INTRODUCTION 



THE year 1911, marking as it does the centenary of the death of the 

 author, seems appropriate for publication of a new edition of 

 Thoughts on Hunting. 



What Izaak Walton is to angling, that Peter Beckford is to fox- 

 hunting ; each is the father of the literature of his sport ; but with this 

 difference, that whereas Walton as an instructor has long since been rele- 

 gated to honourable retirement, Beckford retains his place as ' head mas- 

 ter ' and will retain it so long as fox-hunting continues. The reason lies 

 on the surface ; Beckford knew his subject from the bottom and was 

 above all things thorough ; he seems always to have kept a huntsman, 

 but he himself was a perfect master of all that pertained to hounds whether 

 in the field or in kennel, and had occasion required could have discharged 

 the duty of kennel huntsman or of feeder with complete knowledge of its 

 minutiae. A man much above the average in ability, intelligence and 

 power of observation, he made a study of fox-hunting in its every aspect ; 

 and his Thoughts were penned only after many years of experience. Various 

 changes have come over the sport during the hundred and thirty years 

 which have passed since his book first saw the light; but its essentials 

 remain the same, hence the permanent value of Beckford's work. It is 

 hardly too much to say that the Thoughts are unique ; even as they were 

 the first word on their subject, so they are like to be, in a sense, the last, 

 for in each of the numberless works since written on fox-hunting, acknow- 

 ledgment of Beckford is to be found. 



It is curious to contrast with the author's enduring monument 

 the inscription self chosen, surely on the memorial tablet in Steepleton 

 Church : 



' We die and are forgotten 'tis Heaven's decree ; 

 Thus the fate of others will be the fate of me.' 



The production of Thoughts on Hunting, however, was a mere incident 

 in Beckford's career ; though the book passed through five editions in his 

 lifetime and undoubtedly won him recognition among his peers, he could 

 not have anticipated the permanence of its fame. He had been a Member 

 of Parliament, he had travelled, he was highly educated, and he had many 

 interests other than hunting ; and though he lived in an age when author- 

 ship was uncommon and the production of a book of any kind by a country 



iii 



