THE FATHER OF MODERN HUNTING 



who is himself for all time a master of the subject of 

 hounds and hunting. It would be scarcely fair, nay, it 

 would be churlish, to dismiss Somervile without a 

 glance at the work which has rendered him famous. 

 The Chace is divided into four books, through which, 

 in the brief space of a page or two of this chapter, we 

 may be allowed to conduct the reader. The poet opens 

 with an address to the Prince of Wales Frederick the 

 unstable father of George III. He deals with the 

 origin of hunting, referring to the Normans as the 

 introducers of a regular system and of proper hunting 

 language, and after a notice of the excellence of our 

 horses and hounds, and an address to gentlemen of 

 estates, plunges deeper into his subject. His descrip- 

 tion of kennel management is first-rate, and little fault 

 can be found with it even by masters and huntsmen of 

 the present day. Here is a picture which may surely 

 interest any man or woman fond of animal life, much 

 more a true hound lover : 



"See there with count'nance blithe, 

 And with a courtly grin, the fawning- hound 

 Salutes thee cow'ring-, his wide op'ning nose 

 Upward he curls, and his large sloe-black eyes 

 Melt in soft blandishments and humble joy ; 

 His glossy skin, or yellow-pied or blue, 

 In lights or shades by Nature's pencil drawn, 

 Reflects the various tints ; his ears and legs, 

 Fleck't here and there, in gay enamell'd pride, 

 Rival the speckled pard : his rush-grown tail 

 O'er his broad back bends in an ample arch ; 

 On shoulders clean, upright and firm he stands ; 

 His round cat-foot, straight hams, and widespread thighs, 

 And his low-drooping chest confess his speed, 

 His strength, his wind, or on the steepy hill, 

 Or far extended plain ; in ev'ry part 

 So well proportion'd. " 



After discussing various breeds of hound, and good 

 and bad scenting days, the first book ends with an 



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