THE BOOT-LEG 171 



of varicocele, the boot leg should fit close. The 

 ankle should be supple as a stocking, and 

 " bellowsed " to make sure of suppleness. 

 The counter should be of the hardest possible 

 leather, thick, but fining upwards to an edge, 

 and so made that when the man's foot spreads 

 the foot of the boot, this fine upper edge, 

 closes over the ball of the heel to prevent 

 chafing. For the horseman the heel should be 

 broad and flat, or high and tapering to prevent 

 it from getting through the stirrups. 



The boot-top of the seventeenth century 

 came well up the thigh, but was turned down 

 in summer for coolness, showing the brown 

 inside of the leather. Later on this turned 

 down top was replaced for smartness by a use- 

 less detachable cuff. For smartness also, the 

 English leg was made rigid, disabling the 

 wearer. Lately I went to a smart London 

 maker for boots to suit my need of a supple 

 ankle, flat heel, and modelled counter. The 

 sales gentleman made me feel acutely that I 

 was a cad, the workmen struck, and the pro- 

 prietor corrected my design, revenging himself 

 in his bill for the delay he caused me. It is in 

 details such as this that one feels that the 

 whole art of horsemanship in England has 

 become a frozen convention, and is dying. 



