preface vii 



there are numbers of the class to whom this book 

 appeals who will find something fresh to them even 

 in the chapter on such a hackneyed subject as Izaak 

 Walton and Charles Cotton. 



As to sins of omission, 1 can only say in defence that 

 I have carefully considered the claims of a long roll of 

 worthies before making my choice, and that I have 

 chosen those whose lives afforded most material for 

 interesting and entertaining biography. There have 

 been some great sportsmen the late Earl of Malmesbury 

 and his father, for example whom I would gladly have 

 included in my gallery of portraits, but the information 

 obtainable was so scanty and so devoid of personal 

 interest that I felt the impossibility of making anything 

 readable out of it. I think the names which I have 

 selected are fairly representative of the great experts 

 with Rod, Rifle, and Gun. 



I have confined myself to deceased celebrities, 

 because I should have been hampered by many con- 

 siderations in dealing with living notables. But I 

 readily admit that there are sportsmen living who have 

 as much right to be considered " Kings " of sport as any 

 of those whom I have included in these volumes. Sir 

 Edward Braddon and Mr. F. C. Selous are shikarris of 

 equal renown with Sir Samuel Baker and William Cotton 

 Oswell ; and not far below them are such hunters of 

 big game as Mr. Clive Phillipps-Wolley, Mr. Baillie- 

 Grohman, and Mr. F. J. Jackson, whose contributions 



