132 HUNTING 



a straight leg behind, or an absence of calf. Now the 

 recognised acme of beauty in a boot is that it should 

 be perfectly straight; therefore the fashionable boot- 

 maker, in his anxiety to turn out a perfect boot, turns 

 out one which pinches the wearer's calf. Such a 

 boot is not only uncomfortable, but dangerous. We 

 once saw a first-rate rider tumble off his horse, or, in 

 sporting language, " cut a voluntary," while jumping a 

 very small fence. The reason was that when in the 

 act of jumping, and necessarily pressing his legs closer 

 to his horse, he was suddenly seized with cramp. 

 This man was far too good a rider to make a false 

 excuse for his " voluntary : " so we must warn the 

 novice against allowing his boots to pinch his calves, 

 or the result may be dire disaster. 



Gloves and ties may seem to be trivial articles, but 

 it is in these minor details that the sportsman's know- 

 ledge of dress asserts itself. There is only one hunting 

 tie, namely, that which is a combination of collar and 

 tie, in a single word, a cravat. Strictly speaking, it is 

 a hunting cravat, since it goes round the neck twice. 

 The collar portion may be either stiff or limp, accord- 

 ing to the fancy of the wearer, but the colour should 

 always be white, though they are made in other 

 colours, such as light blue. But the coloured cravat 

 is not only unsportsmanlike, but savours of the livery 

 stable keeper, and the horse-dealer. Indeed, it was 

 once christened "the horse-coping cravat." At first 

 che novice will find no small difficulty in tying his 

 cravat neatly, but perseverance will soon come to his 

 rescue. Our recipe is that, as both ladies and gentle- 

 men wear them he had better persuade a hunting 



