CHAPTER IX 



EIDING TO HOUNDS 



In England only a small proportion of those 

 gathered together at the meet attempt to follow 

 in the wake of the hounds, the remainder usually 

 galloping helter-skelter through the nearest gate, 

 and down a friendly lane ; or else crawling 

 cautiously through the gaps made by the bolder 

 spirits who are vanishing in the distance. In 

 Ireland, on the contrary, a stranger from this side 

 of the Channel, making his first acquaintance 

 with an Irish pack, is surprised to see how every 

 one of the heterogeneous gathering at the covert- 

 side, men, maids, and children, from the oldest to 

 the youngest, do their utmost to follow the 

 hounds to the best of their ability and the 

 capacity of their steeds. The general absence 

 of convenient roads, and the fact that if there 

 should be such an unusual thing as a gate out of 

 a field, it is sure to be an iron one, securely 

 fastened with padlock and chain to stone gate- 

 posts, may perhaps account for this feature of 

 an Irish hunt. Anyhow, the moment the pack 

 leaves the covert, away every one follows in 

 pursuit ; and such obstacles as probably the 

 Saxon has never seen in his own country — walls, 



221 



