FOX-HUNTING AND MELTON T 



occupier sold articles over the counter only to oblige 

 his friends. Nearly every shop had its bay window 

 with small square panes, and every door was in 

 two parts, the upper half opening independently of 

 the lower. On market days keeping the lower half 

 closed was a necessary precaution to guard against 

 the possible incursions of unruly pigs and stray 

 cattle, as at that time the farmers exposed their 

 animals for sale in the open street. These queer old 

 landmarks of the past have nearly all disappeared 

 now, and glaring sheets of plate glass exhibit the 

 latest novelties from the metropolis. At the be- 

 ginning of the century Melton was rapidly becoming 

 a fashionable hunting centre, and the men who 

 assembled there were the cream of hard riders 

 from other counties, but for several years previous 

 to that date a few sportsmen had made the town 

 their headquarters. In these early days, and for 

 some years later, only bachelors visited Melton, and 

 the married man left his wife at home. This will 

 account for the mad pranks which history tells us 

 were frequently played after dinner by the hunting 

 men, such as painting signs, wrenching knockers 

 and other wild freaks. When men get away from 

 their women-folk and muster in any force, they are 

 sure to behave like a lot of schoolboys ; they feel 

 at other times, I suppose, the necessity of preserving 

 the dignity of the superior sex. 



Even that most respectable body of men who 

 make our laws, do sometimes forget themselves and 

 indulge in playful antics which seem hardly in 

 keeping with grey hairs. Individually and in the 

 family circle it is impossible to imagine one of those 

 legislators doing anything ridiculous, but we are 



