292 THE SPORT OF KINGS 



was ever penned by poet. The fox has plenty of 

 sins to answer for without being blamed for 

 decimating our flocks. A hungry fox will cer- 

 tainly take a weakly, newly-dropped lamb, and I 

 believe that in mountainous districts, such as 

 obtain in some parts of Cumberland, the small 

 lambs of the native breed are not safe until they 

 are several days old. But in the lowlands, or even 

 in the hills where game is plentiful, and where the 

 sheep are of larger size, it is rare indeed that a 

 fox will attack a lamb. The fact of the matter is 

 that the poet was thinking about wolves and 

 writing about foxes, but, unfortunately for the 

 character of the fox, the accusation has stuck. In 

 the meantime, if those gentlemen who think that 

 the foxes are going off with their choice lambs 

 would keep a sharp look-out, they would find in 

 the majority of instances that the culprit was a 

 dog, and in all probability one belonging to 

 themselves. 



Yet once on a time, some forty years ago or 

 more, there was a well-authenticated case of a fox 

 taking lambs wholesale, the history of which I shall 

 proceed to relate. A well-known and enterprising 

 country gentleman had bought, at considerable 

 outlay, a valuable flock of Southdown ewes, of 

 which he was very proud, as they were the first of 

 the breed that had been seen in his neighbourhood. 

 In due time they began to lamb, and then, after a 

 short time, lambs were destroyed at the rate of 

 about one or two a night. Sometimes they were 

 taken away, but more frequently they were partially 

 eaten and left in the field. Of course it was set 

 down to foxes at once. The Master of the Hounds 

 was interviewed on the subject by the shepherd, 



