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 INTRODUCTION

By Lord Lovat

the formal appointment of the Committee in 1905 the following preliminary work of organisation was carried out.

On June 5th, 1904, the organisers of the present investigation met, and after discussion formed a Committee of Inquiry to investigate the subject of "Grouse Disease." The following gentlemen were present: The Marquis of Tullibardine, Lord Lovat, Mackintosh of Mackintosh, Mr R. H. Rimington Wilson, Mr J. Graham, Mr D. W. Drummond, Mr R. C. Munro Ferguson.

Lord Lovat was appointed Chairman, and Lord Onslow, the then President of the Board of Agriculture, was approached with the view of obtaining the assistance of that Board.

A further meeting was held in December of the same year, when the details of the proposed lines of inquiry were discussed, a Secretary was appointed, and a number of witnesses were examined. The formal appointment of the Committee as a Departmental Committee of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries was intimated by the Secretary of the Department on April 13th, 1905. The terms of the appointment marked a departure from the usual procedure in such matters, for they provided that no public funds should be devoted to the Inquiry, but that the investigation should be conducted at the expense either of the members of the Committee or of private subscribers. The members included the above-named gentlemen, with the addition of Earl de Grey (now Marquis of Ripon) and Lord Henry Scott. Dr William Somerville was appointed to represent the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, and upon his retirement from the Board Mr T. H. Middleton was appointed. The Committee sustained a severe loss by the death in 1910 of Mr James Graham, one of its most active and capable members.

In April and May 1905 an appeal was sent to a limited number of proprietors and tenants of Grouse moors asking for financial support. This appeal resulted in subscriptions amounting to over £400; these subscriptions were limited to a sum