82 WWW.THEFIELD.CO.UK
NOTABLE BLACKGAME DAYS RECORDED IN SIR HUGH S GLADSTONE’S
RECORD BAGS AND SHOOTING RECORDS
No less than 18 blackgame are
alleged to have been killed at one shot
ITwaslongthoughtthatthelargestbagof
blackgameobtainedinonedaywasthatof
247,besides 69 otherheadofgame,killed
atGlenwharrie(Dumfriesshire)on4 Octo-
ber 1869 by 11 guns:HRHPrinceChristian,
Count Hompesch,the Duke ofBuccleuch,
LtColGordon,LordMarsham,LordWilliam
Thynne, Lord George Hamilton, Lt Col A
Thynne,theHonWilliamHome,MrEdward
Balfour,andLordWalterScott;I havebeen
toldthatthisbagof 247 blackgame included
morethan 200 cocks.
Thisrecord,however,wasbeatenabout
1860,when 252 blackgamewerekilledina
day’s drivingonCannockChase(Stafford-
shire);onanotheroccasion, 189 wereshot,
and the bag of 126 blackgame killed on
thesemoors,inoneday,tohisowngunby
LordBerkeleyPaget(1844-1913),is probably
unsurpassed.It maybeofinteresttoaddthat
thebestbagonCannockChaseinlateryears
is 41blackgameand 122 grouse,whichwere
shotbysevengunson 21 October1897.
Thelargestbagofblackgame,obtainedin
recentyears,is 114(ofwhich 74 werecocks)
besidesthree partridges, 19 pheasantsand
fourrabbits,shotbyfourguns:MessrsHugh
S Gladstone,LGBuxton,ERHollondandthe
HonEustaceHamiltonRussell,atAuchen-
brac (Dumfriesshire) on 25 October 1910.
Nextday,ninegrouse,twopartridges,one
woodcockand 72 blackgame(ofwhich 163
werecocks)wereshotbythesamefourguns.
On 23 October1905,SirS MaryonWilson,
Bart,withsevenotherguns,theHon’sTFFre-
mantle,GeneralAuld,MajHope-Johnstone
and Messrs R Marchant, A Du Cane, C
Trappes-LomaxandH McKean,killed 110
blackgame(ofwhich 60 werecocks),three
grouse, two partridges, one rabbit, one
pigeon,andoneroedeer at Kinveachy For-
est(Inverness-shire).
Shooting on Barnshangan (Wigtown-
shire)on 11 October1905,LordDalrymple
andfiveotherguns, SirAVivian, theHon
R Lygon, CaptJ H Cuthbert andMessrsV
VivianandH HowardVyse,killed 105 black-
game(ofwhichonly12,oratmost13,were
hens)besides 222 grouse, 12 partridges, one
snipeand 10 hares.
Thefollowing extracts from the game-
books at Langholm are of interest: on
9 September1874,atNewlands,twoguns,
Lord Dalkeith and Lt Col Cust, shooting for
practicallyhalfthedayonlyandusingone
gunapiece,killed 98 blackgame(ofwhich
80 werecocks),onepartridgeandonehare.
AtBecksandWestwater,on 11 October1910,
fourguns, LordGeorge Scott, LordHenry
Scott,MrEWStanyforthandCaptWSGos-
ling,shot 93 blackgame,twogrouse,seven
partridges, 17 pheasants,sixharesandone
rabbit.On 29 October1915,ontheHermitage
Valleybeat,fourguns,MajJ FyfeJamieson,
Capt J B Whitelaw and Messrs D Ballan-
tyneandR Elliot,killed 94 blackgame,one
grouse, 14 pheasantsandonehare:afterthe
last drive the bag was declared as 80 black-
gamesoshootingceased;therewereplenty
ofbirdsandlotsoftimeforanotherdriveif
it hadbeenknownthatonlysixmoreblack-
gamewerewantingtomakeupthehundred.
Nolessthan 18 blackgameareallegedto
havebeenkilledatoneshot:thisextraordi-
naryfeatissaidtohavebeenperformedby
a MrWilson,inDumfriesshire,whofiredjust
asa largebatchofblackgamesettledona
railrunningalongthetopofa stonedyke:
the birds’heads were lookingin different
directions–‘heidsandthraws’ as the Scots
expresstheposition.
Ihavenotcomeacrossanyrecordbags
of blackgame madeon the Continent but
Lloyd,writingin 1867,statesthat:“atKaf-
velas,inSweden,theseatoftheBaronvon
Essen,upwards of 100 have been shot in a
single day”.
Two guns prepare to shoot blackgame as the birds are driven towards them,circa 1875
