CHAPTER VI 



FAMOUS CRITICS OF MASTERS OF HOUNDS 



Dick Christian — "The Druid" — Major Whyte Melville — 

 Mr. Surtees. 



DICK CHRISTIAN 

 Of Dick Christian it was written : 



" What gallant run did brave Meltonians share 

 But thou wast forward or the foremost there ? " 



And no truer words were ever penned. 



It is difficult for those of us, who have been educated 

 under the modern conditions of fox-hunting, to assign 

 to Dick Christian his proper position in hunting history. 

 His position is unique, for it may be safely asserted 

 that he is the only professional rough-rider, who has 

 ever risen to eminence on account of his horsemanship 

 in the hunting-field. We have had, and still have, 

 many huntsmen, whippers-in, and steeplechase jockeys 

 entitled to rank amongst the giants of the hunting-field 

 as professional riders ; but the claims of Dick Christian 

 to be remembered by posterity are founded on his 

 prowess as a rough-rider. He has had scores of 

 imitators, but they have met with little encouragement. 

 Masters of Hounds have hinted to them in an unmistak- 



