86 THE HUNTING FIELD 



their second ones, and then having frightened and 

 bullied their wits out of them, they wonder they are 

 good for nothing. We dropped upon one of these 

 bullying gentry unawares one day — a flash fool, who 

 thought himself fit for anything, but of whose talent 

 the world formed so different an opinion, that he is 

 now out of place — and overheard a rating match that 

 he thought was all between themselves. " Come and 

 ride behind 7?ie, and don't be showing off there," said 

 he, with all the importance of a lord-lieutenant, to a 

 poor frightened lad he had stationed at a gorse cover 

 corner, with orders not to move till he told him, an 

 order that the lad had implicitly obeyed, but had 

 unfortunately attracted a group of children, who, we 

 suppose, the Huntsman thought would have been 

 much better employed in looking at him. "Like 

 master like man," is a very true saying, and in no 

 instance more strongly exemplified than in Huntsmen 

 and field servants. If the Master is a coarse, swear- 

 ing, bullying fellow, the man will think it necessary to 

 imitate him. Huntsmen, of all people, take their 

 "cue" from the Master, and they have plenty of 

 opportunity of observing the terms on which each 

 sportsman stands with him. Whippers-in take their 

 "cue" from the Huntsman, and much the same 

 manners will be found to reign throughout an estab- 

 lishment. To their credit, however, be it spoken, we 

 scarcely ever met with anything like rudeness or 

 incivility from a hound servant. Some have more 

 manner than others, but they all "mean well." My 

 lord's men are better drilled, have seen how things 

 are done in other establishments, but Mr. Rattle- 

 cover's, though they may not " sky scrape " quite so 

 high, would be quite as ready to catch a stray horse, 

 or set a fallen sportsman up on his hind legs. From 

 catching loose horses Huntsmen are always exempt, 

 they must go with their hounds, the office therefore 

 devolves on the Whips, unless some other good 



