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| Hanging partridge (18th century) |
If you've missed the previous installments, just scroll down to the earlier blogs. I don't have that many, so should be easy to find.
Keep in mind, I’ve not made any changes. Spelling
and voice are as in the book.
Page (26)
"Of various Upland Winter Shooting.
"Our common field shooting is generally best
in frosty weather, and when the ground has a tolerable cover of snow. We have
in most parts of England, a variety which affords very tolerable sport; the
most common are, different sorts of wild pigeons, field-fares, starlings,
redwings, &c.
Starlings are nasty
birds, and not a meal I’d like to see on my table.
"In this diversion we use no dog; and the
fewer shooters together the better.
"The several kinds of pigeons require the
No. 3 shot, as being strong birds; and may be either taken on the wing, or as
they perch on a tree; but the rock pigeons are best, in general, taken on the
wing; however, it sometimes happens that a shot at them sitting is more proper;
in this, discretion must direct. The fieldfare (thrush) is a very
common bird, it seems to delight most in large close orchards; but in hard
weather, in the fields; they frequent the haws bushes, and afford very pretty
diversion: though they are naturally very wild, yet, when a hard frost is set
in, there is no difficulty in getting within forty yards of them, at the time
they are keenly engaged on their feeding bush: here they will fit forty or
fifty sometimes together.
"The proper way of managing this kind of
shooting is, if possible, to secrete behind a bush, or in a hedge, within shot
of one of the bushes they frequent: when a sufficient number (as the person may
judge) are together, to fire at them as they see fit; what are killed should be
taken up, and the shooter replace himself as before: in a quarter of an hour,
or less, more will probably be on the bush; and he may often go on shooting in
the same place, all the while they are on their feed, which is from a little
after sun-rise till eleven or twelve o'clock; and in the afternoon they go on
again, about an hour before sunset; but such sport as this must be expected
only where fieldfares are in great plenty.
"Starlings afford tolerable diversion in
shooting; in winter they, for the most part, go in flocks from twenty to fifty;
they delight chiefly to be in moist pastures among cattle, and sometimes sit so
close together on the ground, that a person may kill twenty-five or thirty at a
shot; taking these on the ground, or wing, may be left at the discretion of the
shooter; but the wing will be best preferred: what are shot, should have their
heads immediately pulled off, which by their bleeding, prevents a bitterness of
taste they would otherwise have: use for these and fieldfares the No. 4 shot.
A murder mystery could
be in the works while pulling off the heads of those dead starlings…
"In shooting larks in flocks, use the No. 5
shot; and make it a rule always to take them on the wing: here it will be
adviseable to have the gun scatter more than common; in order to do this, put
in an equal quantity of powder and shot, supposing the usual charge to be three
parts shot to two of powder; but if the gun, in common, carries an equal quantity
of each, then it will be necessary to put in only about three parts of shot to
four of powder: and in shooting any of the smaller birds in flocks, this rule
of charging should be observed.
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| 17th Century |
"Necessary Observations for the young
Sportsman.
I can see a hero and
heroine doing the following at the darkest part of dawn:
"The sportsman should make it a general rule
to turn out with or before the sun; the morning is the best time for all sorts
of shooting: he should be provided with a spare flint or two, and a strong
pocket knife that will serve, on occasion, the purpose of a turnscrew; he
should take out the best powder that can be got, and that sized shot which
suits the sport he pursues.
"When we come to the place where we turn
out, if dogs are used, we put them on the hunt by whistling or hying on (as the
term is): it is necessary to observe the motions of spaniels, for there are but
few but what will give some intimation when they come on scent; use them to
come in at a sharp call, and never suffer them to run after a bird, except it
is wounded: oberve [observe] to let the dogs, whether spaniels or pointers, have the
wind as much as possible (that is, let them hunt against the wind).
"In using pointers when they are perceived
drawing on a point, and are known to be not quite staunch, call to them to take
heed, and if they spring without standing, correct them slightly with a switch,
or small stick, or better a pocket dog-whip, speaking angrily to them, and keep
them at a distance the remaining part of the day, but not so much as make them
sulkey; however, if their after behaviour deserves encouragement, it may not be
improper to take them into favour.
"Observe after a fire never to blow through
the barrel, but charge again immediately, while the inside of the barrel is hot
and dry; by this method of immediate charging, a gun seldom hangs fire, and
carries much smarter and better; there is no occasion to wipe either pan or
flint while out (if the flint is good, which, by the bye, it always should be);
but on returning home, wipe clean with tow (Definition of tow
is in the first installment), or linen rags, both out and inside of the
barrel, and also the lock from the soil of the powder; when it is thus cleaned,
hang it up, and if it can be so ordered, where a constant winter fire is kept,
hanging it at a moderate distance from the fire: the powder flask should also
be kept in the same degree of warmth in winter time; if the gun has received
any rain or wet let it be wiped thoroughly dry, and stand some time near a
fire, to dry any remaining damp, and have a little oil rubbed over it before
hanging up.
While the hero cleans
the gun, and sets it near a fire to further dry, I see our heroine off to the
kitchen for a nice cup of tea, don’t you?
"Lastly, it may be observed, if a gun is
brought home loaded, if it is not very foul, it may remain four or five days
fit for use, but never should longer, as it will be apt to hang fire; and even
if it remains but one night loaded, the touch-hole should be cleared with a
pin, and fresh primed: but it is a good custom with many never to suffer a gun
to be hung up charged, but on returning home to draw the shot and fire off the
powder, by which, they not only prevent some degree of hanging fire, but also
are clear of any accident happening by unwary or ignorant meddlers, of which we
have had many fatal instances.
"F
I N I S."
So concludes our very
interesting study for maintenance and uses of antique guns. If you liked this
but do not want to copy and paste and store in your ‘research data’ file for
further use in one of your novels, you can find this as a free download from
google books, epub or pdf. Google: The Art of English Shooting by George Edie, or follow this link:
http://books.google.com/books?id=FBBbAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+art+of+english+shooting&hl=en&sa=X&ei=L49QUcmTC6boiAKB_IHIAg&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAA
For more delightful
reading, please see the following link for my novels, the ebooks at a reduced
cost.
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