SCIENCE OF FOXHUNTING. 427 



CHAPTER L. 



Testimonials to huntsmen — The old capping custom — Beckford's anec- 

 dote — Hard and irregular life of these officials — Four days per 

 week more agreeable than six — May foxes and July cubs — Pensions 

 — Huntsmen to old established and subscription packs. 



Capping lias become obsolete — the fashion of the 

 custom has passed away ; and foxhunters of the pre- 

 sent era may raise their eyebrows in surprise^ and 

 a curl of the hairy lip may denote their contempt 

 of the practices so long countenanced by those who 

 were supposed to have existed in a barbarous age. 

 Many a reader of these pages will exclaim, " What 

 does he mean by capping?" — perhaps handicapping. 

 Not exactly in the same sense that term is now used 

 as appertaining to racing; but_, in its etymological 

 meaning equally^ if not more, correct. Capping 

 signifies putting your hand in your pocket and 

 drawing out a five-shilling or half-crown silver coin — 

 formerly dropped into a cap held out for that pur- 

 pose — to reward the huntsman for exhibiting the 

 scene of tracing a fox, or rather killing him, since it 

 did not invariably happen that a fox, even in those 

 days, sought the shelter of woodlands to yield up 

 his life. 



We are told by Beckford that a huntsman accus- 

 tomed to this usage had been offered by his master 



