had been in England, France, Italy, or Spain, concerning the time and equivalent for their hunting and pastime; which was builded in midst of a fair meadow, a palace of green timber, wound with green birks that were green both under and above, which was fashioned in four quarters, and in every quarter and nuke thereof a great round, as it had been a blockhouse, which was lofted and geisted the space of three house height; the floors laid with green scharets and spreats, medwarts, and flowers, that no man knew whereon he zied, but as he had been in a garden. Further, there were two great rounds on ilk side of the gate, and a great portculleis of tree, falling down with the manner of a barrace, with a drawbridge, and a great stank of water of sixteen foot deep, and thirty foot of breadth. And also this palace within was hung with fine tapestry and arrasses of silk, and lighted with fine glass windows in all airths; that this palace was as pleasantly decored with all necessaries pertaining to a prince as it had been his own royal palace at home. Further, this Earl gart make such provision for the king and his mother, that they had all manner of meats, drinks, and delicates that were to be gotten, at that time, in all Scotland, either in burgh or land, viz., all kind of drink, as ale, beer, wine, &c.; of meat, with flesshes, &c.; and also the stanks that were round about the palace, were full of all delicate fishes, as salmonds, trouts, pearches, pikes, eels, and all other kind of delicate fishes that could be gotten in fresh waters, and all ready for the banquet. Syne were there proper stewards, &c.; and the halls and chambers were prepared with costly bedding, vessel, and napry, according for a king; so that he wanted none of his orders more than he had been at home. The king remained in this wilderness at the hunting the space of three days and three nights, and his company, as I have shown. I heard men say it cost the Farl of Athole every day in expences a

thousand pounds." All this sumptuous edifice was purposely consumed by fire on the king's departure!

Another old writer thus describes a great Highland hunting match.

"In the year 1563, the Earl of Athol, a prince of the blood royal, had, with much trouble and vast expences, a hunting match for the entertainment of our most illustrious and most gracious queen. Our people call this a royal hunting. I was then a young man, and was present on that occasion. Two thousand Highlanders, or wild Scotch, as you call them here, were employed to drive to the hunting ground all the deer from the woods and hills of Atholl, Badenoch, Mar, Murray, and the countries about. As these Highlanders use a light dress, and are very swift of foot, they went up and down so nimbly, that in less than two months' time they brought together 2000 red deer, besides roes and fallow deer. The queen, the great men, and others, were in a glen, when all the deer were brought before them. Believe me, the whole body of them moved forward in something like battle order. This sight still strikes me, and ever will, for they had a leader whom they followed close wherever he moved. This leader was a very fine stag, with a very high head. The sight delighted the queen very much, but she soon had occasion for fear. Upon the Earl's (who had been accustomed to such sights) addressing her thus, ' Do you observe that stag who is foremost of the herd? There is danger from that stag, for if either fear or rage should force him from the ridge of that hill, let every one look to himself, for none of us will be out of the way of harm; for the rest will follow this one, and, having thrown us under foot, they will open a passage to this hill behind us. What happened a moment after confirmed this opinion: for the queen ordered one of the best dogs to be let loose on one of the deer: this the

dog pursues, the leading stag was frighted, he flies by the same way he had come there, the rest rush after him, and break out where the thickest body of the Highlanders was. They had nothing for it but to throw themselves flat on the heath, and allow the deer to pass over them. It was told the queen that several of the Highlanders had been wounded, and that two or three had been killed outright; and the whole body had got off, had not the Highlanders, by their skill in hunting, fallen upon a stratagem to cut off the rear from the main body. It was of those that had been separated the queen's dogs and those of the nobility made. slaughter. There were killed that day 360 deer, with 5 wolves, and some roes.'

When a single deer was wanted, the gamekeeper and a few assistants went to the hills, with a little oatmeal or other provision, and lay in wait for their prey, sometimes for several days and nights together. Stalking is the term applied to the pursuit of deer by individuals, and, as the animals are shy, incredible patience and exertion are necessary to secure the game. A deer stalker has walked two miles in deep water, and crawled a considerable distance on his belly, in order to approach the animals unobserved.

The forester was an important member of the clan, and enjoyed several perquisites. On the return of a young chief from his first public hunting, all his arms, clothing, and other articles were, by immemorial custom, given to the forester, Sir Robert Burnet, of Crathes, in Aberdeenshire, bears a Highlander as one of the supporters to his arms, his ancestors having been the king's foresters in the north.

It appears that HAWKING was a diversion of the ancient

i Barclay's contra Monarchomacus.

Britons. Helfa, hunting, signifies also hawking, and Ossian, mentions "a hundred hawks with fluttering wing." By the laws of Hwyel Dha, the master of the hawks enjoyed his lands free, he sat the fourth man from the king, slept in the barn, and had a hand breadth of wax candles to feed his birds and light him to bed. He received a dried sheep, and was served with drink sufficient only to quench his thirst, lest his charge should be neglected. The hearts and lungs of all animals killed in the royal kitchen were allowed him to feed his birds, and he was obliged to have his horse always ready.

Rederch, King of the Strathclyde Welsh, included hawks, dogs, and swift hunters among his most valuable presents.*

j Lewis's Hist. Pliny describes hawking as practised by the Thracians, among whom the hawk and the hunter shared the prey.-Lib. x. c. 8.

*Stewart of Appin held certain lands in Duror and Glencoe in consideration of his having built Castle Stalker, or Caisteal-an-Stalcaire, the Falconers' Castle, for the accommodation of King James V., when he came to the West Highlands to enjoy his favourite sport of hawking. ED.

THE cattle of the Gauls, who were accounted affluent, were their chief riches, and some of them, according to Cæsar, lived entirely on their flesh and milk. The Celtic race were much attached to the pastoral life, for its freedom was suited to their state of refinement, and congenial to their independent spirit. The inhabitants of Britain, at the period of the first Roman descent, were for the most part in the pastoral state of society, and long after this epoch many of the tribes, like their remote ancestors, continued to pay almost exclusive attention to their flocks, contemning the servile and less advantageous task of cultivating the soil. Many parts of the island are adapted for grazing only, and those who inhabit the mountainous districts must continue to depend for subsistence on the produce of their herds.