The stalker's tale
From Si? Malcolm Rifkind Sir: My attention has been drawn to a scurrilous item in your most recent issue concerning my stalking activities in the Outer Hebrides around ten years ago (The Spectator's notes, 31 May). It is indeed the case that I have had the pleasure of stalking stags on Lewis on several occasions and, I recall, that on one of these my skill was not all that I would have desired. It was, however, greater than the skill of your esteemed reporter in uncovering the facts of this memorable event.
First. I did not refuse to practise on the target at the beginning of the day. Indeed, as anyone conversant with stalking will confirm, one is not allowed to go out on the hill unless one has demonstrated a basic proficiency on the practice target.
Second, the suggestion that I fired seven times at the stag before it was finally dispatched is as ludicrous as it is defamatory. What self-respecting stag would hang around to he shot at seven times? And if it is being suggested that the stag had been wounded and could not move, then it would, of course, have been unnecessary to shoot at it from a distance. Has your reporter ever been stalking?
That particular stalk was not one of my most glorious moments. It is not, however, surprising that the story your reporter was told has grown out of all proportion over the years. The Outer Hebrides are famous for their hospitality, and Lewis is not that far from the original site of Whisky Galore. Might he have heard the tale over a glass of John Barleycorn? We are entitled to know. Malcolm RI kind London SW I
Previous page
