CHAPTER VHP 

 THE VALUE OF FOXHOUNDS 



BY EDWARD PENTON 



ONE of the interesting things a hunting man 

 can do after a hard day with the hounds, 

 when he has changed and dined, and sits 

 back in his arm-chair in front of the fire, smoking a 

 cigar and feeling at peace with all the world, is to call 

 to mind accounts of the great hound sales which have 

 taken place in the past. The full and complete history 

 of the dispersal of great packs is yet to be written, 

 though, of course, the story will be found scattered in 

 the contemporary literature, and also in the various 

 hunt histories, but to dig out knowledge in this way 

 requires much time and more patience than some poor 

 mortals are possessed of, for to-day the desire is to 

 have everything ready to one's hand, and so there may 

 be a fortune awaiting the hunting historian who selects 

 for his subject the sale of hounds. Quien sabe ? 



Without attempting in the present chapter to give a 

 full and complete history of the great sale of every 

 pack which has taken place in the past, the relation of 

 some of the principal transactions may prove of interest, 

 and it may be here pointed out that prices of fox- 

 hounds have fluctuated quite as much as stocks and 

 shares are doing at the present day. Bargains in 



1 The material for this chapter has been taken, by kind permission of 

 the proprietors, from the Field. 



