MODERN HARE-HUNTING 103 



in the pack knows a great deal more about hunting 

 than you or me." A very just rebuke. 



Most harrier packs are hunted by the Master, and 

 the Master has, naturally, great responsibilities as 

 well as great power. Even if he employs a professional 

 huntsman, every Master of harriers should have a 

 fair working knowledge of the sport he pursues. It 

 is humiliating, as well as unbusinesslike, to be entirely 

 at the mercy of your Hunt servant ; and it is always 

 far better for the man himself and for the sport of all 

 that the Master should be conversant with what is 

 going forward, and be able to give a sound opinion 

 when required. He is, of course, always anxious 

 to show sport, but he will, if he understands the science 

 of hare-hunting rightly, leave as much as possible 

 to the intelligence of the pack, and will only attempt 

 to assist them when they are obviously at an impasse. 

 The Master — qua Master — requires and, it must be 

 admitted, fairly often possesses many necessary 

 qualifications. He should, first of all, know his hounds 

 well, and for this it is evident that, during their long 

 summer vacation, he must have familiarised them 

 with his person. He should be firm yet courteous, 

 remembering always that strong language is in no 

 wise necessary for the conduct of hunting. Bad 

 language is always to be deprecated, and its employ- 

 ment is a fashion in hunting which, in my humble 

 opinion, needs reform. Much of the strong language 

 used in the field is entirely unnecessary and un- 

 warranted. However, in this respect, Masters of 

 harriers are nothing like such transgressors of good 

 manners as are their brethren of foxhounds. They 

 have, it must be admitted, far smaller and less trouble- 

 some fields to keep in order, and in other ways their 

 burdens are more easily to be borne. In the chapter 



