SOME CHRISTMAS REFLECTIONS 307 



to be wished for in the interests of fox-hunting in the 

 future, so that in the days to come there shall be no 

 more complaints of ladies riding about and chattering 

 loudly when hounds check, or of reckless riding over 

 grass seeds and springing wheat. 



In a few days our hunting-fields will be thinned, 

 our Christmas house-parties dispersed, and the boys 

 will be back at school or college, while the small 

 sisters will find their hunting days curtailed after 

 holiday-time, and I think they will all be missed. It 

 is interesting to turn over Leech's hunting pictures, 

 drawn in the fifties and early sixties, and to note 

 how he delights in the portrayal of the juvenile fox- 

 hunter in his Christmas holidays. 



Who does not remember the boy on the Shetland 

 who charges the brook with " All right, Ruggles, we 

 can both swim ! " or the other youngster who forbids 

 the keeper to raise the sheep hurdle as he is "coming 

 over" on a rat of a pony whose ears are half a foot 

 lower than the hurdle. Then there is the delightful 

 Etonian who, when told by an ancient that he should 

 hold his pony together over plough, replies, " All right 

 old Cock ; don't teach your grandmother to suck eggs ; 

 there's my man by the haystack with my second 

 horse ! " In Leech's day, at all events, the juveniles 

 were very much on the ride, and it certainly is not 

 common nowadays to see schoolboys riding up to the 

 motto "Be with them I will," after the manner of 

 the lads he depicts so skilfully. 



It is amusing to denote the demeanour of the young 

 brigade when they arrive at the meet, and to observe 

 the different bent of their inclinations. Most of the 



