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guns and rifles as well as pistols: perhaps it was a ploy to encourage the return of guns to the firm after hard use for cleaning and refinishing. The casing of our pistols, apart from the use of fiddleback mahogany and velvet lining, is also unusual in the arrangement of accessories in the case. They are not held vertically in individual compartments but rather laid flat so that their function is immediately clear – a delightful feature which is achieved in this instance by the so called ‘French’ style of casing. The inclusion of a circular white metal percussion cap holder is unusual: amusingly, the stamp of the capper size ‘L’ remains fully legible but the maker’s name and capper type are barely visible ALPORT IMPROVED – perhaps the result of a little additional judicious polishing on the part of the gunmaker. Having concentrated on the life of Beriah Botfield in our previous entry, we will deal here with the considerable business that he did with the gunmaker James Purdey between 1838 and 1863. Over a 25-year period he spent a total of just under £1,482 on guns, accessories and cartridges. For the most part, each invoice was paid by cash at or within a few weeks of its presentation. Discounts were seldom offered but equally there is no evidence that Beriah Botfield was ever overcharged in comparison with other customers for similar guns at the same time. Beriah Botfield’s first period of purchases was between November 1838 and August 1844. During that six-year period, apart from the two cased pairs of pistols in this catalogue, he purchased seven cased double guns, of which two were cased together as a pair. They were either 12- or 14-bore with 31- or 32-inch barrels. At this time, a cased double percussion gun, with all accessories and an outer leather case, cost 50 guineas. Another gun, described as an 8-bore double duck gun with 35 I-inch barrels, again cased with accessories, cost 55 guineas. Interestingly, in March 1841, he also purchased a second hand, cased, double 14-bore flintlock gun for 30 guineas: this gun had presumably been overhauled and refinished as new. However, whether this gun was ever then used is unclear, because some 12 years later it was taken in part exchange for the purchase of a rifle and a pair of guns. Only £15 was allowed for it, but whether this reflected poor condition or increasing obsolescence is not known. He also purchased three cased rifles and a cased ‘bullet’ gun. The latter was probably a gun rather than a rifle: it cost 55 guineas, whereas other cased double rifles cost between 65 and 80 guineas. He purchased one of the rifles in 1839: it was a cased 16-bore rifle with a 34-inch barrel, supplied with a ‘Telegraph Sight’ for an additional £3 10s 0d. Unfortunately, this rifle is not known to have survived and therefore exactly what was described as a ‘Telegraph Sight’ must remain a mystery. The subsequent history of one of the two double rifles he bought is of interest. In August 1844 he purchased a cased, double 50-bore rifle with 28-inch barrels, serial number 3852, for 65 guineas. This rifle was subsequently in the W. Keith Neal Collection and on the evidence of the gunmaker in Inverness from whom it was purchased, the original owner was assumed to have been Duncan Macdonnell Chisholm of Erkless Castle near Beauly in Inverness-shire. The Purdey records confirm that this rifle was both ordered and purchased by Beriah Botfield. It is in near original condition but with 50-bore barrels it is unlikely to have been appropriate for red deer stalking. There is therefore no apparent reason for it being in Erkless Castle. Perhaps it was purchased by a later Chisholm sometime after Beriah Botfield’s death when his personal guns and pistols, which were never part of the Norton Hall Collection, were presumably sold.