INTRODUCTION 



" Help us to read in the pastime we treasure 



Something that raises mankind as we write ; 

 Something above a mere craving for pleasure, 



Shade of ^^"hyte-Melville, it'll lead us aright. 

 Help us to find in the soul-stirring chorus^ 



\\ hich rings through the woodlands, and floats through the sky, 

 Something that brightens the pathway before us ; 

 Spirit of friendship ! still stir us to try." 



— Mr W. Phillpotts Williams, M.F.H. 



To combine talent of pencil with facility of pen 

 and story, is not given to many — but the author 

 is so gifted — and his readers may enjoy the best 

 of sport in these galloping pages. The power of 

 worthily depicting a foxhound on the flags — as he 

 should be, or in the individual instance, as he may 

 be — alone puts Mr Cuthbert Bradley in a foremost 

 place. He knows, and conveys the why and where- 

 fore of requisite shapeliness, as perhaps only a 

 pupil of Frank Gillard could, to the satisfaction 

 of modern-day critics. It is a creed that the best 

 at Belvoir is the best of foxhound symmetry — 

 each section of the admirable frame being specially 

 adapted to the carrying out of the work required. 

 The foxhound in action is another study, so that 

 an artist must be also a sportsman, and a practical 

 rider to hounds, as in the present instance. Add 

 to this, that the volume is embellished with char- 

 acter sketches of well-known hunting men in many 



