56 FIELD MASTERS AND HUNTSMEN, 



in the matter of hunting a fox that cannot be 

 acquired. 



The power possessed by certain men over their 

 hounds is also a gift. It cannot be learned ; but the 

 first-rate huntsmen must possess it, and this power 

 is certainly as often found in the amateur as the 

 professional. The coming man, I am told, or rather 

 the amateur who at once rushed to the front rank 

 among huntsmen, is Mr. Charles McNeill, joint Master 

 of the Grafton, who may be said to have graduated 

 under Mr. Robert Watson in Ireland, while his 

 residence in the Shires gave him every opportunity 

 of comparing the methods of many different huntsmen 

 of celebrity. Then, apart from his knowledge of horses 

 and splendid horsemanship, Mr. McNeill has always 

 deen a " doggy " man, and we may be pretty sure 

 that his quiet determination was eventually to become 

 Master of a pack of foxhounds, and hunt them 

 himself. He is also, like all his race, a lover of 

 wild sport, and has a knowledge of the habits of 

 wild creatures. Such a man was bound to succeed 

 as a huntsman, and why should not such a man be 

 fully the equal of the very best of professionals ? 



Some say the professional holds a great advantage 

 over the amateur, inasmuch as he is always among 

 his hounds, sees them fed, is with them at 

 exercise, and on the long road to covert and the 

 weary journeys home. Now, although there are 

 amateurs who do all this, and see fully as much of 

 their hounds as any huntsmen do, in places where a 

 competent feeder is kept, yet I am sure, from my own 

 experience, that it is by no means necessary for the 



