"Unharhourcd now the royal stag forsakes 

 His rcontcd lair; he shakes his dappled sides. 

 And tosses high his beamy head. 

 Such is the cry, 



And such the harmonious din; the soldier deems 

 The battle kindling and the statesman grave 

 Forgets his weighty cares." 



Somervile. 



XV 



THE ROYAL BUCKHOUNDS 



KING EDWARD III QUEEN ANNE, THE CHURCH AND THE 



CHASE — THE MEET AT ASCOT — THE GREAT ASSEMBLAGE — 

 QUEEN VICTORIA — THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS OF WALES. 



rriHE Kings and Queens of Great Britain have always 

 *■ been foremost in the art and science of the chase. In 

 fact, hunting; was formerly confined to the royal families and to 

 such retainers as they were pleased to grant the privilege to. 

 To date its beginning "is to go back," says J. P. Hore in the 

 History of the Royal Buckhounds, "for over one thousand 

 years." 



The records of the chase began, we believe, in the reign of 

 Edward III, 1327 to 1377. "That monarch," says the same 

 authority, "is said to have been every inch a sportsman. He 

 took his hawks and hounds with him wherever he went, whether 

 at home or abroad, in time of ])eace or in time of war." 



The custom of taking hounds with the British Army to 

 war is in practice to this day. They went wth several regi- 



