KIND OF HOUND FOR HARE-HUNTING 115 



suited to that diversion ? You should never exceed 

 twenty couple in the field : it might be difficult to get 

 a greater number to run well together ; and a pack of 

 harriers cannot be complete if they do not r 1 besides, 

 the fewer hounds you have, the less you foil the 

 ground, which you otherwise would find a great 

 hindrance to your hunting. Your other question is 

 not easily answered. The hounds, I think, most 

 likely to show you sport, are between the large slow- 

 hunting harrier and the little fox-beagle : 2 the former 

 are too dull, too heavy, and too slow ; the latter too 

 lively, too light, and too fleet. 3 The first species, it is 



1 A hound that runs too fast for the rest, ought not to be kept. 

 Some huntsmen load them with heavy collars ; some tie a long strap 

 round their necks ; a better way would be, to part with them. Whether 

 they go too slow, or too fast, they ought to be drafted. 



[ 2 This fox-beagle referred to is probably the progenitor of the foot- 

 beagle of the present day, but which in Beckford's time, and long before 

 that date, was used for hunting the fox on foot. The fox was looked on 

 as a thief where no regular pack was kept, was hunted to earth with 

 foot-beagles and terriers, then dug out and killed. In the Essay on 

 Htoiting (see introduction to 1820 edition of this work), the author, 

 writing in 1733, and describing different kinds of hounds, says: "The 

 North-country beagle is nimble and vigorous, and does his business 

 as furiously as Jehu himself could wish." This hound was probably 

 used for hunting both hare and fox. The same writer then mentions 

 another sort, and says: "These, as their noses are very tender and 

 not far from the ground, I have often seen to make tolerable sport ; but 

 without great care they are flirting and maggotty" (whimsical, capri- 

 cious), " and very apt to chaunt and chatter on any or on no occasion."] 



[ 3 Probably Beckford was unacquainted with hare-hunting on foot, 

 which is the only sportsmanlike way of hunting that animal. Foot- 

 beagles should never be over 15A inches or under 12. The country they 

 have to hunt must determine the size within those limits. A plough 

 country, or one where there are many large dykes, as in the fens and 

 some parts of Yorkshire, require the hound of the larger type. The 

 little beagle will, however, generally be found able to get over or through 

 most obstacles, provided he combines strength with activity, and is 

 built on the right lines. Backs and loins should always be there, but 



