INTRODUCTION 



This very interesting volume contains a closely -^ reasoned 

 analysis of the make and shape of the Foxhound that all breeders 

 can read with great interest. Mr. Clapham says that different 

 countries require different types of Foxhound. Some critics 

 will disagree with this proposition, and will assert that there 

 is a certain type of Foxhound that will go well in any country. 

 Mr. Clapham, indeed, seems to have such a type in his mind's 

 eye, and to fix it as being not very far from that of the Brocklesby 

 Rallywood, entered in 1843. He would be a bold man who would 

 argue that a Midland Foxhound of mediimi weight and height, 

 with sloping shoulders, working legs and feet, and quality all 

 over, would not catch a Fox in the shortest possible tune in any 

 country. Mr. Clapham deals very severely with the Peter- 

 borough Hoimd Show, blaming it for being responsible for a 

 cumbersone type of Foxhound, knuckHng over at the knees. 

 If the Peterborough Show has created a false standard. Hound 

 breeders are not entirely to blame. The Show, rather than the 

 breeder, has created the type in Foxhounds as in many other 

 animals. If any animal, horse, pig, or dog, is exhibited in the 

 Show Ring, bulk as a general rule is sure to tell. Now bulk in 

 a Shire Horse or a hog, or an ox, may be indispensable. But in 

 a Foxhound it is a useless encumbrance. Mr. Clapham is dead 

 against the exaggeration of the thing called " bone." He is 

 quite right. But he may perhaps stretch his antipathy a Uttle 

 too far when he seems to suggest that bone and size are being 

 deliberately bred into the modem Foxhound on account of their 

 commercial value. It is true that Foxhounds, like many other 

 things, are fetching inflated prices at the moment. But this in- 

 flation is due to the laws of supply and demand. No Foxhound 

 is bred to-day^ — or ever was bred — with an eye to his market 

 price. It is conceivable, though not probable, that he may 

 sometimes be bred with half an eye to the Show Ring. But 

 there is no traffic in Foxhounds, and when Foxhound breeding 

 has recovered its balance, there is every reason to hope and to 

 beUeve that the present prices will be reduced, though a genuine 

 sale by necessity of a pack of Foxhounds will naturally attract 

 money. Why should it not ? 



It is tempting to continue a discussion of Mr. Clapham's book, 

 but we will now leave the reader to enjoy the interesting papers 

 on other matters, such as the walking of puppies, the holloaing 

 of Foxes, the blowing of Hunting Horns, and above all, the 

 charming pen picture of himting on the Fells, which could only 

 have been written by one who has true knowledge and love of the 

 chase. 



WIIvI/)UGHBY DE BROKE. 



