Seldom, indeed, had so many
great lords been gathered for such an occasion. On the invitation of the
Earl of Mar, within whose domain the hunt was to take place, there had
come together the Marquises of Huntly and Tulliebardine, the Earls of
Nithsdale, Marischal, Traquair, Errol, and several others, and numerous
viscounts, lords, and chiefs of clans, many of the most important of the
nobility and clan leaders of the Highlands being present.
With these great lords were hosts of clansmen, all attired in the
picturesque dress of the Highlands, and so numerous that the convocation
had the appearance of a small army, the sport of hunting in those days
being often practised on a scale of magnificence resembling war. The red
deer of the Highlands were the principal game, and the method of hunting
usually employed could not be conducted without the aid of a large body
of men. Around the broad extent of wild forest land and mountain
wilderness, which formed the abiding-place of these animals, a circuit
of hunters many miles in extent was formed. This circuit was called the
_tinchel_. Upon a given signal, the hunters composing the circle began
to move inwards, rousing the deer from their lairs, and driving them
before them, with such other animals as the forest might contain.
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