CHAPTER II 



Masters of Foxhounds — To dig or not to dig ? — Choice of 

 Hunt-servants — Farmers' horses — Puppy walkers. 



No one is too good to be a Master of Foxhounds. 

 If he be gifted with the average endowment of 

 tact, administrative talent, power of penetrating 

 character, and all other attributes that form the 

 essential equipment of a successful public man, so 

 much the better ; but he should at least be reared 

 in the atmosphere and tradition of country life, 

 fond of sport for its own sake, a good judge of 

 Horses and Hounds, and the possessor of a re- 

 markably thick skin. For in addition to directing 

 the sport in the Field, the M.F.H. is indeed a public 

 man who should have some faculty for the art of 

 government, being ultimately responsible for the 

 welfare of the country over which he presides. 

 The character and ability of the Hunt Committee 

 and Secretary, and the disposition of the owners 

 and occupiers of land may make his task pro- 

 portionately easy or difficult as the case may be. 



