1 1 8 Modern Dogs. 



pensioner, have extra quarters and comfort bestowed 

 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. Comins as 

 Royal huntsman, and the Earl of Coventry as 

 " Master of the Royal Buckhounds." It seems 

 rather strange that the mastership of the Royal 

 Hounds, once hereditary, is now a 'Apolitical" 

 appointment, a Liberal holding the office when that 

 party is in power, and vice versa It is said that in 

 their early days the Brocas family held the position 

 for 270 years, when Thomas Brocas, the thirteenth in 

 succession, sold the appointment to the Watsons, of 

 Rockingham Castle. The emolument connected 

 therewith is ;^i5oo 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, South West Meath, Long- 

 ford, Templemore, and the Roscommon likewise 

 provide sport for the stag hunter in Ireland, and 



