TO HUNTSMEN 



ways try and get them to think they are 

 doing it all themselves. If you have to stop 

 them at dark, or off a vixen, try and do it 

 when they come to a check; but if you 

 are obliged to stop them roughly, get off 

 your horse and make friends with them 

 again. Show them they have done no wrong 

 by persevering on. Always ask to have the 

 mute hounds, skirters, and noisy ones 

 drafted at once. They are faults that al- 

 ways get worse, and as Jorrocks says, a 

 skirting hound, like a skirting rider, is sure 

 to have a lot of followers. I do not call a 

 hound a skirter that cuts corners going to 

 the cry. This is what every good hound 

 ought to do. 



Be kind to your whippers-in ; do not try 



d 49 



