Part 86

I had once a favourite gun, which from constant wear and tear exhibited unequivocal weakness in the locks, and which I had been earnestly recommended by a veteran sportsman to condemn. On a cold and rainy day, I was with my friend O’M——, shooting woodcocks in the heath, and having sprung several, which from the severity of the weather were wild as hawks, we marked them into a ravine, and determined to tie up the dogs and endeavour to steal upon them. To keep my gun dry I placed it under the skirt of my jacket, with the muzzle pointing downwards. My companion and our attendant were busy coupling the dogs, when the gun exploded, and the charge passing between O’M——’s bosom and the back of a dog he was in the act of securing, buried itself at the foot of the keeper, covering him with mud and gravel. From the close manner in which we were all grouped, how the shot could have entered the ground without killing men or dogs, or both, was miraculous. I was desperately frightened, and from that moment forswore for ever, the use of weakened locks and attenuated barrels.

* * * * *

In March, 1799, Sir John Swinborne, having flashed off his gun, which was single barrelled with a patent antechambered breech, proceeded to the dog-kennel; in his opinion, at least five minutes must have elapsed before he began to load; having primed, he poured the charge from the top of the flask into the barrel, when the whole copper flask, containing nearly a pound of gunpowder, instantly exploded. A large piece of copper struck the right eye, and injured the bone above, so that it continued to exfoliate for two years. The lock remained at half bent, and it cannot be doubted that some tow, which had been left in the barrel or chamber, continued on fire from the time of flashing off, and occasioned the misfortune.

In every instance but one, where the particulars have been ascertained, of the numerous accidents of the above description, the explosion has happened upon the second time of pouring powder into the barrel on that day; which is strong evidence of the cause here suggested.

* * * * *

The following sporting precepts may be serviceable to inexperienced shooters:—

First—If you or your dog should, at any time, get a severe blow, let the wounded part be instantly fomented with water, as hot as can be borne, for at least half an hour, and you will thereby reduce your suffering, or impediment from sport, to at least half its duration.

Secondly—If you burn yourself in shooting, or otherwise, wrap the part affected immediately in cotton, the application of which, it has been proved, acts like magic with a burn.

Thirdly—If you should take cold, bathe your feet in hot water; if a little salt or bran is, or both are, added, so much the better. Get into a bed warmed, with a little brown sugar sprinkled on the coals, and take some whey, or whatever you can get to promote perspiration.

Fourthly—Never fast too long, and avoid, whenever you can, fagging too hard.

Fifthly—Never go out with quite an empty stomach, to wait for wild fowl, particularly in the morning. Should you wish to start before any one is up, you might always have left for you over night, a crust of bread, or a biscuit, with a glass of milk, which, with a little sugar, nutmeg, ginger, and the yolk of an egg, may be good in a moment, and this is better than what is called a “doctor,” (rum and milk), because you then dispense with taking spirit in a morning, the very bad habit of which, should always be avoided, except in a country where the chances of ague might justify your taking a little purl.

Sixthly—Never sit down in wet feet, or with wet clothes on any part of your body, but, if a change is not at hand, keep in motion, or go to bed, till one can be procured. Or, if you want to start again, when refreshed, first wet your feet with either spirits or essence of mustard, and then be as quick as possible in taking your refreshment. Many people prefer applying the spirit to the inside, instead. This is not so well, because spirit alone always flies to the head, while strong beer, on the contrary, would warm the body.

I shall here conclude, under this head, with the _multum in parvo_ advice of the great Dr. Boerhaave; keep the body open, the head cool, and the feet warm.—_Hawker_—_Daniel_—_Wild Sports._

SHOOTER, _s._ One who shoots; an archer, a gunner.

SHORTWINGED, _a._ Having short wings. So hawks are divided into long and short winged.

SHOT, _s._ The act of shooting; the flight of a shot; the charge of a gun; bullets or small pellets for the charge of a gun; anything discharged from a gun, or other instrument; a sum charged, a reckoning.

_Shot._—The choice of this article is highly worthy of the sportsman’s care. It should be equal, round, and void of cavities. The patent milled shot is, at this time, to be preferred to all other sorts, and is in such general use, that the instructions which here follow on the size of shot to be adopted in the different chases, must be understood to relate to the patent shot only.

The difference, however, which subsists between the sizes of patent and of common shot, will be hereafter shown by means of a table, denoting the number of pellets contained in a given weight of each, so that in cases where the former cannot be procured, it will be easy to adopt the rules there laid down, to the latter, by only taking the same number of grains in the common, as directed to be used for the patent shot.

It is extremely important for the success of the chase, that the sportsman should proportion the size of his shot, as well to the particular species of game he means to pursue, as the season of killing it. Thus in the first month of partridge-shooting, shot No. 1, should be used; for since, at this time, the birds spring near at hand, and we seldom fire at more than the distance of forty yards, if the shooter takes his aim but tolerably well, it is almost impossible for a bird at this distance to escape in the circle or disk which the shot forms.

Hares also, at this season of the year, sit closer, and being at the same time thinly covered with fur, may easily be killed with this sized shot at thirty or thirty-five paces.

In snipe and quail-shooting this sized shot is peculiarly proper, for, in using a larger size, however true the sportsman may shoot, yet he will frequently miss, the objects being so small that they have great chance of escaping in the vacant spaces of the circle or disk. Yet there are many sportsmen who shoot snipes, quails, and fieldfares, in countries where they abound, with the sizes six and seven of the common shot, the last of which is called mustard-seed.

About the beginning of October, at which time the partridges are stronger in the wing, No. 3 is the proper shot to be used. This size seems to be the best of any; it preserves a proper medium between shot too large and that which is too small, and will kill a hare from the distance of thirty-five or forty paces, and a partridge at fifty, provided the powder be good. It will serve also for rabbit-shooting. In short, it is excellent for all seasons, and many sportsmen use no other the season round.

It is true that distant objects are frequently missed for want of large shot, but then these bear no proportion to the number that are daily missed, by using shot of too large a size, especially with the feathered game. If a man was to shoot constantly with shot number five, for one partridge which he might chance to kill with a single pellet at the distance of eighty paces, he would miss twenty birds at eighty paces, which would in such case escape in the vacant spaces of the circle. But if the sportsman expressly purposes to shoot wild ducks or hares, then indeed he had better use the number five. However, in shooting with a double barrel gun, it may be prudent to load one of the barrels with large shot for the necessary occasions, and if in any case large shot is required, number five will be found to be better than any other, for its size is not so large as to prevent it from garnishing or being equally spread in the circle, and it can at the same time perform, in effect, all that a larger sized shot can do, which garnishes but very little, if any at all.

In order, therefore, to show clearly, and at one view, the comparative difference in garnishing of shot of different sizes, we here subjoin a table which indicates the number of pellets precisely composing an ounce weight of each sort of shot, the patent and the common, commencing at the smallest size in each.

PATENT SHOT.

Pellets. No. 8 1 ounce 620 7 — 480 + — 300 1 — 220 2 — 180 3 — 157 4 — 105 5 — 83

COMMON SHOT.

Pellets. No. 7 1 ounce 350 6 — 260 5 — 235 4 — 190 3 — 140 2 — 110 1 — 95

Shot compared according to Hawker:—

MOULD SHOT.

No. of pellets to 1 oz. L G 5½ M G hardly 9 S G 1 S S G 15 S S S G 17

PATENT SHOT.

No. of pellets to 1 oz. A A 40 A 50 B B 58 B 75 1 82 2 112 3 135 4 177 5 218 6 280 7 341 8 600 9 984 10 1726

The pleasure of using and counting the dust shot I leave to those who recommend it.

The shot of different manufacturers varies much in size: for example, an ounce of No. 7, from Messrs. Walker and Parker, amounts to 341 pellets; and the same weight, from Mr. Beaumont (late Preston), 398; and in some places the numbers are reversed.

Many sportsmen recommend the use of unglazed shot; others wet their shot with oil. I have tried both these plans repeatedly, but could not find sufficient advantage in either to justify my recommending them. The object of both is to prevent the gun from leading; and as they can do no harm, I should if a choice readily offered, prefer using the shot unglazed, or oiled, for the chances of any trifling advantages which may be thereby derived.

* * * * *

If I mistake not, you are shooting grouse with No. 4.

_Agilis._ I was told that so large a bird required large shot.

_Peritus._ No doubt there is greater difficulty in reaching a vital part through a large opposing substance than a small one; but you must remember that at this season the whole plumage of birds has not yet grown, the muscles and sinews are not yet so strong and firm as they will be; and the flight of all birds is slower than in winter; on such account I would use much smaller shot now than later in the season; and indeed you will find sevens now as efficient as fours will be in two months’ time. You must remember that to bring down a bird you must either strike it in a vital part, or impede its flight, and the fewer the shots that strike, the less likely you are to attain that object. I once fired a small bullet through a black cock, and he flew so far that he was only found by accident afterwards. But I will repeat to you my ideas as to the sizes of shot best calculated both for England and Scotland, as we are upon the subject:—

Partridge, hare.—From September 1 to October 1, No. 7.

Partridge, hare, woodcock, rabbit, pheasant.—From October 1 to the end of the season, No. 6.

Ducks.—No. 5 or 4.

Roe deer.—B B at all times.

Grouse—From August 12 to September 1, No. 7; from September 1 to September 25, No. 6; from September 25 to the end of the season, No. 5.

Black game.—From August 20 to September 1, No. 7; from September 1 to September 10, No. 6; from September 1 to October 10, No. 5; from October 10 to the end of the season, No. 4 or 5, as the gun may shoot close or scatter: if it scatter, the smaller shot of the two.

* * * * *

The greater or lesser diameter of the bore cannot produce any sensible difference in the closeness or wideness with which the shot is thrown, provided the charge he the same in both pieces. We have subjected this matter to the test of experiment, and the result has accordingly been that a barrel of 22 or 24, which is the largest calibre usually employed in fowling-pieces, threw its shot as closely as one of the smallest calibre, viz. of 30 or 32.

There is a curious circumstance attending the shot of barrels, which is, that sometimes the grains of lead, instead of being equally distributed over the space they strike, are thrown in clusters of ten, twelve, fifteen, or more, whilst several considerable spaces have not a single grain in them; sometimes a cluster of this kind consists of one-third or one-half of the charge, and it also happens sometimes, though more rarely, that the whole charge collects itself into one mass, so as to pierce a board near an inch thick, at the distance of forty or forty-five paces. Small barrels are said to be more liable to this than large ones, and M. de Marolles says that this is especially the case when barrels are new, and when they are fresh washed. He mentions a double-barrelled piece of 52 calibre, which was particularly liable to this clustering and lumping of the shot, but adds that the same thing did not happen to him with other barrels of 26 and 28 calibre, which he had used before. The lumping also may perhaps depend upon the wadding employed.

With regard, then, to the extraordinary closeness with which some pieces are said to throw the shot, we certainly shall not take it upon us to assert that persons who speak of them wish to deceive us; but we do most firmly believe that they deceive themselves, and that their accounts proceed either from their belief that a gunsmith, by superior skill and care, is able to make such, or from their once having seen a piece accidentally lump its shot in the manner described above. The result of our experience, however, is very unfavourable to this prevailing opinion, for we do affirm that after having fired at a mark times without number, we have never yet found a barrel, which, at the distance of fifty paces, would throw its whole charge with regularity, we will not say into the breadth of a hat, but into a space of three feet square.

* * * * *

_Patent Shot._—It is a fact stated to have been determined by repeated observation, that a bird killed with patent shot will turn green twenty-four hours sooner than one killed at the same time with the common shot; and this accelerated putrefaction is said to arise from the quantity of copperas used in preparing the lead for this particular manufacture.—_Essay on Shooting_—_Hawker_—_Hints to Grown Sportsmen._

_Shot Belt._—Always have the tops of your shot belts made to fit nicely into the muzzle of your gun; by which means, in the process of drawing your charge, you can empty your shot into them without losing a grain.—_Hawker._

SHOTTEN, _a._ Having ejected the spawn.

SHOVELBOARD, _s._ A long board on which they play by sliding metal pieces at a mark.

SHOUGH, _s._ A kind of shaggy dog, a shock.

SHOULDER, _s._ The joint which connects the arm to the body; the upper joint of the foreleg of a beast; the upper part of the back; the shoulders are used as emblems of strength.

SHOULDERBELT, _s._ A belt that comes across the shoulder.

SHOULDERSHOTTEN, _a._ Strained in the shoulder.

SHOULDERSLIP, _s._ Dislocation of the shoulder.

SHOVELLER, _s._ A bird of the duck tribe.

_Blue Wing Shoveller, Kertlucock, or Broad Bill_ (_Anas Clypeata_, LINN.; _Le Souchet_, BUFF.)—The shoveller is less than the wild duck, commonly weighing about twenty-two ounces, and measuring twenty-one inches in length. The bill is black, three inches long, very broad or spread out, and rounded like a spoon at the end, with the nail hooked inward, and small.

The female is smaller than the male, from which she also differs greatly in the colours of her plumage, the coverts and spangle-spot on her wings being less brilliant, and the other parts composed of white, grey, and rusty, crossed with curved dusky lines, giving her much the appearance of the common wild duck. She makes her nest, lined with withered grasses, on the ground, in the midst of the largest tufts of rushes or coarse herbage, in the most inaccessible parts of the shaky marsh. She lays ten or twelve pale, rusty-coloured eggs; and as soon as the young are hatched, they are conducted to the water by the parent birds, who watch and guard them with the greatest care.

They are at first very shapeless and ugly, for the bill is then almost as broad as the body, and seems too great a weight for the little bird to carry. Their plumage does not acquire its full colours until after the second moult.

It has not yet been ascertained whether the shoveller breeds in England, where, indeed, it is a scarce bird.

This species is of so wild, shy, and solitary a disposition, that all attempts hitherto made to domesticate them have failed.

The anas muscaria of Linnæus (_Le Souchet à ventre blanc_ of Brisson) differs only from this in having the belly white, and is considered merely as a variety of the same species.

_Red-breasted Shoveler._—Size of a common duck. This species is sometimes taken in the decoys of Lincolnshire.—_Bewick._

SHREWMOUSE, _s._ A mouse of which the bite was anciently supposed venomous.

SHRILL, _a._ Sounding with a piercing, tremulous, or vibratory sound.

SHRIMP, _s._ A small crustaceous vermiculated fish; a little wrinkled man, a dwarf.

SHRUB, _s._ A small tree; spirit, acid, and sugar, mixed.

SHUFFLECAP, _s._ A play at which money is shaken in a hat.

SHUTTLECOCK, _s._ A cork stuck with feathers, and beaten backward and forward.

SHY, _a._ Cautious; keeping at a distance, unwilling to approach.

SICKLY, _a._ Not healthy, disordered; faint, weak, languid.

SIDESADDLE, _s._ A woman’s seat on horseback.

SIEVE, _s._ Hair or lawn strained upon a hoop, by which flour is separated from bran; an implement to winnow corn.

SIFT, _v._ To separate by a sieve; to separate, to part.

SIGHT, _s._ Perception by the eye, the sense of seeing; act of seeing or beholding; eye, instrument of seeing; aperture pervious to the eye, or other points fixed to guide the eye, as the sight of a quadrant, gun, &c.

SILICIOUS, _a._ Made of hair.

SILKEN, _a._ Made of silk; soft, dressed in silk.

SILVER, _s._ A white and hard metal, next in weight to gold. It is harder but not so malleable: it ignites before it melts, and requires intense heat to fuse it.

SILVER, _a._ Made of silver; white like silver; having a pale lustre; soft of voice.

SINEW, _s._ A tendon, the ligament by which the joints are moved.

SINEWED, _a._ Furnished with sinews; strong, firm, vigorous.

SINEWY, _a._ Consisting of a sinew; nervous, strong, vigorous.

SIPHON, _s._ A pipe through which liquors are conveyed.

SIRE, _s._ A father; it is used of beasts, and particularly horses.

SITTER, _s._ One that sits; a bird that broods.

SIZE, _s._ Bulk, comparative magnitude; condition; any viscous or glutinous substance.

SKATE, _s._ A flat sea fish; a sort of shoe armed with iron, for sliding on the ice.

SKEGGER, _s._ Skeggers are the produce of such sick salmon as might not go to sea.

SKEIN, _s._ A knot or thread of silk wound; a knot of gimp or gut.

SKIN, _s._ The natural covering of the flesh; hide, pelt, that which is taken from animals to make parchment or leather.

SKIN, _v._ To flay or divest of the skin.

SKIRT, _v._ To border, to go along the edge, as to skirt a cover.

SKITTISH, _a._ Shy, easily frighted; wanton, volatile; changeable, fickle.

SKITTLE, _s._ A piece of wood like a sugar loaf used in the play of skittles.

SKITTLES, _s._ A game called ninepins.

SKUA (_Lestris catarractes_, TEMMINCK), _s._ A species of eagle.

This species is rather superior in size to the raven; weight three pounds; length two feet; the bill is an inch and three quarters long, black, and much hooked at the end; is covered, for more than half its length, with a kind of black cere; the upper part of the head, neck, back, and wings, deep brown; the feathers margined with ferruginous; about the forehead and chin tinged with ash-colour; the breast, and all beneath, pale dusky ferruginous; the quills are brown, white at the base; tail deep brown; roots and shafts white; the legs are black, rough, and scaly; talons black, strong, and much hooked.

This is a bold rapacious bird, and preys on the lesser gulls, as well as fish; it is said to attack the eagle, and even man, if he approaches their nest. It breeds in the Orkney Islands, and is much esteemed in the Isle of Foulah, from a supposition that it defends the flocks from the eagle: it is rarely seen in the south. One in the museum of Dr. Latham, was killed at Greenwich; and the only other instance we are furnished with, of this species being observed in the south of England, was shot at Sandwich, in Kent, in the winter of 1800.—_Montagu._

SKULK, _v._ To hide, to lurk in fear or malice.

SKULL, _s._ The bone that encloses the head; a shoal of fishes, herrings particularly.

SKYCOLOUR, _s._ An azure colour, the colour of the sky.

SKYLARK (_Alauda arvensis_, LINN.), _s._ A lark that mounts and sings.

The length of this species is seven inches; bill dusky; the base of the upper mandible yellowish; the feathers on the top of the head are dusky, bordered with rufous brown; they are rather long, and erectable in form of a short crest; the hind part is plain, inclining to ash-colour; on the upper parts of the body the feathers are reddish brown, darker in their middle, their edges pale; the under parts are dirty buff-colour, darkest on the neck and breast, which parts are streaked with dusky; quills brown, lighter on the outer webs and tips; the tail is dusky brown, the two middle feathers darkest, with light rufous margins; the outer feather is white on the outer web and tip of the inner; the second feather white on the outer web only; the third is inclining to white on the margin of the outer web; legs dusky in old birds, but lighter in young; claws dusky; the hind one very long and straight.

This bird is common in the greater part of this kingdom, but most plentiful in the more open and highest cultivated situations abounding with corn, and rarely seen on the extended moors at a distance from arable land. The nest is placed on the ground, amongst grass or corn; it is formed of dry grass and other vegetable stalks, lined with a fine dry grass.—_Montagu._

SKYROCKET, _s._ A kind of firework, which flies high, and burns as it flies.

SLAM, _v._ To win all the tricks in a hand at whist.

SLAVER, _s._ To be smeared with spittle; to emit spittle.

SLED, _s._ A carriage drawn without wheels, generally used upon the ice.

SLEDGE, _s._ A large heavy hammer; a carriage without wheels, or with very low wheels.

SLEEK, _a._ Smooth, glossy; the state of a horse’s or dog’s skin when in condition.