Ihe Merry Past 



speed, and seemed as if he thought that his horse had 

 no feeling. The whole appearance of the royal hunt, 

 amounting to nearly three hundred horse, had a very 

 curious quaint appearance ; the noise, the bustle, 

 the pomp and parade, the clattering of heavy boots, 

 the flapping of the men's pigtails, together with an 

 air of importance and ceremony, produced an extra- 

 ordinary effect. The hounds were English — very fine 

 dogs, and purchased at Tattersall's — they ran well, 

 but were not as well hunted ; there was too much 

 bustle and exertion in the matter. The horses of the 

 King's establishment, as well as those of the nobility 

 who accompanied the royal train, were mostly 

 Norman, although a great many were English, and of 

 high price. The former were very stout and bony, 

 more calculated for a stiff country, or for the fatigue 

 of a long and arduous journey, than for fleetness, 

 fencing, or other active performances, in getting over 

 leaps and crossing a country. Bone was a great 

 recommendation in France in those days, and a cross 

 between the British and Norman breeds was much 

 sought for. The Due de Lauzun, the Due de Pienne, 

 and the Prince Charles de Ligne had some of the 

 finest English horses in the country, not forgetting 

 Philippe Egalite's stud. 



At that time there were in France a number of 

 most magnificent voitures de chasse, hunting carriages, 

 very fancifully constructed, resembling our caravans, 

 and having sometimes a stag's head and fore-quarters 

 in front ; over which a coachman, all gold or silver 

 lace, and his hair highly dressed, used to take his seat, 



73 



