CHAPTER IX 



The Foxhound — Mr. Barry and Mr. Meynell — The modem 

 Foxhound — Foxhound Shows — Rounding. 



The modern Foxhound is bred, or ought to be 

 bred, with a sound constitution, contained in a 

 graceful, elegant, and symmetrical body of a size 

 which is neither bulky nor insignificant. This 

 type has now held the field for about one hundred 

 and seventy years. The middle of the eighteenth 

 century marks the evolution in the breeding of 

 Foxhounds for courage, stoutness, and speed. 

 Before that time our ancestors were satisfied with 

 something very much slower. They apparently 

 kept Hounds who had to be taken out at an un- 

 dignified hour in the morning to drag up their Fox 

 in the hopes of getting on to terms with him before 

 he had properly digested his supper, perhaps 

 killing him after a leisurely stern chase lasting 

 well into the afternoon. But this pottering style 

 did not suit the ardent spirit of such pioneers as 

 Hugo Meynell, John Musters, and John Smith- 

 Barry. During the decade 1750-1760 the modern 



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