230 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS 



ments should have been inserted in other chapters ; but 

 the name of Lord Ribblesdale is so intimately con- 

 nected with stag-hunting that I consider it to be the 

 wiser plan to publish them in this chapter. 



THE MASTER IN THE FIELD. 



Masters should always be regarded as privileged 

 people in the matter of finding fault, and the field 

 should always be submissive and apologetic ; but, for 

 the Master's interference to be salutary, he must be a 

 good judge of what to say and when to say it. As to 

 the latter, it is a matter of recognising the right moment, 

 whilst the former involves the sense of proportion and 

 taste. 



A satirical Master can often give pain to the young 

 and foolish. Blasts and damns nobody minds ; they 

 keep the thing going, and agreeably mitigate the rigour 

 of the game. The discomfiture of the individual 

 receives and generally merits the approval of the field. 

 On the other hand, he is thought none the worse of, 

 as every one feels, " There, but for the grace of 

 God, goeth John Jackson." 



He cannot be everywhere: if he rides in front 

 it's a hundred to one he's as anxious to be rather 

 nearer hounds than anybody else, and his attention 

 is fully occupied in getting there. If he rides behind 

 there is still less to be done, as nobody accepts his 

 Boanerges "Hold Hards" as applicable to himself. 

 But when hounds are not running hard, he can keep 

 his eyes on seeds and beans, and lambing ewes 



