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TUFTS UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

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Webster Family Library of Veterinary Medicine

Cummings Sciiool of Veterinary Medicine at

Tufts University

200 Westboro Road

North Grafton, MA 01536

l^he Hunting Library

EDITED BY

F. G. AFLALO, F JI.G.S., F.Z^.
Volume III.

THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

The Hunting Library

Edited by F. G. AFLALO. F.R.G.S.

Profusely illustrated, small demy 8vo,

cloth gilt, fs. 6d. net each volume

I
HARE-HUNTING AND HARRIERS

BY

H. A. BRYDEN

Author of " Gun and Camera in Southern

Africa," &c.

II
FOX-HUNTING IN THE SHIRES

BY

T. F. DALE, M.A.

Author of " The History of the Belvoir

Hunt," &c.

Ill
THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

BY

G. F. UNDERHILL

Author of " A Century of Fox-Hunting"

With contributions by Lord Ribblesdale,

Lt. -Colonel G. C. Ricardo, Arthur

Heinemann, John Scott, &c.

London: GRANT RICHARDS
48 Leicester Square, W.C.

J-ioin a plio.Oi;ra/>h by Ililh ^~ Saunders, Eton

LORD KIBHLESDALE

]'k()STi-j'iec;e

THE

MASTER OF HOUNDS

BY

G. F. UNDERHILL

WITH CONTRIBUTIONS BY

LORD RIBBLESDALE, LT.-COL. G. C. RICARDO

ARTHUR HEINEMANN, JOHN SCOTT, ETC.

ILLUSTRATED FROM PHOTOGRAPHS

LONDON
GRANT RICHARDS

48 LEICESTER SQUARE, W.C.
1903

.„6. 4C< < 'J

EDITOR'S PREFACE

This, the third volume of "The Hunting Library,"
deals with a subject at once more simple and more
complex than that covered by its predecessors;
more simple because its scope is determined by
a review of the personality, the duties and the
difficulties of a single official ; more complex
because, if we are to contemplate any approach
to a proper estimate of all that the Master of
Hounds means in the social and sporting world,
it is necessary to consider his privileges and obli-
gations not merely from his own standpoint,
but also from those of his followers, farmers or
otherwise, and his servants. To a complete under-
standing of his merits, indeed, a word from the
hounds would be essential, but short of that it is
hoped that something has been accomplished in
the following pages to show the Master as he sees
himself and also as others see him.

The main portion of this volume was the work
of Mr. Underbill, who needed no introduction to
hunting readers, and who applied himself to his
task with his usual conscientious grasp of its re-
sponsibilities. Most unfortunately, this enthusiastic
and painstaking writer died suddenly when he had

vi EDITOR'S PREFACE

revised the greater portion of the proof. I have
done my best with the remainder, but there was no
time to submit the sheets, as I should have pre-
ferred, to some one better informed than myself on
the technical details of the sport. I am only anxious
that the author should be held blameless. In his
chapters he embodied a number of interesting
opinions contributed by Masters and others.

In addition, my friend Lt.-Col. G. C. Ricardo
has written, out of the fulness of his knowledge of
Craven expenditure over a period of years, an
exhaustive chapter on the financial side of Master-
ship, no unimportant aspect to the newcomer in a
strange country; while Mr. Arthur Heinemann, one
of the most enthusiastic and most successful of
living otter-hunters, has written on that sport in
Essex and Devon, in both of which countries he
has mastered important packs. It will perhaps be
noticed that Masters of Harriers find no place in
this book, but it was thought that, for one Library
at any rate, Mr. Bryden had said all that there was
to be said on the subject in his own volume on
the sport, and any further notes must have been
in the nature of repetition.

It remains only to thank Lord Ribblesdale, Mrs.
Ricardo and others who have so kindly helped with
both photographs and information, without which
generous assistance, indeed, the volume could hardly
have been produced.

F. G. A.

CONTENTS

CHAP.
I.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

VI.

VII.

VIII.

IX.

X.

The Modern School of Fox-Hunting .
The Disguised Friends and Enemies of

Hunting

Famous Masters of the Nineteenth Century
The Master's Expenses ....
Criticisms of His Followers.
Famous Critics of Masters of Hounds
The Huntsman's Point of View
The Mastership of Staghounds
Some Views of a Master of Otterhounds
The Master of Hounds in His Library

PACK

I

26

40

93

143

174
199
214

234
253

ILLUSTRATIONS

To face
page
I. Lord Ribblesdale Frontispiece

II. Mr. J. C. Munro 26

III. Mr. Sam Loveridge 33

IV. Lt.-Col. G. C. Ricardo 93

V. Sires of the Pack, and the Craven Pack , , 106

VI. Craven Kennels, and Craven Hunt Servants . 122
VII. The Albrighton Hounds 174

VIII. Mr. R. A. Sanders

214

IX. Mr. E. A. V. Stanley 221

X. Keen Horsewomen. " Over ! " . . . . 232

XI. Mr. Heinemann with " Sultan " and " Monarch ". 234

XII. The Cheriton Pack and A. Broxton . . . 240

XIII. Rough Hounds of Cheriton and Essex Packs, 1902 247

XIV. Opening of Meet Essex Otter Hounds, 1902 . . 251

CHAPTER I

THE MODERN SCHOOL OF FOX-HUNTING

The old style — "Capping " — Sporting writers and Masters
of Hounds — Financial results of " capping " — Expenses of
the Master — Shooting-tenants and fox-hunting — Con-
flicting interests — Gamekeepers — Views of Mr. Reginald
Herbert — Letter from a gamekeeper — Ladies in the
hunting-field — Riding schools for ladies — The late
Empress of Austria — Ladies bicycling to meets — Cross-
country riding in the army — German and Russian
military hunts — Hunting-men in war — Attitude of the
War Office.

Tempora mutantur. The old order changeth in fox-
hunting as it doth in every other branch of sport.
Even within my own recollection, which only extends
back to 1870, the hunting-field was regarded as a social,
sporting, agricultural club. In many instances the
hunting-field presented the only opportunity that we
possessed of holding intercourse with farmers, who
leased land at a distance from our own residence.
Furthermore, in those days the hunting-field afforded
a means of communication between the large land-
owners. We were all tainted with the same brush,
namely, the brush of the fox, and we were proud when
we were baptized with the blood from the brush. Not
that the blood was can de Cologne by any means from

A

2 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

the point of view of scent, though many of us consider
the proudest moment of our Hves that time when the
huntsman daubed our cheeks before presenting us with
the brush. I wonder what the modern exquisite, who
never saw hounds till he was twenty years of age, would
say, if he were suddenly ''blooded" ! At all events, I
doubt whether he would consider it an honour. He
would more probably anathematise the custom as a
relic of the barbarous ages. Not only have the manners
of the hunting-field changed, but a new class of hunt-
ing-people has arisen, ^who hunt not from any love
of sport, but because they consider that it is the
swagger thing to do. I allude to these people in
another chapter, where I have emptied the vials of
my wrath. Still, there can be no doubt that this
influx of strangers has made it an imperative neces-
sity that alterations should be made in the manage-
ment of a Hunt. We, who have been accustomed
to hunt under the old regime, may resent the altera-
tions; but, as an M.F.H. lately said to me, we must
do one of two things : we must have the altera-
tions, or by fair means or foul we must expel the
strangers from the hunting-field. Now the second
alternative is a practical impossibility, unless we
adopted the " ragging " methods which have dis-
graced certain of our regiments in the Army, and
which, if put into force in the hunting-field, would be
so many stones placed in the hands of the enemies
of hunting to hurl at us. We must, therefore, accept
the alterations which Masters of Hounds and Hunt
Committees may think it necessary to make, though,

MODERN FOX-HUNTING 3

of course, we reserve to ourselves the right to criticise
the alterations.

Perhaps the most important alteration is the resusci-
tation of the "capping" system. In February 1903
the hunting world was astonished by the decision of
the powers who rule over the Pytchley and Warwick-
shire Hunts to enforce a " cap " of £2 per day against
all non-residents who do not subscribe £2^ per annum
to the Hunt. Now, every Hunt has the undoubted
right to conduct its internal policy as the members of
the Hunt may think fit. Still, members of fashionable
Hunts, such as the Pytchley and the Warwickshire,
must remember that they owe certain obligations to
the hunting community at large. The policy which
they adopt is sure to be imitated by people who have
not examined the local reasons for the policy. Thus,
most of the fixtures of the Pytchley and the Warwick-
shire are convenient for Londoners. In regard to the
Pytchley, Lord Althorp, who was Master from 1808
till 1817, long before the days of railways, after a late
sitting at the House of Commons, which he considered
that duty commanded him as a Lord of the Treasury
to attend, would gallop from London to Northampton-
shire to meet his hounds in the morning, the relays of
horses on the road being always ready for him. In
regard to the Warwickshire, Lord Middleton, who
bought the hounds from Mr. John Corbet on February 9,
181 1, and hunted them from Itchington Heath two
days afterwards, abolished the club at Stratford-on-
Avon on account of his dislike for sporting writers,
more especially for hunting reporters. Certainly he

4 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

made an exception in the case of Mr. Edward Goulburn,
the author of " The Epwell Run," whose reference to
Sir Grey Skipwith,

" Sufficiently forward, yet still keeping bounds,
His wish to ride after, not over the hounds,"

has often been quoted as a warning to thrusting
scoundrels. But Mr. Goulburn was rather a sporting
poet than a sporting writer. Lord Middleton was a
jealous man when jealousy was not only excusable
but almost necessary. At the present time the reason
for this jealousy does not exist, since the management
of a hunting establishment has been reduced to an
exact science, and the pedigree of a hound can be
ascertained as easily as the pedigree of a Derby winner.
But at the beginning of the nineteenth century such
was not the case, and Masters of Hounds were naturally
jealous lest the details of their kennel should become
public property. We all have an antipathy, if I may
use a slang phrase, to the process of having our brains
picked by strangers without any remuneration. Now
it is seldom that the stranger in the modern hunting-
field, excepting the professional journalist, has come
out with the idea of collecting mformation. I may add
that in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred the stranger
would not know how to utilise the information if he
did collect it. There is the hundredth case, where a
huntsman visits another country with the avowed
object of learning something ; but these visits are, as
a rule, complimentary, and are not to be classed with
the excursions of peripatetic fox-poachers.

MODERN FOX-HUNTING 5

There are numerous objections to the revival of the
" capping " system, which for a few moments I wish
to discuss dispassionately. In the first place, it has
always been the favourite accusation of our enemies
that hunting is essentially the sport of the wealthy
man. I have always, since I first wrote about sport,
protested strongly against the opinion that hunting
was confined to the wealthy classes, and to that
opinion I adhere. Now, if you are able to enforce this
" cap " of £2, you will exclude many genuine sports-
men with limited incomes from the hunting-field. You
exclude the " one day a week man," who subscribes
his £10 or ;^i5, and does little damage to the land over
which he rides ; but can you exclude the stranger,
who is intent upon getting his sport without paying for
it ? And who are to be the " capping excisemen " ?
When " capping " was practised fifty years ago, the
duty of collecting the " cap " devolved upon the Hunt
servants and the Hunt secretary, and was invariably
performed at the meet, before hounds moved off to
draw the first covert. In those days a liberal latitude
was given at the meet for coffee-housing, and it was
easy to distinguish the stranger. Now we do not speak
of meets, but call them " hunting fixtures," and we can
generally judge by the fixture the coverts that will be
drawn. Thus, the peripatetic fox-poacher will be first
seen at covert-side, where the Hunt servants have to
devote their attention to hounds and can afford no
time for discovering non-subscribing delinquents.
Who, then, are to discover these delinquents ? Are
the members of the Hunt Committee to ride up to

6 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

strangers, soliciting donations with collecting-boxes
swung round their necks, like the cadgers in a
procession of the unemployed ? Are they to ride
about with a receipt-book and pen and ink, like the
gentlemen who collect the King's taxes ?

These questions may appear preposterous even to
the verge of absurdity ; but my argument is that the
" capping " system would prove to be in these days a
veritable rcductio ad ahsnrdtim. How is the stranger
to know who is authorised to receive his donation ?
An objector to the "capping" system has suggested to
me that its revival would open a field for fraudulent
collectors. Now, while I absolutely refuse to associate
fraud with the hunting-field, I can foresee that the
revival of the " capping " system would give rise to
many practical jokes. Moreover, I do not believe that
any gentlemen would care to undertake the duties of
" capping excisemen," or, in vulgar parlance, of debt
collectors. We must recollect that the man who rides
across country without subscribing to hounds or with-
out benefiting the occupiers of the land over which
he rides, who behaves like a supercilious snob towards
the farmers, and conceals an unsportsmanlike heart
beneath the pink garb provided by a confiding tailor, is
not likely to treat with respect the " capping excise-
man," even though the latter may be a peer of the
realm.

But what will be the financial result of the " cap-
ping " system ? When a gentleman accepts the Master-
ship of Hounds, he expects a guarantee, or, at all
events, some statement in regard to the subscription

MODERN FOX-HUNTING 7

list. Where " capping " is not practised, the Hunt
Secretary has no difficulty in providing this statement.
There are the subscription list and the accounts, so
that the new Master can judge within a few pounds
what his expenditure will be. But when you introduce
the " cap," you are introducing an unknown quantity
into the monetary calculations of a hunting establish-
ment. One can only guess at the amount which the
" cap " will bring in, though it is easy to tell within a
five-pound note how many subscriptions have been lost
by the " capping " system, for, if this system is revived,
the value of the subscription list must diminish.
Besides, what is the legal aspect of the " capping "
system ? Is the payment of the " cap " a defence
against an action for trespass ? Or is there to be a
tariff war between the tenant-farmers and the non-
resident hunting-men ? Hitherto the hunting-field has
been regarded as a club. Apparently the promoters
of the " capping " system wish to turn it into a
commercial hotel.

It is not a pleasant task for the man, who subscribes
towards the expenses of his sport as much as he can
afford, and denies himself many luxuries and comforts
in order that he may enjoy his sport, to discuss sordid
details connected with finance. The truth is, that
hunting-men should regulate their subscriptions
according to their incomes. I once heard a man
praised because in a provincial country he subscribed
fifty guineas to hounds. The man is one of the
richest commoners in England, and his annual expen-
diture cannot be less than fifty thousand pounds*

8 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

He rents a grouse moor in the Highlands ; his London
house and his ordinary country residence are conducted
on what the female novelist would term a princely
scale. Yet he is held up as a paragon of generosity
because he subscribes fifty guineas to the local pack of
hounds, while the poor man, who can only afford to
give his ten or fifteen guineas, is regarded as mean. It
may be argued that few men care to publish the
amount of their incomes, and that therefore a sliding
scale for hunting subscriptions would be impracticable ;
but we can form an estimate of the rate at which our
neighbours live, and their actual incomes are, or are
supposed to be, divulged to the Income-tax Commis-
sioners.

Before I quit the subject of finance — I confess it
is a subject which I dislike, though, like many other
unpleasant subjects in this life, I have to discuss it — I
wish to ask the hunting millionaires, if they have ever
considered the expenses of a Master of Hounds. The
end of the 1902-1903 season witnessed many resigna-
tions of Mastership in spite of the fact that at the
beginning of the season there were thirty-seven
changes of Mastership in English fox-hunting estab-
lishments. Now, no Master of Hounds cares to plead
poverty, so that when he finds that his expenses have
been greater than he anticipated, he announces his
resignation of Mastership and the Hunt Committee
have to scour the country for a new Master. During
the last ten years we have been accustomed to see
in the advertisement columns of the Field this notice :
"Wanted. A Master of Hounds." Why not add,

MODERN FOX-HUNTING 9

" Must be prepared to spend three thousand pounds
per annum on the Hunt?" At all events, the candi-
date for M.F.H. honours would know what he was
expected to pay for the honour. There are certain
followers of hounds who wish that the provincial
Hunt, to which they subscribe, should be conducted
on the same lines as a fashionable Hunt in the Shires.
I have always regarded these men as " jackdaws
dressed in peacocks' feathers." If they are dissatisfied
with the modest methods by which their local Hunt
is conducted, why do they not emigrate into a fashion-
able country ?

" I was staying in Leicestershire last week. By
Jove ! They do the thing in style there ! " I once
heard an impertinent novice say to an old member of
a provincial Hunt. " Then why the devil didn't you
stay there ? " was the retort. I was interested to know
what were the opinions of this novice in regard to
style, but I could only gather that his chief impres-
sion was that the field resembled a battalion of pink
coats. Apparently he had not noticed the hounds or
the horses on which the Hunt servants were mounted,
though he had at his fingers'-ends a catalogue of men
and ladies who were out, with handles to their names,
which he had probably learnt by heart from a report
in the local paper. I have no doubt that this young
man still boasts of his Leicestershire experiences in
the smoking-room of the local club ; but, before he
boasts, he should discover if a Leicestershire man
happens to be in the room. I well remember lunching
at a certain county club as a guest, the only other

lo THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

guest being one of the best known first-flight men in
Leicestershire. Subsequently in the smoking-room
our host introduced us to the local Nimrod, who gave
us a sermon about Hunting in the Shires. My fellow
guest sat as quiet as if he had been listening to a discourse
from the Archbishop of Canterbury until the sermon
was finished. Then the cross-examination commenced.

" So you met Captain ! What did you think of

him ? "

" Good fellow sociably ; but his riding abilities have
been terribly exaggerated."

" I agree with you that his horsemanship has been
over-estimated. Nor is he a sociable man. I am afraid
that you did not catch my name when we were in-
troduced. I am Captain ; but I do not recollect

ever having seen you before to-day."

Collapse of the local Nimrod.

I do not wish to be severe in regard to the young
provincial Nimrods, but they must not expect too much
for their money. Besides, the expectation is unfair
towards Masters of Hounds and is prejudicial against
the best interests of sport. The Committee of a pro-
vincial Hunt secures, as Master, a young man with
plenty of money, and the members of the Committee
congratulate each other upon their acumen. After
two or three seasons the wealthy M.F.H. resigns, in
order to become Master of a more fashionable pack.
He has been spending his money so that he may gain
a first-class degree for M.F.H. honours in one of the
hunting countries which have achieved historical fame.
In other words, he has been buying his experience ;

MODERN FOX-HUNTING ii

and, when he has paid the bill, he is a free agent.
Then, like Dido, the Hunt Committee exclaims :

" Dissimulare etiam sperasti, perfide, tantum.
Posse ncfaSy tacitusque mea decedere terra?"

Let me now draw attention for a few moments to
the customs of shooting-tenants and of syndicates
of shooting-tenants. Owing to the depressed state
of agriculture, many of our large landowners have
accepted the big rents offered to them for their shoot-
ings by the prosperous money-mongers of London and
the large towns. The chief object of these tenants is
to obtain a big head of game without any regard to the
hunting proclivities of the neighbourhood. They may
profess to do all in their power to promote the welfare
of local hunting ; but, even if the professions were
made in good faith, the power to carry them into effect
is infinitesimal, since they are not on the spot to con-
trol the practices, or rather the malpractices, of their
keepers. Even vulpicide is not regarded now with the
same horror as it was a decade ago, though in the
majority of hunting countries few keepers would ven-
ture openly to shoot a fox. But there is a more deadly,
more cruel, and more secret form of destruction than
the gun, namely, " stopping-in " the earths during the
daytime in such a manner that the strongest dog-fox
could not possibly dig himself out, and so must rot to
death with all the tortures of slow starvation. Com-
ment upon such inhumanity is unnecessary. I have
been told that the inhumanity and extent of the practice
have been exaggerated ; yet as far back as February

12 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

1898 I exposed the practice in the pages of Baily's
Magazine^ and the accusation has never been refuted.
There is an old distich which says :

" One fox on foot more diversion will bring
Than twice twenty thousand cock-pheasants on wing."

Now I have no intention to argue that shooting should
be arbitrarily sacrificed in the interests of fox-hunting,
because certain non-resident shooting-tenants and their
keepers violate the orthodoxy which is common to every
sport. The argument would be absurd, since for genera-
tions genuine shooting-men and genuine hunting-men
have adjusted their differences amicably, and the one
sport may be regarded as equally a part of the full enjoy-
ment of country life as the other. Indeed, it has always
been my contention that the interests of fox-hunting
and shooting are in most respects identical. I am not
referring to what I may term the technical interests,
but to those interests which are common to all country
sports in these days, when faddists and self-styled
humanitarians preach that rural England is an England
of the past.

In regard to the relations between gamekeepers and
shooting-tenants I have received the following com-
munication from Mr. Reginald Herbert, the Master of
the Monmouthshire Hounds. " ' Like Master, like
man.' Gamekeepers, as a rule, carry out what they
know or guess to be the vices or wishes of their
employer. If the employer insists on foxes as well
as pheasants, he will get them. Personally, I prefer
drawing well-preserved coverts owned by a staunch

MODERN FOX-HUNTING 13

fox-preserver, where the keeper takes a Hvely interest
in the proceedings. He keeps an eye on the foxes and
sees that no one interferes with them. In a non-
preserved district old foxes or a htter of cubs may
disappear in a mysterious manner, and there is no one
to appeal to : no one is responsible. I like game-
keepers as a body, and try to make friends with them.
A resident shooting-tenant can generally be made to see
things in the right light. The one to be denied is he who,
living miles away, arrives with his party of brother-
cockneys on the morning of the shoot with a ' pleasure,'
or what is more appropriately called a ' cruelty ' van,
loaded with hampers full of luncheon, and departs
with his friends, often a syndicate taking the shooting
together, as soon as the sport is over. You may take
it that the death of a fox by unfair means would cause
these gentry nothing but the liveliest satisfaction : so it
is pretty certain that, if any of the party get a chance
of taking a pot-shot at one on the quiet, the oppor-
tunity is not lost."

It must be remembered that the non-resident shoot-
ing-tenant cares nothing about social ostracism in the
neighbourhood where he shoots. He belongs to the
tribe of the Pachydermata. According to Mr, Herbert,
" the only possible way of shifting such a selfish crew
is by getting at the real owner of the shooting, and
persuading him, by financial or other arguments, to
give them notice to quit." But how are you to get at
the covert-owners, the real owners of the shooting ? I
am presuming, of course, that the real owners have let
the shooting because they required money, which, in

14 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

the majority of cases, they do not spend in their native
country. If the real owner continued to reside in the
country after letting his shooting, then Mr. Herbert's
theory could be carried into practice : but suppose
that the owner is spending the rents at Monte Carlo
or anywhere else abroad ! Moreover, the farmers
complain that they reap no benefit from the shooting-
tenants and not even the courtesy which, in the case of
landowners, assumes the practical shape of a present
of game and often an invitation for a day's sport.

I can, however, suggest one way by which Mr.
Herbert's scheme of getting at the real owner might
be executed. Why should there not be a combination
of the landowners in any particular country in which
shooting-tenancies are prevalent, in order that they
might agree amongst themselves to insert a clause in
the leases of all shooting-tenancies, under which the
tenant should be liable to a fine whenever his coverts
failed to hold a fox, provided that hounds did not visit
them more than a specified number of times at speci-
fied intervals during the season ? There are, how-
ever, two objections to my suggestion. The one is,
that coverts, which are considered sure finds, are
sometimes drawn blank through no fault of either the
owner or tenant. The other is, that it would be easy
to turn down a bagged fox on the morning of the
fixture.

That the gamekeepers have their complaints against
hunting-men I do not deny. I have, within only a
week of writing these lines, received a complaint to the
effect that hunting-men cannot, or will not, find some

MODERN FOX-HUNTING 15

effective means of protecting game-nests against foxes.
But surely it is the duty of the gamekeeper to discover
these effective means, of which there are plenty !
Under the headline of " Gamekeepers and Fox-hunt-
ing," I made some stringent remarks in the columns of
Country Sport on November 8, 1902. On November 29
there appeared a reply, presumably written by a game-
keeper. I publish this reply zn extenso, in spite of the
fact that the writer does not apparently hold that high
opinion of me which I hold of myself :

Gamekeepers and Fox-hunting.

" Sir, — Under the above heading, your correspon-
dent, ' G. F. U.,' in your issue of the 8th inst., makes
an attack upon gamekeepers, which seems to have
been his sole object in writing the somewhat scurrilous
article. Although I do not, and I daresay there are
not many sportsmen either who pay much attention
to such ' slang ' articles as this appearing in a sporting
journal, I do not think they should always pass without
a word from the party attacked, and that is my plea
for troubling you with these few Hnes.

" Because there are some valuable sporting papers,
such as yours, at all times open to those who may
care to give their opinions on subjects which may be
of interest to the sporting fraternity, it is no reason
why that privilege should be abused for the sake of
attacking any class against whom we may have a
grudge.

" Fox-hunting and game-preserving are, to my way of

1 6 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

thinking, the two sports of these islands (unless we
have to reckon with angling). While there are
hundreds — I may say thousands — of men who shoot
and never hunt, there are very few who hunt and
never shoot. One might think by this we would
have more complaints from shooting-men than from
huntsmen, but such is not the case. Huntsmen seem
to think that, after the preserver has spent thousands
of pounds in making game coverts, and hundreds
annually preserving game, these coverts are to be
kept for the sole enjoyment of the M.F.H. and his
followers. The preserver is not to authorise that
horrible creature, the gamekeeper, to look after foxes
as well as winged game (my opinion is, when in a
hunting country, foxes might be considered game).
According to * G. F. U.,' the gamekeeper should see to
nothing ; his coverts and game are to be left at the
mercy of the earth-stopper, who, ' if foxes are about,
should see the coverts are not drawn blank.' So
much for your correspondent's knowledge of foxes.
Oh ! those wily creatures, how they can baffle some
of our present-day authorities !

" Perhaps the few darts thrown at the shooting-
tenant were made for the purpose of putting them
on their guard of their dishonest servants ; but the
majority of these gentlemen are men of clear under-
standing, sportsmen to boot, and hold a higher opinion
of their fellow man than the pot-hunter or cockney,
and require no dictation from onlookers. Should
they require advice they seek it from their keepers, and
who should know more about the preserve on which

MODERN FOX-HUNTING 17

he is employed, granted he is a man of ordinary intelli-
gence. I am not saying there are no black sheep
among gamekeepers, but of course your correspondent
speaks of them as a class. However, he is not the only
one who has spent much of his precious time writing
on the same subject. Still, gamekeepers get along
somehow, and, in fact, are coming along by leaps and
bounds, in spite of the attacks made on them by a
certain mob who infest the sporting press. "^

" I would refer your readers to what Mr. Teasdale
Buckell, writing in Vanity Fair, says on the attitude of
game-preservers and fox-hunters towards each other
(or they may find ail that may interest them in the
Shooting Times of ist inst.). But before I proceed
further, I must part with your correspondent 'G. F. U.'
After considerable waste of 'slang' he winds up by
saying : ' It must be clearly understood that fox-
hunters ought not to rely on the goodwill of game-
keepers for their foxes.' Well, I may tell ' G. F. U.'
as long as huntsmen hunt they will have to rely on
gamekeepers for their foxes; and, as a matter of fact,
all sportsmen are satisfied to rely on them. Seldom do
we hear complaints from the M.F.H. As for the earth-
stopper, he must go before game-preserving, and if
a gamekeeper is responsible for the foxes, I fail to see
why there should be such an individual as an earth-
stopper. In conclusion, I may add I for one would not
nor would I advocate the wholesale killing of foxes
because my employer was not a hunting-man, or in
any way interested in it. I am penning these lines
in the centre of 'Ould' Ireland, where a crusade is

1 8 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

^oing on at the present time against hunting. I am

employed on an estate where neither my employer

or any member of the family hunt. Game is reared

every year, and on this estate there were this year, and

are still, I believe, about fifteen foxes in one wood

of some two hundred acres. During my stay here

(two years) I never had, nor have I ever known of any

keeper on the place, to kill a fox in that time. Still, we

get, I dare say, the name of killing foxes, simply because

we do not hunt. To finish, hunting-men owe a great

deal more to game-preservers than they seem to be

aware of. I would think there is very little cause for

the complaints we hear from hunting-men, though they

may only come from one-horse gentlemen.

" Yours truly,

"R. MOLLISON.
" Charleville Forest, TuUamore,

" King's County,

" November 25, 1902."

I will say nothing about the personal attacks upon
myself, but have preferred to quote the letter as an
average exposition of the gamekeeper's views.

In reference to ladies in the hunting-field, I wash to
make only a very few brief remarks. In the first place,
I believe that the more ladies who hunt the better it is
for the sport, providing the ladies are both sports-
women and horsewomen and are mounted on safe
conveyances across country. The last proviso is
essential. A lady struggling to get a Park hack or a fat
cob through a gap, hat half off and hair down her back,
with the family coachman plying his hunting-crop

MODERN FOX-HUNTING 19

vigorously in the rear, vainly urging the unwilling steed
to a supreme effort, is a picture which we laugh at
when delineated by Mr. Finch Mason ; but in the
hunting-field our feelings are mingled with disgust and
pity — pity for the lady in distress, and disgust for the
mean fool who mounted her on a bathing-machine
horse. I have before me a little book written by Lady
Violet Greville, entitled " Ladies in the Field." I
cannot agree with all her opinions. Thus she tells us
that "no lady should hunt till she can ride, by which I
mean, till she can manage all sorts of horses, easy and
difficult to ride, till she knows how to gallop, how to
jump, and is capable of looking after herself." I know
ladies who can fulfil these acquirements, but they were
taught to ride as little girls in the hunting-field by
their fathers or elder brothers. We have heard the
story of the maiden aunt who forbade her nephew
to go into the water until he could swim, but I was
surprised that Lady Violet should have applied the
story to the hunting-field.

Outside London and the large towns, so far as I am
aware, there is not a single riding-school where ladies
can be taught to jump. There are dealers who possess
paddocks in which they have erected every description
of made fence. Some of these paddocks might almost
be described as miniature steeplechase-courses, and the
dealers are willing to give lessons if they scent a future
customer. But where the lady has a male relation who
can ride, and is capable of imparting instruction, he
should be the riding-master. Jogging along country
lanes, or cantering in the Row, will not make a lady a

20 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

good horsewoman from a hunting standard. As for
the riding masters and mistresses who prefer to teach
school-girls, my experience is that they invariably
require teaching themselves. This may appear severe
criticism, but I believe it to be the truth, and I base my
belief upon personal observation. Now, the very first
lesson that a young girl should be taught is to sit
square in the saddle, so that her eyes look straight
through her horse's ears : the second lesson is to keep
the elbows close to the side. If these rudiments of the
art of horsewomanship are neglected in the first place,
it is seldom that the girl will learn them in later life.
It must also be remembered that, unless a lady sits
square in her saddle, she will probably give her horse
a sore back. I need hardly add that, for a lady to
become a good woman to hounds, it is essential that
her nervous system should have been educated during
girlhood.

The most notable example of this postulate was the
late Empress of Austria, for while only a child she
was encouraged at her Bavarian home in her fondness
for riding, with the result that, when she was past forty,
her nerve was as strong as that of any woman who
ever rode in an English hunting-field. I admit that
she had the best and safest hunters that money could
buy ; that her three successive pilots, namely, Captain
" Bay " Middleton, Mr. Trotter, and Colonel Charles
Rivers Bulkeley, were three of the finest horsemen in
England ; and that it was considered to be a breach of
etiquette for anybody to ride in front of her, either at
her fences or on the flat. But, great as these advan-

MODERN FOX-HUNTING 21

tages undoubtedly are, they would be valueless unless
the possessor of them had a strong nerve, fine hands
and a firm seat.

As was only to be expected, these visits of the
Kaiserin to English hunting-fields, the first of which
took place in the 1877-78 season, when she rented
Cottesbrooke Park, did much to increase the popularity
of fox-hunting amongst ladies. But the popularity was
not an unmixed blessing. Many of the new recruits
were not popular with Masters of Hounds. They
lacked "the calm repose of Vere de Vere." Other
ladies hunted who could not afford to hunt, and so
were obliged to ride cheap horses. Now, a lady
should have as safe a conveyance across country as it
is possible to procure. Her horse should have been
so thoroughly schooled over every description of fence
that it should be almost an impossibility for him to put
a foot wrong, and his temper should be perfect.
The habit of mounting ladies on thoroughbreds which
have been weeded out of racing-stables is dangerous
to a degree bordering on crime. I have even seen a
young girl riding a broken-down polo pony ! I do not
wish to be ungallant, but I must lodge a protest against
the manners of certain lady-cyclists, who apparently
wish to assert their independence of fox-hunting
etiquette by attempting to follow hounds on their
machines. I have seen ladies trying to thread their
way down a narrow lane through a cavalcade of
excited horses, at the risk of being kicked to death.
These ladies do not understand the risk which they
are encountering, or, to judge by their conduct, place

22 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

very little value upon their own lives. However,
perhaps the givers of the cycles have insured the lives
of the ladies. At the beginning of 1902 I was asked to
suggest to Field-Marshal Lord Roberts that the War
Office should encourage cross-country riding in the
Army through the medium of the hunting-field. I
complied with the request, and on February 11 received
a letter from Lieutenant-Colonel H. Streatfeild, private
secretary to Lord Roberts, thanking me for my sug-
gestions and informing me that the Commander-in-
Chief was considering them. My suggestions were not
original, but were founded upon news which I had
received from Germany and Russia relating to the
methods by which German and Russian soldiers are
taught to ride, not in the riding-schools but in the
hunting-field. The German methods of teaching
military horsemanship have been, or should have been,
known to us for many years. Thus, the Parforce
Jagd, or Royal Prussian Boarhounds, of which pack
Count Hoheman is the Master, is mainly supported by
officers, inasmuch as it enables the young officers in
the German Army to get rid of that stiffness of seat,
which results from exercise in the stilted style of the
military riding-schools. Moreover, the officers are
given facilities and special leave, so that they may ride
in the races open to gentlemen riders. But these
German methods of training young officers in the
science of cross-country riding for military purposes
have been no secret since the accession of the present
Kaiser to the Imperial Throne. The Russian methods,
however, came as a surprise.

MODERN FOX-HUNTING 23

In August 1900 the Nikolaievsky Hunting College,
named after the Grand Duke Nikolas Nikolaievich,
Inspector-General of Cavalry in the province of Wilna,
erected on the estates of Count Pozezdziecki (English,
Postawy), sixty versts from Swiencany, was officially
consecrated. The date is interesting, because it was
then that the Boer horsemanship had become to be
recognised as an important factor in guerilla warfare.
The Wilna Hunting College was erected in three inonths.
Russian diplomacy may be dilatory according to the
wishes of the Russian diplomatists, but Duke Nikolas
was not the man to put up with red tape. The con-
struction of the college can be described in a very few
words. It is a handsome three-storey building, con-
taining one hundred rooms for officers, with dining-
rooms and the usual officers' recreation-rooms.
Adjoining are stables for three hundred horses, bar-
rack accommodation, and kennels, in which there were
in 1902 seventy-five couples of hounds, exclusive of
harriers and greyhounds. There is also a reserve or
breeding-ground for deer, which were originally
brought from the Imperial preserves at Gachina. The
system of conducting the sport, or the lessons in
horsemanship, is as follows : There are both drag-
hunts and stag-hunts. For the former the distance is
never under fifteen versts, or nine and three-quarter
miles, over broken country with wide ditches and high
fences ; and the distance is generally covered in about
thirty-five minutes. The average distance for a stag-
hunt is from ten to twelve miles. Also, in connection
with the Hunting College, there is a Racing Society.

24 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

The races take place over unknown land, strewn with
obstacles, the distances being from four to seven versts,
i.e., from two miles six furlongs to four miles four
furlongs. The troopers take part in these races with
the officers, and the chargers jump almost as well as
the thoroughbreds.

Owing to the circumscribed area of English hunting-
fields, it would be impossible for us to follow the
example of Russia, so far as a Hunting College is con-
cerned. Besides, with us hunting is essentially a
cosmopolitan sport, in spite of the efforts of certain
misguided individuals to make it the sport of the
wealthy few. Nor would the landowners and tenant-
farmers allow the War Office to make use of the land
without liberal compensation. But the rule is for each
squadron to have one officer and eight men trained as
scouts and to occupy ground from point to point across
country. Now, to use the words which Colonel Bower,
of Droxford, used in i860, "when the number of hunt-
ing-men in Great Britain is considered, all of whom
would be ready to turn out to harass the flank of an
invader, beyond reach even of his cavalry, some estima-
tion may be formed of the value of this contribution to
the plan of defence." Forty years later the enrolment
of the Imperial Yeomanry, owing to the exertions of
Lord Chesham, proved beyond all doubt that the hunt-
ing-field can supply men and horses for the defence of
the country, while the zeal of first-flight men to fight
for the Empire largely increased the popularity of
hunting. People who had hitherto regarded hunting
as an extravagant pastime only to be indulged in by

MODERN FOX-HUNTING 25

the wealthy few, recognised the hunting-field as a train-
ing school for light cavalry. Directly the call to arms
was sounded in the hunting-field there was a response
which was the wonder of all foreign nations. Indeed,
the number of volunteers was so great that the difficulty
was the task of selection. Yet the efforts of Lord
Chesham were at first regarded by the War Office with
supercilious apathy. However, it is not within my
province to censure the War Office, though it is only
fair to point out the extent to which in our late war
the hunting-field formed one of the bulwarks of the
Army.

CHAPTER II

THE DISGUISED FRIENDS AND ENEMIES OF
HUNTING

Personality of the Master — Hunting scandal — Alfred
Earp's account of Tom Firr — Interference in the field —
Grievances of small farmers — Their ancient rights — Lord
Ribblesdale on the wire trouble — Why te- Melville on the
same — Wire in New South Wales

It often happens that the people whom we consider to
be our best friends are our worst enemies, and that the
people whom we had always regarded as our worst
enemies were in reality our best friends. Especially
is this the case in the hunting world. A Master of
Hounds, unless he possesses superhuman intelligence,
cannot distinguish between his staunch supporters and
" the snakes in the grass," who pretend to be friendly
towards hunting. I have been told that in many
instances this secret hostility to hunting has been
caused by the indiscreet conduct of the Master of
Hounds, who has failed to recognise the important
social position of the large covert-owners. Admitting
my information to be true, surely the secret hostility
would be against the Master of Hounds and not against
the sport 1 I cannot imagine that any one of the large
covert-owners who have preserved foxes for us, and

r-roin a />hotograph by Whitlock Bros., Wolverhairpion

MR. J. C. MUIVRO

MASTER OF THK ATHERSTONE HOUNDS

Plate II

FRIENDS AND ENEMIES OF HUNTING 27

whose fathers and grandfathers have preserved foxes
for us, would renounce his love of hunting for the sake
of some personal dislike. He may use his influence in
order to force the Master to resign. In the heat of the
moment he may even threaten that he would not allow
hounds to draw his coverts, though his listeners know
that he would never carry his threat into execution.
It sometimes happens, however, that one of his listeners
is "a. snake in the grass," and the threat is noised
abroad. "They say that the Squire won't allow hounds
to draw his coverts." The report spreads from the
county club to the village alehouse, and is magnified
by the literary opponents of hunting in the local press
into the bald statement that the Squire is adverse to
the sport. In such an instance the disguised enemy of
hunting is the gossiping Paul Pry, who first circulated
the report.

On one occasion I was the witness of the start of an
unpleasant occurrence of this character. There had
been a difference of opinion between the Master and a
covert-owner in the hunting-field, and strong language
had been used on both sides. It is unnecessary to
relate the merits or demerits of the dispute, which was
amicably settled within a week, so far as the principal
parties were concerned. But, unfortunately, before the
settlement of the dispute, the covert-owner had said at
a dinner-party at his own house that he would not allow
the Master to draw his coverts until he had apologised.
This statement was made before a private circle of
supposed friends over the mahogany after dinner ; yet
within a few days it was the public property of the

2 8 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

countryside, with the important omission of the clause
as to the apology. It was never discovered for an
absolute certainty who was " the snake in the grass "
on this occasion, though most of the guests formed a
shrewd opinion as to the identity of the reptile.

The people who retail hunting scandal must be
reckoned amongst the most dangerous disguised
enemies of the sport. I believe that in many cases
they do not intend to create mischief, but I could relate
many instances where uialice prepense was plainly the
motive of the scandal. I am sorry to say that often
ladies are the culprits, though I am glad to record that
I have heard ladies put down this scandal-mongering
with a strong voice when it was impossible for a man
to utter the rebuke. Of course we must expect to find
what Punch calls " feline amenities " in the hunting-
field ; but when these feline amenities affect the prestige
of the Hunt they must be restrained by a strong hand,
if only for the reason that they destroy the social charm
of hunting. But I do not wish to be accused of want
of chivalry. When all has been said, the tittle-tattle of
ladies is seldom taken seriously by sensible people.
Let us now consider the needless friction caused by
men who have hunted regularly for many seasons and
who therefore ought to know better.

These men have been called the " enemies within
the gates." They call themselves sportsmen and
supporters of fox-hunting. They dress the part as well
as London tailors can dress them : they subscribe
liberally to the Hunt funds, and keep open house when-
ever it is probable that hounds will be in their neigh-

FRIENDS AND ENEMIES OF HUNTING 29

bourhood ; they talk hunting in and out of season, and
always wear a pink dress-coat when they go out to
dinner. Briefly, they possess all the outward and
visible signs of genuine fox-hunting sportsmen ; but
they regard hunting only as a spectacle and take little
or no thought for the sport as a sport. I admit that
some of them are hard riders and good horsemen, but
it is this contingent which causes the Master and the
Huntsman the most anxiety. To the battalion of
thrusting scoundrels may be attributed the short
scrambles which are not worthy of being called hunting
runs, and the difficulty of hunting a fox as he should
be hunted on a cold-scenting day. Now, the first-
fliglit men, who hunt merely in order to ride, can
easily ruin a day's sport unless, consciously or uncon-
sciously, they are brought under the discipline of the
Master or of the Huntsman. Alfred Earp, who whipped-
in to Tom Firr for twenty-four seasons, thus describes
the tactics of the famous huntsman. " I have often
seen him on a bad scenting day, when casting his
hounds, and some of the field, as they often do, kept
moving on. He would work his horse broadside on
in front of them, and hold them there, all so quietly
that they would not realise his move." Parenthetically,
in justice to living huntsmen, it is fair to state that for
the last fifteen years of his hunting career, if not during
the twenty-seven seasons when he was Huntsman to
the Quorn, and the three previous seasons, when he
carried the horn for the North Warwickshire under
Mr. Lant, Tom Firr had the reputation of being the
most scientific huntsman in England. He would

30 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

have been a bold first-flight man who dared to interfere
with him in the discharge of his duties. Indeed, I
only know of one case in which he was interfered with.
This happened on December 22, 1884, when the Quorn
and Belvoir packs clashed in Widmerpool Plantation
in the Quorn country, the Belvoir having hunted their
fox from Harby Covert.

"Tally-ho! There goes my fox!" Tom Firr
shouted.

"Now, Tom, behave yourself!" responded Frank
Gillard, the Huntsman of the Belvoir ; " I shall be
very angry with you directly, Tom, if you don't let my
fox alone."

There was no further argument, for the two packs
opened on the line and killed him, after hunting to-
gether for one hour and five minutes in Lord Wilton's
plantation, close to Saxelby Spinney, the Belvoir having
run consecutively for two hours and twenty-four
minutes. The brush of this stout fox was presented
to the Duke of Rutland and the mask was secured by
Tom Firr.

Interference in the field with the Master, the Hunts-
man, and the Hunt servants has probably caused more
loss of sport than any other breach of hunting
etiquette. Undoubtedly there are occasions when
individual members of the Hunt can render impor-
tant assistance to the Huntsman, but it may be laid
down as a broad rule that it is wise to do nothing.
The individual member, especially if his knowledge of
hunting is limited, is more apt to have made a mistake
than to have rendered valuable assistance, in which case

FRIENDS AND ENEMIES OF HUNTING 31

he is sure to bring down the wrath of the Master on his
devoted head. I have known many instances in which
ignorant interference has caused hounds to change
foxes when they were almost on the brush of the
hunted fox. Now, the probabiHty is that the fresh
fox will beat hounds, so that the hounds are thus
deprived of the blood to which they are fairly en-
titled. Of course it is a sore temptation to a novice to
shout "Tally-ho !" when he happens to view a fox, but it
would be wiser for him to restrain his voice until he
has ascertained whether the fox which he has viewed
is the hunted fox or a fresh one. " Do you not
meddle."

There is another class of men who do not interfere
with the real business of the day in the hunting-field,
but who indirectly do much harm to hunting. For want
of a better term, I will call them the " curmudgeons "
of the hunting-field. Now " curmudgeon " in old
English was spelt " cornmudgin," and meant a corn
merchant, who kept up the price of corn by his
avarice. The modern hunting curmudgeon professes
to be the friend of the farmers, and would like to be
the amicus cxirice in all disputes which may arise in
even the best-regulated Hunts between the tenant-
farmers and the hunting-men. As a matter of fact,
he is merely a professional agitator, though, beyond
satisfying an innate love of mischief, I have never been
able to understand what substantial gain he earns from
his profession. He subscribes to hounds and potters
about after hounds. Thus, ostensibly, he is a friend of
the sport. The small farmers regard him with unmixed

32 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

admiration. Who could be more genial than the cur-
mudgeon ? The wife of the small farmer has lost two
or three chickens, but the curmudgeon makes the loss
amount to twelve or thirteen when he writes the follow-
ing type of letter to the Hunt Secretary :

" Dear A , — You will be sorry to hear that Mrs.

Wheatsheaf lost a dozen or thirteen fowls on Tuesday
night last, which she had been fattening for market.
Wheatsheaf, like the staunch supporter of hunting that
you know him to be, swears that he will make no claim.
But, as I know, the poor chap cannot afford to lose his
poultry. Therefore, I am sure that you will thank me
for bringing his loss before your notice. (Here follows
palaver for three pages.) Don't forget to give me a call
whenever you are passing. — Yours, &c.,

"PAUL PRY CURMUDGEON."

It will thus be seen that the curmudgeon has com-
mitted two acts of mischief : he has robbed the Hunt
funds, and he has caused farmer Wheatsheaf to think that
he can always get the most extravagant compensation for
the most trivial damage. Now, I do not suggest for a
moment that the curmudgeon exaggerated the number
of fowls killed with any dishonest intention. Probably
he did not know the exact number, but had only heard
that a fox had visited Mrs. Wheatsheaf's poultry-yard.
That would be sufficient for him. It is his wish, and
he generally succeeds in attaining this wish, to pose as
the farmers' friend. He likes to be king of his own

From a pliotograph by Btnnctt &^ Clark, W'olvej-liaiiipton
MR. SAM LOVERIDGE

HON. SEC. ALHRIGHTON HOUNDS

Pl.\ti-: III

FRIENDS AND ENEMIES OF HUNTING 33

company. Watch him at a local hunt race meeting, or
any other meeting where farmers congregate. He will
be surrounded by parasites, who have but small claims
to be called hunting farmers, except that they occupy
land which hounds occasionally cross ; but they serve
to enhance his importance. The Master of Hounds
knows that these small farmers can do as much (if
not more) either to promote or to ruin sport as the
men who farm some hundreds of acres ; therefore, it
is imperative for him not to offend the curmudgeon,
even if he be convinced in his own mind that the
latter is a fraudulent friend of fox-hunting.

I have known many cases in which it was advisable
that there should be an intervener between the small
farmer and the Master of Hounds, or the Hunt Com-
mittee. My experience is that, unless the landlord
takes an interest in the matter, the intervener should
be a large farmer. But in these days of absentee
landlords, it is wiser to go to the " man on the spot."
Where the Hunt Secretary is, or has been, a farmer, as
is the case with the Albrighton Hunt, there can be
no doubt but that he is the proper man to smooth
away these little worries of the hunting-field. Of
course, different Hunt secretaries have very different
ideas of their duties, and Masters of Hounds disagree in
regard to these duties. Thus, in some Hunts the Secre-
tary may be described as an accountant's clerk, while in
other Hunts his position and authority are almost
equal to those of a Joint Master. In the latter circum-
stances it may happen that the Master becomes jealous
of the influence of his Secretary ; but I am glad to

c

34 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

think that such cases are few and far between. At all
events, within my own experience, I have known only
two instances of this jealousy, and in neither instance
was there any reasonable cause for it. However, I
must revert to the petty grievances of the small farmer,
and dismiss them, before considering the actions of
certain disguised enemies of hunting, who hold in-
fluential positions in hunting countries.

Perhaps the most common grievance of the small
farmer is that he has been snubbed by a member of the
swell snob brigade. He very naturally concludes that
the snob must be an important person, because he
wears a pink coat and, apparently, knows the leading
members of the Hunt. The truth is that the swell
snob has a nodding acquaintanceship with the leading
members of the Hunt, which is strictly confined to the
hunting-field, but which possesses no social significance
whatsoever. Still, the small farmer can hardly be ex-
pected to know that the man, who has treated him with
insolent contempt, would receive the cut direct in Pall
Mall, if he claimed acquaintance with the Master or
any other leading member of the Hunt. I have often
tried to discover whence these snobs come. The idea
that they are commercial men from our large manu-
facturing towns I have proved to my own satisfaction
to be false. At all events, I have been told that it is
false by Master of Hounds, by huntsmen, and by
tenant farmers. Besides, men who are engaged in
business know the value of la politessc, far too well to
offend people unnecessarily. My own belief is that they
are the sons, and I am sorry to add the daughters, of

FRIENDS AND ENEMIES OF HUNTING 2S

men who have made their piles, as the Americans say,
and allow their children to lead idle loafing lives. I
admit that the children are the victims of parental in-
dulgence, and might have been decent members of
society, if they had not been educated in the belief that
everybody must bow down before their wealth. We
have, however, to consider by what methods their
supercilious conduct towards the farmers should be
corrected. Sycophancy in the world of sport has
always been regarded as the most rotten ladder upon
which a man or woman can hope to climb into the
inner regions of county society. The sycophant, who
toadies his or her social superiors, and expects syco-
phancy from the farmers in the hunting-field, is re-
garded with contempt and tolerated for the sake of his
or her signature on the back of a bill.

Strong language ! the reader may say ; but violent
diseases require strong remedies. Masters of Hounds
must consider how they can curb the supercilious
insolence of the swell snobs towards the farmers. In
another chapter of this volume, I have related the
opinions of a famous ex-huntsman in regard to the
duties of a Master of Hounds in the hunting-field. In
this chapter I do not wish to criticise these duties in
detail ; but I am convinced that if the Master made it
his business to see that the swell snob did not insult
the farmer, the latter would never trouble the hunting
world with his grievances.

There is a further point, which I would wish to im-
press upon the minds of Masters of Hounds, who
undertake the Mastership of a country to which they

36 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

are strange. Many of the farmers, both yeoman
farmers and tenant farmers, consider their farms as
their natural and legal inheritance. For many genera-
tions their forefathers have farmed the same land.
They may be ultra-Conservative, or Tory, in their ideas.
They may object to the modern agricultural machinery,
which has driven the rural population of England into
the slums of manufacturing towns. They may be
foolish, because they cling to the traditions of their
ancestors. But we have the indisputable fact that
they regard fox-hunting as their ancestral sport. In
Staffordshire, Cheshire, Shropshire, and Worcester-
shire, there are farmers now whose ancestors have
occupied the land for more than three hundred years,
the occupancy descending from generation to genera-
tion. Should this statement be disputed by any of my
readers, I could give the names, in confidence, of the
farmers to whom I have alluded. I may say that the
pedigree of one farmer dates back to tnc Saxon Hep-
tarchy, and I had to trace it in the Black Letter records
at the British Museum.

But is it the duty of the Master of Hounds to
adjudicate between the yeoman or tenant farmer and
the swell snob ? I maintain that it is the duty of the
Master of Hounds to keep his field in order, and to see
that the farmers, upon whom he and his followers
depend for their sport, are not insulted. We have
lifty-two Masters of Foxhounds in England, who act
as their own huntsmen, out of one hundred and sixty-
four recognised packs. I do not wish to express any
opinion, from the sporting point of view, about this

i

FRIENDS AND ENEMIES OF HUNTING 37

fashion of Masters acting as their own huntsmen,
which has become so prevalent during the last decade ;
but, judged from the social point of view, I am con-
vinced that the fashion has been detrimental to fox-
hunting. If the Master who hunts his own hounds
were to appoint a competent field-master, who pos-
sessed the influence and ability to keep a modern field
in order, we should hear little, if anything at all, about
the insolent behaviour of swell snobs in the hunting-
field. But when the Master is hunting, or trying to
hunt, his own hounds, he cannot possibly have any
time in which to superintend the discipline of the field.
Nobody is better aware of this fact than the swell snob,
whose chief delight is to parade the parental wealth,
to the great annoyance of the farmers.

Let me recount here the crux of a conversation,
which I had in March 1903, with a good old sports-
man whom I have known for over thirty years, though
I had not seen him for ten years, till we met accidentally
at the Agricultural Hall. After the usual preliminary
greetings my first question was : " What sort of sport
have you had this season down in your part of the
world ? " His reply was ; " Plenty of foxes, plenty of
wire, and plenty of damned cockneys ? "

Now, so far as I have been able to ascertain during
the last three or four seasons. Masters of Hounds have
had no cause to complain of the dearth of foxes ; so,
for the present, we may dismiss the question of the
preservation of foxes, or I should say of the destruction
of foxes. In regard to wire, the Editor sends me a
letter from Lord Ribblesdale, in which he writes : " I

38 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

should say fifty words would very nearly include all
that there is to say about it. You must remember
wire is not a new portent. Its prevalence is conceded ;
its inconvenience to hunting-people ; its convenience
to farmers and foresters ; and its permanent factor in
hunting affairs, which in most parts of England has to
be reckoned with, and which hereabouts, for instance,
is dealt with satisfactorily." Lord Ribblesdale writes
from Melton Mowbray, where money is like sand on
the sea-shore if it is required for promoting the welfare
of fox-hunting. But in the provinces money is not so
abundant as it is in the fashionable shires, while the
men who farm arable land incur more damage from
hunting, and a fortiori require more compensation
than the graziers, who occupy the larger pastures of
Leicestershire.

" And bitter the curses you launch in your ire
At the villain who fenced his enclosure with wire."

The above two lines are the only words, which I have
been able to discover, that the late Major Whyte-
Melville ever penned in a vindictive spirit ; and the
only caustic speech, which I have heard recorded of
him, was to a land-owner, who had erected wire. " I'm
a Christian man, and so bear no malice ; but if any
one were to tell me that you had got a wasps' nest
inside your breeches I should be very glad to hear it.'
What more suitable punishment could be devised for
the user of barbed wire in a hunting country !

During the Coronation Year I had the pleasure of
meeting some large stock-raisers from New South

i

FRIENDS AND ENEMIES OF HUNTING 39

Wales, Queensland, and New Zealand, and had many
opportunities of discussing the question of wire-
fencing with them. They could not understand why
English farmers erected barbed wire. Briefly their
argument was — "We do not depend upon the carcases
of our beasts ; we depend upon their hides ! " Now
the instinct of any animal, human or otherwise, when
pricked is to press against the prick, with the result
that the hide is blemished, and is thrown aside by the
tanner as soiled goods, and paid for at the same rate as
if it were " shoddy." Why cannot the English farmer
understand that he possesses a commercial friend in
the tanner ?

But when large land-owners, holding influential
positions in their respective counties, permit barbed
wire to be erected upon their estates, we cannot
blame the small farmer if he imitates the example of
the pseudo-sportsmen, whom he has been taught to
believe are the paramount lords of the soil. When,
however, these pseudo-sporting land-owners play the
7vle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and say to Masters
of Hounds, " Ye take too much upon you ! " — for the
rest of the moral I must refer my readers to the
sixteenth chapter of the Book of Numbers.

CHAPTER III

FAMOUS MASTERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

Mr. John Corbet- -Lord Middleton— Lord Althorp— Mr.
George Forester — Parson Stephens — Tom Moody — Mr.
John Mytton — Mr. Thomas Assheton-Smith — Mr. George
Osbaldeston— Mr. Tom Smith— Sir Watlcin Williams
Wynn — The Duke of Beaufort

MR. JOHN CORBET

Few people understand the difficulties of the modern
sporting author. I allude to these difficulties because,
though I have used every endeavour to make this book
a readable work of reference, I am aware that I must
have made errors, if not in regard to facts, in regard to
opinions ; but the following anecdotal memoirs are, to
the best of my belief, authentic. There may be many
sins of omission in regard to them, but I have taken
every precaution in my power to see that there should
be no sins of commission. There are many Masters of
the nineteenth century whom, perhaps, I ought to
have mentioned, some of whom may probably have
been more famous than those to whom I intend to
allude ; but, to do full justice to all of them, I should
have required a volume or two of the " Dictionary of
National Biography."

FAMOUS MASTERS 41

In the first decade of the century few men were
better known or more esteemed in the hunting world
than Mr. John Corbet, of Sundorne Castle, in Shrop-
shire. Even now, after the lapse of ninety and three
years, he is still regarded as one of the most celebrated
Masters of the old school. He succeeded Mr. Warde
in the Warwickshire country in 1791, and Warwick-
shire came to the front rank of hunting countries.
During the season he resided at Clopton House, near
Stratford-on-Avon ; he had kennels both at Stratford
and at Meriden, but at the end of the season the hounds
were taken back to Sundorne. His reign lasted from
1791 till 181 1, his last fixture being on Saturday,
February 9, 181 1. Then he resigned owing to ill-
health, though he lived till May 19, 1817, when he had
completed his sixty-fifth year. To quote the words of
"Castor," "In him died one who with the strictest
moral and religious principles combined the best
affections of the heart. As a friend, husband, father,
master, landlord, or, in fact, in whatever character he
might be called upon to fill, he displayed those genuine
qualities which a mere superficial good nature can
never supply."

Mr. Corbet had had a long experience of Mastership
of Hounds before he undertook to hunt the whole of
Warwickshire, during which period the fame of his
pack was mainly due to one hound, namely, the cele-
brated Trojan. I only mention Trojan because the
blood of Trojan is probably more famous than that of
any other hound. Indeed, in some records which I
have come across, the Warwickshire hounds are

42 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

alluded to as " The Trojans," and Mr. Corbet was often
called "The Father of the Trojans." He hunted the
whole of Warwickshire, including the Dunchurch
and Atherstone countries, without any subscription,
excepting five pounds a year from each of the members
for earth-stopping, and, as a rule, his kennels contained
seventy couples of hounds. As a rider he would never
jump if he could help it, though he would gallop as
hard as he could along rough lanes and stony roads.
This habit did not spring from lack of nerve, for pro-
bably it takes more nerve to gallop down a rough lane
than to negotiate a bullfinch. Certainly he had many
nasty croppers. On one occasion he jumped a gate
because he was unable to stop his horse. " I have
done more than I meant to do," he quietly remarked at
the finish. His civility in the field was a proverb. If
a man were seen in the midst of hounds, he would
merely call out, " Pray, sir, hold hard ; you will spoil
your own sport." When hounds were settled on their
fox he would shout, " Now, gentlemen, ride over them ;
now ride, and catch them if you can."

Very different, however, was his huntsman. Will
Barrow. In fact, master and man were " as poles
asunder." Will's language was not always fit for
publication. But as a rider he had few rivals in the
annals of horsemansnip. Mr. Childe, of Kinlet, Shrop-
shire, commonly known as " The Flying Childe," had
been his first Master, and had given him his first
lessons. Barrow, Mr. Childe said, was the only servant
he ever had or knew fit to trust with his own horses'
mouths, having so gentle and good a hand on his

FAMOUS MASTERS 43

bridle. His last days were spent with Mr. Corbet's
harriers at Sundorne, where he was killed by a fall
from his horse, a fitting end for a celebrated and hard-
riding huntsman.

In Mr. Corbet's day Leamington was a mere village.
A range of baths erected by a Mr. Matthew Wise alone
constituted its pretensions to be called a Spa, and the
accommodation provided for visitors, hunting and
otherwise, was of the most rural and uncomfortable
description. Stratford-on-Avon was therefore chosen
as the social centre of the Hunt, and the Hunt Club
had its headquarters at the "White Lion" in that town.

Let me quote " Castor's " description of the famous
club : " The evening uniform of the club was black
stockings, breeches, and waistcoat, and a scarlet coat
with handsome gilt buttons, with the letters ' S. H.'
upon them, and a black velvet collar. This last appen-
dage gained the members of the club the name of
' Black Collars,' and as such they were referred to m
the poem of ' The Epwell Hunt.' It corresponded, in
fact, with the white collar badge of the Pytchley Hunt,
and seems to have been also a part of the dress in the
field, as it figures in a coloured plate of John Corbet
and his hounds by Thomas Weaver. The commence-
ment of the season was always ushered in in a marked
manner. The members of the club congregated once
more at Stratford, and on the first Monday in
November Lord Willoughby de Broke entertained the
Master and a numerous party to dinner."

So many runs were recorded with Mr. Corbet's
hounds, some of them in verse, that I can only allude

44 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

to the most important briefly, omitting those which
took place previous to the commencement of the
century. On December lo, 1801, a memorable run
took place from Lord Northampton's seat at Compton
Wynites, when a fox, found in the gorse by Epwell
White House, ran before hounds for four hours and
a quarter, till 5.15 p.m., when they were whipped off on
account of the darkness. " Not one horse returned
that night to the stable he had left in the morning,"
says the record. In another run from Wolford a fox
eluded hounds after running before them for six
hours. Only one man, viz.. Jack Barrow, the first
whip, finished on the same horse that he started on.
This distance is computed at fifty miles.

On Easter Monday, 1803, the finish took place in
Lady Hertford's ornamental dairy, when

" The pack, heedless of the damsel's scream,
First ate the fox — then drank the cream."

In 1806, starting from Bearley Bushes, hounds
accounted for their fox after four hours and fifty
minutes. Certainly Mr. Edward Goulburn, in his
poem, dated 1807, called "The Epwell Hunt," was
justified in writing

" The blood of old Trojan is all I desire,
So give me the hounds of the Warwickshire Squire."

If these runs were not recorded by unimpeachable
authorities, the modern hunting-man would regard
them as exaggerations. That they must have been

FAMOUS MASTERS 45

slow-hunting runs admits of no doubt ; but to us, who
have been educated to consider twenty minutes on
the grass without a check as a red-letter day, these
runs of over four hours seem marvellous. Still, these
are the records recorded in the history of the Warwick-
shire hounds.

I have already alluded to the moral character of Mr.
John Corbet. Not only was his private life beyond
reproach, but his public life gained him distinction.
He succeeded Lord Clive as M.P. for Stratford and
took an active part in agricultural politics until ill-
health compelled him to desist from taking any active
part in the discussion of the leading questions of the
day. During his life he was honoured, and after his
death he was lamented.

46 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

LORD MIDDLETON

I must refer to the sixth Lord Middleton imme-
diately after alluding to Mr. John Corbet, whom he
succeeded as Master of the Warwickshire Hunt. Mr.
Corbet's last fixture was February 9, 181 t, and Lord
Middleton's first fixture was at Itchington Heath, on
February 11, 181 1. The dates are interesting, because
Mr. Corbet did not advertise his hounds for sale till the
morning of February 9, when Lord Middleton
purchased them for 1220 guineas, and hunted them on
the nth. Certainly in those days they had a habit of
making the coach run, and did not dream of putting
on the brake when it was a question of hunting a
country. It was a difficult task to succeed Mr. Corbet,
but personal popularity and hearty support enabled
Lord Middleton to achieve it. In the first place, he
was known to be a staunch friend to the farmers, and
commenced his reign by giving a dinner to sixty
tenant farmers in his country at the " Rising Sun Inn "
at Edgehill, while for many years he gave a plate of
£<^o, to be run for at Warwick Races. This he stopped
at the request of the Jockey Club, owing to the
numerous disputes which arose in regard to qualifica-
tions. Those of my readers who are students of Turf
history know that in the first half of the century it was
necessary for an owner to get a certificate from an
M.F.H. that his horse had been ridden regularly to
hounds before he could run in a hunters' flat race.

FAMOUS MASTERS 47

with the result that young horses were shown off at
covert-side, and taken home immediately after they
had come under the eye of the M.F.H. Owing to his
good nature, Lord Middleton often fell a victim to
unscrupulous owners, so that he was compelled to
abolish the race which he had organised for the benefit
of the farmers.

But, in addition to his well-deserved popularity with
the farmers. Lord Middleton was supported by men
whose names are household words in every fox-
hunting establishment. Most prominent amongst
these were Lord Willoughby de Broke, the Earl of
Aylesford, of Packington Hall, the Earl of Warwick,
Sir John Mordaunt, Sir E. Smythe, Sir J. Shelley, Lord
Villiers, iMr. Holbeck, of Farnborough, General
Williams, Mr. Curtis, Mr. Featherstone, Mr. Cattell,
Mr. H. Robins, Mr. T. Handley, Lord Alvanley, Sir
Grey Skipwith, Mr. Stubbs, of Beckbury, Shropshire,
Mr. Boycott, of Rudge, Shropshire (afterwards M.F.H.
of the Albrighton from 1825 to 1830), and Mr. Edward
Goulburn.

But it is as a horseman and field-master that Lord
Middleton is entitled to be numbered amongst the
giants of the hunting-field. As M.F.H. his reign is
notable amongst Warwickshire sportsmen, because he
gave up the Meriden and Coombe and Dunchurch
sides of the country, since it was impossible for one
pack of hounds to hunt the whole of the country, for it
was forty miles long by twenty miles wide, and com-
prised what has been since 1853 the North Warwick-
shire country. It will thus be seen that Lord Middleton

48 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

founded the present Warwickshire country. Unfor-
tunately, owing to an accident in the hunting-field
which prevented him from riding again, he was com-
pelled to resign his Mastership in 1822, when he was
succeeded by Mr. Shirley, who reigned till 1825. He
died in 1835.

FAMOUS MASTERS 49

LORD ALTHORP

Probably no man during the present century has
held a more prominent position, not only in hunting
and agricultural history but also in political history,
than Lord Althorp. Few men have had a career
which commands more admiration. He laboured
under many great disadvantages, and yet, from sheer
honesty of purpose, he rose to prominence in every
branch of work which he undertook. His polar star
was " duty," and his watchword " thoroughness." He
was the eldest son of the second Earl Spencer, by
Lavinia, the eldest daughter of Charles Bingham, after-
wards first Earl of Lucan, and was born on May 30,
1782, at Spencer House, St. James's.

It was during his last year at Cambridge that his
sporting instincts were finally developed. He spent
much time and money in hunting and racing, and
when he left Cambridge owed several thousands of
pounds. The pain it caused him to tell his father this
cured him of gambling, especially when he learnt that
his father would have to borrow the money to pay the
debts. But as his biographer, Sir Denis Le Marchant,
says, " he had too big a heart for a gamester," and
though he was afterwards associated with many of the
biggest gamblers of the century I can find no record
of his gambling. The Pytchley woodlands were more
to his taste than the saloon at Crockford's.

Lord Althorp reigned over the Pytchley from 1808,

D

so THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

when he purchased the hounds from Mr. John Warde
for ;^iooo, till 1817, resigning the Mastership in the
latter year in favour of his old friend, Sir Charles
Knightley, owing to a bad fall which he sustained in a
run from Brampton Wood in November. As an
enthusiastic sportsman, I do not believe that Lord
Althorp has ever been surpassed in the hunting-field.
Eight months out of the twelve he spent in Northamp-
tonshire, and during the cub-hunting season resided
for weeks at a cottage at Brigstock, which he shared
with Sir Charles Knightley, so as to be near to kennels.
Though he was far from being a good horseman, he
was an excellent judge of hounds and introduced into
his kennels a lighter and quicker build of hound than
had been seen before. At first the innovation was un-
popular. Mr. John Warde had been in favour of big
hounds, especially for the woodlands. But Lord
Althorp soon convinced his followers that his opinion
was the correct one, such good judges as Sir David
Baird and Lord Alvanley being attracted to the Pytchley
to learn a lesson from the Master. We must remember,
however, that Lord Althorp spent from ;^40oo to
^^5000 per annum on his hunting establishment during
his Mastership, and he must have met with failures as
well as successes in hound-breeding.

His greatest admirers admit that he was a clumsy
man on a horse. Both Sir Denis Le Marchant and
Mr. Ernest Myers state this, and Lord Althorp knew it
to be the case. He put his shoulder out so often that
he sent one of his whippers-in to the Northampton

FAMOUS MASTERS 51

Infirmary, in order that he might be taught how to put
it in on an emergency. He rode the best horses that
could be bought for money, but owing to his loose
seat he was continually tumbling off them. But he
was honest enough to confess his faults, and used to
say that he always attached himself to a pilot. This
was very different from when his father was Master,
for it was then considered a breach of etiquette for
anybody, excepting the huntsman, to ride in front of
the Master. But, though both his father and his
grandfather had hunted the Pytchley country, it was
not the desire of Lord Althorp that the Pytchley should
be considered an hereditary pack, and he was never
guilty of autocracy in the hunting-field. He was too
much respected for autocracy to be necessary. To
those of my readers, who take any delight in com-
paring fox-hunting and agricultural history with poli-
tical history, the career of Lord Althorp must present a
combination of absorbing interest. As early as 1806
he was appointed a Lord of the Treasury out of com-
pliment to his father, but he retained the office for
only thirteen months and rarely attended the House of
Commons. Yet in 1830 he was appointed, against his
will. Leader of the Opposition, and in the same year
became Chancellor of the Exchequer under Lord
Grey. In November 1838, he was offered the choice
of the Lord-Lieutenancy of Ireland or the Governor-
ship of Canada. But, as is well known, he had firmly
resolved to retire from political life on the death of his
father. A fragment of autobiography found amongst
his papers, and published in the preface of Sir Denis

52

THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

Le Marchant's biography, speaks more conclusively
than I can write. These are Lord Althorp's words :
" I retire from political life from my own inclination
only. But it is satisfactory to me firmly to believe, and
to be convinced, that by so doing I give myself greater
facilities to become a religious man." Lord Lyttleton
wrote in regard to Lord Althorp's retirement from
political life that " he told my father it was the cessation
of acute pain to him."

FAMOUS MASTERS 53

MR. GEORGE FORESTER

But, though the private Hves of the majority of
Masters of Hounds at the beginning of the century
were beyond reproach, yet it must be confessed that
some of them took advantage of the latitude which
was allowed to fox-hunting squires. The most notorious
of these was " Squire " George Forester, of Willey, yet
he was a thoroughbred specimen of a " fine old English
gentleman, who had a great estate," during the first
decade of the nineteenth century. He was like a moving
plant which receives its nourishment from the air, and
he lived chiefly through his senses. His passion for fox-
hunting was unbounded. He hunted the country from
the Clee Hills to the Wrekin in Shropshire, with the
famous Tom Moody as whipper-in, and with such
well-known associates as Mr. Dansey, Mr. Childe,
Mr. Stubbs, of Beckbury, Squire Boycott, of Rudge,
and Parson Stephens. The hospitality of the '* Willey "
Squire, as he was called, was unbounded. His home
at Willey has been immortalised by Dibdin as
" Bachelor's Hall." It is no exaggeration to say that
few names are better known in the annals of fox-
hunting than those of the Willey Squire and Tom
Moody.

Was it not Thackeray who wrote : " The England of
our ancestors was a merrier England than the island
we inhabit?" In many respects it was a healthier
England, in spite of the hard-drinking customs of the

54 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

age, as can be proved by statistics of longevity. Mr.
Forester belonged to the old school of fox-hunters.
On hunting mornings he never breakfasted later than
4 A.M., and would be in the saddle at 5 A.M. ; then
home again to dinner at 3 P.M.

After dinner, eaten with an appetite which only fox-
hunting can procure, the carousals were often long
and deep.

" Hark away ! Hark away! While our spirits are gay,
Let us drink to the joys of next meeting day I "

was his motto. But it must not for a moment be sup-
posed that Mr. Forester was what would be termed in
these days a drunkard. He only drank after dinner,
and not always then, as the following incident will
prove. On one occasion Mr. Dansey, Mr. Childe, and
Mr. Stubbs were staying with him at Willey, and they
had arrived home earlier than usual after their morn-
ing's sport. Dinner was served on their arrival, and
Mr. Forester proposed an after-dinner run. Needless
to say, the proposal was carried nem. con., and Tom
Moody was given his instructions. At 3 p.m. they
drew for their fox, found him, and hounds accounted
for him by moonlight. The run is still spoken of in
Shropshire as the Beggarlybrook run. The memory
of Mr. Forester has been so often assailed by the
cranks who rail at harmless recreation, that it is
perhaps necessary to record his public services outside
the hunting-field. For many years he represented the
borough of Wenlock in the House of Commons, and
he was major of the Wenlock Loyal Volunteers, a

FAMOUS MASTERS SS

regiment raised at the time of the Irish Rebellion in
1798. His conduct towards Dibdin, the poet, is a
proof of his good nature and refined feelings. He
wished to make Dibdin, who was a poor man, some
further recompense for the famous lines on Tom Moody,
than had been vouchsafed to him by the publisher, so
on one occasion, when Dibdin was returning to London
from Willey, he asked him to personally deliver a letter
at his London bankers. The letter was an order to pay
Dibdin ;^ioo. Nor did his kindness end here, for it
was through his intercession that Dibdin received a
pension from Government when Pitt was in office.

Perhaps Parson Stephens was the most notable
visitor at Willey. He was a splendid specimen of the
sporting clergyman, a class, alas ! now becoming
extinct. No man was better known in Shropshire and
the Salopian borders of Staffordshire than Parson
Stephens, as he was invariably called. Many stories
have I heard of him, and his memory is still green in
the present Albrighton country, where he was a constant
visitor at Rudge Hall. On one occasion, according to
Mr. Randall's amusing and instructive book on the
Willey country, the mistress of Rudge had presented
her lord and master with a baby girl, and Mr. Stephens
was asked to christen it. The ceremony took place
after dinner, and Mr. Stephens, though he did not
usually suffer from deafness, failed to catch the name.
On another occasion, when staying at Willey, he had
retired early to bed, but waking up hungry he made
his way to the larder, with the intention of getting some
venison pasty, forgetting that the Squire and his guests

56 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

were in the dining-room, the door of which he had to
pass during his voyage of discovery. The Squire
"twigged" him, and, following him stealthily, turned
the key of the larder door when the parson was helping
himself to the venison. The parson clamoured to be
let out, and the Squire let out a bagged fox while he
turned the key. Then the fox hunted the parson through
the dining-room, and as pyjamas were not then invented,
and the night attire of the period was short and scanty,
I shall draw the curtain. But the trouble of the parson
did not finish with the hunt, for the Squire compelled
him to sing the old song :

" A parson once had a remarkable foible
Of loving good liquor far more than his Bible ;
His neighbours all said he was much less perplext
In handling a tankard than in handling a text."

It is difficult, nor is it of material interest after the
lapse of close upon a century, to form an estimate of
the Squire's riding ability. One thing, however, is
certain, viz., that he possessed unusual powers of
endurance in the saddle. Many accounts of the runs
with his hounds were published in 1873 by Mr. Randall,
F.G.S., who had an exceptional knowledge of Shrop-
shire and its county history. The time and distance
both sound miraculous to the ears of modern fox-
hunters ; but we must remember that hounds did not
run as fast as they do in these days. I have before me
a record of a run when hounds found their fox on the
Clee Hills, and ran through the Needle's Eye at the
Wrekin before accounting for their quarry. My readers
have only to glance at the map to see the distance which

FAMOUS MASTERS 57

must have been covered. It has often been suggested
to me that these records are exaggerated, but I do not
think that there is any truth in the suggestion.

" Thus Tom spoke his friends ere he gave up his breath :
' Since I see you've resolved to be in at the death,
One favour bestow — 'tis the last I shall crave —
Give a rattling view-halloa over my grave ;
And unless at that warning I lift up my head,
My boys, you may fairly conclude I am dead ! '
Honest Tom was obeyed, and the shout rent the sky,
For every one joined in the tally-ho cry."

I have quoted the above Hnes from Dibdin's well-
known poem as the best preface to any mention of
Mr. Forester's famous whipper-in. Let me correct at
once a statement which I have often heard made, that
Tom Moody was Mr. Forester's huntsman. Tom
Moody never carried the horn. My authority is
Mr. Randall. I mention this, because Tom Moody is
constantly referred to as a huntsman, though any native
of Shropshire knows at the present day that Mr. Forester
hunted his own hounds. So far as posterity is concerned,
Tom Moody owes his reputation to Dibdin. He was a
bold and fearless rider, but a very wet one. In fact,
he was seldom sober on horseback. He would ride
any horse at anything or anybody, and he was devoted
to his master ; but I doubt if a modern M.F.H. would
keep him in his employ for a week. Still, there can be
little doubt that the Squire encouraged rather than
discouraged him in his love of liquor. He would
have him into his dining-room and make him drink
bumpers of port out of a fox's mask. But if the Squire

58 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

compelled Moody to drink, he also compelled him to
ride hard. There is a distich in an old hunting poem
relating to the Squire :

" Nicking and craning he deemed a crime ;
Nobody rode harder, perhaps, in his time."

But the hospitality of Willey was not confined to
fox-hunters. An ever-welcome guest was Mr. John
Wilkinson, sometimes called the father of the iron trade,
and the Squire did everything in his power to promote
the commercial interests of Ironbridge, Madeley, Coal-
brookdale, and the surrounding districts. He was a
man of many parts, and in each part he performed his
duty.

The following accounts of the Squire will be found
of interest :

" Old Sports and Sportsmen ; or, the Willey Country."
By John Randall. 1873. Post 8vo. Sketches of Tom
Moody and Squire Forester.

"Tom Moody's Tales." Edited by Mark Lemon.
1864 (1863). 8vo. With 13 plates by H. K. Browne.

FAMOUS MASTERS 59

MR. JOHN MYTTON

A character similar to Mr. Forester's, if we omit the
amorous procHvities, was that of Mr. John Mytton,
who died at the early age of thirty-eight. His biography
was written by "Nimrod " (Mr. C. J. Apperley) within
a year of his death, and is doubtless known to many of
my readers, but it contains many misleading statements,
some of which have caused pain to Mr. Mytton's
descendants and to the descendants of Mr. Mytton's
friends. As I have more to say of " Nimrod " else-
where, I shall content myself with saying, that he was
signally oblivious of the Latin proverb —

" De mortuis nil nisi bonuni."

But to return to John Mytton. Born on September
30, 1796, and left fatherless before he was two
years of age, John Mytton became a mother's spoilt
darling. At the age of nineteen he was gazetted a
cornet in the 7th Hussars and joinedthe Army of Occu-
pation in France. But the fighting was over, and
young Mytton was advised to resign his commission.
On May 21, 1818, he married Harriet Emma Jones, the
eldest daughter of Sir Tyrwhitt Jones, Bart. Previous
to his marriage he had undertaken the Mastership of
the Shropshire and Shifnal Hounds (now the Albrighton
Hounds) on the resignation of Mr. Cresset Pelham in
1817, and he continued to hunt the country till the
spring of 1821, that is to say, he hunted the present

6o THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

Albrighton country for five seasons. His huntsman at
this time was John Crags, afterwards killed by a fall
from his horse, and his whippers-in were Edward
Bates, son of Sir Richard Puleston's huntsman, and
Richard Jones. During his Mastership he hunted five
days a week, and constantly rode fifty miles to covert.

It is from the day of his first marriage that the decline
and fall of John Mytton, both in and out of the hunting-
field, must be dated. Miss Jones was only in her
eighteenth year when she married the Squire of Halston,
but she was a recognised beauty at Almack's. This, be
it remembered, was in the days of the Regency, when
ladies preferred the ball-room to the hunting-field, and
bestowed more favours upon a fop, like Beau Brummell,
than upon the best man who ever rode across Leicester-
shire. Yet Miss Jones understood the character of her
husband, and tried to reform him. What was Mytton's
character at this time ? Educated, owing to the insane
indulgence of a fond mother, amongst grooms and
gamekeepers, and surrounded by boon companions,
who only cared to ride his horses and drink his wine,
Mytton still retained the instincts of a gentleman in
regard to the lady whom he had made his wife. He
refused to introduce his boon companions to her.
Mr. Apperley writes : " The first Mrs. Mytton con-
ducted herself with coldness to her husband's old
friends and companions." The true version of the
story is that the first Mrs. Mytton did everything in her
power to save her husband from his old friends and
companions. Mr. Apperley further states that it was a
monomania of Mr. Mytton to keep his wife away from

I

FAMOUS MASTERS 6i

the society of his friends on account of jealousy. The
statement is explained by the fact that Mrs. Mytton
disliked Mr. Apperley. In regard to the statement that
Mrs. Mytton did not take any interest in her husband's
sporting pursuits, it is only necessary to say that she
used to accompany her husband every morning — till
her health prevented her from doing so — on his visit
to his kennels before breakfast. On one occasion,
while she was throwing biscuits to the hounds, Mytton
slipped the bolt of the kennel gate, as a practical joke.
Mrs. Mytton laughed, perhaps the hounds smiled — and
Mr. Apperley gravely records the incident as one of
masculine brutality, committed by " my old friend." It
was also during Mrs. Mytton's lifetime that her husband,
as M.F.H. of the present Albrighton Hounds, made his
name known in history as a sportsman and as a rider.

He was 5 ft. 9 in. in his socks, and weighed
II st. on the average, seldom varying more than
a pound during the season. But he was a man of
abnormal development. His biceps were thicker than
those of Jackson, the pugilistic champion of the day,
and he measured over 40 in. round the chest ; yet
his thighs were so small and so weak that it was a
marvel to his hunting companions that he managed to
retain his seat on a horse. My personal belief is that
he rode entirely by the iron grasp of his arms, and left
his legs to take care of themselves. Though he was a
cruel man to his horses, he seldom used the spur.
When he rode his one-eyed horse, Baronet, over nine
yards one inch of water (measured from hind leg hoof-
marks) in cold blood, he had no spurs.

62 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

So many stories have been told of his marvellous
jumps that it is unnecessary to repeat them. He was
reckless to a degree, which can only be accounted for
by the fact that he was seldom responsible for his
actions. The popular belief has always been that he
drank himself to death ; but, though undoubtedly he
was a hard drinker, it is hardly creditable that a man
who lived almost entirely in the open air could have
died at such an early age through the abuse of alcohol.
The more charitable view to take of his death is that it
was caused by financial worries arising out of his bound-
less hospitality. I have always regarded him as a
modern Timon of Athens, the victim of circumstances
caused by those, who professed to be his friends.

FAMOUS MASTERS 63

MR. THOMAS ASSHETON SMITH

Probably the performances of no Master of Hounds
have been more discussed than have been those of
P»'Ir. Thomas Assheton Smith. This hero of the horn
and saddle was born in Queen Anne Street, Caven-
dish Square, on August 2, 1776. His grandfather,
Thomas Assheton, of Ashley Hall, in Cheshire, had
assumed the name of Smith on the death of his
uncle, Captain William Smith, who died without issue.
His mother was Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Watkin
Wynn, Before he had completed his eighth year he
was sent to Eton, being at the time the youngest
boy in the school. Here he remained for eleven
years and was chiefly noted for the number of fights
in which he was engaged. On one occasion he had
a set-to with Mr. "Jack" Musters, which lasted for
an hour and a half, by which time the two boys were
so knocked about that they could not distinguish
each other. But the fight made no difference to their
friendship in manhood. Indeed, Smith, not only at
Eton but in after life, enjoyed fighting for the mere love
of the thing, and he used to declare that if a boy were
not well thrashed when he was young he would most
probably need it when he became a man. For this
reason some writers have portrayed him as an irascible,
obstinate man, who was never happy unless he was en-
gaged in a quarrel. This, however, I consider to be a
libel, for he was a typical country squire^ liberal with

64 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

his purse, and popular with all classes of society.
Certainly he possessed a dogged determination, which
prevented him from understanding the meaning of the
word "failure." His obstinacy, if such it may be termed,
was the result of his faith in his own convictions. His
foundation of the Tedworth Hunt amongst difficulties
which appeared, even to his own father, to be insur-
mountable is an example of the successful issue of his
obstinacy. When once he had undertaken to do a
thing he never stopped working till he saw that the
thing was done. It was this trait in his character which
made the Duke of Wellington say of him that he would
have made the first cavalry officer in Europe.

From Eton, Tom Smith — for so he was always called
till he became, on the death of his father, the Squire of
Tedworth — went to Christ Church, Oxford, where he
spent four years in playing cricket in the summer and
hunting with John Warde's hounds in Oxfordshire and
Northamptonshire during the winter. His prowess in
the cricket-field may be judged from the fact that he
was chosen to play in the first " Gentlemen v. Players "
match. On leaving Oxford, he was able to devote all
his energies to fox-hunting, though it was not till 1806
that he first carried the horn. It is interesting to note
that at this time, when he left Oxford, his walking
weight was lost., and his height 5ft. loin., and that at
his death his weight was list. lolb., though to the last
he was as hard as nails, as might be expected in the
case of a man who, for eighty-two years, lived up to the
motto —

" Toil strings the nerves and purifies the blood."

I

FAMOUS MASTERS 65

In 1806 Tom Smith succeeded Lord Foley as Master
of the Quorn, over which he reigned until i8i6. He
was only thirty years of age, and it was feared that he
had undertaken a task beyond his powers. He had
earned the reputation of being the best man to hounds
in England, but seeds of dissension had been sown in
the Quorn country, and there were signs of ill-feeling
between the tenant farmers and the foreign hunting-
men. Mr. Hugo Meynell, during his long Mastership,
had made the Quorn country the most popular in
England ; but the farmers resented the foreign invasion.
Could Tom Smith dispel the ill-feeling ? He not only
could, but did do so, in spite of what his detractors call
his irritability and his inability to brook contradiction.
Curiously, it was this irritability which often led him
into those pugilistic encounters which endeared him to
the Leicestershire graziers. Then his social position
was such as to command the respect of the large covert-
owners. Moreover, he was the heir of a Hampshire
country squire with an unlimited balance at his bankers,
and was prepared to hunt the country without any sub-
scription. Still, there can be no doubt that he was apt
to be hasty in his temper towards men. On one occa-
sion he was asked why, in spite of his hasty temper, he
never allowed himself to be provoked by a horse or a
hound. The reply was characteristic of the man.
" They are brutes and know no better, but men do."
During his Mastership of the Quorn he was chiefly
celebrated for the bulldog tenacity with which he
would stick to hounds. His ambition was to see the
fox run into and to see hounds work, and to satisfy this

E

66 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

ambition he did not hesitate to risk his neck. He loved
to boast about the number of masks his hounds had
accounted for, but only on two occasions did he men-
tion his own riding. The first was when he said that
he could get over any fence in the Harborough country
with a fall ; the second was when he told a friend,
who had advised him to use a martingale with a certain
horse, that his left hand was his martingale. He
jumped seemingly impossible places with the sole
purpose of being with the hounds. No man probably
had more falls. Once he had eight falls in a single run,
and then was the only man in at the death ! Yet he was
only seriously hurt twice in his life. However, I have
been unable to discover a single instance of his " lark-
ing " — i.e., jumping big places for the mere fun of talking
about them afterwards. Perhaps the fact which speaks
most for his horsemanship is that, until he went into
Hampshire, he rarely gave more than fifty pounds for
a horse, while his rivals in the hunting-field were gene-
rally indifferent to the prices which they gave. The
truth appears to be that whatever was under Mr. Smith
had to go, and the sympathy which he knew existed
between himself and his horse made him indifferent
about his mount. But in regard to hounds he was most
particular. He bought at first the pick of Mr. Musters'
pack of Colwick Hall, Notts, for ;^iooo; and afterwards
bought largely from the kennels of Sir Richard Sutton,
Sir Thomas Boughey,and the Duke of Grafton. His love
for hounds in the hunting-field amounted to a passion
yet he rarely entered his kennels, nor even rode home
with his hounds after the business of the day was over.

fl

I

FAMOUS MASTERS 67

In 1816 Tom Smith moved to the Burton country,
which he hunted till 1824, and in 1828 he went to
Panton, near Andover. On October 29, 1827, he
married Maria, second daughter of Mr. William
Webber, of Bingfield Lodge, Berkshire. He is re-
ported to have said that his sport in Hampshire not
only equalled, but far exceeded any that he had had in
Leicestershire. This statement has been much cavilled
at, and it has been insinuated that he was beginning to
lose his nerve. But Smith never lost his nerve till the
hour of his death, and nervous insufficiency was to him
an unknown quantity which he could not understand.
The truth is, that when he moved to Hampshire he had
completed his fiftieth year, and would in the ordinary
course of nature soon bear upon his shoulders the
responsibilities, which it would be impossible for him
to attend to in Leicestershire. Besides, it must be
remembered that he was a comparative stranger in
Leicestershire, while in Hampshire he was the heir of
the Squire of Tedworth. On the death of his father
he moved to Tedworth Hall, which he restored and
enlarged. From that date the future of the Tedworth
Hunt was an assured fact. The Squire continued to
hunt the country till his death, which took place at his
Welsh seat, Vaynol, near Bangor, in August 1858, at
the ripe age of eighty-two, when he had been an M.F.H.
for fifty-two years.

During his career as an M.F.H. his best-known
Hunt servants were Jack Shirley, ex-huntsman to
Lord Sefton, Dick Burton, Joe Harrison, and Tom
Wingfield ; but the Squire invariably carried the horn

68 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

himself. To the last he was as keen as in his young days,
regarding November i as the day when the woodlands
were stripped for business. A political friend once
suggested to him that the cultivation of corn would
cease, owing to free trade. The Squire replied, " So
much the better, for I shall ride over a grass country."
The last hunting act of his life was to review the 1858
entry, when he said to Carter, his kennel huntsman,
" Well, they seem as beautiful as they can be." At his
death he had ninety couples of hounds in the kennel
and thirty-nine horses in the stable.

Though he was a member of the Jockey Club, and
during one year had three horses in training, he never
took any active interest in flat racing ; nor did he take
pains to conceal his disgust with the chicanery of the
turf. On one occasion a bill for ;^3oo was handed
round for discount in the Jockey Club rooms, for
which the highest offer was three hundred pence, both
drawer and acceptor being known to be under a cloud.
Smith looked at the signatures, saw that they were
those of two old schoolfellows, immediately gave a
cheque for the full amount, and put the bill behind the
fire. As a landlord, he conscientiously fulfilled his
duties, nor did he neglect the business of his Welsh
quarries. It was, indeed, his summer delight to enter-
tain large house-parties at Vaynol and to explain to his
guests the working of the quarries, or to take them in
his yacht round the coast.

FAMOUS MASTERS 69

MR. GEORGE OSBALDESTON

Few men have done more towards making sporting
history than " Squire " George Osbaldeston, In regard
to the hunting-field, he was described in the Quarterly
Review as the " Hercules of Horsemen." " Nim " South
likens him to " two single gentlemen rolled into one."
" Nimrod," Brooksby, and nearly every writer who
has written about Leicestershire, have published their
opinions of the Squire, together with anecdotes and
personal reminiscences. Yet, with the exception of
obituary notices, no authentic history of the celebrated
sportsman has been published, though at the time of
his decease, in August 1866, it was announced that
his widow intended to write his biography. Probably
the stupendous nature of the task has deterred most
sporting writers from attempting it, since there is
plenty of authentic material for an exhaustive biography,
and there are many of the Squire's intimate associates
still alive who could depict those side-scenes, by the
help of which we can more readily understand the
real character of a man who has attained notoriety.
But the Squire was ubiquitous. He was a M.F.H. for
thirty-five seasons, during several of which he hunted
six days a week. He was an owner of racehorses, and
rode both on the flat and cross-country. He performed
one of the greatest feats of endurance in regard to
horsemanship on record, when he undertook to ride
two hundred miles in ten consecutive hours, and

70 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

covered the distance within one hour and eighteen
minutes of the specified time. He was accounted the
best pigeon-shot in England in the palmy days of
"The Red House," when Lord Kennedy, General
Anson, and Captain Ross were in the zenith of their
shooting fame. He was a devoted patron of the P.R.
and acted as referee in the big fight between Bendigo
and Caunt at Newport Pagnell. Till within a short
time of his death he was a regular player in the billiard-
room of the Portland Club. In his younger days he
had the reputation of being, with the exception of Lord
Frederick Beauclerk, the best all-round cricketer of the
time. Nor was his career confined to sport, for he
was a J. P. for the East Riding of Yorkshire, represented
East Retford in the House of Commons from 1812 to
1818, and was High Sheriff in 1829. According to
" Nimrod," who was far from being a lenient critic, " in
society he is affable and communicative, perfectly free
from the absurdity of affectation, and just what an
English country gentleman should be."

The Squire was born in 1787, and was the son of
George Osbaldeston, of Hutton Bushel, in Yorkshire,
by Jane, the only daughter of Sir Thomas Head, Bart.
Unfortunately, his father died in 1794, when he was in
his seventh year, so that in his boyhood he did not
experience the paternal correction which he certainly
needed. At Eton he was continually getting into
scrapes, but for him flogging had no terrors. Not that
he appears to have been a bad boy. His delinquencies
were mainly the result of high spirits, an utter dis-
regard for school discipline, and incorrigible idleness

FAMOUS MASTERS 71

so far as the mysteries of Latin and Greek were con-
cerned. Upon leaving Eton he became the private
pupil of Doctor Carr, then Vicar of Brighton, and
subsequently Bishop of Chichester, who managed with
great difficulty to prepare him for Oxford, where he
matriculated at Brasenose on May 3, 1805 ; but he left
Oxford without taking his degree, as might only have
been expected, since he had already taken M.F.H.
honours before he went up. In boyhood he had re-
ceived his first riding lessons, while living with his
mother at Bath, from Dash, the most celebrated riding-
master of the day, and after leaving Eton he bought a
pack of dwarf foxhounds from Lord Jersey, with which
he hunted over his mother's property near Scarborough ;
but I have been unable to discover any record of the
sport which he was able to show, though to this period
must be attributed his education in hound lore. His
first country after leaving Oxford was the Burton,
which he hunted for five seasons with hounds pur-
chased from Lord Monson, from which sprang the
celebrated Monson strain. Osbaldeston — it was not
till he became Master of the Quorn that he was called
the Squire — now began to prove his practical know-
ledge of kennel work. Even at the present day his
hound Vaulter is a name to conjure with in kennel
circles. Osbaldeston was fond of saying that Vaulter
was the only perfect thing in the world, for he had
never told a lie. After five seasons in the Burton
country he moved into Nottinghamshire, to what was
then known as Mr. Jack Musters' country. Difi^erences of
opinion, which it is unnecessary now to discuss, ensued.

72 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

Mr. Musters would not allow him the use of the old
kennels, so he was obliged to build new kennels at
Thurgaton, while there were other causes which gave
rise to friction. Osbaldeston soon abandoned the
country and went to the Atherstone, to which the
Derbyshire country had just been united, and com-
menced his reign by drafting the best part of Lord
Vernon's pack into his own. Here he remained till
Mr. Assheton-Smith resigned the Mastership of the
Quorn in 1817, by which time, to quote the words of
" Nimrod," he had raised himself to the very pinnacle
of fame as a breeder of hounds. Practically he reigned
over the Quorn till 1828, when he was succeeded by
Lord Southampton, though for fourteen months he was
out of the saddle, owing to a compound fracture of the
leg, sustained through Sir James Musgrave jumping on
the top of him. Those who witnessed the accident,
amongst whom was " Nimrod," thought that he would
never ride again, and it was only the untiring nature of
his constitution which enabled him to do so. As it
was, he was always afterwards nervous at being crowded
at his fences. For one season after he resigned the
Quorn to Lord Southampton he was out of office.
Then the Pytchley became vacant, and the Squire, as
he was now universally called, took up his quarters at
Pitsford, then the residence of Mr. Payne. He also
hunted the Thurlow country, in Suffolk, travelling
overnight from one country to the other. The in-
firmities of age and a diminished income finally
obliged him to relinquish the horn. His hounds were
sold at Tattersall's, when six couples fetched 1360

FAMOUS MASTERS 73

guineas, Mr. Harvey Combe purchasing them for the
Old Berkeley country.

As a horseman, the Squire was facile princeps. In
appearance he had little of what is usually understood
by the term "sporting." He was rather below the
middle size, with a large and muscular frame, legs
somewhat disproportioned to the body, appearing,
when on horseback, to belong rather to the animal
than to the man, so firm and steady was his seat. His
weight was eleven stone. His qualities as a huntsman
have given rise to much difference of opinion, though
there can be no doubt about his assiduity and zeal,
two qualities which go far towards counterbalancing
minor shortcomings. It has been said that he wanted
a little more command of temper, and that when he
lost his temper he lost his fox. Certainly it could not
be asserted of him, as was asserted of Sir Edward
Littleton's huntsman, that he was never heard either
to laugh or to swear. Dick Christian had far from a
high opinion of him as a huntsman, for he wrote :
" He was the oddest man you ever saw at a covert-
side. He would talk for an hour ; then he would half
draw and talk again, and often blow his horn when
there was no manner of occasion, but he was always
so chaffy." Another authority says : " His one fatal
mistake was not keeping his huntsman, Tom Sebright,
whose assistance he often needed in the field after he
had gone to Earl Fitzwilliam. When the Squire was
hors de combat, after the accident already referred to,
Sebright, with Dick Burton to whip-in to him, hunted
the country with satisfaction to everybody." But the

74 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

Squire was ambitious to hunt his own hounds, which
he did six days a week, a feat which only one other
gentleman-huntsman, namely, Lord Darlington, has
ever achieved. He invariably rode to covert, and
when asked on one occasion whether he should drive
to Widmerpool, as the roads were good, replied, " Oh
no ; there is nothing like the pigskin." He was also
extremely fair towards his foxes, believing, with the
great Meynell, that murdering foxes is a most absurd
prodigality, for seasoned foxes are as necessary to sport
as experienced hounds. His zeal cannot be questioned.
On one occasion in 1825, having drawn three coverts
blank, a rare experience in Leicestershire, he observed
that there was a moon, and he would draw till the next
morning, but that he would find a fox. As it happened,
he found one at the next covert. Nor did he spare
any expense in providing his followers with sport, for
once, when hounds had met at Owelthorpe, in Notting-
hamshire, at 2 P.M., a clean pack of hounds with a
clean stud of horses were turned out from the inn at
Widmerpool. Even in those days the Leicestershire
fields of hunting-people had assumed abnormal pro-
portions and tried the patience of the Squire ; and it i
must be remembered that the Squire had once been
nearly killed by a man jumping on the top of him, so
he may be excused if he occasionally lost his temper
with the thrusting scoundrels who would not give him
room at his fences.

To recount his feats of horsemanship alone would
fill a volume. Once, at the beginning of a good run,
his girths broke, so he threw the saddle away and rode

I

FAMOUS MASTERS 75

bare-backed to the finish ! But it was in 1831, when
he was in his forty-fifth year, that he performed the feat
which has gained for him the greatest fame with pos-
terity when at Newmarket Houghton Meeting he made
a bet of a thousand guineas that he would ride two
hundred miles in ten consecutive hours, the number
and choice of horses to be unlimited. He divided the
distance into heats of four miles each, and, though he
stopped to lunch off a partridge and cold brandy and
water, and was thrown in the second hundred miles,
when odds of ten to one were freely laid against him,
he won this match against time by one hour eighteen
minutes. He died August i, 1866.

76 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

MR. TOM SMITH

It is a curious coincidence in fox-hunting history
that there should have been two Tom Smiths who w^ere
M.F.H.s at the same time, and that one should write a
biography of the other. Mr. Tom. "Gentleman"
Smith, as he was called to distinguish him from Mr.
Tom Assheton-Smith, was Master of the Hambledon
Hounds from 1824, when he succeeded Mr. Shard, of
Hill Place, till 1829. Then he reigned over the Craven
Hunt from 1829 till 1833, and subsequently was Master
of the Pytchley from 1840 till 1842. Afterwards Mr.
Smith returned to the Hambledon, which he hunted
till 1852. It has often been said that " Gentleman "
Smith's reputation was eclipsed by that of his name-
sake. Comparisons are odious, but nobody will deny
that " Gentleman " Smith is entitled to be ranked
amongst the giants of the hunting-field. Mr. Nether-
cote, the recognised historian of the Pytchley Hunt,
writes of him : " A more thorough master of the noble
science, or one whose thoughts were more completely
engrossed in the ways of fox and hounds, probably
never carried a horn." It must be remembered that
Mr. Smith succeeded Lord Chesterfield in the Pytchley
country, and it was no light matter to follow such a
prince as the Lord of Bretby ; yet, confident in his
ability to show sport, Mr. Smith ventured upon the
responsibility of getting an establishment together.
Certainly he entered into office with a great reputation

I

FAMOUS MASTERS 77

from both the Hambledon and Craven countries, and
he had used his pen as well as his horn in the pro-
motion of sport. But he was hampered in financ^^,
and probably had the worst lot of horses and hounds
that had ever been seen in Northamptonshire. The
hounds were a portion of Lord Chesterfield's pack,
which were purchased by the Hunt for the small sum
of ;^400 after twenty couples had been sent to Lord
Ducie. These twenty couples were all hung, because
they were so incorrigibly wild. So much for the
hounds. The horses varied in value from ^^20 to ^60.
Yet, during the two seasons of Mr. Smith's reign, there
was an amount of sport which had never been equalled
during the Mastership of Lord Chesterfield. Jack
Goddard was his first, and Jones his second, whipper-
in during his stay in the Pytchley country, when he
lived en gargon in Brixworth. But the subscriptions
were not sufficient to enable him to hunt four days a
week and meet all the difficulties of a weak establish-
ment ; so at the end of his second season he resigned
office, and the Pytchley, for the seventh time in ten
years, were seeking a new Master. But Mr. Smith had
fulfilled a wholesome duty towards fox-hunting. He
had succeeded Lord Chesterfield, who, generally
popular as he was, had been surrounded by com-
panions who turned night into day and wounded the
prejudices of the country squires. Not only did he
keep them waiting at the meet, but often the delay was
caused by the non-arrival of the celebrated Nelly
Holmes, who, though afterwards a lady of title, was at
no time an ornament to the social morale. There was

78 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

a taint in the hunting atmosphere which Mr. Smith
succeeded in removing.

But Mr. Smith had also the reputation of being a
recognised literary authority on everything appertain-
ing to the noble science. His " Extracts from the
Diary of a Huntsman" had been published in 1838,
and a second edition was called for in 1841. He says
in his Preface that he had killed ninety foxes in ninety-
one days' hunting one season in a bad-scenting
country. He alluded to the Craven country, though
I should hardly call the Craven a bad-scenting country.
In any case, the book is still regarded as an authority,
more especially in regard to foxes. Mr. Smith did not
believe that foxes cared about feather. His own words
are : "That they do prefer rabbits is easily proved to
be the case by confining in some place a fox and
with him a rabbit, and every other sort of food live or
dead, that can bethought of, and he will take the rabbit
first for a certainty. This is not a great reason, but the
great reason why keepers dislike foxes, for every fox
destroys rabbits in one year sufficient to supply
the keeper with gin ; consequently when he sees a
fox he loses his spirits as well as his temper." The
moral, of course, is that gentlemen who wish well
to hunting should not allow their keepers to sell
the rabbits. Mr. Smith declares that he never saw
three places where a pheasant had been destroyed by
a fox during the whole time he hunted hounds,
although constantly looking whenever he went in
coverts abounding in pheasants and foxes at the
same time.

FAMOUS MASTERS 79

" As well as shape, full well he knows,
To kill their fox they must have nose."

Mr. Smith was a great advocate for spaying young
light and weedy bitches. He declared that it improved
the nose, and that the spayed bitches often became the
best cold hunters in the pack, although very indifferent
before, and far better than the sisters which were not
spayed, while they hunt generally several years longer
than open bitches. Moreover, the cheapest pack of
foxhounds to keep is a pack of spayed bitches, as they
do more work with less food than any others. I do
not dispute it for a moment, but what would be the
value of such a pack ? Besides, most M.F.H.s are
anxious to become famous for breeding good hounds.
Mr. Smith also advocated cutting dog-hounds which
are slight and weedy, maintaining that it improves their
nose.

By way of change, Mr. Smith tried cub-hunting in
the afternoon instead of in the early morning, leaving
the kennels about 4 p.m. and commencing about 5 p.m.,
which certainly is more agreeable than getting up in
the middle of the night. I will relate his experience in
his own words {vide " Extracts from the Diary of a
Huntsman," second edition, p. 52) :

"The consequence is the cubs are by that time
moving, and soon found ; and the longer you run the
cooler it is, instead of getting broiled with heat at nine
or ten in the morning. The result was the cubs took
more time to kill than in the morning, probably owing
to their being more fit to run, being lighter. But the
later it was the cooler it was also ; and, consequently,

8o THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

the hounds were never so much distressed as in the
heat of the morning, which increased as the hounds
got tired. But, however agreeable it may be, it is not
so much hke business as if in the morning ; the men
have a great deal to do afterwards, and it disarranges
the establishment. But still it is a more gentlemanlike
hour for a man who hunts his own hounds, and on a
quiet evening nothing can exceed the pleasurable feel-
ing it creates. One of the greatest objections to it is
that many men are induced to ride out at that time
with the hounds who would not early in the morning,
and nothing is more annoying to a huntsman than
having strange horses in the rides when the young
hounds first enter and the pack are running in cover ;
it cuts them off and prevents them getting about with
the huntsman, and they get ridden over, either owing
to their own awkwardness or that of the horse or
rider. Therefore it is best not to make known when
they are going, at all events, unless those who do go
out go with the understanding that they are not to
expect sport, or get in the way of hounds. . . . Although
the writer is not aware that this plan has ever been
adopted by any other person, still he is bold enough
to assert that it is a good one, and beyond all doubt
most agreeable."

I must now refer briefly to his private history. He
was the son of Mr. Thomas Smith, of Shaldon Lodge,
near Alton, Hants, and was born on August 5, 1870.
His love of sport as a youngster was so great, that
his father wisely removed him from Eton to Holy-
bourne, close to Alton, where he could indulge in

FAMOUS MASTERS 8i

sport ; for his father, who was also a noted fox-
hunter, gave the son every encouragement in hunting.
Smith at this time held his first Mastership of hounds,
for he used to worry the hares on the family property
with all the curs he could collect in the neighbourhood.
He occasionally got a peep at the Hampshire Hounds,
but he was first regularly blooded in the New Forest,
then hunted by the celebrated John Ward, who took a
great fancy to him, and a cordial intimacy sprang up
between the two. He then went to Devonshire on
a sporting tour, hunting with Lord Portsmouth's
fox-hounds, Sir Arthur Chichester's stag-hounds, and
Mr. Treby's otter-hounds. In 1824 he purchased Mr.
Shard's pack and hunted the Hambledon country,
where, with only thirty-two couples of hounds, and a
subscription of under ;^6oo, he showed excellent sport
for many years, till he was succeeded by Mr. John
King, who came from Devonshire. In 1828 he
accepted the Mastership of the Craven, and his first
step was to vindicate the right of the Craven to certain
coverts, which had been lent to the adjoining Hunts,
viz., the Vine, Sir John Cope's, Mr. Assheton Smith's,
and Lord Ducie's. The task was a delicate one, which
might have created many feuds, but such was the tact,
with which Mr. Smith conducted it, that only Mr.
Assheton Smith dissented from the position, which he
had taken up. Here for a short time there was dangei
of a long rupture. A covert called the South Grove
Covert belonged to King's College, of which Mr. Smith's
brother was a fellow; the result was that King's
College authorities served Mr. Assheton Smith with a

F

82 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

notice forbidding him to draw it. After a time, how-
ever, the tempers of each cooled down. The Squire
was re-admitted to South Grove Covert on sufferance,
and the two Tom Smiths became firm and fast friends.
Six months after his surrender of the Craven in 1833
Mr. Smith married, for the second time, Miss Denison,
of Ossington, the sister of Mr. Evelyn Denison, the
speaker of the House of Commons, and we do not
hear of him again, in connection with hounds, till he
accepted the Mastership of the Pytchley, to which I
have already alluded. On retiring from the Pytchley
country he went on a Continental tour, when he re-
ceived numberless attentions from the foreign nobility
on account of his fame as a sportsman. On his return
he went back to the Hambledon country, which he
hunted till April 3, 1852, when the meet was at Broad-
halfpenny. It was known to be his good-bye day,
and all sporting Hampshire was out. As a sportsman
Mr. Smith might well have taken the motto, Ntilli
secnndus. Fox-hunting was the sport he loved best,
but he was also a first-rate cricketer and an experienced
otter hunter, and he could kill a salmon with Sir Hum-
phry Davy. He was also an excellent draughtsman,
as witness the illustrations to his own books, and had
a taste for mechanics, having invented a threshing-
machine in his younger days ; and he was such a good
farmer that he realised the highest prices for wheat
that had ever been obtained in the county. In every
way is he entitled to the praise of posterity.

FAMOUS MASTERS 83

SIR WATKIN WILLIAMS WYNN

There are many families in which M.F.H. honours
may be regarded as hereditary. The Wynn family is
certainly one of these, and the present head of the
family ably keeps up the tradition. But it is of his
predecessor, the sixth baronet, who was born in 1820,
and succeeded to the title in 1840, that I wish now to
write. Not only was he the largest hereditary landlord
in Wales, but he was an hereditary M.F.H., for his
great-grandfather was as celebrated for his love of sport
as he was for his Jacobite opinions ; and when, in 1745,
he was compelled to quit Wales, he found sporting
hospitality with the Duke of Beaufort at Badminton.

At the early age of twenty-three Sir Watkin revived
the pack which his father had given up in 1837. Two
years before he had purchased the hounds of Mr.
Leche, of Sarden Park, a member of one of the oldest
fox-hunting families in Cheshire, and an intimate
sporting friend of the Wynns. Mr. Attye had hunted
the Wynnstay country from Lightwood Hall, a farm
of Sir Watkin's in the centre of the country, for the
two seasons, during which the Baronet was detained
in London by his military duties. In 1843 Sir Watkin
bought the Perthshire from Mr. Grant, of Kilgraston,
the eldest brother of Mr. Frank Grant, the celebrated
artist, and erected new kennels at Wynnstay, which
for space, modern improvements, and conveniences
were surpassed by none. Sir Watkin never lost an

84 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

opportunity to improve his pack. Money was no object
to him ; thus, he gave 390 guineas for five couple of
hounds at Mr. Foljambe's sale, from which strain was
descended the famous stallion hound, Royal. He also
purchased some of the best lots at the sales of Mr
Musters, Mr. Story, and Sir Richard Sutton. In regard
fo his horses, they were considered as fine a lot of
weight-carriers as it is possible to see in any stable,
for in his case the old saying that " heavy weights make
short stables " was not applicable. Major Cotton,
McGrane of Dublin, and John Darby of Rugby were
the men, whom he generally entrusted to buy for him.
He invariably bought young horses, which were quietly
ridden about by Simpson, his stud groom, and then,
when they had had two years of Wynnstay oats and
hay in them, if found good enough, they generally
carried their master for some years. His horses in his
early days were always well bred, never less than six-
teen hands high, with the very best of shoulders,
legs, and feet. Usually, in spite of his great weight,
he rode the same horse all day, until hounds turned
their heads towards Wynnstay kennels.

On March 6, 1858, Sir Watkin suffered a terrible
calamity, which caused him to relinquish the hounds
to Colonel Cotton. Wynnstay, with nearly all its con-
tents, was totally destroyed by fire. The loss of works
of art was irreparable, and the total loss sustained was
estimated at near ;^5o,ooo. It is worthy of record that
the object he made the most strenuous exertions to
save from the flames, and in which he was successful,
was the picture of himself and hounds presented to

FAMOUS MASTERS 85

him by the Wynnstay Hunt. Fortunately, though the
house was full of guests and servants, there was no loss
of life or personal injury to any one. A witness of the
scene describes it thus : " It was a fearful sight we saw
when we reached Wynnstay ; the whole neighbour-
hood seemed to be collected in front of the burning
ruins on the lake side of the house — labourers, colliers,
and friends huddled together in one confused mass,
the gale blowing the sparks of fire high up into the air
and many engines playing on the ruins apparently
without the slightest effect." Sir Watkin and Lady
Williams Wynn bore their misfortunes with a bravery
that could not be excelled, but Sir Watkin, having no
residence, from which he could hunt the country,
decided to go abroad, and on May 8, being the Satur-
day in Chester race week, his magnificent stud of
hunters came to the hammer, and realised the record
average of that period, though it must be remembered
that in those days the hunting public was not educated
to give sensational prices.

But when the hunting season 1859-60 commenced.
Sir Watkin and his staff were once more at Wynnstay,
and hunting was resumed, as if there had been no
interregnum. Walker, commonly called " Merry "
John Walker, carried the horn, and showed capital
sport till 1865, when gout compelled him to relinquish
the arduous and responsible duties of hunting a pack
of fox-hounds four days a week, though afterwards he
was constantly seen at covert-side, for there were few
members of the Hunt who were not ready to give him
a mount whenever he wanted one. He was succeeded

86 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

by Charles Payne, of Pytchley celebrity, who remained
with the Wynnstay Hounds till 1883, which was the
last season that Sir Watkin was seen in the hunting-
field on horseback, his last appearance being at Gres-
ford on April 7, 1883, when his friends could not help
but notice what ravages disease had made in him. His
clothes hung about him, and to a large extent his
spirits, hitherto good, had left him. For the last four
or five years he had but seldom seen his own hounds.

Just a few words of Sir Watkin Wynn as a Master of
Fox-hounds. Though never a flyer, he had an extra-
ordinary knack of getting over the country. He would
creep through blind places, drop his horse into a road,
jump the Aldersey Brook at a stand, and never lose
the line of his hounds. In his heyday he always rode
big horses, but latterly he had ridden strong cobby
horses, and tested their understandings pretty well
down all sorts of roads, that younger and lighter men
would have shuddered at it, with a loose rein at full
gallop. Mr. T. H. G. Puleston writes of him : " Sir
Watkin had a strong seat, a light hand, good nerve,
and a quick eye to hounds ; he never pulled his horses'
mouths about, and, therefore, though he courted one
very often by galloping down all sorts of lanes, and
cramming his horses through blind places, he seldom
had a fall, and never, we believe, a serious one. He
seldom, if ever, ' flew ' a fence, but trained his horses
to jump the widest ditches, and even the Grafton and
Aldersey Brooks at a stand, to creep through a thick,
blind fence with a big ditch on the other side ; then,
when he dropped his hand, his horse jumped, and

FAMOUS MASTERS 87

immediately he scuttled away as fast as the horse
could gallop. Thus he got over the country amazingly,
and has puzzled and surprised many a young one who
followed him to see what places his horses carried him
through or over, apparently with the greatest ease."

88 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

THE DUKE OF BEAUFORT

I do not think that I could conclude this chapter
more fitly than by recalling a few reminiscences of the
seventh Duke of Beaufort, father of the late Duke.
The fame of the late Duke, both as a writer on hunting
subjects and as an M.F.H., is so world-wide that
modern hunting-men may be excused for forgetting
the good services which his father rendered to "the
sport of kings." These services were rendered at a
time when the hereditary autocracy of the hunting-
field was being supplanted by the modern system of
subscription packs. His reign as an M.F.H, began
on November 23, 1835, when he succeeded to the title
on the death of his father, and lasted till he died on
November 17, 1853, though for three years prior to his
decease he had been unable to ride to hounds, owing
to rheumatic gout. Yet his science of hunting was so
correct that it was said of him that he could kill his
fox in a bath-chair. Certainly he was constantly in at
the death, when driving or being driven in his phaeton
behind his well-known pied horses. I heed hardly add
that his fox-hunting instincts were transmitted both to
his son and his grandson, the present Duke.

John Henry Somerset, seventh Duke of Beaufort,
Marquis and Earl of Worcester, Earl of Glamorgan,
Viscount Grosmount, Baron Herbert of Chepstow,
Raglan, and Gower, Baron Beaufort of Caldecot Castle,
and Baron de Botetourt, K.G., was born on February 5,

FAMOUS MASTERS 89

1792. In 1810 he joined the loth Hussars, and from
181 2 to 1 8 14 was on the staff as aide-de-camp to the
Duke of Wellington during the Peninsular War. In
those day constituents were not so anxious in regard
to their representatives fulfilling their duties as they
are in modern times, for in 1813, when only twenty-
one years of age, the Marquis of Worcester, as his
courtesy title then was, was returned to the House of
Commons as M.P. for Monmouth, a seat which he
retained till 1832. In 1835 he was elected M.P. for
West Gloucestershire. His political principles were
those of extreme Toryism. He was the friend and
political associate of Lord Lyndhurst, who was then
regarded as the head of the Conservative party in the
Upper House, and joined with him in opposing the
Reform Bill. It was also through his energy that the
Succession Act of 1835 was passed. It may be said in
regard to his public life, outside the hunting-field, that
his godfathers were the Duke of Wellington and Lord
Lyndhurst. But it is not my duty to write about his
political career or the services which he rendered to
his party. I mention them briefly, because it is the
fashion to consider the ancient giants of the hunting-
field as men who devoted their physical and intellectual
energies solely to sport. Such was not the case, though
Lord Macaulay took pains to sneer at them.

On Wednesday, November 16, 1853, the last day
with the seventh Duke of Beaufort's hounds took
place. The meet was at Yate Turnpike, and after two
excellent runs hounds accounted for their quarry, both
in the morning and in the afternoon. The day is

90 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

marked as a red-letter day in the records of the Bad-
minton Hunt. At that time a correspondent, writing
over the initials " H.M.G.," regularly forwarded ac-
counts of Badminton sport to Bell's Life. After
recounting the points of this day's sport he adds
these words, which I quote, since they are an epitaph,
written by one, who knew the late Duke of Beaufort
both in and out of the hunting-field : " But there is no
sunshine without a cloud. While we were enjoying
this sport a change for the worse had taken place in
the health of His Grace, who had for the last three
weeks suffered much from neuralgic pains flying all
over the body, though without fear of immediate
danger. Exhausted nature, however, sank under con-
tinued suffering, and he died without a struggle on
Thursday, at 2 P.M., in the sixty-first year of his age.
He had been unable to ride on horseback for the last
three years from anchylosed joints from gout, but has
constantly, when his health permitted, been present at
the meets in a phaeton drawn by his celebrated pied
horses. As a nobleman and as a Master of Hounds
he had no equal in courteousness of manner and
affability to all in the hunting-field. The highest and
lowest, the rich and poor, the lettered and unlettered,
all had a mark of recognition with such a gracious
manner as seemed to raise those whom he addressed
to his own level, instead of that insulting condescension
which many of the would-be great people practise.
His management of the field made him much beloved.
A good sportsman himself, he kept his field in order
without the acerbity often met with elsewhere. No

FAMOUS MASTERS 91

day was too long ; indeed, the Beaufort Hounds have
been notorious for drawing later than any other hounds
in England. As a rider to hounds he was a few years
ago a very good man, preferring timber and walls to
hedges, from the fact that, if he had a blow, it was
sure to bring on an attack of the gout. In conclusion,
he could not be surpassed for gentlemanly bearing."
This epitaph, of which his descendants may be proud,
is only one out of several. In the Illustrated London
News of November 26, 1853, his hunting career was
described and his portrait was published. A short,
though incomplete biography appeared in regard to
him in The Gentleman's Magazine in 1854. Mr.
Apperley ("Nimrod") writes of him in chapter viii.
of his " Hunting Reminiscences" as a typical M.F.H.
He is portrayed in "The Royal Hunt" and in "The
Badminton Hunt" amongst the portraits of the
prominent fox-hunters of the period. Any further
epitaph from my pen would be superfluous, for

"He who excels in what we prize
Appears a hero in our eyes."

There is no doubt that in the field the Duke was a
bold horseman and the pattern of an M.F.H. Doubts
have been expressed about his knowledge of kennel
lore ; but I do not think that they have any foundation
in fact. He prided himself upon being a scientific
breeder of hounds, and was ably assisted in his ex-
periments by his huntsman, Philip Payne. In his
early days he considered that hounds should be big,
i.e., he bred for size and weight, as Mr. Hugo Meynell

92 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

did ; but in later life he sacrificed size for pace. But
I am sure that at all times he bred his hounds for the
country over which they were intended to hunt.

" Thus are my eyes still captive to one sight ;
Thus all my thoughts are slaves to one thought still."

So should it be with an M.F.H. Therefore I venture
to think that the Duke's system was right, viz., to breed
hounds for the country over which they are intended
to hunt, irrespective of the dogmas laid down by hound
judges. His favourite relaxation was fox-hunting,
and he fully maintained the fox-hunting traditions of
Badminton during the crucial period in the annals of
the sport. Upon his succession to the title and estates,
hunting was regarded as a manorial right, which even
the most advanced Whigs did not dare to question.
Before his death the law and the public opinion of the
country had completely metamorphosed the relation-
ships between landlord and tenant. The Duke was a
strong Tory, with the courage to announce his con-
victions ; yet such was his personal popularity as a
landlord, and his tact as an M.F.H., that no friction
ever arose between him and the occupiers of the land.
Finally, it is a subject for congratulation in hunting
circles, that there is no danger of the Beaufort prestige
in the world of sport dying out for want of support.

Prom a pliotograph by Mrs. Ritardo

LT.-COL. G. C. RICARDO

SECKKTAKY CRAVEN HUNT. MASTER FROM \i

]'LA!E IV

CHAPTER IV

THE MASTER'S EXPENSES

(By Lieutenant- Colonel G. C. Ricardo, Secretary Craven Hunt.
Master 1886-1892)

Contrast between present and past — Increase of sub-
cription packs — Claims for damages — Shooting tenants —
Purchasing horses — Stud required in the shires — Do the
thing well or leave it — Price of horses — Wages of ser-
vants — Shoeing — Straw — Hay — Oats — Meal — Coal —
Saddlery and horse clothing — Whips, spurs, and horns
— Clothes and Boots — Flesh account — Taxes and licences
— TraveUing and medicine — The huntsman's petty
account — Repairs and miscellaneous — Table of expendi-
ture— Puppy show : Walking and breeding — Poultry
claims — Wire — Earth-stopping, finds, and litters — Cap-
ping— Subscriptions and, incidentally, of ladies — Con-
cluding hints

The whole question of the cost of hunting from the
Master's point of view is one that involves side
issues enough to fill a volume by themselves, and it
is only possible in the present chapter to touch on
the main features of his expenditure.

It is commonly argued that fox-hunting has become
more and more costly, and the M.F.H. is supposed to
have suffered in this respect even more than those who
follow hounds in other capacities. Yet, as an old
M.F.H, of some ten or twelve years ago, and with

94 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

some little knowledge of how matters stand at the
present day, I cannot believe that there has been any
marked change.

There certainly are far more subscription packs than
there were even twenty years ago, but the causes of
this increase must be sought elsewhere than in the
growing costliness of the sport. There are, for
instance, fewer wealthy noblemen who care, even if
expense be no object, for all the worry and trouble
entailed in managing a pack of their own. In this
pleasure-seeking age, too, rich men have many other
outlets for extravagance, not a few of which give
them "more fun for their money" than they would
in all probability derive from keeping a pack of hounds
at their own expense.

Apart, indeed, from all question of outlay, it may be
questioned whether the pleasure of being a Master is
by any means what it was in those good old days when
wire was unheard of, when poultry claims were
reckoned by pounds instead of by hundreds, and when
you could hunt as you pleased from one end of the
county to the other without having to ask leave from
the shooting-tenant, then an almost unknown factor.
In those vanished times the Master would call on the
farmer's wife in the course of his morning's ride, drink
a glass or two of famous old home-brewed in her best
parlour, the while he lent a sympathetic ear to her
story of the loss of a few head of poultry, and eventually
made everything right by the present of a new silk
gown.

How differently are all these affairs managed under

THE MASTER'S EXPENSES 95

the new regime. An enormous claim is nowadays sent
in by every poultry-farmer who is too ignorant or too
lazy to protect his caged-up fowls with high wire
fencing topped by a couple of strands of barbed
wire, which finds its legitimate use in this protection
of live animals of the farmyard. Very few foxes will
jump barbed wire ; not one, it is safe to say, will do
so if it has once had a fall over it ; and such a barrier
will also keep out the two-legged thief for whose mis-
demeanours the poor maligned fox is not seldom made
the scapegoat.

Well, the immense claim is duly sent in, and it then
has to be minutely investigated by a committee specially
appointed for the purpose of paring such demands down
to their lowest terms. The whole negotiations usually
terminate in an undignified wrangle, with the result that
either the committee is compelled to pay up in full or
else the Master has personally to intervene. The latter
alternative is, particularly where the Master is a native
of the country, distinctly preferable, for no matter how
indefatigably the secretary labour in the performance
of his difficult duties, it is the Master who generally
possesses the happy knack of being able to smooth
over such differences as may arise within his juris-
diction. Such, at any rate, was my experience in con-
nection with the Hunt of which I was successively
Master and Secretary.

The tactful handling of a cantankerous shooting-
tenant is particularly the Master's job, and he must
have very special qualifications if he is to undertake
many such adjustments of obviously conflicting

96 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

interests. Most of us concerned in such matters can
recall cases in which the officious friend has made bad
worse and a wide chasm of a slender rift, by blundering
in his intervention between his old schoolfellow the
Master and his firm friend the shooting-man. That the
latter has a perfect right to shoot his coverts when and
how he thinks fit is undeniable. The harm is done
when he carries beyond reasonable bounds (from the
hunting standpoint) his objection to having those
coverts drawn by hounds for some weeks before the
shoot. The degree to which the shooting-tenant is
justified in pressing his privilege of exclusion largely
depends on the number of hares in his coverts. The
mere fact of hounds drawing will of course make hares
lie out for days, and it may take a small army of keepers
half a week to get them back again. Where, however,
there are no hares, it does not signify at all if hounds
draw the coverts, for the pheasants, even if they leave
the covert for a day, will certainly return at night to the
particular covert in which they are fed or where they
have their particular barley stack. Moreover, it is a well-
known fact that hounds do not inspire in pheasants
quite all the fear that the keepers would have us believe ;
and, after a covert has been drawn once or twice, the
birds take very little notice, but merely perch high out
of their reach, or fly to the other end of the covert. If,
of course, rabbits are stopped out they will naturally
scratch in again a little, and it is probably the slight
extra labour entailed on them that the keepers resent.

It may look as if in the course of these preliminary
remarks I have wandered from my subject, but this is

THE MASTER'S EXPENSES 97

not in reality the case, for the increasing preservation
of game has a powerful, if indirect, influence on the
cost of hunting.

Although in these days a Master must be prepared,
with the purchase of horses and what not, to spend a
good deal of his own money, since very few Hunt
subscriptions come within measurable distance of the
actual expense, I shall always maintain that the actual
cost of keeping a pack of hounds varies but little in
whatever country they hunt. There is, of course, the
difference in the cost of horseflesh in a big, fashionable
country, as well as the increased number of animals
required, but that is a separate matter. It must, how-
ever, be taken into account. Whereas, for instance, a
stud of twelve sound and useful horses should be ample
for the Hunt servants in an ordinary typical provincial
country, they would require at the least eighteen or
twenty in a big, flying country. The reasons for the
distinction are obvious : the casualties would be more
numerous, and the horses themselves would come out
less often. It would be futile to expect to mount a
staff in the Shires for less than a hundred pounds a
horse, whereas in an ordinary country the whippers-in
can ride young ones at half the money.

It is, however, false economy to mount your men
badly, unfair to them, and damaging to sport, for the
huntsman who cannot depend on his horse is worse
than useless, while if the whips cannot get their mounts
over tight places or get them along fast enough to
turn hounds, they might just as well, for all practical
purposes, remain at home. Moreover, a discontented

G

98 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

establishment does not conduce to popularity in the
field. Nothing, in fact, annoys a Hunt more than a
stingy Master. It is taken by all concerned as a
personal injury, and the wise Master will bear in mind
that he has to come in for abuse enough in the ordinary
way without inviting more by cheeseparing.

For this reason, if for no other, I would counsel all
young Masters in embryo that if they do not see their
way to doing the thing well they had far better leave it
alone altogether. Otherwise they will find themselves
engaged in a weary struggle to keep up appearances,
and I can assure them that there is quite trouble
enough in the management of a pack without this one.
Shabby gentility is distressing in every walk of life : in
the Master of Hounds it is fatal.

Going to the other extreme, we sometimes see a rich
young man mounting his men on expensive horses not
suited to the country, with the result that big Leicester-
shire horses are compelled to attempt the impossible,
to creep about under trees or crawl up and down rotten
banks, which is what a huntsman's horse has to do all
day long in a banking country. A big woodland with
sticky rides will soon pull the big horses to pieces, and
the hills are far more demoralising to them than a far
longer run over a stiff vale.

For an ordinary provincial hunt, horses from 15.2 to
15.3, or thereabouts, are quite big enough to carry the
huntsman, who is usually a light weight. These
horses, which must be well bred, quick and active, may
he found all over the south of Ireland, and they
generally jump like cats.

THE MASTER'S EXPENSES 99

It is a question whether there is much difference in
the price of horses now or formerly. The sudden
demands of a war such as the country has lately gone
through will of course temporarily affect prices, but
such influences are only transient. Our grandfathers
were obliged to put their hands pretty deep in their
pockets if they looked for anything out of the common ;
but on the whole it is probable that the cost of mount-
ing oneself is considerably more nowadays.

Speaking more particularly of the Shires, a Master
requires to be exceptionally mounted, for he will have
to hold his own with a thrusting crowd, so as to be able
to turn round and look his field in the face whenever
he wishes them to hold hard and give the hounds room.
I never yet saw the field that would stop in obedience to
a Master shouting from behind, and, when one comes
to think of it, this is only human nature. The worst
motives are attributed to the poor Master anxious only
to show the best sport. " Nasty jealous beggar ! " is an
average comment, " only wants us to take a pull so that
he may get up to us." Such is the notice commonly
taken of a ruler who is behind.

Once, however, let the Master get his head in front
and turn round to give his orders, and these are at once
respected. To do this whenever occasion demands, he
will need to have three or four hundred guineas' worth
of horseflesh at his disposal. The exact number of
horses required by him must, as in the case also of
the huntsman, necessarily depend in great measure on
the nature of the country over which he presides.
From six to ten horses should be ample for his own

loo THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

needs, but it must be borne in mind that he generally
has further to go than any one else in the hunt. The
kennels, it is true, may be well in the centre of the
country, but it is by no means likely that the Master's
own house will be as conveniently situated.

Apart from the purchase of horses, as to which it is
impossible to give estimates suited to every income and
taste, the general expenses attaching to the upkeep of
stables and kennels must be much what they were half
a century ago.

I now propose laying my old book of stable and
kennel expenses under tribute, for such actual entries
are, after all, more valuable to the reader than any
amount of generalisation. Taking the various items as
they appear in the list, we have first

Wages. — The wages of a huntsman will vary accord-
ing to the country. A huntsman of one of the crack
packs will get nearly ;^20o a year besides tips, which
may in a fashionable country amount to a very consider-
able sum. The ordinary huntsman of a less fashionable
pack gets from ;^i20 to ;^i40, while the tips which
he receives would also stop short at a more modest
total.

The first whipper in gets from £']o to £(^o a year,
and the second gets from ;^6o to £^1^. The feeder
receives a guinea or perhaps twenty-two shillings a
week, while the under-feeder, usually a boy, gets fifteen
or sixteen shillings a week, according to his age and
qualifications.

The above must be taken as only an approximate
wage scale, for the figures will be found to vary some-

THE MASTER'S EXPENSES loi

what according to locality, yet I do not think that there
will be any marked departure from these sums.

All these servants get their cottage, or part of a
cottage, as well as coals. Such at least was the practice
in my time, and I also gave them presents of meat at
Christmas according to the number they had to feed at
home.

Stable wages are another matter altogether. There
must in the first place be no economy in the matter of
a good stud groom, for that official should be of the
best procurable, with a smattering or more of veterinary
science, sufficient at any rate to keep the more expen-
sive vet. as much as possible out of the stable. The
wages of the stud groom vary from 25s. to 30s. a
week with cottage and coals. It is his business to
detail the different horses for the day's hunting. It is
his business to know which horses are fit and which,
on the other hand, require a rest. If this be left to
the huntsman, that gentleman will not scruple about
picking his favourite horses for certain meets, irre-
spective of their fitness at the moment. The groom
must know how to mount the men properly in the
various kinds of country that they may have to hunt,
and at the same time to see that the animals are
ridden fairly, and to get rid of any that are not up to
the country in which they are intended to work. It is
no uncommon experience to find the huntsman and
stud groom at daggers drawn, and I am not sure in-
deed that such diversity of opinion is not the best
thing for the Master, who thereby has both of them in
check and knows what is going on in either depart-

I02 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

ment. I do not wish to be understood by this admis-
sion as advocating a perpetual quarrel ; but it is all the
better if the huntsman is not always poking his nose
into the stable, while the other man should no more
dream of going to the kennels than he would of walking
into his master's drawing-room.

The huntsman's second horseman gets about ^^i a
week. The wages of the ordinary helper, which are
subject to considerable variation in different districts,
usually amount to three or four shillings less. Ours
got i6s. a week with lodging, which included a large
room fitted up as a dormitory. A woman was hired
by the day to look after this and to do their washing ;
and they had a capital mess-room below, where they
cooked for themselves.

The more horses are kept, the more helpers will of
course be found necessary, but as there is little or
no harness work and no washing of traps, each man
can look after more horses than in an ordinary stable.
Moreover, once they have sent out the horses required
for the day, they have time to look after those that
stay behind. On the whole, and not counting the
head man, we found that a proportion of six men to
fourteen horses worked out satisfactorily.

It is considered an honour in most districts to belong
to the Hunt establishment. There is no need for the
men to look smart or to know how to drive as long
as they can strap a horse well, behave themselves, and
do as they are bid. I have known men stay on for
years in the Hunt stables under succeeding generations
of Masters and stud grooms.

THE MASTER'S EXPENSES 103

The next item in the list, which may be briefly dis-
missed, is

Shoeing. — A horse will cost for his shoes alone £'^ a
year. As, however, there is almost always some black-
smith's work or other in either kennels or stables, that
individual's yearly bill may, with some margin, be put
down as ;^5o or ;^6o.

The next consideration is

Straw. — Some Masters there are who contract for
their straw, by which is meant that they get it for so
much per annum, 28s. to 345. the ton, giving back the
manure. The straw contractor grumbles at straw from
the kennels, for it not only has no manure in it, but is
useless to put under cattle, being, indeed, worn-out
stuff from the hounds' beds and so short that it cannot
be picked up or carted about. This, however, is the
cheapest and most economical way of disposing of the
straw, unless of course there is a farm, attached to the
kennels, on which the manure could be used. The
yearly consumption of straw should not exceed sixty
or seventy tons.

Hay. — A Hunt stable resembles a racing stable in the
small consumption of hay. The less hay, in fact, given
to horses so continually worked, they better they will
do what is required of them. When given in quantity,
chaff is the best form, though there are, of course,
times when, as the saying goes, a horse has to " fill his
belly." Anyhow, no horse should eat much more
than a ton a year. That is, roughly, the allowance.
With the single exception of oatmeal, hay varies in
price more than any other commodity with the purchase

I04 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

of which the Master of Hounds has to concern
himself. During the last two seasons the price in our
country has been as high as ;^5 and £6 a ton, but in
other years, when it has been really cheap, 50s. has
been nearer the mark. The proper way for the Master
to buy his hay is by the rick, getting it from some
farmer who cuts good park or meadow hay. I think
this infinitely better than clover ; and it goes without
saying that the better the pasture is done, the better
the hay will be. The next item in the book, which is
more costly, is

Oats. — Here we have a more important factor in the
stable bill. Masters may be emphatically cautioned
against buying new oats. They should, if needs be,
pay a few shillings more for a good oat that has been
well harvested. Moreover, it is imperative that, in the
interests of British agriculture, the industry with which,
above all others, the sport of hunting is bound up, the
Master should always buy home oats, if possible grown
in his own hunting country. I know nothing that
annoys farmers more than seeing the Master of the
local pack buy his forage out of the country. Seeing,
indeed, that in many districts hunting is carried on
only by sufferance, it should, I venture to say, be
unwritten law for hunting men to buy in the neigh-
bourhood or as near at hand as they can. There are,
of course, difficulties to take into consideration. It
would be quite impossible to buy oats and straw
enough in the Shires for the requirements of the
numerous great establishments. This in fact consti-
tutes one of the grounds for grumbling on the part of

THE MASTER'S EXPENSES 105

the farmers of Northamptonshire and Leicestershire,
that they reap so Httle benefit from the immense
amount of hunting carried on almost daily throughout
the season over their lands. Although, however, it may
stand to reason that oats cannot be raised in a grass
field, hunting men should never miss the opportunity
of buying from the farmer whose fences they break
and whose lands they ride over.

Price of Oats. — The price of oats varies with the
seasons, and naturally old oats are dearer than new.

The best plan is to make up your mind to lay in your
stock of corn in August, for you will then be certain
you are buying the oats of last year, as the new will
hardly be off the ground, much less thrashed.

In a fair, ordinary year you should be able to buy
oats, in an oat country, at a sovereign or a guinea a
quarter, perhaps a shilling or two more ; but it must be
distinctly understood that this means buying direct
from the farmer and employing no middleman.

You would find that a corn-dealer would charge you
from eight-and-twenty to thirty shillings for old oats,
as he, of course, has to make his profit and live.

Always buy, if possible, direct from the farmer, and
mind to do the business yourself instead of leaving it to
your huntsman or groom. The closer the Master is in
touch with the farmer, the better it will be for the
Hunt. Your oats should never weigh less than 40 lbs.
a bushel, and as much over that as you can get them.

A hunt horse in full work should eat nearly two
bushels of oats a week. He will not require so much
all the year round, as in summer he will be either

io6 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

thrown up, or turned out, but from the time when the
horse is first taken up, and has begun to be conditioned,
to the end of the hunting season, will have been about
nine months, and he will have eaten about eighteen or
twenty sacks.

It does not seem much, but it is the principal diet of
the horse, and it comes very hard on him if his diet is
not the best procurable. For practical purposes, and
on economic principles, it is found best to buy about
fifty or sixty quarters at a time, a quarter being two
sacks.

Meal. — In meal we have what is the greatest item of
expenditure in the kennel, for meal varies in price to
the same extent as hay, ranging from £12, to ;^i8 per
ton. As it may be taken that, on an average, each
hound consumes rather less than a quarter of a ton of
meal, or rather more than ^3 worth in a year, the
annual bill for meal alone will, in a kennel of, say, fifty
couples of hounds, amount to ;^320 or ;^330 in the
season. It is important to get meal in advance, so as,
if possible, to have a year's rations in hand. Never
did sporting character in fact or fiction speak truer
word than when Mr. Jorrocks told the mad doctor,
"Always have a year's meal in hand. Old goes half as
far again as new."

Coal. — Although the coal bill for kennels and stables
is not a very heavy item, I find that my own average
consumption was about a hundred tons a year. The
cost of coal is too familiar to need specifying, and it
varies, of course, with the distance from the nearest
coal centre.

Fyfl)!i a pkoto^iiU- ! •')' Mis. I\i. ,r'-,

SIRES OF THE PACK

From a photograph by Mrs. Ricardo

THE CRAVEN PACK

Plate V

THE MASTER'S EXPENSES 107

Bran, Linseed and Beans. — These small items come
collectively to about £2^^ or ^^30 a year.

Saddlery and Horse Clothing. — It must be remembered
that everything has to be bought new when starting an
establishment. All that is then required is subsequent
replenishing and adding. Every horse must, however,
be started with a perfectly new suit, a night rug to save
wear and tear in winter, and summer sheets for the
warmer weather. Roughly speaking, new horse cloth-
ing costs about £2 a suit. The night rugs cost about
255., the summer suits, with their rollers and hoods,
come to about another £2 2s. Each horse must have
a hood, which will save many a chill in the cold, in-
clement weather in which at times it has to be exer-
cised.

It will thus be seen that the clothing of each animal
amounts to, roughly, £6 ys.

Capital kennel saddles can be got for £2 apiece,
while double bridles cost, new, about 30s., and the
various odds and ends connected with the stable will
come to quite 30s. more per horse. These articles last
a long time. It is simply astonishing how long a good
saddle will last ; and the bridles can always be re-
mounted when they begin to show signs of wear
and tear.

Whips, Spurs, Horns, &c. — These articles appear
separately in my book of expenses, so they may like-
wise be kept to themselves in this place. It is astonish-
ing how such apparently insignificant items mount up
in the grand total, but it must be borne in mind that
the huntsman has to have at any rate two horns,

io8 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

while even three will not be found excessive. Acci-
dents soon happen, and nothing is easier than for a
horn to be flattened by a horse falling and rolling over
it. The Master also wants a couple. Here, then, are
four or five horns at about £i is. each. Each Hunt
servant requires two pairs of spurs and a couple of
whips, besides a quantity of salmon-tinted cord for
lashes and a stock of spare spur leathers. This item at
present under consideration may be fixed at something
like ^20 a year.

Cloihcs and Boots. — These, of course, are an impor-
tant item. My clothing bill for three Hunt servants
and two second horsemen used to come to just under
;^ioo each season. The men always looked neat and
well-dressed, but the thing could be done in more
expensive style if the Master's taste ran that way.
The Hunt staff requires an entire change of clothing,
even for a country that is hunted only three days a
week. It must in fairness be remembered that the
servants have not the hot-air rooms and other
appliances of the gentlemen who hunt, and that is
why the complete change is indispensable. Each
man, then, must have two new scarlet coats and about
three pairs of cord breeches every season. One cap a
year could be made to do, but two are better ; and of
boots each should have two pairs. The cub-hunting
season is the most trying time for clothing, and the
men can then fall back on old coats purple with age,
for not even disciplinarians care much what sort of
coat the huntsman wears at five in the morning. Warm
Irish woollen gloves are always an acceptable present

THE MASTER'S EXPENSES 109

for Hunt servants, and I never forget this at Christmas
lime. In unusually wet weather, too, mackintoshes
are useful to keep the uniforms dry going to cover, but
I find them, as a rule, unhealthy garments and very apt
to give their wearers cold.

Flcsii Account. — A certain amount of horseflesh and
cowflesh must of necessity be consumed in every
kennel, but this diet should be limited as much as
possible in summer time. The hounds do not want
much flesh in hot weather. Too much of it makes
them what the men call "humoury." Naturally, the
slaughterer who provides the flesh endeavours to sell as
much as possible, but it is useless to have a lot of it
hanging up and going bad. Personally, I always had
a strong preference for the alternative of purchasing
the animals alive, letting them graze and fatten in
summer, and killing them as required.

I always gave my huntsman strict orders that the
flesh bill was to be kept within ;^5 a month, and this
limit was rarely exceeded. Such economy entailed not
unexpected disagreement with the purveyor, that
person intimating that if we declined to take what he
brought, we might be left when we wanted fresh
supplies. A little firmness, however, had the desirable
result of bringing him to his bearings. He soon
discovered that he could not dispose of his wares so
advantageously anywhere else in the neighbourhood,
so he ceased from pressing me beyond my require-
ments.

And here I want to make a passing comment on a
practice for which I have nothing but condemnation.

no THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

I allude to the precaution of sending a groom with any
favourite horse that is to be shot and insisting on his
stopping and seeing the deed performed. This has
always seemed to me a needless and impolitic want of
faith in the establishment ; nor is the reason very clear,
for it is hardly likely that an animal in such condition
would be either worked or starved. It is surely better
to let the animal rest quietly in a good grass paddock.
There he will be found when wanted, and there cannot
be any cruelty in such a course.

What, however, should be carefully avoided is taking
flesh from any one. When an animal has died a natural
death, there is no saying what the causes were, and
this is a matter in which the Master should take no
risks.

Hound puppies dearly like fish biscuits, and as a
change of diet I believe them to be most beneficial.
These contained just enough fish to give them a relish,
and they were always a most welcome change from too
much meat. This should at all hazards be avoided.
Harder work must, of course, carry with it greater
nourishment ; but, on the other hand, let it be remem-
bered that when they are idle, either in summer or
during a protracted spell of frost, they will be all the
better for weak broth.

Taxes and Licences. — We now come to a separate list
of expenses, and I have left such items as poultry claims
and earth-stopping for later consideration.

As to licences, each hound in the kennel entails a
licence of 7s. 6d. as soon as he is entered and takes his
place in the pick. Dogs under six months old, sheep

THE MASTER'S EXPENSES [ii

dogs, or dogs specially employed in guarding cattle or
leading blind men, are exempt, but such exemption
has no interest for the Master. In former days I
believe there was a way of compounding by payment
of a fixed sum for the pack, but the licence is now
rigorously exacted on each hound, and this brings the
total licence on a pack of, say, fifty couples to ;^37 105.
per annum.

The hound licence, however, is not all, for in addition
to this the Master has to take out a licence for all the
men employed, for not even the helpers in the stable
can by any amount of casuistry be brought under the
category of " spade labourers ! "

Assuming, then, that there are five men employed in
the kennel {i.e., the huntsman, two whippers-in, and
two feeders) and perhaps six in the stable, otherwise
eleven in all, the Master has to pay in licences ^^8 55.,
or 15s. per man.

This brings the total taxes and licences up to £^^ 15s.

Travelling and Medicine. — I confess my inability to
see the connection between these two necessary items
of expenditure, and my only excuse for bracketing them
here is that they stand so in my book. Under the head
of travelling come all train expenses directly connected
with the Hunt establishment. These may have various
objects, such, for instance, as sending bitches to distant
kennels ; the huntsman's journeys to look at hounds,
and his expenses if he has to go any considerable
distance to help to judge ; sending hounds to Peter-
borough Show ; travelling of horses bought and sold,
or of draft hounds ; in short, all such legitimate travel-

112 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

ling expenses connected with the upkeep of the pack.
It may even happen at times that the entire pack, with
all the men and horses, must be put on a train for a
distant meet ; and yet more often horses have to be
sent on. All this comes under the head of travelling ;
and I found my own bill for the kennels worked out
at about £16 a year.

The medicines required for both kennel and stable
were a much heavier item and averaged about ^^30 a
year. This, however, covered all veterinary surgeons'
visits and such expenses as were incurred through
accidents. I should, in fact, regard this as a minimum,
and I must add, with special reference to that pack,
that the vet.'s visits were rare, both the huntsman and
stud groom knowing a good deal of the work. It is
always a feather in the cap of the management when
the vet.'s bill is small, and I am sure, from what I know
of similar expenses elsewhere, that we had some reason
to congratulate ourselves in this respect.

The Huntsman's Petty Account. — This is one of those
unavoidable leakages in the Master's accounts which,
though not serious, cannot by any means be ignored.
It covers a great number of little expenses in themselves
quite insignificant, but mounting in the course of the
year to a total that it is absolutely necessary to take
into account in any examination of the annual outlay,
not far short in the pack of which I write of ;^5o a year.
To be more exact, about £^ a month, or ^^'48 during
the year, was the figure ; and this included all printing
done for the establishment, kennel lists, for instance,
and cards for the month ; besides which there was the

THE MASTER'S EXPENSES 113

kennel washing and all the upkeep of the men's bed-
room and messroom. There are a thousand and one
little matters for which the huntsman is more or less
directly responsible, and these go down in his petty
account.

Repairs and Miscellaneous. — Here, again, as the head-
ing denotes, is a composite source of expense that,
however, means a good deal to the Master, particularly
after his first year, and when the freshness of things
begins to wear off. The tax may be a heavy or light
one, according to the terms on which he occupies his
kennels. In my own case, I was regarded as an
ordinary tenant, and I had to keep the premises in
ordinary tenantable repair. It will thus be easily
understood that the first year, when everything was
new and in good condition, my expenses under this
head came to an only nominal sum, such as, if I
remember right, the cost of a little whitewashing,
disinfecting, or distempering walls, jointly a matter
of a few pounds only.

The second year, however, brought a not unexpected
increase in this expenditure, for there was a deal of
painting to be done. There was also another and a
heavier item in the shape of a deep cemented tank, or
pit, which I made to bury the offal in. This I regard
as so important and so well worth the extra expense
that I shall say more of it later.

Repairs mounted in cost year by year, for during the
next two or three years I had to replace the stable and
kennel doors and to put in a new boiler. For repairs
alone, then, I put down an average of £^0 a year.

H

114 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

The " Miscellaneous " referred to above includes an
immense number of small matters which would aggre-
gate to about ;^5o a year. The two chief elements of
this were the puppy show luncheon to the whole
Hunt, costing about ;^20, and the presents to success-
ful walkers, coming to another ^15. The remaining
^15 must be assigned to such necessary expenses as
postage, stationery and advertising, tips to the hunts-
men to whose kennels bitches are sent, beef and other
good cheer for the staff at Christmas, and so forth.
I have said nothing of the price of draft hounds, for
personally I bought only a couple or two during my
first year and no more, always preferring to breed my
own.

It will thus be clear that the repairs and miscellaneous
together amounted in my case to about ^^90 per annum,
and that may be taken as a fair average for a pack
of that size.

Of puppy shows, as also of one or two other necessary
items of expense, I will speak later, but the foregoing
make up the whole ordinary expenditure of a country
pack, apart from earth-stopping and poultry claims,
which are dealt with on a later page. It may be a
convenience to the reader if I tabulate these various
expenses, some analysis of which has been attempted
in this chapter, and if against this total of ;^2iio 15s. (to
be increased by two other not inconsiderable expenses)
we set the usual subscription given to the Master of a
provincial pack as ;^i2oo or ;^i400, it will be seen that
I was justified in remarking at the outset that he must
take up his burden prepared to dip into his own pocket.

THE MASTER'S EXPENSES 115

AVERAGE YEARLY EXPENDITURE

£

s.

d.

I. Wages

600

0

0

2. Shoeing

60

0

0

3. Straw

. 96

0

0

4- Hay

. 165

0

0

5. Oats

• 235

0

0

6. Meal

• 325

0

0

7. Coal

97

0

0

8. Saddlery, &c

100

0

0

g. Bran, linseed, &c. .

26

0

0

10. Whips, spurs, &c. .

20

0

0

II. Clothes, boots, &c. .

97

0

0

12. Flesh

60

0

0

13. Poultry Claims (vide infra)

14. Taxes and licences

45

15

0

15. Travelling, &c.

. 46

0

0

16. Earth-stopping {vide infra)

17. Huntsman's book .

. 48

0

0

18. Repairs and Miscellaneous

90

0

0

£ciiio

15

0

It will, of course, happen that the price of forage
and hound meal shows some variation in different
seasons but if we take the average of, say, six years,
we shall find it work out approximately as given
above.

Let me advise intending Masters to post a ledger of
their expenses accurately, noting all moneys paid out
and putting them down at the time, and not from
memory. In this way only can they exercise proper
control, know exactly how they stand, and, what is
more important still, perhaps, see at a glance, when

ii6 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

changing servants, exactly what the outgoing man paid
for the things of which he had charge.

The Puppy Show, Walking and Breeding. — However
Httle the Master may Hke making speeches, it is abso-
lutely necessary that he should hold a puppy show.
He may dislike speechifying, but every one else likes it ;
that is the rub. There is no greater link between
the puppy walkers and the Hunt than to see a hound
recognise in the man or woman who walked him and
brought him up the old friend of a season or two ago.
This appeals forcibly to all genuine lovers of the hound,
and the beneficial influence of such gatherings is one
that the politic Master will not disregard.

I would go even further than this. I always made a
point, when hounds were taken to any house where a
puppy had been walked, of letting the old dog or bitch
go up to the back door of its own accord and renew
acquaintance with the cook. The recognition was as
often as not mutual ; and the cook was flattered to see
that the Master appreciated her efforts, while the hound
plainly showed the delight it felt in seeing once more,
if only for a few minutes, its old quarters. I remember
also that the Hunt servants sneered at this as a breach of
discipline ; but I also remember not caring a jot for
their unexpressed opinion on the matter, for it seemed
better to give pleasure to several people and one hound
than to stand well with my hypercritical servants ; and
if there is one piece of advice that I would impress
most strongly on the young Master, it is that he should
do his utmost to please the puppy walkers. I may
seem to be straying from the rubric of this chapter,

THE MASTER'S EXPENSES 117

but after all it brings us back to the necessity of bear-
ing the expense of a puppy show luncheon.

It must be remembered that a puppy does a great
deal of mischief and takes a great deal of looking after
when out at walk. Next to a monkey, no animal is
more mischievous, and the puppy is sure not only to
purloin quantities of eatables from the pantry and
larder, but also to make playthings of such household
articles as dusters, brushes and sponges. I recollect
how a puppy that I once walked found its way into the
dining-room and there made a clean sweep of the
whole table, breaking several glasses, and making a
terrible mess of everything. Such pranks not un-
naturally occasion the servants great annoyance, and
this it is often difBcult to make good to them. But if
one member of the household more than another ought
to be the puppy's firm friend it is the cook. It is she
who gives him all his food ; it is she who lets him
sneak into the kitchen for warmth and comfort on
cold, wet days ; it is she who nurses him when ailing,
and who, indeed, often, by taking it in time, wards off
a bad attack of distemper.

I once had a cook perfectly devoted to the puppies,
and one of these she actually nursed back to life from
a more than usually serious attack of the " yellows."
She had a basket placed by the kitchen fender, and in
this the little animal lay wrapped in warm flannel. He
eventually recovered and took his place in the pack as
one of my most trusted entry, yet he must inevitably
have died but for the unremitting care of that good
woman.

ii8 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

I have walked puppies for a number of years without
ever, curiously enough, having won a first prize. Still,
as some consolation to a true lover of hunting, I have
had five hounds, all of different years, running together
in the pack ; indeed, such a record is more gratifying
than taking any number of prizes and then seeing your
dog drafted for some fault or defect.

Apart from the foregoing advantages, the puppy
show has another great recommendation as the great
summer reunion of the members of the Hunt. Here
it is that the ladies have a welcome and rare oppor-
tunity of saying polite things to their friends the
farmers, over whose land they ride so recklessly in
winter time. It affords, in fact, about their only chance
of coming in contact with them out of the hunting
season. Much importance attaches to the prizes for
the best hounds, the first and second for dog-puppies,
and the same for the bitches.

It is generally a good plan to give a prize for the best
couple, for such an award obviously encourages folks
to walk couples instead of single puppies. As a matter
of fact, in my opinion at any rate, a couple generally
give less trouble than a solitary animal, for the two
play with one another and are far less likely to get into
mischief. So, at least, I think, though I am quite
familiar with the allegation that they are more likely to
get hunting in the woods. As against this must be set
the certainty that a solitary puppy will inevitably pine
for a companion ; if a companion is not provided, the
puppy sets off in quest of one, and such a search leads
it into bad habits.

THE MASTER'S EXPENSES 119

There is some diversity of opinion as to what class
furnish the best "walks." In our part of the country
we lean to the tradesmen, for these have facilities not
alone for giving the puppies exercise in running each
morning after the carts on their rounds, but also for
bringing them in contact with fresh people every day
and curing them of shyness. The farmer, on the other
hand, may be just as good if he will give them suffi-
cient liberty and let them chase the hares. I may differ
from some authorities on this point, but I never yet
knew a hound to suffer from having chased hares in
its younger days. Such fun teaches the animal to be
watchful and keen, instead of staring or playing aim-
lessly. Hounds may also be walked well in a gentle-
man's house, but they must in this case be made to go
out to exercise with the horses each mornmg, as there
is otherwise the serious risk of their getting too little
work and growing up in consequence coarse and
" throaty."

Oatmeal porridge is the best food for puppies, far
better than milk, which is liable to scour them. More-
over, it accustoms them to porridge, which, with the
variation of broth, is their diet later in life. A few
Spratt's biscuits will also be found beneficial, say one
a day to begin with, and then later in greater quantity.
A boiled sheep's head may also be given when the
puppies grow stronger, but they will be better in quite
early days for as little meat as possible. It is the
gravest mistake to assume that a young growing animal
requires a deal of meat. A few bones now and then,
with very little meat on them, are good for the teeth

I20 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

and keep the youngsters amused. The bones of game
or poultry should on no account be used, for these are
very apt to splinter and stick in their throats.

It is always a mistake, under any circumstances, to
allow a puppy to chase a fowl or any animal of the
farmyard. If he kills a fowl, give him a good thrashing
at once and tie the dead bird round his neck and leave
it there. This is often known to annoy the animal so
seriously as to cure him of such habits then and
there.

One sometimes sees puppies playing on familiar
terms with the house-cat and kittens. This may look
very interesting as a " happy family," but personally I
should never encourage it unless I knew that the cats
were quite accustomed to such companionship. It is
notorious that a cat often strikes at the eye, and then,
lo and behold, one fine morning you find your swell
youngster, by " Belvoir Dexter " out of " Quorn Gover-
ness," minus an eye, or with an ear so badly mutilated
as almost to spoil his looks for good and all.

If you think the puppy is sickening for distemper, it
is best to send at once to the huntsman for some pills,
of which he always keeps a good stock. Indeed, I
used at one time to send out a couple of boxes with
every puppy until I found that they are much better
fresh. The patient should be kept as warm as possible
in the house — not in a stable or cold out-door kennel
— and made, if possible, to swallow something. The
trouble usually is that the sufferer refuses everything,
and therefore has no reserve of strength when it is
most wanted.

THE MASTER'S EXPENSES 121

The Hound Show at Peterborough is a great sight,
and so beneficial to fox-hunting that I should like to
see it far more generously subscribed to and attended
by hunling-folk than is now the case. Moreover, the
hunting-man has something to gain from the visit, for
he may there see the most perfect specimens of hound
anywhere brought together, and it is good training for
his eye to note the ideal of hound form. Not that
every good-looking hound which takes a prize at
Peterborough is necessarily a good worker in the field,
but the majority realise the expectations formed of
them.

It was once my good fortune to breed a winner, for
the Craven "Vagabond " took the cup in 1894, he and
his brother, "Valesman," having won the first prize
for unentered hounds in 1893. "Vagabond" was
second for the cup in 1895, but was on that occasion
beaten by the Oakley "Dandy"; and again in 1896
he was second, being then beaten by Mr. Fernie's
" Ringwood." After that he was never shown again.

It is, as I said in an article in Baily's Magazine
four or five years ago, a great mistake to buy draft
hounds, for it is obvious that a draft must be sold for
some fault. Of course it happens that some masters
are either too nervous of their scant knowledge of the
science of breeding, or their servants are too lazy to
undertake it single-handed. In either case the stan-
dard of excellence of the establishment must go down,
for it is practically impossible to maintain the exact
character and formation of a pack by buying from
different kennels year after year. The only sound

122 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

principle is to breed from the best young bitch of
the year, putting her to the dog that appears to be
most sought after. " Volatile," mother of " Vagabond,"
won her home cup at the puppy show as the best
bitch of her year, so I sent her to the Warwickshire
" Hermit," who happened at the time to be exactly her
own age. I have always regarded this similarity in
years as a point of the greatest moment, for it is and
always must be absolute folly mating an old bitch with
a vigorous young dog. She will probably carry a good
many puppies, but even if, as is extremely improbable,
these are all born alive, they are certain to be a weakly
lot. Even if such a miracle happened as the birth of a
dozen healthy whelps, it is equally certain that the old
bitch would not have milk enough to rear a couple, and
the strain would in all probability kill her. A lar
better combination, if there must be disparity in years,
is to mate a young bitch and a moderately old dog, for
at any rate the female will be in full possession of her
powers and may therefore be relied on to bring up any
quantity in reason. Wet nurses are, however, an
advantage, for it is a known fact that under such
conditions the whelps grow up much stronger and
healthier.

No other animal of such value is perhaps bred as
cheaply as the foxhound. In nearly every sporting
breed, say pointers, setters, retrievers, or indeed in the
case of borzois or deerhounds for the show bench,
the services of the sire alone cost a good round
sum, while the production of the foxhound puppy,
usually one of a large litter, has only cost a sovereign

Front a photograph by Mrs. Ricardo

CRAVEN KENNELS

.' a photograph by Mrs. Ricardo
HUNTSMEN, WHIP, AND TWO FEEDERS OF THE CRAVEN

Plate VI

THE MASTER'S EXPENSES 123

or two in addition to the railway journey of his
mother when she went to be mated. The judicious
Master will never grudge the absence of one or two
of the best bitches in the pack during the breeding
season. Any hound can help catch a fox on a good
scenting day. If it is a bad scenting fortnight, so
much the better. The best plan, of course, is to get
the bitches away in frosty weather, or when it looks
as if a good spell of snow had set in. They will all
be back again, as likely as not, with the next open
weather. Personally, I have no faith in very early
puppies. May is quite early enough for them to be
born, for they will thrive better in the warm summer
weather when it is generally possible for them to
get out. There can be no earthly object in sending
the bitches away to be warded in November, for they
would then have to run all the risks. As a bitch
generally goes about sixty days in whelp, there should
be no great difficulty in making a rough calculation,
particularly as the time is very rarely in excess of
seventy days. November is just the month in which
the Master requires as much steadiness as possible in
the pack. It is the first month of regular hunting, and
the hunters of two and three seasons are very necessary
to give drive to the rest.

Apart from the aforementioned advantage of approxi-
mate age, it is very desirable that the sire and dam
should as far as possible share the same characters.
The result of putting a small, compact dog to a big,
leggy bitch is almost bound to be disappointing, for
the produce are sure to inherit the bad points of their

124 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

mother, but not the good of their father. A constant
change of Masters is one of the most serious causes of
unevenness in a pack. This is easily understood, for
every succeeding Master has preference for a different
type of dog, hence the discrepancies.

Poultry Claiuis. — The question of poultry claims and
funds is so vast that it will, in this chapter on the
Master's expenditure, be only possible to touch briefly
on the working methods of one or two hunts. In the
old days, as has already been said, a little tact on the
part of the Master made a personal matter of the
poultry claim and one easily adjusted to the satisfaction
of all parties. Now, however, it has assumed alarming
proportions, and I believe I am within the mark if I
say that in some of the fashionable hunts ;^5oo or
;^6oo a year would hardly cover it, for it is a lament-
able fact that every animal which gets stolen from a
farm in the hunting country is put down to the scape-
goat fox. There is even a tradition in the Badminton
country of vegetables having on one occasion been
included in the claim, the account reading thus : —

say

To I bull calf .
3 sheep

I litter of pigs .
All the poultry .
lo acres of vetches

Total

When the unhappy Master came to the item of ten
acres of vetches, his temper proved unequal to the

£

s.

d

^

2

o

I

15

o

2

5

o

lO

o

o

5

o

o

THE MASTER'S EXPENSES 125

occasion, and history does not say whether the account
was ever paid in full.

To avoid such impostures, it should be clearly under-
stood throughout the length and breadth of the country
what should be paid for and what overlooked. If there
is any reasonable proof that an attempt, albeit feeble,
has been made to shut the fowls in, and that the offend-
ing fox has scratched in under the door, such a claim
should, particularly if the claimant is poor and makes
a living out of the poultry, be paid at once and without
demur. I never countenanced paying a gentleman's
servants. In the first place, the poultry belongs in all
probability to the Master, who would hardly want to be
paid at all ; secondly, in the case of a keeper, he would
be sure to lay all possible blame on the fox, and charge
the Hunt with the price of a few old broody hens.
That it is annoying in the extreme to lose fowls, par-
ticularly if they are valuable, hardly admits of denial ;
but those who keep prize poultry should take the
trouble to shut the birds out of harm's way.

Wire. — A still greater difficulty of the modern Master
is the question of barbed wire. That device seems
nowadays to grow in countries which we all remember
quite free from it. The secretary of the wire fund in
the big flying countries is generally a man of great
energy, and has at his beck and call an army of
labourers ready at all times to go to any part of the
country and pull down the wire, carefully coiling it
and stacking it somewhere handy, so that they can put
their hands on it again at the end of the season and put
it up again. This, if done systematically and well,

126 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

answers capitally, but it is costly work, and few
ordinary countries could afford the expense. It is a
sad reflection that the whole trouble of wire could be
removed if only the landlords were a little better off.
They have only to give timber to their tenants, and the
wire would disappear as if by magic. No decent farmer
can find any pleasure in putting up such death-traps, but
he must mend his fences and keep his stock in some-
how, and if he has no rails he must obviously use wire.
Moreover, in an age in which, thanks to our " free "
trade, the growing of corn is no longer a profitable
investment, the farmer has to keep more stock and
requires correspondingly more fence than he did of
old. On the Berkshire and Wiltshire downs, in my
part of the country, the farmers, instead of keeping
only sheep, which can be herded all day by one boy
and a good sheep-dog, cover their lands with cattle.
These require fencing in, so that where we once had
miles on miles of good sound down-land, stretching
half over the length and breadth of two counties, is
now a veritable birdcage of wire fencing, so badly
gated that if hounds go fast it is exceedingly difficult
to keep near them. Mercifully, there is hardly any
barbed wire in all these miles of fencing, else hunting
would soon have to be abandoned, as hounds would
be cut to ribbons. Still, there is quite enough even
there, and it is on the increase.

The most hideous, but too familiar form of mending
is to stretch a couple of strands of barbed wire across
a gap. This is an almost certain source of disaster,
whether to the child out on his pony or the old Squire,

THE MASTER'S EXPENSES 127

once a hard enough rider, but now bound to look for
the gaps that once he sneered at, not to mention the
brigade of regular " gap-riders." I think I would defy
the hardest man in England to go straight knowing that
there is wire about, for, apart from the worst of falls that
it gives the rider, the poor horse, who is doing his best,
is caught suddenly by this hideous horror and gets ter-
ribly cut. One of the most gallant of pioneers over the
Northamptonshire pastures. Captain Pennell-Elmhirst,
killed one of the best mares and most faithful friends
he ever had over a little cock fence that he had been
over scores of times before, close to a farm. Suddenly,
and without warning, wire had been run through it,
and disaster followed swiftly. Those who witnessed
the catastrophe will never forget the agony of the poor
brute and the dreadful sight that it presented in its
trouble, and it would probably have gone hard with
the wretched individual who had the wire put up if he
could have been found. Every man who puts up wire
should have painted boards with coloured posts to
indicate its exact whereabouts and precise extent. If
it goes round the field, he should have a clear place
ten or twenty yards in width, flagged out like an
ordinary steeplechase jump for entrance into the field
and a second for exit. These spots might be clearly
indicated by red posts, and these particular portions of
the fence should on no account be mended with wire.
It would not be long before the followers of the Hunt
got to know the whereabouts of these safe places, and
the chance of fatalities would be very much lessened.
It is, of course, the landlord who must be consulted

128 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

first and foremost, but my own opinion, which I offer
for what it is worth, is that a wire fund is neither more
nor less than a premium on putting up wire ! Even
rabbit-netting round a covert will give the huntsman a
nasty fall if he is not looking where his horse is going
to. I recollect myself getting, on one occasion, what
is politely termed in hunting language a "regular
smeller" in this way, for my horse did not see the
netting, but jumped off a bank and caught his fore feet
in it. Down I went, with my face in a ploughed field,
and the sensation was as if I was never coming to a
standstill.

Australian, Canadian, and American horses are all
taught to jump wire, by the way ; and if this curse
gets much more prevalent in the old country, our own
horses will have to undergo a course of similar in-
struction. It should not, however, be forgotten that
any sensible horse will of his own accord step over
wire if he can only see it.

Earth-stopping, Finds, Litters. — Old engravings show
a picturesque but extinct type, the old earth-stopper,
generally with an old shaggy pony, a terrier, and a
lantern. It was his business to retire the night before
the hunt to any part of the country, no matter how
great the distance, and to see to the stopping out of
foxes in the locality that was to be hunted the following
day. He did his work very well, far better, indeed,
than is done nowadays, for he knew every earth in the
country, and always stopped at just the proper time.
Very few keepers do that, but stop too early or not at
all, often making no effort to do so until five or six on

THE MASTER'S EXPENSES 129

the morning of the meet. This is the worst plan of all,
worse, indeed, than inaction, since it generally has the
result of stopping the foxes in. The right hour for the
work is between half-past ten in the evening and mid-
night. The old-time earth-stopper was always at his
work between these hours, no matter how rough or cold
the weather. It was his occupation at the moment, and it
would no more have occurred to him to neglect it than
to go without his supper. These were the days in
which the countries got properly stopped, since the
old man knew the whereabouts of every litter and
did his work well and thoroughly. In the new order
of things, worse luck, no keeper allows intruders in
his covert. He or his underlings make a pretence of
stopping up the main earth. In nine cases out of ten
the procedure is a mere farce, for the men take no
notice of the three or four large rabbit earths, which,
though they never breed there, the foxes habitually use,
preferring them, indeed, to the main earth in cases of
sudden danger. Then, as already observed, they are
not particular as to the hour. If they begin too early
in the evening, the fox is not yet out ; if they leave it
till next morning, it has gone home again ; in either
case, it is stopped in, not out.

It is a good plan, indeed, one of the best under
modern conditions, to have the earths stopped per-
manently at the beginning of the season. For this
purpose it is best to use a good substantial bundle of
faggots — " bavins " they are called in some parts — and
to stuff up the main earth with this until February,
when it should be removed in order that the vixen may

I

I30 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

go ill and lie up. It should be borne in mind that the
hour for stopping-out is not the same in February or
March as in the earlier part of the season ; it should
not be done at night. The proper plan is just to " put-
to," as it is called, in the morning, always leaving the
main earth open after February lo. Any Master coming
to a new country and finding that the stopping-out is
badly done will do well to have these and other necessary
maxims neatly printed on cards. Half a dozen of these
may then be sent round to the neighbouring keepers
for distribution among their satellites. Coming to the
actual system of payments for stopping as prescribed
in the different Hunts some variation is found. In the
Craven country we pay by the acreage of the estate.
Thus, a keeper on a large place may get ;^io, while on
a smaller place he would get only ;^5. Some of the
quite small estates would run to no more than a couple
of guineas apiece, and below even these, on a regular
descending scale, there are numbers of very small
people, with perhaps one earth to look after, who
get just their 5s. and their earth-stopping dinner once
a year.

The payment for litters is, of course, a good plan if
properly worked, but there must be an understanding,
or even a stipulation, that these are seen at regular
hunting-time. Any fool of a keeper can have a litter
or so to show the Master at the period of cub-hunting ;
that once over, they are seen no more. Such as these
are not the litters that a Master wishes to encourage.

As to payment for finds, I personally never did, and
never in any circumstances would, encourage it. Some

THE MASTER'S EXPENSES 131

Masters, I am aware, favour it very strongly, holding
that it encourages the keeper always to show a fox.
The system has always seemed to me to work unfairly
for the small people, and this is, I think, easily ex-
plained. There will always be such small holdings,
with perhaps one or two coverts that face north or
are otherwise unfavourable. Although, however, these
may hardly ever hold a fox when drawn, it is quite
possible, if not indeed probable, that a litter was bred
in the little place. The foxes would always frequent
the bigger covert with its game and shelter, and thus it
comes about that hounds find in the big covert, and
the keeper, though none too friendly, pockets the
"find" money. This is obviously unfair, for the poor
" little man," though he had all the bother of the litter,
nursing it as well as lay in his power to do, reaps no
benefit, as hounds invariably find in his richer neigh-
bour's wood. I must frankly admit that our own plan
of paying by acreage is likewise open to the criticism
that there may be a good deal more earth-stopping on
a small property than on a larger one, particularly in
the way of rabbit holes in banks, odd, out-of-the-way
drains, old culverts, and such places of the kind as need
special attention whenever hounds come into the
neighbourhood. Moreover, it may easily happen that
the small place lies in a district which is, from its
convenient position or sporting character, visited on
an average once a fortnight throughout the season,
whereas hounds might not draw the coverts on the
bigger estate once in six weeks. There should always be
a dinner with the Master present, and never otherwise,

132 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

for it is here that he can meet them together and
give them his views. He should also take notes of the
exact whereabouts of the litters and not depend on
hearsay. Payments are usually made as soon after
nine in the morning as possible, so that each man can
be asked, as he enters the room, whether he has a litter
or not ; where it is if he has one ; and any other infor-
mation of use. The huntsman should be present also,
as not only is he able to recall often important incidents
that happened in the same locality in other seasons,
but he would be a valuable witness in the case of any
dispute arising over finds or getting to ground. The
earth-stoppers should be warned that they are given
this money for a specific purpose, namely, to stop the
earths, and that if they neglect this duty they run the
risk of getting nothing at all the next season. Above
all, however, let the Master see to it that the proceed-
ings are as friendly as possible. The plan of bullying
the stoppers is a foregone failure ; it is far more polite
to endeavour to meet them half-way. One thing is
essential, and that is that they should be made clearly
to understand, if possible by their own masters, that
the Hunt gratuities are a purely voluntary levy, and
that stopping is as much a part of their duty as, say,
feeding their pheasants. It may safely be said, without
fear of contradiction, that the duties of the Secretary, or
of whomever looks after the earth-stopping, would be
a great deal less onerous if only all estate owners would
impress this on keepers when engaging them.

The stopping money paid by the Craven Hunt
amounts to some ;^i5o, covering payments to about

THE MASTER'S EXPENSES 133

one hundred and twenty keepers and men, and, as the
dinner costs perhaps another ;^3o, this matter of stop-
ping-out represents a respectable item in the year's
expenditure. Some owners of coverts prefer to pay
their own men themselves, and from the Hunt they get
only a modest five shillings and a ticket for the dinner,
and it must be admitted that if this were the general
practice, stopping-out would come considerably cheaper
than it now is.

Capping. — To some folks the practice of capping
must always look like handing round the hat after a
street performance, and within certain limits it may
perhaps be said that if it is possible in any other way to
ensure those who get the fun contributing in just pro-
portion to the expense, capping may with advantage be
avoided. But such an alternative is not always feasible.
It must stand to reason that in the large flying countries,
where horsemen are reckoned by the hundred, a
number of strangers hunt daily with the different
packs, and a vast proportion of these are only birds
of passage, changing their hunting grounds from week
to week. As such sportsmen, ay, and sportswomen,
are here to-day and gone to-morrow, it was to catch
them that the practice of capping was in the first
instance devised. It must unfortunately be insisted,
as a matter of ordinary experience, that, but for some
such tax on the spot, these gentry would never dream
of giving anything at all to hounds, their idea being
apparently that the pack is maintained solely for the
pleasure of showing sport to any one so minded. In
taxing those who follow hounds, it is always important

134 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

to exempt such classes as contribute otherwise to the
sport, such, for instance, as the chief landowners, the
farmers, and the regular subscribers to the Hunt. There
are some who think that the tradesman should also be
immune. I confess that the logic of this view is not
clear to me, for unless he subscribes I do not see why
he should get his hunting free any more than other
people.

Capping fills its proper place in the shires, and there,
besides levying a small direct tax on those who hunt,
it has the further beneficial effect of in some way
lessening the immense crowds that nowadays come
out with the fashionable packs. In the provinces it is
out of place. There, every one who hunts is either a
farmer or a subscriber. There are very few horse-
breakers and no horse-dealers out with the ordinary
quiet packs, and the meets of a purely sporting pack
over a bad-scenting, non-jumping country hold out no
attraction to wealthy, hard-riding young men. More-
over, if any stranger should come down for a week or
fortnight and take a fancy to a few days' hunting, the
eagle eye of the Secretary is sure to spot him the
second or third day he is out. When asked such a
casual visitor is almost certain to respond to the appeal
with a small but adequate subscription. Another help
in the small countries is the almost invariable presence
of one or two very large subscribers, who, whether
they hunt or not, give their £ioo or their ^^150 to the
county pack.

Then there is the case of the ordinary man with a
couple of horses or even three. He, as a rule, gives his

THE MASTER'S EXPENSES 135

;^2o or £2^. If he had to pay each time he hunted, he
would not in the course of the season contribute as
much, at any rate, as the latter sum. Even if he hunted
three days a week, he would not, even making no allow-
ance for interruptions by snow or frost, be out more
than fifty times in the whole season. The provincial
pack does not benefit by strangers, for no man would
deliberately choose a plough or hilly country to hunt
in when he can have his pick of the grass countries.
Nor is it likely that the soldier home on long leave will
immure himself in some dull hole, with far from first-
rate hunting, just because his ancestral home is there.
No ; he will doubtless run down with a single horse to
spend Christmas in the bosom of his family (having
previously taken care to be there when the home
coverts were shot), after which, with a clear conscience,
off he goes to some hard-riding pack, where he can get
more fun for his money and better test the powers of
his new horses. Such a one is useless to the poor
Secretary or Treasurer on the look out for a good sum
by capping. Provincial packs, then, are useless for
this system of taxation, but let the Secretary by all
means coax all the money he can out of the enormous
fields that hunt at the present day with the popular
packs.

Subscriptions, and, incidentally, of Ladies. — The first
duty of every right-thinking man who settles down in
the country with the intention of hunting as much as
he can is to give what he can afford to the local pack.
The sums given and expected vary in the different
hunting countries, but I think I am not far wrong if I

136 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

suggest fifteen guineas per horse. No doubt, if he
has four, the Hunt will be quite satisfied with a sub-
scription of fifty for the season, but anything much
below this cannot be regarded as generous or even
adequate. There are plenty who give their ten or
fifteen guineas for the season, with, say, a couple of
animals, and there are others who give maybe what
they consider enough for themselves, while they over-
look the possibility, not to say probability, of a wife,
a stray daughter or two, or a son, all coming out of the
same subscription.

I have now to touch on a somewhat delicate subject.
It used, in the good old days, to be a maxim that it was
not right to ask a lady for a subscription. In a big
field of to-day, however, there are often more women
than men, and it is useless to deny that they do about
three times the damage. The ordinary hunting-woman
would no more dream of riding up a furrow to save
the rest of the field than she would dream of flying,
and she will revel in a gallop over a turnip-field, ignor-
ing the fact that a turnip dies at every stride of her
horse. She rarely knows seeds from old grass land,
and if she did I fear I am not convinced that she would
turn her mount a hair's breadth out of the way. On
the whole, then, and taking my risk of being voted un-
gallant, I would not, had I a free hand, allow any
woman to come out with my pack unless she had sub-
scribed as much as any man, if not, indeed, more.

The Hunt subscription is usually guaranteed to the
Master by a few gentlemen of the Hunt. They are
rarely called upon to discharge the liability, but the

THE MASTER'S EXPENSES 137

Master has, at any rate, the satisfaction of knowing
himself protected against heavy loss. In some Hunts,
indeed, it is the custom to give the Master his half-
yearly subscription in advance, and this is certainly a
great convenience, as the money is just as safe in the
bank, and the Master is thereby saved the necessity of
drawing on his private account. I have always strongly
favoured the keeping separate of the Hunt account.

Concluding Hints. — I have already laid stress on the
advantages of entering every item of expenditure in a
large ledger, with the pages numbered and marked for
reference. Only with such regular book-keeping can
the Master hope to see at a glance how everything is
going on, whether either the huntsman or stud-groom
is extravagant, how the price of corn and other pro-
vender is fluctuating, and other such matters of financial
interest as I have been called upon to estimate in this
chapter. Only by reference to such a ledger have I
been able to accept the editor's invitation. It must be
admitted that such cut-and-dried business habits com-
mend themselves very little to most Hunt establish-
ments, in which there is, as a rule, about as much
business method as there is in a Government office.

The quantity of waste that goes on in all large stables
and kennels might easily be checked if it were only
done in the proper way and at the proper moment. It
is the worst policy to economise in the quality of the
animals' food, for the best is, in the long run, also the
cheapest. I do not mean this policy of large-handed-
ness to extend to every department. There is, for
instance, nothing to gain by giving a guinea a-piece for

138 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

whips when the same article may be purchased at a less
fashionable mart for 12s. 6d.or 15s. In horse clothing,
however, as in food, the cheapest is not always the
most economical, and there was a Kendal firm — I hesi-
tate lO name it more specifically lest I should be accused
of advertising it — where I used to get practically ever-
lasting clothing at prices that compared very favourably
with those of the London dealers. Clothes should also
be got from the best man available, for surely nothing
looks more distressing than to see an establishment
of otherwise smart servants with badly-cut clothes.
It is as easy to have the clothes cut well, and the
same applies in even greater measure to the men's
boots.

It is in the stables that I always think greater
economy might be prescribed, not so much in the
actual cost of the food as in the manner in which it is
used. A really economical stud groom is a crown of
joy, and let me advise the Master who has once found
such a jewel to keep him, unless he has very strong
reasons indeed for parting with him. A saving of
perhaps a hundred a year will surely cover a few faults.
The fault that will most likely need overlooking is the
temper, for it is notorious that stud-grooms have as
quick tempers as good cooks. The Master who finds
most of the other members of the establishment
grumble that they can't get on with Mr. Snaffles,
may hug himself in the conviction that he has a
good man who will not connive at petty larcenies.
The tradesmen are excellent judges of the peculiarities
of Hunt servants. If one thing used to annoy me

THE MASTER'S EXPENSES 139

when I was a Master, more than another, it was the
discovery that my servants took a percentage from the
tradesmen on all goods suppHed. This is a wretched
practice, as, of course, the tax eventually falls on the
Master, since the tradesman is not going to lose any-
thing by it. I recollect one of the tradesmen asking to
see me, and then asking whether I knew if my groom
had threatened to go elsewhere if he did not get a
certain commission. I told him that if he were fool
enough to pay the groom anything he had only himself
to blame, for I and not the groom was master in that
stable. There, if I remember rightly, this unpleasant
matter ended, for the groom had done me no harm
personally, and it was not my business to speak to him
on the subject. But I have quoted this as an instance
of what may go on behind the Master's back, and how
simply he can, if he will only take the trouble, remedy
such little troubles without friction.

One evil, however, I was always powerless to remedy,
and that was the huntsman getting his meal from one
particular dealer. That there were all manner of pri-
vate understandings in this fidelity I well knew, but as
sure as ever I attempted to change my custom to a
rival man, I was gravely assured that the hounds were
all wrong and that the new meal was disagreeing with
them. As the huntsman is regarded as the guiding
authority in the kennels, else he would not be kept, I
had to go back to the man who, no doubt, had
tipped him more generously than his competitors in
business.

There are other ways in which the young Master

I40 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

may be blackmailed by those in his employ, but this
matter of secret commissions is, perhaps, the most
flagrant instance. I never raise any objection to
people giving my servants presents if they wish to
recognise their good ofifices in that way, but I do
most strongly demur to paying more for an article
simply because my own men levy a toll on it. The
whole system is a rotten one. There are, I know, men
who never think of buying a horse without giving the
groom a sovereign, the man they buy it of often giving
a like amount to their man. How absurd this is ! If
the man had been of any real service in drawing your
attention to the bargain there might be some sense in
it. As it stands, you might just as well tip the man
behind the counter half a crown every time you go to
to your hatter's for a new hat !

Here, then, I must conclude this sowewhat lengthy
chapter on the Master's expenses. If I have seemed a
little careful as to detail, I would plead that I do not
write without some six seasons of experience, and also
that the question of finance is one that in a measure
calls for detail. Let me in conclusion warn the
aspiring M.F.H. that no man can nowadays hope to
hunt a pack of hounds free of cost to himself. It
takes a very good subscription list indeed to let him off
scot free.

Then, again, the worry and bother are almost inde-
scribable. He is Master in name, and in the field let
us hope in something more than name ; but no man,
more particularly in a good shooting country, is more

THE MASTER'S EXPENSES 141

every one's servant. If he is to bear with equanimity
all the petty annoyances that strew his path from day
to day through the season, he will want the patience of
an angel and the tact of a Colonial Minister. If he
should endeavour to take a high and mighty view of
his position, he will come to sad grief. When, for
instance, the owner of the shooting forbids him his
coverts, forbidden they are, and he has absolutely no
remedy. If he has not country enough to hunt in
November, the month in which shooting-people are at
their worst, why, then he must stay at home. I can well
remember more than once being absolutely at my wits'
end to provide a day's sport in my country at the time
I write of, and perhaps after all I could only arrange a
desultory day on the bleak Downs.

CHAPTER V

CRITICISMS OF HIS FOLLOWERS

Modern subscription packs— Hunt clubs — The Master's
duties and liabilities — Keeping the field in order — Alleged
extravagance — Pageantry of the hunting-field — The
crowd — The perfect Master of Hounds — ^Men who have
approached the ideal — Complaints against the crowd —
"Marmaduke" on "rebellious subjects" — Local scribes
— Lord Lonsdale's plan of helping the farmers — Support-
ing local newspapers— Second horsemen — "The Druid"
— Nimrod — Surtees and hunting correspondents — The
Master and the entry — Famous kennel huntsmen as
judges of hounds — Masters who hunt their own hounds
— Mr. Rawdon Lee on the modern foxhound — Ladies
walking puppies — Other views on puppy-walking —
" Scrutator "—Mr. Otho Paget

The Master of Hounds is the sporting Prime Minister
of the country which he hunts. In most hunting
countries, his social position is second only to that of
the Lord Lieutenant of the county. In the hunting-
field he is an absolute autocrat, subject only to the
wishes of the covert owners. So long as he is in
authority we are bound to obey him. In the case of a
subscription pack, we can depose him, or request him
to resign, if we are discontented with his methods of
providing us with the sport for which we have sub-
scribed. We must, however, exercise extreme caution

CRITICISMS OF HIS FOLLOWERS 143

when we deliver a verdict upon the season of our
discontent. Since the abolition of the Royal Buck-
hounds, there is not a pack of hounds in the United
Kingdom, which is not supported, if not openly, in
some small degree, by subscriptions. In 1874 there
were only eleven non-subscription packs of foxhounds
out of the one hundred and thirty-seven packs in
England and Scotland. These packs were the Belvoir,
the Brocklesby, the Badminton, the Berkeley, Duke
of Grafton's, Earl Fitzwilliam's, Earl of Coventry's,
the Cottesmore, Lord Leconfield's, Lord Tredegar's,
and Sir Watkin William Wynn's. The first genuine
subscription pack of hounds, of which we have any
reliable record, was founded in 1796 by Sir Peter
Warburton, under the style of "The Cheshire County
Subscription Hounds." In 1762 Boodle's Club was
founded, as a London eating-house, for members of
Hunt clubs, though it was not till 1770 that the famous
Tarporley Hunt Club became a fox-hunting club. The
members of these various Hunt clubs had, for all hunt-
ing intents and purposes, the same position as is now
held by the members of a Hunt committee. It must
be admitted that the Hunt club possessed a certain
social significance which the modern Hunt committee
does not possess. But what was the value of that
social significance ? At the commencement of the
nineteenth century, Masters of Hounds were either
large landowners, or else hunted a country in order to
live out of the hounds.

There were many men, who, like Mr. Facey Romford,
regarded the Mastership of Hounds as a commercial

144 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

sinecure. At the commencement of the twentieth
century there is not a single Master of Hounds, who
could, by the utmost elasticity of social scandal, be
accused of living out of the hounds. It has been stated
that a Hunt conducted on modern lines is similar to a
limited liability company, in which the subscribers are
the shareholders, while the Master of Hounds is the
managing director. The similitude is erroneous if we
regard the position from a commercial point of view.
The managing director of a limited liability company
receives a salary. He is paid for his services, whether
they be good, bad, or indifferent, on a regular scale.
He derives his income from the company, of which
confiding shareholders have made him the managing
director.

As a shareholder in that gigantic business " English
Fox-hunting Limited," I wish to lodge a protest against
the opinion that the Master of Hounds is merely the
managing director of a local horse-breeding, agri-
cultural business. Certainly, in the case of fifty
packs of fox-hounds in England, the M.F.H. is out
of pocket to the extent of £ioqo pounds a year. In
the case of one pack the expense amounted to
;;^70oo a year. I allude to the Badminton Hunt, when
under the Mastership of the late Duke of Beaufort.
But the Duke of Beaufort received no subscription
and conducted his hunting establishment upon a scale
of lavish expenditure. Lavish expenditure, however,
cannot be regarded as a necessity. The first duty
of a Master of Hounds is to show good sport. The
ostensible object for which we, his followers, have

CRITICISMS OF HIS FOLLOWERS 145

come out is to see a fox killed. We have not come
out to discuss local politics and the prospects of the
forthcoming Grand National, or to flirt with the wives
of our neighbours. Owing to a cause celebre, which
was enacted in the Law Courts at the end of T902, it
was seriously suggested that a Master of Hounds should
not permit flirtations to take place in the hunting-field.
All genuine hunting-men and hunting-ladies will agree
with me, that there is a time for hunting and a time
for making love. Besides, chattering magpies at covert-
side often prevent hounds working properly in coveit,
more especially if the covert be a small gorse. Yet,
where the lady is the principal culprit, and the man,
like our universal progenitor Adam, can prove that the
woman tempted him, few Masters care to exercise their
authority by commanding the culprits either to be
silent or go home. I believe, however, that I am
echoing the opinions of all hunting sportsmen, when
I say that it is their wish, as well as it is the wish of
the lady followers of hounds, that the Master should
make use of his autocratic power, in order to check the
frivolity of misplaced philandering. The Master may
retort, "How am I to check it?" If the lady has a
male relation in the hunting-field, the male relation
should be severely cautioned. But, in these days of
feminine independence, it constantly happens that the
lady is without any male chaperonage beyond that of
boys, who, to use an expression of the late Mr. Haweis,
are still in the early stages of vealy existence. Mr.
Finch Mason, in one of his humorous hunting sketches,
has depicted this type of lady surrounded by a throng

146 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

of youthful admirers, when she is greeted by the
Master with the remark, " Cubhunting as usual ! "
But we cannot expect that every Master of Hounds
should be an accomplished satirist, or should carry a
pocket "Juvenal" about with him, from which to trans-
late appropriate extracts as the occasion demands.

" Semper ego auditor tantum ? Nunquamne reponam ? "

Certainly it is not pleasant to hear a man abuse a
woman in lurid language, however much the woman
may deserve it ; yet I have heard Masters, who in
private life were the most refined gentlemen that the
King could wish to see at his Court, soundly rate ladies
in the hunting-field, who were spoiling sport by their
foolish conduct. As the arguments in regard to ladies
in the hunting-field are fully discussed elsewhere, it is
unnecessary for me to make any further allusion to the
subject in this chapter.

There have been many complaints during the last
ten years, that much useless expense is incurred in the
" turn-out " of a Hunting establishment, and that more
attention is paid to the " pomp and circumstance " of
the hunting-field than is paid to the actual sport of
killing a fox. The controversy, which was raging in
the sporting papers at the end of 1902, in reference to
dress in the hunting-field, proved that, to use theatrical
language, more regard is paid to the scenic arrange-
ments than to the actual acting. Mr. Rawdon Lee,
in his work on " Modern Sporting Dogs," tells us
that often hounds, which have been drafted in order
to make room for the fresh entries, are sold to

CRITICISMS OF HIS FOLLOWERS 147

enterprising theatrical managers, who wish to make
their hunting scenes as realistic as possible. But it is
absurd and most unsportsmanlike to imitate theatrical
pageantry in the hunting-field. Still more absurd is it
to waste the money on the imitation, which is required
for hound-breeding and for the purchase of suitable
horses, on which to mount the Hunt servants. More-
over, the tenant-farmers object to this modern dandy-
ism ; and, as we depend upon the tenant-farmers for our
sport, it is incumbent upon us to take their opinions
into consideration. An old farmer, who has now
joined the majority, said, "The fox was born to be
hunted, not to kill geese." If he were alive now he
might have added, " Nor to amuse geese." Not that I
am insensible to the pageantry of fox-hunting. I think
that it is a pity that we do not see hunting-scenes more
often depicted on the walls of our Royal Academy.
But the pageantry is a secondary consideration in con-
nection with killing a fox. Therefore, if funds be short,
renounce the pageantry, but kill the foxes. I have
been told that, if a Master of Hounds were to renounce
this pageantry and devote his energies and money
solely to the legitimate promotion of sport, he would
lose half his subscribers. I question the statement.
In the first place, at a fashionable meet of hounds,
barely ten per cent, of the congregation are subscribers.
Of the odd ninety per cent, many are carriage people,
who have only driven, or been driven to the meet, as if it
was a social winter function, like driving through Hyde
Park during the height of the London season. Then
there are the short-skirted cyclists, who wonder why

148 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

foxes are not trained to run along the hard high-roads.
Grooms, coachmen, and second horsemen form a large
percentage of the crowd. There are the foot-people,
many of whom are good sportsmen or sportswomen,
but have been reduced to the use of " Shanks' pony."
But who are these loud-talking people, who are jostling
us at gates ? Apparently they have hired any quad-
ruped with any pretensions to be called a horse, in
order to join "the glad throng as they canter along,"
and to do as much damage to the land as it is within
the power of equine humanity to cause. They do not
cause this damage wittingly, but merely in the exuber-
ance of their animal spirits. Still, they do not sub-
scribe, and would not be present, if it were not for
their ambition to take an active part in the pageant.
Moreover, as a rule they are cantankerous individuals,
who, if they were invited to dine in the realms below,
would come back and declare that the dinner was
underdone and served up lukewarm. Their complaints
in the smoking-room of a London club or a country
house are as loud as the bellowings of the Bull of
Bashan, till they dwindle down into the more sober
language of Balaam's ass beneath the question, " How
much do you subscribe to Hounds ? " Briefly, they
may be described as peripatetic fox-poachers, more
guilty of dishonesty than the yokel who snares a hare
on a moonlight night.

Much has been written and spoken in reference to
the duties of a Master of Hounds. Now, it is as abso-
lutely impossible to find a perfect Master of Hounds,
as it is to find a perfect man or perfect woman. The

CRITICISMS OF HIS FOLLOWERS 149

man who, in his own person, is a past-master in the
science of hound-lore like Sir Thomas Boughey, who
can ride to hounds like the late Mr. Tom Assheton
Smith, who is on the same speaking terms with a fox
as the late Duke of Beaufort, of whom it was said, when
he was ill with gout, that he could hunt and kill a fox
in his bath-chair, who can keep his field in order like
the late Captain John White, who can live on his own
estates with a kingly income like the late Sir Watkin
Williams Wynn, and who can wherewithal be popular
with every man, woman, and child, from the peerage
to the peasantry, is a prodigy which has yet to be
created. Mr. Assheton Smith, after he founded the
Tedworth Hunt, the late Duke of Beaufort, and in
more modern days Mr. Garth, came as near the
standard of perfection as can be reasonably expected
by hunting-men. I had almost forgotten to mention
Lord Althorp, afterwards Earl Spencer, who, as Master
of the Pytchley Hounds, was notorious for his universal
courtesy in the hunting-field. If it were possible to
combine the qualifications which the gentlemen whose
names I have mentioned possessed in one individual,
then we should have the ideal Master of Hounds. But
it must be remembered that, before these gentlemen had
attained their qualifications, they had served a long
apprenticeship in the hunting-field. Certainly Mr.
Assheton Smith may be regarded by some people as
an exception, for he was a born horseman, and a born
judge of horses. Thus, in the famous Billesdon Cop-
low run, which took place on February 24, 1800, he
rode a horse called Furzecutter, for which he had only

I50 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

given ;^26. After the run he sold the horse to Lord
Clonbrook for ;^400. Of Captain John White,
familiarly known as " Black White," a poem was
published from which I quote four lines :

" Says he, ' Young men of Manchester and Liverpool draw near,
I've just a word, a warning word, to whisper in your ear 1
When starting from the covert, should you see bold reynard

bust,
We cannot have no hunting, if the gemmen go fust.' "

But I do not think that Captain John White conveyed
his warnings in the mild language with which the poet
re-edited him. I have quoted the lines, however, to
illustrate a complaint which regular subscribers to
Hounds and tenant-farmers often make against the
Master. By a curious coincidence this complaint has,
at the beginning of the 1 902-1903 season, been made
by the Cheshire farmers at the Nantwich Farmers'
Club. The complaint is not that the "young men of
Manchester and Liverpool " are, to use hunting par-
lance, " thrusting scoundrels," but that they do un-
necessary damage to the land by their thoughtlessness
and ignorance of the rudiments of agriculture. Let it
be clearly understood that I am not lodging this accu-
sation solely against the Manchester and Liverpool
sportsmen who hunt in Cheshire, for the accusation is
applicable to all over-zealous, ignorant riders who do
not reside in the country. I am alluding to the men
who ride helter-skelter over the land, without any
regard to the harm they may do to the occupier.
Growing crops are an unknown quantity to them.
To break down fences and hurdles by needlessly

CRITICISMS OF HIS FOLLOWERS 151

attempting to jump them, is their pet diversion. To
close a gate, so that Hve-stock may not stray over the
country, is beyond their power of thought. Unwit-
tingly, perhaps, but none the'less surely, these men are
worse enemies to hunting than the so-called humani-
tarian faddists, whose ravings against sport are pub-
lished in the columns of fifth-rate newspapers. Not
only are they a constant thorn in the side of the Master,
but they are the bugbears of the regular followers of
hounds, who strive their utmost to cause as little
damage as possible to the land over which they ride.
From the standpoint of the conscientious hunting-man
they deserve the most unmitigated abuse which it is
possible for them to receive from the lips of a Master
of Hounds.

We must remember, however, that in these days the
numerical strength of Fields is so large, that it is an
impossibility for a Master during his first season to
distinguish between the old members of the Hunt and
the peripatetic sinners, who break all the recognised
rules of hunting, who wear the outward garb of
gentility in the shape of a pink coat, and who arouse
the ire of the farmers by their ignorance and super-
cilious behaviour. It has been an oft-discussed ques-
tion, whether an old and respected member of the
Hunt should not be allowed to usurp for the moment
the power of the Master, and publicly rebuke a delin-
quent whom he has caught hi flagrante delicto. Per-
sonally, I am opposed to any usurpation of the
authority of a Master or of a Hunt Secretary. In the
first place, my experience is that Masters of Hounds

152 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

are apt to be jealous of any usurpation of their
authority. In the second place, it would be difficult
to define who is an old and respected member of the
Hunt in these days, when young men are invited to
join the Hunt Committee because they have inherited
a long purse. There is another objection, which I
once saw exemplified. An old, though not respected,
member of the Hunt, loudly rebuked a young sub-
scriber in language, such as ladies should not hear,
and told him to go home. Now, if there were any
offence it was committed by the old member, and not
by the young subscriber. The two men jostled one
another going through a hand-gate, at which the
younger man was the first to arrive. The result was
that their horses kicked. The young subscriber did
not reply to the irascible language of the old member,
but rode up to the Master, and, after briefly recount-
ing the circumstances, asked him if he should go
home. He was accompanied by another old member
of the Hunt, who had witnessed the incident. In this
case the Master poured oil upon the troubled waters,
and so the matter ended. But it is not fair to ask the
Master to adjudicate upon quarrels in the hunting-field,
when he has multifarious duties to perform, which he
owes to all his followers.

" Rebellious subjects, enemies to peace."

It can hardly be denied that a large proportion of
the modern hunting-field is to be classified under the
definition which Escalus, Prince of Verona, used in
regard to the Capulets and the Montagues. Escalus,

CRITICISMS OF HIS FOLLOWERS 153

however, was sufficiently powerful to be able to
add:

" Never you disturb our streets again,
Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace."

Certainly there have been cases, where it has been
delicately hinted to an undesirable follower of hounds
that he might be baulked and ridden over at his fences.
Writing of these rebellious subjects in Country Sport of
November 15, 1902, " Marmaduke " states : " In the
first place, they take their hunting in what, for want of
a better word, I may term a 'casual' manner. They
know nothing about it, and they are too conceited to
learn. They have not the slightest interest in the men
over whose land they are permitted to ride, and, worse
than that, do not take the trouble to disguise the fact.
They are wealthy, and in their heart of hearts despise
those who are not. They show the insolence and the
selfishness of wealth in a country, into which they are
admitted on sufferance. I have heard a man swear at
a farmer for not being quick enough to suit his
impatience in opening a gate, and seen a lady ride
through a gate, held open for her by the owner, with
her nose in the air, and without so much as the thanks
which should be rendered even to a servant under such
circumstances." This is a strong denunciation from a
cheery, optimistic writer, who seldom dips his pen in
bitter ink. Of course, it is impossible for a Master to
be everywhere at the same moment, so as to correct
every breach, not only of hunting etiquette, but of the
decent behaviour of ordinary life. Yet, I maintain, it
is one of his duties to rid his hunting-field of the male

154 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

and female snobs, who, by their insolence, cause the
farmers to become enemies to our great winter sport.
It is the duty of the professional hunting journalist to
place the curb upon the utterances and noisy attacks of
bigoted sentimentalists, and to argue in regard to the
political economy of hunting ; but it is certainly not
his duty to place snobs on the " black list," unless he
does so at the request of the Master, or of the Hunt
Secretary. Now, all the fashionable Hunts possess a
hunting journalist, who duly records in the weekly
papers accounts of the sport which the Hunt has
enjoyed. The history of some of these accounts may
be both instructive and amusing to Masters of Hounds
and their followers.

In the first instance, which I wish to recount, the
scribe was the village postmaster. The post-office
was within a quarter of a mile of the kennels, and both
these public establishments were within a comfortable
walking distance of a comfortable hostelry, which
always reminded me of "The Maypole" immortalised
by Charles Dickens in " Barnaby Rudge." The post-
office keeper, who was also a general chandler, bore a
resemblance to short Tom Cobb, and the huntsman
might have been the original of long Phil Parker, the
ranger. As I listened to these cronies discussing the
hunting news of the week, I expected to see the modern
prototype of Sir John Chester in an iron-grey periwig
and pigtail ride up to the door to sit for an equestrian
portrait for the benefit of the local caricaturist. It was
impossible for the most modest individual not to over-
hear the conversation of these cronies, or to be oblivious

CRITICISMS OF HIS FOLLOWERS 155

to the pencilling on dirty envelopes which was taking
place. However, let us cut the cackle and come to the
'osses, as my companions did. The huntsman briefly
indicated the line which the fox had taken, and gave
the names of the prominent members of the Hunt
whom he had happened to see in the field. This was
sufficient information upon which to write the short
accounts of hunting runs which we see in the London
daily papers. For the local paper more padding was
required, which the huntsman supplied by the inch,
according to the wishes of the local editor, expressed
to him by the postmaster. Of course I did not learn
how the profits were divided in this case. In another
instance, one of the whippers-in supplied a London
weekly paper with short accounts of runs, and at the
end of the season was agreeably surprised to receive a
five-pound note from the editor. What would a
professional journalist say to such remuneration ?
The worst feature in regard to Hunt servants becoming
newspaper correspondents is that they are seldom
impartial. It must be remembered that there are many
so-called hunting-men, who wish to see their names in
print, because it is a good advertisement for them, from
a business point of view. There is nothing immoral in
this wish of Mr. Blank, the gentleman horse-dealer,
who hunts in order to sell his horses, and who
naturally wants to see their jumping and galloping
powers extolled in the local newspaper. Thus, we
constantly come across some such sentence as this :
" The honours of the run clearly belonged to Mr.
Blank, who, mounted on his famous grey mare, was

156 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

always to be seen in the first flight." There is another
objection to Hunt servants becoming newspaper
correspondents. It is impossible for them to criticise
impartially their own conduct and the conduct of
their Master in the hunting-field. The sporting
journalist, if he be worth his salt, must do something
more than give a bare outline of the run and the names
of the people who were out. It may not be his duty
to censure ; certainly it is not his duty to dictate to
the Master ; but he should know how to bestow praise
judiciously, when it is due, without being guilty of
flattery. " If you can't write favourably, don't write at
all," the editor of a London paper once said to me.
This editorial instruction will account for the fact that
we seldom see the conduct of a Master severely
criticised in the newspapers. " Trial by newspaper,"
when the defendant is a Master of Hounds, generally
means that a few members of the Hunt, who have
a grievance against the Master, make use of the
columns of a local newspaper in order to air the
grievance.

I wish that all Masters of Hounds would imitate the
example of Lord Lonsdale by making more use of the
local newspaper for the benefit of fox-hunting in general
and the tenant-farmers in particular. Lord Lonsdale,
than whom the farmers have had few better friends,
when he accepted the Mastership of the Quorn at the
end of the season 1892-1893, at once devoted his
energies to doing everything in his power to assist the
landowners and tenant-farmers. Every week two
sheets of the Melton Mowbray Times and Lough-

CRITICISMS OF HIS FOLLOWERS 157

borough Advertiser were filled up with four columns as
follows :

ist Column 2nd Column 3rd Column 4th Column

Names and Description The quantity Remarks on

addresses of quality

of Vendors Provender

This was done in order that hunting-men might pur-
chase their fodder direct from the farmers. Some
people doubt the utility of any registration of pro-
vender in the hands of farmers on the ground that
many hunting-men have no knowledge of the quality
and value of corn and hay ; but the doubt, to my mind,
seems foolish, as the ignorant hunting-man has only to
order his dealer to buy direct from a farmer resident in
the country in which he hunts. Certainly the farmers
think that it is the duty of the Master to do his utmost
to see that the money spent by his followers should be
circulated amongst the occupiers of the land over
which they ride. But the duty requires an infinite
amount of tact. The Master cannot make a fixed rule
that his followers should buy their fodder from the
farmers in the country which he hunts, but he can
express his wish that they should do so ; and, as Lord
Lonsdale did, provide means by which the farmers
can bring their wares before the notice of hunting-
men.

There is another side from which we may view this
question. It is seldom that the modern farmer can

158 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

afford to hunt, and it is difficult to make him compre-
hend the advantages which he derives from a sport
which he cannot enjoy. You cannot lecture a farmer
upon political economy. If you tell him that indi-
vidual prosperity is the result of collective wealth, and
that therefore he must prosper through the collective
wealth of hunting-people, he will answer, " I do not
hunt, and hunting damages my land : why, then,
should I allow hounds to cross my farm ? " Now it
is the duty of the Master to do everything in his power
in order to propitiate the farmers. So, of course, it is
the duty of all hunting-people. But when the farmers
in a hunting country suddenly assume a hostile attitude
towards sport, the Master invariably has to bear the
blame. Why should not the Master utilise the columns
of the local newspaper in order to express his opinions ?
I do not hold any brief for the proprietors and
editors of provincial newspapers ; but, where the pro-
vincial paper circulates amongst the local agricultural
community, I think that it is wiser for the Master of
Hounds to publish his views or edicts upon hunting in
the columns of the paper than to issue circular letters
amongst the members of the Hunt. Within the last
three years it has become a custom for Masters of
Hounds to issue circular letters. For two reasons I
believe this custom to be mischievous. In the first
place the letter is not read by the people for whom it
is intended to be read ; and, in the second place, it
may give offence to genuine sportsmen. A Master of
Hounds should publish his regulations so that all his
followers may read, mark, learn and inwardly digest

CRITICISMS OF HIS FOLLOWERS 159

them ; but to send what may be regarded as a private
letter indiscriminately to covert-owners, subscribers,
and the poaching contingent of so-called hunting-men
must lead to friction. In the circular letters which I
have seen, the chief reference relates to the conduct of
second horsemen. The reference is entirely un-
necessary. It has always been the rule that the
second horsemen of members of the Hunt should
follow the second horsemen of the Master and the
Hunt servants. The position of a second horseman,
however, has never been clearly defined. Is the groom,
to whom you have deputed the custody of your child,
a second horseman, because you change horses with
him ? I agree with the abolition of pad-grooms, who
were never on the spot when their mistresses required
them ; but to call the groom in charge of a child a
second horseman is absurd. But the Master should
define a child as a boy or girl who cannot be trusted to
ride without the leading-rein. When our young sports-
men and sportswomen can be trusted to ride without
the leading-rein, they should be able to take care of
themselves in the hunting-field without the assistance
of a dry nurse in the shape of a groom.

" For forms of government let fools contest!
Whate'er is best administered, is best."

It would be well if Masters of Hounds were to give
more consideration to this couplet than they do give ;
and it would be well if the critics remembered the
epitaph on the tomb of Peter Beckford in Stapleton
Church :

i6o THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

"We die and are forgotten : 'tis Heaven's decree;
Thus the fate of others will be the fate of me."

" I am one who finds constant refreshment from
reading a few pages of this healthy and vivid author,
half sportsman and half poet, who has produced a
number of volumes, which, in their way, are master-
pieces, and will never be surpassed." Such was the
tribute which Lord Rosebery publicly paid to the
literary merits of Henry Hall Dixon, known to all
sporting readers as " The Druid." Everybody will
agree with the justice of the tribute, who has read the
writings of " The Druid." During the last century he
was facile princeps in sporting literature. But he rarely
criticised the horsemanship, or conduct in the field,
of Masters of Hounds, though in the character of
biographer he recounted the criticisms of that extra-
ordinary man, Dick Christian, who for fifty years held
a unique position in the hunting-field as a rough-rider.
These criticisms, however, most of which were adverse,
hardly concern modern Masters of Hounds. Like the
writings of Mr. Charles James Apperley, they merely
possess an interest for the students of foxhunting
history. I wonder what a Master of Hounds would
say if it were intimated to him that a twentieth-century
** Nimrod " was coming down to hunt with him on a
certain day, and to inspect his hunting establishment.
Mr. Jorrocks certainly invited Pomponius Ego, for
whose portrait Mr. Apperley unconsciously sat before
Mr. vSurtees, to "come here and take a look at our
most provincial pack. Entre nous, as we say in France,
I want to be famous, and you know how to do it. In

CRITICISMS OF HIS FOLLOWERS i6i

course, mum's the word." Ego, in a P.S. to his reply,
writes : " What would you Hke to be done in ? The
Q.R., the O.S.M., the N.S.M., the S.R., the S., Fraser,
Blackwood, New Monthly, Old ditto, 'The Encyclo-
paedia,' ' Oracle of Rural Life,' or ' Almanack for
Country Gentlemen ? ' " Speaking to his huntsman,
Pigg, of Ego's approaching visit, Mr. Jorrocks says :
" If by any unlucky chance he blames an 'untsman, or
condemns a pack, it's all dickey with them for ever ;
for no living man dare contradict him, and every one
swears by what he says." It was in 1822 that " Nimrod,"
in conjunction with Mr. Pittman, the editor of the
Sporting Magazine, pioneered hunting journalism, and
so great was the success that Mr. Pittman paid " Nim-
rod " at the rate of ;^2o a page. Shortly afterwards,
the Sporting Review was founded by the Messrs. Acker-
mann, to which "Nimrod" contributed; and in 1838
Mr. Murray published in the Quarterly Review " Nim-
rod's " celebrated articles on the " Chase," " the Turf,"
and the " Road," for which he paid him one hundred
and seventy guineas.

It has been objected that Mr. Apperley was never a
hunting critic, but merely a travelling agent seeking
advertisements from Masters of Hounds, and that
therefore a large discount should be deducted from
the value of his opinions. Be this as it may, the
occupation of " Nimrod " became a thing of the past,
thirty years at least before the commencement of the
twentieth century. So great is the present popularity
of hunting, that Masters of Hounds not only do not
require any advertisement, but detest the hunting

L

1 62 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

peripatetic journalist, who, by his adulatory reports,
causes non-subscribing strangers to follow his hounds.
Thus, in Yorkshire, at Farnley Hall, Otley, Mr. Fawkes
founded a new pack of hounds, at the beginning of the
1902-1903 season, with the rule that his fixtures would
not be advertised, and that cards would be sent only to
landowners and farmers. The late Lord Willoughby
de Broke regarded the journalist in much the same
light as Mephistopheles is supposed to have viewed
"holy water." Still, Masters of Hounds must re-
member that they hold a public position and are as
liable to criticism as are his Majesty's Ministers. Why
should they shrink from the criticism ? Surely, it is
better to be told of your faults than to be suddenly
asked to resign your mastership ? There are few, if
any. Masters of Hounds who are cognisant of the
prejudices of all the occupiers of land in their hunting
country, and so are often apt to give unintentional
offence. Surely, it is the duty of the members of the
Hunt to warn the Master in regard to their prejudices ?
There is one complaint, which I have constantly
heard made against the Master of Hounds, namely,
his neglect to sound his horn when a fox breaks covert
with hounds on good scenting terms with him. His
usual defence is that his followers should know what
hounds are doing. Now, where there are no "rides"
in the covert, the followers are not supposed to enter
the covert. They should remain outside. If the fox
steals away from the far corner with hounds close to
his brush, the major portion of the field can know
nothing of the fact, unless they hear the sound of the

CRITICISMS OF HIS FOLLOWERS 163

horn. I am a staunch believer in what is termed " the
silent system " of hunting, and am sure that the Master
who is continually blowing his horn loses many foxes,
for which his hounds would otherwise have accounted.
But there is a vast difference between continually
blowing the horn, like a cornet player at a Covent
Garden Promenade Concert, and sounding the " gone
away " notes, when hounds stream out of covert. To
say the least of it, it is unsportsmanlike to leave the
sportsmen and sportswomen in the lurch, when they
pay their subscriptions solely in order that they may
be provided with sport. Verbiim sapienti sufficit. I
will accordingly proceed to the criticism of kennel
management.

No conscientious Master of Hounds should leave
the tuition of the entry entirely in the hands of the
kennel huntsman, as shooting-tenants leave the break-
ing of their dogs to their keepers. As " Dryasdust "
wrote in Land mid Water, some years ago; "The
Master, who should be cognisant of every detail, and
with whom should rest every appeal in all that concerns
the management of a pack of foxhounds, loses the
opportunity of judging for himself what are likely to
prove the characters of the young aspirants of the pack,
and he is obliged to entrust the very important task of
drafting to his huntsman." To watch the progress of
the entry, and to determine from his own observation
what young hands are worthy of a place in the kennel
list, and as likely to contribute to the strength and
efficiency of the pack, is one of the first duties of a
Master of Hounds. Many kennel huntsmen may have

1 64 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

surpassed their Masters in their knowledge of hound-
breeding. With the Badminton tliere were PhiHp
Payne and Will Long, with the Belvoir Goosey and
Will Goodall ; Jem Hills with the Heythrop ; last, but
far from least, Tom Sebright, who was for thirty-seven
years huntsman with the Milton pack. These men
were noted judges of hounds, but I do not think that,
as a rule, at the present day kennel huntsmen can
surpass their Masters in knowledge of hounds. During
the last few years the custom of Masters hunting their
own hounds, z.c, acting as their own huntsmen in the
field instead of employing a paid servant, has largely
increased in popularity, as the following statistics
prove, which I have placed in tabular form for the
convenience of reference :

MASTERS WHO HUNT THEIR OWN HOUNDS

5 Masters of stag-hounds, out of i8 packs in England
52 Masters of fox-hounds, ,, 164 „ ,,

2 Masters of fox-hounds,
18 Masters of fox-hounds,
47 Masters of harriers,

I Master of harriers,
17 Masters of harriers,

,4 Masters of beagles,

The above statistics are compiled from the supple-
ment to the Field of October 18, 1902.

Now a Master of Hounds who hunts his own pack
must necessarily be, to a large extent, cognisant of
hound lore ; yet the Peterborough Hound Show has
been in existence for forty-three years, during which

10

Scotland

26

Ireland

95

England

3

Scotland

25

Ireland

56

u

England and
Ireland

CRITICISMS OF HIS FOLLOWERS 165

period the average number of Masters exhibiting has
not exceeded twenty-five. In regard to these Masters,
it has been said that they breed with an eye to Peter-
borough, i.e., with a view to Show triumph. Nothing
can be more absurd than this indictment made against
such famous sportsmen as the late Lord Willoughby
de Broke. The truth is, that, so far as there can be any
certainty in the breeding of Uve stock, foxhound-breed-
ing has been reduced to an exact science. Let me
again quote from Mr. Rawdon B. Lee's work on
"Modern Sporting Dogs"; "No hound or dog has
changed so Httle in appearance and character during a
century as the foxhound. There have been no crazes
for fashionable colour, or for head formed or ears hung
on purely fanciful principles. Hunters wanted a dog
for work, they soon provided one, and have kept and
sustained that animal for the purpose."

The first object of the hound-breeding Master is to
bring a pack of hounds into the field which can account
for its foxes satisfactorily, and he must remember that
the hounds which can race over the big pastures of
Leicestershire would be utterly at fault in the rocky
hills of Westmoreland and Cumberland.

'* He cried upon it at the merest loss,
And twice to-day picked out the dullest scent."

I don't know that the argument between the Lord
and his huntsman in the induction about the relative
merits of the hounds has anything to do with the
Taming of the Shrew, but it proves that Shakespeare
would have been a good hunting critic in these days.

1 66 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

Undoubtedly many Masters breed too much with a
view to legs and feet and are apt to ignore nose and
working powers. More especially is this the case when
they leave the kennel management entirely in the
hands of the huntsman, which, owing to circum-
stances, they are sometimes obliged to do. But
the circumstances ought not to arise, nor need they
arise, if the Master of the Hounds resided close to the
kennels. It is incumbent that the Master should be
"the man on the spot." There have been exceptions
where famous judges of hounds lived at a long distance
from the kennels, notably Sir Thomas Boughey, and
his successor Captain Foster, both of whom resided
many miles from the Albrighton Kennels at Whiston
Cross, when they hunted the Albrighton country. But
they possessed in John Scott one of the best kennel
huntsmen in England, who was invited to, and did,
judge at the Peterborough Hound Show, while he was
huntsman to the Albrighton.

" Yes, I daresay that he may be a very good man in
the field, but he knows nothing of hound-lore." How
often do we hear that complaint made against a Master
of Hounds 1 In certain so-called fashionable hunting
establishments hounds are bred with great precision
and care for pedigree. This, however, may be described
as the consequence of book-lore, not of hound-lore.
It is not till the early cub-hunting season has com-
menced that the Master of foxhounds is in a position
to judge what puppies should be drafted and what
puppies should be entered to fox. It must be admitted
that it is extremely difficult for an M.F.H. to avoid

CRITICISMS OF HIS FOLLOWERS 167

giving offence when drafting his young hounds in these
days, when the " walking of puppies " is ahnost
entirely in the hands of the fair sex. Naturally, the
Master does not wish to disappoint a lady who has
taken the trouble to "walk a puppy " for him by drafting
the puppy. So it happens that many worthless young
hounds are entered to fox and many promising young
hounds are drafted, merely in order to oblige the
ladies. I admit that there is a very great difficulty in
persuading people to " walk puppies " as a personal
favour without any remuneration beyond a prize at
the local puppy show, and the greatest credit, and the
most sincere thanks of all followers of hounds are due
to the sportswomen who "walk puppies." I do not
believe, however, in the present fashion of asking a
lady to " walk a puppy " for many reasons. I will
instance a case which came within my own knowledge.
A married lady was asked by the Master to "walk a
puppy." She was a keen sportswoman and the wife of
a large subscriber to the Hunt, but she was also passion-
ately fond and proud of her flower-garden, and knew
the damage which a mischievously disposed puppy
would do her flowers. So she firmly but politely
refused to " walk a puppy," stating her reasons for the
refusal, and also offering to give a prize at the local
puppy show. The offer was accepted ; but in local

hunting circles it was said that Mrs. cared more

for her flowers than she did for the hounds. There is
another point, namely, that puppies, which have been
under the care of ladies, have been invariably petted,
and need much trouble and more than ordinary severity

1 68 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

in their later education. I know that when a lady has
agreed to "walk a puppy" she receives with the puppy
written instructions as to how she ought to treat him,
and I also know that those instructions are often dis-
regarded. The lady can hardly be expected to treat
the puppy during his infantile maladies and rub him
with dressings which, to say the least, do not resemble
Eau de Cologne. The treatment is entrusted to the
head groom, who entrusts it to the second groom, who
entrusts it in his turn to a stable lad. On the other
hand, the farmers and their wives or their daughters,
as a rule, take a pride and a personal interest in sending
the young hounds home well grown and well fed.
These young hounds during their puppyhood have
had the run of the farm, where they could not do much
damage. They have not been alternately petted by a
lady and bullied by a gardener, and their diet is likely
to be more regular at the farmhouse than at the
mansion.

"Scrutator" regarded the "walking of puppies"
from a commercial point of view. In " Horses and
Hounds" he wrote: "Giving premiums, also, is an
encouragement to have the young hounds well kept,
and I found it paid wonderfully ; for the best dog £^f
second £t„ third £2, fourth £1, and the same for
bitches." He prefaces this statement with the remark
that " some little acknowledgment ought to be made to
the farmer's wife." I may be asked by a Master,
" what has the ' walking of puppies ' to do with the
followers of hounds ? " It has a good deal to do with
them, if the Master asks them to " walk a puppy "

CRITICISMS OF HIS FOLLOWERS 169

instead of sending the puppies to the farms. Also, the
follower of hounds who consents to " walk a puppy "
must, unless he leaves the treatment entirely in the
hands of a servant, learn the rudiments of hound-lore,
though he may not be able to qualify as a scientific
breeder of hounds. Moreover, every hunting-man
should take an interest in the hounds which supply
him with his sport. According to the present custom,
the Master supplies the raw material in the shape of
whelps, and asks his followers to give him the finished
article in the shape of healthy young hounds. In
regard to this process of canine education I will now
quote three opinions.

Peter Beckford, in Letter V. of his "Thoughts on
Hunting," writes: "The distemper makes dreadful
havoc with whelps at their walks, greatly owing, I
believe, to the little care that is taken of them there.
I am in doubt whether it might not be better to breed
them up yourself and have a kennel on purpose. You
have a large orchard paled in, which should suit them
exactly ; and what else is wanted might easily be
obtained. There is, however, an objection, that per-
haps may strike you, if the distemper once get amongst
them — they must all have it ; yet notwithstanding that,
as they will be constantly well fed and will lie warm, I
am confident it would be the saving of many lives."
Peter Beckford's plan has, however, been proved to be
impossible in the modern practice of hound-rearing.

Mr. J. Otho Paget, who edited the last edition of
Beckford's "Thoughts on Hunting," published by
Methuen, 1899, says, in a foot-note : " Hounds, to be

lyo THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

reared successfully, must go out to walk : the risks of
accidents and distemper will have to be chanced. The
best plan is to give a handsome luncheon to the puppy
walkers and prizes for the best hounds ; this will
encourage the farmers to look after their charges and
make them take an interest in the pack. The hounds
that survive the danger of walks always appear to have
more sense than those that are kept at home." In
another foot-note he says : " Unless the pups look
well when they go out, you cannot expect them to be
in good order on their return." It will be seen that
Mr. Paget, writing at the close of the nineteenth
century, does not contemplate the cases where puppies
are walked at the mansion-house. Yet I have known
puppies to be " walked " by the occupiers of suburban
villas, to the great annoyance of their neighbours.
Certainly, the suburban villa possessed an orchard or
paddock, which Peter Beckford apparently thought
sufficient for the purpose of "walking puppies" ; but
then the orchard or paddock was not paled in, so as
to prevent the canine pupil from running out of
bounds.

Let me now quote a few lines from " Scrutator's "
" System of Kennel and Science of Fox-hunting."

" Where whelps are sent out to very distant walks,
some forty or fifty miles from kennel, where they are
far removed from the supervision of master and man,
it is no uncommon thing for them to meet with rough
usage and coarser fare during the chief part of their
sojourn there ; but as the time approaches for their
return they are then fatted up for the occasion, to

CRITICISMS OF HIS FOLLOWERS 171

make a fair show in the kennel ; and this is a trick of
which tenants at a distance are too often guilty.
Perhaps we ought not to lay this charge exactly to
themselves, but their better halves — and in truth, at
farmhouses generally, " the grey mare is the better
horse." The master is obliged to be in the field from
sunrise to sunset, either superintending labourers or
himself working according to his status, whilst the
missus is engaged in her household duties, making
butter or cheese, feeding young ducks and chickens,
&c. ; and a mischievous fox-hound puppy is more
likely to interfere than to assist her in these occupa-
tions. He will very probably be running off with a
cheese-cloth or pat of butter, or running down a
screaming young cockerel in the yard, for which and
sundry other malpractices, in which puppy dogs are
wont to indulge, he is almost sure to incur the dire
displeasure of the missus, unless she is endowed with
an angelic temper, and receive as his reward monkey's
allowance in more senses than one. The experiment
having been tried over and over again of rearing young
hounds in the kennel without success. Masters are
obliged to send them out and run all risks. Two or
three may be bred up at home, if allowed to run about
the premises, but if confined within four walls, without
daily exercise, their feet will bear a nearer resemblance
to those of a duck than those of a cat. Moreover,
home education is as objectionable for young fox-
hounds, as it is for young gentlemen."

Now "Scrutator" was a Master of foxhounds, and
his postulates demand respect, though we may disagree

172 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

with him. Thus, I certainly disagree with his allusion
to "monkey's allowance." Before a Master sends a
whelp to a farm he should satisfy himself in regard to
the character of the farmer's wife. The wisest plan
would be for him to visit the lady, as Sir John Chester
visited Mrs. Varden, salute her according to the custom
of the country, if the farmer be absent, and by Machia-
vellian flattery persuade her to obey his wishes. This
is a duty which, under no circumstances, should the
Master ever delegate to his huntsman. As I have said,
in the higher grades of country society, the position of
the Master is second only to that of the Lord Lieutenant
during the hunting season. Amongst the farming
classes he should be regarded as the paramount lord
of the country which he hunts ; and it is his own fault
if he is not regarded as such. He must, however, take
care to " summer the country."

" Beatus ille, qui procul negotiis
Ut prisca gens mortalium,
Paterna rura bobus exercet suis,
Solutus omni fenore."

But the Masters of Hounds who, like the late Sir
Watkin Williams Wynn, live on their own estates, not
only during the sporting seasons of the year but
throughout the summer, are few and far between. So
all details in regard to kennel management are left to
the discretion of the huntsman, who is bound to exercise
his supervision over the puppies out at walk.

But I have already exceeded the limits of a chapter,
and I do not wish the readers to say : " He draweth
out the thread of his verbosity finer than the staple of

CRITICISMS OF HIS FOLLOWERS 173

his argument." Besides, in further chapters I shall
have the opportunity of recounting the criticisms,
favourable and delivered with faint praise, which I
have received from followers of hounds in regard to
their Masters. Of distinctly unfavourable opinions I
shall take no notice, as the incompetent or unpopular
Master can only be judged by a jury of his personal
followers. I can only add that it has been my happy
lot to know many Masters of Hounds, and that I have
never known one who was either incompetent or
unpopular.

CHAPTER VI

FAMOUS CRITICS OF MASTERS OF HOUNDS

Dick Christian — "The Druid" — Major Whyte Melville —
Mr. Surtees.

DICK CHRISTIAN
Of Dick Christian it was written :

" What gallant run did brave Meltonians share
But thou wast forward or the foremost there ? "

And no truer words were ever penned.

It is difficult for those of us, who have been educated
under the modern conditions of fox-hunting, to assign
to Dick Christian his proper position in hunting history.
His position is unique, for it may be safely asserted
that he is the only professional rough-rider, who has
ever risen to eminence on account of his horsemanship
in the hunting-field. We have had, and still have,
many huntsmen, whippers-in, and steeplechase jockeys
entitled to rank amongst the giants of the hunting-field
as professional riders ; but the claims of Dick Christian
to be remembered by posterity are founded on his
prowess as a rough-rider. He has had scores of
imitators, but they have met with little encouragement.
Masters of Hounds have hinted to them in an unmistak-

l^

THE CRITICS OF 175

able manner that their room is preferable to their com-
pany in the hunting-field, and the general public regards
them as horse-copers. It may appear harsh that, owing
to the dishonesty of a few individuals, the calling of a
professional rough-rider has been abolished by the
verdict of public opinion ; but it must also be
remembered that there are now many gentlemen
who are good horsemen, but who cannot afford to
keep horses. As a rule, they are younger sons, who
have been educated in the same way as their elder
brothers, and, on arriving at man's estate, find that
the estate does not include stabling. But they love
hunting, and are willing to accept a mount on the
biggest rogue that was ever foaled, in order that they
may enjoy their passion for seeing hounds. Thus the
occupation of the rough-rider has gone, or is limited to
the men-of-all-work who act as grooms to horse-
dealers. Again, it is not desirable that the hunting-
field should be turned into a dealer's yard. In Dick
Christian's time it did not matter, for very few men
hunted then as compared with the numbers of the
present day. There was room for everybody, and a
rough-rider on a raw young 'un did not interfere with
his neighbours. What sort of a reception would he
get now at a popular fixture of the Quorn ?

The fact that Dick Christian has had no imitators
adds to the difficulty of writing about him, since he
had no rivals with whom we can compare him. It is
almost impossible to form an estimate of his riding
abilities. Thus, such an authority as the late Duke of
Beaufort has described him as a butcher on a horse,

176 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

while Squire Osbaldeston, on the other hand, con-
sidered him the best man across Leicestershire. It is,
however, easy to reconcile the two statements. It was
Christian's business to be in the first flight, and to be
seen in the first flight. To achieve this object he might
punish his horse, but there is, so far as I have been
able to discover, no record that he was ever cruel to a
horse. Besides, it would be absurd to think that a
man who had the reputation of being cruel to horses
would have been asked to ride for such men as Lord
Forester, Lord Middleton, Lord Alvanley, the Marquis
of Waterford, and Squire Osbaldeston. A further point
upon which I lay great stress is that a man seldom
develops bad habits, unless he has acquired them in
boyhood. A man who is cruel to his horse probably
started his hunting career by being cruel to his pony.
Now, Christian's tuition took place at Sir Horace Mann's
riding-school at Cottesmore, which was superintended
by Stevenson. His own version of his tuition is that
he left home in the morning, ostensibly for school,
played truant, and went to Stevenson, whom he per-
suaded to allow him to ride the horses at exercise. It
is most improbable to the last degree of improbability,
that the manager of a riding-school would allow a ten-
year-old urchin, as Christian then was, to ride valuable
horses if he evinced the slightest signs of crueltry.

As a man Christian was abnormally strong in the
arm, and, accordmg to " The Druid," could " lift " a
horse over his fences better than any man in Leicester-
shire. Surely the science of " lifting " a horse over his
fences helps the horse and cannot be called cruelty I

THE CRITICS OF 177

I wonder how many men understand the science ? I
have seen many men attempt to " lift " their horses, and
the result has generally ended in dire disaster. My
own experience is that a horse knows his business
better than his rider ; but then there is a difference
between riding " made " hunters and the raw 'uns on
which Dick Christian held his own in the first flight
with the Quorn. Yet he was never a "thrusting
scoundrel." He said to " The Druid " : " It's not the
big fences I'm afraid of. I never go near 'em, but it's
the little 'uns I'm afraid of." But Dick was the last
man in the world to turn his horse's head from a fence
when he had once put him at it. Writing about the
accomplishments of the hunting-field, "The Druid," in
" Silk and Scarlet," pays this tribute to Dick Christian ;
"A gentleman, who practically explains all the above
accomplishments to the great edification of young
horses and the no less astonishment of weak minds."

It is much to be regretted that Dick Christian never
took to writing, for he could have given us more
information about hunters than any man who has ever
put pen to paper. But the boy who played truant
from the school, where they taught the three R.s, in
order to attend the school where they taught horse-
manship, was not likely to devote his energies to litera-
ture in later life. I am informed that he had a supreme
contempt for hunting journalism, though he had a
warm affection for Mr. Dixon, alias " The Druid," to
whom he gave some particulars of his life, when, in his
seventy-eighth year, he was residing at Norton by
Bessingborough. These particulars were publi^^hed in

M

178 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

" Silk and Scarlet," but are too voluminous for analysis
in these pages. However, I cannot refrain from
quoting his opinion in regard to hunters : " Give me
'em lengthy, shortlegged for Leicestershire. I wouldn't
have 'em no bigger than 15.3 : great rump, hips, and
hocks : fore legs well afore 'em, and good shoulders :
thoroughbred if you can get 'em, but none of your high,
short horses. Thoroughbred horses make the best
hunters. I never heard of a great thing yet, but it was
done by a thoroughbred horse." He was fond of
talking of "The Prince of Wales's Day," with the
Cottesmore. " He was nowhere, bless you : they gave
'im the brush, though, just to please 'im. (N.B. —
The Prince of Wales was afterwards George IV.)
Another of his expressions was " tremendious," his
favourite epithet in describing fences ; but, though he
would talk of the exploits of his contemporaries, he
rarely spoke of his own, even to Mr. Dixon. One
exploit of Sir Gilbert Heathcote he witnessed, which
subsequently gave the idea to Mr. John Leech for one
of his best-known sketches. It was Sir Gilbert Heath-
cote who rode over the parson, and exclaimed, " You
can lie where you are, sir : you won't be wanted till
next Sunday."

Latterly, Dick's memory failed him. Mr. Dixon did
everything in his power to restore it, and drove him in
a gig about Leicestershire, thinking that the sight of the
old familiar scenes would bring back recollections of
what had been " The Waterloo of his existence." But
the drives were of little use. He was then in his
seventy-eighth year, and had nearly finished the run of

THE CRITICS OF 179

his life. Nobody will deny that he rode well through-
out.

Is it conceivable that a man like Dick Christian
could exist under the conditions of modern fox-
hunting ? I know several gentlemen who hunt three
or four days a week on an income of ;^2oo, but would
be angry if they were classed as professional riders.
They are on terms of social equality with their
employers, and are as much at home in the boudoir as
they are in the saddle-room. They are men who work
as hard as any groom in order that they may enjoy
their sport. But they do not profess to earn a living
out of sport. It was Dick Christian's profession to
earn his livelihood out of the hunting-field. He rode
in many steeplechases, but he was never a cross-
country jockey, as we understand the phrase. He
bought and sold many horses, but he never was a
professional dealer. He was paid for giving opinions
upon the merits or demerits of many horses, but he
was never a veterinary surgeon. He was " hail fellow
well met " with everybody, from George IV. to an
earthstopper ; and he could hardly write his own
name. His life presents a striking example of the
change which has taken place in our social and
sporting customs since the beginning of the century.
We have now our professional cross-country riders,
our veterinary surgeons, and our dealers, on whose
integrity we can rely, and the exigencies of the times
do not require a combination of the three professions.
There are gentlemen-riders who will school our horses,
in the same way as there are men who will shoot our

i8o THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

birds, for the sake of board and lodging. I do not
assert that Dick Christian's profession is obsolete ; but
that a professor capable of following in his footsteps
has yet to be found, must be the opinion of every
hunting-man. To him are especially applicable the
lines of Major Whyte-Melville. He was a man

" To whom naught comes amiss,
One horse or another, that country or this.
Through falls or bad starts who undauntedly still
Rides up to the motto, • Be with them I will.' "

THE CRITICS OF i8i

THE DRUID

Having just had occasion to refer to Mr. Dixon,
better known to lovers of sport as " The Druid," I will
take this opportunity of writing a few words about him.
He was the second son of Mr. Peter Dixon, a large
cotton manufacturer, who resided at Holme Eden,
near Carlisle, whose family had long been noted for
fostering commercial enterprise in the old cathedral
city. But, like his more celebrated son, Mr. Peter
Dixon, was a Jiian of widespread sympathies and
hunted regularly with the Inglewood Hounds. As a
lad, young Dixon suffered severely from ophthalmia,
and constantly had to spend days together in an
artiiically darkened room. Thus, it was not till 1838,
when he was sixteen years of age, that he was sent to
Rugby, then under the mastership of Dr. Arnold. He
left Rugby in 1840, having reached "the twenty," i.e.,
the form immediately below the sixth, and being six
feet in height and strong in proportion. Before,
leaving, he was requested by Dr. Arnold to come into
his study, when the doctor thanked him for the support
and encouragement which he had always given by his
good example and high principles to the moral eleva-
tion of all around him, adding ; " I value character and
example much more than talent and scholarship."
But young Dixon, though an indifferent mathematician,
had imbibed a love for classical scholarship, which is
apparent in all his multitudinous writings. Of his

1 82 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

Rugby days "The Druid" wrote as follows: "When
I first went there, everything about it was calculated to
encourage a sporting taste. Lord Chesterfield was
living at Abington Abbey, near Northampton, and
hunting the Pytchley in a style I have never seen
approached since ; and many is the time I have rushed
off after second lesson in the generally visionary hope
of seeing his hounds draw Hillmorton Gorse. Mr.
Bradley's stag-hounds were also in full force." Steeple-
chasing, too, was just becoming all the rage, and
kindhearted Dr. Arnold, determined that " the fellows,"
as he used to call them, should have no pretext to
disobey orders, dispensed with "calling over" one
afternoon, in order to let them see the fun which was
going on at Dunchurch. One result of this indulgence
was the pentameter :

" Lottery primus erat, Nonna secunda fuit."

Lottery, with Jem Mason up, being first, and The
Nun, with William MacDonough up, being second, in
the Dunchurch Steeplechase of 1840. So great was
the love of sport that the Rugby boys subscribed £1^
to the Rugby Steeplechases. But the line had to be
drawn somewhere, and the doctor drew it by forbidding
boys to ride themselves. It came about in this way.
A boy in the schoolhouse offered to ride any other
boy over four miles of fair hunting country, and the
challenge was taken up by Mr. Uvedale Corbet, after-
wards a well-known Cheshire squire. The race was
run from Bilton Church to Newbold Steeple, and
resulted in a win for Mr. Corbet. This led to a resolu-

THE CRITICS OF 183

tion to have a big race, for which there were several
entries ; but though the doctor had overlooked the
match, he threatened to expel every boy who rode in
or looked on at the race. Needless to say no steeple-
chase ever came off, nor was any ever attempted again.
I may mention that before Dr. Arnold's time the Rugby
boys sported a pack of beagles, and shooting, or rather
poaching, was openly practised. Many of *'The
Druid's " sport-loving schoolfellows are still alive to

" Gaze from grand stands with their hair silver-gray,
And totter 'neath guns till their ankles give way."

Yet "The Druid" was not very popular with his
schoolfellows, owing to his disinclination to join in
their games, though he is reported to have jumped a
gate six feet high on the Barby Road, which for many
years afterwards was pointed out as Dixon's gate. The
first time that the lady, who subsequently became his
wife, ever saw " The Druid " was at Rugby, when a boy
pointed him out to her, saying, " Look at that ass !
He never joins in any of our games or sports, but
writes everlasting yarns for Bell's Life." The lady
was then fifteen, and "The Druid" seventeen years
of age.

In 1841 "The Druid" went to Trinity College,
Cambridge, where he had the reputation of being as
shy as a woodcock. This shyness never left him.
Cambridge did not give him the partiality for horseflesh
which the proximity to Newmarket often imparts to her
pupils and which " The Druid " afterwards acquired to
such an extent. On the contrary, he was studious and

1 84 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

retired, evincing predilections in favour of the classics.
Unfortunately, his deadly foe, ophthalmia, constantly
interfered with his studies, and in mathematics he had
to be content with the humble place of "wooden
spoon." At this critical time he proposed to Miss
Caroline Lynes, third daughter of Thomas Lynes, Esq.,
of Hackleton House, Northampton, and was met with
a refusal. This so deranged his health that brain fever
ensued. But upon further acquaintance Miss Lynes
was induced to change her mind, and they were
married on May 12, 1847. At this time "The Druid"
was settled in Doncaster, where he was presumed to be
reading in an attorney's office ; but, like his old friend,
Mr. Daley, long the clerk of the course at Carlisle, he
did not enjoy calf-skin, and soon settled down into a
sporting writer, much to his father's annoyance, though
he did not stop his yearly allowance. At last, however,
a book appeared from his pen, entitled "The Law of
the Farm," which so gladdened the old man's heart
that he sent him a cheque for ;^ioo. This book, how-
ever, did not appear till 1858, or nearly eight years
after " The Druid " had moved to London, which he
did during 1850. But his Doncaster life had brought
out the salient features of his writing. From con-
tributing articles on all sorts of subjects to the Don-
caster Gazette, he rose to the position of manager of
that journal and was by many regarded as its avowed
and acknowledged editor. However, technical editorial
work was the least important thing that he learnt, for
it was at this time that he really began to study Nature
and more particularly men and horses. Country lanes

THE CRITICS OF 185

and wild moorland were more to his taste than the
office of Mr. Baxter, attorney, or even the editorial
sanctum. Through his friend, James White, alias
" Martingale," he soon made the acquaintance of every
sporting character in the neighbourhood, and his
natural appetite for conversing with all sorts and
conditions of men, and of being equally at home with
the peer and the peasant, found ample scope for
indulgence. He was as much in his element pumping
some decrepit herdsman in a remote ingle-nook or
chimney-corner, as he was, in spite of hi? shyness, in
the mansions of the nobility. Perhaps his greatest
talent was his capacity for getting humble and un-
lettered men to bestow their confidence upon him
This was exemplified in the confidence which Dick
Christian bestowed upon him. It was at Doncaster
also that he first showed his proficiency in horse-lore,
and we can imagine him and "Martingale" on the
Town Moor. When he had once seen a horse, he
seldom forgot him, a talent which was of great assis-
tance to him in after life, when he earned his bread,
inter alia, by paddock reporting, and won the name of
" The Old Mortality of the Turf." Not that his atten-
tion was confined to racehorses. Indeed, his predilec-
tion was for hunters and hacks, of which subsequently
his brother-in-law, Mr. George B. Lynes, was a suc-
cessful breeder, close to Althorp Park, in Northampton-
shire. Mr. Lynes attributed no small portion of the
success which attended his breeding efforts to the
advice given him by "The Druid." He advised Mr.
Lynes to put his first mare to King of Oude, the result

1 86 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

being Rural Dean, who was bought by the Prince of
Wales and was considered by the Prince to be the best
all-round horse that he ever possessed. Mr. Rarey,
when in search of savages, afterwards bought King of
Oude, and took him to America, though Mr. Lynes had
a standing offer of 200 guineas for every colt or filly
by King of Oude out of Rural Dean's dam. I should
add that Mr. Lynes subsequently migrated to Virginia,
not far from Charlottesville, a country which he
considered wonderfully well adapted for breeding blood
stock.

" The Druid" was only permanently engaged on the
staff of four papers, viz., the Doncaster Gazette, Bell's
Life, the Mark Lane Express, and the Sporting Life,
though he was a regular contributor to many others,
notably the Sporting Magazine and the Daily News.
Yet, in spite of his numerous contributions to sporting
literature, his income never averaged more than ;^6oo
per annum. No writer could have performed his work
more conscientiously. So delicate was his sense of
honour that when he went down to a stud farm to
describe a yearling sale, he would not even accept
luncheon from the owner of the place, lest he might be
suspected of being biased. He made Mr. Rarey's
fortune, but, when the latter made a complimentary
present to Mrs. Dixon, he indignantly demanded her to
return it. As a rule, he never betted. His knowledge
of the Turf was gained by an occasional stroll on to a
racecourse on a crack afternoon, through the boxes at
Tattersall's, or among the paddocks of a stud farm.
Yet, in regard to accuracy, his descriptions have never

THE CRITICS OF 187

been surpassed. But it was for his endurance of hard-
ships, exposure to weather, scanty fare, and personal
discomfort, and for a courage which never flinched
when suffering from painful sickness and exhausting
disease, that he was pre-eminent. When it is remem-
bered that he rode on horseback from the Orkneys to
Kensington in the severe winter of 1864-5, arriving at
home, in the snow of a February night, with fourpence
in his pocket, on the back of a Highland garron,
which he had bought for ^^7 10s., little surprise will be
felt that he never recovered from the effects of the
journey. For four years he was unable to lie down,
and at night was packed in an armchair. During this
last painful period of his life he regularly wrote sport-
ing and agricultural leaders for the Daily News, then
mainly owned by Mr. Robinson and Mr. Labouchere,
who would have poured liquid gold down his throat if
it had been possible to keep him alive. But it was not
to be. To use his own expression, all the wheels were
down, and after the spring of 1870 he passed away.
The Hon. Francis Lawley, to whose admirable book
on " The Life and Times of * The Druid,' " I, in common
with many sportsmen, am deeply indebted, applied this
epitaph to him :

" No pearl ever lay under Oman's dark water
More pure in its shell than thy spirit in thee."

It is a comfort to know that his dying bed was
soothed by the unwearied ministrations and tender
solicitude of his wife, by the constant affection of
his devoted friend, Mr. John Thornton, and by the

1 88 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

generosity and kindness of Sir Tatton Sykes, for, as
Mr. Lawley has written of him, he was truly the most
unselfish, courageous, modest, conscientious, and pure-
minded of men.

"The touch of a vanished hand,
. The sound of a voice that is still."

How truly do these Unes apply to such men as "The
Druid " and Major Whyte-Melville ! We feel that we
are with them in the spirit, for do not

" Souls attract souls, when they're of kindred vein ? "

THE CRITICS OF 189

MAJOR WHYTE-MELVILLE

The name of Whyte-Melville is so familiar, not only
to hunting people but to everybody who takes an
interest in English literature, that it would seem im-
possible to write anything concerning his life which is
not already known to the reading public. As soldier,
novelist, poet, and sportsman his name stands out in
bold relief. Yet, though many of his old comrades in
the chase are alive, his biography has never been
written in volume form. Perhaps a long biography is
not necessary, for Major Whyte-Melville lived with us
in his novels and in his poems. He used to say that
the two great objects of his life were "the pigskin
and the pen," and he devoted his days to hunting and
his evenings to literary work. Although during his
life he had a larger share of the aliqiiid amari, than
falls to the lot of most men, he only made one enemy,
namely, the manufacturer of barbed wire. His lines :

" And bitter the curses you launch in your ire
At the villain who fenced his enclosure with wire,"

are the only words which I have been able to discover
that he ever penned in a vindictive spirit.

It was on December 5, 1875, that the death ol
Whyte-Melville occurred, while he was hunting with
the V.W.H. Hounds. It is no exaggeration to say that
the event was regarded as a public calamity. At first
it could hardly be credited that so good a rider, a man

I90 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

possessing such knowledge and judgment in everything
appertaining to hunting, should have met with such a
fate. But the news was soon confirmed, and a feehng
of the deepest sorrow and regret prevailed amongst all
classes. It was truly said at the time that to attempt
any panegyric upon him would be superfluous, for his
memory will remain as long as English sport and
English literature flourish. His death was alluded to
in the Field as follows: " Whyte-Melville, the kindly
friend, the genial fellow sportsman, the hearty com-
panion, the courteous, chivalrous gentleman. Where-
ever he lived he endeared himself ; wherever he rode,
he rode for the love of hunting, without selfishness,
without jealousy. Out of the natural kindheartedness
of a clever man grew the knack and habit, which at all
times prompted him to say the right thing, the nice
thing, to whomsoever he was thrown across. He has
had imitators, disciples, rivals — most of them more or
less successful — but he has never been superseded,
never eclipsed." Before quitting the subject of his
death, let me quote the following lines, which were
originally composed for private circulation by Lord
Rosslyn :

" The engineer by his own petard slain,
The eagle pierced by shaft from his own wing,
Are plaintive fancies, such as poets sing,
And touch the heart but coldly, through the brain.
But thou, dear George, in thine own sport thus ta'en.
In all the prime of manhood, and the swing
Of gallant gallop, struck stone dead ! The thing
Appals, and petrifies, the mind with pain.
Bright, brave, and tender. Poesy's pet child ;
Romance and history's love alike were thine ;

THE CRITICS OF 191

Thy wit ne'er wounded, yet the contest won,
For at thy jests the gravest dullard smiled,
Last scion of an ancient Scottish line,
Whose old folks live to mourn their only son."

I have always contended that his riding and hunting
abihties were equal to his literary abilities. This opinion
has often been contradicted by people who do not
understand Whyte-Melville's system of hunting. His
motto was, " Do the thing handsomely, or let it alone";
and so, not being able to afford to have three hundred
guineas beneath him, he was contented to see the fun
of the fair without evincing the jealousy of the so-called
first flight men. His horses were certainly not of the
confidential sort. On one occasion he was asked,
" How many animals are you master of this season ? "
and his reply was, " Not one, but I have four brutes in
the stable that are masters of me." With a fine temper,
nice hands, and a sympathy between himself and his
horse that rarely has been equalled, he never irritated
the animal he was riding, but would coax it into seemly
behaviour by the use of his tongue. He used to talk
to his horse, but one of his own lines can express his
feelings better than any words of mine, viz., " Are you
not a horse and a brother ? "

Those who knew him will remember his favourite

expression, " What d d fools men are ! " He had

experienced the follies of youth, when as a subaltern he
gambled at Crockford's, and could sympathise in
late years with those who allowed the excitement of
gambling to gain the victory over discretion. Indeed,
it was his sympathy in every path of life which endeared

192 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

him so much to all whom he came across. He could
even smile indulgently at the transgressions and foibles
of people in the hunting-field, though on occasions he
could be sarcastic, as when a hard funker once jumped
a fence about three feet high, he wondered what the
height would be after dinner. His warmest admirers
would not call him a bold rider, and he did not hesitate
to express his contempt for reckless horsemen and
thrusting scoundrels. Yet few men knew the science
of hunting better than he did. His father had been
for many seasons Master of the Fife Foxhounds, and
he had been entered to hounds as soon as he was out
of the nursery. To the last moment of his life he
cherished a strong affection for his native country, and
if he had lived he would probably have succeeded
Colonel Anstruther Thompson in the Mastership. But
circumstances prevented his hunting much in the Fife
country. After his marriage and retirement from the
service he went to live at Boughton, some three miles
from Northampton, in the Pytchley country, close to
Holdenby House. Afterwards he moved to the V.W.H.
country, and hunted regularly with the V.W.H. and
Lord Rothschild's hounds in the Vale of Aylesbury,
which he declared was the best hunting country in
England. It is beyond my province to criticise his
hunting literature, though, as a student of his writings,
I may be allowed to say, that I never knew him to dip
his pen in bitter ink. Nor do I know another author,
who has given so much reading to the public, about
which the same statement can be truthfully made.
Like the majority of great writers, his modesty in all

THE CRITICS OF 193

matters appertaining to authorship was notorious, and
he disHked to be congratulated upon his Hterary success.
" My publisher dates the commencement of his ruin
from our first interview," he said to Miss Strickland,
the historian, when, with more zeal than discretion,
she asked him about his financial success of his novels.
The truth is, that, though Whyte-Melville was a poor
man, he cared little for the financial success of his
authorship, and for many years gave away the proceeds
of his works in unostentatious charity. On one occasion
he received a cheque for ;^i5oo from his publishers,
which he immediately posted to an old friend, whom
he knew to be in want. In an age prone to pessimism,
it is a happy thought that the good actions of such
men as Whyte-Melville survive their lives.

194 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

MR. SURTEES

If Mr. Apperley sinned by being an egotist, as I have
suggested in these pages, Mr. Surtees sinned by an
excess of modesty, and he always had an objection to
seeing his own name in print. Thus we know Httle
of his Hfe beyond the fact that he took himself for
the model of Charley Stubbsin " Handley Cross." He
has been described as very tall, but a good horseman,
and, without ever riding for effect, he always managed
to see a good deal of what hounds were doing. He
was born and bred within hearing of Mr. Ralph
Lambton and his famous foxhounds, and his first
literary essays were accounts of their doings for the
old Sporting Magazine, though in 1831 he published a
work on which he brought to bear his education as a
lawyer and his tastes as a sportsman. This work was
called "The Horseman's Manual," and was a treatise
on soundness, the law of warranty, and on the laws
relating to horses. The book is now of little value,
but at the time of its publication it caused Mr. Surtees
to be recognised as an authority upon matters relating
to a fox-hunting stable. Owing to the death of his
elder brother, Anthony Surtees, on March 24, 183 1, the
financial position of the future famous novelist was
changed in a considerable degree, and in conjunction
with Mr. Rudolph Ackerman he started the new Sport-
ing Magazine, which he edited till 1836. Immediately
after his brother's death, in July 1831, he began to

THE CRITICS OF 195

develop the humorous character of the immortal
Mr. Jorrocks, The papers of Surtees were pubhshed in
volume form as " Jorrocks' Jaunts " in 1838, but, though
the name of the author did not appear, his identity
could not be concealed. He was recognised as " The
Yorkshireman " in connection with the doings of Mr.
Jorrocks, and we have a better description of his life
at this time in " Handley Cross," when he portrayed
himself in the character of Charley Stubbs. As a man
about town, as a lawyer not caring for practice, and as
a north countryman with the instincts of a sportsman
strong at heart, Mr. Surtees took a part in the jaunts
and jollities of which his happy fancy made Jorrocks
the hero. In other words, he played Horatio to Mr.
Jorrocks Hamlet.

On March 5, 1838, by the death of his father,
Mr. Surtees succeeded to the estate of Hamsterley
Hall and the duties of a country gentleman. He
became a J. P. for Durham, a major of the Durham
Militia, and was High Sheriff for the county in 1856.
He had severed his connection with the new Sporting
Magazine, and devoted his literary abilities to
fiction. " Handley Cross " immediately placed him on
the highest pinnacle of fame. Whilst man w^ears
leather breeches, and slow old duffers can be found
to cast backwards, the author of Jorrocks and Pigg can
never die.

The original of John Jorrocks has never been
traced, so far as the novelist is concerned, though John
Leech took his original from a coachman, whom he
sketched in church. Mr. Surtees said of his hero :

196 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

" Although Mr. Jorrocks is a man of estabhshed repu-
tation, we trust the readers in perusing his freaks will
not be betrayed into a ' swell mob ' sneer at the
author for depicting the exploits of a jolly, free-and-
easy, fox-hunting grocer. We admit that Mr. Jorrocks
is ' wulgar,' but we would ask the reader to bear in
mind the distinction between describing vulgar people
and describing vulgar people vulgarly. Mr. Jorrocks,
at all events, has one recommendation ; he does not
pretend to be anything but what he is." That " Handley
Cross " was, and is, vulgar, and occasionally even in-
delicate, admits of little doubt ; but, though the very
refined critics were, and are, calling out about the
vulgarity, the slang, the smoke, the loudness of such
writings, yet they are always willing to laugh. Mr.
Surtees was a satirist and a- humorist, and was
helped in the production of his works by the first
caricaturist of the nineteenth century, viz., Mr. John
Leech. No wonder that fresh editions of these
works are being called for by the reading public every
year !

It seems an anomaly that a man possessing such a
fund of humour " on paper " should have been taciturn
in private life. Yet Mr. Surtees was not only a taciturn
observer, but preferred solitude to company in the
numerous excursions which he made about the country.
We cannot obscure the fact, however much we may
admire the author, that Mr. Surtees neither cared for
society, nor did society care for him. Satirists are
seldom popular, even when they confine their satire
within the limits prescribed by the usages of society ;

THE CRITICS OF 197

but Mr. Surtees went further. With the single excep-
tion of Jorrocks, all his characters were depicted from
life, and there is an absence of gentlemanly qualities
in all of them. It was his object to expose the vul-
garities and trickery of the sporting world of the
period. No man ever hunted with Jorrocks, or Sir
Harry Scattercash, or Lord Scamperdale, Jack Sprag-
gon, Soapey Sponge, and Javvleyford, of Jawleyford
Court, with numerous other eccentricities impossible
in real life. They are, and were, meant to be carica-
tures, but they were caricatures of living people easily
recognisable. The delineation of character is always
amusing, sometimes clever, but seldom true ; but,
further, it is doubtful whether, if the coarseness of
the text had not been redeemed by the pencil and
mind of such a finished and popular artist as John
Leech, these books could have attained then" present
popularity.

It is a curious fact that Mr. John Leech, to whom
he was mainly indebted for his popularity, should have
died within a year of his own death. I have come
across an old obituary notice of Mr. Leech, in which,
referring to the works of Mr. Surtees, the writer says,
" They owe a short-lived popularity to the wit of the
writer, and would doubtless have shared the fate of
thousands of ephemeral productions about equally
meritorious; but they have been rescued from oblivion
by the pencil of Leech, and have created a sensation
due to nothing but the impression which the illustra-
tions have created." This is a stern criticism, and I
have yet to learn where " the thousands of ephemeral

198 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

productions about equally meritorious " are to be
found. The fact remains that Mr. Surtees is known
to posterity as a leader in his own style of sporting
literature, and transcribed to paper his observations of
men and manners in the hunting-field with a wit and
satire that have never been surpassed.

CHAPTER VII

THE HUNTSMAN'S POINT OF VIEW

Duties of the Master — Difficulties of the huntsman —
Interfering Masters — The huntsman in the Master's
absence — Motor-cars and cycles — Intimacy with the
hounds — Born huntsmen — Masters who quarrel with the
Hunt servants — Modern fashion of Masters hunting their
own hounds — The huntsman and his whipper-in — Pay
of huntsmen — Testimonials and tips — Perquisites

THE OPINIONS OF JOHN SCOTT

(Late Huntsman of The Albrighton Hounds)

Commentated by George F. Underhill

The success of a Hunting establishment depends to a
very great extent upon the mutual understanding which
should exist between the Master and his Hunt servants.
Evident, as must be the truth of this proposition, it is
notoriousthat Hunting establishments have been brought
into a state bordering on chaos owing to disagreements
between the Master and the huntsman. The ordinary
follower of hounds cannot be expected to know the re-
lationship which exists between the Master and his
huntsman any more than the relationship which exists
between the huntsman and his whippers-in. In order
that I might understand this relationship, and be able to

200 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

explain it to my readers, I asked my old acquaintance,
John Scott, late huntsman of the Albrighton Hounds,
to spend a day with me in the Albrighton country. I
wanted him to write this chapter, but he retorted that
he was no "literary man." This was not the strict
truth, as his letters to me prove. However, I was only
too glad to obtain his opinions and information. My
chief regret is that I cannot reproduce them in the
same hearty virile language in which he expressed
them to me.

The duty of the Master is to keep the field in order ;
the duty of the huntsman is to kill a fox. In regard
to this axiom Scott was most emphatic. If the Master
interferes with the huntsman when hounds check,
more especially on a cold scenting day, the probability
is that the fox will save his brush. Let us consider the
following case, which is far from being uncommon :
Hounds arc at fault, and the huntsman is convinced
that his fox is "forrad." He tells his whipper-in to
get " forrad " quietly, while he casts his hounds
" forrad," letting them hunt every yard of the ground,
The Master, however, disapproves of the cast, and
commences to blow his horn. The huntsman may
pretend to be deaf, but the hounds have not been edu-
cated to simulate a sudden want of hearing. To them
the sound of the horn is a word of command, which
they must obey, though they may be on the point
of scenting out the line of a hunted fox. In certain
instances the whipper-in has actually signalled that he
has viewed the fox, and the huntsman has lifted the
hounds towards him, when the Master, ignorant of

THE HUNTSMAN'S POINT OF VIEW 201

what is happening, blows his horn. I do not think
that the huntsman can be blamed if he fails to hear his
Master's horn, but then a large proportion of the field
has heard the Master's horn. The result is, that, if
hounds hit off the line of their fox without much
delay, the Master and those of his followers, who
have misplaced their confidence in him, are left
behind to flounder along with the forlorn hope of
seeing hounds in the far distance.

Then follow the trials of the huntsman. He has
hunted and killed his fox in spite of the interference of
the Master, who will speak to him subsequently in lurid
language. But the huntsman takes no notice of the
lurid language, for he knows that the more a man barks
the less likely will he be to bite. Unwittingly, however,
he has offended the members of the Hunt, who were left
behind with the Master, and he will be accused of stealing
away with his fox without giving due notice to the
field. Let us consider for a moment the Master, who,

" Making desperate play through some fine muddy lanes,
And by nicking and skirting got in for his pains."

He does not pretend to be a first-flight man. Often
he has not the nerve to jump even a sheep-hurdle. But
he holds a high social position in the county, and,
though he may be an indifferent horseman, is a good
sportsman. His ambition is to give his neighbours the
best sport which it is within his power to give them.
The farmers respect him and accordingly preserve
foxes for him. He has a pleasant word for everybody
at covert-side. He never utters a rebuke unless he has

202 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

just cause ; but, though the rebuke may be spoken in
the mildest language, the delinquent remembers it, and
takes good care not to offend again. Such a Master
rarely interferes with his huntsman while hounds are
hunting, unless hounds run out of their own country
and then check, or, what is a worse dilemma, the
hunted fox goes to ground in a neighbouring country.
In such cases, if the Master does not happen to be on
the spot to issue instructions, the position of the hunts-
man is one of grave responsibility. The hard-riding
division clamour that they should cast for their fox or
dig him out. The latter practice is now admitted to be
a distinct breach of Hunting etiquette, which would
cause serious friction between two neighbouring
Hunts ; but the temptation to make one short cast is
often too great to be resisted.

"Gentlemen, we have lost our fox, and must hark
back into our own country." Such ought to be the
mandate of the huntsman in the absence of the Master,
though I have known a huntsman to be blamed for
giving this order, and, in spite of persuasive tongues, in-
sisting on its being enforced. On the occasion to which
I refer, we had run some four or five miles out of our
own country, when hounds were at fault. The Master
was not up, so the sole responsibility rested with the
huntsman, who gave the order quoted. Nor do I see
that he had any alternative, unless he transgressed the
orthodoxy of sport. However, the occupier of the
land, where we lost our fox, heard of the occurrence,
and was annoyed that our huntsman should have
acted up to the strict letter of Hunting etiquette. I

THE HUNTSMAN'S POINT OF VIEW 203

admire the sportsmanlike generosity of the occupier of
the land, but he should have remembered that the pro-
fessional huntsman has to play the strict rules of the
game.

The majority of the Masters of Hounds who employ
professional Huntsmen are hard riders and are gener-
ally sufficiently forward to be able to note what hounds
are doing, or I should rather say what the pack is
doing. But it is only the huntsman, or a whipper-in,
who knows what each individual hound is doing.
Now hounds, like men and horses, have their stale
days as well as their keen days, and it requires an
expert, who knows the special characteristics of each
hound in the pack, to distinguish during a run between
the stale hounds and the keen hounds. During the
journey from the kennels to the meet, the huntsman
has had the opportunity of judging what individual
hounds are likely to distinguish themselves during the
day, and a fortiori what hounds he can depend upon in
the event of a check. In ninety-nine cases out of a
hundred the Master has not had this opportunity, but
has driven to the hunting-fixture in his dog-cart or his
motor-car. Ghosts of our grandfathers ! What would
Mr. Assheton Smith have said if he had seen an M.F.H.
driving up to the meet on a motor-car ? Motor-cars
and cycles in the hunting-field are as obnoxious to
the Hunt servants as they are to the farmers. What
with kicking horses, careless riders, and carriages, the
lot of the huntsman at the meet has never been a happy
one. If you add to his anxiety by inflicting upon him
the terrors caused by " cads on castors," then you must

204 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

not expect him to be always in an angelic humour.
Besides, there is another point to consider. Hounds
are both nervous and inquisitive creatures, and should
not be alarmed or rendered unduly curious at the
start of their day's work. Presumably it is the duty
of the professional huntsman to bring his hounds to
the meet in fit hunting condition ; but it is more than
sufficient to make him lose all heart in his work when
he sees his pack frightened and scattered by an ignorant
set of cyclists and motorists.

Fancy the effect of a runaway motor-car dashing into
a pack of hounds ! Qui s'cxcitse, s\iccuse. I rarely read
a paper dealing with field sports but I come across
some letter from a motorist, defending the existence of
motor-cars, and I am constantly told that the motor-car
has come to stop, which is exactly what I wish that it
would do when hounds are in the vicinity.

However, it is time that we left the meet and pro-
ceeded to the management of hounds in the field.
Now, no man, be he a professional or an amateur
huntsman, can manage a pack unless he is on speak-
ing terms with each hound. Most of my readers will
recognise the following quotation from the journal of
John Jorrocks, written immediately after he had
accepted the Mastership of the Handley Cross Hounds,
when he had paid his second visit to the kennels.
"'Ounds all delighted to see me: stood up in my
stirrups lookin' over the rails, 'olloain', cheerin', and
talkin' to them. Yoicks Dexterous ! Yoicks Lucky-
lass 1 Yoicks Rallywood ! Good dog ! Threw bits
of biscuit, as near each of them as I could pitch them,

THE HUNTSMAN'S POINT OF VIEW 205

callin' the 'ounds by name to let them see I knew
them." How many modern Masters of Hounds
imitate the example of the immortal grocer. Chatting
with Scott about a certain M.F.H. I said, " But surely
he knows something of kennel-lore ! " And Scott
replied, " He don't even know the names of his own
hounds."

To a huntsman, as to a poet, we may apply the
motto, nascitur, non fit. There have not been many
Masters of Hounds who were born huntsmen. To be
a huntsman you must possess the confidence and the
obedience of your hounds. Nature must have endowed
you with a magnetic influence over dumb animals.
So far as I am aware, no reliable scientific explanation
has ever been given of this magnetic influence. Why
should Herr Seeth, like a modern Daniel, be able to
walk about with impunity in a lions' den ? Why was
it that the young apprentice, Herbert Jones, was the
only jockey who could ride Diamond Jubilee, or that
Mr. E. P. Wilson was the only rider who could steer
Roquefort across a country ? Why, cceteris paribus,
should hounds obey one man more than another ?
Masters of Hounds are too prone to ignore the last
question. They forget that no man could possibly
rise to the position of a professional huntsman unless
he had proved, during the days of his stable and kennel
boyhood, that there was a mutual affection between
him and hounds. There can be no doubt but that to
a large extent this magnetic influence is hereditary,
though, of course, early associations have much to do
with it. Still, the fact remains that the children of hunts-

2o6 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

men take to the kennels like ducklings take to water,
though they know the hard side of a huntsman's life.

I remember that when I was a boy I used to think
that a huntsman's life must be a bed of roses, and I am
sure that many adult followers of hounds, and even a
few Masters, hold the same opinion now. At all events,
they behave as if they did, and seem to forget that the
obedience of hounds is the result of incessant kennel
work. Then the Master generally obtains the greater
share of the credit due for the efficiency of the pack,
though he may seldom enter his own kennels. Now,
in the latter case, it is not pleasant for the huntsman to
hear a stranger congratulating the Master upon the
appearance of the hounds, and the Master accepting
the praise unblushingly, as if he had earned it.
These congratulations generally take place as we are
moving off to draw our first covert, and may upset a
huntsman's temper for the whole day.

This, however, is a minor trial in comparison with
the active interference of the Master in the field while
hounds are hunting. But the Master is not always to
be blamed alone for this interference. There are some
men who are always volunteering their advice. They
know from experience that the huntsman will pay no
attention to them, and so they inflict their opinions
upon the Master, who is sometimes foolish enough to
listen to them, especially if they happen to coincide
with his own. I have now in my mind's eye one of
these gentlemen, who, considering the number of
seasons he has hunted, has spoilt more runs than any
man I know. This is a strong thing to say, considering

THE HUNTSMAN'S POINT OF VIEW 207

the large number of men who are continually spoiling
sport without being conscious of it. This man is a
striking instance of the proverb that a little knowledge
is a dangerous thing. He understands something, not
very much, about making a cast, and always wishes to
parade this knowledge for the benefit of the Master,
while it seems to be part of his creed to disagree with
the huntsman, or, at all events, never to admit that the
huntsman has been right. Of course, he is the oracle
of the local club smoking-room, and it is not surprising
that some of his criticisms reach the ears of the hunts-
man, who, like a sensible man, merely laughs at them
with good-natured contempt, as do the majority of his
listeners. Let him criticise to his heart's content in
smoking-rooms so long as he cuts his cackle in the
hunting-field.

It may be argued that, if it were not for the foolish
indulgence of the Master, such men could cause no
mischief ; but some Masters consider themselves
bound to respect the opinions of their followers
even in such a matter as making a cast. Other
Masters will snub a man severely if he ventures to
make the slighest suggestion, and will even express
anger with their huntsman before the whole field if a
fox happens to beat hounds. For the latter practice
there can be no excuse ; nor is it the action of a
gentleman. Certainly there have been huntsmen with
the courage to retaliate at the risk of losing their
places ; but, even when the storm has cleared, the
proceedings can hardly be regarded as dignified or
redounding to the credit of the Hunt. Masters must

2o8 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

also remember that they have a character to maintain
amongst Hunt servants, who are not to be found at a
moment's notice. The efficient servants, be they
huntsmen or whippers-in, are seldom out of a billet
until they place themselves upon the retired list. If a
Master once earns the reputation of quarrelling with
his Hunt servants, he may as well resign his M.F.H.
honours and retire into private life, i

An accusation has been brought against the pro-
fessional huntsmen that they overrate their influence
and ability in the hunting-field, as a result of which, to
a large extent, we have more than fifty gentlemen in
England hunting their own foxhounds with the aid of
a kennel huntsman. Naturally, huntsmen hate this
modern fashion. It is not to be expected that a man
who has carried the horn for over twenty seasons with
the approval of his Masters and the members of the
the Hunt will consent to be relegated to the inferior
position of kennel huntsman and first whipper-in,
even though the wages be the same. It is tantamount
to depriving a soldier of his commission and sending
him back to the ranks. Besides, few men on the
wrong side of fifty could perform the duties of a first
whipper-in, who must be a light-weight. During the
day his horse has to do twice as much work as the
horse of the huntsman, while in all probability the
huntsman will be the better mounted of the two.
However, this is not the place to discuss the duties of
a whipper-in. It is sufficient to state that no man,
with any self-respect, who has carried the horn would
undertake those duties.

THE HUNTSMAN'S POINT OF VIEW 209

Upon one point Scott was most emphatic. His
exact words were : " I always believed in making
friends of my whippers-in." In this respect he
differed entirely from Tom Firr, of whom Alfred
Earp, his whipper-in for twenty-four seasons, wrote :
" He was a very reserved man, and spoke little to his
men ; in fact, it might seem strange that outwardly he
made very little more of me in the last week that I was
with him than he did in the first." But there is a
medium between a cold reserve and the familiarity
which breeds contempt. This medium Scott dis-
covered and acted upon. And I doubt if any hunts-
man was ever more willingly served by his men. They
became infected with his own enthusiasm to kill a fox,
with the result that it was seldom due to any fault of a
whipper-in if a fox did manage to save his brush. To
this trait in his character Masters owed much of the
sport which they were able to show to their followers.
Again, he was always willing to give his men the
benefit of his knowledge in regard to kennel-lore. He
told me that few things gave him more pleasure than
to hear of one of his old men rising in the world of
Hunt servants, and added with pride that there was
only one who had disappointed him. Now the hunts-
man who works like Scott increases the reputation
both of the Master and the Hunt. But will the modern
huntsman take the trouble to do the work, in view of
the constant changes of Mastership and the chance
that a new Master may elect to hunt the hounds him-
self ? This last question is not peculiar to the hunting-
field. The conscientious worker, whether he be a

o

2IO THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

Cabinet Minister or a stable-lad, works with the laud-
able ambition of obtaining distinction in the future.
If you deprive your Hunt servants of the chance of
obtaining promotion, you will not get the proper class
of boys to enter hunting-stables, and you will have to
search for your recruits in the yards of fifth-rate livery-
stable keepers.

" Doubt not thou, brave boy, Fll stand
To-day, for thee ? "

But it is imperative that Masters of Hounds should
hold out more encouragement to lads to enter their
establishments than are afforded at the present time.
The Master of Hounds may retort that he is practically
the servant of a Hunt Committee, and that his first
obligation is to study the prejudices of the influential
members of the Hunt Committee. But what per-
centage of truth is there in this retort ? The people
whom the Master has to please are the large covert
owners and the tenant-farmers, so far as sport is con-
cerned, though the Hunt Committee may arrange the
financial details of the Hunt.

Huntsmen complain that they are underpaid, con-
sidering the work which they have to do in all sorts of
weather ; but in regard to this complaint, Scott did
not wish to speak at length, as, upon his retirement, he
had received a monetary testimonial from the followers
of the Albrighton Hounds. Tom Firr, on his com-
pulsory retirement after the fateful morning of
October 18, 1898, when he fell on his head, through
h's horse pecking on landing over a stone wall in the

THE HUNTSMAN'S POINT OF VIEW 211

course of a run from Chorley Wood, was presented
with a cheque for ;^320o by three hundred and eighty
subscribers, foremost of whom was the King, then
Prince of Wales ; others were the Dukes of Beaufort,
Rutland, Portland, and Somerset ; the Duchesses of
Newcastle and Sutherland ; the Bishop of Peter-
borough ; Lords Belper, Dudley, Essex, Lonsdale,
Harrington, Kenyon, Edward Manners, Crawshaw,
Newark, W. Bentinck, H. Bentinck, Percy St. Maur,
Trevor, Henry Vane Tempest ; Sir Gilbert Greenall,
and a host of notabilities in the world of sport, all of
whom responded to Mr. J. D. Craddock's invitation.
The presentation of the cheque, together with a large
silver salver, was made by Lord Belper, chairman of
the Quorn Hunt Committee, in the presence of a large
assemblage, at Mr. E. H. Warner's house. This was
the largest presentation ever made to a huntsman, and
might be described as a pension. Of course, Scott's
testimonial did not amount to much more than ten per
cent, of this sum ; but every subscriber knew Scott
personally, while I doubt if fifty of Tom Firr's sub-
scribers would have recognised him if they had met
him in his ordinary clothes in the street. Now, a
huntsman ought to be in such a sound financial
position that he can afford to regard a testimonial
as a remote contingency, like an unexpected legacy
from a maiden aunt. Within a week of penning these
lines, I was under the impression that his tips would
enable a thrifty huntsman to live in clover durmg the
declining period of his life, and that his salary was a
mere bagatelle to him. The fact that I had formed a

2 12 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

wrong impression is of little moment ; but it appears
that many Masters of Hounds have formed the same
wrong impression and think that the huntsman secures
a large income out of the tips.

I am now going to ride over treacherous ground.
If I fall, it will be my own fault. Scott never uttered
a syllable to me against the generosity of the Albrighton
hunting-men. On the contrary, he spoke in grateful
terms of their generosity, and compared them favourably
with the members of other Hunts. Now, so far as I have
been able to ascertain, the perquisites of a huntsman
do not amount to the same value as the perquisites of a
fifth-rate gamekeeper, or, rather, those of a gamekeeper
on a fifth-rate estate. Thus, a paper-money tip is an
unknown quantity with the huntsman in the provinces,
while half-sovereigns, themselves rare, are more common
than sovereigns. Certainly, I have not heard of any
case where a man has had the imprudence or ignorance
to offer a huntsman silver money. Now, excepting
the three recognised tips — namely, a sovereign to a
huntsman for the brush, half a sovereign to the first
whipper-in for the mask, and five shillings to the second
whipper-in for a pad — there is no necessity for a follower
of hounds to tip the Hunt servants. If I give a head-
gamekeeper a ten-pound note, I expect to be placed in
the best position in the drive ; but, if I were to give a
huntsman a thousand pounds, he could not place me
in the first flight ; and, even if he could, he could not
guarantee that I should maintain the position. At all
events, he would be very foolish if he made a bet on
the result. Still, there are many other ways in which

THE HUNTSMAN'S POINT OF VIEW 213

the Hunt servants can place followers of hounds under
an obligation to them, though hunting-men very often
fail to recognise the obligation. If Masters of Hounds
knew of this failure, there would not be so much
grumbling about wages amongst Hunt servants, but
Masters and Hunt Committees labour under the
delusion that the huntsman is making a fortune out
of the tips.

Now, I hold no brief for advocating the grievances
of professional huntsmen against Masters of Hounds.
Moreover, in this chapter, I am only editing the
opinions of an ex-huntsman, loyal to his old Masters,
though his ideas in regard to the new school of gentle-
men, who fancy that they can hunt their own hounds,
would hardly be considered complimentary by the
aforesaid new school.

CHAPTER VIII

THE MASTERSHIP OF STAGHOUNDS

Lord Coventry — The wild red deer — The Rev. John
Russell — Exmoor — The Devon and Somerset — Sir John
Amory's — Mr. Bisset — Mr. Sanders — Mr. Stanley — The
Quantocks — Kindness of Masters — The uncarted deer
— Mr. Stratton — Abolition of the Royal Buckhounds —
rheir history — Lord Ribblesdale's view — Charles Davis
— Dick Christian on thoroughbreds — Lord Ribblesdale
on hunting dress — On the Master in the field — And on
ladies in the field

After much thought, and after seeking advice of
sportsmen who are competent from experience to give
their opinions on stag-hunting in regard to both its
branches, I have come to the conclusion that this
chapter should be divided into two sections. In the
first section I propose to discuss the pursuit of the
wild red deer on Exmoor and the Quantocks, and in
the second section to discuss riding after the uncarted
deer. Both sports come under the definition of Stag-
hunting, though the two sports are dissimilar in many
respects, and require different quahfications, so far as
Mastership is concerned.

" Trahit sua quemque voluptas."

I do not intend to draw any comparisons between

FrODi a pliotograJ>Ji by Scott, Exeter

MR. R. A. SANDERS

MASTER OF THE DEVON AND SOMERSET STAGHOUNDS

Plate VIII

MASTERSHIP OF STAGHOUNDS 215

the two branches of sport. Technically, the pursuit of
the tame stag is not sport, if we accept the definition
that sport consists in killing a wild animal by recognised
legitimate methods, such as are recognised in the
pursuit of the fox.

Lord Coventry hunted the Royal Buckhounds and
the Croome Foxhounds in Worcestershire simul-
taneously, and also found time to attend Cross-Country
Race Meetings, such as Dunstall Park, from which he
was rarely an absentee. Thus, in his own person.
Lord Coventry is a living proof of the Catholicism of
sport. With such an example before us it would be a
redudio ad ahsnrdnni to contrast in any inimical spirit
the two branches of stag-hunting.

THE WILD RED DEER

Even such an enthusiastic Master of Foxhounds as
the late Duke of Beaufort has declared that few things
can compare with a run after a " warrantable " stag at
the stern of the Devon and Somerset Hounds, though
he adds, with humorous satire, that there is probably
nothing more difficult than to keep there. Exmoor is
the home of the red deer, and, though zoologists have
differed as to whether or not the red deer is indigenous
to English soil, it has been proved that he has lived on
Exmoor since the Norman Conquest, so that, if he
came as a visitor, he must have liked his quarters.

It was during the Mastership of Mr. Fen wick Bisset,
in the autumn of 1879, that I was initiated into the
charms of following the Devon and Somerset Stag-

2i6 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

hounds on Exmoor. It was a memorable season, for
our Master was a candidate for the Parliament which
assembled on April 29, 1880, and his opponent was
Mr. C. T. D. Acland, son of Sir Thomas Acland, who
owned about twenty thousand acres of Exmoor, in-
cluding the historic Dunkery Beacon and Cloutsam
Ball, and whose family had been associated with
Exmoor stag-hunting for over two centuries.

The earliest Master of Staghounds in the Exmoor
country of whom I can find any authentic record was
Hugh Pollard, Esquire, ranger of Queen Elizabeth for
the Royal Forest of Exmoor in 1598, when he kept a
pack of hounds at Simonsbath. From that period
until about 1700 the Rangers of Exmoor Forest kept
hounds ; nor was it till 1775 that the hounds were kept
by Colonel Bassett, of Watermouth, the first Master,
who was neither a grantee of the Forest of Exmoor
nor ranger ; nor was it till 1802 that the pack became
a subscription pack under the management of Mr.
Worth, of Worth House, near Tiverton, Devon. In
181 1 Lord Graves, of Bishop's Court, near Exeter,
assumed command, only to be succeeded by Lord
Fortescue in 1812, under whose rule the Rev. John
Russell was initiated into the mysterious charms of
stag-hunting. Lord Fortescue was the ideal Master of
Hounds at the beginning of the nineteenth century,
and many stories are told of the wassail, which rang
merrily in the halls of Castle Hill, w^hen it was the
custom for James Tout, the huntsman, to enter the
dining-room at Castle Hill after dinner in full costume,
with his horn in his hand, and after he had sounded a

MASTERSHIP OF STAGHOUNDS 217

mort, " Success to Stag-hunting " was solemnly drunk
by the assembled company in port-wine. Then Tout
retired to his own place. " Nimrod," in the Sporting
Magazine, October and November 1824, gives a coarse
description of this habit of drinking stag-hunting,
which, I am sorry to say, has been quoted in various
books on hunting. "Nimrod" only paid one visit to
the Devon and Somerset Staghounds, namely, in 1824,
when he appears to have sought information in the
tap-rooms of the village ale-houses. In the November
number of the Spoiiing Magazine, 1824, he writes at the
conclusion of one of his usual egoistical letters to that
journal : " In my Western excursion I was absent from
home just twenty days." He also states, " Devonshire
is certainly the worst hunting country I ever was in ;
yet, strange to say, there are more hounds kept in
it than in any other three counties in England."
Apparently the chaos of hill, vale, wood, water, tors,
precipices, and cataracts, all promiscuously hurled
together, as it were, in Nature's wildest mood, did not
appeal to the journalist.

But, except to the students of ancient hunting history,
the writings of Nimrod are of no interest. Nor do they
concern our present subject, namely, the Mastership of
Staghounds. They constitute, however, a grave libel
on the sporting geography of Devon and Somerset,
which it is necessary to contradict. How can a man,
with the experience of twenty days, give reliable
evidence of a sport of which he had no previous
knowledge ? However, the statement of the late Duke
of Beaufort, to which I have already alluded, is one

21 8 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

strong contradiction ; and, if another contradiction
were needed, we find it in the openly expressed
opinions of our present King ; while a third contra-
diction will be found in the life of the Rev. John
Russell.

" Quantum Imta solent inter viburna cupressi."

The Rev. John Russell, dating his entry from 1814
with constant attendance, season after season, for a
period of sixty-four years, can claim a longer experi-
ence of Exmoor stag-hunting than any other gentleman
who had made his name famous in hunting history.
Certainly, either with staghounds or with foxhounds,
no man hunting in the same country could have seen
more dynasties of Mastership. In 1812 Lord Fortescue
became Master of the Staghounds for the second time,
but resigned the Mastership in 18 18, having killed
during his six years of office forty-two stags and forty-
eight hinds. Mr. Stuckley Lucas, of Barons Down,
then took office for another six years, namely, till 1825,
during which year the pack was sold at Tattersall's to a
German baron. But in 1827 Sir Arthur Chichester, of
Youlstone, brought a pack into the field and revived
the sport according to the rules of hunting etiquette.
Sir Arthur resigned in 1833. From 1837 to 1842 a
committee was supposed to hunt the country, but the
moving spirit of the committee was Mr. Charles Palk
Collyns, of Dulverton, the Nestor of Exmoor, who
chronicled the runs from 1816 till i860. From 1842
till 1847 the country was hunted by the Hon. Newton
Fellowes. Then Sir Arthur Chichester was Master for

MASTERSHIP OF STAGHOUNDS 219

one season, after which he was succeeded by Mr.
George Luxton, of Winkleigh. Captain West suc-
ceeded Mr. Luxton, and was followed by Mr. Tom
Carevv, of Collipriest, who resigned in 1853. For a
short time Captain West stopped the gap. Then in
1855 Mr. Fen wick Bisset assumed command of the
famous pack —

" Over some wide water'd shore
Swinging slow with sudden roar."

After i860, Mr. Boyce, of Withypoole, became the
chronicler of the Devon and Somerset Staghounds ;
but I am not aware that his chronicles were ever
published in volume form. If they were so pubhshed,
it must have been only for private circulation. The
chronicles of Mr. Charles Palk Collyns were published
in volume form in 1862 by Messrs. Longman, Green,
Longman and Roberts, and, if only for the excellence
of the illustrations, most of which are tinted photo-
lithographs, are worthy of a place on the shelves of a
sportsman's library.

When the Rev. John Russell kept a pack of fox-
hounds at Hatherleigh in 1826, within a short distance
of which place the Rev. W. H. Karslake, of Dolton,
kept harriers, while the Rev. Peter Glub was also
hunting foxes in the district, he received the following
letter :—

" Honor'd Sir, — Do ee plaise bring up the dogs first
chance ; us a got a fine litter, sure enough, up to
Hollacomb Bucks. They'm up full growed a month
agone ; and last night was a week, what must em do

220 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

but kill Mistess' old gander and seven more wi un — her's
most gone mazed owing to't — so do ee plaise come up
Sir and gi 'em a rattle — they'm rale beauties, they em,
as ever you clapped your eyes on."

Volumes could not tell us more than this letter tells
us of the views with which hunting was regarded by
the tillers and occupiers of the soil in Devon and
Somerset during the first half of the nineteenth century.
Nor did these views change during the close of the
nineteenth century, as I can testify from personal
experience. When I first lived at Porlock, which may
be regarded as the central point of the Devon and
Somerset country, and during my walks abroad,
exchanged greetings with the native agriculturists,
invariably the reply was, " Fine day for hunting." As
a rule, during my country strolls, I open the conversa-
tion with the native agriculturist by inquiring about
harvest prospects, but I discovered at Porlock that the
popular question to ask was, " How many ' warrant-
able' stags have you seen lately?" For a Master of
Hounds this Devon and Somerset country should have
been an ideal Utopia. The large landowners, such as
Sir Thomas Acland ; Mr. Knight, of Simonsbath ; Mr.
Nicholas Snow, Master of " The Stars of the West " ;
the Luttrell family of Dunster Castle ; and Sir Arthur
Chichester, were, without exception, staunch supporters
of sport.

As a rule, it is foolish to inquire whence venison

cometh —

" For if by chance it stolen be,
A good belief sufficeth thee."

W
< 2

> a

MASTERSHIP OF STAGHOUNDS 221

But in the West you must not only know whence
your venison cometh, but on what day the mort was
sounded over him.

But there is a vast difference between 1879 and 1903.
In addition to the old-established pack, now under the
Mastership of Mr. R. A. Sanders, we have Sir John
Amory's, kennelled at Tiverton ;the Barnstaple Hounds,
under the joint Mastership of Captain Paterson and
Mr. A. Clarke, with kennels at Brinsworthy, near
Barnstaple ; and the Quantocks, over which Mr. E. A. V.
Stanley presides and acts as his own huntsman. More-
over, the farmers say that they want and must have
more hunting, owing to the extent to which the stags
have increased and multiplied. Now, the damage
caused by a fox is infinitesimal in comparison with the
damage which can be caused by a stag before the
harvest is in. Besides, it is easy to compensate the
small farmer for the loss of a few turkeys or fowls, but
it is difficult to assess the damage caused to a field of
standing corn.

I have already referred to Mr. Bisset, to whom
modern stag-hunting on Exmoor may to a certain
large extent be regarded as a monument. I should like
to add a few words about him in his capacity of a
Master of Hounds. " Mention his name," says Mr.
Fortescue, " to any of the yeomen or farmers, who
knew him in the stag-hunting district, and they will
say, ' Mr. Bisset — ah, he was a good gentleman.' " Plain
words, but what words could convey higher praise ?
Yet I doubt if Mr. Bisset was popular with the strangers
in the field. These strangers might be divided into two

222 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

classes. There were the men who live for hunting,
who used to hunt with the Devon and Somerset Stag-
hounds, until the country was stripped for business in
the Shires ; and there were the men who had chosen
Porlock or some other centre in the Devon and
Somerset country as the scene of their annual vaca-
tion or holiday. To whichever class he might belong
Mr. Bisset treated the follower with courtesy so long
as he kept his tongue within his mouth. But he would
not brook the slightest interference. And he had two
methods of dealing with interference. The one was to
subject the interferer to a searching cross-examination
corampuhlico on minute points ; the other was to waive
the interferer aside unceremoniously, as if his inter-
ference were not worthy of attention. I have referred
to these characteristics of Mr. Bisset, because in a
later portion of this chapter. Lord Ribblesdale, late
M.B.H., has published his views of the conduct of a
Master of Hounds in the field, especially in cases of
impertinent interference.

Before concluding these remarks on the wild red
deer of Devon and Somerset, I ought to state that 1
am indebted to Mr. R. A. Sanders, the Master of the
Devon and Somerset Staghounds, for his kindness in
reading my MS. before it went to press, and to Mr.
E. A. V. Stanley, the Master of the Quantock Stag-
hounds, for his courteous letter, in which he writes :
" I shall be delighted to help you in any way if you
wanted any particulars of Red Deeron theQuantocks."
I am afraid that there is no room in this volume for
an essay on " Masters of Hounds : The criticisms of

MASTERSHIP OF STAGHOUNDS 223

Sporting Authors " ; but I wish to make this statement.
When a Master of Hounds takes the trouble to advise
and assist the sporting author, to send him his photo-
graph, and to prove to him that he takes an interest
in his work, then that work is a pleasure instead of
being a toil. Knowing what many followers do not
know, or, if they do know, do not realise the know-
ledge, what a busy man the Master of Hounds is
who conscientiously performs his duties, I am at a loss
to find words sufficiently emphatic in which to express
my gratitude for the courtesy and kind assistance which
I have received from gentlemen to whom I was a
stranger. Anyhow, if it had not been for that courtesy
and kind assistance, my contributions to this volume
would never have been written.

THE TAME OR UNCARTED DEER

There have been so many controversies in regard to
the pursuit of the uncarted deer, that I must confess
that I feel diffident as to the proper method in which
the sport should be impartially reviewed. The Rev.
Joseph Stratton, who is the mouthpiece of the Humani-
tarian League, has on numerous occasions informed
his limited circle of readers that the pursuit of a tame
stag is a disgrace to manhood ; but the occupations and
the aptitudes of Mr. Stratton do not permit him to
possess any practical knowledge whatsoever of stag-
hunting, though in a pamphlet published in 1897 he
confesses that in his young days he was " somewhat
partial to a fighting-cock." He defends himself for

224 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

this partiality under the plea that forty years ago
animals' rights had not come up for settlement. Yet
cock-fighting was illegal and practically extinct in
1840, fifty-seven years before Mr. Stratton penned his
reply to Lord Ribblesdale's famous book, " The Queen's
Hounds." It must be remembered that the mouth-
piece of the Humanitarian League was not recognised
as an authority in regard to the polemics of sport. On
the contrary, he was an expert electioneering agent,
who in 1892 had published the first petition for the
abolition of the Royal Buckhounds. Unfortunately
for Mr. Stratton and the other promoters of the agita-
tion against the buckhounds, it transpired that the
majority of the signatories to the petition were
employees in Huntley and Palmer's Biscuit Works at
Reading. In order to prove to these employees how
ignorant they were, Lord Ribblesdale, on December 23,
1892, hunted an uncarted deer into the London
Road, one of the eentral streets of Reading, where he
was safely captured.

In the first place, I could never understand what
relation there could be between hunting the uncarted
deer and humanitarianism. If the pursuit of the un-
carted deer were cruel, then the Society for the Pre-
vention of Cruelty to Animals should undertake the
prosecution. Yet Mr. Stratton gravely tells us that
" till the humanitarian eye became fixed on the Royal
Hunt, it was the rule when a stag met with what the
hunters call * an accident,' in a serious shape, to kill
and disembowel the animal and regale the pack then
and there lupon the entrails." I do not profess to

MASTERSHIP OF STAGHOUNDS 225

understand the humanitarian opinions of Mr. Stratton ;
but surely it is more humane to put a dumb animal
out of its lingering torture than to allow it to remain
in unspeakable anguish for hours ! Let me quote one
more statement from the extraordinary pamphlet of
this misguided individual. He writes : " What about
the Berks and Bucks farmers ? Are they in favour of
the Hunt ? Certainly not. Yet they were exhorted by
the landowners' daughters, scouring the country in
their pony-carts, to sign the petition of our opponents,
and, if they had not complied, they would have been
marked men, and have suffered." When our present
King abolished the Royal Buckhounds, why were
the Berks and Bucks Staghounds started by Sir Robert
Wilmot ? They were started at the instigation of the
farmers. The allusion to ladies in their pony-carts is
merely a vulgar canard.

" The good of other times let others state,
I think it lucky I was born so late."

I must leave it to my readers to study the ancient
history of the Royal Buckhounds, should the subject
interest them. There was the Hereditary or Manorial
Pack, founded in the reign of Edward III., under what
may be termed the hereditary Mastership of the Brocas
family, though some historians consider that Buck-
hunting was a branch of the Royal Chase in the reign
of Henry II. Be that as it may be, it is not till the
reign of Edward III. that the pack is specifically men-
tioned : Caniiui nostrarum clamoriun vocatwn buck
hounde's. Henry VIII. founded the Household or

p

226 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

Privy Pack in 1528, the first Master being George
Boleyne, Viscount Rochester. It is a curious coin-
cidence that George Boleyne was born at Hever Castle,
in Kent, the former residence of Sir Oliver Brocas, when
Edward III, started the hereditary pack.

Few people would regard George IV. as having been
a keen sportsman, so far as field sports were concerned.
Still, at all events, stag-hunters of the first fifty years of
the nineteenth century owed much to George IV. He
made Charles Davis Huntsman of the Royal Pack, who
only relinquished the horn in 1867, having carried it
for more than forty seasons. His retirement was but
short, for he died at Ascot on October 26, 1867, of
bronchitis, in his seventy-ninth year. Lord Ribbles-
dale has devoted an entire chapter to this remarkable
Huntsman, beneath the inscription :

" Non omnis moriar, multaque pars mei
Vitabit Libitinam."

Some of the sayings of Davis are worthy of repetition.
Thus, writing of hounds, he says, " Speak not harshly,
but kindly, and even yoiir countenance must bear the
impress oi friendship." But there can be no doubt, as
Lord Ribblesdale remarks, that he took himself a little
too seriously. I could not help smiling when I read
one sentence about him penned by Lord Ribblesdale —
the italics are my own. " I feel confident that he was
never in anything like a scrape — this is of itself quite a
misfortune — and I question whether he ever had much to
do with the scrapes and shifts of others." I have always
thought that Charles Davis was an over-rated man ; and

MASTERSHIP OF STAGHOUNDS 227

that he was a thorn in the side of the Master of the
Buckhounds. He was exceptionally good-looking, as
may be judged from the numerous portraits of him
still in existence, and had what is commonly called " a
marked personality." But there can be no doubt that
he was a domineering man. However, somewhat to
my surprise. Lord Ribblesdale has bestowed unstinted
praise upon him. The reason for my surprise is that
Charles Davis had a strong objection to ladies in the
hunting-field, while, as will be seen from the remarks
of Lord Ribblesdale published at the end of this
chapter, his Lordship approves of ladies hunting.
However, Charles Davis was one of the chief mainstays
of the Royal Hunt for forty years, and has come down
to posterity as a prominent figure in hunting history.

One of the great differences between riding after the
uncarted deer and fox-hunting is that in the pursuit of
your stag you are going the whole time, without any
checks for " mending bellows," such as you get in fox-
hunting. Also you are going at a very near approach
to racing pace. The horse which will carry you safely
over a cramped provincial fox-hunting country would
be of little use with the Berks and Bucks Staghounds,
as Lord Ribblesdale tells us in his history of the Royal
pack.

"Thoroughbred horses, Dick Christian told the
' Druid,' make the very best of hunters ; ' I never
heard,' he declared, ' of a great thing, but it was done by
a thoroughbred horse.' They certainly make the best
stag-hunters, for only blood and quality, legs and feet,
can stand the long distances, the long runs, and the

22 8 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

road work. Bucks is hilly, Berks is deep. A slow or
underbred horse is soon blown, if not actually out-
paced, by staghounds, and the more confidence you
have in his jumping and his courage the greater the
disaster when it comes. After twenty minutes you
would not know the horse, poor devil ! As he rolls
and slobbers along, he would not know himself. Is
this the animal that devoured the first four fields like a
tiger, and jumped like an india-rubber ball ? With the
thoroughbred horse it is just the other way. He is
often a bad begmner, but the farther he goes the
better he goes. The first fence he all but fell from
getting too near it; the second fence, not liking the look
of some straggling thorns, he came round ; the third
fence, he left his hind legs. But, though annoyed
or disappointed with him, you know he does not mean
falling, and you wait his own good time. Now you
have been going for the best part of an hour, the
claims of high descent have asserted themselves, the
best blood of a century is coursing and mantling
through his veins, he swells the muscles of his neck
and cracks his nostrils in patrician disdain of every
difficulty : he is jumping bigger and bigger, galloping
with the force of a steam-engine, collecting himself
with the balance of a rope-dancer. You know what it
is to be really carried."

It must be remembered that one of the most difficult
things for persons in authority out stag-hunting is to
know when to stop hounds and when to press a deer.
Now, in fox-hunting, the hero of the day is the man
who is first in at the death. In stag-hunting the^hero

MASTERSHIP OF STAGHOUNDS 229

is the man who can most excel in his exertions to save
Hfe.

We know that modern Masters of Hounds hold
strong opinions in regard to dress in the hunting-field,
though I have always thought that the late Duke of
Beaufort said all that there was to be said on the
subject when he stated that it was the duty of a
gentleman to dress as well as he could afford to dress.
But the man who attempts to dress beyond his means
only succeeds in looking like a painted popinjay. In
the hunting-field it is not the tailor, but the valet, who
makes the man. Here again I must quote from Lord
Ribblesdale's book :

" De rigueur hunting dress must be very well done or
not at all. Some excellent servants never learn to do
leathers properly. It is at once an art and a craft.
Tops, too, want an eye for colour. I am a stickler for
the tall hat ; it looks the best, and in every way is the
best for riding of all kinds, which includes falling. A
tall hat gives a little finish to horsemanship, which the
wideawake can never hope to achieve. But, given
the tall hat, properly put on box-cloth breeches and
well-cleaned butcher-boots look a great deal better than
the buckskins and tops of the single-handed or the
parlour-maid."

I do not apologise for these quotations, since this
chapter has been a division of labour, and I have now
to append a double supplement from the pen of Lord
Ribblesdale dealing with "The Master in the Field"
and " Ladies in the Hunting Field."

Some of my readers may argue that these supple-

230 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

ments should have been inserted in other chapters ; but
the name of Lord Ribblesdale is so intimately con-
nected with stag-hunting that I consider it to be the
wiser plan to publish them in this chapter.

THE MASTER IN THE FIELD.

Masters should always be regarded as privileged
people in the matter of finding fault, and the field
should always be submissive and apologetic ; but, for
the Master's interference to be salutary, he must be a
good judge of what to say and when to say it. As to
the latter, it is a matter of recognising the right moment,
whilst the former involves the sense of proportion and
taste.

A satirical Master can often give pain to the young
and foolish. Blasts and damns nobody minds ; they
keep the thing going, and agreeably mitigate the rigour
of the game. The discomfiture of the individual
receives and generally merits the approval of the field.
On the other hand, he is thought none the worse of,
as every one feels, " There, but for the grace of
God, goeth John Jackson."

He cannot be everywhere: if he rides in front
it's a hundred to one he's as anxious to be rather
nearer hounds than anybody else, and his attention
is fully occupied in getting there. If he rides behind
there is still less to be done, as nobody accepts his
Boanerges "Hold Hards" as applicable to himself.
But when hounds are not running hard, he can keep
his eyes on seeds and beans, and lambing ewes

MASTERSHIP OF STAGHOUNDS 231

at the end of the season, and can make use of
a knowledge of agriculture, whether inherited or
acquired, which is usually not at the disposal of
the majority of his field. If he has a fast and
handy horse he can also race for gates at critical
moments, and, given that the fence on either side is
anything of an ally, can do real good by drawing his
horse across the gateway. This especially applies to
a gate on to a road, where hounds on a moderate
scent are sure to find themselves in some perplexity or
other.

I have already said that the individual m a held
must be passively obedient. If he gets into trouble, it
is quite possible that he may not know how he has
offended ; but he should remember that nine times
out of ten the Master uses him as a sort of dump-
ing-ground for humours due to quite different causes,
such as a stupid second horseman, a shooting-party at
the Duke's which has obliged him to alter his fixtures
for the next fortnight, a murrain amongst his cattle, or
a sudden outbreak of measles in his nursery. It should
be borne in mind, too, that a milk-white horse, fond of
jumping, is certain to get him into a scrape.

A Master of Hounds should pay his local bills
regularly and answer his business letters at once, get
to know the farmers and gamekeepers, try to see some-
thing of both in the spring and summer time, and,
however perplexed about what to do or not to do, let
him pretend to have made up an adamantine mind.

232 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

LADIES IN THE HUNTING-FIELD.

The consideration of the advantages derived by
the general pubHc from ladies in the hunting-field
appears to be an almost academic question — like
motor-cars, they have come to stay — and there are
many kinds of ladies with a diversity of gifts.

Personally I quite approve of them. The doughty
deeds they now inspire may be prosaic, but at least
they give practice in detaining heavy or in forcing
open reluctant gates. Squeezing through after them
also develops a certain agility ; a bang on the knee
being often the only guerdon of self-sacrificing
chivalry.

On the other hand, it is only fair to say that beauty
in distress is a much rarer object than in former days.
Horses are better bitted, women ride better, and the
prompt rectifications of the curb chain, so favourable
to the hero of the Early Victorian novel, have practi-
cally ceased.

Thanks especially to Mr. Mayhew, of Seymour Street,
there has been a great improvement in side-saddles.
The formidable engines of five-and-twenty years ago
have disappeared. The sore-back question is all but
solved, and the lover dares now give his lady-love a
mount. This means that horses are comfortable, and
consequently carry their fair riders in an equable frame
of mind. A horse uncomfortably saddled cannot be at
his best ; he becomes either fractious or dull. Better-

From a fihotograph hy Mis. Hit^Jiti,
KEI:N HORSEVVOMliN

From a {'liotograpk by Mn. Hughes
"OVER i'

Plate X

MASTERSHIP OF STAGHOUNDS 233

fitting saddles carry corresponding advantages all
round. You seldom now see Mr. A. off his horse in
a muddy lane doing his frenzied best to make Mrs. B.
and her favourite more comfortable. Safety habits and
safety stirrups have reduced accidents to a minimum.
To save the life of a lady dragged head downwards
through a turnip-field is an opportunity which comes
but rarely now. Some years ago a lady relative of
mine, on finding herself in this predicament, tried
to free herself from her flowing habit and imposing
pommel by clutching at the turnips as she passed.
At last one especially stanch swede achieved the object
desired.

Hunting-ladies drop into two classes, marked by
distinctive psychological and physical differences.
There is what I would call the " industrious apprentice "
hunting lady. She knows all about stable manage-
ment and the price of forage, identifies a vixen with the
tail of her eye, may be followed with confidence in a
big wood, rides to the meet, knows the bridle-roads,
and three or four times a season spends a Sunday
afternoon on the flags. The other I will call the
" lotus-eater." She will ride nothing but the best ;
likes long-tailed horses with plaited manes ; drives in
a brougham, or an American trotter, to the meet,
rides home at an inspiring canter on a fresh horse kept
out for the purpose, and devotes her evening to the
care of her complexion, the repose of her person, a
Paquin tea-gown and the infatuation of an admirer.

CHAPTER IX

SOME VIEWS OF A MASTER OF OTTERHOUNDS

Popularity of otter-hunting in Devon— New packs of
otterhounds — Otter-hunting not an artificial sport — The
miller — Value of his goodwill — Different views of otter-
hunting — Friction between the Master and his com-
mittee— Troubles in the field, and troubles in kennel —
The compensations — Essex and Suffolk — Farmers in the
Cheriton country — Help from ladies — Proper treatment
of hounds — Expenses — Hounds' food — Wages — Railway
expenses— Total cost

By ARTHUR HEINEMANN

(Master and Huntsman of the Cheriton Otter Hunt and formerly

of the Essex Otterhounds)

Some think that spring and summer strew the otter-
hunter's path with flowers, but, if the flowers be roses,
I have generally, speaking from personal experience,
found the thorns not far distant. As in paintings, the
dark background throws up nearer beauties, so do the
tribulations, more particularly those which beset him
who would hunt otters in a country new to the sport —
obstacles which he would never encounter in districts
where the " sly goose-footed prowler " had been hunted
from time immemorial — enhance his delight when he
does get a good sporting day. In a new country, to

Front a photograph by Hole, Mine head
iMR. HEIXEMAXX WITH "SULTAN" AND "MONARCH"

Pirate XI

A MASTER OF OTTERHOUNDS 235

give only one instance, it is usual to make a great
favour of allowing him to draw the rivers at all. On
the contrary, in Devonshire people feel aggrieved if
the pack does not pay their waters at least one visit
every season to thin out the otters. Yet, whatever
may be the Master's difticulties, it is a healthy sign, in
these days of big fields, big purses, and bag foxes, to
find otter-hunting the only hunting, bar that of the
wild stag on Exmoor, which is still free from the taint
of artificiality, ever gaining fresh adherents, as witness
the presence this season of otterhounds in at least five
of the home counties — Sussex, Kent, Surrey, Essex,
and Suffolk.

The absence of artificiality is surely obvious. It is
always possible to stock a country with hares or with
foxes (and mange also) from Leadenhall Market, from
the Highlands of Scotland, or— 0 tempora, 0 mores ! —
from the country of a provincial neighbour. It is
possible to keep stags or hinds on hard food and
enlarge or uncart them before the pack, perhaps only
to retake the fugitive in some cowshed or pigsty. To
stock an otter-hunting country with otters, however, is
beyond any one, no matter how deep his purse or how
great his indifference to the interests of his neighbours.
He can only depend on the natural stock of otters fish-
ing the rivers and brooks in the locality, their numbers
constantly augmented from those born in the sea-cliffs
and working up from the estuaries. He must also
depend on the good-will of the owners of water, of
riparian owners, that is to say, of millers, farmers,
water-bailiffs, keepers, and fishermen. If I were asked

236 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

to say who of all these holds, in my opinion, the key to
the situation, I should name the jolly miller. If he be
the reverse of jolly, then the way to sport is barred.
Whether travelling up-stream in his eager search for a
mate, or intent on his fishing foray, sooner or later
every otter finds his progress blocked and barred by
some quaint old mill or more modern factory water-
wheel, equally obstructive in its way. Nothing daunted,
he lands and circumvents the obstacle, but to do this
he must make such a detour as shall bring him back to
the river above the impediment in question. Thus
intent, he leaves his ** seal " or " spur " on the muddy
bank of the mill-head, indicating most plainly the
points of ingress and egress, where, if so disposed, the
trapper may set his deadly gin and capture every
otter which passes that way, for the animal comes and
goes fearlessly and without suspicion of mischief. As
another case of dependence on the miller's favour, it
may be mentioned that there is above every mill a
stretch of deep water, in which, but for the friendly
opening of the flood-gates, many an otter could with
impunity laugh to scorn the best efforts of the hounds
and huntsman. Often have I had occasion to feel
grateful to the miller for such timely help ; and I can
give the novice no better advice on the subject than
that he should cultivate the miller. Let him, while the
pack is held up waiting for the water to be lowered,
visit the miller's snug premises to " see the wheel
work." The miller is to the otter-hunter what the
head gamekeeper is to the fox-hunter, and let him not
forget it. If there be a " Maid of the Mill," let the

A MASTER OF OTTERHOUNDS 237

Master remember her with the present of a pole or pad.
There is an excellent song about a miller's daughter,
but that enters into details that hardly come within the
scope of this chapter. It is a far cry from Chelmsford
to Weare Gifford, yet what better friend to otter-
hunting does memory cherish than Mr. Martin, of
How Street Mill, in the E.O.H. country, or than our
good friend Mr. Fry, in the country hunted by the
Cheriton !

Many are the disagreeables and the difficulties that
lie in the path of one who would hunt and master a
pack of otterhounds, two offices which are usually
filled by one person. Many, also, are the compensating
pleasures and privileges. As to the side on which the
balance inclines, I withhold any pronounced opinion.
The reader of this chapter may perhaps be able to judge
for himself. Les opinions ne sont que des points de vue,
the sound motto of L'amie inconnne in The County
Gentleman, has a special application to otter-hunting ;
aud he who has enjoyed a good week's sport with his
otterhounds — a pretty trail, a clever find, a rousing
hunt, and, since Finis coronat opns, a kill at the end —
may be stirred to the wildest pitch of enthusiasm. His
neighbour, on the other hand, who has had nothing but
long and weary walks, with no sign or sniff of an otter
on his streams for weeks together, will not view the
sport through roseate glasses, particularly as he knows
all the while how good an account his hands would
give of themselves if they but got the chance to display
their patience in drawing, their cleverness in finding,
and their dash, drive, g,ncj music once they had their

238 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

otter a-swim. The keynote of the Master's tempera-
ment, then, must be doggedness and perseverance, else
he will infect with his own slackness the hounds, which
reflect their huntsman's every mood.

It is with his committee that the Master's troubles
will commence, and, having commenced, continue.
Some one rude has called hunt committees an invention
of the Evil One. If this be their source, they certainly
do credit to his originality. With one member it is a
question of "sour grapes " ; with another of jealousy ;
with the third of personal antagonism ; with a fourth
of self-importance ; while a fifth is imbued with com-
plete ignorance of sport and its usages. Some Masters
undoubtedly enjoy brighter experiences, and find a good
sportsman or two on their committee to back them
through thick and thin, but such unselfish supporters
are sadly in the minority. The points of issue are
innumerable. One member will raise objections to
the Master advertising his meets. Another thinks that
he wears out hounds by hunting too many days a week.
A third has something to say about the way in which
the whip behaves to him in the field. A fourth objects
to the Master's drawing his stream unless he can be
there in person. If these be not the chosen grounds
of complaint, there are others as handy. Now the
Master is blamed for burying dead hounds instead of
boiling them into broth for the rest. This charge was
actually once brought against myself. On another
occasion, he is at fault in drafting some babbler or
waster from the pack, in which some member of the
committee happens to take a personal interest. AH

A MASTER OF OTTERHOUNDS 239

criticise and find fault in field or in kennel, though it
may safely be said that very few otter hunt committees
really represent either the owners of water or the
majority of the subscribers. Every rule, of course, has
its exceptions, and my own personal experience has
embraced every help and kindness from some members
of some committees.

Then the Master has other troubles in kennel. These
will arise out of such obligations as selecting and
building proper kennels for the pack, seeing to their
health and comfort as later they will see to his sport
and enjoyment. The Master may proceed to his
duties under a variety of conditions. In some cases,
he may take a country and find a good pack ready to
his hand. Or, again, he may buy an entire pack and
then take a country for it to hunt. As a third case, he
may take the country and find a lot of hounds in
kennel, with no clue whatever as to their work. There
is then nothing for it but " to find them out," often at
the expense of time and temper and, indeed, of derision
from carping critics. To make the pack an efficient
one, he must add other hounds, rough or smooth as the
case may be, and he must then enter them. This
means first finding an otter, by no means a certainty
even under the most likely conditions. Lastly, he has
to weld these various elements into one homogeneous
whole, a machine, in fact, that can be controlled by
one man's voice, horn and gesture, and that man the
Master himself. A single instance from my own
memories may serve to illustrate some worries of an
M.O.H. The Cheriton were in the middle of their

240 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

season, when anthrax broke out in a neighbouring
kennel. This would not have affected the otterhounds,
which were kennelled a couple of miles away, only my
man had been to the infected kennels for a couple of
buckets of flesh. Fortunately, thanks to prompt
measures being taken, this flesh was not given to the
hounds, but was buried in quicklime instead. Yet for
a week or two, like a very sword of Damocles, the
menace of quarantine, of confinement to kennels, of
the deduction of two or three months from an all too
short summer "when water permits," hung over our
heads.

The difficulties in the field are many and distracting.
At the head of them I should be inclined to put apathy.
The intending Master will receive some few replies to
his hopeful letters calculated to cool the bravest enthu-
siasm. I remember one Essex man who wrote that
"they did not take much interest in otter-hunting in
their neighbourhood." Another, in Surrey, considered
the presence of hounds in summer " a most improper
proceeding ! " A third, a Hertfordshire sportsman,
wrote thus : " We go in for trout-fishing and cannot
possibly allow an otter to exist on our waters ! "
Another Essex landowner objected in these terms : " I
cannot allow hounds to draw my river at any time. My
coverts adjoin it, and I rear pheasants. But for all this,
I consider myself a sportsman." This kind of thing
filled four pages. I have had one river closed to me
for pheasants, a second because of nesting partridges, a
third for ducks, and a fourth for swans ! As a visitor
once remarked : " They have to whip off every mile or

^^^

A MASTER OF OTTERHOUNDS 241

so because a cock-pheasant is sitting on eggs ! " Once
I was refused leave to draw because the owner had a
rook-shooting party, though if he had not, he would not
have been out hunting with us. At another place pre-
parations for sheep-washing necessitated the damming
of a river and thus spoilt a likely find. Perhaps, how-
ever, the worst case of all was one that befell me on the
Essex Blackvvater. The owner, or rather occupier, of
Stisted actually walked along with us for some time
before ordering hounds off, which he eventually did in
anything but courteous language. This was the more
distressing to some sixty followers who had been on the
tramp the whole day, because he chose his time when
hounds were fast drawing on to their otter.

Every cloud, however, has its silver lining. There
are many good sportsmen in East Anglia, in the North
country, and in the West, who readily assist the packs of
otterhounds drawing streams and rivers in their neigh-
bourhood. From such as these I have experienced the
kindest and most hospitable of welcomes : hounds and
men quartered for the visit, and, particularly in Suffolk,
the best of port passed round with no sparing hand.
One kind friend even had laid out in my bedroom
a tankard of beer, a decanter of brandy and three large
sodas, besides fruit in variety ; and I have always
hoped that his disappointment was not great on finding
that I had no use of any such refreshment, for nothing
could diminish the grateful memory of his hospitality.
Another good friend to otter-hunting, a miller in the
Colchester country, hired a couple of horses and vanned
the pack in his miller's waggon to a distant fixture

Q

242 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

rather than let them go the ten miles by road. There
was even a miller on the Blackwater who gladly suf-
fered the otters to take his ducklings, and who always
had an alfresco lunch ready for us when we passed by.
Hospitality and good fellowship follow a pack of otter-
hounds, which may be partly accounted for by the fact
of there being more time for social amenities than in
some other kinds of hunting. You can talk to Tom or
Jack as you walk along and watch hounds draw. When
you come to the local magnate, you can have hounds
held up or steadied while you pass the time of day, and
this without in any way interfering with sport, for until
hounds have found your time is your own. Once with
the Culmstock, and once again with the Essex, I saw
hounds stopped while the Master effusively thanked
a gesticulating individual on the further bank. In the
one case thanks were rendered for leave to draw ; in
the other for the offer of refreshment. Yet in both
instances there seems to have been some misunder-
standing, for it afterwards transpired that both were in
reality foaming with rage and warning hounds off. It
is to be hoped that they had a saving sense of humour
to enable them to appreciate the situation.

But there were, and no doubt there still are, a capital
lot of farmers in Essex and Suffolk, and every now and
then one would come across an exiled west-country-
man, who had in the days of his youth followed Collier
or Cheriton. The hospitality of Littlebury Mill, on
the Roding, seemed nothing short of inexhaustible.
" There are fish enough for me," said the right good
owner, " and fish enough for the otters as well. And,

A MASTER OF OTTERHOUNDS 243

gentlemen, I am very pleased to see you all here
to-day." Of the farmers in the Cheriton country I
cannot speak too highly. I have never had an unpleasant
word with one of them. The little instances of timely
kindness are innumerable everywhere. One day in
Suffolk, for instance, on the Stour, a river full of
otters, but in many parts far too heavy to hunt with
any chance of success, a dear old man produced a
lemon, which he insisted on my sucking to quench my
thirst, he said, and help my voice. Another well-
wisher in Devonshire was in the habit of bringing me
out lunch in the shape of gingerbread and a flask of
cafe au /^f/ with just a dash of gin, a most excellent and
staying drink, by the way. Little attentions like these
help vastly to hearten one when things are not going
quite as well as they might. Then, too, the little
terriers invariably excite the sympathy of ladies out
with the field, and many a mile have tender arms
carried little Venus. As for Nellie, she absolutely owes
her life to a good sportswoman, who pluckily rescued
her at a kill from amid the growling mass of hounds.
They had pulled down their otter on land, running
from scent to view before I could get to them.

There are, I am aware, differences of opinion among
Masters touching the presence of ladies in the field,
but, whatever may be said of fox-hunting, where the
circumstances are very different, my opinion is that
they are absolutely in place with otterhounds, and that
they nowhere show to more advantage than beside the
water in the blue, red, or green of the hunt uniform.
And what an example they sometimes set us men I

244 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

I have known them stick to hounds until the last moment
when these are called off, taking their place in the
stickles or fords. I have seen them kneel down in the
water rather than let an otter pass untallied. Many is
the first welcome Tally ho ! from one of these ladies,
quick of eye and swift of foot. The most remarkable
performance of the kind that ever came to my notice
was in Suffolk, on a day when, even at six in the morn-
ing, the heat was tropical. Hounds were a bit above
themselves, and, as they dashed to water in the pride
of the morning, they at once hit off a burning trail.
Away they went full cry up stream, galloping past the
front whip at a pace terrific to those who had only
their feet to depend on. Horn and voice neither
stopped nor yet steadied them, and, with such a burn-
ing scent they could hardly be blamed. To me came
a lady, with a most business-like whip slung around
her, and asked me if she should turn them to me. Too
amazed to take the proposal seriously, I merely in-
dicated Harlequin and Damper just disappearing round
a bend in the dim distance. She assured me, however,
that that was nothing, since she was used to running.
She was. Back they all came, rough hound and smooth
hound, and close behind them the lady herself, hot
but triumphant. She had got to their heads. And
only the day before she had come seventy miles on
her bicycle to get to hounds. No wonder Whyte
Melville said the race was in the ascendant !

The Master should be as familiar as possible with
his hounds, and he will find indeed that this constitutes
one of the most potent charms of otter-hunting. He

1

A MASTER OF OTTERHOUNDS 245

is always in their midst ; he shares their difficulties
and their toils. The endurance of man and hound
is severely taxed, and their feet may be sorely hurt
by such ordeals as five miles to the meet, a ten miles
draw, and seven miles home. Sometimes you are in
the water with them, wading or even swimming. Some-
times, if you think that they want blood — and yoii must
be the best judge — you give them their otter ; at others,
you help find their quarry. They depend on their
huntsman to show them sport ; they love to hear his
voice and horn cheering them to the echo. They
know that he trusts them and they scorn to play him
false. Out with them, home with them, not riding
above their level on a horse whose heels they dread,
but walking among them, beside them, where they can
thrust their tan muzzles into your coat tails or into
your hand, seeking the biscuit which they know by
experience sometimes lurks there. Such a pack, as
they look up in the Master's face, their eyes bright with
love and confidence, will not require much whip. A
crop and thong are not, as some folks seem to imagine,
part and parcel of the proper outfit of a follov/er of
otterhounds, though I have heard of a beagle pack of
but ten couple being " aided " to hunt by no fewer
than four whippers-in !

The Master will in some countries find hares, or
" great joskins," as a Suffolk sportsman calls them, a
nuisance, for they have a knack of jumping up in view
when hounds have perhaps been drawing the whole
day without a sniff of anything to hunt. Then, indeed,
he longs for a horse on which to stop them. Otherwise,

246 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

I would far rather see hounds break away than be
always rated and whipped in. Thus treated, they
very rightly refuse to put their noses down and hunt
and come back to their huntsman for protection. If,
however, the Master has their confidence, they will
turn and twist with their otter when they have found,
and will, at a check, gladly cast themselves at his
direction. Each piece lof hound work may then be
studied, for in hunting an otter there is ample scope
for every hound to display his individual qualities.

Something has been said of the Master's difficulties,
but nothing of his expenses, which is, after all, the
subject of most interest for the beginner. The scale
on which the thing is done varies in different ages.
King John, the first Master of Otterhounds on record
was attached to his pack and seems to have appreci-
ated the niceties of the sport without much regard to
economy. Edward II. also mastered a pack of six
couple of " otter dogges," which were hunted by one
Twici. As showing the scale on which establishments
were maintained in those days, it may be noted that
this same Twici was assisted by a couple of boys, who
got three-halfpence each per diem as wages. Twici
himself got twopence a day, besides an allowance of
4s. 8d. a year for shoes, and a robe of cloth yearly or a
mark (13s. 4^^.) in money. One more otter-himting
record from the Middle Ages shows that Henry VIII.
also kept a pack of "otter dogs," with one Thomas
Hordon as Master. A modern pack of otterhounds
may vary considerably in strength. The Brookfield,
for instance, recently numbered thirty couple, while

A MASTER OF OTTERHOUNDS 247

the Rug pack boasted but nine. For most countries
anything between ten and fifteen couple of hounds
should be regarded as ample. After ten couple, indeed,
every extra couple may be regarded as a luxury. At
the same time, a good number of hounds will be found
absolutely necessary in drawing both banks simulta-
neously of wide rivers, like the Tweed or Torridge.

1 had a very good season in 1902 in Essex with only
eleven couple, my hunting pack averaging eight and a
half couple. Yet they did two, three, occasionally four
days a week, accounting for fifteen out of twenty-seven
otters "put off." Small packs are more handy and
easier to control, but I confess to liking the look of a
big pack except where, in small waters, they get in one
another's way.

The cost of maintaining a pack of, say, fifteen couple
is easily reckoned. First, there is the original cost of
the hounds themselves. Such a pack may, according
to circumstances, cost anything from ;^5o to ;^30o to
buy, but a medium price of ;^20o should buy a decent
pack. If the thing is worth doing at all it is worth
doing well, and there can be neither pleasure nor merit
in turning out with a scratch lot of hounds, scratch in
every sense of the word, and offensive to both eye and
nose !

Then there are the licences : 7s. 6d. for each hound,
though unentered hounds up to the age of twelve
months are exempt.

As regards the important subject of feeding, the
hounds will require, when in hard work, a three-
quarter hundredweight bag of hound-meal each day.

248 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

This is merely broken biscuit and dried flesh and
graves, and is for otterhounds, which have not, it
must be remembered, got to do fast and long work,
preferable to a diet of flesh and oatmeal. It fits them
for their slow and steady hunting, keeping them on the
big side and fortifying them against the cold waters
that would nip and "starve" a fine-drawn hound in
galloping trim. There are many makers, but, if I am
to give my own preference, I should name Pike and
Tucker of Bristol, who have given me every satisfaction
for years. The meal varies somewhat with the maker.
It is always apt to be a little heating and to scour
hounds as well, and it may be made more palatable
by the addition of a little broth from bullocks' or
sheep's heads, and now and then a little horseflesh.
Sheep's trotters, at sixpence a hundred, also make
excellent broth. Thev.rhole of last spring and summer
my hounds had no flesh, yet they kept hard and fit and
big, and during the whole winter they had but two
horses. Cabbage, mangolds (sparingly), and other
green stuff may be useful and necessary adjuncts,
particularly in the off-season, while sulphur and
Epsom Salts should be the staple physic. Hound-
meal, if bought by the ton for cash, costs ;^I2 ids. or
so, and it should be packed in hundredweight bags,
being convenient in that form for taking about when
hounds have to lie out, as you then know the exact
number of feeds per bag, and only boiling-water is
then required to make the hounds a warm meal after
each day's work. Let me impress on the beginner
that hounds should never be given a cold meal. They

A MASTER OF OTTERHOUNDS 249

like it warm as well as their masters, and they have
worked as hard for it, and sometimes, indeed, harder.
In the off-season a hundredweight bag should, well
soaked and given sloppy, make nearly three feeds.

The remaining expenses are the cost of kennels, a
variable quantity that can hardly be specified here, and
the wages of Hunt servants. Beyond these there are
only the slight expenses attending illness, and as most
veterinary surgeons are kind enough to act as hon. vets,
to the pack, these are confined to a yearly chemist's
bill of, say, £10. The courts must be kept well washed
with disinfectant, and this should also be liberally used
in flushing the drains. Jeyes' Fluid, or some such
compound, answers the purpose. Hounds should be
brushed every day with an ordinary dandy-brush and
gloved with one of Dinneford's hound gloves or with a
chamois leather. Another requirement for kennels will
be three or four tons of wheaten straw at from £2 to
£/\ per ton, according to season and locality. Coming
to the question of servants and their wages, one man in
kennel, who will also whip-in to you in the field, is all
that is strictly necessary, but a kennel-boy is a useful
addition to the staff. For whip, the very best man is
one who has been brought up with hounds (in a
foxhound kennel for preference, where things are done
well) as feeder or kennel-man. He must be fond of
his job, or he will be useless. Also, he must be sober,
active, and strong. One of the greatest troubles in the
life of Masters of Otterhounds is the manner in which
the field will ply the Hunt servants with liquor. If
they are not very strong-minded, and do not know

2 so THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

when to refuse, there is certain to be trouble all round.
Wages vary from 15s. to 25s. a week, with a uniform
that includes boots and stockings, and occasionally
with house room as well. The whip entails taking out
a 15s. licence, but no licence is necessary for the
kennel-boy, and his wages run from 5s. to los. a week.

Such are the chief expenses in kennel. Hunting
expenses vary in different countries, chiefly, of course,
according to the number of days or weeks that the
pack has to lie out. Every railway company will keep
a proper hound-van for you, and for a two-horse fare
(half-return) you can take any number of hounds any-
where. Horse-boxes are always draughty, and nearly
always dirty into the bargain, so the Master should
insist on having a proper hound-van, or, at least, an
empty brake-van. It is often cheaper to van to and
fro by train than to stay at an hotel, and hounds are
naturally more comfortable at home. Most of the
" fights," moreover, occur when hounds are kennelled
in a strange place.

Glancing collectively at these expenses, we can see
that no one can reasonably expect to do a pack of
otterhounds on less than ;^35o a year. Indeed, ;^45o
is nearer the mark, and the total expenditure may
easily exceed even that figure. Subscriptions, a matter
of moment to the new Master, vary considerably. The
Culmstock get about ;^i90, the Cheriton ;^i90 to
;^200, the Essex about ;^23o.

Claims for damage should be few, that is, so long
as the members of the Hunt are careful to close gates
after them, and also to avoid hay-grass or standing

A MASTER OF OTTERHOUNDS 251

corn, but the wise Master who carries the horn himself,
will have a field-master to give an eye to such details.
He will also, let me repeat, treat his hounds as his best
friends. I knew one man who never hesitated, when
necessary, to swim with them. I myself have slept on
the ground among them, when lying out, sooner than
risk a fight.

CHAPTER X

THE MASTER OF HOUNDS IN HIS LIBRARY

Sporting bibliographies— "Annals of Horsemanship" —
Beckford's " Thoughts on Hunting " — William Somerville
— " The Chase -' — Mr. Apperley's works — Mr. Surtees —
List of his best known books — Some sporting magazines
and serials — Encyclopedias— Juliana Berners — Geor-
gina Bowers — Other books : Authors unknown — Mr.
Delme Radcliffe — " Brooksby " — " Stonehenge " —
" Cecil "—Mr. Warburton— Lord Ribblesdale — Mr. Blew
— "Scrutator" — "Wanderer" — Mr. Finch Mason —
" Thormanby " — Whyte Melville

Charles Lamb declared that his favourite recreation
was to be " in a nook with a book," and my experience
is that such is the favourite recreation of Masters of
Hounds after a long day in the open air. But unless
they are students of bibliography, they can have no
knowledge of the prices which they should pay for
their books. In " Illustrated Sporting Books " (pub-
lished by Upcott Gill), Mr. Slater has reduced sporting
bibliography to an exact science ; but, as his work
partakes of the nature of a catalogue, which deals with
books relating to all branches of sport, I have, with his
permission, made certain extracts which relate to fox-
hunting. I have purposely omitted many books, such
as the hunting portions of the Badminton Library and

IN HIS LIBRARY 253

the novels of Major Whyte-Melville, because they are
so well known as to require no comment from my
pen ; nor shall I refer to Mr. Slater's appendix of
sporting prints, since in my own belief — and I have
had many transactions with them — ^Messrs. Fores, of
Piccadilly, would deal with the purchaser as fairly, and
as cheaply, as he would be dealt with in the auction-
room. But it is only from the auction-room that
we can learn the market value of old sporting
books.

Few authors are better known to hunting-men than
the author of :

"Annals of Horsemanship." By Geoffrey Gambado
(H. W. Bunbury), ist ed., 1791. 4to. With 17 engrav-
ings after H. W. Bunbury.

Little is known of the personality of " Gambado,"
except that he was renowned in the county of Suffolk
for his public and private virtues, and, besides being an
author, was a celebrated caricaturist. He was also
M.D. and F.R.S., though, certainly, he was very unlike
a modern physician. He wrote in regard to him-
self:

" I seek no fame, I want no name,
My bread in Bread Street is ;
Gambado has sufficient fame —
This is sufficient bliss."

Mr. Bunbury was born in Bread Street, I should
add. His chief works are :

"An Academy for Grown Horsemen. By "Geoffrey
Gambado " (H. W. Bunbury), and " Annals of Horse-
manship," by the same, 1781-91. 2 vols., 4to. The

2 54 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

"Academy" contains 12 plates, and the "Annals of
Horsemanship " 17, and all after H. W. Bunbury.

Another edition, 1808. 4to. Plates as before.

Another edition, 1809. 8vo. 29 coloured plates
by Rowlandson.

Another edition, 1812. Folio. 29 coloured plates.

Another edition, n.d. 8vo. Ackermann. 29
coloured plates by Rowlandson and others.

An edition of 1822, in 2 vols., roy. 4to., is of no
importance, and of but little value. The plates are
reduced copies.

Further information in regard to this eccentric
doctor can be found in Geoffrey Gambado, by a
Humourist Physician, a rare book, though only pub-
lished in 1865.

Peter Beckford died on February 18, 181 1, and was
buried at Stapleton, in Dorset. Over his grave are
these lines :

" We die and are forgotten ; 'Tis Heaven's decree ;
Thus the fate of others will be the fate of me."

But Peter Beckford's name will never be forgotten,
for he was the first English writer to describe
minutely and accurately the system of fox-hunting,
and the work quoted below is still regarded as an
authority. He was also an eminent scholar, and it was
said of him by Sir Egerton Brydges that " he would
bag a fox in Greek, find a hare in Latin, inspect his
kennels in Italian, and direct the economy of his

IN HIS LIBRARY 255

stables in exquisite French." His son was created
third Lord Rivers, in 1802, by special patent, Peter
Beckford having married, in 1802, a daughter of Lord
Rivers. I should add that he was an M.F.H. and M.P.
for Morpeth.

"Thoughts on Hunting, in a series of Familiar
Letters to a Familiar Friend." By Peter Beckford,
ist ed., 1781. Small 4to. Frontispiece by Bartolozzi
(Diana preparing for the chase), and plans of Kennels.
Sarum.

Second edition, 1782. 4to. Frontispiece.

Third edition, 1796. 8vo. 20 plates (ist illustrated
edition).

Fourth edition, 1802. 4to. Pp. 360. Frontispiece
by Bartolozzi.

Another edition, 1810. 8vo. With 11 plates by Scott,
and woodcut by Bewick on title.

Another edition, 1820. 8vo. Frontispiece and
numerous vignette cuts by Bewick.

Another edition, 1840. i2mo. With a chapter on
" Coursing."

Another edition, 1879. 8vo.

Another edition, 1881. 8vo. Pp. xi-261.

Henry Aiken flourished between 1816 and 1831.
He is said to have been originally huntsman, stud-
groom, or trainer to the Duke of Beaufort, and at first
published anonymously under the signature of " Ben
Tallyho"; but in 1816 he published under his own

256 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

name. The following are his best known hunting
engravings :

Aiken's Sketches
Analysis of the Hunting

Field
Annals of Sporting
Beauties, &c.,of the Horse
Books of Sports
British Proverbs
Chase, the Turf and the

Road
Collection of Sporting

Designs
Cracks of the Day-
Down the Road
Driving Discoveries
Fashion and Folly
Few Ideas, A
High Mettled Racer
How to Qualify
Hunting

Hunting Reminiscences
Hunting Sketches
Jor rock's Jaunts and

Jollities
Life of John Mytton

Melange of Humour
Moments of Fancy
National Sports
New Scrap Book
New Sketch Book
Notitia Venatica
Popular Songs
Qualified Horses
Scraps from the Sketch

Book
Sketch Book
Sketches

Specimens of Riding
Sporting Notions
Sporting Repository
Sporting Review
Sporting Satirist
Sporting Scenes
Sporting Scrap Book
Sporting Sketches
Steeple Chase, The
Symptoms

Touch at the Fine Arts
Tutor's Assistant

The fertility of Aiken's pen was amazing, and in his
work there is a freedom of handling which rendered
his work very popular in his day. One of his water-

IN HIS LIBRARY 257

colour sketches, entitled "Fox Hunting," is in the
South Kensington Museum. The following are his
most important works :

" Notitia Venatica : a Treatise on Fox Hunting." By
Robert Thomas Vyner. 1st ed. 1841. 8vo. Illus-
trated by H. Aiken.

Another edition. 1847. 8vo.

Another edition. 1892. Royal 8vo, enlarged by
W. C. A. Blew. Coloured plates by H. Aiken and
others.

The sixth edition appeared without date, by 1871.
8vo. The " Steeple Chase," a series of 6 oblong folio
coloured plates. By Henry Aiken.

"Hunting Sketches." 1859. Oblong folio. 6
coloured plates, after Aiken.

" Hunting ; or, Six Hours' Sport." By Three Real
Good Ones.

Six coloured plates by H. Aiken. 1823. 4to.
Aiken's Sketches : "The Stable," "The Road," "The
Park," "The Field." ist ed. 1854. Oblong folio.
A series of 6 coloured sporting subjects. By Henry
Aiken.

" How to Qualify for a Meltonian," addressed to all
would-be Meltonians. A series of 6 large coloured
plates. By Henry Aiken. 1819. Oblong folio.

Though William Somerville died at Edstone on
July 17, 1742, editions of his principal work, " The
Chase," have appeared in constant succession during
the present century, so I append the most valuable

258 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

editions. An edition, however, was published as lately
as 1896, with illustrations by Mr. Hugh Thomson.
Full details of his life are to be found in the " Dictionary
of National Biography," and in the works of Shenstone,
who describes him as improvident and an intemperate
drinker. Dr. Johnson mentions him in his " Lives of
the Poets."

"The Chase." By William Somerville. ist ed.
1735. 4to. Not illustrated.

Of the numerous illustrated editions which have
appeared from time to time the best is that published
in 1802, 8vo, with full-page plates, after Sartorius, and
woodcuts by Bewick.

Bulmer's edition of 1796, 4to, with woodcuts by
Bewick, is, however, preferable in many respects,
especially when on large paper.

The third edition, with Bewick's cuts, was published
by Bulmer in 1804. Royal 8vo.

I regret that I have been unable to discover any
reliable facts in regard to the life of the author of
" Cynegetica ; or. Essays on Sporting . . ." By William
Blane. 1788. 8vo. Frontispiece and vignettes by
Stothard. In this work Somerville's "Chase," is
inserted.

This book is, in effect, a new edition of " Essays on
Hunting," published in 1781. 8vo. And

" Essays on Hunting," containing a Philosophical
Enquiry into the Nature and Properties of the Scent,
&c. Edited by William Blane. ist ed. (1781.) 8vo.

IN HIS LIBRARY 259

Pp.xxviii. 135. Extracted from an "Essay on Hunting."
By a Country Squire. A second edition of this book,
with " The Method of Hare Hunting Practised by the
Greeks," by a Sportsman of Berkshire, appeared without
date (but ? 1782). See "Cynegetica ; Essays on Hunt-
ing."

Having previously referred to Mr. Apperley, it is only
necessary now to mention his principal works.

"The Chase, The Turf, and The Road." By " Nim-
rod" (C. J. Apperley). 1837. Demy 8vo. Portrait
of "Nimrod" by Maclise and 13 full-page plates
(uncoloured) by H. Aiken. Reprinted from the
Quarterly Review. A later edition of 1870 has the
plates coloured.

Another edition. 1898. Royal T6mo. Illustrations
by Aiken, portrait by Maclise, and other portraits.
Published in the " Sportsman Library " series.

" The Horse and the Hound." By " Nimrod " (C. J.
Apperley). ist ed. 1842. Crown 8vo, with engraved
frontispiece by Dobbie. 7 full-page coloured plates
and cuts by Aiken.

Second edition. 1843. 8vo.

" Hunting Reminiscences " ; comprising Memoirs of
Masters of Hounds, &c. By " Nimrod " (C. J. Apperley).
1843. Demy 8vo. 32 uncoloured full-page plates
and maps by Wildrake, Aiken, and Henderson.

"The Life of a Sportsman." By "Nimrod" (C. J.
Apperley). 1842. Demy 8vo. With 36 coloured plates
by H. Aiken.

26o THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

" Memoirs of the Life of the Late John Mytton, Esq.,
of Halston." By "Nimrod " (C. J. Apperley). ist ed.
1835. 8^o- 12 coloured plates by H. Aiken.

Second edition. 1837. 8vo. 18 coloured plates
(8 new) by H. Aiken and Rawlins.

Third edition, and the first really complete, as it con-
tains a Memoir of the Author not in the preceding two.
1 85 1. 8vo.

Fourth and fifth] editions. 1869. 8vo. Routledge.
With the 18 coloured plates. An edition of 1877. 8vo.
Routledge, 18 coloured plates. Also an edition of
1892. 8vo. Routledge.

" Sporting." Edited by " Nimrod " (C. J. Apperley).
1838. Imperial 4to. 38 steel plates and woodcuts,
after Gainsborough, Landseer, and others ; text by Tom
Hood and others.

" Remarks on the Condition of Hunters, the Choice
of Horses, &c." By C. J. Apperley (" Nimrod"). 1831.
Demy 8vo ; mentioned here because though the book
contains no illustrations in its normal state, 12
plates by Turner are often found inserted. Later
editions are of no consequence.

The best known works of Mr. Surtees are :
" Analysis of the Hunting Field." By R. S. Surtees.
1846. Oblong 8vo. with coloured title, 6 coloured
plates and 43 cuts, all by H. Aiken. The papers re-
printed in this volume appeared in Bell's Life during
1845-6.

IN HIS LIBRARY 261

" Ask Mamma ; or, the Richest Commoner in
England." By the Author of " Handley Cross " (R. S.
Surtees). 1858. Originally published in 13 monthly
parts ; red wrappers designed by Leech ; afterwards in
demy 8vo, as above. Frontispiece, 12 coloured plates,
69 woodcuts, all by Leech.

Another edition, n.d. (but 1888). Bradbury Agnew,
and Co. With the coloured plates.

" Handley Cross ; or, Mr. Jorrocks' Hunt." By the
Author of Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour (R. S. Surtees),
n.d. (but 1854). Published in 17 parts (March 1853
to October 1854), in red wrappers designed by Leech ;
afterwards in demy 8vo, as above. Contains 17
coloured plates and 84 woodcuts by Leech.

Another edition, n.d. (1888). Bradbury Agnew, and
Co. Coloured plates by Wildrake and others.

" Handley Cross ; or, The Spa Hunt." Another
novel by Surtees, first published in 3 vols. Post 8vo.
1843. Is not illustrated.

" Hawbuck Grange ; or. The Sporting Adventures of
Thomas Scott, Esq." By the Author of " Handley
Cross; or. The Spa Hunt" (R. S. Surtees). 1847.
Demy 8vo. With 8 full-page etchings by " Phiz."

Another edition, n.d. (1884.) With coloured reprints
of the plates. This series of sketches appeared in Bell's
Life during the winter season of 1846-7.

" Hillingdon Hall ; or. The Cockney Squire." By the
Author of "Handley Cross" (R. S. Surtees). 1845.
3 vols. Post 8vo. This ist ed. is not illustrated.

Another edition. 1888. 8vo. With 12 coloured
plates by Wildrake and others.

262 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

"Jorrocks' Jaunts and Jollities ..." By R. 8.
Surtees. 1838. 8vo. Originallypublishedin the New
Sporting Magazine (July 183 1 to September 1834.)

Afterwards in volume form as above. Contains 12
full-page plates by " Phiz."

Another edition. 1839. 8vo. 12 plates as before.

Another edition. 1843. 8vo, With title and 14
plates and Title by H. Aiken, all coloured.

Another edition. 1869. 8vo. With the coloured
plates as before. This edition contains the extra papers,
"A Ride to Brighton," "A Week at Cheltenham,"
and " The Day after the Feast."

Another edition. 1874. 8vo. 16 coloured plates by
H. Aiken.

" Mr. Facey Romford's Hounds." By the Author of
" Handley Cross " (R. S. Surtees). 1865. Originally
issued in 12 parts ; red wrappers designed by Leech ;
afterwards in demy Svo, as above. Contains 24 coloured
plates, the first 14 by Leech and the remainder by
" Phiz."

" Plain or Ringlets ? " By the Author of " Handley
Cross" (R. S. Surtees). i860. Originally published in
13 monthly parts, in red wrappers designed by Leech ;
afterwards in demy 8vo, as above. First title, and 13
plates in colours, 44 woodcuts, all by Leech.

Another edition, n.d. (but 1888). Bradbury, Agnew,
and Co. With Leech's coloured plates and cuts.

" Sponge's Sporting Tour." By the Author of
" Handley Cross " (R. S. Surtees). 1853. Originally pub-
lished in 13 monthly parts ; red wrappers designed by
Leech ; afterwards in demy Svo, as above. Contains

I

IN HIS LIBRARY 263

13 coloured plates and numerous woodcuts, all by
Leech.

Another edition, i860. 8vo.

Another edition, n.d. 1888. Coloured plates by
Wildrake and others.

Bell's Life and The Field are known to all hunting-
men, but the following books, all with some interest
for hunting-folk, may not be so well known, since
forgetfulness is the recognised inheritance of posterity.
Still, they will repay investigation.

" The Sporting Repository ; Horse Racing, Hunt-
ing, Coursing, Shooting, Pugilism, &c." 1822. 8vo.
McLean. 19 coloured plates by Henry Aiken.

" The Sporting Review : a Monthly Chronicle of the
Turf, the Chase, &c." Edited by " Craven." Illustra-
trations by H. Aiken and others. This serial com-
menced in 1839.

" The Sporting Magazine ; or. Monthly Calendar of
the Turf, the Chase, &c." Illustrations. This series
commenced in 1792.

"The Sporting Mirror." Edited by '' Diomed,"
1881-6. Complete in 10 vols. 8vo. Portraits.

" Sporting Notions," n.d. Oblong 4to. 20 coloured
plates by Henry Aiken.

" The Sporting Oracle, and Almanack of Rural Life,"
for 1841. Edited by " Vates." [2 whole-page sporting
plates by R. B. Davis.

This periodical was afterwards incorporated in "The

264 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

Sporting Almanack," which was then produced as the
" Sporting Almanack and Oracle of Rural Life." 1842-4.
8vo.

" Encyclopaedia of Rural Sports." By D. P. Blaine,
ist. ed. 1840. 8vo. With over 600 engravings by Leech,
Aiken, Landseer, and others.

Another edition. 1852. 8vo. By "Ephemera"
(Edward Fitzgibbon) and others, with over 600 engrav-
ings on wood.

Another edition. 1858. 8vo. Illustrated from draw-
ings by Leech.

Another edition, 1870. 8vo. Illustrated from draw-
ings by Leech.

Another edition. 8vo. 1880. Engravings by Leech,
Aiken, and others.

" The Encyclopaedia of Sport." Edited by the Earl of
Suffolk and Berkshire, Hedley Peek, and F. G. Aflalo.
Complete in two vols. Vol. I. — A to LEO. 1897.
Imperial 8vo. With 20 full-page photogravures and
several hundred illustrations in the text.

The following book, which was reproduced by Mr.
Blades in 1881, is merely of interest as a curio. Those
who believe that " old books must be loved and their
idiosyncrasies carefully studied," will appreciate it,
though to my eyes the old print is illegible. Mr. Blades'
reproduction is published by Mr. Elliot Stock, of
62 Paternoster Row. It is an excellent specimen of
mediaeval typography, but very hard to decipher.

IN HIS LIBRARY 265

'' Bokys of Haukyng and Huntyng, and also of
Cootarmuris." By Juliana Barnes or Berners. ist ed.
St. Albans, i486. Reproduced in facsimile, with an
Introduction by William Blades. 1881. 4to.

Second edition. 1496. Folio, with woodcuts, printed
by Wynkyn de Worde, under the title, " Treatyse per-
teynynge to Hawkynge, Huntynge, and Fysshynge with
an Angle."

Reprinted (150 copies only), with an Introduction by
Joseph Haslewood. 1810. Folio. And also by Watkins
in 1880. 4to.

Another edition, n.d. Wynkyn de Worde. Small 4to.

Another edition, n.d. Wyllyam Coplande. Small 4to.

Another edition, n.d. Wyllyam Coplande for Robert
Toye. Small 4to.

Another edition, n.d. Wyllyam Coplande for Richard
Tottell. Small 4to.

Another edition, n.d. Abraham Vele. Small 4to.

Another edition, n.d. Hery Tab. Small 4to.

Another edition, n.d. John Waley. Small 4to.

Another edition, n.d. Wyllyam Powell. Small 4to.

Another edition. 1586. 4to. Edward Aide. Printed
under the title " Hawking, Hunting, Fowling, and
Fishing with the True Measures of Blowing."

Another edition. 1596. 4to. Adam Islip. Printed
under the same title as the edition of 1586.

All the above mentioned copies are extremely scarce.

The name of Georgina Bowers will be familiar to
most of my readers. I have never had the pleasure of

2 66 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

meeting her in the hunting-field, though we have had
pleasant correspondence. Her work deserves a place
in a sportsman's library.

"Hunting in Hard Times," n.d. (1889.) Oblong
folio, with letterpress and 20 humorous coloured plates.
By Georgina Bowers.

" Leaves from a Hunting Journal." 1880. Oblong
4to. 20 large plates with lithographed text. By
Georgina Bowers.

" Notes from a Hunting Box." By Georgina Bowers.
1873. Oblong folio. Illustrations.

The following book is anonymous, but should be on
the shelves of every hunting-man ;

" How Pippins Enjoyed a Day with the

Foxhounds." 1863. Folio. Illustrated title and 12
large coloured lithographic plates by " Phiz."

Mr. A. E. Pease won the House of Commons Point
to Point Race in 1891 on Nora Creina, on which he
had ridden second in the race of 1890. In his younger
days he was Master of the Cambridge drag. His por-
trait on Nora Creina forms the frontispiece to "Hunting
Reminiscences."

"The Cleveland Hounds as a Trencher-Fed Pack."
By A. E. Pease. 1887. 8vo. Coloured portrait of
Tom Andrews, and plates. Pp. viii + 257.

"Hunting Reminiscences." By A. E. Pease. 1898.

IN HIS LIBRARY 267

8vo. Illustrations, including two based upon sketches
by Sir Frank Lockwood.

The authors of the next five works are, with the excep-
tion of " Triviata," unknown to me ; but I have perused
their works, and consider them worthy of notice in
these pages.

"Reminiscences of the late Thomas Assheton-
Smith, Esq." By Sir John Eardley Wilmot. i860.
Post Svo. With 10 portraits and plates by Cooper and
others.

Second edition, i860. Post8vo. Portrait and plates.

Another edition. 1862. Svo. Revised.

" Reminiscences of a Huntsman." By G. C. G. F.
Berkeley. 1854. 8vo. Coloured and plain illustrations
by Leech.

This work is included (vol. 4) in Maxwell's " The
Sportsman's Library." 1896. Some copies were printed
on large paper.

"A Diary of Fifteen Years' Hunting, from 1796 to
1811." ByJohnBeard. 1813. i2mo. Pp.vii. + 292.
Woodcuts.

" Triviata ; or. Cross-road Chronicles of Passages in
Irish Hunting History, during the season of 1875-6."
By Maurice O'Connor Morris. 1877. 8vo. Illustra-
tions.

The following is one of the few books which is not
in the catalogue of the British Museum :

268 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

" Meynellian Science of Fox Hunting upon System."
By Hawkes. ist edition privately printed, n.d. (? 1802.)
Mr. Meynell died at the beginning of the present
century, and this book appears to have been printed
shortly after his death.

Another edition. 1848. 8vo.

Mr. Delme Radclifife was Master of the Hertfordshire
Hunt from 1836 till about 1839, when he made way
for Mr. Brand, afterwards Lord Dacre. He was a man
of refined taste, a scholar, and a great reader. In the
work noticed below he has proved himself to be pos-
sessed of a fluent style, a wide vocabulary, and an
intimate acquaintance with the writings of the best
authors. The enlarged edition by Mr. W. C. A. Blew
is the best.

"The Noble Science." By F. P. Delme Radcliffe,
ist ed. 1839. 8vo. D. Bogue. Illustrations. Most
copies were issued with cut and gilt edges, and these
are of less value.

Another edition. 1839. 8vo. Bohn.

Fourth edition. 1893. 8vo. Enlarged by W. C. A.
Blew. Pp. xxviii + 331. With 10 steel plates coloured
by hand and 35 woodcuts in the text.

It is only necessary for me to pay a tribute of regard
to " Brooksby," who, like many another good fellow,
relinquished the pleasures of the hunting-field to fight

IN HIS LIBRARY 269

for his country in South Africa. His contributions to
The Field and to Baily's Magazine are famiHar to all
hunting-men. His best volume work is :

" The Cream of Leicestershire," " Eleven Seasons'
Skimmings," " Notable Runs and Incidents of the
Chase." By " Brooksby " (Edward Pennell-Elmhirst).
1893. 8vo. Pp. xvi + 435, with coloured and other
illustrations by Sturgess. Portraits and a map.

" Foxhound, Forest, and Prairie." By " Brooksby "
(Edward Pennell-Elmhirst). 1892. Royal 8vo. Coloured
plates and woodcuts by Sturgess and Marsham.

I should add, however, that the reproduction of his
articles in The Field, anent the hunting countries of
England, is one of the most useful books of reference
that I have had the pleasure of referring to.

"The Horse in the Stable and the Field." By
"Stonehenge" (J. H. Walsh). 1861. 8vo. Illustra-
tions.

There are many editions of this well-known work ;
a thirteenth appeared in 1890. 8vo. Pp. x + 622.

The author of the above work is too well known to
require comment.

Few men have done more for fox-hunting literature
than Mr. Cornelius Tongue, better known as " Cecil.''
The Stud Farm is still an authority on the breeding of
hunters, and should be read by every breeder.

270 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

"Hunting Tours, Descriptions of Various Fashion-
able Countries and Establishments, &c." By " Cecil "
(Cornelius Tongue). 1864. Post 8vo. Coloured frontis-
piece.

" Records of the Chase, and Memoirs of Celebrated
Sportsmen." By " Cecil " (Cornelius Tongue). 1854.
i2mo. Plates.

Another edition. 1877. 8vo.

Another edition. 1880. 8vo.

" Stable Practice ; or. Hints on Training for the
Turf, the Chase, and the Road." By " Cecil " (Cor-
nelius Tongue). 1852. Post 8vo.

"The Stud Farm; or. Hints on Breeding for the
Turf, the Chase, and the Road . . ." By "Cecil"
(Cornelius Tongue). 1873. F'cap. 8vo. Frontispiece.

As Mr. Warburton only died at Arley Hall on
December 6, 1891, his memoiy is still green. He was
an ardent fox-hunter, riding thoroughbred horses bred
by himself. His verses were originally written to amuse
himself and his friends.

" Hunting Songs, Ballads, &c." By Rowland Eyles
Egerton Warburton. ist ed. 1834. 8vo. Coloured
portrait and plates.

Another edition. 1846. 4to. Illustrations.

Another edition. 1855. Oblong 8vo. With four
etchings by " Phiz."

Another edition. 1859. 8vo. An important edition,
as it differs considerably from the preceding ones.

IN HIS LIBRARY 271

Another edition. 1877. Two vols. 8vo.

"Three Hunting Songs." By Rowland Eyles Eger-
ton Warburton. 1855. Oblong 8vo. 4 plates by
"Phiz." Only 250 copies printed.

The two following books are worthy of mention,
though they cannot claim to have been published
within the nineteenth century. They should be on
the shelves of every sporting library :

"An Essay on Hunting." By A Country Squire.
1733. 8vo. Frontispiece and vignettes.

Reprint, By Smeaton. 1820. 8vo. Frontispiece
and vignettes.

"The Art of Hunting." By William Twici, hunts-
man to King Edward II. Translated by H. Dryden.
1844. 4to. Nine illustrations. Only 25 copies
privately printed.

The two books to which I have now to refer, though
different in their characters, will always be considered
authoritative works of reference. I will not enlarge
upon the many and various arguments which have
been publicly expressed in regard to the Royal Buck
Hounds. The opinions of Lord Ribblesdale are of far
more value than any that I could offer. In regard to
Mr. Blew's book on the Quorn Hunt, it resembles all
of Mr. Blew's works. It is written by a conscientious
gentleman.

272 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

"The Queen's Hounds and Stag-hunting Recollec-
tions." By Lord Ribblesdale. With an Introduction on
the Hereditary Mastership by Edward Burrows. 1897.
Royal 8vo. Pp. 332. 25 photogravure plates and 37
half-tone plates. 150 copies on large paper (4to.).

"The Quorn Hunt and its Masters." By William
C. A. Blew. 1898. Super-royal 8vo. With 12 hand-
coloured illustrations of the Quorn country, and 12
head and tail-pieces, all by Henry Aiken. This work
is uniform with the same Author's editions of Vyner's
" Notitia Venatica " and Radcliffe's " Noble Science of
Fox-hunting."

I have been unable to discover any details in regard
to the personality of "Harry Hieover" (Mr. Charles
Brindley). Therefore I only append his books which I
consider to be the best.

"The Hunting Field." By "Harry Hieover"
(Charles Brindley). 1850. 8vo. Frontispiece.

" Stable Talk and Table Talk ; or, Spectacles for
Young Sportsmen." By "Harry Hieover" (Charles
Brindley). 1845-6. 2 vols. 8vo.

"The Stud, for Practical Purposes and Practical
Men." By "Harry Hieover" (Charles Brindley). 1849.
i2mo. Plates.

Another edition. 1858. F'cap. 8vo.

"The Sporting World." By "Harry Hieover"
(Charles Brindley). 1858. F'cap. 8vo. Frontis-
piece.

IN HIS LIBRARY 273

" Scrutator " and " Wanderer " were both well-known
authors in their time. I append what I consider to be
their best books without comment, though I must add
that they are worthy of perusal, and should adorn every
hunting-man's library.

" Horses and Hounds : A Practical Treatise on their
Management." By "Scrutator" (K. W. Horlock).
1855. 8vo.

"The Master of the Hounds." By "Scrutator"
(K. W. Horlock). 1859. 3 vols. Post 8vo. Illustra-
tions by Harrison Weir.

" Recollections of a Fox-hunter." By " Scrutator "
(K. W. Horlock.) 1861. 8vo. Frontispiece.

"Across Country." By "Wanderer." 1882. 8vo.
Coloured plates.

"Fair Diana." By "Wanderer." ist ed. 1884.
8vo. Pp. viii 4- 360. With 22 coloured plates by
Georgina Bowers.

"A Loose Rein." By "Wanderer" n.d. 1886.
8vo. Pp. viii -f 352. With coloured plates by Geor-
gina Bowers.

Mr. Finch Mason is probably known to my readers
as a water-sketch artist rather than as an author. Yet
he has done as good work with his pen as he has done
with his pencil and brush. I append notices of the two
works which I consider to be his best, though I think
that his stories and illustrations in Fores' Magazine are
superior to his volume work.

s

274 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

"Humours of the Hunting Field." By G. Finch
Mason, n.d. (1886.) Oblong folio. Illustrations.

"Sporting Recollections." By G. Finch Mason.
1885. 8vo. Pp. XV. 200. With 102 illustrations.

My wish is that Messrs. Fores would publish Mr.
Finch Mason's stories in volume form, for they would
be a valuable addition to a sportsman's library.
Let me take this opportunity of stating how much I am
indebted to Mr. Finch Mason for his illustrations to
the stories from my pen which have appeared in Fores'
Magazine.

I hardly know how to write about my friend " Thor-
manby" (Mr. Wilmott Dixon), for he would be the
first man to censure me if I treated him with any
extravagant praise in these pages. As a friend and
brother author I have the deepest regard for him, as
have all of us who have the pleasure of his acquaint-
ance. Mr. Dixon and myself possess many things in
common, the chief of which are Rugby reminiscences.
Mr. Dixon's contribution to hunting literature deserves
the highest praise, for it is the work of a conscientious
author, who has done his best to contribute to the
literature of fox-hunting.

" Kings of the Hunting-Field ; Memoirs and Anecdotes
of Distinguished Masters of Hounds and other Cele-
brities of the Chase, with Histories of Famous Packs,
and Hunting Traditions of Great Houses." By " Thor-
manby" (Wilmott Dixon). 1898. Demy 8vo. With 32
portraits.

I regret that I have only been able to place before
my readers a bird's-eye view of what has always proved

IN HIS LIBRARY 275

to me a most delightful and interesting study ; but I
think that I have demonstrated that fox-hunters do
not possess those uncultivated minds with which they
have been endowed by the enemies of sport. Mens
Sana in corpore sano is the primary rule of life with all
sporting authors who have won any renown. They
have not been carpet-slippered men, sitting in their
studies over tobacco smoke, but men who have gained
practical experience in the hunting-field. That men
holding such high positions in society, as the late Duke
of Beaufort and the late Earl of Suffolk, should have
deemed it an accession to their dignity to join the ranks
sporting literature ; that men, to whom money was no
object, should have employed their leisure time in
writing about their favourite pursuit ; and that men to
whom money was an object should have found hunting
literature to be both a congenial and a profitable pur-
suit, as is witnessed by the large number of editions of
their works, proves beyond all doubt that fox-hunting
still holds a firm grasp on the affections of the English
reading public, in spite of the evil prognostications of
those faddists to whom any outdoor healthy exercise is
a bugbear. But the popularity of hunting literature is
not only due to the love of fox-hunting. With few
exceptions the books which I have mentioned betray
signs of classical scholarship, which we rarely perhaps
find in the bibliography of any other subject. The
novels of Major Whyte-Melville have been read by
thousands of people who have never been on the back
of a horse. The same is the case with the novels of
Mr. Surtees. In the case of both authors, cheap

276 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS

editions have been called for by the general reading
public within the last few years. I have heard it
gravely stated that hunting books lack refinement.
This accusation I wish to repudiate in the strongest
terms, for it is a gross libel on the authors. One might
just as well say that the " Pickwick Papers" lack refine-
ment because Mr. Pickwick occasionally got drunk, or
that Shakespeare's plays lack refinement. Yet the
people who complain of the vulgarity of Mr. Jorrocks
will eagerly devour the problem novels of the modern
female novelists. In conclusion, I must apologise to
many living authors for not having alluded to them
and their work, and especially to those authors who
have written the histories of the hunting countries of
which they have had experience, for their histories in-
variably show signs of deep research involving long
labour. I must, however, compliment the compilers of
Baily's Fox-hunting Directory on the usefulness of
their work. Whether or not the twentieth century is
to produce its quota of healthy hunting literature
depends in great measure on the attitude of Masters of
Hounds. But for the help so freely given by many
of them, many volumes must have been left unwritten.

INDEX

Abington Abbey, 182
Ackennan, Mr. Rudolph, 194
Acland, Mr. C. T, D., 216
Sir Thomas, 216, 220
Albrighton, The, 47, 55, 59, 61,

166, 199, 200, 212
Aldersey Brook, 86
Aiken, Henry, 255, 256, 257, 259,

260, 262, 263
Al thorp. Lord, 3, 49-52, 149
Alton, 80

Alvanley, Lord, 50, 176
American Horses, 128
Amory, Sir, J., 221
" Analysis of the Hunting Field,"

260
"of Horsemanship," 253
Anson, General, 70
Apperley, Mr. C. J. {see also

" Nimrod "), 59, 60, 61,

91, 160, 194, 259, 260
Arley Hall, 270
Ascot, 226
Ashley Hall, 63
" Ask Mamma," 261
Assheton, Mr. Thomas, 63
Assheton Smith — see Smith,

Assheton
Atherstone, The, 42, 72
Attye, Mr., 83
AustraUan Horses, 128
Austria, The late Empress of, 20
Aylesbury, Vale of, 192

" Bachelor's Hall," 53
Badminton Library, The, 252
Badminton, The, 143, 144, 164
B ally's Magazine, 12, 121
Baird, Sir David, 50
Bangor, 67

Barby Road, The, 183
Barnstaple Hounds, The, 221
Baronet (Horse), 61
Barrow, Jack, 44

Will, 42
Bassett, Colonel, 216
Bates, Edward, 60
Bath, 71

Beans, Cost of, 107
Beard, John, 267
Bearley Bushes, 44
Beau Brummell, 60
Beauclerck, Lord Frederick, 70
Beaufort, Duke of, 83, 88-92,
144, 149, 17s, 211, 215, 217
Beckbury, 47, 53
Beckford, Peter, 159, 169, 170,

254. 255
Beggarlybrook, 54
Bell's Life, 90, 183, 186, 263
Belper, Lord, 211
Belvoir, The, 30, 143
Bentinck, Lord H., 211

Lord W., 211
Berkeley, The, 143
Berkeley, G. C. G. F., 267
Berks and Bucks Staghounds, 227

278

INDEX

Berkshire, 67, 126, 228

Billesdon Coplow, 149

Bilton, 182

Bingfield Lodge, 67

Bingham, Charles, 49

Bishop's Court, 216

Bisset, Mr. Fenwick, 215, 219,

221, 222
" Black Collars," The, 43
Blackwater, The Essex, 241, 242
" Black White," 150
Blades, Mr., 264
Blaine, D. P., 264
Blane, William, 258
Blew, W. C. A., 268, 271, 272
" Bokys of Haukyng and Hunt-

yng," 265
Boodle's, 143
Boots, Cost of, 108, lis
Boughey, Sir Thomas, 66, 149,

166
Boughton, 192
Bower, Colonel, 24
Bowers, Georgina, 265
Boyce, Mr., 219
Boycott, Mr., 47, 53
Bradley's Staghounds, Mr., 182
Brampton Wood, 50
Bran, Cost of, 107, 115
Brasenose, 71
Bretby, 76
Brighton, 71
Brigstock, 50
Brindley, Mr. Charles, 272
Brinsworthy, 221
Brixworth, "jy
Broadhalfpenny, 82
Brocklesby, The, 143
Brooksby, 69, 268, 269
Brydges, Sir Egerton, 254
Bucks, 228

Bulkeley, Colonel C. Rivers, 20
Bunbury, H. W., 253

Burton, Country, The, 67, 71
Dick, 67, 73

Cambridge, 49

Canadian Horses, 128

Capping, 3. 5-7, 133-135

Carew, Mr. Tom, 219

Carlisle, 184

Carr, Dr., 71

Castle Hill, 216

" Cecil," 270

Charlottesville, 186

Cheriton, The, 237, 239, 243,

250
Chesham, Lord, 24
Cheshire, 36, 63, 83, 150, 182
Cheshire County Subscription

Hounds, 143
Chesterfield, Lord, 76, 77, 182
Chichester, Sir Arthur, 81, 218,

220
Childe, Mr., 42, 53, 54
Christian, Dick, 69, Ji, 160, 174-

180, 227
Clarke, Mr., A., 221
Clee HUls, 53, 56
Chve, Lord, 45
Clonbrook, Lord, 150
Clopton House, 41
Clothes, Cost of, 108, 115
Coal, Cost of, 106, 115
Coalbrookdale, 58
Colchester, 241
CoUipriest, 219
CoUyns, Mr. C. P., 218
Colwick Hall, 66
Combe, Mr. Harvey, 73
Compton, Wynites 44
Coombe, The, 47
Cope, Sir John, 81
Corbet, Mr. John, 3, 40-45, 46

Mr. Uvedale, 182
Cottesbrooke Park, 21

INDEX

279

Cottesmore, The, 143, 178
Cotton, Major, 84
Country Sport, 15, 153
County Gentleman, The, 237
Coventry, Lord, 215
Coventry's Hounds, Earl of,

143
Craddock, Mr. J. D., 211
Crags, John, 60
Craven, The, 77, 78, 81, 121,

130, 132
Crawshaw, Lord, 211
Crockford's, 49
Croome Foxhounds, 215
Culmstock, The, 242, 250
Cumberland, 165
Curtis, Mr., 47
" Cynegetica," or Essays on

Sporting, 258

" Daily News," The, 186, 187

Daley, Mr., 184

"Dandy" (Hound), 121

Dansey, Mr., 53, 54

Darby, John, 84

Darlington, Lord, 74

Dash, 71

Davis, Charles, 226, 227

Davy, Sir Humphry, 82

Devon and Somerset Hounds,
215, 220

Devonshire, 235

" Diamond Jubilee," 205

Dibdin, 55, 57

Dixon, Mr. H. H. ("The
Druid ") 160, 176, 177,
178, 181-188, 227
Mr. Wilmott, 274

Dolton, 219

Doncaster, 184

Doncaster Gazette, The, 184, 186

Droxford, 24

"Druid," The— see Dixon, H. H.

" Dryasdust," 163
Ducie, Lord, 81
Dudley, Lord, 211
Dulverton, 218
Dunchurch, 42, 47, 182
Dunkery Beacon, 216
Dunstall Park, 215
Dunster Castle, 220

Earp, Alfred, 29, 209

Earth-stopping, 128

Edgehill, 46

Edstone, 257

" Encyclopaedia of Rural

Sports," 264
" Encyclopaedia of Sport," 264
Epwell Hunt, The, 4, 43
" Essays on Hunting," 258
Essex, 235, 240, 241, 242
Essex, Lord, 211
Eton, 70, 80,
Exeter, 216
Exmoor, 214, 216, 218
Expenses of Hunting, 93-141
" Extracts from the Diary of a

Huntsman," 78, jg

" Fair Diana," 273
Farnborough, 47
Farnley Hall, 162
Fawkes, Mr., 162
Featherstone, Mr., 47
Fellowes, The Hon., Newton,

218
Fernie, Mr., 121
Field, The, 8, 164, 190, 263,

269
Fife Foxhounds, The, 192
Finds, 128

Firr, Tom, 209, 210, 211
Fitzwilliam, Earl, 73, 143
Flesh Account, 109, 115
Foley, Lord, 65

28o

INDEX

Foljambe's Sale, Mr., 84
Fores' Magazine, 273, 274
Forester, Mr. George, 53-58, 59
Fortescue, Lord, 216, 218

Mr., 221
Foster, Captain, 166
" Furzecutter " (Horse), 149

Gachina, 23

Gamekeepers, 12, 14, 15, 18

Garth, Mr., 149

Gentleman' s Magazine, The,

91

Geoffrey Gambado, 253
Germany, Military Hunting in,

22
Glub, Rev. Peter, 219
Goddall, Will, 164
Goddard, Jack, yj
Goosey, 164
Goulburn, Mr. Edward, 4, 44,

47
Grafton's Hounds, Duke of, 143
Grant, Mr., 83

Mr. Frank, 83
Graves for Hounds, 248
Graves, Lord, 216
Greenall, Sir Gilbert, 211
Greville, Lady Violet, 19

Hackleton House, 184
Hambledon Hounds, The, 76,

77. 82
Hampshire, 65, 67, 80
Hampshire Hounds, The, 81
Hamsterley Hall, 195
" Handley Cross," 194, 195,

196, 261
Handley, Mr. T., 47
Harborough, 66
Harrington, Lord, 211
Harrison, Joe, 67
Hatherleigh, 219

" Hawbuck Grange," 261
Haweis, Mr., 145
Hay, Cost of, 103, 115
Head, Sir Thomas, 70
Heathcote, Sir Gilbert, 178
Heinemann on Otter-hunting,

Mr., 234-251
Henry VHL, King, 246
Herbert, Mr. Reginald, 12, 13,

14
" Hermit " (Hound), 122
Hertford, Lady, 44
Hertfordshire, 240
Heythropt, The, 164
" Hillingdon Hall," 261
Hillmorton Gorse, 182
Hills, Jem, 164
Hoheman, Count, 22
Holbeck, Mr., 47
Holdenby House, 192
Holme, Eden, 181
Holmes, Nelly, jj
Holybourne, 80
Hordon, Thomas, 246
Horns, Cost of, 108
Horsemanship, 73
Horses, Cost of, 98, 99, 100
Hound breeding, 1 21-124
Hound Show, 121
Hound Van, 250
How Street Mill, 237
" Hunting Reminiscences " (by

" Nimrod "), 91, 259
(by A. E. Pease), 266
" Hunting Songs, Ballads, &c."

270
" Hunting Tours " &c., 270
Huntsman's Petty Account, 112,

"5
Hutton Bushel, 70

" Illustrated London News,"
91

INDEX

281

" Illustrated Sporting Books,"

252
Inglewood Hounds, The, 181
Ironbridge, 58
Itchington Heath, 3, 46

Jersey, Lord, 71
Jockey Club, The, 46, 68
John, King (as M. O. H.). 246
Jones, Herbert, 205

Richard, 60, yj

Sir Tyrwhitt, 59
" Jorrocks' Jaunts and Jolli-
ties," 262
Jorrocks, Mr., 160, 161, 195

Karslake, Rev. W. H., 219

Kennedy, Lord, 70

Kent, 23s

Kenyon, Lord, 211

Kilgraston, 83

" King of Oude " (Horse), 185

" Kings of the Hunting-field,"

274
Knight, Mr., 220
Knightley, Sir Charles, 50

" Ladies in the Field," 19
Ladies in the Hunting-field, 18-

22, 13s, 136, 232, 233
Lamb, Charles, 252
Lambton, Mr. Ralph, 194
hand and Water, 163
Lant, Mr., 29

Lawley, The Hon. Francis, 187
Leamington, 43
Leche, Mr., 83
Leconsfield's Hounds, Lord,

143
Lee, Mr. R. B., 146, 165
Leech, John, 178, 195, 197
Leicestershire, 9, 65, 67, 74, 165,

176, 178

Le Marchant, Sir Denis, 49, 50, 52
Licences, no, 115, 247
Lightwood Hall, 83
Linseed, Cost of, 107, 115
Litters, 130
Littlebury Mill, 242
Littleton, Sir Edward, 73
Long, Will, 164
Lonsdale, Lord, 156, 211
" Lottery " (Horse), 182
Lucan, Lord, 49
Lucas, Mr. Stuckley, 218
Luttrell Family, The, 220
Lyndhurst, Lord, 89
Lynes, Mr. G. B., 185, 186
Lyttleton, Lord, 52

Macaulay, Lord, 89
MacDonough, William, 182
Manners, Lord Edward, 211
Mann's Riding School, Sir

Horace, 176
" Marmaduke," 153
Martin, Mr., 237
" Martingale," 185
Mason, Jem, 182

Mr. Finch, 19, 145, 273, 274
Meal, Cost of, 106, 115, 248
Medicine, in, 115
Melton Mowbray, 38
Melton Mowbray Times and

Loughborough A dvertiser,

The, 156
" Memoirs of the Life of the Late

John Mytton, Esq.," 260
Meriden, 41, 47
Meynell, Mr. Hugo, 65, 91
" Meynellian Science of Fox

Hunting upon System,"

268
Middleton, Captain Bay, 20

Lord, 3, 4, 46-48, 176
Millers and Otter-hunting, 236

282

INDEX

Mills, John, 69

" Modern Sporting Dogs," 146

Monmouthshire Hounds, 12

Monson, Lord, 71

Moody, Tom, 57, 58

Mordaunt, Sir John, 47

Motor-cars, 203

" Mr. Facey Romford's Hounds,

262
Musgrave, Sir James, 72
Musters, Mr., 63, 66, 71, 72, 84
Myers, Mr. Ernest, 50
Mytton, Mr. John, 59-62

Nantwich Farmers' Club,

150
Needle's Eye, The, 56
Nethercote, Mr., 76
Newark, Lord, 211
Newbold Steeple, 182
Newcastle, Duchess of, 211
Newmarket Houghton Meeting,

75
Newport Pagnell, 70
" New Sporting Magazine," The,

194
Nikolaievsky Hunting College,

23

Nikolas Nikolaievich, Grand

Duke, 23
" Nimrod " {see also Apperley),

59.70. 72, 91, 160, 161,217
Northampton, 181, 182
Northampton, Lord, 44
Northamptonshire, 50, 64, ^j,

127
Nottinghamshire, 71
" Nun," The (Horse). 182

Oakley, The. 121
Oats, 104. 105

f Old Sports and Sportsmen ;
or the Willey Country, 58

Osbaldeston. Mr. George. 69-75,

176
Ossington, 82
Otley, 162
Owelthorpe, 74
Oxford, 64, 71

Packington Hall, 47
Paget, Mr. J. Otho, i6q
Panton, 67
Payne, Charles, 86

Mr., 72

Philip, 91. 164
Pease, Mr., A. E. 266
Pelham, Mr. Cresset, 59
Pennell-Elmhirst, Captain, 127,

269
Perthshire, The, 83
Peterborough, 121, 165, 166

Bishop, of, 211
Pitsford, 72
Pittman, Mr., 161
" Plain or Ringlets ? " 262
Pollard, Hugh, 216
Porlock, 220, 222
Portland Club, The, 70

Duke of, 211
Portsmouth, Lord, 81
Poultry Fund, 32. 95, 124, 125
Pozezdziecki, Count, 23
Puleston, Mr. T. H. G., 86

Sir Richard, 60
Puppy Show. 116
Pytchley. The. 3. 43, 49, 50, 51,
72, 27, 82, 149, 182. 192

Quantocks, The, 214, 221, 222
Quarterly Review, The, 161
Quorn. The. 29. 30. 65, 72, 175,
177, 211, 272

Radcliffe. Mr. Delm^, 69,
268

INDEX

283

Randall, Mr., 56, 58

Rarey, Mr., 186

Reading, 224

" Recollections of a Fox-hunter,"

273
Red Deer, The, 2 1 5
" Remarks on the Condition of

Hunters," 260
" Reminiscences of the Late

Thomas Assheton Smith,

Esq., 267
Repairs in Stables and Kennels,

113, 116
Ribblesdale, Lord, 37, 38, 224,

226,227, 229, 230,271,272
" Ringwood " (Hound), 121
Rivers, Lord, 255
Roberts, Lord, 22
Robins, Mr., H. 47
Roding, The, 242
" Roquefort " (Horse), 205
Roseberry, Lord, 160
Ross, Captain, 70
Rosslyn, Lord, 190
Rothschild's Hounds, Lord, 192
Royal Buckhounds, The, 143,

225
"Royal" (Hound). 84
Royal Prussian Boarhounds,

22
Rudge, 47, S3, 55
Rugby, 84, 181, 182, 183
" Rural Dean " (Horse), 186
Russell, The Rev. John, 216,

218, 219
Russia, Military Hunting in, 23
Rutland, Duke of, 30, 211

Saddlery, 107, 115
St. Maur, Lord Percy, 211
Sanders, Mr. R. A., 221, 222
Sarden Park, 83
Saxelby Spinney, 30

Scott, John (on Masters), 199-

213
" Scrutator," 168, 170, 273
Sebright, Tom, 73, 164
Sefton, Lord, 67
Shard, Mr., 76
Shirley, Jack, 67

Mr., 48
Shoeing, 103, 115
" Shooting Times," 17
Shooting-tenants, 11,95
Shropshire, 36, 47, 53, 56, 57
Shropshire and Shifnal Hounds,

The, 59
Side Saddles, 232
" Silk and Scarlet," 177, 178
Simonsbath, 216, 220
Skipworth, Sir Grey, 4, 47
Smith, Mr. Thomas Assheton,

63-68, 78, 81, 149, 203
Mr. Tom, 76-82
Somerset, Duke of, 211
Somerville, William, 257, 258
Southampton, Lord, 72
South Grove Covert, 81, 82
Spencer, Earl, 49
" Sponge's Sporting Tour," 263
" Sporting," 260
Sporting Life, 186
Sporting Magazine, 161, 186,

217, 263
" Sporting Mirror," 263
" Sporting Notions," 263
" Sporting Oracle," 263
Sporting Review, 161, 263
Spurs, 107, 115
" Stable Practice," 270
Staffordshire, 36, 55
Staghounds, 214-230
Stanley, Mr. E. A. V., 221, 222
Stephens, Parson, 53, 55
Stisted, 241
" Stonehenge," 269

INDEX

Stopping — see Earth-stopping

Story, Mr,, 84

Stour, The, 243

Stratford-on-Avon, 3, 41, 45

Straw, 103, 115

Streatfeild, Lieutenant-Colonel

H., 22
Strickland, Miss, 193
Subscription Packs, 94
Subscriptions, 135, 143
Suffolk, 72, 235, 241, 242, 243,

245
Sundorne, 41
Surrey, 235
Surtees, Mr., 194, 198
Sussex, 235

Sutherland, Duchess of, 211
Sutton, Sir Richard, 66, 84
Swiencany, 23
" System of Kennel and Science

of Fox-hunting," 170

Tarporley Hunt Club, The,

143
Tattersall's, 73, 186, 218
Teasdale-Buckell, Mr., 17
Tenworth, 64, 67
" The Badminton Hunt," 91
" The Chase," 258
" The Chase, the Turf, and the

Road," 259
" The Cleveland Hounds," 266
" The Cream of Leicestershire,"

269
The Gentleman's Magazine, 91
" The Horse and the Hound,"

259
"The Horse in the^ Stable and

the Field," 269
" The Horseman's Manual," 194
" The Law of the Farm," 184
" The Life and Times of ' The

Druid '," 187 !

" The Life of a Sportsman," 259
" The Noble Science." 268
"The Old Mortality of the

Turf," 185
" The Queen's Hounds," 224,

272
" The Quorn Hunt," 272
" The Royal Hunt," 91
Thompson, Colonel Anstruther,

192
" Thormanby," 274
" Thoughts on Hunting," 169,

255
Thurlow Country, The, 72
Tiverton, 216
" Tom Moody's Tales," 58
Tongue, Mr. Cornelius, 269, 270
Torridge, The, 247
Tout, James, 216, 217
Travelling Expenses, in, 115
Treby, Mr., 81

Tredegar's Hounds, Lord, 143
Trevor, Lord, 211
" Triviata," 267
" Trojan " (HoundJ, 41
Trotter, Mr., 20
Tweed, The, 247

" Vagabond " (Hound), 121

" Valesman " (Hound), 121

Vane Tempest, Lord Henry, 211

" Vaulter " (Hound), 71

Vaynol, 67, 68

Vine, The, 81

" Volatile " (Hound), 122

Wages, 100, 249
Wales, 83

Walking, Puppy, 116, 120
" Wanderer," 273
Warburton, Mr., 270, 271

Sir Peter, 143
Warde, Mr. John, 50, 64, 81

INDEX

285

Warner, Mr. E. H., 211
Warwick, Earl of, 47

Races, 46
Warwickshire, 42, 47

The, 3, 41, 46, 122
Waterford, Lord, 176
Watermouth, 216
Weare, Giflford, 237
Weaver, Thomas, 43
Webber, Mr. WiUiam, 6j
Wellington, The Duke of, 64
Wenlock, 54
West, Captain, 219
Westmoreland, 165
Whips, Cost of, 107, 115
White, Captain John, 150

James, 185
Whyte-Melville, Major, 38, 180,
188, 189-193. 244, 253,
27s
Widmerpool, 74
Wildrake, 6p

Wilkinson, Mr. John, 58
Willey, S3, 58
Williams, General, 47
Willoughby de Broke, Lord, 43

47, 162, 165
Wilmot, Sir J. Eardley, 267
Wilna Hunting College. 23
Wilson, Mr. E. P., 205
Wilton, Lord, 30
Wingfield, Tom, 6y
Winkleigh, 219
Wire, 37, 38, 95, 125-128
Wise, Mr. Matthew, 43
Withypoole, 219
Worcestershire, 36
Worth, Mr., 216
Wrekin, The, 53
Wynn, Sir Watkin, 6^, 83-87,

143. 172

Yate, Turnpike, 89
Youlstone, 218

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