236 SHOOTING-BOOTS 



they may be made of. It is a wise plan to procure 

 them from the man who makes them in the district 

 where his shooting may be situated, and always to 

 have them ready a year before they are taken into 

 wear for shooting, whatever other sport he may re- 

 quire to use them for. If boots or shoes are not well 

 used before the Twelfth arrives, all comfort is at an 

 end, and very possibly all sport too, for some weeks to 

 come, by reason of sore heels. Anything is better 

 than such a state of affairs ; therefore it is far better 

 for anyone living in London, who has not the oppor- 

 tunity of breaking in his own boots, to get someone 

 else to do so for him ; at all events, it is better than to 

 lose all sport and suffer pain. London bootmakers, 

 like some gunmakers, are very often 'all theory and 

 no practice,' and are a curse to their customers. I 

 have ever found the local bootmakers by far the most 

 practical, and the most experienced stalkers I know all 

 get their stalking-shoes from them year after year, and 

 never have to find fault with them, unless it be that 

 they cost but half the price of those made in London. 



It is also a somewhat difficult matter to get properly 

 fitted with shooting-clothes. London tailors, as a rule, 

 make their coats far too tight, and in nine cases out of 

 ten, when they are taken into use on the moors, they 

 are utterly useless; and, no matter how carefully they 

 may receive their instructions, such men will insist on 

 making for appearance rather than comfort. I found 

 remonstrance unavailing with one or two London 

 tailors until I ripped the vile garments up with my 

 knife and sent them back to them. Shooting-clothes 

 require to be large and loose in every way, and the 

 waistcoat-pockets ought to be nearly as large as an 



