218 SYSTEM OF KENNEL AND 



CHAPTER XXVI. 



" At length an old chest that had long lain hid 

 Was brought to light — they rais'd the lid, — 

 A skeleton form lay mould'ring there, 

 In the bridal robes of the lady fair." — Mistletoe Bough. 



Different standards of foxhounds — The Craven and H. H. packs 

 -The late Sir John Cope and his rattlers — Bramshill, and the 

 old oak chest — The multum in ^nirvo — Hounds changing countries 

 — Mr. Osbaldiston and Sebright in Hants — The two celebrated 

 squires and their exploits — "Mors omnia vincit." 



All foxliounds are not equally suited to all coun- 

 tries ; and altliougli a low standard, in comparison 

 with that of former years, is now the fashion, not 

 exceeding twenty-four inches in height, with con- 

 sistent bone and power, yet even that would be 

 considered out of place in many districts. Where 

 large woodlands form the chief feature of any 

 country, with continuous hills, a hound of twenty- 

 one or twenty-two inches will be found to answer 

 the purpose far better than one of larger dimensions, 

 provided he has power and courage for the work, 

 since covert-huntinor is the most laborious and 

 trying — far more irksome than running all day in 

 the open. A small, or rather low hound can follow 

 his game through all the menses and intricacies of 

 the thickest woods without being obliged to exert 

 himself so much as one of greater height ; for, in- 

 stead of breasting the briars and blackthorns, he is 



