INTRODUCTION 



A few words seem to be necessary to explain the 

 scheme of this book, if scheme indeed it may be 

 said to have. When originally written as news- 

 paper articles, it is obvious that each subject was 

 selected as the occasion might demand. One 

 week " Hunting Etiquette " might be the subject ; 

 the next " Earth-Stopping " or " Digging-Out," 

 or " The Runner " or " The Hunting Parson " 

 might occupy the attention of my readers. It 

 seems scarcely necessary to say that such plan, 

 or want of plan, would be utterly out of place 

 in a book, and the question necessarily arose as 

 to what was the best way to classify the material 

 I had at command. After some consideration I 

 decided that it would be best to so arrange them 

 as to describe the hunting man's year, and I 

 have accordingly adopted that plan so far as is 

 possible. 



It is hoped that, whilst the hunting man who 

 is to the manner born may find some entertain- 

 ment in these pages, the tyro will also find some 

 useful lessons conveyed. But let not either think 

 that the subject is exhausted. The subject of 

 hunting is indeed inexhaustible. New methods 

 are every now and again adopted, and though the 

 great principles of the craft which are laid down 

 by Blome and Beckford are still maintained in 



