HIRELINGS. 323 



can be profitably hunted during the 'hunting season' Unfor- 

 tunately he is a short-running, dodging brute, which sticks to 

 coverts, and is not much better than a hare. 



With carted deer, hinds and haviers (unsexed deer) will 

 have to be used until about the middle of December. When 

 stags are cut as calves, they do not get horns, and are called 

 ' polled haviers.' They then have lost so much the appear- 

 ance of their sex, that few people can tell them from big 

 hinds. If they are cut later, they get one set of horns, which 

 are never shed, and which always remain in velvet. The term 

 ' havier ' or ' heaver ' appears to be derived from the Scotch 

 and North Country word ' aver ' (French avoir), which origin- 

 ally meant 'property' and now signifies 'work-horse.' Pos- 

 sibly it came in that way to mean ' gelding.' 



Harriers generally begin hunting as soon as the country is 

 rideable, and leave off about the middle or towards the end of 

 March. Some packs wind up with stag. 



GETTING A STABLE TOGETHER. 



The first question here is : to buy or to hire ? For conve- 

 nience, there is nothing like hiring, which, as a rule, can be 

 done in the Shires at about 20 a month each horse ; the 

 owner having to take all fair risks of disease and accident. A 

 heavy weight who wants to go straight, would of course have 

 to pay more, say 25 a month. The hirer has to pay the 

 stable bills, which may be put at 25 shillings a horse; supposing 

 that one man looks after three horses, which is quite as much 

 as he can do properly. Or it would be better to have two 

 men for five horses. The expense of a stud groom and 

 second horseman will of course be extra. I think the big 

 " hirers out " charge three guineas a day for a hunter, of 

 course taking all risks; the horses are good ones, and a 

 stranger wanting to hunt for a day or two is quite safe in 



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