^l 



In a book on hunting published in 1900, I took the 

 liberty of quoting Beckford on the qualifications of a 

 huntsman, and it will not be out of place to repeat his 

 observations again. " He should be young, strong, 

 bold and enterprising ; fond of the diversion and 

 indefatigable in the pursuit of it. He should be sensible 

 and good tempered ; he ought also to be sober ; he 

 should be exact, civil and cleanly ; he should be a good 

 horseman and a good groom ; his voice should be strong 

 and clear ; and he should have an eye so quick as to 

 perceive which of his hounds carries the scent when all 

 are running ; and should have so excellent an ear as 

 always to distinguish the foremost hounds when he 

 does not see them . . . ; he should let his hounds 

 alone when they can hunt, and have genius to assist 

 them when they cannot.'' 



Customs have changed since Beckford 's day, aad a 

 huntsman is seldom now required to clean or look 

 after his horses, as he has many other duties to perform ; 

 but he would be none the worse if he had held an 

 apprenticeship in the stable under a good groom. In 

 small estabUshments where the strictest economy has 

 to be observed, a huntsman might have the horses under 

 his care, and without previous experience he would be 

 unable to supervise the stable-helpers. 



Methods that are permissible in a grass or flying 

 country are often out of the question in the provinces 

 where hounds may be unseen for the greater part of 

 the day, yet the latter is the better school for a huntsman 

 to leam his business. A whipper-in, who has never 

 been out of the Shires, is frequently promoted to hunts- 

 man on the post becoming vacant, more particularly 

 when he has shown marked abiUty as a horseman in 

 riding across country. It is the ambition of every 



