New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-06-25
THE RURAL LIFE OF ENGLAND
BY CAPTAIN MAYNE REID.
Mi.
COUNTY SOCIETY IN WINTER.

N
$, tor q while bv the seaside at the fashionable
storing nlaces There are also inland towns with
,,ineral springs frequented by portion OF IL NJ
3bis time of year. while another section seeks
rnorootion abroad in short tour stays at one OF
tbo poted Continental resorts yachting trips, TOO
IRE indulged in by those Of its members owning
Socbts or having friends who own them. with
ibe 10Th Of August there is another exodus from
county houses chiefly Of gentlemen; that being the
day on which grouSe-shOOtng legally begins. 10
LII grouse before would not only lie unsports
,nanllke. but might get the slaughterer fined,
whether he held a game license or not For al at
4e earliest hour on the morning Of the 10Th large
Numbers Of these birds appear on the stalls OF the
London came-deaers and considering the distance
4hev must have come to get there infringement OF
fhe statute is an obvious inference. In England
grouse abounds only in few OF tue hor'herh
shires. while also inhabiting the mountains vi
MALES and Ireland. Scotland however, Is the chlel
sonrco ~ simply: and for several days preceding
}he 9th the platforms of railway stations on INES
leading TO the north, exhibit all the paraphernaha
of sport guns in cases dogs of the spaniel ana
nointer breed being thrust into the railway boxes
prepared for them; gamekeepers CARRIED III the
orthodox velveteen coat breaches and gartersS
with the sportsmen themselves moving aOout III
every variety of shooting costume
As it is something of boast to go grOusc-shoot-
INC IL need hardly be said that the sport is an ex-
hepsiye one: large sums of money being paid as
rental for grouse preserves, or gTouse-moors, as
they are commonly called. ! may also mention
here Devastating, the two sports often being con-
lo,ned in the highlands and islands of Scotland,
where extensive tracts of woodland are kept stocked
with deer for this especial pUrpose And so fashion,
ably popular has It been of late years that many
Scotch laird" formerly the penniess proprietor OF
only worthless wastes, or unproltable sheep-runs'
ia now ENJOYING a handsome income from these,
maintained as grouse moOrs" and deer-iorests.
Such are rented or purchased outright; in either
sase fabulous prices are asked and freely given for
fbem. some renting as high from $4,000 to
100000 year, with the selling price in proper
lion Rumor has it that there Is frequent trickeTy
In their letting; the preserves beng found not haIf
SO well stocked as represented i'll the newspaper adj
yertisement which has drawn attention to them. l
can myself speak of a transaction OF purchase
which certainly bears this color; one OF my ac-
nuaintances, a wealthy young baronet being the
Sictin. He bought a Scotch island, well wooded
and alundantly supplied with deer roebuck,
s,rouse and other game. So far the representation
was correct: hut when the purchase was completed
md the money paid-G7O OOO-he found hole in
ibe bottom of his bargain not set forth in the bill
of sale namely the ugly fact that landing could
only be made on the island when the wind blew
from certain quarter, winch it often dld not Tor
weeks And once upon it, there was an equal dlHI-
rulty in getting of again; the Coings to an4 COM
sngs from this happy n hunting ground beinrailke
dependent on the caprice of weather. My iIlehd Is
still lord of the isle" finding 1t white elephant
on his hands, more costly than Jumbo has been TO
Mr. Barnum: and for the sake of your enteIprslnS
Snowman let me hope also less profitable.
ON each of these grouse-shootug and deerstalk-
inr estates there is habitable residence; some
times only boz" or lodge. but often goodly
mansion. with stabling coach-hOuse, servants
uuarters and such like accommodation. In the
latter case the sportsman will have number OF
friends staying with him as guests. ladies as well
as gentlemen the gentlemen taking part IN the
snort the ladies being occasional spectators OF H.
while the evening hours, devoted to feStlVlty, are
enlivened by their presence. Many matrimonial
affair with some flirting not meant for matrimony,
has had commencement, or made progress, upon the
ruoors and mountains of Scotland. Hiarty there
rules the hours all round and the life while it lasts
e cheerful even delectable. But its delights are
not exclusive to county society, nor gentry OF any
Kind Indeed it is doubtful whether half OF those
who 90 ouse-shoOtng and Devastating are OF the
aristocracy class. Plutus, from London, Liverpool,
manchester and other prosperous centres OF trade
enjoys these fashionable sports too and can as well
pay for chem; while to the canny Scotch LAIRD, ms
The laird pockets it, and after paying gamekerpers,
Watchers. "pillies' and the like finds surplus to
the good enabling him to maintain state such as
his ancestors never had nor dreamt Of
Perhaps the most noteworthy annual event IN the
life of county society occurs the 1st of Sep
TENDER. facetously termed st. Parndge's Day.
However occupied elsewhere, or wherever scat
tered about at this time there is a general gather
ing home to enjoy the sport of Misunderstanding
not LEGALLY allowable before the FIST dag of Sep
tomber The reason OF its commencing later than
grouse-slootng is partly from tie mountain bird
having its brood earlier ready for the gun than that
of the PLAIN, and partly because partndges cannot
lie followed into the standing corn without damage
60 the crop. So they get grace till this IS cut down.
leaving them only the stubble and turnip fields for
shelteIng coyer-nO protection at all against the
keen scent of the pointer indeed woIse than none,
because of its betrayng them into false security
During September, one passing along the ROADS Oh
rural England will every here and there III the
adjacent fields a party engaged in partudge-shoot-
inc. or "a II is more commonly called by them
selves, bird. shooting. the partridge, in sportsman
phraseology, bearing The distinctive title, bird"
There will he two or three gentlemen usually at
tired in shooting jackets of Tweed c'o;h, armed
with double barrelled breech-loaders and attended
bva pamekeeper with one or more assistants for
retrieving and carrying the killed game When
gentlemen of the hdut On or county society," theIr
attire j, of the simplest kind, the elaborate snowy
eet-up of the French and other Continental sports
men being affected in England only by those not to
the manner born. These partridge shooters go
frampng through the stubs" and Swedes" their
weil-traned dogs qnarterlng the ground IN 'front.'
ill one or other makes "point.' Then there Is a
drawing up TO where the covey IS squatted; not In
any oxc.ted haste for that would be unsportsmah
like. then n signal word is given to flush the
birds alter which the guns go banging, barrel after
tarrel partridge falling to almost every shot, foI