rOX-HUNTINa.] 



THE DOG, AND ITS YAEIETIES; 



[rox-Hu:^TixG. 



boots would have cut an indifferent figure in 

 the presence of a modern connoisseur bj a 

 Leicestershire cover-side. Notwithstanding 

 all this, however, we are inclined strongly to 

 suspect, that out of a given number of gentle- 

 men taking the field with hounds, the propor- 

 tion of really scientific sportsmen may have 

 been in favour of the olden times." 



Another still more important change 

 efiected in modern hunting, however, is in the 

 character of the horses. They are now higher 

 bred than before, and much faster ; but on 

 this subject we have sufiiciently spoken in 

 the first division of this work. 



Eegarding the costume of the sportsmen in 

 the days of George II., it may be observed 

 that the gentlemen wore the heavy, square-cut, 

 buckram-supported coat, which was generally 

 common in society ; the triangular hat ; the 

 powdered and pomatumed head, and the pig- 

 tail appendage. The large three-cornered 

 cocked hat, called a kevenhuller, was imported 

 from Germany, and is a speciality of the times 

 of the first two Georges. It is thus described 

 by a writer of the time : — " It is shaped like 

 an equilateral triangle, placed with the most 

 mathematical precision on the head, somewhat 

 elevated behind, and sloping in an unvarying 

 angle downwards to the eyes, surrounded by a 

 long, stiff", formal feather, rising from a large 

 .'osette of black ribbon on the dexter side." 



The sight of such an apparition in a Leices- 

 tershire " meet" now-a-days, might be expected 

 not only to astonish the riders, but even frighten 

 the horses from their propriety. 



To most English sportsmen Wales is quite 

 unknown as a fox-hunting country ; yet there 

 are several packs kept in Pembrokeshire and 

 the two adjoining counties. Eirst, let us re- 

 mark as to the country, that the enclosures 

 are usually small, the fences consisting of 

 turf walls, from six to eight feet in height; 

 but, though rather formidable in appearance, 

 they are a very safe kind of fence, and a horse 

 accustomed to them jumps on and off" with 

 great ease. There are also a good many loose 

 stone walls, and occasionally timber. 



A writer in The Fidel, who has evidently 

 been present at some of the " meets" in Wales, 



begs us to accompany him on a fine morniuo- 



say February, as there is always better sport 



in Wales after Christmas than before to the 



41G 



" Twmstron Catty Arms," a favourite meet of 

 the hounds, where we shall probably find half- 

 a-dozen pinks, one or two black coats, and a 

 rough-looking farmer, mounted on a rougher 

 pony, without any saddle, waiting for the 

 hounds. Until their arrival he requests us to 

 take a look at the horses and their riders ; and 

 we see in the former, well bred, short-lego-ed 

 ones, fit to go in most countries ; and, in the 

 latter, true-bred English sportsmen. The 

 hounds now come up ; they bear the unmis- 

 takable look of fox-hounds, but are somewhat 

 shorter on the leg, and a little more harrier- 

 like about their muzzles and sterns than the 

 generality of English packs. After the usual 

 greetings, the master moves off" towards " Pen- 

 bryn Gorse ;" and, on our arriving at the 

 cover-side, instead of a flat furze brake, we 

 find a deep dingle, with a natural growth of 

 furze on either side, with little crags of rock 

 jutting out here and there. The knowing 

 ones quietly cross over to the side on which 

 the fox is likely to break, and the master 

 waves the hounds into the cover, which sud- 

 denly becomes quite alive. Presently a 

 whimper is heard, and then a hound opens. 

 " Have at him Goblin !" cries the master, and 

 a burst of merry music answers the cheer. 

 Pug just shows his nose outside the cover, but 

 is headed back ; then dismal fears of a " chop" 

 begin to prevail ; they are, however, soon dis- 

 pelled ; as, after running round the cover, he 

 breaks away at the upper end : the master 

 sounds a few notes on his horn, and the 

 hounds settle down on the line. " He is 

 away for the rocks," observes a quiet-looking 

 man in black, at the same time charging a big 

 bank ; and away we go merrily for nearly four 

 miles, when we find ourselves on the edge of a 

 steep dingle, across which the hounds are 

 streaming. " The Field" here divides ; the 

 wiser half follow a gentleman on a bay, who 

 seems to be riding straight away from the 

 hounds. However, he makes a sudden turn, 

 scrambles down the side of the dingle by a 

 narrow path, and reaches the summit on the 

 other side, just as the hounds, which have 

 come to a slight check, hit off" the scent again. 

 We then go on for about another mile, jump 

 a big bank, with stiffish wattling at the top, 

 and are then upon the open mountain. But 

 our dangers are not yet over, as we suddenly 



