/40 MANUAL OF MODERN FARRIERY. 



deer's skin, strip or case a hare, fox, and all sorts of vermin^ 

 which is done bj beginning at the snout, and turning the 

 skin over the ears down to the tail. 



With respect to the seasons for pursuing different animals, 

 stag and buck-hunting begins a fortnight after Midsummer, 

 and lasts till Holyrood-day ; and that for the hind and doe 

 begins at Holyrood-day, and lasts till Candlemas. Fox- 

 hunting begins at Christmas ; hare-hunting begins at Mi- 

 chaelmas, and lasts till the end of February ; and where the 

 wolf and wild boar are hunted, the seasons commence at 

 Christmas, the first ending at Ladyday, and the last at 

 Purification. 



A stag which has had the honour of being hunted by the 

 king or queen is styled a hart-royal. 



STAG-HUNTING. 



In former times stag-hunting was chiefly confined to roy- 

 alty, and when the nobles afterwards were permitted to 

 exercise this privilege, it led to many deadly feuds, as the 

 barons were jealous of any encroachments on their bounds; 

 and when such took place, either from thoughtlessness or 

 wantonly, broils were almost certain to be the consequence. 

 Hunting- and war were the only employment of the nobility 

 in those uncivilized times. 



This sport in Great Britain has become nearly a dead 

 letter, and the only pack of staghounds which exists is in 

 the royal establishment at Ascot Heath, in Windsor Forest. 

 The late Earl of Derby kept a pack at Oaks, near Epsom, in 

 Surrey, which are now dispersed ; and a pack was kept at 

 Cheltenham. The only advantage which stag-hunting has 

 over that of a fox-chase, is the chance of a much better run; 

 but the damage which so long a continuance does to horses 

 counterbalances the pleasure derived from the chase, as many 



