Gairloch In North-West Ross-Shire Part 31

_Cladonia vermicularis._--The pale greenish grey, almost white, tubular lichen; growing abundantly on peaty grounds.

_Cladonia pyxidata._--Also grows on the ground; has cups or stems half inch high, red inside.

_Cladonia rangiferina._--Like vermicularis, but much finer; almost resembling lace.

_Cladonia digitalis and extensa._--Both have stems like pyxidata; the former finer, the latter coa.r.s.er, with scarlet tops.

_Cladonia cervicornis._--Small antler-like pale greenish grey or white lichen; growing on the ground.

_Lecidea geographica._--Bright green and black growth on rocks, scarcely perceptible to the touch; named from the resemblance to a map.

_Lecidea ferruginea._--A bright rust-coloured stain on rocks.

_Lecidea sulphurea._--A sulphur-coloured stain on rocks.

_Stereocaulon paschale._--Pale greenish grey in colour; growing one and a half inch high on rocks.

_Lecanora tartarea subfusca and parella._--Grows on rocks; one-eighth of an inch thick; pale green, with dark crimson or blackish spots; the "cudbear" lichen, gathered in the Highlands and largely exported in the early part of this century for producing purple and crimson dyes.

_Parmelia saxatilis._--Grey and black with brown spots; much used in making a brown or brownish-red dye or crottle.

_Parmelia parietina._--Bright orange; flat growth on old trees and on rocks, especially on the sea-sh.o.r.e; very noticeable and beautiful.

_Sticta pulmonaria._--On trees, standing out an inch or two in scales; pale green on surface, brown underneath.

_Parmelia herbacea._--Like the last, but greyer; it grows on the ground.

_Peltidea canina._--Resembles the two last, but coa.r.s.er.

_Gyrophora erosa._--On rocks, like a soft black b.u.t.ton; up to two inches in diameter.

_Cornicularia prolixa and cana._--Pendent from trees; brownish.

Seaweeds grow profusely on Gairloch sh.o.r.es; they are largely used as manure, and were formerly the source whence kelp was obtained. Some of the kinds growing in deep water are of brilliant colour; specimens of these, detached by storms, may often be collected on the beach, and when pressed are highly decorative. Fresh-water weeds are not so various, but both cla.s.ses are well worthy of study.

The fungi of Gairloch include several edible species. Whether edible or poisonous many of them are very beautiful. There are brilliant scarlet fungi with orange or white spots; others are purple, yellow, chestnut-brown, green, pale lilac, cream-coloured, or white. The following are a few Gairloch species, mostly identified for me by Mr A.

S. Bicknell, a skilled fungologist and daring fungus eater:--

_Agaricus laccatus._--Purple.

_Hydnum repandum._--Buff fungus, without gills; edible.

_Cantharellus cibarius._--Yellow; edible; the "chantarelle."

_Hygrophorus pumicens._--Red, with orange gills; poisonous.

_Russula heterophylla._--White; top variable in colour; edible.

_Amanita muscaria._--Red; poisonous.

_Agaricus muscarius._--Crimson; spotted; poisonous.

_Agaricus phalloides._--White, with pale yellow or green top; poisonous.

_Boletus edulis._--Umber; white flesh; edible.

_Agaricus campestris._--The common mushroom; edible; only abundant here at rare intervals.

_Lycoperdon giganteum._--White; the "puff-ball"; edible.

_Agaricus semiglobatus._--Yellowish; poisonous.

_Russula ftens._--Reddish brown; poisonous.

There are many other fungi and toadstools to be met with in Gairloch, even by the wayside; they need identification.

These are all my notes on these branches of nature. Of course many forms of life have been scarcely alluded to; it is even difficult, if not impossible, for the scientist to define where organised life ceases. The farther research is carried, the more marvels it reveals. Have we not here plain indications of the work and design of the Divine Being, either direct or through the medium of some law of evolution? It may be commonplace, but it is none the less rational, to believe that for our enjoyment of nature we are indebted to a benign Providence.

"Thou, Lord, hast made me glad through Thy work."

Chapter V.

MAMMALS OF GAIRLOCH.

The mammals found in the parish of Gairloch are, or have been, as numerous as in any other part of the kingdom. The following list has been prepared with the a.s.sistance of Mr Osgood H. Mackenzie of Inverewe, and is believed to be complete. I have added an account of the Arctic fox trapped on the North Point in January 1878, and of some other captures of the same animal in the Highlands, but of course this cannot be called a native species. Tradition says that the mountains of Gairloch were formerly the haunt of numerous wolves, bears, elk, and reindeer; and there is no doubt these animals were abundant in the Highlands in the old days.

RED-DEER (_Cervus ellaphus_).--The wild red-deer is abundant on the mountains of Gairloch, and is the subject of the sport of deer-stalking, treated of in Part IV., chap. xx., where some information is given regarding this animal. Its horns have been found deep in peat bogs, where they had probably lain many centuries, for in one case an antler was found close to the bronze spear head described in Part I., chap.

xxi., in a peat bog half-way between Tournaig and Inverewe, and the spear head could not have been in use since remote times. There are few finer spectacles than a herd of red-deer. In severe weather, in winter or early spring, this sight may often fall to the lot of the traveller on the sh.o.r.es of Loch Maree, without leaving the high-road.

ROE-DEER (_Capreolus capraea_).--This pretty little deer is not so numerous as it used to be in Gairloch, but I have often seen individuals not far from the high-road near Slatadale, and there are always a few about Flowerdale and Shieldaig. They frequent woods and adjoining moorland. Very few are now shot by sportsmen. They are a delicate little creature, and sometimes die in a hard winter. I have seen specimens lying dead by the roadside, pa.s.sing through the Glas Leitire woods.

Possibly the increase of rabbits has tended to reduce the number of roe-deer, by diminishing their food supply.

FOX (_Vulpes vulgaris_).--The common fox is very abundant in Gairloch, but is kept down by the keepers on account of the destruction it wreaks on all kinds of ground and winged game. The fox also kills many lambs, and sometimes, though rarely, full-grown sheep. It has even been known to kill the calves of red-deer when very young. The foxes here have their earths or dens mostly in cairns of rocks and stones. The keepers will watch one of these dens all night in order to destroy or capture the old and young foxes. Any that are taken alive (and these are most usually the young ones) are sent to England to be turned out by masters of fox-hounds, who generally pay ten shillings a piece for them.

BADGER (_Meles taxus_).--The badger is now nearly extinct in Gairloch, but is still occasionally met with. Mr John Munro, gamekeeper on the North Point, told me that one was trapped in Garbh Coire, near Loch Bad na Sgalaig, in 1874. The badger lives on worms, honey, eggs, and carrion, but its staple food is gra.s.s. It does little harm to game, unless it destroys a few eggs of grouse. It frequents cairns of stones like the fox.

OTTER (_Lutra vulgaris_).--The otter was formerly very plentiful, and is still frequently met with in cairns on the sea-coast of Gairloch and Loch Ewe and of the island of Longa, but it is not so abundant as it used to be. When the people found how valuable the skins were they captured all they could. The skins, like those of the badger, are much used in making sporans (purses), to be worn with the kilt. The head is usually mounted as the over-lap of the sporan. Two young otters were taken in Fionn Loch in 1881, and were sent to the Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park, London. The otter lives exclusively on fish.

WILD-CAT (_Felis catus_).--The wild-cat is frequently trapped by the gamekeepers in cairns of rock. It destroys great quant.i.ties of game. The wild-cat is shorter in the legs than the domestic cat. Mr O. H.

Mackenzie has killed a true wild-cat measuring forty-three inches in length. The wild-cat is about twice the weight of the domestic cat. Many domestic cats become wild, and adopt the habits of the wild-cat, and some persons take them for wild-cats. There are also crosses between the two.

MARTEN-CAT (_Martes abietum_, or _foina_).--The marten is now scarce in Gairloch. One was trapped in Gairloch in 1877. An old one and several young ones were killed about the same date in Torridon, on the southern confines of Gairloch. One was trapped in 1884 at Kerrysdale. It is generally found in woods or long heather, and was formerly plentiful hereabouts. Mr O. H. Mackenzie tells me that he once came upon a dead sheep at the foot of a steep place, down which it had evidently rolled; beneath the carca.s.s he found a dead marten-cat. He believed it had attacked and killed the sheep, and the latter in its struggles had rolled down the hill, and unwittingly been the cause of its destroyer's death.

POLECAT (_Putorius ftidus_).--There are a few polecats still occasionally to be met with in Gairloch, but the beast is scarce. It used to abound in the woods. In its habits it resembles the weasel.

WEASEL (_Mustela vulgaris_).--This well known animal is very numerous in this parish. It destroys many rabbits. I have seen it more than once in the very act of killing a rabbit.

STOAT, or ERMINE (_Mustela erminea_).--The stoat is very numerous and has the same habits as the weasel, which it closely resembles in appearance, except that it is rather larger. The stoat generally becomes snowy white in winter, except the tip of the tail, which remains black.

Numbers of them are imported into Britain from Russia in their white state, and make the ermine fur used in the royal robes.

ALPINE HARE (_Lepus variablis_).--The Alpine hare is quite distinct from the common brown hare and the Irish hare. It is commonly called the "blue hare," but the epithet grey would be more suitable, for in colour it resembles a common rabbit. It mostly frequents the higher moorlands and the mountain sides, but is sometimes found on quite low ground.

Towards the end of November its coat becomes nearly or entirely white, the change being gradually effected, so that sometimes piebald hares may be seen. In February or March the coat again a.s.sumes the grey colour. Mr John Munro is of opinion that the change to white is the result of a loss of colour, and involves no actual change of the coat. But he believes the change from the white to the original grey colour is due to a complete change of the coat itself,--that in fact the old white wool of winter comes off, and is replaced by a new grey coat. In support of this view he states that he has often found quant.i.ties of the white wool on the ground at the time of the spring change, but he never found grey wool in November. The grey hare has three or even four young in a litter, and has several litters in the year. Its average weight is from four to five pounds. I have seen several which weighed seven pounds, but this is a very uncommon weight. They feed on gra.s.s and heather, and even on lichens and mosses. Their white colour makes them an easy mark for the gunner when there is no snow on the ground. Some thirty years ago this hare was almost unknown in Gairloch. Now it is very abundant, though perhaps less so than a few years back.

BROWN HARE (_Lepus timidus_).--The common brown hare was very numerous in Gairloch some years ago, but is now comparatively scarce. It is the same species as the English hare, and is larger and heavier than the Alpine hare. Sometimes a variety, or supposed variety, occurs, alleged to be the result of a cross between this species and the Alpine hare.

RABBIT (_Lepus cuniculus_).--The common rabbit was quite unknown in Gairloch parish until about the year 1850, when it was introduced at Letterewe. It did not become general for many years after, but is now common almost everywhere. Occasionally black or white individuals are met with, probably descended from tame rabbits let loose.