Punch: Punch (17.1849)

122

PUNCH, Oil THE LONDON CHARIVARI.

Banners- And-CvSTOMS • of ^ ENGlYSrf e-in-1849' N°28

Mr. Pips his Diary.

Monday, September 17, 1849.—Comes Mr,. Gollope, and Mr. Goble-
btone, and Jenkyns, to dine with me off a Haunch of Yenison, and,
Mr, Mc. Nab calling, I did make him stay Dinner too, and the
Venison very fat and good; and Mb. Gollope did commend my
Carving, whereof I was proud. Between them a Debate over our
Dinner, as to whether the Red Deer or the Fallow Deer were the
better Venison, and both Mr. Gollope and Mr. Goblestone do say
the Fallow, but Mb. Mc. Nab will have it that the Red is by far the
better, and do tell them they know nothing about the Matter, and
never tasted Red Deer but such as had been mewed up in Richmond
Park, which are mighty different from them that do browse in the
Highlands on the Heather. He do say that Highland Deer-Stalking do
excel every other Sport, from Tiger-Hunting to Fox-Hunting, which I
mean to repeat to Mr. Corduroys to make him mad. Then he to
describe the Manner of Stalking the Deer, and his Account thereof
mighty taking, but, with his broad Scottish Accent and Phrases, droll ;
and good Lack, to hear him talk of Braes, and Burns, and Cairns, and
Corries, rattling the R in every Word! He says that the Deer are the
cimningest and the watchfullest, and can see, and hear, and smell at
the greatest Distance of any Creature almost living, and do keep
Spies to look out, and their Ears and Eyes always Open and their

Noses to the Wind, and do think and reason in their Minds like
human Beings; whic^ methinks, is peculiar to the Scotch Deer. He !
says that th<5 Sport is to fetch a Compass on them by Stratagem,
so as to approach or drive them nkh enough to shoot tliem with
a Rifle, and it do often take some Hours and several Miles, mostly
crawling on the Hands and Knees, to get one Shot. He says that
the Stalker and Hill-Keepers that wait on him must, to gain their
Chance, dodge, stooping behind Crags, wriggle and creep over Flats
and up Brooks like Snakes or Eels, clamber up and run down
Precipices, and stride over Bogs, wherein they do sometimes sink
plump up to the Middle; which should be rather Sport to the Stag
than the Huntsman. But after all, the Deer shot dead, or wounded,
and at Bay with the Hounds at his Throat, but despatched at last, and
paunched, which he do call " gralloched," is such a Triumph that it do
repay the Sportsman for all his Pains. He do say that what with
the Grandeur of the Mountains, and the Freshness of the Air, the
Spirits are raised beyond what we could imagine, and the Appetite also
increased wonderfully; whereat Mr. Gollope did prick up his Ears.
To conclude, he did declare that no one could know what Deer-Stalking
was that had not tried it; but methinks 1 can, remembering how I used
in my Youth to creep in Ditches and behind. Hedges to shoot Larks.