gth and beauty to the
hounds of the Picts.

From remote days the Scottish nobles cherished their strains of
Deerhound, seeking glorious sport in the Highland forests. The red
deer belonged by inexorable law to the kings of Scotland, and great
drives, which often lasted for several days, were made to round up
the herds into given neighbourhoods for the pleasure of the court,
as in the reign of Queen Mary. But the organised coursing of deer
by courtiers ceased during the Stuart troubles, and was left in the
hands of retainers, who thus replenished their chief's larder.

The revival of deerstalking dates back hardly further than a hundred
years. It reached its greatest popularity in the Highlands at the
time when the late Queen and Prince Albert were in residence at
Balmoral. Solomon, Hector, and Bran were among the Balmoral hounds.
Bran was an especially fine animal--one of the best of his time,
standing over thirty inches in height.

Two historic feats of strength and endurance illustrate the tenacity
of the Deerhound at work. A brace of half-bred dogs, named Percy and
Douglas, the property of Mr. Scrope, kept a stag at bay from Saturday
night to Monday morning; and the pure bred Bran by himself pulled
down two unwounded stags, one carrying ten and the other eleven tines.
These, of course, are record performances, but they demonstrate the
possibilities of the Deerhound when trained to his natural sport.

[Illustration: MRS. ARMSTRONG'S DEERHOUND CH. TALISMAN]

Driving was commonly resorted to in the extensive forests, but
nowadays when forests are sub-divided into limited shootings the deer
are seldom moved from their home preserves, whilst with the use of
improved telescopes and the small-bore rifle, stalking has gone out
of fashion. With guns having a muzzle velocity of 2,500 feet per
second, it is no longer necessary for sportsmen stealthily to stalk
their game to come within easy range, and as for hounds, they have
become a doubtful appendage to the chase.

Primarily and essentially the Deerhound belongs to the order
_Agaseus_, hunting by sight and not by scent, and although he may
indeed occasionally put his nose to the ground, yet his powers of
scent are not remarkable. His vocation, therefore, has undergone a
change, and it was recently ascertained that of sixty deer forests
there were only six upon which Deerhounds were kept for sporting
purposes.

Happily the Deerhound has suffered no decline in the fav