364 WITH HOUNDS. 



A friend tells me that a certain Irish hunt used to put 

 on their card of fixtures, " Gentlemen are requested not to 

 call to the hounds"! In the Midlands with a proper staff, 

 no fox goes away unnoticed. If we holloa " Tally ho 

 back," we shall get the credit of having headed the fox. 

 Some people have a special aptitude for this performance. 



In starting for a run, we should be careful not to interfere 

 with the Master or any of the hunt servants, and to make way 

 for them on every occasion. A man who knows the country 

 and the ways of foxes, will generally be able to form a good 

 idea of the direction in which the fox is going, and can 

 accordingly ride with great economy of horse-power and 

 fences. Hence we often find that old hunting men, even 

 when they are badly mounted and have lost their liking for 

 big leps, will see more of a run and be nearer the death, than 

 many of the hard riding brigade who steer horses which are 

 fit to win over a country. A man who would attempt to go 

 absolutely straight in the Shires, would encounter many 

 obstacles which no horse could get over without a bad 

 accident ; but even in fences which are thus fortified, there is 

 generally a weak place or two which- can be negotiated without 

 danger, but which is not always apparent to uninstructed eyes. 

 Besides, as I have already indicated, it is essential, in order 

 to cross a country well, that a man should be able to judge 

 at a glance, if his horse is able to clear any particular place. 

 I think I may safely say that Tom Firr, Frank Gillard and 

 Gillson knew every fence in respectively, the Quorn, Belvoir 

 and Cottesmore countries. This marvellous gift of knowing 

 a country is not possessed by all brilliant performers, some 

 of whom never know where they are. Captain King-King 

 tells me that on one occasion when the fox went to ground, 

 Captain " Doggie " Smith, who in his time was the best man 

 over Leicestershire, jumped into a field in front of the house 

 in which he was staying, and asked where he was ! The 



