96 MEMOIR OF THE KILKENNY HUNT. 



won for the country the high reputation which it has 

 always enjoyed. Wire, the curse of so many English 

 counties, may be said to be conspicuous by its ab- 

 sence, except in one or two places, and, indeed, its 

 erection would be a superfluous expense, the stout 

 banks and walls which prevail being sufficient fences 

 against cattle, and infinitely preferable to weak 

 hedges fortified by wire. 



But better than all these happy circumstances, a 

 cordial good feeling exists between the Hunt and the 

 farmers, several of whom join in the sport, many of 

 whom walk puppies and preserve foxes, and all of 

 whom enjoy seeing a fox handsomely found and well 

 hunted. 



As regards members of the field and their per- 

 formances, it may, perhaps, be said that as there were 

 larger fields fifty years ago there were more hard 

 riders, but that the proportion is as great now as 

 then. It is, however, probable that horsemanship has 

 declined, as well as knowledge of hunting and love for 

 hound-work. But, at least, it may be claimed that the 

 same good feeling animates the Kilkenny field, and 

 that, in the words given in the stirring lines of the 

 Appendix, " No jealousy here mars the joy of a run," 

 and that " good fellowship reigns with the young and 

 the old." That this characteristic, so long attribu- 

 table to the Kilkenny Hunt, may ever continue is the 

 fervent and final aspiration of the Compiler of this 

 little Memoir. 



