HATS. 365 



lie in the small depression which is on the outside of the 

 knee cap and at its lower edge, and which is considered by 

 some sportsmen to have been made for that purpose ! At 

 present, the buttons as a rule are brought to the front 

 as much as possible, which arrangement is apt to cause 

 unpleasant pressure of the buttons on the shin bone. The 

 custom is for four buttons to show above the boots, and 

 three above the leggings. 



Garter straps (Fig. 220) are put round the legs, to prevent 

 the knees of the breeches working round. They are about a 

 third of an inch in width, are provided with plated double 

 buckles, and are made of pipe-clayed leather for white 

 breeches, and of brown leather for rat-catcher. Since about 

 1880, garter straps have gradually superseded knee ties, which 

 are now worn only by sportsmen of the old school. They 

 consist of white leather ribbons put round the leg and tied in 

 a bow just below the fourth button of the breeches. 



A tall hat furnished with a hat guard of black cord, 

 is the correct head-gear for hunting. Many years ago, the 

 stiff velvet cap was largely used, but is now seldom worn 

 except by Masters and hunt servants. The fact of the 

 famous Lord Waterford breaking his neck in a fall which 

 he had when wearing a hunting cap in 1859, was certainly 

 the chief cause of the cap going out of fashion ; for the 

 news of that accident spread the apparently reasonable idea 

 that concussion of the head with the ground is better broken 

 by a tall hat, than by a cap. Poor Captain Park Yates, 

 Master of the North Cheshire, was wearing a cap when he 

 was killed by a fall on his head. A hunting hat should be 

 somewhat stronger than an ordinary silk one, and should 

 be large enough to come down over the back of the head, 

 as well as over the forehead, so that it may be able to retain 

 a firm position on the head. For this object and to prevent 

 sweat soaking through the hat, a hunting hat is usually 



