214 THE COMPLETE FOXHUNTER 



have accepted the mastership of a pack, and very pos- 

 sibly he is inclined to be fond of hounds. 



But real knowledge can only be arrived at through 

 experience, and that is why a comparatively young 

 hunt servant so often knows far more than his master 

 at first. The hunt servant in nineteen cases out of 

 twenty has been bred at a foxhound kennel, and has 

 been among hounds since he was able to crawl on 

 all fours into the kennel precincts. He has heard 

 hounds discussed all his life, and in all probability 

 he has been employed amongst them ever since he 

 left the Board School. He may possibly be prejudiced 

 in favour of certain forms of kennel management, 

 especially if much of his life has been spent in one 

 kennel, but he will be thoroughly at home amidst his 

 surroundings, whereas a new beginning master and 

 amateur huntsman combined is seldom the kennel man 

 that the professional huntsman is. Nor is there any 

 reason that he should be, for a man may become a con- 

 summate judge of hounds, and yet know little about how 

 to manage them in kennel. He may, too, have the quick- 

 ness, resource, and rat-catching cunning which com- 

 bine to make him a good huntsman, and yet neither 

 know nor care much about the hounds which he hunts. 

 It is in point of fact necessary for the professional to 

 be both huntsman and houndsman, and though the 

 amateur will do better if he combines the double 

 character it is not absolutely necessary that he should 

 do so. 



We once knew a good amateur huntsman who killed 

 quite an average number of foxes, but often a lot of 

 time was wasted over the kill. The fact was that 

 if the kennel huntsman was not up our friend was 

 unequal to removing mask, brush, and pads, and 



