DEALING WITH POACHERS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 431, 17 January 1912, Page 2

DEALING WITH POACHERS.

An English sportsman engaged a strong, powerful, red-headed Highlander to act as gamekeeper on his English estate. The Highlander having been a considerable time at his post before there was any prosecution of poachers, his master began to suspect that, after all, the North Countryman was not such a good hand at catching poachers as he had been led to believe. Determined to find out whether he was vigilant or not, the gentleman one dark night disguised himself, took a fowling-piece, and went out to poach on his own ground. He had fired only a shot or two when he was suddenly pounced upon from behind, the gun wrenched from his hand, and his precious person subjected to a perfect hurricane of kicks cuffs, hard blows, and harder Gaelic epithets. Finally he was knocked :lo\vn and rendered half-insensible.

On being able to explain who he was, the gamekeeper evinced great sorrow, asked a thousand pardons, and explained to his honour ' "Ye see, I likes aye to send ta teevils hame wi' a sarkful o' sair bones, an' then they dinna come pack in a hurry ; because, ye see, they canna, for some o' them, yer honour, are maistly ready for ta coffin be the time they get hame, an' syne they dinna gie us onie mair bather ava."

The English sportsman went home, took to his bed, hovered between life and death for a fortnight, recovered at last, and raised his gamekeeper's wages fifty per cent.