Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-01-28
GAME PRESERVING
AND BATTUES
BY FREDERIC HARRISON.

BY FREDERIC HARRISON.
{ am all for active exercise In the air. I'M
the open country as far as possible. the
wilder the better. l have been rider
yearly all my life, and was once caught
In the hunting field by Anthony TrouOpe,
who seemed TO think il very funny to meet
me there. / have been a mountaineeY and
have done the principal peaks and passes
OF the Alps. l know the Pyrenees. the
Apennines and the mountains of Tyrol and
of Greece. / have often Climed Ben Nevis,
Ben Lomond. Helvellyu Snowdon. and have
tramped any time these sixty years over
the finest moors in England. Wales and
Scotland; nor did 1 ever feel a more
glorious sense Of life than when this last
autumn / was taking my solitary ram5les
over the deer forests Of ROsshire and Skye.
And withal, knowing more of mountains,
m1ors and forests than most prOfessed
sFortsmeu. / make bold 10 say that game
preserving as now practiced In England
is social nuisance and a public curse,
and chat "hattue shooting" as now Gevel-
oped is stupid. idle sloGbish form of
sport The man who delivers himself over
10 SHOOTING as the end OF life becomes a
tiresome bour. Intellectually be.ow tie head
gaWe-keeper, a lump Of brutal selhshHess
and vulgar sWIg@er. He knows nothing
really Of nature. The glOries OF the country
are lost to him, he is blind to them; he IS
senses 20 perceive them
*
Now. am neither Vegetarian nor human
ilariau. ! can enjoy the leg of a pheasant
or half grouse. i am sometimes chilled
a Jac5DIu. which is a shame for I am
stout conservative in many things. l see
that life is being taken round US. and
indeed has to- be taken in se!f-defense. ]
see painful necessity for a lethal chamber
for the superfuous or unnecessary quad
ruDed. and I sometimes feel sorry there is
no letEal chamber for the unneecSs try
hipcT / am no maRkish ScntimcGt8Iiss.
If ms horse had broken his leg and there
was no one to save him or to kill him, |
could put the pistol to his brain myself.
Or could cut Lamb $ throat IT meat must
be Ind and no butcher could be got.
man has 10 do such things, Just as In bat
lie he has to use his weapon. But us to
amusing himself by wantonly killing an eN-
qUisits bird such pheasant or a noble
beast such as an antIeTed stag, | should
prefer to lose my own little finger 1t wont
do to tell me / don't know what sport
Is ] have been out ON the glaciers with
chimOis hunters, and have seen more
chamois on rock and snow than half the
spOrtsmcn of Norfolk. ! have cen with
the hunt of wild deer in FOntainebleau
forest. / have lived for many years in Sur
rey, Sussex and Kent. surrounded by big
preserves; the pheasants troop across my
lawn here all day long q prefer them to
peacocksJ and all my life my holidays have
been passed in tie moOrs. woods and hills.
And / say your modern battue is vulgar
and tEUohe butCEery-and as for big
drive being the tpye of country enjoy
ment. 7 say it is the ruin of the country
and the occupation of those who know
nothing Of the country.
~
No one ever Lears a confirmed b7ttue man
show the smallest interest in the country
as nature. lie is blind to its lovelnes
deaf TO the endless Chirp. call and notes of
the songSters, the moan of doves in i'm
memorial elms. the s0ugh of the pine wood;
he has no scent for the fragrafce Of earth
and bank and heath. He drowns the wi d
thyme with tobacco smoke-tEe only song
ster he cares for IS the croak and sC~eech Of
the pheasant. All he wants is plenty of
stolen eggs and crack place in the firing
line. For this he pays in bank notes ana
swaggers about il at his club for a week
When you meet him at a country house or
even at town dinner party. he can talk of
nothing but rs last "bag'-'Sir George can
SHOW you better sport than Lord S."-and
when he dies. the only truthful epitaph that
could he craven on his tomb is that of Graf
Won ZahdarmS in "SartoT Resartus.' qu.n-
Quies mile perdrices plumbo confect. An
evening spent with ST. Georges gamekJep-
or would be more amusing and far more in
structiVe He does know something about
the secrets of nature and the ways OF ami
mails He rears hundreds for every one lie
kills, and whatever he Kills Is IN the way OF
trade and not for amusement. To a man
who really loves nature. sucks in its inf
mite forms al every pore Of his body and
watches il hour by hour and night and day.
what is called sport is vulgar disturb
ance. as if fellows handed round bottled
stout whilst we were trying to listen to
symphony of Beethoven.
Few sportsmen have seen as many moors
as | have. for | have been on the tramp
for sixty years. But nothing would induce
me 10 carry a gun. or anything but a good
stick, possibly a map and fed glass; nor
would l lie half the morning concealed be