32 HUNTING THE FOX 



better still, can actually see the first - class artist 

 performing, and copy him if they can. But the 

 opportunity for Hunt-servants to acquire know- 

 ledge is haphazard and fortuitous : a boy may grow 

 grey in the service of Fox-hunting without even 

 seeing Hounds properly handled or Foxes scien- 

 tifically killed. This disability is unavoidable, 

 but there it is. Unavoidable because the young 

 servant may be limited to the observation of a 

 Huntsman who may be setting him a bad example 

 at the most impressionable time of his life. Lucky 

 is the youth who stays long enough in one place 

 where the orthodox system is carried out. 



Many people will say that Huntsmen are born 

 and not made. This, like many other generaliza- 

 tions, is only partly true. No doubt some men 

 have more talent for the chase than others ; but 

 talent cannot afford to dispense with knowledge. 

 The French character would almost appear to 

 have welded the experiences of the hunting-field 

 into a definite, perhaps even an elaborate science, 

 thus creating a recognized school which must 

 surely be valuable to the student. The British 

 are perhaps more impatient of detail, not over- 

 fond of an academy, so, beyond certain rather 

 vague traditions, and one or two writings that 

 will be referred to in a later chapter, the young 

 Huntsman in this country has nothing much to 

 guide him but his power of receptivity and his 



