344 HUNTING PRELIMINARIES. 



except by Masters and hunt servants. The fact of the 

 famous Lord Waterford breaking his neck in a fall which 

 he had when wearing a hunting cap in 1859, was certainly 

 the chief cause of the cap going out of fashion ; for the 

 news of that accident spread the apparently reasonable idea 

 that concussion of the head with the ground is better broken 

 by a tall hat, than by a cap. Poor Captain Park Yates, 

 Master of the North Cheshire, was wearing a cap when he 

 was killed by a fall on his head. A hunting hat should be 

 somewhat stronger than an ordinary silk one, and should 

 be large enough to come down over the back of the head, 

 as well as over the forehead, so that it may be able to retain 

 a firm position on the head. For this object and to prevent 

 sweat soaking through the hat, a hunting hat is usually 

 provided with a quilted lining. Many people think that 

 Russian leather makes the best lining for this purpose. 



A hunting tie or hunting stock is a combination of collar 

 and tie. The centre of the stock is placed on the front of 

 the neck, the ends are passed in opposite directions round 

 the back of the neck, brought in front, tied in a reef knot, 

 crossed in front of this knot, and finally secured, as a rule, by 

 means of a pin or brooch, of the safety, horse-shoe or fox 

 pattern. A gold safety pin is often used. A brooch pin is 

 naturally safer than an ordinary pin. Nowadays, hunting ties 

 are nearly always made of white cotton material. Long ago 

 in Ireland, I often saw fogies of blue bird's-eye on a white 

 ground, in the hunting field. They were worn in the Shires 

 until about 1885. 



A hunting waistcoat is usually of some fancy woollen 

 material. It is long in the waist, single breasted, it buttons 

 rather high up, and its pockets, as a rule, are provided with 

 flaps. 



Hunting top boots should have long, low heels, so as 

 to prevent the stirrup irons pressing and catching on the 



