Page:Blackwood's Magazine volume 150.djvu/278
The misdeeds of such an individual tend to make the whole system odious. But this is an extreme and an extraordinary case. Such a man is condemned by the universal public opinion of Scotland, by deer-stalkers even more emphatically than by the rest.
Mr Winans, however, is not the only offender; he has his followers in the west. They will not be found among the lairds or men long accustomed to the country. Strangers they are and Englishmen, men who have recently bought a Highland estate, or more often, who are merely sporting tenants of it. Such, for example, was the gallant officer who, as the climax of his exploits, sought to close Canisp against the Geological Survey, declaring geologists “of no use except to frighten the deer and upset the Bible.”[1]
But tempting as is any scheme to abolish Mr Winans and his like, it must be remembered that hard cases make bad law, and that it would scarcely be reasonable to alter the general law of trespass in order to checkmate such isolated instances of selfishness.
It remains to consider whether legislative action of any kind is required. A scheme sometimes proposed is to establish a close time for deer-forests, to throw them open by Act of Parliament for nine months in the year, and to give more summary powers of exclusion to proprietors during the remaining time. This is a modification of Mr Bryce’s scheme which would avoid injustice to the owners of deer-forests. But as compared with the present state of things, this plan would advantage no one except smugglers and poachers. The innocent public would gain nothing, for to them the forests are already in fact open for the time in question. The proprietors would object to a statutory right being given to persons whose intentions might subsequently be found to be far from innocent; and finally, he would be a bold man who, without very tangible consideration to offer, should propose to the House of Commons to confer upon proprietors any fresh powers of punishing trespassers in deer-forests.
Unfortunately, it happens that the three months of the stalking season are also the three months of tourist traffic. Scotsmen who love the mountains can and do visit them in spring and summer, when the hills are free to them, and Scottish mountaineers, therefore, do not complain. But August and September is the day of the English tourist. Far be it from Scotsmen to complain of his prescnce. Through him come the swift steamer, the frequent coach, and all the comforts of the Salt-market. Let him be encouraged by all means, but let him not imagine that Scotland exists for his convenience. It is a delicate matter to weigh and balance the abstract claims of her Majesty’s subjects in all places of her dominion to the use and enjoyment of the Scottish mountains. Those who live amongst them, whether crofters or landlords, must have the first claim. Scotsmen at large have the next. As between two gentlemen, each from five hundred miles away, the principle of propinquity does not apply. We are thrown
- ↑ This story is too good to omit, but the sequel should also be told—that after the first trouble was over, the gallant gentleman was most civil to the Survey, giving them fishing, &c.