Although it took the saddler a full week to make, was being auctioned for a good cause, and had a guide price below its real value, two months on, the saddle still hadn’t been sold.

A visit to its creator, William Rollinson, at his Bridge of Earn workshop, revealed the dedication, time and effort required in the saddler’s trade. After 20 years in the business, the tousle-haired Rollinson can create a diverse range of products - from cow-hair gunslips to leather eye patches - despite the comparative simplicity of his tools. Machinery is seldom required, and Rollinson’s methods and materials (such as ‘greasy butt’ leather) are much the same as those employed by his Victorian forebears.

Prompted by a conversation with Alex Hogg, chairman of the Scottish Gamekeeper’s Association, Rollinson was persuaded to create a Glen Quaich saddle – a task he launched into with great enthusiasm. Here was a rare opportunity to create something that was once a vital component of the Scottish saddler’s trade. And, although he’s not dispirited by the lack of bids to date, as he explained the intricate network of straps used to balance deer on the horse’s back, Rollinson did confess he’d love to see it used for its intended purpose.

After seeing the Glen Quaich, the obvious next step was to see a traditional stalking saddle in action. Much to my delight, a bright August morning the following week found photographer Roy Summers and myself heading up the single-track road that winds parallel to the Water of Ruchill, to the forest of Glen Artney, on just such a quest.

A favoured haunt of the Stuart kings, owned by the Drummond family almost continuously for 400 years, and immortalised by Sir Walter Scott in ‘The Lady of the Lake’, it is appropriate that the stalkers on this dramatically beautiful and wild part of Perthshire still use the traditional method to extract their quarry from the hill.

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