THE HOUSE OF MANNERS AND THE CHASE 



hangs in a corridor at Belvoir Castle, not far from the door of 

 the billiard-room, which gives a representation of the sport 

 of fox-hunting in early times. The artist has drawn the 

 hounds of a light, speedy type, and has emphasized the pace 

 at which they are going by the class of horse he has depicted. 

 For the duke of the day and his followers are mounted on 

 an exceedingly good type of Leicestershire horse, while the 

 chaplain, who has fallen slightly behind, is wiping his fore- 

 head, and giving unmistakable evidence of having suffered 

 from the severity of the pace. It has been assumed by some 

 writers that this picture represents stag-hunting, but a close 

 examination of it shows that the hounds were steady from 

 deer, and that the real object of their pursuit is a little red 

 fox, which can be discerned making its way at best pace 

 through the woods below the castle. 



I gather from this picture and the older records that the 

 original Belvoir hound had more speed than substance, but 

 was full of the quality and had the fine texture of coat 

 which distinguish him at the present day. The distinctive 

 colouring by which he is now known came later. Whatever 

 the origin of the Belvoir hound may be, we have a far easier 

 task when we trace his development in later times and his 

 influence on the race of hounds now used in the chase in 

 England, and this pleasant task the reader will find attempted 

 in later chapters of this book. 



The reason why one pack of hounds is faster than another 

 is not to be found in the speed of individual hounds, for that 

 probably does not greatly differ in those that are well-bred, 

 nor is it at all certain that the foxhound of to-day is a much 

 faster animal than were his predecessors. If we may judge 

 by the representations which have come down to us, the type 

 of hound which is approved now is not much superior either 

 in quality or appearance to the best of those of the past time. 

 The improvement has rather been in the raising of the 

 average excellence of our packs. If a stranger, however 

 ignorant of hound lore, were to pay a visit to the Belvoir 

 kennels, and see the pack, obedient to a wave of the hunts- 

 man's hand, clustering on their benches he would be struck 



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