page_title: Deer hay wind
section_title: Structure and function
hierarchical_section_title: Deer hay wind / Structure and function
caption_attribution_description: English: Identifier: ordnancegazettee03groo (find matches) Title: Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland&#160;: a survey of Scottish topography, statistical, biographical, and historical Year: 1882 (1880s) Authors: Groome, Francis Hindes, 1851-1902 Subjects: Publisher: Edinburgh&#160;: T.C. Jack Contributing Library: University of California Libraries Digitizing Sponsor: Internet Archive View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: Culdiiighuiu Irioiy, Iki wickohirc, jirior to restoration of lbJ4. XXI Text Appearing After Image: Coilsfield, Tarbolton, Ayrshire (now Montgomerie). The Mansion of Colonel Hugh Montgomery, afterwardsEarl of Eglinton, where Burnss Highland Mary served as dairymaid. Ye banks and braes, and streams aroundThe castle o Montgomery. Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.
context_page_description: A Deer hay wind, Deer fold or Elrick is an artificial, natural or modified natural feature used in the culling, capture or management of deer in relation to deer parks or natural woodland and open countryside. These structures have existed for many centuries and after falling out of use and their function having been forgotten the more substantial earth or stone examples have attracted names such as Roman Trenches, Old Fortifications, etc. The hinds were the main target of the hunt.
context_section_description: The capture and movement of deer from the wild or from established deer hays or parks was necessary for establishing new ones and for restocking existing ones to replace animals lost via excessive hunting or disease and at times to introduce new breeding stock to maintain vigour in isolated and inbred populations. Deer might also be managed in terms of castrating stags and selectively culling diseased or elderly animals. In feudal times the monarch would at times make gifts of live deer to those who were in the royal favour to replenish or establish herds, and a system of capturing deer therefore had to exist.
  To create a deer park the person had to own the land, purchase a license from the monarch and have sufficient funds to empark the area, constructing pales and ditches, deer leaps or salters, etc. Some parks even had towers from which the deer could be shot with bows and arrows. 
  Thirty-seven parks or hays are listed in the Domesday Book, and of these nine belonged to the king, five by bishops or monastic houses and twenty three by Norman knights, etc. These hays or parks were isolated in the countryside by physical land divisions such as pales with ditches and served to protect the deer which were to be used for hunting and to help keep out predators whilst also preventing wild deer from eating crops in areas where farming was prevalent.  
  The term 'fence month' was applied to the time during fawning and to the annual rut time in the autumn during which the deer were not disturbed and this restricted the period when deer hay winds and elricks could be used. 
  Both wattle fencing and nets may have been employed in the 'wynding of the deer hay' and it was also important that the animals could be separated into small groups to reduce the chance of them goring each other by accident. A wide entrance that narrowed down on a gently rising slope would also slow their progress when pursued by hounds and places where people could hide, possibly with hounds until required would be advantageous. The beaters would also separate the stags from the hinds if required.
  Elricks or deer hay winds were a places in Scotland and England where deer could be channelled and confined in a corral, a practice that ceased to be used in the 18th century although the practice had a brief resurgence in the days of Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria. Stone lined pits and boulders once heated in fires have been found in association with elricks which may have been used to cook or render the venison from the newly slaughtered animals. 'Burnt Mounds' that are often horseshoe-shaped are known in Ireland as 'fulacht fiadh' and consist of a pit and heaps of shattered stones that have once been strongly heated. These structures are traditionally associated with the cooking of venison in the water filled pit using the heated stones. It has been found that these structures are also present in Scotland such as four sites in South-West Scotland. 
  A deer hunt of this type was recorded in the medieval romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
  The native Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) and later introduced Fallow Deer (Dama dama) are suited for enclosure in deer parks however European Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus) are not as they are aggressive towards other deer. Fallow Deer were introduced by the Normans from Sicily, probably in the early twelfth century.
caption: Quillisfield or Coilsfield House.
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