FOXHOUNDS 207 



that Mr. Vyner compiled the first Stud Book in the 

 year 1841, when the lists of forty-six packs of fox- 

 hounds and of the Royal Buckhounds were given. 

 This book has been long out of print, but Mr. Cecil 

 Legard a year or two ago brought out a new edition 

 of Mr. Vyner's work (with considerable additions), and 

 this now forms Volume I of the modern Foxhound 

 Stud Book. And if any hound of the present day can 

 trace back to the old packs, of which carefully kept 

 kennel books were treasured, its pedigree can be, in 

 many cases, further extended to the beginning of last 

 century, and in the case of Badminton, Belvoir, 

 Brocklesby, Milton, and Lord Middleton's blood a 

 good deal further back, though the pedigrees previous 

 to 1800 are not given in the Stud Book, but have been 

 merely filed by Mr. Cecil Legard. The question of 

 foxhound pedigrees has become a really important 

 matter, and now there are, one may safely say, at least 

 two dozen kennels where the very highest standard of 

 excellence is maintained, and twice as many more 

 where the pack would pass muster. 



Amongst foxhound breeders the dog show pure and 

 simple is not liked, but for fifty years or so hound 

 shows have been approved of, strictly on the under- 

 standing that only masters of hounds are to judge, and 

 that no hound show shall be in any way connected with 

 an ordinary dog show. The upshot of this is that 

 Peterborough, Reigate, and Clonmel in Ireland fill 

 all the requirements of masters of hounds, and it is 

 exceedingly unlikely that the number of shows will be 

 increased, though at times one hears suggestions 

 of a show in the north of England, to act as a test 

 show for Peterborough amongst the northern packs, 

 as Reigate does amongst those of the south of 



