192 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS 



him so much to all whom he came across. He could 

 even smile indulgently at the transgressions and foibles 

 of people in the hunting-field, though on occasions he 

 could be sarcastic, as when a hard funker once jumped 

 a fence about three feet high, he wondered what the 

 height would be after dinner. His warmest admirers 

 would not call him a bold rider, and he did not hesitate 

 to express his contempt for reckless horsemen and 

 thrusting scoundrels. Yet few men knew the science 

 of hunting better than he did. His father had been 

 for many seasons Master of the Fife Foxhounds, and 

 he had been entered to hounds as soon as he was out 

 of the nursery. To the last moment of his life he 

 cherished a strong affection for his native country, and 

 if he had lived he would probably have succeeded 

 Colonel Anstruther Thompson in the Mastership. But 

 circumstances prevented his hunting much in the Fife 

 country. After his marriage and retirement from the 

 service he went to live at Boughton, some three miles 

 from Northampton, in the Pytchley country, close to 

 Holdenby House. Afterwards he moved to the V.W.H. 

 country, and hunted regularly with the V.W.H. and 

 Lord Rothschild's hounds in the Vale of Aylesbury, 

 which he declared was the best hunting country in 

 England. It is beyond my province to criticise his 

 hunting literature, though, as a student of his writings, 

 I may be allowed to say, that I never knew him to dip 

 his pen in bitter ink. Nor do I know another author, 

 who has given so much reading to the public, about 

 which the same statement can be truthfully made. 

 Like the majority of great writers, his modesty in all 



