F O% - H U N TI N G PA S T £5 P R E SE N T B ?” R H C A R I S E . L L . “HA W E TH O K TE T P W . R G M L A E I . E I ENT ( , 4 ) WI TH EI GHT FUL L - PA GE I L L US TRA TI ONS 4 4 4 Not Handel sw eet mu si cdeli btetb %be ear g , So macb a: tbe bound: infullcry L OND ON : JOHN L A NE, THE BOB L ET HEA D P M CM NEW YORK : JOHN L A NE COM A NY. VI I I Print e b L NT E 4 d A L A YN A NSO N 6 C o . y B , H A t t e Ball n ne e E nb u r h h a ty Pr ss, di g P R E FA C E T is th a I patent to any readers of this work , t one double or treble the size co uld easily have been compiled dealing with “The Sport of “ Kings these salient features, concerning Sport ” with H orse and Hound, have been discussed ox- as F hunting Past and Present , with the hope that they may interest the few, if not the many , by the author . O O 1 08 L ND N , 9 . C O N TE N TS C HA P. - I . Fox HUNTING IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY THE F - — I I . ORIGIN O Fox HUNTING A GLIMPSE AT MELTON TO- DAY AND A S IT WA S IN I TS INFANCY TH I I I . E QUORN HUNT THE O F H O IV . MASTER UNDS TH O F V . E COST HUNTING T O VI . HE H O RSE AND THE C UNTRY To SELECT VI I . HUNTERS AND THEIR STABLES . EE CO IO O F H E VI I I F DING AND NDIT NING UNT RS, AND S OME REMARKS O N SADDLERY I % . HUNTING CENTRES S OME A % I O MS AND SAYINGS O F THE CHASE 73 - % I . STAG HUNTING — % I I U B- H A F ECKFO . C UNTING AND TER B RD AND NIMRO D vii ‘ Com eni s CHA P. PA GE THE H - F E : I TS M E % . I I I UNTING I LD ANN RS, AND DISCIPLINE S OME N OTED FO% H O UNDS V ST T K O N H S C P I O % . RAIGHT AL S UNT UBS RI T NS — ENTHUSIASM O F NEW BLO O D THE STATUS O F SHIRE AND PROV INCE O F DA Y % VI . STATISTICS THE PRESENT A PPENDI CES v iii L I ST OF IL L USTRA TIONS LO LO E H COTTEs RD NSDAL , T E ' ' M ORE Frontzspzece S O HE QUIRE OSBALDEST N , T — O 1 81 —1 82 1 1 82 1 82 To ace a e I O QU RN, 7 AND 3 7 f p g C P O E O A TAIN F R STER, THE QU RN THE M O F Z K. P. ARQUIS ETLAND , “ OH A N OLD T H J N WINTER , IME UNTS To H R PH L O MAN T E LATE AL AMBT N , — 1 0 1 8 8 . E . 8 SQ , DURHAM , 4 3 ‘ M EI LL . N MR C . H . F P , T E GRAFTO N LORD WILLO UGHBY DE BROKE 1 1 0 THE BADMINTO N SWEEP WHAT HuNTs ” H K O 1 8 ART WITH T E DU E , AB UT 33, . EIGHTH DUKE O F BEAUFO RT F O% H U N TI N G 9 P A S T 863 P R E S E N T CHAPTER I FO % - H U NTI NG I N TH E TWENTI ETH CENTURY ’ H ere s many a year to you ’ n h Sportsmen wh o ve ridde life straig t . ’ H ere s allgood cheer to yo u n Luck to you early a d late . ’ H ere s to th e best o fyou I th n You with th e bl oo d and e erve . ’ H ere s to th e rest ofyou ’ What ofa weak moment s swerve ? Fac th e m f nc a or a a a n e gri e e , g te , w ll g i R h a and a h in th e van ide rd str ig t , Life is to d are and deserve I T is generally admitted that the conditions under which hunting is carried on have materially altered ; however, there were never more rich men engaged in the sport than now . Every one knows that fox- hunting is more expensive than it used to be , and the subscription should be the most important and carefully considered item of ’ every man s hunting outlay . ‘ ’ ‘ ‘ Fox- k um zng P asz and Presem Pessimists have from time to time averred that the Sport is doomed and its days numbered to - five twenty years . Sixty odd years ago the same SO was prophesied . far , railways have not ended - the sport . Wire fencing has come more into - n vogue , and pheasant reari g in some countries is of colossal proportions , and the fox is not every where held in the same veneration as formerly To counterbalance all this , however , the farmer is treated in a much more business- like manner than formerly : his wishes and his claims for poultry damage are listened to with a ready ear ; also his damage to crops , if any, and these should be “ W % n few . Ware heat How ofte do you not hear it , or , rather , should you not hear it , in the early spring ? Then there are many men who will also buy their forage from the county farmers . Then there are many counties where the hunting feeling is paramount , and vulpicide execrated . Here , how ever , you would probably note that pheasant rearing on any large scale is not attempted . Then , say , forty miles farther on , you will find the f opposite state of a fairs exists . Things go on fairly smoothly here for a time , perchance , as the system of “putting down foxes obtains in this A country or hunt , call it which you like . keeper - here would own up to fox destroying . Men , however , in good positions in a county have before now been branded with the stigma of ‘ ’ ‘ ’ ‘ ‘ Fox- kum zng in Me Twem zezk Cem m’y vulpicide— even lost elections and left their home - thereby . The country that possesses fox hunting - and game preserving, swinging in the balance of f popularity , also o fers food for thought . It really behoves both sections to meet each other half A ll ' way . usually respect Shooters wishes as to drawing coverts . Many packs have to confine their autumn hunt ing to districts not shot over, where pheasants are scarce . Hounds, in some hunts , are not taken to coverts that are doubtful , which does not pay , as it encourages vulpicide . The master and his followers therefore require to exercise much tact and diplomacy . Hunt balls , point to point races, hunt breakfasts , and hunt dinners help to smooth down much of the friction . Capping , though not universal , has had to be introduced , especially in the larger and more important hunts W hich are is greatly visited by strangers . Then there the ” minimum subscription to be paid by all members of a hunt . Where this is very high the sport becomes one entirely for the rich . Take , man for instance, a with one horse , where the minimum subscription is £ 40 ; that is in the 2 Quorn country . Many others range from £ 5 to £ 35 . This works out , in the former instance , at 2 a £ per day, for the verage hunter does not do much more than twenty days per season , taking into account the chance of being laid up by illness , 3 ‘ ’ ‘ Fox- h um zng Past and Presem lameness , sore back , or other complaints . There fore it is only feasible there should be a sliding scale in favour of residents who cannot in justice pay the full amount . I n many provincial districts there is a poultry and damage fund, and to this men who are not members , or who hunt but seldom , can and do pay . I n some counties there is not so much hunting with neighbouring packs as there used to be . I mean in the case of meets on the borders of two - hunts , so that the hunting man is expected to subscribe to each pack they hunt with . This - hits keen hunting men in the Midlands very hard , who hunted and subscribed to a pack and took A t occasional days with others . Melton , Market Harborough , Rugby , and Leamington , Leicester, six and Oakham also , those hunting five or days a week have to subscribe to three or four packs . Capping has not brought in much money , but it is has checked the size of the fields . It not a hunting rent at all , but to lessen the damage to fences and land . It guarantees that all who do hunt pay for their sport . I must needs recount you here a few reflections on the longevity of hunting - men and records A n they have made . y one who wants to peruse a splendid record of hunting achievements I com ’ ’ C 1 A - mend to 0 . nstruther Thomson s Eighty Years ” Reminiscences ; a masterpiece in its way . The ‘ ’ ‘ ‘ FOx - k um zhg in Me Tweni zezk Cem mfy doyen of masters in his day , I need hardly say they have been equalled but by few, surpassed by none .