SHOOTING IN NEW FOREST 249 



Lodge, I believe. He must at least have been a 

 patient breaker, and those who know the New 

 Forest swine can quite believe in the ranging 

 and quartering of which the pig might be 

 capable. 



There used in ancient days to be a very long 

 list of distinguished persons, to the number in all 

 of eighty, who received, as a compliment at the 

 hands of the Sovereign, the permission to sport 

 in New Forest. 



In most cases it was a compliment only. 

 Sundry members of the Royal Family, who never 

 visited the Forest, the Lord Mayor of London, and 

 similar dignitaries, were never likely to trouble 

 the game much. In addition to these, however, 

 there were the verderers of the New Forest and 

 various of the landowners and residents therein, 

 to whom the Lord Warden was pleased to extend 

 the privilege. 



The fee paid was small. One guinea a year, 

 and an entrance fee of 5 paid to the Charity 

 for the Widows of the New Forest Keepers a 

 fund which, from small beginnings, has developed 

 into a very prosperous charity, and is thriving 

 now. There were no rules laid down as there 

 are now, but there was an unwritten law which 

 it was expected should be very strictly observed. 

 It was summed up in the terms of the licence, 



