CRITICISMS OF HIS FOLLOWERS 153 



however, was sufficiently powerful to be able to 

 add: 



" Never you disturb our streets again, 

 Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace." 



Certainly there have been cases, where it has been 

 delicately hinted to an undesirable follower of hounds 

 that he might be baulked and ridden over at his fences. 

 Writing of these rebellious subjects in Country Sport of 

 November 15, 1902, " Marmaduke " states : " In the 

 first place, they take their hunting in what, for want of 

 a better word, I may term a 'casual' manner. They 

 know nothing about it, and they are too conceited to 

 learn. They have not the slightest interest in the men 

 over whose land they are permitted to ride, and, worse 

 than that, do not take the trouble to disguise the fact. 

 They are wealthy, and in their heart of hearts despise 

 those who are not. They show the insolence and the 

 selfishness of wealth in a country, into which they are 

 admitted on sufferance. I have heard a man swear at 

 a farmer for not being quick enough to suit his 

 impatience in opening a gate, and seen a lady ride 

 through a gate, held open for her by the owner, with 

 her nose in the air, and without so much as the thanks 

 which should be rendered even to a servant under such 

 circumstances." This is a strong denunciation from a 

 cheery, optimistic writer, who seldom dips his pen in 

 bitter ink. Of course, it is impossible for a Master to 

 be everywhere at the same moment, so as to correct 

 every breach, not only of hunting etiquette, but of the 

 decent behaviour of ordinary life. Yet, I maintain, it 

 is one of his duties to rid his hunting-field of the male 



