PREFACE TO THE FIRST 

 EDITION 



The great popularity which the Chase has acquired 

 renders it a subject of vast interest to a large bodj^ 

 of the community ; and I have endeavoured to 

 embody in these pages such incidents in reference 

 to its origin, progress, and present state, as, I 

 humbly conceive, may at once gratify curiosity and 

 afford amusement. 



An account of the habits of the crafty fox, and 

 the origin of the sagacious, faithful hound, will, I 

 trust, be perused with interest. 



The memoirs of some of the most celebrated 

 sportsmen whose talent has added grace to the 

 'Noble Science' will show the zeal with which our 

 forefathers entered into the sport ; and the descrip- 

 tion of some of the most fashionable hunting 

 countries may serve to entertain the sportsman on a 

 frosty day, or beguile the time when he makes the 

 steam-engine his covert hack ; while they will im- 

 part to the stranger some idea of the country in 

 which he is about to seek his sylvan pastime. 



Without attempting to enter into the mystic 

 details of kennel management or the intricate duties 

 of the huntsman in the field, we have thrown out a 

 few hints which may perhaps prove useful to the 

 uninitiated. 



Vll. 



