MASTERSHIP OF STAGHOUNDS 229 



is the man who can most excel in his exertions to save 

 Hfe. 



We know that modern Masters of Hounds hold 

 strong opinions in regard to dress in the hunting-field, 

 though I have always thought that the late Duke of 

 Beaufort said all that there was to be said on the 

 subject when he stated that it was the duty of a 

 gentleman to dress as well as he could afford to dress. 

 But the man who attempts to dress beyond his means 

 only succeeds in looking like a painted popinjay. In 

 the hunting-field it is not the tailor, but the valet, who 

 makes the man. Here again I must quote from Lord 

 Ribblesdale's book : 



" De rigueur hunting dress must be very well done or 

 not at all. Some excellent servants never learn to do 

 leathers properly. It is at once an art and a craft. 

 Tops, too, want an eye for colour. I am a stickler for 

 the tall hat ; it looks the best, and in every way is the 

 best for riding of all kinds, which includes falling. A 

 tall hat gives a little finish to horsemanship, which the 

 wideawake can never hope to achieve. But, given 

 the tall hat, properly put on box-cloth breeches and 

 well-cleaned butcher-boots look a great deal better than 

 the buckskins and tops of the single-handed or the 

 parlour-maid." 



I do not apologise for these quotations, since this 

 chapter has been a division of labour, and I have now 

 to append a double supplement from the pen of Lord 

 Ribblesdale dealing with "The Master in the Field" 

 and " Ladies in the Hunting Field." 



Some of my readers may argue that these supple- 



