MASTERSHIP OF STAGHOUNDS 223 



Sporting Authors " ; but I wish to make this statement. 

 When a Master of Hounds takes the trouble to advise 

 and assist the sporting author, to send him his photo- 

 graph, and to prove to him that he takes an interest 

 in his work, then that work is a pleasure instead of 

 being a toil. Knowing what many followers do not 

 know, or, if they do know, do not realise the know- 

 ledge, what a busy man the Master of Hounds is 

 who conscientiously performs his duties, I am at a loss 

 to find words sufficiently emphatic in which to express 

 my gratitude for the courtesy and kind assistance which 

 I have received from gentlemen to whom I was a 

 stranger. Anyhow, if it had not been for that courtesy 

 and kind assistance, my contributions to this volume 

 would never have been written. 



THE TAME OR UNCARTED DEER 



There have been so many controversies in regard to 

 the pursuit of the uncarted deer, that I must confess 

 that I feel diffident as to the proper method in which 

 the sport should be impartially reviewed. The Rev. 

 Joseph Stratton, who is the mouthpiece of the Humani- 

 tarian League, has on numerous occasions informed 

 his limited circle of readers that the pursuit of a tame 

 stag is a disgrace to manhood ; but the occupations and 

 the aptitudes of Mr. Stratton do not permit him to 

 possess any practical knowledge whatsoever of stag- 

 hunting, though in a pamphlet published in 1897 he 

 confesses that in his young days he was " somewhat 

 partial to a fighting-cock." He defends himself for 



