SCIENCE OF FOXHUNTING. 83 



CHAPTER XI. 



" Merry it is, in the good greenwood, 



When the mavis and merle are singing ; 

 When the cub sweeps by, and the hounds are in cry, 

 And the huntsman's horn is ringing." 



Cub-hunting, the rehearsal of foxhunting — Teaching the young 

 ideas how to hunt — Tutors and governesses for the entry — 

 Division of the pack — Early dawn most favourable for scent — ■ 

 A single hound a match for a fox — Eambler showing the white 

 feather, and sent rambling— Cub-hunting in the evening — 

 Objections to it — Giving views — Blooding the entry — 111 eifects 

 of lifting young hounds — More haste, less speed — The meaning 

 of the horn — Babbling and skirting. 



Cub-hunting is the rehearsal of foxhuntino- in 

 which actor and actress with their company are 

 practising their parts in anticipation of appearing 

 before the public on the opening day of the season; 

 and, to carry on the simile, we find as few interested 

 in these preliminary lessons in the woodlands as 

 antetheatrical exhibitions. No very agreeable en- 

 tertainment can be expected from hearing school- 

 boys floundering through the Latin or Greek 

 authors placed in tlieir hands, supposed to be of 

 the easiest comprehension to juvenile minds. The 

 romantic tale of the loves of Pyramus and Thisbe 

 took our fancy exceedingly when only just begin- 

 ning to imagine what true love might be. So deep 

 an impression did this fairy tale make upon our 



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