The Merry Past 



unpleasant altercation with the owner of some land, 

 its dissolution being hastened by a spirit o£ ill-will 

 which existed among the English residents ; some of 

 whom, either not being sportsmen, or else unable 

 to join in the hunt, amused themselves by propa- 

 gating malicious stories, tending to prejudice the 

 mind of the public, and to arouse the peasantry. 

 This was shown by the fact that shortly after the 

 15th of October, when the hounds went to hunt the 

 country in the neighbourhood of Samer, some dis- 

 tance from Boulogne, where there were scarcely 

 any English residents, not only were the sportsmen 

 well received (the town on the evening of their 

 arrival resembling an English borough during a 

 contested election), but every Frenchman in the 

 place who could muster a horse appeared in the field. 



The country abounded in foxes, as almost every 

 window in Samer testified — the sole article of com- 

 merce being gloves made of their skins ; and the 

 sportsmen used to amuse themselves by buying 

 brushes (for 5d. apiece) to send to Boulogne as 

 trophies of sport. 



The French at this place had some idea of hunting, 

 and kept twelve or fourteen couple of old-fashioned, 

 crooked-legged, long-eared English harriers. Whence 

 they came it was not discovered, but such was found 

 to be the case when the English fox-hunters took up 

 their quarters at the " Tete de Bceuf^^^ and a deputa- 

 tion of their leading sportsmen politely waited upon 

 the English to welcome their arrival. 



In the Boulogne pack were two dwarf foxhounds 



9» 



