i8o FOX-HUNTING FROM SHIRE TO SHIRE 



of stuff and bone is absolutely necessary, especi- 

 ally to mate with bitches not overdone with these 

 qualities. As a test for condition, Lord Lonsdale 

 is a believer in weight ; and for many years all the 

 hunters in his possession have been regularly weighed 

 once a month to note the progress of fitness for 

 hard work. The average weight of a sixteen- 

 hand hunter in hard condition to carry a heavy 

 man, should not be less than ten hundredweight, 

 with a measurement of six feet round the girth 

 when in hard condition, eight and three quarter 

 inches round, under the knee. 



Breeding at any time for shape is a lottery, for 

 a certain union may produce successes once, and 

 failures next time ; but working qualities on both 

 sides are absolutely essential, and where a master 

 hunts hounds himself — he has the advantage of 

 noting which are the best workers in the pack. 

 Level backs were a noticeable characteristic of the 

 Barleythorpe hounds ; there was no dipping behind 

 the shoulder or arching over the loins. Lord 

 Lonsdale used Hertfordshire Sampler with the 

 happiest results, his blood being identically the 

 same as the South Cheshire purchases. Then, 

 again, the Duke of Beaufort's kennel was available, 

 for they have the blood of Mr Austin Mackenzie's 

 hounds ; a most valuable purchase for the Badminton 

 kennel in 1899. When going to Belvoir — where any 

 pack can get suited — Lord Lonsdale picked up that 

 of his Villager (1884), whom he presented to the 

 Blankney kennel during a brief mastership. This 

 hound was a sire that corrected many faults, and 

 solidified the bone of kennels that used him. He 

 was full of old Blankney blood, quite a Lord Henry 

 Bentinck sort. The pedigree of Lord Lonsdale's 

 Villager (1884) is as foHows : by Wanderer (1878) 



