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Hybrid between Grouse and Black-Game
To
Sir James Colquhoun of Luss,
Bart., M.P., &c., &c.
In remembrance of
The many rambles we have taken together
In boyhood and Youth,
with our fishing-rods and guns,
This book is affectionately dedicated
By his brother
John Colquhoun
PREFACE
I OFFER no apology for the
publication of this volume, as I have never seen any other which attempts
to give minute directions in the sports, or information regarding the
animals, - of my native hills; and since they are becoming increasingly
the objects of pursuit, especially to English sportsmen, some such book
seemed really needed.
With regard to the subject
itself, many will blame as trifling any work which treats merely of
amusement; and I am aware that this censure is not altogether unfounded.
It is not, however, to divert men from higher occupations, that I ask
them, now and then, to ramble over the wild hill or by the side of the
moorland loch. Would not the dyspeptic student feel both his mental and
bodily powers increased by such a substitute for his customary monotonous
stroll? And need I tell the indolent voluptuary or midnight opium-eater
what benefit he might find, would he thus change his stimulus, and
ensure to himself the quiet slumbers which follow temperance and health? I
well know, indeed, the engrossing nature even of these harmless
recreations, and am far from intending my book to lead any one to spend as
much time in them as I have too often done. But I rather hope it may have
a contrary tendency, by communicating to the novice in Highland sports
such knowledge as he could not acquire for himself without long practice
and patient investigation.
The sports of the field,
when taken as recreations, and
not as pursuits, may surely be ranked among the most innocent; nor
can I see that hours passed in such scenes as those I have attempted to
describe, need be lost to an observant and well-directed mind.
INTRODUCTION TO
THE SECOND EDITION
IN
presenting to the public a second edition of "
The Moor and the Loch," I beg to offer my most sincere thanks for the very
gratifying manner in which the first was received. The whole has been most
carefully revised and much enlarged. Having been repeatedly told that an
article on Deer-stalking - that most truly national of all Highland sports
- was quite a desideratum in such a book, I have added a chapter on the
subject, the materials of which were gathered exclusively from my own
experience. Should this happen to interest any one who has a taste for the
rifle, let me recommend Mr. Scrope's beautiful work, which ought to
ornament the library of every sportsman in the kingdom.
I have also inserted
chapters on Burn and River-fishing, comprehending my ideas of that
delightful amusement, deduced from the practice of my early years to the
present time. They differ a little from the theories professed by many who
consider themselves masters in the art, but have at any rate the advantage
of being less complicated; while, as to the point of success, I leave its
decision in the hands of any accomplished Fly-fisher.
CONTENTS
THE MINNOW-TACKLE
TROLLING WITH A LONG LINE FROM A
BOAT
SALMON FISHING IN LOCHS
PIKE-FISHING WITH A RUNNING BAIT ON
SWIVELS
THE GORGE-TROLL
SET-LINES FOR PIKE
LONG LINES FOR PIKE
EELS
SEA-LOCH FISHING
-
TROLLING FOR SEA TROUT
-
THE LONG-LINE
-
THE HAND-LINE
-
THE WHITE FEATHER
THE MOOR BURN
RIVER ANGLING
ON EAGLES
-
THE GOLDEN EAGLE
-
THE SEA EAGLE
-
THE OSPREY
THE KITE
HAWKING
THE ALPINE OR WHITE HARE
PTARMIGAN-SHOOTING
THE SPIRIT OF GLENCROE
APPENDIX
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