134 The Hunting Field With Horse and Hound 



Rothschild's staghounds, locating at the Red Lion Hotel, 

 Leighton Buzzard. Whatever you do, don't miss the Blankney 

 Hunt and a few days with the Windermere Harriers in the 

 most beautiful part of beautiful Great Britain, with head- 

 quarters at Ambleside, Lake Windermere, or better still, the 

 Ferry Hotel across the lake from Bowness. 



Then if you would like a good jolly drag hunt, go out with 

 the students of Oxford University. It is the real thing and the 

 best drag hunting, to the writer's notion, in England; besides 

 Oxford is the finest town in all England, in which to spend 

 a few weeks. If you can sprint a little, a day with one of 

 the three college foot beagles will quite complete the role. This 

 should give you the best in variety that England has to offer 

 and that is the best in the world. If by tliis time, you are not 

 in love with rural England and English methods of field 

 sports, the writer will be greatly disappointed, for in spite of 

 its "beastly" weather (it has no climate) , it is the ideal country 

 of all the world for a man who loves outdoor sports and rural 

 life. 



One mistake that most Americans make in visiting England 

 is in rushing from Liverpool to London visiting a few cathedral 

 towns and deceiving themselves with the idea that they have 

 done England. 



A few letters of introduction will put you right, but with- 

 out them your progress will be slow and your welcome very 

 incomplete. Englishmen are very shy of strangers, especially 

 foreigners, until they know from someone who or what you 

 are. As a rule, it is not a question of wealth. If j^ou are a bit 

 of a sportsman, you are welcome even if you are poor. If you 

 can shoot or sing, drive or play, ride or write, whatever your 

 accomplishments, you are welcome. The question of how much 

 you are worth financially is not the first and last question 

 to be determined. There is less snobbishness among the long 

 pedigreed nobility of England than is often found among 



