Not to be Beaten

New Zealand Tablet, 2 August 1906, Page 22

Not to be Beaten

In a Home contemporary we have dropped across 1 Reminiscences ot Irish Sport,' by Oaptain Blackwell. The author tells how a keen-eyed, but "very reticent ' boy ' of thirty-five blossomed into speech wlien gently led into the subject that lay at the roots of his heart— sport. The Captain and the ' boy ' (Mick o' the Goats) were out tor the day with dogs and gun. Mick was the stranger's guide, and in sport the local know-all. The tap of conversation was quietly turned upon the chances of securing a good bag. The

following dialogue ensued (We may remark that the capercailzie was exterminated in Ireland a century r -p, and that the dodo, a Mauritian bird, became extinct two centuries back) .—. — ' Have you any partridges here, Mick ?' ' Schquadrons of thim..' 1 Any grouse V ' Hapes.' ' Snipe ?' ' Black wid thim.' ' Hares ?' ' They're thrippin' ye up.' ' Ducks ?' ' Ye can't see the wather wid thim.' ' Capercailzie ?' said the Captain, trying to ' stump' his guide. ' Lots o' thim, begor.' ' Dodos ?' the Captain inquired. ' An odd one in a hard frast,' calmly replied Mick. He was not to be beaten, and his interrogator ' gave it up ' and trudged along in silence beside him. But they made a good and very varied bag, nevertheless—without the dodos or the capercailzie.