ON GROUSE-DRIVING 189 



love of the sport, know and appreciate 

 every move in the game, and are capable 

 not only of playing their part intelligently 

 in an intricate combined manoeuvre, but 

 of acting on their own initiative and 

 saving the situation when unforeseen 

 contingencies arise. But, outside the 

 home county of driving, the normal 

 beater rarely thinks for himself, and it 

 takes no little generalship on the part of 

 the keeper to keep his men in hand, and 

 make them realise that six foot of man 

 carrying a flag is not a never -varying 

 factor in the drive, but can suddenly 

 attain tenfold importance when outlined 

 against the sky. 



The active duties of the flankers are 

 occasional and momentary ; for the most 

 part of the time their role is invisibility ; 

 their appearances to be effective should 

 be sudden and well timed. When birds 

 are coming forward on a line which will 

 take them outside the guns, they can, 

 generally speaking, only be turned despite 

 themselves. There is just one point in 



