130 Ikinss of tbe TCofc, IRifle, an& 6un 



term be not more than he deserves, of whom Daniel tells 

 the following story : 



" It is a fact well authenticated, that one Gentleman 

 who used to boast that he never killed less than twenty- 

 jive brace of partridges on the first of September^ has 

 been known to take the late hatched birds, that could 

 scarcely fly above the stubble, from before the noses 

 of his pointers, tie their legs together, hang them up, 

 and so shoot them, that he might not fall short of 

 his favourite number." 



This is an awful example of the demoralising effects of 

 the lust for big bags, and it conveys a not unseason- 

 able warning. 



In 1813 Daniel published a supplement to his " Rural 

 Sports," dedicated to the Marquis of Blandford, a 

 sumptuous volume for which the compiler obtained 700 

 subscribers. A sorrier piece of book-making I have 

 seldom seen. It is a mere scrap-book of odds and ends 

 without any coherence. Two items of information, how- 

 ever, I gleaned from it which are not without interest. 

 The one is that Daniel Lambert, the man-mountain, was 

 famous for his breed of setters and pointers ; four couples, 

 sold in 1806, fetched 218 guineas. The other item is the 

 following anecdote of the Duke of Richmond's hunts- 

 man. Hounds were out at the end of spring, 1783, 

 and coming to a check, the Duke asked the huntsman 

 the reason. " Why, my lord," was the reply, " it must 

 be owing to them damned stinking violets, I think." 

 There, then, we have the original of John Leech's 

 famous picture in Punch a veritable chestnut indeed, 

 served up fresh at seventy years of age ! 



