4 A HUNTING CATECHISM 



" My dear Mother, — I had the honour on 

 Thursday last to hunt with the King, which is 

 a great diversion to me. The Duchess of Buck- 

 ingham's gentlemen-at-arms lent me a horse. I 

 wished many a time when I rode by him, that 

 I might have had the privilege to have altered 

 (sic) my mind to him. We hunted the fox, and 

 the King rides very hard, as any one almost in the 

 field. He got two falls, but received no harm. 

 After hunting, the King and his nobles drink 

 a cup of wine and eat a piece of bread under any 

 old hedge, and after the King I assure you I had 

 the honour to do the same out of his gilt cups. 

 After that we go to the house where the King 

 takes coach, and eat some hot soft beef, and 

 burnt ale. The place is about five or six miles 

 out of town." 



Those who, by the accident of their lives, have 

 been debarred from following the chase, whether 

 such misfortune has occurred from want of 

 opportunity, physical disability, or lack of in- 

 clination, can have no idea of the fierce instincts 

 that are aroused, the excitement that is engen- 

 dered, and the spirit of rivalry that is dominant, 

 when hounds are racing with a breast-high scent, 

 and one's whole being is imbued with but one 

 idea — to be with them if one can. To experience 

 tliis ecstasy of pleasure in its highest form it is 

 necessary that all the conditions contributing 

 thereto must be perfect. The fields must be 

 of such size that the quarry, the hounds, and 

 the horses have sufficient room to go at their 

 best pace, for nothing is more prejudicial to a 

 fast run than small enclosures. Among such 

 the object of pursuit is continually afforded the 



