and a half off his tail. I was sitting in a thicket watching it. Two of the hounds were behind him, catching up fast. The third one came crashing out of the very wood that he was heading for. He just managed to whizz by the one coming towards him. Its jaws were snapping away at him on the way past as one of the back two caught him by the tail. It was the speed they were all going that saved him. The two behind Tim crashed straight into the one that was heading towards him and this sent them all sprawling and rolling. Tim never broke speed. He shot into the wood like a musket out of a long barrel. You should have heard the howls of rage as the three big brutes crashed into the woods after him.”
“Aye, and to make matters worse, one of the poor things got caught on one of Innes’s snares whilst chasing after Tim. Innes thought it was funny, but cruelty to animals, whether they belong to the estate or us, is unacceptable,” Whitey said, sympathetically, gieing Paul a warning wae they eyes ae hers.
“Aye, if it wasn’t for that, Tim would surely have been run to ground and torn to shreds. Willie Picket, over in Lairg, lost two good dogs on The Duke’s land earlier this year. One was their family pet and the other was a younger brother of Tim. Willie said you wouldn’t have known that they’d been dogs by the time they’d finished with them. As soon as the Sellar boys heard their hound howling in distress when it got snared, they called the other two back. I heard that the poor thing nearly took the hand off Cameron as he was trying to free it from the trap. While the furore was going on, I managed to slip away. By the time I got back here, apart from a missing clump of tail, Tim was quite the thing and was just sitting there, scratching fleas from behind his ear. Later, George and Cameron skidded to a stop at the top of the brae, jumped out and started hurling abuse at me, screaming what they were going to do to Tim if they got their hands on him. The big hound was lying in the back of their Landy with its front left leg sliced through to the bone. Willie sent me over a fine bottle of Old Balblair malt. Imagine what I would have got from him if the snare had taken its leg?” Innes cackled.
When Paul wis in the nut-hoose he’d become so bored that he’d started running roond the grounds before his breakfast every morning. If he’d been up aw night, screaming the ward doon wae his nightmares, he felt better gaun fur a run. It gied him a chance tae collect his thoughts and tae recover fae his embarrassment. Wan morning, wan ae the other patients, a big six feet solid lump, hid pranced o’er tae Paul’s bed, jist as he wis changing oot ae his running gear and hid started making noises like a ghost. Paul hid swiftly landed his right fit squarely oan they hee-haws ae his. While it served its purpose in that nowan else came near him tae take the mickey, he’d felt a bit guilty efterwards. Efter that, when the staff arrived and put oan the lights tae get everywan up, he wis awready dressed and heiding oot the door, pounding roond the inner fence. When Innes hid shown him aboot the area, he’d mentally mapped oot a running circuit.
“Are ye watching what I’m doing, Paul?” Innes hid said tae him, teaching him how tae set up a snare.
When they wur oot walking, Innes wid explain the best place tae set wan up. He preferred it tae be in amongst the gorse and stony ground, well away fae sheep or badgers. He wid point oot the crisscross ae the rabbit runs. He could tell which wans wur used mair than others. Wance he chose his spot, he wid set up the snare by pegging it intae the ground using wooden pegs he’d whittled doon while sitting beside the range in the croft at night. Efter making them, he’d bury them in the ground fur a week or two tae age them. He said a rabbit wid spot the freshly whittled peg at twenty paces and
“Aye, and to make matters worse, one of the poor things got caught on one of Innes’s snares whilst chasing after Tim. Innes thought it was funny, but cruelty to animals, whether they belong to the estate or us, is unacceptable,” Whitey said, sympathetically, gieing Paul a warning wae they eyes ae hers.
“Aye, if it wasn’t for that, Tim would surely have been run to ground and torn to shreds. Willie Picket, over in Lairg, lost two good dogs on The Duke’s land earlier this year. One was their family pet and the other was a younger brother of Tim. Willie said you wouldn’t have known that they’d been dogs by the time they’d finished with them. As soon as the Sellar boys heard their hound howling in distress when it got snared, they called the other two back. I heard that the poor thing nearly took the hand off Cameron as he was trying to free it from the trap. While the furore was going on, I managed to slip away. By the time I got back here, apart from a missing clump of tail, Tim was quite the thing and was just sitting there, scratching fleas from behind his ear. Later, George and Cameron skidded to a stop at the top of the brae, jumped out and started hurling abuse at me, screaming what they were going to do to Tim if they got their hands on him. The big hound was lying in the back of their Landy with its front left leg sliced through to the bone. Willie sent me over a fine bottle of Old Balblair malt. Imagine what I would have got from him if the snare had taken its leg?” Innes cackled.
When Paul wis in the nut-hoose he’d become so bored that he’d started running roond the grounds before his breakfast every morning. If he’d been up aw night, screaming the ward doon wae his nightmares, he felt better gaun fur a run. It gied him a chance tae collect his thoughts and tae recover fae his embarrassment. Wan morning, wan ae the other patients, a big six feet solid lump, hid pranced o’er tae Paul’s bed, jist as he wis changing oot ae his running gear and hid started making noises like a ghost. Paul hid swiftly landed his right fit squarely oan they hee-haws ae his. While it served its purpose in that nowan else came near him tae take the mickey, he’d felt a bit guilty efterwards. Efter that, when the staff arrived and put oan the lights tae get everywan up, he wis awready dressed and heiding oot the door, pounding roond the inner fence. When Innes hid shown him aboot the area, he’d mentally mapped oot a running circuit.
“Are ye watching what I’m doing, Paul?” Innes hid said tae him, teaching him how tae set up a snare.
When they wur oot walking, Innes wid explain the best place tae set wan up. He preferred it tae be in amongst the gorse and stony ground, well away fae sheep or badgers. He wid point oot the crisscross ae the rabbit runs. He could tell which wans wur used mair than others. Wance he chose his spot, he wid set up the snare by pegging it intae the ground using wooden pegs he’d whittled doon while sitting beside the range in the croft at night. Efter making them, he’d bury them in the ground fur a week or two tae age them. He said a rabbit wid spot the freshly whittled peg at twenty paces and
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