CHAPTER V 



The Huntsman in the field — His proper position when 

 handling Hounds — Dog language — A morning's Cub- 

 hunting. 



The fact that the Huntsman has been the intimate 



companion of his Hounds during the summer does 



not necessarily add to his power of influencing 



them in the hunting-field. Cupboard love does 



not go very far with Foxhounds. It is the sport 



that tells. Bolingbroke, in one of his letters to 



Sir William Wyndham on the State of the Nation, 



wrote of the House of Commons : " You know the 



nature of that assembly : they grow, like hounds, 



fond of the man who shows them game, and by 



whose halloo they are used to be encouraged." 



Foxhounds are not like Mr. Jorrocks' horse 



Artaxerxes, of whom his owner said that he would 



sooner have a feed of corn than the finest run that 



ever was seen. As a matter of fact, it is not really 



a positive essential that the man who is going to 



hunt the Hounds should even have seen them in 



the summer at all. If he understands how to 



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