The Beagle. 147 



they stood about fourteen inches, and bore a reputa- 

 tion of " always being able to kill their hare, however 

 bad a scenting day it was." Mr. Gwynne keeps them 

 chiefly for rabbit shooting, and they w^ork wonder- 

 fully well. The kennels contain some seven or 

 eight couples (not including puppies), and the 

 endeavour is to keep them to about thirteen inches 

 In height, but some are an inch less, others an 

 Inch or so over the standard. Since Mr. Gwynne 

 has devoted attention to them, he has been com- 

 pelled to use a smooth beagle as an out-cross. 



In 1892, a stud book of packs of beagles was 

 published by Waterlow's, it forming part of the one 

 for harriers already alluded to. The first volume 

 contained the names of a dozen packs only (there 

 were over double that number In existence), w^hlch 

 are supposed to be a foundation stock, but I am 

 afraid that some of the entries are not so pure as 

 many of our show hounds, which were not Included ; 

 nor were Mr Crane's, Mr Nutt's, and Mr Ryan's, 

 the latter the Kerry beagles, alluded to later on. The 

 volume has been continued yearly, but with no 

 Improvement, so far as the hounds specified are 

 concerned. 



It Is common knowledge that masters of hounds 

 abominate dog shows ; still when the very best 

 of a variety are to be found oftener on the bench 



L 2 



