246 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS 



I would far rather see hounds break away than be 

 always rated and whipped in. Thus treated, they 

 very rightly refuse to put their noses down and hunt 

 and come back to their huntsman for protection. If, 

 however, the Master has their confidence, they will 

 turn and twist with their otter when they have found, 

 and will, at a check, gladly cast themselves at his 

 direction. Each piece lof hound work may then be 

 studied, for in hunting an otter there is ample scope 

 for every hound to display his individual qualities. 



Something has been said of the Master's difficulties, 

 but nothing of his expenses, which is, after all, the 

 subject of most interest for the beginner. The scale 

 on which the thing is done varies in different ages. 

 King John, the first Master of Otterhounds on record 

 was attached to his pack and seems to have appreci- 

 ated the niceties of the sport without much regard to 

 economy. Edward II. also mastered a pack of six 

 couple of " otter dogges," which were hunted by one 

 Twici. As showing the scale on which establishments 

 were maintained in those days, it may be noted that 

 this same Twici was assisted by a couple of boys, who 

 got three-halfpence each per diem as wages. Twici 

 himself got twopence a day, besides an allowance of 

 4s. 8d. a year for shoes, and a robe of cloth yearly or a 

 mark (13s. 4^^.) in money. One more otter-himting 

 record from the Middle Ages shows that Henry VIII. 

 also kept a pack of "otter dogs," with one Thomas 

 Hordon as Master. A modern pack of otterhounds 

 may vary considerably in strength. The Brookfield, 

 for instance, recently numbered thirty couple, while 



