The Staghound. 79 



on him, and so live out his natural life. His progeny 

 remain in the kennels at Ascot, among the pillars 

 of the present pack, which now has J. G. Harvey as 

 Royal huntsman, and Lord Ribblesdale as " Master 

 of the Royal Buckhounds." It seems rather strange 

 that the mastership of the Royal Hounds, once 

 hereditary, is now a "political" appointment, a 

 Liberal holding the office when that party is in 

 power and vice versa. The emolument connected 

 therewith is ^1500 per annum for the master, whilst 

 the salary of the huntsman is only one-sixth of that 

 sum. 



In the above I have dealt more particularly with 

 the Devon and Somerset Staghounds and Her 

 Majesty's Buckhounds, they being considered 

 the leading packs of the kind in this country. 

 However, in Ireland we have the celebrated 

 Ward Union, within easy distance of Dublin, the 

 kennels being at Ashbourne, Co. Meath. These 

 hunt three days a week. The Co. Down and the 

 Roscommon likewise provide sport for the stag 

 hunter in Ireland, and with the general surroundings 

 of all these hounds no fault can be found. 



In England Sir H. de Rothschild's may be men- 

 tioned as a strong pack numbering about thirty 

 couples of hounds, and they are kennelled at Ascott, 

 near Leighton, in Bedfordshire. The Enfield Chase 



