WITH HORSE AND HOUND 



the office ; but, as the Master of the Harriers is an ancient and 

 known office, thinks it may be better if your Lordship takes 

 the addition of Foxhounds, and the office to be called Master 

 of Foxhounds and Harriers, which his Majesty is wilUng to 

 grant to your Lordship with the salary of £2000 for yourself, 

 deputy, and all charges attending the same.' 



Lord Carlisle would not have sought the title of M.F.H. 

 had that of M.H. carried the greater consideration. 



May it not be that eighteenth- century hare-hunting owes 

 something of the prestige it has enjoyed in the eyes of posterity 

 to William Somerville ? Might we not have seen fox-hunting 

 in somewhat different light had that been the theme of The 

 Chace ? Perhaps, unconsciously, we attach to the sport the 

 supremacy that has never been denied the poem ; whereby 

 fox-hunting, lacking a chronicler, is thrown out of its true 

 perspective. 



When the chronicler arrived he was worthy of the office. 

 This, his picture of a hunt,^ shows him a hound man above all 

 things : — 



' . . . Now let your huntsman throw in his hounds as 

 quietly as he can, and let the two whippers-in keep wide of him 

 on either side, so that a single hound may not escape them ; 

 let them be attentive to his halloo, and be ready to encourage, 

 or rate, as that directs ; he will, of course, draw up the wind, 

 for reasons which I shall give in another place. — Now, if you 

 can keep your brother sportsmen in order, and put any dis- 

 cretion into them, you are in luck ; they more frequently do 

 harm than good : if it be possible, persuade those who wish to 

 halloo the fox off, to stand quiet under the cover-side, and on 

 no account to halloo him too soon ; if they do, he most certainly 

 will turn back again : could you entice them all into the cover, 

 your sport, in all probability, would not be the worse for it. 



' How well the hounds spread the cover ! The huntsman, 

 you see, is quite deserted, and his horse, who so lately had a 

 crowd at his heels, has not now one attendant left. How 



1 Beckford's frequent quotations from The Chace are omitted. 



2 



