TOWN SPORTSMEN 195 



accident I might have belonged to the body myself, 

 and I certainly deprecate the manner in which 

 some affect to treat of the sportsman who hails 

 from the big towns. It is true that he is probably 

 ignorant of the technicalities of the sport that he 

 loves. He may not know much of the habits of 

 foxes or the points of a hound, and his riding may 

 not be that of the finished horseman. But just let us 

 pause for a moment and ask ourselves the question 

 how much some of our country acquaintances know 

 of the natural history of our quarry, or how many 

 of them take the trouble to know one hound from 

 another. It is all very well to laugh at our friend 

 from town when he speaks to or speaks of old 

 Chanticleer or Bonny Lass, and say they are the only 

 hounds he knows, but it is better to know one hound 

 than none at all, and some very good men of my 

 acquaintance, who hunt four and five days a week, 

 and are always in a good place, don't know a hound 

 in the pack, and vote a day on the flags a bore. 



The man who hunts from town is an example 

 of how strong the sporting spirit is implanted in 

 the Anglo-Saxon race. Some, of course, will tell 

 you that when he has become rich he takes to 

 hunting for fashion's sake, or to indulge in a little 

 pardonable vanity. For my own part, I prefer to 

 attribute his taking to hunting to a love of the 

 sport, and a sincere wish to attain some degree of 

 excellence in it ; and it must be owned that, con- 

 sidering his opportunities, he succeeds fairly well in 

 accomplishing that wish. I can point to many 

 business and professional men, the bulk of whose 

 life has been spent in warehouse and office, who 

 can hold their own when hounds run hard, even if 

 the fences should come thick and fast. 



