HISTORY OF THE KILDARE HUNT 



period. Railway facilities alone brought greater 

 numbers of strangers into the Kildare country for 

 the day as time went on, and such an influx must 

 always include a large proportion of inexperienced 

 sportsmen. There is, therefore, no need to suppose 

 that Sir Edward was unduly sensitive in the matter 

 when one reads that he often had to complain of the 

 way in which his foxes were headed or his hounds 

 overridden. Certainly his diary contains many 

 entries pointing to the frequent committal of 

 atrocities of that description. " Fox headed so often 

 at Boston took the hounds away." I read at this 

 period. Again, " Lost owing to the field." " Chop- 

 ped at Moon and Ballycore; if anyone to blame it 

 was the footpeople who headed foxes back." There 

 are also some very human entries referring to indi- 

 viduals. " Soon lost from Giltown owing to Mr 



carrying on the hounds up a road." Also, 



" Took hounds off at Punchestown, as Mr 



overrode them! " The gentleman named is the same 

 who made the mistake at Giltown. 



But such little annoyances are the lot of most 

 Masters and are soon forgotten. Sport continued 

 quite average during the rest of the season. The 

 last day of that season is thus described. " Very fast 

 from Kerdiffstown, by Palmerstown, by Baronrath 

 over Ought erard Hill to Cross Keys "; and there is 

 a note of a day, a week or so earlier, which has a 



334 



