A PLEA FOR INTEREST IN HOUNDS 37 



ing the deep thought and study of character dis- 

 played by the master : — 



" Comus, 1844. A modest little dog ; a very hard runner. 



" Tomboy, 1845. Got the name of the schoolmaster of the pack, and 

 was probably the best and most sagacious dog that ever ran in the 

 Midland counties. These two dogs ran in the bitch pack. There was 

 little to choose between them — in nose, brilliancy, or stoutness. Each 

 dog was equally quick in dropping clear into the dry ditches and work- 

 ing a sinking fox out of them. But Comus could be led wrong by wHd 

 men or by a flashing pack of hounds, while neither man, nor hound, nor 

 fox could make a fool of Tomboy. However wild men or hounds might 

 be, he would quickly leave them aiid turn back to his fox. Nothing 

 could put him out of temjier, and in his last season he could still race 

 with the puppies at night. 



" Cojitest, 1848. A model dog, a most brilliant animal, noted 

 for his hard running, flying the gates and double rails without 

 touching them ; and, too, for turning short without the need of a 

 ' drag chain.' 



" Elder, 1850. This was an extraordinarily brilliant dog, a very hard 

 runner, and remarkable for the distance he could bring his hounds back 

 to the spot where they last had it good, and for working the dry ditches ; 

 old Rosebud's excellence came out in him. 



''■ Bingworm, 1856. Noted for jumping out of the very centre of the 

 pack when they were hunting it hill-way, turning back, and never being 

 caught for two miles in the Gainsboro' Woods. 



" Sontag, 1860. Noted for takuig the hounds through two miles of 

 sheep, driving before them along the Clakby hillside in the great 

 Wickenby run. 



" Biot, 1861. Followed by her sister Ruby, is noted for having taken 

 back her huntsman and hounds three large fields to the spot where they 

 left their fox in Thornley. A very brilliant performance." 



Lord Henry declares that the hounds he purchased 

 at Mr. Foljambe's great sale in 1845 " made the 

 pack " ; and it is interesting to read that Albion, sire 

 of the famous Tomboy, was not himself more than a 



