352 CHANGES IN FOX-HUNTING 



then gone out of fashion for a time, and white Bedford 

 cords were more in vogue than cotton cords, or at least 

 were considered smarter, but moleskins were seldom seen. 



I think if a man had appeared in the hunting-field 

 on a hog-maned horse at the time I speak of he would 

 have been considered a lunatic. The only animal 

 ever hogged was a butcher's pony, and no end of 

 trouble was taken to make the mane of the hunter 

 " lie." I well remember the mane of a horse being 

 removed to get rid of ringworm, which covered the 

 animal's neck. Dire was the distress of the owner, 

 who could not bring the horse out till his mane was 

 grown ; and no one seemed to think it strange that 

 he did not do so. Hunters' tails were seldom docked 

 in those days, and the amount of dirt some of the 

 heavy bang tails would bring into a stable after a 

 wet day's hunting was surprising. 



White gloves, cleaned with breeches-paste or pipe- 

 clay were in vogue at that time — a senseless fashion 

 it always seemed to me — and I recollect a bit of 

 scandal being raised when a lady was observed to 

 bear the impress of a white hand on her habit about 

 the region of the waist, when she emerged from a 

 wood which hounds had been drawing. But there 

 were so many white gloves in the field that the 

 youngsters could not " spot " the favoured swain ! 

 There were few ladies hunting then, though a certain 

 number rode to the meets and saw hounds throw off ; 

 yet it was not then " the thing " for a lady to hunt, 

 and very few really rode hard to hounds. I doubt if 

 there were fifty in the United Kingdom ! I speak 

 of the sixties, or at least from 1865 to 1870, when I 



