72 



LANARKSHIRE AND RENFREWSHIRE FOX- 

 HOUNDS. 



"Listening how the hounds and horn 

 Cheer'ly rouse the slumbering morn, 

 From the side of some hoar hill 

 Through the high wood echoing shrill." 



Milton. 



" All hail" the commencement once more of the noble sport 

 of fox-hunting; and although we have only been at the cubs as 

 yet, still, is there any true sportsman's heart that does not 

 rejoice at once more being able to participate in the "sport of 

 kings, the image of war, and only five-and-tv/enty per cent, 

 of the danger." It is not everybody, if they wish to do so, 

 can play at billiards, cricket, or croquet; but there are very, 

 few, from the prince to the peasant, that cannot enjoy a bit of 

 hunting. The cripple on his crutch, the sweep on his " moke," 

 the elderly gentleman on his cob, the pedestrian, the fair sex, 

 and the scarlet-coated subscriber, can all enjoy the exquisite 

 joys of the hunting field; and although those ma}'' be found 

 who, from ignorance, denounce fox-hunting, the chase will 

 always find favour as long as horse and hound are available 

 for the recreation of man — 



"Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear, 

 And the rocks melt wi' the sun, 

 I will loo' thee still, my dear, 



While the sands o' life may run." 



What grander sight for any one's eye than a meet of fox- 

 hounds — and may we never lose it! Where can coolness 

 and courage be exhibited to greater perfection than the sight 

 of a first-flight man taking a line of his own over a stiff 

 country? — and where will you see such nerve and pluck ? How 

 can he tell what is on the other side of every fence? — but he 

 resolutely throws his heart over and jumps after it. In the 

 words of an old sportsman: — 



"Oh! if there be in this earthly sphere 

 A moment of bliss a sportsman holds dear, 



