The Master of Hounds 



spoken of as a '' born huntsman." There are 

 very many families of huntsmen indeed. The 

 following is Beckford's ideal : ^' He should be 

 young, strong, bold, and enterprising ; fond of 

 the diversion, and indefatigable in the pursuit of 

 it ; he should be sensible and good-tempered, and 

 sober ; exact, civil ; naturally a good horseman, 

 his voice should be strong and clear, have an eye 

 so quick as to perceive which of the hounds 

 carries the scent, when all are running ; and should 

 distinguish the foremost hounds when he does 

 not see them. He should be quiet, patient, and 

 without conceit he should not be too fond of 

 displaying these attributes, till necessity calls them 

 forth. He should let his hounds alone, whilst 

 they can hunt, and he should have the genius to 

 assist them when they cannot." Many professional 

 huntsmen, however, have combated with age and 

 weight. I quote these qualifications as many 

 masters hunt their own hounds. 



The idea of this work is not one of laying 

 down the law, but has been compiled as a 

 work of useful reference merely. The scope of 

 this work does not admit of the M.F.H.'s de- 

 portment at the meet, the roles of huntsmen, 

 whippers-in, and second horsemen to be discussed 

 therein. 



The following rules were found in the Diary of 



W. Summers, huntsman to Mr. Napper in the 



35 



