 
 
 WILLIAMSON". The Horticultural Handbook and Exhibitor's 
 
 Guide. A Treatise on Cultivating, Exhibiting, and Judging Plants, Flowers, 
 Fruits, and Vegetables. By W. WILLIAMSON, Gardener. Revised by MALCOLM 
 DUNN, Gardener to his Grace the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry, Dalkeith 
 Park. New and Cheaper Edition, enlarged. Crown 8vo, paper cover, 2s. ; 
 cloth, 2s. 6d. 
 
 WILLIAMSON". Poems of Nature and Life. By DAVID R. 
 
 WILLIAMSON, Minister of Kirkmaiden. Fcap. 8vo, 3s. 
 
 WILLIAMSON. Light from Eastern Lands on the Lives of 
 
 Abraham, Joseph, and Moses. By the Rev. ALEX. WILLIAMSON, Author of ' The 
 Missionary Heroes of the Pacific,' 'Sure and Comfortable Words,' 'Ask and 
 Receive,' &c. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 WILLS. Behind an Eastern Veil. A Plain Tale of Events 
 
 occurring in the Experience of a Lady who had a unique opportunity of observ- 
 ing the Inner Life of Ladies of the Upper Class in Persia. By C. J. WILLS, 
 Author of 'In the Land of the Lion and Sun,' 'Persia as it is,' &c., &c. Demy 
 8vo, 9s. 
 
 WILLS AND GREENE. Drawing-Room Dramas for Children. 
 
 By W. G. WILLS and the Hon. Mrs GREENE. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 WILSON. 
 
 Works of Professor Wilson. Edited by his Son -in -Law, 
 
 Professor FERRIER. 12 vols. crown 8vo, 2, 8s. 
 
 Christopher in his Sporting- Jacket. 2 vols., 8s. 
 
 Isle of Palms, City of the Plague, and other Poems. 4s. 
 
 Lights and Shadows of Scottish Life, and other Tales. 4s. 
 
 Essays, Critical and Imaginative. 4 vols., 16s. 
 
 The Noctes Ambrosianse. 4 vols., 16s. 
 
 Homer and his Translators, and the Greek Drama. Crown 
 
 8vo, 4s. 
 
 WORSLEY. 
 
 Poems and Translations. By PHILIP STANHOPE WORSLEY, 
 
 M.A. Edited by EDWARD WORSLEY. Second Edition, Enlarged. Fcap. Svo, 6s. 
 
 Homer's Odyssey. Translated into English Verse in the 
 
 Spenserian Stanza. By P. S. Worsley. New and Cheaper Edition. Post Svo, 
 7s. 6d. net. 
 
 Homer's Iliad. Translated by P. S. Worsley and Prof. Con- 
 
 ington. 2 vols. crown Svo, 21s. 
 
 YATE. England and Russia Face to Face in Asia. A Record of 
 
 Travel with the Afghan Boundary Commission. By Captain A. C. YATE, Bombay 
 Staff Corps. 8vo, with Maps and Illustrations, 21s. 
 
 YATE. Northern Afghanistan; or, Letters from the Afghan 
 
 Boundary Commission. By Major C. E. YATE, C.S.I., C.M.G. Bombay Staff 
 Corps, F.R.G.S. Svo, with Maps, 18s. 
 
 YULE. Fortification : For the use of Officers in the Army, and 
 
 Readers of Military History. By Colonel YULE, Bengal Engineers. Svo, with 
 Numerous Illustrations, 10s. 
 4/95. 
 
RETURN TO the circulation desk of any 
 University of California Library 
 or to the 
 
 NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 Bldg. 400, Richmond Field Station 
 University of California 
 Richmond, CA 94804-4698 
 
 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 
 2-month loans may be renewed by calling 
 
 (510)642-6753 
 1-year loans may be recharged by bringing books 
 
 to NRLF 
 Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days 
 
 prior to due date 
 
 DUE AS STAMPED BELOW 
 
 OCT131993 
 
M317180