HAKE-HUNTINC-ANCIEN'J' AND MODERN 193 



detection wliere there is no keeper about ; so that hare- 

 hunting, hke other sports, has become more artificial. 

 There are plenty of localities where it is still a highly 

 popular form of amusement, but circumstances must 

 be favourable ; farmers and landowners must be well 

 disposed, and preserve hares (^1 purpose for hunting, 

 or it is of little use keeping a pack of harriers. Hap- 

 pily this state of things prevails in many places, and 

 there appears to be little danger of this ancient and 

 interesting branch of sport disappearing from the list 

 of our outdoor amusements. . 



In all sports the changes that have taken place 

 have been very much of the same character ; the 

 deliberate way of proceeding which satisfied our 

 ancestors will not do for the sportsman of our times, 

 who must cram his diversion into a shorter space of 

 time and get more out of it while he is about it. 

 Our forefathers used to sally forth at an early hour, 

 and the first business was to unravel the winding 

 track which the hare had pursued whilst feeding 

 during the night, until they finally hunted up to where 

 she lay in her form. Then the run proper began, 

 and a long time it seems to have generally lasted. In 

 the charming account of a day with Sir Roger de 

 Coverley's harriers, the hare is said to have been 

 picked up alive eight yards before the hounds, who 



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