io8 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS 



while even three will not be found excessive. Acci- 

 dents soon happen, and nothing is easier than for a 

 horn to be flattened by a horse falling and rolling over 

 it. The Master also wants a couple. Here, then, are 

 four or five horns at about £i is. each. Each Hunt 

 servant requires two pairs of spurs and a couple of 

 whips, besides a quantity of salmon-tinted cord for 

 lashes and a stock of spare spur leathers. This item at 

 present under consideration may be fixed at something 

 like ^20 a year. 



Cloihcs and Boots. — These, of course, are an impor- 

 tant item. My clothing bill for three Hunt servants 

 and two second horsemen used to come to just under 

 ;^ioo each season. The men always looked neat and 

 well-dressed, but the thing could be done in more 

 expensive style if the Master's taste ran that way. 

 The Hunt staff requires an entire change of clothing, 

 even for a country that is hunted only three days a 

 week. It must in fairness be remembered that the 

 servants have not the hot-air rooms and other 

 appliances of the gentlemen who hunt, and that is 

 why the complete change is indispensable. Each 

 man, then, must have two new scarlet coats and about 

 three pairs of cord breeches every season. One cap a 

 year could be made to do, but two are better ; and of 

 boots each should have two pairs. The cub-hunting 

 season is the most trying time for clothing, and the 

 men can then fall back on old coats purple with age, 

 for not even disciplinarians care much what sort of 

 coat the huntsman wears at five in the morning. Warm 

 Irish woollen gloves are always an acceptable present 



