The men who look after wildlife on around 100,000 acres of Scotland’s hill land are also responsible for keeping the tiny local school alive in the small village of Dalwhinnie in remote Badenoch.
All six of the children attending Dalwhinnie Primary have gamekeepers as fathers and live in a unique environment where feeding red deer stags, getting paid to help out on grouse and pheasant shoot days and attending the local gun club from a young age are part of daily life.
And according to their class teacher, Moira Webster this lifestyle and closeness to nature has given them a major advantage over other children the same age.
“The gamekeepers’ children are more alert, capable and aware of their surroundings than other children I have taught. They simply understand everything about wildlife and all that goes on in the countryside,” she says.
“If we go out for a walk it takes twice as long as with city kids, because these children see so much and pass on the information to me. And because they are so aware we can start at a higher level with lessons. They know about the life cycles of deer and see animals being born and dying on a daily basis, so it doesn’t seem as traumatic for them when elderly relatives pass away. They have a mature balanced view of life for their ages.”
Some of the children live up to 11 miles from the nearest tarred road, all live in households with several working Terriers or Labradors, and after years of attending the weekly gun club most are proficient with a shotgun – under supervision, and with clay pigeons in their sights. And in the autumn during the grouse shooting, or in winter when pheasants and partridge are in season, the children get paid £25 a day to accompany their fathers as they help direct the birds to the waiting sportsmen.
Iain MacDonald, who has been employed as a stalker on Ben Alder estate for 16 years, has two sons at Dalwhinnie School who watch and help as he brings red deer back to the estate larder to be cleaned and prepared for collection by the game dealer. Sometimes the venison is butchered and eaten by the family.
“Fraser and Lauchlan understand where their food comes from and they enjoy being part of the preparation, whether it is rabbit, hare or venison. They have grown up with it from an early age so they’re not squeamish. But this lifestyle is also about enjoying all the wildlife around us and recognizing birds – they can identify golden eagles and kestrels, they know where the rare peregrine nests are, they’ve seen goosander in the burn and they have to chase deer out of the garden during the winter. It’s a great life for children.”
The Scottish Gamekeepers Association chairman, Alex Hogg commented that Dalwhinnie Primary School was a perfect example of how gamekeepers and wildlife managers played a vital role in keeping thriving communities and culture alive in some of Scotland’s most isolated hills. “Without our members having jobs in these areas schools like Dalwhinnie would close and would be unlikely ever to reopen,” he said.
It comes as little surprise to visitors to the school to discover that gamekeepers, vets and dog handlers feature highly on the list of future careers of the Dalwhinnie Primary pupils.