12 RECORDS OF THE CHASE 



elbows. And some should drink, some laugh, some 

 jangle, some bound, some play; and, shortly, do all 

 manner of sports of gladness. And when men shall be 

 set at tables, ere tliey eat should come the hunters and 

 the grooms, with their lymers * which have been m the 

 quest. And each shall say his report to the lord and 

 lay the fumes t before the lord, he that hath any found. 

 And the lord or the master of the hunting, by the 

 council of them, shall choose to which they will move 

 and run to, and which be the heaviest deer. And the 

 relays shall go, and other things which I shall say more 

 plainly. And then every man shall speed him to his 

 place, and they also haste them that shall go to the 

 finding." 



Undoubtedly the arrangements for taking the field 

 were orderly. A post or office was assigned to each 

 attendant, and then the ' gathering ' in a fair mead, 

 well sheltered with trees, and a repast under the green- 

 wood shade, harmonising with the picturesquci — 

 nothing could be conceived more enchanting, ' weather 

 permitting' and at a seasonable time of the year — 

 important provisos which our author has unfortunately 

 omitted. A breakfast al fresco in our variable climate 

 on any morning from the first of November to the 

 month of April would not be a very seductive attrac- 

 tion. Happily we now dispense with such ceremonies, 

 or we seek a more genial atmosphere in the spacious 

 dining-room of some hospitable squire, at or near to 

 whose residence the hounds may happen to meet. 

 But why some should eat sitting, others standing, and 

 some leaning on their elbows, is a mystery which I 

 caimot elucidate. Those ancients must have been 

 jovial souls, if they carried out the directions given to 

 theni. They are told to drink, laugh, jangle, bound, 

 play and perform all manner of sports of gladness 

 before the chase began ; and if, after it was over, they 

 indulged in the suggestion of a salutary ablution while 



* Scenting Iiounds, tnfters. 

 t Excrement. 



