320 The Hunting Countries of England, 



will muster at tlie kennels before nightfall on a Monday 

 and Friday. It may be that some portion of the 

 strong attraction lies in the fondness for himself with 

 which Parker is credited with imbuing his hounds ; 

 but whether as a striking instance of custom's second 

 nature or of a foxhound's appreciation of sport, this 

 behaviour cannot but be of interest. While out for 

 their day's hunting they are said to be singularly well 

 under control, and such a thing as a hound's sulking, 

 or going off to his home, is unheard of. They will 

 work con amore keen and untiringly ; then when fully 

 satisfied that the huntsman has ceased operations for 

 the day and will draw no more, they drop off one by 

 one as they reach the point nearest their respective 

 quarters, till at length he and his whip reach kennels 

 alone. A trencher-fed pack cannot of course be 

 expected to maintain the same uniformity of condition 

 that is looked for in kennel-fed hounds. Even the 

 hour and the quantity of the last feed before hunting* 

 must differ in almost each individual instance ; while 

 the daily portion — in most cases lavish enough — must 

 equally be expected to vary. So it would be out of 

 the question to aim at absolute regularity of pace and 

 work in a pack thus constituted. On the other hand 

 it is maintained that trencher-fed hounds possess much 

 more courage and determination than those pent up 

 in kennel and only walked out under discipline. A 

 certain independence of character is not unlikely to 

 be the accompaniment of this extra courage — but, let 

 this be as it may, there is no doubt that, the longer 

 and harder the day, the closer and more regularly does 

 the Sinnington pack work together. The material of 



