The Poacher's Handbook

by Ian Niall

Ian Niall wrote this masterpiece of country lore to retain the thrill of crossing the hills in the moonlight and of creeping up the woodside at dusk.
He said, 'This book is about poaching in the old traditional style, the craft of men who knew and loved the countryside and invoked the unorthodox skills rather than the crude use of modern science to catch their game, which they took sparingly, as they needed it.'
From the Poacher's Handbook you will learn how to retrieve a ferret from a deep burrow and how to train a dog, as well as the cunning ways of gamekeepers and the meaning in the changing flight of a loan pigeon. You are advised to walk softly and to listen long, when to run and when to stand still, the thing to do in the black hat of night and the way to read a flushed magpie and the laugh of the jay.
Poet, countryman and scholar, Bernard O'Donaghue, wrote a foreword to this celebrated country classic which will delight a new generation of country lovers and collectors alike.
The Poacher's Handbook was first published in 1950. Hailed as 'the outstanding of nature books', it was an immediate bestseller and achieved no less than 14 editions before being republished in 1960 as The New Poacher's Handbook but without Barbara Greg's wood engravings. Since then there have been two separate paperback editions and total sales of over 100,000.
This edition is a re-issue of the original format and includes Barbara Greg's highly-acclaimed wood engravings.

Hardcover

First published September 25, 1992

About the author

Ian Niall, born John Kincaid McNeillie, was a writer from Galloway in Scotland. He wrote his works under both names. He was born in Old Kilpatrick, to parents from the Machars in South West Scotland. He moved back to Galloway at eighteen months old, and the area formed a basis for his early fiction.

McNeillie wrote over forty books. These include No Resting Place (1948), a tale of Machars traveller folk, filmed in Co. Wicklow by Paul Rotha. His classic The Poacher’s Handbook (1950) also derives much from the Machars where McNeillie spent part of his early childhood, with his grandparents at North Clutag farm, as told in his memoir A Galloway Childhood (1967).

Reviews

[John Ashtone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prose that borders on poetry, a true masterpiece. It goes into the craft and Art of poaching, mainly from the point of necessity but also as a means of outwitting nature but also knowing nature inside out.

For the man with a hare pocket and the boy with a snare.

Put your hand in the thorny palm of Francie Mcguinn?
They ways of coming by a rabbit are more numerous than the hairs on your mongrel dog?

One of the most underrated books of prose in the English language, incidentally his other books are also well worth reading, especially Foxhollow.

I am currently re-reading my 1st edition, yet again, I first read Niall when still at school.

[Pat Riot · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not worth it

Difficult prose to read for an American. I don’t think I learned anything useful and it’s entertainment value was questionable. To each his own and opinions vary but you might want to read a sample before pulling the trigger on this one. If you live in the U.K. And are 80 years old then by all means buy this now.

[Andy Horton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A piece of nature writing from the angle of celebrating and explaining the art and craft of illegally hunting and trapping game.
Ruthless and amoral, the poachers and their admirers like Niall are also by necessity keen and accurate observers with deep understanding of nature. This makes their memoirs and chronicles often great nature writing in themselves.

[Jesse Woodward · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute delight to read. I ended up reading it aloud much of the time as the language was so much fun. My cat, also enjoyed it being read aloud to him, especially the parts about the catching of fowl.

[Ale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written, it will introduce you to special characters that no longer exist in today's age.

[Balin Davenport · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining and informative look at the habits of poachers and their quarry.