132 THE COMPLETE FOXHUNTER 



of place. The man who appears in full hunting rig- 

 out before the season proper has commenced is a 

 rara avis^ but he has been seen, and we have a vivid 

 recollection of a five-o'clock cub-hunting meet on 

 August 27th (we have forgotten the year, but re- 

 member the date of the month) with the Ledbury 

 during Mr. Charles Morrell's mastership, when a 

 tremendous swell appeared, wearing a scarlet coat, 

 tall hat, white breeches, and very yellow tops, almost 

 orange in colour. No one knew who he was, but 

 he stood about with the half-dozen who formed the 

 field, on the rides of a big covert, and at length some 

 one opened conversation with him. He could ride 

 well enough, but he had never even seen a pack of 

 hounds before, and therefore did not know the ropes 

 as regards dress ; but he had some time before made 

 up his mind to hunt, and had procured hunting clothes, 

 and possibly such a thing as cub-hunting had never 

 entered into the tailor's calculation. Another man 

 we know who to this day goes cub-hunting in top- 

 boots, but with them he wears dark cloth breeches 

 until the ist November, and then changes them for 

 white ones. He is, however, a privileged character 

 in his own district, and nothing particular was said 

 when he sat for an hour or two on horseback one 

 very hot morning under a white green-lined umbrella. 

 Coats and breeches are a matter which must be 

 decided between the hunting man and his tailor, but 

 any cut of coat which is unusual, or any uncommon 

 pattern of breeches, should never be attempted by the 

 beginner. There is in some hunts one man in fifty who 

 can come out in almost anything, and can carry off with 

 equanimity what would be regarded as an absurdity if 

 exploited by any of the other forty-nine. Such men 



