Echoes of the Hunting Horn 



of the few village greens that have resisted the onslaught 

 of tarmacadam, a big percentage of the townspeople 

 gather to greet hounds. The ideal setting is a quiet 

 country cross-roads. With no houses around, the 

 architecture of which might lend a date, and provided 

 vehicles are excluded for a similar reason, the period 

 might be any time in the long history of the Chase. 

 Generally speaking, the principals have changed little 

 in the course of centuries. Admittedly, on closer 

 scrutiny, one may observe the absence of docked-tailed 

 horses (it was even fashionable at one time to have 

 their ears rounded!); hounds are of more uniform 

 type, with shorter pasterns and more bone than their 

 predecessors; huntsmen still favour Scarlet .... cut 

 and style may have altered, as has the display of side- 

 whiskers, but only slightly; and most important of all, 

 Mr. Fox, around whom is woven all this pageantry, 

 has scarcely changed an iota. 



What a wealth of cherished memories, some perhaps 

 tinged with regrets, mingle with the carefree visualisa- 

 tions of the new-born season ! How wonderful to see 

 hounds again ! How lovely to feel the confident swing 

 of a good horse ! There's sure to be a fox in the big 

 gorse; it always holds. I hope he is a rambler from the 

 hills. I am anxious to see how this young horse will 

 take the big bank out of the Bottoms where the grey 

 fell last March. He is not too fond of water yet, but 

 he is a marvel at stone walls. Even if he is a bit green 

 at timber .... sure the odd pole in a gap .... well, 



42 



