CHASE OF THE WILD RED DEER 5 



Times are changed; and great would be the 

 scandal at the present day if a bishop of the church 

 were to enrol himself as a master of hounds. I ndeed, 

 th-e presence of a clergyman in the hunting field 

 is by many considered objectionable ; and the 

 recreation of the chase is deemed to be incom- 

 patible with the duties of clerical life. Far myself, 

 I will say that, without wishino- to see the dioni- 

 taries of the church again maintaining their kennels 

 of hounds, I should feel regret if I were to miss 

 from the field the familiar faces of some of those 

 members of the clergy who now join in the sport in 

 our country, and whose presence is always welcomed 

 at the covert side. 



My present object is not so much to discuss the 

 antiquity of hunting generally, as to chronicle the 

 history of stag-hunting in the west of England, in 

 which part of the country I have lived for more 

 than half a century, and during which period the 

 chase has been my greatest source of relaxation and 

 enjoyment. 



And first, a word as to the country in which this 

 sport has, for ages past, been carried on. Many 

 of my readers who are lovers of the picturesque, 

 and who have explored, not only foreign climes, 

 but also the nooks and corners of their own country. 



