142 RECORDS OF THE CHASE 



carry on the scent, will show the line the fox has taken ; 

 yet it must be remembered that hounds will not run 

 so fast single-handed as when they are in a body. 

 Those which have got forward destroy the scent for 

 those which are following, and if the fences are strong, 

 being obliged to creep, the practicability of carrying a 

 head is defeated. Moreover, if it happens that a covert 

 is at hand, and the fox enters and runs through it, the 

 difficulty is increased, or even if he remains in the 

 covert there will be much uncertainty in hunting up to 

 him, and a considerable time lost under any circum- 

 stances. There is also another objection, when there 

 is a large field of horsemen out, in the danger which 

 exists of having hounds ridden over in their efforts to 

 work through the crowd. As long as there are hounds 

 forward, every man considersi he is justified in riding 

 to them; and then the greater portion of the pack is 

 among the horses. 



Opposed to any frivolous innovations or changes of 

 fashion, his lordship has adhered to one stamp of hound, 

 and by that means they have been brought to their 

 present high state of perfection. It is the frequent 

 changes which have taken place from uncontrollable 

 causes, such as deaths, the retirement of masters of 

 hounds, fresh huntsmen and other alterations in hunting 

 establishments, that have ruined many of the most 

 celebrated packs. It is unfortunate that after many 

 of the most superior packs have been established, some 

 circumstances have occurred to disperse them in all 

 directions. The masterly artists who formed them no 

 longer preside, and under different treatment and 

 various tastes the chief merits are lost. Mr. MeynelPs, 

 Mr. Corbet's, Mr. Osbaldeston's, Mr. Lambton's, and 

 Mr. Drake's, have all suffered this unlucky fate. 



Earl Fitzhardinge may be said to have three countries 

 — the Berkeley, the Cheltenham, and the Broadway. 

 When his lordship first commenced he had likewise a 

 considerable extent, called the Corse Lawn country, 

 between Gloucester and Ledbury, including the Newent 



