FOXHOUND KENNELS. 265 



With regard to the kennelling accommodation which must be supplied for Foxhounds, and 

 the management of the hounds themselves, no better authority can be quoted than the letters of 

 Mr. Beckford, who. as far back as the year 1810, gave to the world opinions on the above subjects 

 which have been regarded with respect ever since ; so much so, in fact, that they have formed the 

 groundwork of a great many remarks on hounds which have never been credited to their real 

 source. In the first place Mr. Beckford writes to a friend as follows on the subject of the 

 kennel : 



" I would advise you to make it large enough at first, as an addition to it afterwards must 

 spoil the appearance of it. I have been obliged to add to mine, which was built from a plan 

 of my own, and intended, at first, for a pack of Beagles. As my feeding-yard is too small, I have 

 endeavoured to remedy that defect as occasion required. 



" I think two kennels absolutely necessary to the well-being of the hounds. When there 

 is but one, it is seldom sweet ; and when cleaned out, the hounds, particularly in winter, suffer 

 both whilst it is cleaning and as long as it remains wet afterwards. To be more clearly 

 understood by you, I shall call one of these the hunting-kennel, by which I mean that kennel 

 into which the hounds are drafted which are to hunt the next day. Used always to the 

 same kennel, they will be drafted with little trouble ; they will answer to their names more 

 readily, and you may count your hounds into the kennel with as much ease as a shepherd 

 counts his sheep out of the fold. 



" When the feeder first conies to the kennel in a morning, he should let out the hounds 

 into the outer court ; at the same time opening the door of the hunting-kennel, lest want of 

 rest, or bad weather, should incline them to go into it. The lodging-room should then be cleaned 

 out, the doors and windows of it opened, the litter shaken up, and the whole kennel made 

 sweet and clean before the hounds return to it again. The great court and the other kennels 

 are not less to be attended to, nor should you pass over in silence any omission that is hurtful 

 to your hounds. 



" The floor of each lodging-room should be bricked, and sloped on both sides to run to the 

 centre, with a gutter left to carry off the water, that when they are washed, they may be soon 

 dry. If water should stand through any fault in the floor, it should be carefully mopped up ; 

 for, as warmth is in the greatest degree necessary to hounds after work, so damps are equally 

 prejudicial. You will think me, perhaps, too particular in these directions ; yet there can be no 

 harm in your knowing what your servants ought to do ; as it is not impossible, but it may be 

 sometimes necessary for you to see that it is done. In your military profession you are per- 

 fectly acquainted with the duty of a common soldier, and though you have no further business 

 with the minutiae of it, there is no doubt but you will still find the knowledge of them useful to 

 you. Believe me, they may be useful here ; and you will pardon me, I hope, if I wish to see 

 you a martinet in the kennel as well as in the field. Orders given without skill are seldom well 

 obeyed, and where the master is either ignorant or inattentive, the servant will be idle. 



" I also wish that, contrary to the usual practice in building kennels, you would have three 

 doors two in the front, and one in the back the last to have a lattice-window in it, with a 

 wooden shutter, which is constantly to be kept closed when the hounds are in, except in the 

 summer, when it should be left open all the day. This door answers two very necessary pur- 

 poses : it gives an opportunity of carrying out the straw when the lodging-room is cleaned, and 

 as it is opposite to the window, will be a means to let in a thorough air, which will greatly con- 

 tribute to the keeping of it sweet and wholesome. The other doors will be of use in drying 

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