loo THE MASTER OF HOUNDS 



needs, but it must be borne in mind that he generally 

 has further to go than any one else in the hunt. The 

 kennels, it is true, may be well in the centre of the 

 country, but it is by no means likely that the Master's 

 own house will be as conveniently situated. 



Apart from the purchase of horses, as to which it is 

 impossible to give estimates suited to every income and 

 taste, the general expenses attaching to the upkeep of 

 stables and kennels must be much what they were half 

 a century ago. 



I now propose laying my old book of stable and 

 kennel expenses under tribute, for such actual entries 

 are, after all, more valuable to the reader than any 

 amount of generalisation. Taking the various items as 

 they appear in the list, we have first 



Wages. — The wages of a huntsman will vary accord- 

 ing to the country. A huntsman of one of the crack 

 packs will get nearly ;^20o a year besides tips, which 

 may in a fashionable country amount to a very consider- 

 able sum. The ordinary huntsman of a less fashionable 

 pack gets from ;^i20 to ;^i40, while the tips which 

 he receives would also stop short at a more modest 

 total. 



The first whipper in gets from £']o to £(^o a year, 

 and the second gets from ;^6o to £^1^. The feeder 

 receives a guinea or perhaps twenty-two shillings a 

 week, while the under-feeder, usually a boy, gets fifteen 

 or sixteen shillings a week, according to his age and 

 qualifications. 



The above must be taken as only an approximate 

 wage scale, for the figures will be found to vary some- 



