4 THE HUNTING FIELD 



wear a sort of air that says no common mud shall 

 stick to us. 



A Master of Hounds is one of the most difficult 

 characters in life to fill; hence it is not surprising 

 that there are but two sorts — the best fellows under 

 the sun — and the nastiest brutes going. Fortunately 

 for society, the " nastiest brutes " going, are so select 

 and so self-convicting a set as not to require much 

 description from us; they are generally waffling, 

 fretting, fussing, fuming, vapouring bodies, who soon 

 make way for one of the " best fellows under the sun." 

 Now the best fellows under the sun, like the "best 

 horse going," are a numerous breed, but, as applied 

 to masters of hounds, they must, to a certain extent, 

 have the same qualities, though they may have very 

 different ways of showing them. First and foremost 

 they must be keen. About this there must be "no 

 mistake," as the Duke of Wellington would say. It 

 would be not a bit more absurd for a man to punish 

 himself by keeping a yacht, who hates sailing and the 

 sight of the sea, than it is for a man to keep a pack 

 of foxhounds who has no ardent predilection for the 

 chase. A qualified liking will not do for a "best 

 fellow under the sun." He must be heart and soul 

 in the sport — a real out-and-outer. Keenness covers 

 a multitude of sins. 



In addition to the sine qua non of keenness, he 

 should possess a host of other qualities. He should 

 have the boldness of a lion, the cunning of a fox, 

 the shrewdness of an exciseman, the calculation of a 

 general, the decision of a judge, the purse of Squire 

 Plutus, the regularity of a railway, the punctuality of 

 a time-piece, the liberality of a sailor, the patience of 

 Job, the tact of an M.P., the wiliness of a diplomatist, 

 the politeness of a lord, the strength of an Hercules, 

 the thirst of a Bacchus, the appetite of a Dando, the 

 digestion of an ostrich, the coolness of a crocodile, 

 the fire-enduring powers of a salamander or of Mons. 



