THE outer Hebridean islands have long had much to offer sportsmen in deer stalking, shooting and fishing, although little has been known about their excellent estates for the past century and a half as they were the domain of wealthy landowners and their families and friends.

My fellow contributor David S. D. Jones has for some years been documenting the history of these wild and lonely places in the pages of The Countryman's Weekly and last year these appeared in an excellent book entitled The Sporting Estates of the Outer Hebrides Past and Present, a work which is profusely illustrated with black and white photographs, mostly from the late 19th and early 20th-Century.

It was not until the mid Victorian period, however, that the sporting potential began to be developed. The expansion of roads and the railways made these far flung places much more accessible and wealthy sportsmen on mainland Scotland and as far south as London recognised a huge potential, as did the landlords who had previously relied upon cattle and sheep for their livelihood.

It is the deer stalking, though, which will mostly interest readers of this column and there were certainly some fine beasts taken on these islands. The author has written in detail about these estates, their owners, gamekeepers, Head Stalkers, ghillies and those who were instrumental in the development of these estates.

It was Sir James Matheson Bt, owner of the 404,000-acre Lewis Estate (1844-78) who first created estates which offered deer, grouse, woodcock, salmon and trout to visiting sportsmen. He built Lews Castle at Stornoway, along with numerous lodges and accommodation for visitors, and after his death this tradition was continued by his widow, Lady Mary Matheson.

Sir James's initiatives were soon followed by the Earls of Dunsmore who owned Harris (1862-88) and then by the owners of North and South Uist, Benbecula and Barra.

Locals benefited as jobs were created for keepers, stalkers, ghilles and those whose task it was to cater for the lavish lifestyle demanded by wealthy visitors. The latter would travel by train as far as such mainland ports as Oban and then complete their journey by sea. The mega rich often had their own steamers and arrived with an entourage of staff.

It was the outbreak of war in 1914, however, which brought this golden era to a close. Keepers and ghillies left to join the armed forces and those fine sporting estates deteriorated. Deer and game stocks diminished through lack of management and poaching by locals in times of food shortages.

By the time hostilities had ceased estates were unkeepered and some of the smaller ones had been acquired by the Board of Agriculture for Scotland. Around 1924 the remaining properties on Lewis and Harris had been purchased by sportsmen or property speculators who either let them or retained them for themselves.

AMHUINNSUIDHE & NORTH HARRIS

Of all the estate histories covered in this excellent book I find that of Amhuinnsuidhe and North Harris the most fascinating.

Comprising 55,000 acres, this covered much of the northern area of the island including the 'Forest of Harris' where the MacLeod chieftains had hunted deer up until the beginning of the 19th-Century when it became three sheep farms. By the late 1840s it had been transformed into a classic Victorian-style deer forest.

The quality of the native red deer stock was improved by importing stags from Atholl Forest, Perthshire, and in 1849 Richard Campbell, of Jura, shot 30 stags and 15 hinds.

In 1862 the estate was divided up into two separate sportings, namely Amhuinnsuidhe and Ardvourlie.

LADY STALKER

Whilst deer stalking was mostly a male orientated sport, one lady certainly made her mark on the scene. Lady Sophie Scott, chatelaine of Amhuinnsuidhe Castle (1896-1937), travelled regularly to the Hebrides from her London home and it is on record that during the last 19 years of her life she accounted for 698 stags and in her last eight years shot 231 hinds!

There are some pictures featuring this estate in 1865 showing a stalking party with a grassed stag and the head of a royal taken in 1865.

OTHER ESTATES

Other estates also offered some exceptional deer stalking. Morsgail, owned by Sir James Matheson, had a 15,000-acre deer forest where the stock was greatly improved and increased by the addition of beasts from the north of Lewis. Here, in the 1860s, seven stags were taken in a single day.

Another estate owned by Sir James Matheson was Scaliscro where, in 1851, sheep and cattle were removed from 2,000 acres in order to extend the beat of the Morsgail deer forest. Twenty years later this was extended still further to 14,000 acres.

Uig was originally 35,000 acres with an annual rental of £130. It provided six stags and three hinds per season. It was later increased to 69,160 acres. From 1908-13 it was stalked by Harry Holmes, an insurance underwriter from Essex who paid £305 for the lease. In his final season he accounted for 15 stags.

Photographs from 1935 show a party of stalkers and ghillies along with a grassed stag. Carcass retrieval on the islands was usually carried out by ponies but one picture shows a heavy beast which needed to be cut in half so that it could be carried by two ghillies prior to being loaded into a boat for transportation back to the deer larder.

Eishken with its 42,000 acres is one of the oldest deer forests in Scotland. In the early 17th-Century it was hunted by the MacKenzie family.

In 1883 Lady Matheson had all the livestock removed and it was set up as a deer forest. A ten-year lease was taken by Joseph Platt who employed a staff of six gamekeepers/stalkers. Some of the remote areas of the forest were only accessible by sea.

In 1890, Platt's fifth season, he took 61 stags and 36 hinds.

Aline was another of Sir James Matheson's estates which is rumoured to have sheltered Bonnie Prince Charlie after Culloden in 1746.

Sir Frederick Milbank leased the stalking from 1856-72. In 1858 he took 26 stags, one of which was a royal weighing 18st 2lb. It is also recorded that in 1855 he shot 15 Golden Eagles!

Seals were also shot in order to protect the stocks of salmon and trout from their predations. Some photographs are shown of a seal shoot on Gress in 1930. Shooting rock pigeons from a boat along the coastline was another popular sport with visitors.

SPORT IN THE HEBRIDES TODAY

Today there are 14 sporting estates remaining in the Outer Hebrides, ten of which are on Lewis, two on Harris and one each on North and South Uist. Under the 2003 Land Reform (Scotland) Act the estates of Amhuinnsuidhe and North Harris and South Uist have been acquired by the local communities who continue to let sporting activities.

The outer Hebrides still has plenty to offer.

The Sporting Estates of the Outer Hebrides Past and Present by David S. D. Jones is a truly evocative read and certainly worthy of a place on the deer stalker's bookshelf. It is one of those books which will be picked up time and time again by the reader for a browse on a winter's evening.

It is available at £12.99 including p&p from David S. D. Jones, Polraen, Tisbury Road, Fovant, Wiltshire, SP3 5JY.