CHAPTER XII 



CUB-HUNTING AND AFTER— BECKFORD 



AND NIMROD 



" Where all around is gay, men, horses, dogs ; 

 And in each smiling countenance appears 

 Fresh blooming health, and universal joy. 



• • . 



Ha ! yet he yields 

 To black despair. But one loose more, and all 

 His wiles are vain. Hark ! through yon village now 

 The rattling clamourings. The barns, the cots. 

 And leafless elms, return the joyous sounds. 

 Thro' ev'ry homestall, and through ev'ry yard, 

 His midnight walks, panting, forlorn, he flies." 



— SOMERVILLE. 



These lines of the classic poet of the chase apply 

 as well, nay better, to the regular season to which 

 cubbing is the preliminary canter. In all countries 

 where material and scope admit of two months' 

 preliminary work before the regular season begins, 

 it is of inestimable advantage to start then when 

 farming interests allow. There has been an idea 

 that the hours of evening may be substituted for 

 those of dawn, and it may be interesting to see 

 the system given a thorough trial. Peterborough 

 is the first milestone on the way to another season ; 

 then come Goodwood, the Dublin Horse Show, 

 the puppy shows, the festival of St. Grouse, and 



89 



