26 HARE-HUNTING AND HARRIERS 



voices plainly denote their Southern hound ancestry. 

 It is a thousand pities that these men have so nearly 

 vanished from the countryside. But, as Macaulay 

 notices, even in Charles II. 's time, the wealthy yeoman, 

 possessing three or four hundred acres of his own 

 land, was already vanishing from the soil, and being 

 absorbed by the great territorial aristocracy. 



Between the two characters here sketched — one of 

 Charles L's, the other of George II. or George III.'s 

 time — comes the type depicted by Addison with 

 such loving and such astonishing fidelity in his portrait 

 of Sir Roger de Coverley. It cannot be doubted 

 that Sir Roger was drawn from the life, his original 

 some country gentleman of Queen Anne's reign. 

 Addison so admirably describes the hare -hunting 

 of that period that I am tempted to reproduce some 

 part of his letters on the worthy knight* : " Sir 

 Roger, being at present too old for Foxhunting, to 

 keep himself in action has disposed of his Beaglesf 

 and got a Pack of Stop-Hounds. What these want 

 in speed, he endeavours to make amends for by the 

 deepness of their Mouths and the Variety of their 

 Notes, which are suited in such manner to each other, 

 that the whole Cry makes up a compleat Consort. 

 He is so nice in this particular, that a Gentleman 

 having made him a present of a very fine Hound the 

 other day, the Knight returned it by the servant with 

 a great many expressions of civility ; but desired him 

 to tell his master, that the Dog he had sent was indeed 

 a most excellent Base, but that at present he only 

 wanted a Counter Tenor. ... Sir Roger is so keen 



* Spectator, No. ii6, July 13, 171 1. 



t Here is a reference to fox-beagles, indicating, as I have 

 said, that these little hounds were then still used for running 

 foxes to earth, and thereafter killing them as vermin. 



