Two of his sonnets are dedicated to his dogs, 'To my Setters,' and 'To Countess,' and the following letter will show him as a sportsman.
GEANIES, ROSS-SHIRE
Reproduced from a photograph by Messrs. W. Smith & Co. Tain
To Mrs. Romanes.
Achalibster,[42] Caithness: August 14, 1883.
To-day turned out not at all bad after all; and although there was a good deal too much rain I had a glorious time. Bag twenty brace of grouse, one brace plover, one hare, one duck; I could easily have got more, only Bango got so tired in the afternoon that we knocked off at five o'clock, moreover I did not begin till eleven, as I did not wake till ten! So the twenty brace was shot in about five hours. The new setter 'Flora' is a beauty. She is extraordinarily like Bango, but with a prettier face. She is a splendid worker.
Even at Geanies he always 'worked' for some part of the day, and sport, tennis, boating, filled up the rest of his time.
Very often there was a house party, and the evenings were particularly bright—merry talk, games, very amateurish theatricals, learned discussions. Nothing came amiss to the master of the house. He was always a little apt to be absent-minded and dreamy, and his pet name, bestowed on him by the dearest and merriest of all the merry 'Geanies brotherhood' was 'Philosopher.' It stuck, and many people only knew him by that name.
No one ever appreciated a good story more than he, and, as a friend has said, 'his laugh was so merry and so often heard.'