The manuscript is on many kinds of paper and was evidently written at many times and in many places. The earliest dated portion, the yarn on “Tracking,” contains one page written on notepaper addressed “Harwood, Bonchester Bridge, Hawick, N.B.” (Perhaps it should be explained that” N.B.” stands for” North Britain “ and is an outmoded way of saying “Scotland.”). The date of this is June 18, 1907. B.-P. had an amusing habit of occasionally using notepaper for his manuscripts ; one page, for instance, is on Savoy Hotel paper; others are from addresses in Kensington and Newcastle.

The diary shows that actually on that date, June 18th, B.-P. was staying at the Izaak Walton Hotel, Dovedale, on a fishing holiday. The entry under June 18th is marked with a large red cross and reads, “Got 6½ brace.” Then for June 19th, “Wrote S for B most of the day—writing 9 hours.”

The next date is July 15th with the entry “Wimbledon; a letter to his mother from Mill House, Wimbledon, dated July 16th, contains the following passage, “It is perfectly delightful here, and I am getting on with my writing very well—being entirely my own master—and very quiet sitting out in the garden all day.”

Nothing further is given until the diary entry of December 22nd, when B.-P. was at Middleton in Teesdale; he noted,

“Worked all morning on S for B.”

One point of interest is that one of his letters to his mother (dated December 21, 1907) is on Boy Scout notepaper.

The next date is December 26th, and the diary reads, “Went into residence at Mill House” (i.e. Wimbledon).

A letter to his mother dated December 30th contains this passage, “All goes well here, I am working hard—enjoying frequent walks between whiles in this splendid air.” Though Scouting for Boys is not mentioned here, we know that he was then writing it because Sir Percy Everett has told us how he used to visit B.-P. at Wimbledon and discuss the book.