Sketches of the wild sports & natural history of the Highlands

Preface

The popularity of these Sketches has been attested by the sale of seven Editions since their first publication. But though the work is admitted to take rank with White’s Selborne and Walton’s Angler^ no attempt has hitherto been made to illustrate the scenes, anecdotes, and fera. natures, so graphically described by Mr. St. John. This want — to which attention has often been called — it

is the object of the present Edition to supply.

In Mr. Cosmo Innes’s Memoir of Mr. St. John, he gives the following amusing account of his first interview with him — an interview which led to the first publication of Wild Sports : — “ I became acquainted with Charles St. John in my autumn vacation of 1844, while I was Sheriff of Moray. We had some common friends, and messages of civility had passed between us, but we had not yet met, when one day in October I was shooting down the river-side and the islands in the Eindhorn, making out a bag of partridges laboriously.

“ It was a windy day, and the birds going off wild, spoilt my shooting, which is at best uncertain. While I was on the island, two birds had gone away wounded into a large turnip-field across the river. I waded the river after them, and was vainly endeavouring to recover them with my pointers, when a man pushed through the hedge from the Invererne side, followed by a dog, making straight for me.

“There was no mistaking the gentleman — a sportsman all over, though without any ‘ getting up ’ for sport, and without a gun. I waited for him, and on coming up, he said he had seen my birds pitch, and offered to find them for me, if I would take

VI

PREFACE.

up my dogs. When my pointers were coupled, he called ‘ Grip,’ and his companion, a large poodle with a Mephistopheles expression, began travelling across and across the drills, till suddenly he struck the scent, and then with a series of curious jumps on all fours, and pauses between, to listen for the moving of the bird, he made quick work with bird No. i, and so with No. 2. I never saw so perfect a dog for retrieving, but he was not handsome. After this introduction, St. John and I became frequent companions.”

The acquaintance thus begun ripened into a lasting friendship, and at Mr. Innes’s instigation, Mr. St. John was persuaded to note down some of his varied experiences of sport and anecdotes of animals.

“ At that time,” continues Mr. Innes, “ I was in the habit of writing an article occasionally for the Quarterly^ and I put together one on Scotch sport, using as my material some of St John’s chapters, especially the story of the Muckle Hart of Benmore. The paper pleased Mr. Lockhart. ‘ It would be sufficient,’ he said, ‘ to float any number . . . whether the capital journal laid under contribution be your own or another’s I don’t know, but every one will wish to see more of it.’ I received the Editor’s letter at Knockomie, and the next day the reading of it to St. John served for seasoning as we took our shooting lunch together beside the spring, among the whins on the Brae of Bervie. Our course was now plain. I divided the money produce of the Quarterly article with St. John, who rejoiced greatly in the first money he had ever made by his own exertions, and on my next visit to London I arranged for him the sale of the whole chapters, the produce of his last winter’s industry, which Mr. Murray brought out in the popular volume of Wild Sports and Natural History of the Highlands^ \

Great pains have been taken in illustrating this Edition accurately, to enter into the spirit, and where possible, to depict the actual scene of the events described in the text.

Contents

Introduction ....... i

Chapter I

Highland Lakes — Steam-boats — Small Lochs — Wild Cats — Ravens — - Dragging the Lake — The Crea — Fishing at Night — Pike — Trolling large Trout on Loch Ness — Flies, Otters, etc. — Fishing with the Otter — Spawning Trout . . . . . .8

Chapter II

Roe : Mischief done by — Fawns — Tame Roe — Boy killed by Roe — Hunting Roe : Artifices of — Shooting Roe — Unlucky shot — Change of colour — Swimming — Cunning Roe . . . .20

Chapter III

Grouse’s Nest — Partridge Nest — Grouse-shooting — Marten Cat — Witch :

Death of — Stags — Snaring Grouse — Black Game : Battles of — Hybrid Bird — Ptarmigan-shooting — Mist on the Mountain — Stag — Unsuccessful Stalking — Death of Eagle . . . .28

Chapter VIII

Crossbills: Habits of ; Nest — Snowy Owl — Great-eared Owl — floopoe — Shrike — Tawny and Snow Buntings — Lizards — Singular Pets — Toads : Utility of ; Combats of — Adders — Dog and Snakes — Large Snake — Blind-Worm ......

Chapter IX. ■

On the Peculiarities and Instinct of different Animals — Eggs of Birds — Nests — Feeding habits — The beaks of Birds — Wings of Owl — Instinct in finding Food — Ravens — Knowledge of Change of Weather —Fish . . .

Chapter X

The Eagle : Flabits ; Greediness ; Anecdotes of ; Killing Eagles ; Trapping ; Food of — The Peregrine Falcon : Manner of Flunting — Tame Falcon : Anecdotes of — Guinea-Hen and Ducks — The Osprey — The Kite : Trapping — The Buzzard : Nests and Habits of

CONTENTS.

IX

CHAPTER XL

PAGE

The Hen Harrier : Destructiveness to game ; Female of — Trapping —

The Sparrowhawk : Courage of ; Ferocity ; Nest — The Kestrel :

Utility of — The Merlin : Boldness — The Hobby — Increase of small Birds ........ io6

Chapter XII

The Otter : Habits — Catching of — Shooting — Attachment to each other

— Anecdotes — Fish killed by . . . . .113

Chapter XIII

Weasels — Ferrets : Fierceness of — Anecdotes — Food of Weasels — Manner of Hunting for Prey — The Stoat : Change of Colour — Odour of — Food of — Their catching Fish : Polecat — The Marten Cat — Habits — Trapping — Eating Fruit — Activity of : Different Species . 119

CHAPTER XIV. Anecdotes and Instinct of Dogs — Anecdotes of Retriever — Shepherds’

Dogs — Sagacity — Dogs and Monkey — Bulldog — Anecdotes of Shooting a Stag — Treatment of Dogs . . . .127

Chapter XV

Increase of Wood-Pigeons and other Birds — Service to the Farmer of these Birds — Tame Wood-Pigeons : Food of — The Turtle-Dove —

Blue Rock-Pigeons — Caves where they Breed — Shooting at the Rocks near Cromarty . . . . . • I39

Chapter XVI

Wild Ducks : Edible kinds of — Breeding-places of Mallards — Change of Plumage — Shooting — Feeding-places — Half-Bred Wild Ducks —

Anas glacial is— Anas clangula : Habits of — Teeth of Goosander — Cormorants — Anecdotes . . . . . .149

X

CONTENTS.

Chapter XVII

Birds that come in Spring — The Pewit : Pugnacity ; Nests of ; Cunning — Ring- Dotterel — Redshank — Oyster-Catcher: Food; Swimming of ; Nest — Curlew — Redstart — Swallows, etc.

Chapter XVIII

Sheldrake : Nest ; Food — Teal : Breeding-places ; Anecdotes — Landrail : Arrival of — Cuckoo — Nightjar : Habits of — Quail — Grebe : Arrival ; Account of Nest and Young — Baldcoot — Water-Hen — Water-Rail .

Chapter XXVII

Different kinds of Gulls : Large Collections of — Breeding-places — Islands on a Loch — Eggs of Gulls— Young Birds — Food and Voracity of Large Gulls : .Salmon-fiy killed by — Boatswain-Gull — Manner of procuring Food . . . . .256

CHAPTER XXXVI. Variety of Game

• 333

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

ENGRAVED ON WOOD BY J. W. WHYMPER.

Mountain Scenery ..... Frontispiece.

Rough Weather ..... Title-Page.

PAGE

Donald instructing his Young Master . . . i

Fishing by Moonlight ...... 8

Roe Swimming Loch ...... 27

Shooting a Witch ....... 28

Mountain Scenery ....... 40

The Right Sort of Gamekeeper ..... 50

Affray with Poachers . . . . . .51

Bivouac on the Hills under the PIeather . . . 63

Spearing Salmon or Burning the Water ... 64

Rapids on the Findhorn ...... 74

The Long-Eared Owl . . . . . . 75

Rats carrying off Egg . ..... 82

The Snowy Owl . . . . . . . 83

Yellow Hammer’s Nest . . . .• . .90

White Throat’s Nest .... • • 95 xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

The Eagle and Mountain Hare ..... 96

My Pugnacious Peregrine ..... 105

The Sparrowhawk ........ 106

The Otter in his Haunts . . . . .113

The Otter’s Attack . . . . . .118

The Weasel’s Victim . . . . . .119

Deer and Hounds ....... 126

A Hunting Bulldog ...... 127

Wood-Pigeons . . . . . . -139

Across Cromarty Bay . . . . . .148

The Sympathetic Mate . . . . . .159

Oyster-Catchers at PIome . . . . .160

Findhorn Bay ....... i68

Spiooting Wild Geese . . . < . . . 179

Site of Heronry on the Findhorn .... 190

Sandhills of Moray . . . . . .191

A Cautious Peep ....... 200

The Findhorn River . . . . . .210

Crossing the Burn . . . . . .215

Valley of the Findhorn ..... 220

Dulsie Bridge . . . . • • .221

The Sentinel ....... 228

Swans in the Bay . , . . . • • -235

The Water-Ouzel . . . . • . • 236

Terns on Salmon Stakes ...... 242

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xv

PAGE

“I DASHED MY PLAID OVER HIS HEAD” .... 243

Bringing Home the “Muckle Hart” .... 255

“The whole community attacked him” . . . 256

Gulls coming Inland . . ' ... 262

Woodcocks Tilting ...... 263

Donald and the Seal ...... 268

Fox-Hunting in the Highlands ..... 277

Badger and Wasps’ Nest ...... 282

Group of Highland Dogs. From Sir E. Landseer, R.A. . 290

“The next Moment he was passing full Broadside to me” 291

“On the height of the hill he halted” . . . 297

Bridge after Flood ....;. 302

Highland Barometers ...... 309

The Stag at Bay ....... 310

Malcolm Holding the Dogs ..... 327

Young Ducks catching Moths ..... 328

Highland Mowing ....... 332

Curlew and Golden Plover . . , . . . 333

THE

WILD SPORTS & NATURAL HISTORY

OF

THE HIGHLANDS.

DONALD INSTRUCTING HIS YOUNG MASTER.

Introduction

I HAVE lived for several years in the northern counties of Scotland, and during the last four or five in the province of Moray, a part of the country peculiarly adapted for collecting facts in Natural History, and for becoming intimate with the habits of many of our British wild birds and quadrupeds. Having been in the habit of keeping an irregular kind of journal and of

■ B

WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS.

making notes of any incidents which have fallen under my observation connected with the zoology of the country, I have now endeavoured, by dint of cutting and pruning those rough sketches, to put them into a shape calculated to amuse, and perhaps, in some slight degree, to instruct some of my fellow-lovers of Nature. From my earliest childhood I have been more addicted to the investigation of the habits and manners of ever)’^ kind of living animal than to any more useful avocation, and have in consequence made myself tolerably well acquainted with the domestic economy of most of our British fercB natura^ from the field-mouse and wheatear, which I stalked and trapped in the plains and downs of Wiltshire during my boyhood, to the red deer and eagle, whose territory I have invaded in later years on the mountains of Scotland.

My present abode in Morayshire is surrounded by as great a variety of beautiful scenery as can be found in any district in Britain ; and no part of the country can produce a greater variety of objects of interest either to the naturalist or to the lover of the picturesque. The rapid and glorious Findhorn, the very perfection of a Highland river, here passes through one of the most fertile plains in Scotland, or indeed in the world ; and though a few miles higher up it rages through the wildest and most rugged rocks, and through the romantic and shaded glens of the forests of Darnaway and Altyre, the stream, as if exhausted, empties itself peaceably and quietly into the Bay of Findhorn, a salt-water loch of some four or five miles in length, entirely shut out by different points of land from the storms which are so frequent in the Moray Firth, of which it forms a kind of creek. At low-water this bay becomes an extent of wet sand, with the river Findhorn and one or two smaller streams winding through it, till they meet in the deeper part of the basin near the town of Findhorn, where there is always a considerajDle depth of water, and a harbour for shipping.

From its sheltered situation and the quantity of food left on the sands at low- water, the Bay of Findhorn is always a great

INTRODUCTION.

resort of wild-fowl of all kinds, from the swan to the teal, and also of innumerable waders of every species ; while occasionally a seal ventures into the mouth of the river in pursuit of salmon. The bay is separated from the main water of the Firth by that most extraordinary and peculiar range of country called the Sandhills of Moray, a long, low range of hills formed of the purest sand, with scarcely any herbage, excepting here and there patches of bent or broom, which are inhabited by hares, rabbits, and foxes. At the extreme point of this range is a farm of forty or fifty acres of arable land, where the tenant endeavours to grow a scanty crop of grain and turnips, in spite of the rabbits and the drifting sands. From the inland side of the bay stretch the fertile plains of Moray, extending from the Findhorn to near Elgin in a continuous flat of the richest soil, and comprising districts of the very best partridge-shooting that can be found in Scotland, while the streams and swamps that intersect it afford a constant supply of wild-fowl. As we advance inland we are sheltered by the wide-extending woods of Altyre, abounding with roe and game, and beyond these woods again is a very extensive range of a most excellent grouse-shooting country, reaching for many miles over a succession of moderately sized hills which reach as far as the Spey.

On the west of the Findhorn is a country beautifully dotted with woods, principally of oak and birch, and intersected by a dark, winding burn, full of fine trout, and the constant haunt of the otter. Between this part of the county and the sea-coast is a continuation of the Sandhills, interspersed with lakes, swamps, and tracts of fir-wood and heather. On the whole I do not know so varied or interesting a district in Great Britain, or one so well adapted to the amusement and instruction of a naturalist or sportsman. In the space of a morning’s walk you may be either in the most fertile or in the most barren spot of the country- In my own garden every kind of wall-fruit ripens to perfection, and yet at the distance of only two hours’ walk you may either be in the midst of heather and grouse, or in the sandy

WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS.

deserts beyond the bay, where one wonders how even the rabbits can find their living.

The varieties of the soil and its productions, both animate and inanimate, will, however, be best shown in the extracts from my note-books, with which these pages are filled. My memorandums, having for the most part been written down at the moment, and describing anecdotes and incidents that fell under my actual observation, will at all events contain correct descriptions of the nature and habits of the animals and birds of the country ; though, not being originally intended for publication, they are not arranged in any regular order. Here and there I have quoted some anecdote of animals, which I have heard from others : these I can only offer as I received them, but I can safely assert that I have quoted the words of those persons only upon whose veracity and powers of observation I could depend. My subject, as connected both to natural history and sporting, has led me back to my former wanderings in the more northern and wilder parts of the country, where I had great opportunities of becoming acquainted with the habits of the wilder and rarer birds and beasts, who are natives of those districts ; and the pursuit of whom always had greater charms for me than the more commonplace occupations of grouse or partridge shooting.

I hope that my readers will be indulgent enough to make allowances for the unfinished style of these sketches, and the copious use of the first person singular, which I have found it imppssible to avoid whilst describing the -adventures which I have met with in this wild country, either when toiling up the rocky heights of our most lofty mountains, or cruising in a boat along the shores, where rocks and caves give a chance of finding seafowl and otters ; at one time wandering over the desert sand-hills of Moray, where, on windy days, the light particles of drifting sand, driven like snow along the surface ^of the ground, are perpetually changing the outline and appearance of the district ; at another, among the swamps, in pursuit of wild ducks, or attacking fish in the rivers, or the grouse on the heather.

INTRODUCTION.

For a naturalist, whether he be a scientific dissector and preserver of birds, or simply a lover and observer of the habits and customs of the different fera naturm, large and small, this district is a very desirable location, as there are very few birds or quadrupeds to be found in any part of Great Britain, who do not visit us during the course of the year, or, at any rate, are to be met with within a few hours’ drive. The bays and rivers attract all the migratory water-fowl, while the hills, woods, and corn-lands afford shelter and food to all the native wild birds and beasts. The vicinity too of the coast to the wild western countries of Europe is the cause of our being often visited by birds which are not strictly natives, nor regular visitors, but are driven by continued east winds from the fastnesses of the Swedish and Norwegian forests and mountains.

To the collector of stuffed birds this county affords a greater variety of specimens than any other district in the kingdom, whilst the excellence of the climate and the variety of scenery make it inferior to none as a residence for the unoccupied person or the sportsman.

Having thus described that spot of the globe which at present is my resting-place, I may as well add a few lines to enable my reader to become aquainted with myself, and that part of my belongings which will come into question in my descriptions of sporting, etc. To begin with myself, I am one of the unproductive class of the genus Homo, who, having passed a few years amidst the active turmoil of cities, and in places where people do most delight to congregate, have at last settled down to live a busy kind of idle life. Communing much with the wild birds and beasts of our country, a hardy constitution and much leisure have enabled me to visit them in their own haunts, and to follow my sporting propensities without fear of the penalties which are apt to follow a careless exposure of oneself to cold and heat, at all hours of night and day. Though by habit and repute a being strongly endowed with the organ of destructiveness, I take equal delight in collecting round me all living animals, and watching

WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS.

their habits and instincts ; my abode is, in short, a miniature menagerie. My dogs learn to respect the persons of domesticated wild animals of all kinds, and my pointers live in amity with tame partridges and pheasants ; my retrievers lounge about amidst my wild-fowl, and my terriers and beagles strike up friendship with the animals of different kinds whose capture they have assisted in, and with whose relatives they are ready to wage war to the death. A common and well-kept truce exists with one and all. My boys, who are of the most bird-nesting age (eight and nine years old), instead of disturbing the numberless birds who breed in the garden and shrubberies, in full confidence of protection and immunity from all danger of gun or snare, strike up an aquaintance with every family of chaffinches or blackbirds who breed in the place, visiting every nest, and watching over the eggs and young with a most parental care.

My principal aide-de-camp in my sporting excursions is an old man, who, although passing for somewhat of a simpleton, has more acuteness and method in his vagaries than most of his neighbours. For many years he seems to have lived on his gun, but with an utter contempt of, and animosity against, all those who employ the more ignoble means of snaring and trapping game ; and this makes him fulfil his duty as keeper better than many persons trained regularly to that employment.

He is rather a peculiar person in his way, and has a natural tendency to the pursuit of the rarer and . wilder animals, such as otters, seals, wild-fowl, etc. — which accords well with my ovm tastes in the sporting line — many a day, and many a night too, at all seasons, has he passed lying in wait for some seal or otter, regardless of wet or cold.

His neighbours, though all allowing that he was a most inveterate poacher, always gave him credit for a great deal of simple honesty in other things. So one day, having caught him in a ditch waiting for wild ducks, on my shooting-grounds, instead of prosecuting, I took him into my service, where he has now remained for some years ; and though he sometimes shows

INTRODUCTION.

an inclination to return to his former way of life, he lives tolerably steady, taking great delight, at all idle times, in teaching my children to shoot fish or trap vermin — a kind of learning which the boys, young as they are, have become great proficients in, preferring Simon Donald to their Latin master; and though they attend regularly and diligently to the latter, they make equally good use of the lessons of the former, and can dress a fly and catch a dish of trout for dinner, gallop on their Shetland ponies across the wildest country, or hit a mark with a rifle, as well as most boys of double their age. And, after all, this kind of education does boys more good than harm (as long as they do not neglect their books at the same time, which I do not allow mine to do), as they acquire hardihood of constitution, free use of their limbs, and confidence in their own powers. But I have said enough of me and mine, and must refer those who may have any curiosity on the subject to the following sketches, as illustrating my doings and observations in my temporary home.

It may be proper to mention that Chapters xxvi. and xxx. have already appeared in print ; some learned critic having deemed it expedient to publish them in the 153rd Number of the “Quarterly Review.”

FISHING BY MOONLIGHT.

Chapter I

Highland Lakes— Steam-boats— Small Lochs— Wild Cats— Ravens— Dragging the Lake— The Crea— Fishing at Night— Pike— Trolling large Trout on Loch Ness— Flies, Otters, etc. — Fishing with the Otter — Spawning Trout.

The beauties of Loch Lomond, Loch Awe, and several other of the Highland lakes, are almost as well known to the English as Regent Street or Hyde Park. Lovely and magnificent as all these visited lakes are, and worthy of the praise of the poet and the pencil of the painter, there are unnumbered other Highland lochs whose less hackneyed beauties have far greater charms for me. Visit Loch Lomond, or many others, and you find yourself surrounded by spruce cockneys, in tight-waisted shooting-jackets, plaid waistcoats, and (so-called) Glengarry bonnets, all of whom fancy themselves facsimiles of Roderick Dhu, or James Fitz-

Chap. I. Dragging

James ; and quote Sir Walter to young ladies in tartan scarfs, redolent, nevertheless, of the land of Cockayne. Steam-boats and coaches are admirable things, but they spoil one’s train of ideas, and terminate one’s reverie when enjoying the grandeur and sublimity of one of these spots of beauty. Though a steam-boat, at a certain number of miles’ distance, with its stream of smoke winding over the rocky shore of a large lake, and adding a new feature to the scene, may occasionally come in with good effect ; — when it approaches and comes' spluttering and groaning near you, with its smoke drifting right into your face, and driving you from some favourite point or bay, you are apt to turn your back on lake, boat, and scenery, with a feeling of annoyance and disgust.

I well remember being one bright summer’s day on the shore of Loch Ness, and enjoying the surpassing loveliness of the scene. The perfectly calm loch was like a mirror, reflecting the steep red crags of the opposite shore ; and the weeping-birch trees, feathering down to the very edge of the water, and hanging over its surface, as if to gaze at their own fair forms in its glassy depths, were as distinctly seen in the lake as on the shore ; while here and there a trout rising at a fly dimpled the smooth water, and in my idle mood I watched the circles as they gradually widened and disappeared. The white gulls floated noiselessly by, as if afraid to disturb the stillness of the scene, instead of saluting their common enemy with loud cries. I had been for some time stretched on the ground enjoying the quiet beauty of the picture, till I had at last fallen into a half-sleeping, half-waking kind of dreaminess, when I was suddenly aroused by a Glasgow steamer passing within a hundred yards of me, full of holiday people, with fiddles and parasols conspicuous on the deck, while a stream of black sooty smoke showered its favours over me, and filled my mouth as I opened it to vent my ill-temper in an anathema against steam-boats, country-dance tunes, and cockneys.

There have come in my way, during my rambles through the Highlands, many a fair and beauteous loch, placed like a bright jewel in the midst of the rugged mountains, far out of reach of

WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS.

CHAP, I.

Steam and coach, accessible only to the walking traveller, or at most to a highland pony, where the only living creature to be seen is the silent otter playing its fantastic gambols in the quiet of the evening, or the stag as he comes to drink at the water’s edge or to crop the succulent grass which grows in the shallows. There are so many small lochs which are known but to few individuals, but which are equally beautiful with those whose renown and larger size have made them the resort of numberless visitors, that it is difficult to single out any one as pre-eminent. In Inverness-shire there are many lovely lakes, and many an hour and day have I passed in fishing on some of these. There was one ]Deautiful lake to which I used sometimes to take net and boat, as well as rod. It was a piece of water about four miles long, and one or two broad ; at one end were two sandy bays, forming regular semicircles, with their beaches covered to a width of a few feet with small pebbles. Between these two bays was a bold rocky promontory running into the lake, and covered with fine old pine-trees. Along one side was a stretch of perhaps three miles of grey precipitous rocks nearly covered with birch and hazel, which hung over the water, casting a dark shade on it The other end of the lake was contracted between the rocks till it was lost to the view, while on the remaining side was flat moorland. The whole country round and within view of the lake was picturesque and bold. In the rocks near the water were a colony of wild cats, whose cries during the night deterred the shepherd from passing that way ; while on the highest part of the grey precipice was a raven’s nest, the owners of which always kept up a concert with their voices of ill omen whenever they saw a human being near their dominions — there they would sit on a withered branch of a tree or a pointed rock, croaking, and playing their quaint antics for hours together. Their nest was so protected by a shelf of rock which projected below it, that I never could get a rifle-ball into it, often as I have tried, though I must have frequently half-filled it with the splinters of the rock.

In dragging this lake we were obliged to restrict ourselves to