Where you'll find black grouse in igloos

They were the Roman army’s staple diet and we barely remember them but the meat of the black grouse is divine, says Soldier Palmer

- Soldier Palmer

Having witnessed the devastating decline of black grouse across Britain over the past few decades, it’s easy to see how oncefamiliar birds can soon become strange or exotic.

There was a time when black grouse were absurdly common in this country. Old issues of Shooting Times carry adverts offering black grouse shooting from Exmoor to Argyll, and many of the most famous Victorian shooting books contained chapters in praise of the noble blackcock. black grouse have played a starring role since the birth of modern sport shooting, but our connection with those birds is truly ancient.

Excavations at Hadrian’s Wall have shown that black grouse were part of the Roman army’s staple diet and the number of black grouse bones far outweigh the quantity of those of domestic poultry.

As a black grouse enthusiast, it always frustrates me to see television dramas set in the Middle Ages where market stalls and butchers’ shops are offering pheasants for sale. I have no doubt that a few pheasants would have been available in those days, but it’s far more likely that our ancestors would have been selling black grouse from their market stalls.

Unseen

However, that reality would be lost on most modern audiences, many of whom have never seen a blackgrouse. Perhaps it is a little petty to complain about it, but it reinforces a more general feeling that black grouse have fallen off the radar in Britain — we hardly remember them.

You only need to look across the North Sea to understand how black grouse feature in the sporting culture of Nordic nations. The birds are still abundant in Sweden and Norway and thousands are shot every year in the forests and wild landscapes of Scandinavia. Shooting people admire the black grouse for its cunning and speed, and if you look at only a few recipes you will realise that the birds are relished on the table.