Forays among salmon and deer

Front matter

S»lllii?^;:r^t

ALBERT R. MANN LIBRARY

New York State Colleges

Preface

OuH bonnie isle — at least considerably more than the southern half of it — is now so crossed and recrossed by the many intersecting lines of "rail" which have of late sprung into being, and which are still multiplying, that the map of England in " Bradshaw " is beginning to bear a strong resemblance to the web which we might imagine constructed by some eccentric old spider, who, defying all the rules of geometry, sacrifices symmetry to utility, content if only his meshes are strong enough to secure for him occasionally a goodly blue-bottle. Along these lines, which form, as it were, the veins and arteries of the country, the glowing blood of England courses and recourses vigprously, in constantly renewed pulsations, between her heart of hearts, the Metropolis, and her distant extremities. Thus it comes to pass that many, taking advantage of the comparative proximity into which even the Highlands of Scotland are now brought, and yielding to that roaming propensity, so characteristic of the Enghshman, leave behind them for awhile the ledger or the loom, and seek relief from the sedentary occupations of a town life, in the bracing

VI PREFACE.

climate and invigorating recreations to be found in the " land of the mountain and the flood." It is for such as these the following pages are chiefly intended. The author, himself a mere tyro in the branches of sport therein treated of, would give to brother-beffinners some idea of the enjoyment which is attainable by all who may be possessed of ordinary activity and perseverance. With this object in view, he has endeavoured to give a faithful narrative of his own experiences; and while, for the advantage and warning of the novice, he has not left unrecorded his own errors, he would humbly deprecate severe criticism at the hands of the more experienced veteran.

The following pages have been compiled from letters and notes written among the scenes which they attempt to portray. It should however be here stated, that the present connected series of letters was not in contemplation at the time when the first was written. But after six had appeared in the columns of that excellent publication ' The Field ' newspaper, and more were still in hand, it was thought advisable to publish them all together in a small volume. Thus it is the Author has been led on to present them to the Public, in the hope that they might be found in some degree interesting to all lovers of the Rod or the Rifle.

The foregoing remarks formed the preface to a little book lately published, and entitled " Letters from the Highlands; or. Two Months among the

PREFACE. Vll

Salmon and the Deer." Its reception having been more favourable than the writer had ventured to hope, he has been induced to re-issue it, with the four additional chapters which compose the Appendix of the present Volume. The change of title was a necessary consequence of the increase in matter, and the extension of " the period of action."

Bbighton,

Chapter I. Page

Northward Ho ! — Donald, tlie GOlie, and his Capahilities. — The river Redbum. — My First Eise. — Poissonnerie v. Native Element.— Fish Hooked.— The Straggle.— The Victory.— The Kettle of Fish 1

Chapter II

To the Forest.— The Fox Hunter.— Stag Sighted.— Tactics.— Eoebuck Missed. — Success. — Thunder-storm. ■ — Cohr an Dhu. — Herd of Deer. — Disappointment. — Our First Stag . 12

CHAPTER ni.

Second Day ia the Forest. — False Stalk. — Mountain Pass. — Deer Visible. — Death of Stag. — The Eagle's Habits. — Anecdotes . 26

Chapter IV

Guillemot's Eggs. — Curious Fact. — Sea-Fishing. — Cuddies and lithe. — A Hard Pull. — Haddock. — Legend. — Eiver Frothay. —Hard Fight.— "Wounded Fish . . 40

Chapter V

" Creag an Eoghlevagh." — Ancient Gael. — Highland Shieling. — Fight with Stag. — Stag of Ehynie.— Long Stalk.— The Poacher's Religion. — The Stalk concluded .... 53

b

CONTENTS.

CHAPTKR VI.

PAGE

ExcuTsion to the Eiver Scaurdale.— Scenery on the Vay.— The Merlin. — Anecdote of Porpoise.— The Eiver Chruim.— The "Butcher" Fly. — Our Quarters.— The Scaurdale.— Good Sport -66

Chapter VII

The River Eedburn.— Ambition Dangerous. — Salmon Leaps. — Loch Fishing. — Poit Bhruich. — Hazardous Leap. — What makes an Angler. — Curious Capture. — Eagle and Salmon . 81

Chapter VIII

Wild-fowl Shooting. — The Locality. — Costume. — Waterproofs. — Shooting with Punt Gun. — Wild- Pigeons. — Rabbits. — Hernery. — Herons and their Habits .... 93

Chapter IX

Expedition to the Forest. — Evening Stroll.— Storm and Wind. — Deer Sighted. — The Stalk and its Difficulties. — Failure. — Night in the Mountain Cottage. — Rainy Day. ^Anecdotes. — The Highlander's Opportunities. — Curious Head. . . 105

Chapter X

Operations resumed. — Reconnoitring. — Deer discovered. — The Stalk. — Failure. — Second Stalk. — Stag wounded. — The Pursuit. — Fresh Deer found. — Successful Stalk. — Second Death. — School for Generalship. — Return Home . . . .127

Chapter XI

Fishing Excursion.— Mountain Loch. — Salt Loch.— The Otter. ^Highland Wedding.— Benefits of Clanship.— Omne solum patria.— Highland Dances. — Eorie "the Post." — Curious Custom. — Night Scenes and Meditations . . .Hi

CONTENTS. XI

Chapter XII. Page

Odd Nomenclature.— Sport Promiscuous. — Antiquities. — Nature in Miniature.— Mergansers.— Excursion to the Hills.— Princes of the Air. — Anecdotes. — Contest with Stag. — Death-blow and Eemorse. — Habits of Deer. — Stalking resumed. — Unsuccessful Shot.— Further Disappointment. — Final Shot. — Farewell to Scotland 163

Chapter I

Expedition to the Hills. — Scanning the Ground. — Dead Deer. — Search continued. — Game found. — Awkward Position. — "Gone away." — The Pass.— The Shot. — Instinct at Fault. —Anecdote of Flamingoes . 189

Chapter II

Hector, our New Guide. — Sighting the Deer.— The Approach. — Stalk Interrupted. — Fresh Game Afoot. — GouncU of "War. — Driving the Deer.- — Ambush and Shot. — A Clue. — Fresh Deer wounded. — Double Chase. — Disappointment. — Pursuit continued.— Death.— Stag at Bay.— Fallen Nobility .' . 201

Chapter III

Fishing.— Provisions for the Day.— The Route. — Eagle shot. — The First Salmon. — Great Kun of Fish. — Hard Fight. — Variation in the Sport. — Deer slain. — More Fish.— Our Quarters for the Night. —Journey Home. —Thunder-storm. — Seal-shooting. — Dredging for Shells. — Another Seal . . 217

XII CONTENTS.

Chapter IV. Page

Excursion to the Forest.— Deer alarmed by over-haste.— Watching the Game.— Provoking Interruption.- Further Delay. — Anecdote : Perilous Adventure : Glissade.— Disappointment. —Hind slaughtered.— Second Death.— Anecdotes of Kats . 235 rOEATS AMOM SALMON AND DEER

Chapter I

Northward Ho !— Donald, the Gillie, and his Capabilities.— The river Eedhurn. — My First rise. — Poissonnerie v. Native Element. — Fish Hooked.— The Struggle.— The Victory.— The Kettle of Fish.

My last adieus being waved to a friend, as he stood on the platform of a London terminus, and watched the departure of the train which was to transport me some 400 miles on my way to the Highlands, I sank back into my seat, and in a spirit of genuine commisera,tion began to compare the respective occupations awaiting us for the next few weeks.

On the one hand arose visions of legs wreathed fantastically round the lanky supporters of an official stool ; on the other hand the pleasing contrast of those same members briskly bearing me over the moors, or climbing the mountain side. Here eyes were poring laboriously over columns of £s.d.; there carefully searching the dim distance for antlers rising indistinctly from the heather.

Behind me was the grey canopy, which, lOte a huge umbrella, though without its advantages, hung suspended over the metropolis, shutting out from its busy

2 NOETHWAED HO !

myriads alike the fresh air and pure light of heaven ; while before me were anticipations of an atmosphere, proverbial indeed for its mists, yet at least untainted by the smoke of city, often too of marvellous clearness to the sight, bracing to the nerves, and renovating to the health. And as I thought of all this, I resolved not to forget the pledge just made to my friend, that I would do my best, by a periodically transmitted record of Tnj doings, to enliven the dull monotony of an existence, which, in serio-comic strain, he described as frequently occupied " on 'change," yet knowing no variety; and in which the noblest energies and greatest activity were spent " on the stocks."

Hence, gentle reader, originated the following emanations from my feeble pen. Feeble did I say ? 'tis a quill plucked by friend Donald from the kingly pinion of the eagle, worthy indeed of a chieftain's bonnet, and has soared full oft, I ween, beyond the ken of man — higher far, I fear, than any flight it is destined again to take, at least in my fingers.

But to begin, without stopping to dwell upon the journey, the scenery through which we passed, or the petty hindrances and annoyances we experienced — such as the loss of Walter's "wide-awake," which, apparently preferring a lively flight through the pure air of heaven to the drowsy atmosphere of the railway-carriage, suddenly took its departure through the window; or, again, my anxiety about a certain box, containing all my fishing-tackle, which tvould most provokingly stay behind, and for which we had eventually to interrupt our journey by a delay of two days in " auld Keekie," the box having booked itself to some place nobody knew where, — I must now beg you, reader, to transport yourself in imagination at least, if not in

DONALD, THE aiLLEE. 3

propria persond, to one of the wildest " straths " in the Highlands, while I " take a header " in medias res.

On the first morning after our arrival at the hospitable abode of our friends we sallied forth, fishing-rod in hand, Donald Mackay and the landing-net in attendance, intent on attacking a salmon as a beginning.

But, before proceeding further, I must give you a description of the said Donald, for whom I have conceived a great admiration ; and would that I could do him justice ! Picture to yourself, then, a lad who has seen but sixteen summers, yet not a hair's breadth short of six foot, and broad and well-built withal. He wore a short jacket of black and white check, which showed off his proportions to advantage, his " trewes " and plaid being of the same material, made from the wool of the sheep that roam on his native hiUs, and wrought in his own Highland home. From beneath a small bonnet his long flaxen hair streamed down in thick clusters ; his manly countenance ruddy with the fresh bloom of health, which in Scotland imparts a peculiar richness to the complexion ; whUe his eye beamed with intelligence, and his whole frame displayed a union of strength and agihty rarely to be found. A glance told that he was capable of, and accustomed to, great bodily exertion ; and, indeed, though his years are yet so few, many is the adventure in which Donald has taken his share. In climbing his dangerous way to the eagle's eyrie, ever perched on some almost if not completely inaccessible crag, and often some hundreds of feet above any safe footing, — in saving the life of the sheep, which, tempted by the sweetness of the grass in such localities, often tread their way along the narrow ledges of the rocks, until at length they find themselves unable to turn round, and, having no idea

4 THE EEDBUEN.

of retrograde motion, become terrified, and either throw themselves headlong down the face of the cliff or quietly await a death of starvation, unless rescued by a cool intrepidity worthy of the greatest hero, — or again in following up a wounded stag, with such skill and perseverance that it is said he would in time overtake one, even though only wounded in the foot, — and indeed in all trials of strength, patience, and nerve, he is without a rival. Add to this a considerable supply of natural shrewdness, together with an education far above the average, at least among our English peasantry (for he can read his newspaper with a relish, and discuss many general topics of conversation, besides a smattering of Latin, which he acquired as a foster child at the laird's house), and you have, as near as I can give it, a description of my juvenile ^cZms Achates. But to return. Donald led the way ; and we found it no easy task to keep pace with him, as he strode along, or rather sprang, from one "moss-hagg" to another, — by which name you must understand the tufted lumps of dry earth which rise from the bogs, and, like so many islets, or, as we call them here, ■' inches," in a sea of peat, often afford the only safe footing to be had in such localities; the spaces between being a black deposit, frequently of so great a depth and so soft and moist, that one false step may involve an immersion to the neck. After some four miles of such travelling, we were not sorry, as you may suppose, to arrive at our destination for the day, the river Eedburn. In consequence of recent rain in the hill whence the river takes its rise, we found a tolerable body of water, and so far matters were in our favour ; but the Eedburn is a sluggish stream, and requires a brisk wind to produce a ripple on its surface, or the fish will

THE FIEST EISE. 5

look with indifference on the most brilliant fly the angler can produce ; and to-day the river would, most proYokingly, continue calm and smooth as a polished mirror, the only breeze being athwart the river, which it was prevented from ruffling by the height of the banks. Our only chance, therefore, was to follow the course of the stream, in the hopes that among its various windings some corner might be found where there was the much wished-for ripple. Accordingly, displaying our fly-books to the experienced eye of Donald, we each put our rods together, took the fly his judgment selected, and began our attempts on the finny tenants of the water.

" Long did we strive the obdurate foe to gain ; "

but long, long also we " strove in vain." At length, however, our patience was rewarded ; the wind chopped round, so as to blow directly up the stream, and cheered our flagging spirits with a most enchanting little ripple.

The part of the river which we were to fish consisted of a succession of deep dark pools, worn into the peat soil; and Donald assured us that after very heavy rains there was a " graund " current, and that, consequently, at such times there " wasna bonnier feshing in a' Scautland ; " but the late rains had not been heavy enough to produce that much-desired state, and the nearest approach to the appearance of a current was a slight runnel at the head of each pool. Walter took the lowest pool, while I was to proceed upwards, promising to keep within a short distance, that Donald might be available to assist either of us.

Scarcely had we separated, when Walter rose a fine " fesh." Donald and I were too late to see anything but the curl on the water, caused by his unsuccessful

6 POISSONNKEIE V. NATIVE ELEMENT.

lunge after the fly. The " fesh," however, was not pricked, and we left Walter in a state of nervous hope that he would return to the charge.

Now, possibly, reader, you may be disposed to smile at the bare idea of nerves being affected by such a trifling cause as the rise of a fish ; but you have not tried it, or you would not be guilty of such an egregious error. Your only acquaintance, as yet, with the "genus Salmo" has been as he lay on the marble slab at your fishmonger's, or transformed as he lay on the table; and, therefore, I can excuse your misconception. But, suppose yourself for the moment a sportsman, or rather — which was "Walter's case — a Londoner beginning his first season in the Highlands. You have journeyed many miles to catch your first salmon, never having as yet caught anything beyond a trout of a pound's weight, or a jack of five or six; you reach the bank of your river; you throw the fly, selected with so much care, at first timidly and anxiously, but gradually with more and more confidence, and eventually even carelessly ; at length you reach the extreme pitch of negligence ; your eyes dilate as you yield to reverie ; your thoughts become scattered, as you whip the waters mechanically ; when suddenly a slight curl appears on the surface, a sob-like sound for a moment reaches your ear, as though some troubled water-sprite had just sunk beneath the wave, and instantly an electric shock passes swiftly up your line and down your rod, which at once dispels all your " castles in the air," and awakens you to the reality that you have just lost your first salmon.

Leaving Walter to try for better luck, we again started to proceed up the stream, passing two or three likely pools, whose merits however I did not test

ANOTHER RISE. 7

Donald's advice being that I should at once direct my steps to the best spot in the river, some little distance further up. After sundry frantic leaps over tributary burns, whose black peaty bottoms — suggestive of the idea of a " sinking fund," in addition to Donald's testimony to their swallowing capacities, founded, as he said, on the experience of various involuntary immersions — deterred us from attempting to wade them, we reached the wished-for spot. And a likely spot it was; a lafge oval-shaped pool, evidently of great depth, and capable of harbouring any amount of fish ; and, as the Ireeze shifted about, leaving calm patches on its surface, we could distinctly perceive, far down in its dark but transparent waters, huge masses of peat-soil which the floods of winter had torn from the banks, and affording splendid retreats for shy fish. Above, the channel grew narrower, and the current, in consequence, more lively ; the tangled arms of a huge root, the sole survivor of some giant of those primeval forests which once covered these now treeless regions, stood boldly out in the middle of this narrowed channel, and, strengthened by a mass of debris borne down from the moors above, checked the stream in its course, and produced two pretty runnels at the head of the pool, which, uniting a few yards below, became gradually lost in the stiller depths and wider expanse of the pool itself. " Noo, sir," said Donald, " noo, sir, a'm thenking, if there be a saulmon in a' the river, 'twill just be here ; " and I quite agreed with him. " Cast below the auld root, and let her float doon, 'tis a bonny current noo." I did so ; but the cast proved a blank. However, patientia est virtus said a voice from " auld lang syne," when as a schoolboy I first began my acciden.ce ; and so I repeated the dose, and once

8 THE STRUGGLE.

more my fly reached the tail of the runnel unassailed ; but, just as I began to raise my rod for another cast, the water curled round it ; I heard a sullen, lunging kind of noise; and, whir-r-r,— I had hooked my salmon. " Ay, but 'twill be a braw fesh thaat, sir !" ejaculated Donald, and so it was; but, unfortunately, it was not yet landed, nor did it seem at all disposed to be tract-' able. At first he rushed madly down the middle of the pool, ploughing a deep furrow as he went, and then sprang wildly into the air, trying the strength' an^ elasticity of my tackle to the utmost. This, however, was scarcely the most critical part of the struggle ; for sullenly retiring under the base of one of the above-mentioned masses of peat, — bent apparently on wearing out my patience, — he remained immovable, in spite of all efforts to dislodge him. My tackle was not strong enough to drag him out by main force ; and, though it was scarcely probable that he would be able to rid himself of a double hook, yet there was a great danger of his fretting the line against some stone or root until it should give way. Donald seemed to think that my only chance was to get him out of his retreat as quickly as possible, and accordingly began to throw stones at him.

At this moment our attention was attracted by a shout from "Walter ; and, on looking towards him, we saw at once that he also was in deadly struggle with some unseen antagonist; and, judging by the hyperbolic shape and the peculiar quivering motion of his rod, it was no contemptible contest in which he was engaged. I could not however, at present at least, dispense with Donald, and so, very selfishly, left Walter to shift for himself. My fish now was once more induced to leave his retreat and resume the contest,

THE VICTORY. 9

which every moment threatened the rupture of mj' tackle. His varied evolutions, dives, and flights through the air, as they thoroughly baffled my skill in dealing with them at the time, so they now completely beggar description. Gradually, however, he began to put out signals of distress ; his evolutions became more confined, his struggles less severe; and at length, to my inexpressible delight, he suffered himself to be drawn slowly alongside, and Donald, cautiously getting the landing-net beneath him, lifted him ashore and laid him at my feet, declaring that he did not weigh an ounce under " sexteen punds."

My fish at length secure, I found how very precarious had been my hold upon him. One of the hooks of my fly had broken out of his flesh, and the other was retained by a mere thread, so very slender that it seemed a perfect marvel that some of his last short but desperate struggles had not released him. Had his strength held out but a little longer, he must have escaped. However, all chance for him was now gone ; there he lay conciuered and gasping ; and Donald, taking up a stone, by one knock on the forehead for ever terminated his existence.

Thus, reader, was my patience rewarded, and my first salmon killed. I was now an initiated brother of the gentle craft ; and, though you may not be able to enter into the feelings of that moment, I' can assure you the sense of exultation was very great. A salmon, in his own element, is indeed no despicable antagonist; for, from his activity, he may baffle the skill of the most expert, while his strength is sufficient to weary the stoutest arm ; and it is only by patience and care that victory can be won.

But I must not suffer myself to dweU too long upon

10 THE VICTORY.

my own emotions, while Walter is still struggling with his fish. Now that there could be no longer any doubt that my own fish was hors de combat, we set off at once to his assistance, and found him also " wi' a graund fesh," as Donald said, at the end of his line, still resisting bravely, and judging from appearances, intending to resist for some time to come. My own fight had lasted twenty minutes; but this proniised apparently to be much longer. Immediately after our arrival the fish retreated under the opposite bank, and I began to expect a repetition of the tactics I had myself so recently dealt with. For some minutes we endeavoured to dislodge him by throwing stones, while Walter tried to irritate him by constantly jerking the line ; but all proved imavailing. At length, however, as a last resource, we sent Donald to ford some shallow part of the river, and get round to the opposite side of the pool, that he might drive out the fish if possible. On reaching the spot, and looking down from the top of the bank, Donald reported some huge roots visible below him, into which the fish must have retreated. He then made several attempts to dislodge the enemy, by thrusting down the shaft of the landing-net ; but it seemed as though nothing could move him. At length, however, by dint of stirring and poking, the opposition sensibly lessened, and by degrees the line came away, with a heavy weight attached to it, which proved to be a dead root, to which the salmon had succeeded in transferring the hook from his own jaws, and consequently had effected his escape.

Such was the mortifjdng termination of our worthy friend's first essay. There remained, however, nothing for it but to hope for better success with the next. We had, while standing here, observed more than one

A GUDE KETTLE o' FESH. 11

good rise at the liead of the pool ; and Walter proceeded to try his luck again, while I returned once more to the upper pool, — Donald remaining to assist with the head as well as the arm, should circumstances req^uire it.

But quid multa ? Not to make my letter tedious, I will content myself with these two specimens of our sport, and give you the result at the close of this our first day as briefly as possible. Suffice it then to say, that between us we succeeded in producing, in the graphic words of Donald, "no' a bad kettle o' fesh." My share of the plunder was four salmon, and cleaner fish I should never wish to see ; their weights respectively 7 lb., 9 lb., 11 lb., and 15 lb. Walter surpassed me in numbers, though not in weight, killing three salmon weighing between 8 lb. and 10 lb. each, and three sea trout, their weights 3 lb., Sj lb., and 4|- lb., making about 38 lb. to my 42 lb.

On reaching the ford where the road (such as it is) crosses the river, we were agreeably surprised to find a carriage waiting at the shepherd's shieling close by to convey us home, where we arrived in high goodhumour with ourselves, our first day's sport, and the kind attention of our hospitable friends.

12 TO THE FOREST.

Chapter II

To the Forest. — The Fox Hunter. —Stag Sighted. — Tactics.— Roehuck Missed.— Success.— Thunder-storm. — Cohr an Dhu.— Herd of Deer. ^Disappointment. — Our First Stag.

I HAD long looked forward to deer-stalking as the acme of British sport; and though in this our first essay we did not meet with the success we had anticipated, — for skill is not to be acquired in a day — yet we gained an insight such as nothing hut experience can give, and the pleasure of the sport itself was heightened by the character of the scenery. To stand on some hill's barren brow, with nothing of human cultivation visible, — nothing but the boundless heavens above, mountain looming beyond mountain in one direction, and the broad expanse of the Atlantic sleeping far beneath in the other, with no vegetatio^j but the heather, the bilberry, and the juniper straggling up the mountain-sides, until all becomes bare rock, blasted and shattered by the storms of ages, — what more calculated to impress one with one's own littleness and the majesty and grandeur of that Being who was the Maker of the everlasting hills, and who stilleth the raging of the seas ?

On Monday we set off (Walter and I), attended by two gillies (Sandy and Donald), driving, as far as the road lay in our direction, in a dog-cart, which gave us

THE FOX-HUNTEE. 13

a lift of some five miles. A short pull up a steep " brae " brought us to the cottage of a dignitary yclept " the fox-hunter " — a most useful though nondescript character on a Highland farm — whose occupation of keeping down the number of vermin (such as martens, foxes, otters, eagles, et id genus omne) is agreeably varied, when occasion requires an extra hand, by the duties of either keeper or shepherd. We had no sooner reached his door, than we were assailed and completely hemmed in by a large and most unpleasantly clamorous pack of the so-called fox-hounds, composed of smooth terriers, Skyes, and English hounds, with crosses and mongrels ad infinitum. The clamour of the hounds and our own consequent alarm somewhat abated, we learnt that though Gillespie himself (the fox-hunter) was away on a distant part of the farm, he had left instructions for us with his wife; and she accordingly entered into a long colloquy with Donald, not one word of which could AValter or I comprehend, being entirely Gaelic; but the substance of it, as he afterwards informed us, was to the effect that a fine stag had been seen lately, more than once, in a hollow in Ben Fuoghlin, not more than three mUes distant from the cottage, and that there were several roe-deer in some birch woods in Strathmohr, about five miles off, and nearly in the same direction ; so that the two places might be visited in the same day, before fairly entering the distant and more unfrequented parts of the forest.

Accordingly, sending Sandy forward with a large bag of provisions which we had brought with us, composed of barley bannocks, mutton ham, and usquebaugh, to the hut where we purposed passing the night, and possibly, if sport should prove good, two or three