HUNT SERVANTS— THEIR DUTIES 209 



sources of trouble to the huntsman. On a good scent- 

 ing day things go merrily enough, as a rule. It is on 

 a bad scent that the huntsman has to prove his mettle 

 and, by his skill, his resource, his observation, and his 

 knowledge of hunting, prove that he is capable of assist- 

 ing his pack amid difficulties, and extricating them 

 from what may look like an impasse. As a general 

 rule, it is better that the huntsman, especially if he 

 is not a veteran at the game, should prefer to trust 

 to the noses and instincts of his hounds rather than 

 to his own knowledge. 



The huntsman, whether professional or amateur, 

 will need a whipper-in to aid him in getting hounds 

 to the meet and taking them home again. With only 

 one servant with them, hounds straggle or may run 

 riot. In the field, the whipper-in is by no means so 

 important a personage with a pack of harriers as with 

 foxhounds. Usually a steady sharp lad, who wiU 

 obey orders and use his head, is sufficient for the post. 

 He will be needed to keep up stragglers, to whip off 

 when required, to prevent hounds running heel, or 

 tying on the scent, as old-fashioned harriers sometimes 

 will do, as weU as for opening gates, turning hounds 

 to the huntsman, and so forth. It is most important 

 that the whipper-in shall understand clearly that 

 neither his whip nor his voice are to be used too freely. 

 I have often noticed a harrier whip bellowing out at 

 a straggling hound or a skirter, and so getting up the 

 heads and distracting the attention of the rest of the 

 pack, when, by the exercise of a little activity, he might 

 have got round to the recalcitrant and, by the mere 

 threat of his whip and a single word, have sent him to 

 join his fellows. Quietness in the whip is even more 

 essential than in the huntsman. Beckford goes so 

 far as to say that he should not dare even to stop a 



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