CRITICAL AFFAIKS OF THE PACK. 89 



ably received 50/. a year, by virtue of the sergeanty apper- 

 taining to the Manor of Little Weldon, from the Sheriffs of 

 Sussex, from this time until the end of the Kinor's reign. On 

 the Pipe Roll of the 2nd James I. he is described as Pexsall 

 Brocas, " late Esquire, now Knight," " magister canes regis " ; 

 Thomas Browne, the huntsman, and Richard Mercer and 

 Robert Duke, yeomen berners, being still the hunt-servants 

 under him. 



Nevertheless, the affairs of the Hereditary branch of the 

 Royal Buckhounds did not run smoothly. The ripple of dis- 

 satisfaction which appeared on the surface of the establishment 

 of this important adjunct of the Royal chase early in the reign 

 of Henry VII. developed energy during the reign of Bluff King- 

 Hal, producing, as we have seen, the Privy, or Household, 

 branch — first as an auxiliary, soon afterward independent, and 

 now, in the time of James I., in actual antagonism to the old, 

 so-called, hereditary establishment. " Tempora mutantur ! " 

 This branch of the Royal Buckhounds exhibited symptoms of 

 decay early in the sixteenth century. Like the White Hart in 

 the fable, although it was doomed to death early in the seven- 

 teenth century, it was not destined to die at least for another 

 hundred years to come. Throughout its history we find, from 

 time to time, radical changes. Thus, under Edward III., when 

 hunting " at force " became customary, and infused new life into 

 the pleasures of the chase, the method then observed failed to 

 meet the exigencies of the dashing horseman of the Tudor era, 

 when led horses were introduced by Henry VIIL, and those who 

 rode to the Royal Buckhounds. It is apparent the Hereditary 

 pack did not meet the demands made upon it in those days. 

 It may have suffered through the practical abolition of feudal 

 service ; it must have been out of touch with a court whose 

 headquarters were at Westminster and Windsor, where its 

 Master was only obliged to appear in person during the forty 

 days of Lent. These and other circumstances brought about a 

 crisis in its fate soon after the accession of James I. 



We now find antagonism openly manifested between the two 

 branches. Whether the Trojan Master of the Hereditary, or 



