THE BEAGLE 193 



On the other hand, to suit a thick and uncleared country, where 

 he had to be followed on foot, small strains were doubtless carefully 

 preserved to track and push out the game from the dense coverts. 

 Care was naturally taken to develop their scenting powers to 

 the highest pitch of perfection, and as it must always have been 

 important to know where they were, great attention was naturally 

 paid to voice. So we may get the delightful and ready music of a 

 pack of Beagles. 



But this very ancient history, interesting as it may be to some 

 minds, is not of much practical importance to the modern beagler : 

 certain it is that the Beagle existed and flourished hundreds of 

 years ago, and was under its present name the favourite hound 

 of the great Queen Elizabeth, and not the Beagle only, but the 

 Pocket variety of the breed, then called the " Glove," or " Singing," 

 Beagle. 



Coming to modern times, George IV., when Prince of Wales, 

 kept a pack of Dwarf Beagles which he used to hunt on the Brighton 

 Downs, and Colonel Thornton, who some fifty years ago had a 

 celebrated pack of Pocket Beagles, thus wrote of them : " Naturally 

 I inspected the Prince of VVales's kennels, and particularly his Dwarf 

 Beagles, which were originally of the same breed as my own. The 

 Prince's Beagles were of much larger growth than mine and more 

 mixed ; but it is a rule with me to get the most stuff in the least 

 room. The Beagle, in point of height, should be regulated by the 

 country he is to hunt in ; but he ought, at any rate, to be very slow. 

 In a dry country free from walls he cannot be too slow : in the 

 country where my pack hunt the turf is like velvet a circumstance 

 much in their favour ; but the Prince's Beagles, in point of speed, 

 are all too fast." 



Prince Albert also maintained a pack of Beagles, as recorded 

 by Mr. Mills in the " Sportsman's Library." That interesting writer 

 on all sporting matters some fifty years ago thus expressed himself 

 about the Beagle : " Beagles, to be very choice, can scarcely be 

 bred too small. The standard of perfection is considered to be from 

 ten to eleven inches, and the latter should be the maximum height. 

 Although far inferior in speed to the Harrier, the sense of smelling 

 is equally if not more exquisite in the Beagle. In pursuing the 

 hare he exercises indefatigable vigilance, energy, and perseverance. 

 Every winding and double is traced with a degree of exactness 

 which must be seen to be enjoyed and justly estimated, and his cry 

 loads the trembling air with unequalled music. Nothing can be 

 more melodious and beautiful than to hear the pigmy pack open 

 at a hare, and if slow, comparatively speaking, in running her, should 

 the scent be good, she-stands but little chance of escape from them 

 in the end." 



Now let us consider what a Beagle should be. He is not 



