MY WILD GOOSE CHASE

BILL POWELL

DAVID A. H. GRAYLING: PENRITH
1993

Limited edition, number 23 of 300
A reprint of the 1954 classic account of a professional wildfowler on the Solway.
With Bill Powell one senses keenly every pleasure, anxiety, thrill, discomfort and disappointment of the experienced wildfowler. He takes the reader to the furthermost haunts of the Wild Goose, the declining Barnacle, the now multiplying Pinkfoot, the Greylag and the multifarious duck abounding in the marshes of Solway Firth. We learn exactly how it feels to rise before the winter dawn to seek the Morning Flight ; we sense vicariously the magic of waiting in the quiet of the lonely marshes listening for the first sounds which presage the flight of battalions of birds in the splendour of the dawn. We are made to realise the dangers to those who venture on the marshes without experience; the swift tides, the shifting treacherous sands, and the real risks of being surrounded by rapidly rising waters.

As a Wildfowler's Professional Uncle, he records many stories based on fact, warning that nothing else avails unless the Sportsman goes to the right place—is there at the right time—and holds his gun straight! He vigorously attacks those who in their ignorance attack geese at long range and who even pursue them on to their feeding and roosting grounds.

The book reveals with engaging modesty a good deal of the light-hearted and adventurous life of Mr. Powell himself, including some hair-raising experiences as a Pilot in the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War, an entertaining account of a disastrous cruise in his motor yacht from the Medway to Solway, and a detailed description of the art of shrimp-trawling and of the perils that can be encountered. Altogether it is a personal story of a varied life in the wilder spots of the North and is exceptionally good entertainment.

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION BY PETER SCOTT
FOREWORD .
The Wild Goose Lays Its Egg
An Eccentric Relative
Adventures with a Home-Made Caravan
My Wildfowling Hut
Three Men in a Boat
The Wildfowl Cottages
Tom'-foolery: the Humours of Wildfowling
Long-bowmen on the Marshes
A Recruit for the Ministry
Flying (and Crashing) in the Royal Flying Corps
The Perils of Shrimp Trawling
Solway Shrimps Give Up
The Contentious Art of Punt Gunning
Know Your Marshes
The Old 'Lag's Tale

22 x 15 cm. 218 pp + b/w photo plates.

Very good + condition, small discoloured patch to the cloth on the front board, otherwise very clean and tidy. No jacket, as issued.