Short Sketches of the Wild Sports & Natural History of the Highlands

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Preface

The appearance of another, the ninth, edition of St John's Highland Sports renders a few words of introduction necessary for readers separated by nearly half a century from the time when the book was first published. It delighted a past generation, and has probably done more than any book since written to foster a love of out-door sport among the wilder birds and animals of the British Isles. But the author possesses a stronger claim to the gratitude of naturalists and sportsmen. He upholds the highest traditions of true sport : on the one hand setting the example of refraining from all that savours of taking an ungenerous advantage over these wild creatures ; on the other, trying to inculcate humanity towards them, believing that a fondness for observing their habits confers a higher pleasure than the mere shooting of a great quantity of game.

Mr. St. John was specially qualified to write on the birds and beasts of Scotland. A happy concurrence of circumstances connected with his residence in the district of Moray gave him unrivalled opportunities of observing its quadrupeds, while he has paid even greater attention to the birds of the country. He says (Preface to Natural History and Sport in Moray^ p. ix.) : " I have taken the nests of all the birds which breed in Scotland, without, I believe, an exceptioa I have

829073 vi IVILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS

also watched the habits of feeding, etc., of all, from the golden eagle to the golden-crested wren, from the wild swan to the teal, and have had opportunities of so doing which perhaps no other person has had."

Independently of the charm of St. John's writing, what at present renders his Wild Sports especially valuable is that Scotland and the Scotch fauna have considerably changed during the last half-century. The variety and abundance of wild life here described can never again be seen. Fortunately a true picture of that departed past is preserved in St. John's vivid narratives. Population has increased ; and railways, driven far into what in his days were wastes of trackless bog and heather, now admit countless sportsmen and tourists to the most retired districts. An increasing taste for shooting and fishing, and the charm of a freer life during the beautiful northern summer than can be found in great cities, have planted castles and shooting lodges all over Scotland. Sport of any kind can now only be obtained at a considerable cost For economical reasons, all lovers of Scotland must rejoice at this tendency of the age ; but it has pressed with great severity upon all wild life. Indeed, where they have not been specially protected, several kinds of birds and beasts, such as the osprey, the kite, and the marten, have either died out or are rapidly approaching extinction. Were it not for legal restrictions and private watchfulness others would be seriously endangered, or linger on remaining scantily represented.

Thus many animals and birds which were sufficiently common in St John's time are now rare and seldom seen. It has been thought advisable, therefore, in this edition to add a few notes in order to illustrate the instincts or traits of these creatures, their prevalence or scarcity. Some more general remarks have also been appended here and there to clear up

PREFACE vii

any obscurity or bring out associations which might otherwise have been forgotten. There has been no tampering with the original text

The additional notes of the author, marked C. St J., are printed word for word from an interleaved copy of Jenyns's Manual of British Vertebrate Animals. They are interesting as showing the exactitude and brevity of St John's notes. At times they also throw further light upon the text For permission to use them the editor is indebted to the kindness of

the writer's son, Admiral H. C St John.

M. G. W.

LIFE OF C. ST. JOHN

•

Many men well known in the literary world possess no history, because their life has been spent with their books. Mr. St. John's days were passed on the moorland or by the river, devoted to sports and natural history, consequently there is little to tell of his life except the distinctive facts which mark off one human being from another. His love of animated nature, his perseverance and keenness in capturing the rarer birds and beasts, are only matched by the acuteness with which he caught their habits and instincts and transferred them into these pages. In them and in his other two books may be read his real life-work.

Charles William George St. John was son of General the Honourable R St. John, himself the son of Frederick, second Viscount Bolingbroke. He was born at Chailey, Sussex, 3rd December 1809, and sent in due time to Midhurst School, under Dr. Bayley. Here it is upon record that under the careful tuition of an old pensioner, who acted as drill-sergeant to the school, the characteristic bent of his mind showed itself, and he became a proficient in spinning for pike and setting night-lines for eels in the river A run. During his stay of about four years his box was usually filled with some kind of pets ; dormice, guinea-pigs, or stag-beetles. He was appointed to a clerkship in the Treasury in 1828, but only remained for some two years at his desk, the confinement and regular hours being little suited to his tastes. At this time of his life St John was fond of society, and was enabled to enjoy it to his heart's content through the kindness of his aunt. Lady Sefton, He had a slight impediment in his speech, but it almost disappeared when he was among friends, and then his conversation

WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS was easy and flowing. When in London he was wont to drive or ride out of town to shoot blackcock and return the same day. The distance was eighty miles, and he used four horses ia getting over the ground, each horse doing twenty miles.

A new phase of life opened upon him after leaving the Treasury, owing to the kindness of his cousin. Lord Bolingbroke, who lent him Rosehall, a shooting-box on the Oykell in Sutherland. The retirement, the shooting, the wild stretches of moorland around him, exactly suited his genius. Many of his observations on animal life, and much of his experience as a deer- stalker, were here acquired. On an expedition from Rosehall he met Miss Ann Gibson, the daughter of a rich banker in Newcastle, and married her in November 1834. She possessed some fortune, in which he had been somewhat deficient, and much sympathy with his tastes and habits. Henceforth he devoted himself to the life of a sportsman and naturalist, living in succession at several houses in the Highlands in Ross-shire, Inverness, Nairn, and Moray. The need of schools for his growing family brought him nearer to towns. But he found the " laigh " of Moray best suited to his tastes— *• a fertile and well-cultivated country, with dry soil and bright and bracing climate, with wide views of sea and mountain, within easy distance of mountain sports, in the midst of the game and wild animals of a low country, and with the coast indented by bays of the sea and studded with frequent fresh-water lakes, the haunt of all the common wild-fowl, and of many of the rarer sorts." Amid such scenes St. John lived for ten years, the best part of his working life, before his fatal illness.

It was in Moray that St. John became acquainted with Mr. C. Innes, Sheriff of Moray, in the autumn of 1 844, while the latter was shooting partridges. He had shot one and lost it among some potatoes ; but St John offered to let his own rather ungainly-looking dog find it if the Sheriff would permit him. This the dog speedily did, and an acquaintance thus commenced of much pleasure to both, and the source of a new and unexpected interest in St. John's life. He was then living at Invererne, below Forres ; and Mr. Innes, captivated by his stories of sport and adventure, induced him to write out a few reminiscences fcr an article he was himself preparing for

LIFE OF C. ST. JOHN the Quarterly Review. The editor (Lockhart) was delighted with them, especially with the story of " the Muckle Hart of Benmore." St John now began to see how he could utilise the varied information he had gathered, and one winter dili* gently put together the charming pages of The Wild Sports of the Highlands, The Sheriff had the satisfaction of arranging for the sale and publication of this in 1845 ; and then for the first time naturalists and sportsmen obtained accurate information of the wild life of Northern Scotland ; while the simple charm of St John's narratives, and the boundiess enthusiasm for sport which these chapters evoked, speedily made his name famous, and have given the utmost pleasure ever since to all lovers of rural life. Thenceforth St John kept more regular journals, and acquired a scientific interest in his sport The sand-hills of Culbin, the Black Forest stretching away beyond Brodie and Dalvey, the sand-spits on the coast where the seals might be seen basking in the sun, the Findhorn with its evervarying prospects and the "sea-pyes" haunting its gravel banks, these and other contiguous fields of research furnished him with inexhaustible objects to observe and comment upon.

In 1 848 and 1 849 St John was obliged for the sake of his family to reside much in Edinburgh ; but he loved to make excursions on the one side to Newcastle, where dwelt Mr. Hancock, whose tastes were similar to his own, and on the other to Sutherland. This county had always possessed many attractions for him in its fishing and deer-stalking, and led to his publishing two volumes upon its sport.

Of all the houses St John had inhabited, perhaps the College, Elgin, is the most identified with his pursuits and literary work. Here he came in the autumn of 1 849. It was in the neighbourhood of many friends, — Sir A. G. Gumming of Altyre, Major Gordon Gumming, and others, — while there were good schools close at hand for his boys. The house itself, with its old trees and rambling garden and the ivy covering the walls, was exactly suited to the studies in natural history of himself and his family. Here he could shoot and fish in much happiness ; and here, owing to his habits of vigour, active exercise, and temperance, he spent several happy years. It is worth while extracting a pleasant picture of his home-life at Elgin from the pages of Mr. Innes :

xii WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS

The boys were the constant companions of his sport when school permitted, and sometimes the schoolmaster was forgotten when the car came to the door to take papa and Rennie (Donald) to the loch. Then, on the return, there were the contents of the game-bag to examine, — rare specimens to note, and sometimes to preserve and stuff after Mr. Hancock's directions, who was a great friend and ally of old and young. In the evening the drawing-room was a pretty sight. Some rare bird, or, if no rarity offered, a good handsome old blackcock, was displayed en pose for the artists, and father and children made studies in water-colours of a head, a claw, or a tail of the fine bird. Without pretending to much skill in art, St. John drew easily and coloured dexterously what was placed before him, and he made all his children able to do the same. — P. xxviii.

But the end of this happy, industrious life was approaching. The pen which had delighted so many lovers of nature by its graphic accounts of sport and natural history was soon to drop useless from the hand. St. John had been a sufferer for a long time from severe headaches. After a violent attack in the beginning of December 1853 he seemed better, and was on his way to shoot at Pluscardine, when on 6th December he was struck down by paralysis of the whole left side. Quite powerless, yet perfectly conscious, he was carefully tended and taken home by Major Campbell. For many weeks he was tenderly nursed by him and by his own devoted family. He never recovered the use of his limbs, but was enabled to go south for change of scene and air. Brighton, however, and Southampton did not appear to do him much good. He still cherished the hope of ending his days in the Highlands ; but death released him on 12th July 1856 at Woolston, and he was buried hard by in Southampton Cemetery. At his feet inside the coffin was placed the skull of a favourite retriever, the successor of " Grip." During the two years of his illness his patience and resignation were wonderful after the active life that he had almost always led out of doors among his favourite sports and in the observation of nature. It might have been expected that he would have pined for freedom and exercise, but no sign of such a feeling ever showed itself. He left three sons and one daughter, who are still living.

Charles St John is famous as a sportsman, a naturalist, and a writer. As a sportsman, his fire and eagerness w^ere extreme ; and he was especially fond of seeing his dogs work as

LIFE OF C ST. JOHN xiii

he shot, never taking life merely for the wantonness of killing. But fishing and shooting were always subordinate to his ardour for observing the habits of the wild creatures which he possessed so many opportunities of noting. He insisted on seeing with his own eyes, and never cared to take facts on hearsay. Enthusiastic, cautious, and diligent, he was the model of a zoologist ; country pursuits and love of the country almost amounting with him to a passion. St. John's style is plain and straightforward, frequently rising to a poetical appreciation of scenery, and redolent of heather scents and the freshness of the mountain breeze. Imagination is strictly subordinated to sober details of what he actually saw, and heard, and did There is no attempt to rise to gorgeous or even fine writing, and this is the reason why his books still prove so fascinating. Without either eccentricities of thought or of language, they tell their own tale, and appeal strongly to all who sympathise with nature and sport Therefore they never become antiquated, or disgust readers with the affectations and sporting jargon of a bygone day. When Walton and White of Selborne are forgotten, then, and then only, will the world tire of St. John. Few authors in his own peculiar range of sport and natural history combined can vie with him ; few indeed have surpassed him. It is believed that many lovers of nature who have grown up since the early editions of the Highland Sports were published will be as delighted to make St. John's acquaintance as were their fathers, to whom his experiences of the sport to be obtained in Scotland came like a revelation.

St. John's insight into animal life was as keen as that of Jefferies, but wider, more particular and exact. Nature was as dear to him as to Thoreau ; but St. John's love of sport drew him nearer to the birds and beasts of his native land. Perhaps the late Mr. J. Colquhoun most resembled him in united enthusiasm for sport and nature and skill in writing on these subjects; butSt John far excels him in the accuracy of his knowledge and the extent of his observations on animals, their habits and traits. An untimely death removed one who would probably have largely increased sportsmen's sympathy and acquaintance with their quarry, and might have considerably widened the domain of the sciences which preside over the birds and animals of his adopted country. Besides the Highland Sports^ St John has xiv WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS

left two excellent books, one on T/u Natural History of Moray^ the other on Deer-stalking in Sutherland,

This memoir has been put together from the Life of St John written by the late Mr. C. Innes and prefixed to the former of these two books, and from notes supplied by the eldest son of the author, Admiral H. C. St John. To his kindness also this edition is indebted for the portrait of the author, the first which has hitherto been made public.

CONTENT?

PASS

Introduction i

Chapter I

Highland Lakes — Steam -boats — Small Lochs — ^Wild Cats — Ravens — Dragging the Lake — The Char — 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 . . . . . .19

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 . . . . -2/

Chapter IV

The Wild Cat : Strength of ; Rencontre with — Trapping tame Cats : Des-

tructiveness of — Poisoning vermin — Trapping vermin . . .43

Chapter V

Poaching in the Highlands — Ronald — Poachers and Keepers — Bivouac in Snow — Connivance of Shepherds — Deer killed — Catching a Keeper — Poaching in the Forests — Shooting Deer by Moonlight — Ancient Poachexs ........... 50 xvi WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS

Chapter VI Pack

Salmon-fishing — Salmon ascending Fords — Fishers — Cruives — Right of Fishing — Anecdote — Salmon-leaps — History of the Salmon — Spearing Salmon — River Poaching — Angling — Fly-making — Eels — Lampreys ........... 63

Chapter VII

Short-eared Owl : Habits of — Long-eared Owl — ^Tame Owl — White Owl —Utility of Owls — Mice — Rats : Destructiveness of — ^Water Rats : Food of — Killing Rats — Ratcatchers ...... 7a

Chapter VIII

Crossbills : Habits of ; Nest — Snowy Owl — Great-eared Owl — Hoopoe — Shrike — Tawny and Snow Bunting — Lizards — Singular Pets — Toads : Utility of ; Combats of — ^Adders — Dog and Snakes — Large Snake — Blind-Worm ........ 80

Chapter IX

On the Peculiarities and Instinct of different Animals — Eggs of Birds —

Nests— The Fox— Red-Deer Hind 87

Chapter X

The Eagle : Habits ; Greediness ; Anecdotes of ; Killing Eagles ; Trapping ; Food of — The Peregrine Falcon : Manner of Hunting — Tame Falcon : Anecdotes of — Guinea-Hen and Ducks — ^The Osprey — ^The Kite : Trapping — ^The Buzzard : Nests and Habits of . . -93

Chapter XI

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 . ... . .... 103

Chapter XII

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

— ^Anecdotes — Fish killed by . . , . . .110

CONTENTS xvii

Chapter XIII Pagb

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 . .116

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 . 134

Chapter XV

Increase of Wood-pigeons and other Birds — Service to the Fanner of these Birds — ^Tame Wood-pigeons : Food of — The Turtle-Dove — Blue Rock-Pigeons: Caves where they breed — Shooting at the Rocks near Cromarty 135

Chapter XVI

Wild Ducks : Edible kinds of — Breeding-places of Mallards — Change of Plumage — Shooting — Feeding-places — Half-bred Wild Ducks — Anas glacialis — Anas clangula : Habits of — ^Teeth of Goosander — Cormorants — Anecdotes . . . . . . , •144

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 I54

Chapter XVIII

Sheldrake: Nest; Food — Teal: Breeding-places; Anecdotes — ^Landrail : Arrival of — Cuckoo — Nightjar : Habits of — Quail — Grebe : Arrival; Account of Nest and Young — Bald Coot — ^Water-Hen — Water-Rail 162

Chapter XIX

Wild Geese : Arrival of ; Different kinds of ; Anecdotes of — Shooting Wild Geese — Feeding-places — Wariness — Habits — Breeding-places — Black-headed Gull — Birds that breed on the River-banks . .17a

/J xviii WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS

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-fry killed by — Boatswain-Gull — Manner of procuring Food ......... 244

CONTENTS xix

Chapter XXVIII Page

Woodcock's Nest : Early Breeding of ; Habits of, in Spring ; First Arrival of ; Anecdotes of ; Manner of carrying their Young — Habits of Snipe — Number of Jacksnipes — Solitary Snipe . . . .251

Chapter XXIX

Seals — Destruction to Fish and Nets — Shooting Seals in River and Sea — Habits of Seals — Anecdotes — Seal and Dog — Seal and Keeper — Catching Seals — ^Anecdotes . . . . . . .256

CHAPTER XXXVI Variety of Game 315 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

BY HARRISON WEIR, CHARLES WHYMPER, A. C. CORBOULD,

A. H. COLLINS, A. T. ELWES, AND A. H. HALLAM MURRAY

ENGRAVED ON WOOD BY J. W. WHYMPER

Portrait of the Author

Rough Weather .

Donald Instructing his Young Master

Fishing by Moonlight

Plovers

Roebuck

Roe Swimming Loch

Shooting a Witch

Mountain Scenery

Ptarmigan

Wild Cat

The Right Sort op Gamekeeper

Affray with Poachers

Bivouac on the Hills under the Heather

Spearing Salmon or Burning the Water

Rapids on the Findhorn

The Long-eared Owl .

Rats Carrying off Egg

The Snowy Owl .

Ybllow-Hammbr's Nest

Whitethroat's Nest .

Thb Eaglb and Mountain Hare

Frontispiece TiUe-Page

PAOB

I

19 26

39 42

79 80

87 92 xxii WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS

PAGE

My Pugnacious Peregrine 102

The Sparrowhawk . , . . .103

The Otter in his Haunts no

The Otter's Attack 115

The Weasel's Victim . .116

Deer and Hounds 123

A Hunting Bulldog . . . . . . . .124

My Pets 134

Wood- Pigeons -135

Across Cromarty Bay ........ 143

The Sympathetic Mate 153

Oyster-Catchers at Home 154

Logib House 161

Water-Hen 162

Loch Indorbh 171

Shooting Wild Geese 173

Site of Heronry on the Findhorn .182

Sandhills op Moray ......... 183

A Cautious Peep 191

Dxath of my First Stag 192

Findhorn Bay 199

The Findhorn River . 200

The Valley of the Findhorn 203

Crossing the Burn ......... 205

Valley of the Findhorn 210

DuLSiB Bridge . .211

The Hills of Sutherland from the Moors above the Findhorn . 215

Rxlugas House 217

The Sentinel 218

Swans in the Bay 224

The Water-Ouzbl 325

Terns on Salmon Stakes ........ 229

The Moray Firth from Dava 231

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xxiii

PAGB " I DASHED MY PlAID OVER HIS HbAD " . . . . , . 232

Bringing Home the " Mucklb Hart " 243

" The whole Community attacked Him " 244

Gulls coming Inland . . . . . . . . . 247

The Findhorn from Altyrb Woods, looking north . • .250 Woodcocks Tilting . . . . . . . , .251

Donald and the Seal 256

Looking up the Findhorn Valley from Dulsie Bridge • . 264

Fox-hunting in the Highlands ....... 265

Highland Mowing 269

Badger and Wasps' Nests ........ 270

Group of Highland Dogs. From Sir E. Landseer, R.A. . . . 277

" The next Moment He was Passing Full Broadside to Me " . 278 " On the Height of the Hill He Halted " . . . . . 283

Bridge after Flood ......... 288

The Raven 289

Highland Barometers .... .... 294

The Stag at Bay 295

Malcolm holding the Dogs . . . . .310

Young Ducks catching Moths . . . . . . .311

Curlew and Golden Plover 315

THE

WILD SPORTS & NATURAL HISTORY THE HIGHLANDS