The Life of a Great Sportsman 



satisfaction ; whilst she gave our mother and grandmother, both 

 of whom were " Marthas," some very good cookery receipts for 

 special German dishes, which we relished exceedingly. I 

 particularly remember she told us that they never dreamed of 

 cooking a hare in Germany until its nine skins had been 

 carefully removed. Naturally, after this piece of interesting 

 information, nothing would suit our inquiring minds but to see 

 these nine skins in actual process of dissection. We duly 

 experimented upon the first poor "puss" which fell to our dogs 

 or guns, my brother Maunsell, who loved the eating of hare and 

 the coursing of it too, besides being the most practical culinary 

 artist of the three, watching the operation with intense eager- 

 ness. We kept greyhounds in our young days, and coursed 

 whenever possible on non-hunting days, we three going out 

 with the groom and dogs, and ranging the fields in the most 

 approved fashion. But this form of sport, if indeed it is worthy 

 to be dignified by that name, we gave up early in our lives. I 

 remember I was the first to give it up, and whether from the 

 same reason my two brothers followed suit I have never known 

 for certain, but I should think it extremely likely, for both were 

 humane even as boys. My relinquishing of the sport came 

 about in this way. One day I found myself in the proud 

 position of being the only one going for a ride, and expected 

 to take out the greyhounds as was our wont for exercise and 

 sport. So very jauntily I set out quite alone with a pony I 

 could easily get off and on, and a couple of the fastest grey- 

 hounds — "Grews" as they are called in the Lincolnshire 

 vernacular — to thoroughly enjoy myself, and betook me to a 

 field which was a well-known " find " for a hare. I found, ran 

 into, and killed my terrified quarry, and the cries of that poor 

 coursed hare ring in my ears to this day. I had to take her 

 from the dogs, and kill her, and from that moment I renounced 



54 



