28 THE COMPLETE FOXHUNTER 



be stated again that until foxhunting came into fashion 

 the fox had been regarded as vermin, and slain accord- 

 ingly. This was in the days when men hunted stag or 

 hare, and when the fox was practically unknown as a 

 quarry for hounds. It happened, however, that when 

 the great merits of the fox were discovered foxhound 

 packs were established all over the country, and in many 

 districts there were very few foxes to hunt. Thus it 

 was a general practice in some localities to secure the 

 wild foxes from unhunted districts, and turn them out 

 before hounds. They were nearly always really wild 

 foxes, which had not been long in captivity, that were 

 hunted, and many of them afforded capital sport ; but 

 the system was a vicious one, which appealed to few 

 genuine sportsmen, and it was carried to extremes in 

 certain Tom-and-Jerry hunts, where they were not 

 particular where the foxes came from. Then the 

 dealers in wild animals took a hand in the game, and 

 the term " Leadenhaller " was applied to a bag-fox 

 more than sixty years ago. Gradually hunting of this 

 character was discontinued, for foxes had increased 

 everywhere, and there was no real demand for bagmen. 

 But still there was always a certain amount of illicit 

 traffic in foxes, and many covert owners, if at all doubt- 

 ful as to the chances of a find, would have a bagman 

 or two ready to turn down. Thus the half-and-half fox 

 preserver has always known where to go to for the raw 

 material, and of late he has depended almost entirely 

 on the market when he wanted to save the reproach of 

 having his coverts drawn blank. 



Probably all hunting men whose lot is cast in a 

 country where game is preserved to excess know all 

 about the bag-fox, and what sort of a creature he is to 

 hunt, but fields are in these days of such enormous 



