COSTUME AND EQUIPMENT. 2^ 



that the father or mother who allows their boy to 

 hunt in these days will let him have a pair of cloth 

 breeches ; other^yise a suitable appearance is impos- 

 sible. There is nothing so unsporting to look at, or so 

 uncomfortable to the wearer, as a pair of trousers 

 stufied into leggings, and yet a generation or two ago 

 most small boys who hunted during the Christmas 

 holidays were turned out in this fashion. It was 

 not thought necessary to provide breeches for youngsters 

 who had only the chance of a few days in the season^ 

 and thus in the average Christmas field some of the 

 boys wore trousers and leggings, while others sported 

 knickerbockers of the old-fashioned sort, and the odd 

 boy who possessed a pair of breeches was an object of 

 envy to all the other boys. On one of these occasions 

 I saw a novice clad in white flannel cricketing trousers, 

 which had been thrust into shiny black leggings. Their 

 wearer thought that they were a good imitation of 

 white breeches, but he found out his mistake when it 

 began to rain. Another boy, whose father objected 

 to his son ha\ang breeches, on the ground that he would 

 grow out of them before he had half-worn them out, 

 was much cleverer. It was in the days when trousers 

 were worn tight, so he got his of the right stuff, whip- 

 cord cloth or Bedford cord, and had them made as 

 tight as a friendly tailor would agree to. He then 

 secured some smaU buttons, and on hunting days he 

 had four of these sewn on to each knee, to come just 

 above his leggings, and the result was quite satis- 

 factory. But this matter of early breeches, and boots, 

 too, is one for parents, and not altogether for the 

 children themselves, so it will be sufficient if it is said 



