FOREWORD 



The first edition of this book, a small thick octavo, 

 appeared in 1854; and in 1877 a second edition, also 

 in small octavo, " thoroughly revised,'* was put 

 forth. The preface to the second edition reads as 

 follows : — 



" Since the publication of the first edition 

 numerous changes in hunting countries have taken 

 place ; some have been divided and new ones con- 

 stituted. Many masters of hounds have resigned 

 — fresh ones have been installed, and a sad number 

 have paid the debt of nature. All the subjects 

 connected with these events have been carefully in- 

 vestigated by the Author with scrupulous attention 

 to accuracy, and he trusts his readers will favour- 

 ably appreciate his labours." 



The Author's additions to this second edition 

 amount to nearly 10,000 words — of small and often 

 trivial detail; and the sum effect of them is to 

 render the book verbose and tedious. In the first 

 edition Cecil set out to write a conspectus of fox- 

 hunting, and admirably he succeeded : in the second 

 edition he lost sight of his original design and, being 

 anxious only to bring the book up-to-date, ex- 

 panded it into a voluminous catalogue of masters. 

 The result is that the second edition is neither 

 so readable nor, to-day, useful. To prepare a third 

 edition which should contain the large amount of 

 historical information concerning the various packs 

 and their masters that has come to light in recent 

 years through the publication of monographs and 



