Fox-hmiting Past and Present 



lameness, sore back, or other complaints. There- 

 fore it is only feasible there should be a sliding 

 scale in favour of residents who cannot in justice 

 pay the full amount. In many provincial districts 

 there is a poultry and damage fund, and to this 

 men who are not members, or who hunt but 

 seldom, can and do pay. 



In some counties there is not so much hunting 

 with neighbouring packs as there used to be. I 

 mean in the case of meets on the borders of two 

 hunts, so that the hunting-man is expected to 

 subscribe to each pack they hunt with. This 

 hits keen hunting-men in the Midlands very hard, 

 who hunted and subscribed to a pack and took 

 occasional days with others. At Melton, Market 

 Harborough, Rugby, and Leamington, Leicester, 

 and Oakham also, those hunting five or six days a 

 week have to subscribe to three or four packs. 

 Capping has not brought in much money, but it 

 has checked the size of the fields. It is not a 

 hunting rent at all, but to lessen the damage to 

 fences and land. It guarantees that all who do 

 hunt pay for their sport. 



I must needs recount you here a few reflections 

 on the longevity of hunting-men and records 

 they have made. Any one who wants to peruse 

 a splendid record of hunting achievements I com- 

 mend to Col. Anstruther-Thomson's ^' Eighty Years' 



Reminiscences ; " a masterpiece in its way. The 



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