68 THE HUNTING FIELD 



How pleasant to stand calculating what proportion of 

 a mouthful a-piece one's carcase would make for the 

 company. A man who has whipped-in to harriers, 

 labours under much the same disadvantage that the 

 man does who has hunted them ; he is ignorant of 

 the discipline indispensable for foxhounds. Instead 

 of giving a hound one of those hearty good hidings 

 and ratings that makes him tremble at his voice, he 

 is always flopping and skutching, sometimes hitting, 

 sometimes missing, but never making an impression. 

 A foxhound requires a tremendous hiding. Let not 

 the French historian, or the Society for the Sup- 

 pression of Cruelty to Animals, jump at the assertion. 

 It is mercy in the end, most likely saving the animal 

 from the halter. We have seen a sheep worrier so 

 licked, that he could hardly crawl out of his kennel, 

 and instead of attacking sheep again, he was afraid 

 to look one in the face. After one of these sound 

 flagellations, a hound running riot will stop as if shot, 

 at the sound of the voice that accompanied the 

 administration of the medicine. Of course these 

 hearty hidings are only for flagrant faults — sheep- 

 worrying, deer-hunting, poultry-killing, obstinacy, and 

 so on. All young hounds will riot occasionally — a 

 great thumping hare starting up under their noses 

 is enough to lead any one astray, and it is in the 

 checking and stopping that the discipline or non- 

 discipline of an establishment is shown. Some 

 fellows will set to, roaring and riding, and cracking 

 their whips, making confusion worse confounded, 

 while others just trot quietly on till they near the 

 delinquent, when dropping his name heartily into his 

 ear, followed by a crack of the whip, if the receipt of 

 the halloo is not acknowledged, they will check his 

 unlicensed career, and bring him skulking back to 

 the pack. Some let them have their riot out, 

 especially when the old hounds are steady, and then 

 shame the young ones on their return. Beckford 



