UPWARDS of forty years ago PIGEON SHOOTING was in high repute; and from that date up to the present period, it has not lost a jot of its celebrity as a SPORT, in which some of the first rate shots in the kingdom are repeatedly engaged in various matches; nay, on the contrary, it has increased in a very great degree; and, amongst some of our noble DONS in society, PIGEON SHOOTING has become quite a favorite pursuit.

But it would far exceed our limits, were we to attempt to enumerate one half of the crack shots that are to be met with in the Sporting World; therefore, a few of the high sounding names, which we shall quote for our purpose, we trust will be quite sufficient:Lord Kennedy, Captain Ross, Mr. Osbaldeston, Lord Ranelagh, Hon. G. Anson, Mr. Shoubridge, Mr. Gillmore, Mr. Arrowsmith, &c., who have merely to hold up their guns, as it were, when destruction and death follow the sound of their pieces to the feathered tribe: but, added to the judgment and skill which the above sporting heroes possess; also the repeated training they are continually undergoing, or immense practice, cannot fail to render them perfect to bring down a bird, or shoot at a mark; and, if PERFECTION can be obtained in any pursuit, we verily believe, few opponents can be found, except amongst themselves, to compete, with any thing like a chance of winning, with the above truly celebrated PIGEON SHOOTERS! Independently of gamekeepers, whom we should term as professional shots; or, in other words, if the above phrase should prove objectionable to a peculiar class of society-men who have been reared to shoot at GAME and other birds from their cradles !

PIGEON SHOOTING is kept up, not only with great spirit, but splendor; and Gold Cups, Silver Tankards, and other prizes, are shot for continually, in some instances for Two Thousand Sovereigns, One Thousand, down to £10 aside. Also, a great variety of Sweep

We have consulted Dr. Johnson on the subject, and find that PROFESSION is defined to be "a calling; vocation; known employment." We have also consulted the word professional, and which Dictionary states the meaning to be "relating to a particular calling, or profession;" therefore, we have not strayed much out of the right path; but we have little doubt that even the most fastidious character will pardon us, for using at most, a doubtful phrase, to convey our meaning intelligently; one of those sort of doubtful things described by the facetious George Colman, in his Newcastle Apothecary :

BOLUS arriv'd, and gave a doubtful tap,
Between a single and a DOUBLE rap;
Knocks of his kind

Are giv'n by gentlemen who teach to dance
By fiddlers and by Opera singers;
One loud, and then a little one behind,
As if the knocker, fell by chance
Out of their fingers.

Therefore, at times, most writers are rather at a loss

to convey their intentions accurately to their readers, without the slightest wish to give offence; however, the term, perhaps, might have been expressed better, namely, professed SHOTS !"

stakes, under the management of Mr. Swaine, the very able and well-conducted proprietor of the Red House, Battersea, and the Enclosure. Indeed, shooting at pigeons is quite a tip-top sort of thing altogether in the Sporting World; and the Swells, who are the principal actors in the scene, are of the very first quality in the fashionable world. We have noticed amongst the visiters the Duke of Richelieu, Lords Sefton, Jersey, and Belfast, Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, and several other persons of distinction. A military band may be found here at times to enliven the scene; perhaps furnished on the old adage :

"That music hath charms to soothe "— and why may not Pigeons be induced to stay a little on the wing, to be delighted with "Meet me by moonlight!"

when we are assured that Nightingales have been so fascinated and overpowered with musical sounds as to have expired with ecstacy; and that even stone walls have exhibited vibration, and been seen to move with a sort of indescribable sympathy at the sweet concords of harmony. Men and women also in the most rude state of civilization and savage parts of the world, without knowing a single note of music, have been seen to dance with their feet and motion their hands on hearing the fiddle or any other musical instrament without any order or system! Then why not Pigeons, it might be asked, feel a sort of inclination at the delightful air and invitation of

"Away, away, to the mountain brow! and PIGEON SHOOTERS too, by the same sort of feeling and inspiration, bring down their birds, a la Bishop, Barnet, Lee, George Stansburg, &c., with

"Will you, will you, come to the bower !"

PIGEON SHOOTING, is also followed as as amusement in almost every part of the kingdom; and numerous clubs have been formed in several large towns, although, perhaps, not with the same means of support; but, nevertheless, with equal spirit and ardour, by the Red House Club, the Rifle Club, &c. at Battersea.

However, to show the spirit with which the above sport was followed in 1793, we have made the following extract from the Old Sporting Magazine, in the month of February of the above date, nearly forty years since :

"The great celebrity of this sport, in which some of the first shots in England are so frequently engaged, encourages us to communicate an account of its fashionable influence and increasing prevalence, as a subject applicably entitled to a place in our sporting recep tacle.

"Matches coming under this denomination are of two kinds: the first supported by private subscription amongst such gentlemen only as are members of their distinct and separate clubs. Others of an inferior com

plexion by public contribution from candidates of every description, and is generally excited and collected by the landlords of inns, to purchase different pieces of plate of gradational value, for distribution amongst the successful adventurers in such lottery of hope and uncertainty. This practice is exceedingly common in almost every part of the kingdom, but in none so frequently repeated, or so fashionably followed, as in the counties of Bucks, Berks, Hants, and Surrey, where, at this season of the year, it is in perpetual succession at one spot or another. But the most respectable meeting for the eminence and opulence of its members as well as the superior excellence of their shots, is held at the Old Hats, on the Uxbridge Road, near Ealing, at which many gentlemen of the first fortunes constantly attend, and some from so great a distance as Reading and Wokingham, both which furnish a few of the most expert in the circle. Amidst the respectability of this meeting we have observed even a condescending relaxation from the fatigues of official city dignity; and never enjoyed greater festivity, witnessed more exhilarating conviviality, or drank better Claret and Madeira than upon this occasion.

"Having pointed out the two distinct classes who appropriate a portion of their time to this enjoyment, it becomes immediately applicable so to explain the sport, as may render it perfectly easy of comprehension to those who have never had an opportunity to be present at so earnest a struggle for superiority. In direct conformity with propriety, we advert first to the match, as it is generally made and decided, between a given number of gentlemen from different clubs opposed to each other; or members of the same club, when by two tossing up for the first choice they continue to choose in rotation till the party is completely formed, which may be contracted or extended to any number required for the convenience of the company intending to shoot. The match thus made, and the names of the opponents arranged upon paper by the arbiter, the sport begins in the following way :—

"Several dozens of pigeons having been provided for the purpose, are disposed in baskets behind the company, there to wait the destructive crisis, the deadly level,' that dooms them to instant death, or gives them liberty. A shallow box of about a foot long, and eight or ten inches wide, is sunk in the ground, parallel with the surface, and just twenty-one yards from the foot mark at which each gunner is bound to take his aim. This box has a sliding lid, to which is affixed a string held by one appointed to that office, who is placed next the person going to shoot, from whom he takes the word of command for drawing the string whenever he is ready to take his aim; another pigeon being so expeditiously placed in the box, for the succeeding shot who stands ready (by the runners

that furnish the pigeons) that ten, twelve, or fifteen dozen of pigeons are deposited in the box, flown and shot at in much less time than it is possible to conceive. The gunner is not permitted to put his gun to his shoulder til! the bird is on wing; and the bird must fall within one hundred yards of the box, or is deemed a lost shot. During this rapid succession (one of each side shooting alternately) the arbiter is employed in penciling opposite to each name the success of every individual, by A 1, or, A 0; this, at the end of the match, denotes the superiority, by demonstrating which party has killed most pigeons at the least number of shots. Exclusive of the general betting upon the match, there is a variety amongst individuals; the shots of some against others, and the field betting of the bird against the gun, as fancy may prompt or the reputation of the gunner dictate. He that kills most pigeons in the match, at an equal number of shots with the rest, is by such pre-eminence the Captain of the day, stands elected chairman for the meeting, and does the offices of the table accordingly.

"Matches of an inferior description are still more numerous, and generally come under the denomination of an help-ale, or makefeast, at the instigation of those industrious liberal landlords who advertize three pieces of plate to be given to the three best shots;' but at the moment of entering the lists, it becomes a collateral part of the contract, that each adventurer is to contribute his proportion towards the gifts of plate; to pay for his pigeons, and to dine at the ordinary. These matters properly adjusted, the shooting is carried on precisely in the manner before described, with this exception only, that here every individual shoots for himself alone, without any connexion with party. The candidate killing most pigeons, at the least number of shots, becomes entitled to the piece of plate highest in value, and so in proportion; but in so great a number of candidates there is frequently an equality of success; in such cases they are called ties, and are shot off at remaining pigeons till the superiority is ascertained, and the victor proclaimed. This done, the day concludes with the same degree of festivity and superabundance before described, but in a style of inferiority necessarily regulated by the pecuniary sensations of parties concerned. Looking however into its attraction as matter of sport, little or nothing can be said in its favor, when put in competition with the more noble and manly enjoyment of the sports of the field. The liberal mind feels a temporary repugnance at the idea of first confining, and then liberating from that confinement, hundreds of domestic animals doomed to instant death, with a very slender probability of life in their favor, when a moderate shot will bring down fourteen or fifteen, and some nineteen out of twenty. This picture affords but an indifferent idea of the sportsman's humanity who indulges

largely in this species of gratification. And farther we presume to observe, for the information of the inexperienced, that it is the most infatuating and expensive amusement the juvenile sportsman can possibly engage in; for one day very seldom terminates without the appointment of a second; one extravagance as constantly engenders another, to the utter exclusion of economy, which is, upon all similar occasions, generally laughed out of countenance. Experience has also convinced us that eight, nine, or ten pounds for pigeons, in addition to the bill of fashionable exorbitances for the day (amounting to the inconsiderable reckoning of two and three guineas each) has sent many a pigeon shooter to his bed, and awakened him to the pillow of reflection."

The Enclosure belonging to the Red House affords considerable fun at times to the spectators, at the eagerness displayed by the Out Scouts, who will not be denied from having a pop or two at these pigeons, who have been lucky enough to escape the almost deadly guns, and who fly out of the bounds. Thus, it appears, the poor pigeons have to run the gauntlet' as it were, to save their existence; and the bird who escapes from such numerous shots, aimed at her life, must be pronounced lucky indeed!

The Red House, at Battersea, during the Summer months, is a source of great attraction to numerous persons connected with the Sporting World, namely, in two points of view, for PIGEON SHOOTING and ROWING MATCHES ; it also possesses other advantages from its remarkably pleasant situation, and offering the choice to gentlemen, either going by water, or land, to the Enclosure. The above matches not only produce some excellent dinners provided by "Mine Host" in first-rate style, but also some very capital convivial evenings, which exhibit a very fine feature of the Spirit and GAME which generally attaches to meetings of a sporting description, and more especially over "the gaily circling glass!"

THE DELIGHTFUL OLD CHORUS TO SPORTS-
MEN OF HARK, HARK AWAY!”

Ye true British Sportsmen who always delight,
In the field ev'ry morn, o'er the bottle at night,
Come, rouse from your slumbers, and let us prepare
To chase away dullness in chasing the hare;
For what can delight, o'er the fields as we stray,
Like the sound of the horn, and the words-" Hark
away!"

Let dull stupid lovers their Phillidas prize,

And boast of the charms that enliven their eyes,
While we, after puss, on the footsteps of fate,
Despise a wide ditch, a broad fence, or a gate,
Singing, as we fly over, so cheerful and gay,
The delightful old chorus of " Hark, hark away!"
Our sports in perusing, when weary we are,
All jocund, and merry, we homeward repair;
Sit down at the table of friendship to dine,
And drown all our cares in a bumper of wine;
Keep sound till Aurora brings on a new day,
Then again to the field, with a loud "Hark away!"

It might, perhaps, be deemed invidious on our part, to select one gentleman more than anether, but in viewing GEORGE OSBALDESTON, Esq., in the character of an out-and-outer, in every thing that he undertakes in the Sporting World, and that, nine times out of TEN, his exertions throughout most of his matches have been crowned with success, we hope, we have not trespassed in the slightest degree on the path of any gentleman on the road to Sporting celebrity. In truth, Mr. O. is always ready"to keep the game alive," upon any suit whatever :

When inclined for a shot, I am up with Aurora,
My jacket lies ready, my buskíns are brief,

I speak not a word at the Manse to the suorers,
But whistle to Juno, and off like a thief!

I leave dykes and hedges, and up to the muirlanda
That stretch out so tempting, so brown, and so wide,
To me they are rich lands that others think poor lands,
As I stalk o'er the heather in freedom and pride.

I grudge not my time, nor of powder am chary, But roam, looking sharp after Juno's white back; 'Mong the flowers and the rough bits she scuds like a fairy,

But when fixed, she's like marble to wait for the crack.

It may shower-it may shine-or the big clouds may

sever,

And drift with long shadows o'er mountain, and fell, But the main-cocks still find that I'm their FAIL-ME

NEVER,

Nor will finish the day till I've tickled them well

VARIOUS MATCHES OF PIGEON SHOOTING

AT THE RED HOUSE, BATTERSEA.

In May 1828, on Monday, Mr. Anderson and Captain Bishop shot a match of six birds each, twenty-one yards from the trap, for £5, which the Captain lost.

Mr. Anderson then shot four matches with Captain Ross, the former standing twenty-one yards from the trap, and the latter thirty; Mr. Anderson betting Captain Ross £10 to £5 on each match. The Captain was the winner of all.

On Tuesday a match was shot by Mr. Hyde, of Cambridge, against a gentleman of the name of Tuckett, for £50, twelve birds each. At the commencement of the match the betting was even; but, after the sixth shot, the superior style of Mr. Hyde's shooting, caused the betting to be six to four in his favor. He eventually won the match, having killed three more than his opponent. The winner shot with a gun made by Hall, of Mary-la-bonne.

The Red House Club met on Tuesday, May, 10, 1828. The first Sweepstakes was between Captain Ross, Messrs. Osbaldeston and Bambridge, at nine birds each, five traps, thirty yards from the shooter, the stake fifteen sovereigns. Captain Ross was the winner, having killed all his birds. The second was between the same party, for the same stake and dis tance, which was won by Mr. Bambridge.

The third was at forty yards, one trap, for £5. It was contended for by Captains Ross and Dixon, Messrs. Osbaldeston and Bambridge, nine birds each. Mr. Osbaldeston was declared the winner.

Two more followed at the same distance, on the same terms, with the exception that five traps were used instead of one. Captain Ross won the first, and Mr. Bambridge the other.

Captain Ross and Mr. Osbaldeston shot a match of fourteen double shots, each for £10, which the Captain lost by one bird.

In January 1829, on Wednesday, there was a very full attendance at the enclosure near the Red House, Battersea, to witness the shooting of Captain Ross and Mr. Osbaldeston, it being their first appearance this season. They commenced shooting at thirty yards, with three traps, at ten birds each for £10, which was won by the Captain, having killed seven, and Mr. Osbaldeston four; they then shot three matches at double shots, six shots each, at twenty-five yards distance, for ten pounds a-side; the two first were ties, and the other was won by Mr. Osbaldeston. They shot with double guns, made by Mr. William Moore, of the Edgware Road.-On Thursday they commenced shooting about one o'clock; Mr. Osbaldeston and Mr. Bambridge shot four matches-one at thirty yards, single birds, which was won by the former; they shot at seven birds each, tor ten pounds; the others were at five double shots each, for the same sum, which was won by Mr. Bambridge. A sweepstakes of seven birds each, fifteen pounds subscription, thirty yards. Three traps were fixed by Captain Ross, and Messrs. Osbaldeston and Bambridge, which was won by the latter killing all his birds. On Friday there were several matches between Captain Ross and Mr. Bambridge, at double shots, twenty-five yards; the Captain was the winner. Eley's improved patent cartridges were used, but in several instances they balled, thereby causing them in their present state not to be safe.

On Monday, May, 1829, Mr. Gillmore shot a match with Mr. Wauchap, at five double shots, at twenty yards distance, with five traps, for ten pounds a-side. At the fourth shot they were even; but Mr. Gillmore won by a bird. They afterwards shot a match of seven birds each, twenty-five yards distance, which was also won by Mr. Gillmore; the match was for a pony.

On Tuesday a sweepstakes of six double shots, twenty yards distance, with five traps, ten pounds subscription, was contended for by the following gentlemen of the Red House Club: the Hon. G. Anson, Captain Ross, and Mr. Gillmore; the latter gentleman having three dead birds given him; the shooting was very good. Mr. Gillmore was declared the winner. A sweepstakes of ten pounds was then fired at thirty yards, five traps; Captain Ross was the winner.

Two others followed at the same distance and on the same conditions, which were also won by the Captain.

The shooting of the day was concluded by a long-contended sweepstakes of double shoot ing, which Mr. Gilmore won by a bird, after having made six ties.

On Wednesday Captain Ross and Mr. Gillmore shot a match of seven double shots each, at twenty yards, with the five traps, the Captain giving his opponent two dead birds, for ten pounds. The shooting was so even that Captain Ross won only by a bird.

Two sweepstakes of eight double shots, twenty yards from the shooter, five traps, were then shot for by Captain Ross, Mr. Gillmore, and Mr. Shoubridge. The latter gentleman was the winner or both.

Mr. Gillmore and a gentleman then had two matches of five birds each, for twenty pounds a-side, match at thirty yards, with the five traps. Mr. Gillmore beat his antagonist both matches.

At

On Thursday Mr. Eastman and Mr. Thornton shot a match of twenty-one birds each, twenty-one yards, for twenty pounds. the commencement Mr. Thornton was the favorite at five to two; but there were very few takers. At the ninth round he was four a-head; his friends then freely laid three to one on him; in some instances it was taken. At the seventeenth shot Mr. Eastman was even with him; but the favorite was eventually beaten by his missing the last bird, and his opponent killing.

On Friday Lord Ranelagh and Mr. Gillmore shot a match of twelve birds each, twenty-five yards from the trap, for twenty pounds. They each killed ten birds. They then shot the match off at eleven birds; and Mr. Gillmore was declared the winner.

A Handicap Sweepstakes of eleven birds, at twenty-five yards, was then shot by Captain Ross, Mr. Osbaldeston, Mr. Gillmore, and Lord Ranelagh, the two last gentlemen having a dead bird given them. At the termination of the fourth round they were all even; and at the tenth shot Lord Ranelagh and Captain Ross were even, but the Captain won by killing his last bird, having scored nine out of his eleven.

A Sweepstakes of Ten Pounds was then fired by the same members, at three double-shots, twenty yards distance from the shooter, which Mr. Osbaldeston won. The same members then fired sweepstakes of seven birds each, at thirty yards distance from the shooter, for the purpose of trying Eley's improved cartridges, the effect of which gave great satisfaction. Mr. Osbaldeston was declared the winner, but it was a very close match between him and Captain Ross.

NOTHING ELSE BUT A GOOD SHOT. Captain Ross, of sporting celebrity, arrived at the Bell Inn, in Leicester, in July, 1828, and in the evening kindly consented to give the shots of that town and neighbourhood a