258 CENTURY OF ENGLISH FOX-HUNTING 



a recognised institution, carried on under prescribed 

 conditions, instead of being the amusement of a few 

 landowners and tenant farmers. 



The dying century has seen more mechanical 

 developments than any that preceded it — one might 

 almost say than all others put together — and the 

 machinery of the stable has shared in the general 

 improvement. I have already alluded to the most 

 important modern improvements, and I must now 

 say a few words about the modern groom. At 

 the beginning of the century in the country the 

 grooms were more like feudal retainers than like 

 their modern successors. Often they had been born 

 on their master's land, and entered his employ 

 as a matter of course as soon as they were old 

 enough to work. In those days there were no 

 School Boards, and the urchins of the village 

 were left much to their own resources. That they 

 should grow up into clumsy hobbledehoys was 

 but natural ; but as a rule they were honest and 

 loyal to their masters. Even the sins of the black 

 sheep seldom extended beyond poaching. They 

 might have been little better than day labourers, 

 but they were trustworthy, and what their masters 

 bid them to do in the stables they did. For the 

 rest, they were content with the knowledge that they 

 had learnt from their predecessors. However, as a 

 rule, they knew how to groom and exercise a horse, 

 and, being naturally fond of animals, saw that their 

 charges were as comfortable as their surroundings 



