18 



considered a sign of weakness, but that failing very 

 rarely results in a breakdown, whereas in the perfect 

 leg *' toes down " are not uncommon, and I have 

 heard huntsman complain of shaken shoulders when 

 the ground has been extra hard in cub-hunting. 

 Would those shoulders have been injured had the 

 knee been sHghtly bent, and does that eye-sore reheve 

 somewhat the jar, like a horse's fetlock? These are 

 questions worth our consideration. The modern fox- 

 hound is a thing of beauty, a combination of quahty 

 with strength, which it would be very hard to im- 

 prove on, and it would be hazardous to try experi- 

 ments with blood that had no lineage to back it. 



Belvoir has always been renowned for legs, and 

 anything diverging a hair's breadth from the plumb 

 was ruthlessly drafted ; but with numerous litters bred 

 and almost unlimited walks the kennel had greater 

 opportunities than others. In spite of this fastidious- 

 ness in the minor details and straightness and colour, 

 no hound was ever bred from at Belvoir that showed 

 the sHghtest fault or was not perfect in its work. 

 The result of this was that every kennel in the king- 

 dom has drawn on this well-known pack for sires to 

 improve their hounds. 



Although Belvoir has done great good in spread- 

 ing its shining qualities over a wide sphere, it ha« 

 perhaps done harm in another way, inasmuch as it 

 set a fashion which smaller kennels tried jx) imitate. 

 The straight leg and the Belvoir tan were the external 

 attributes of the famous pack. These were seized 

 upon by lesser lights as ideals fqr which they had to 

 breed, forgetting that however perfect in legs and 

 colour, no hound was allowed to reproduce itself at 

 Belvoir unless faultless in work. 



