THE FOX-HOUND. 75 



five couple of his were bought in at 1300 gs. Since the days 

 of John Warde and Mr. Horlock, fashion has much changed with 

 regard to size, and a twenty-six-inch fox-hound is now a rara 

 avis in terris — in fact, many say now, keep your dog-hounds to 

 three and twenty inches, and get your bitches as near to it as 

 you can, while others advocate a more marked difference in the 

 sexes. It is strange that while we are all for big horses — and 

 what would have been looked on as a good-sized one in my 

 younger days is called a neat little horse in this era of sixteen- 

 two giants — there should be such a rage for small hounds ; but so 

 it is. However, only those who have an immense amount of 

 walks, and great facilities for drafting, can keep their packs down 

 to the twenty-three inch standard, and the dog-hounds run, as a 

 rule, from twenty-three and a half to twenty-four inches ; but, 

 except in some few packs, a young one must be very clever 

 indeed to be put on if he tops that height. Lord Coventry's 

 Eoman is perhaps the best example of a big hound that has 

 found favour at the stud, and Lord Eadnor has inherited the 

 mantle of Lord Kesteven in the liking for full-sized ones ; 

 but, though the Eutlandshire lord never jumped with the notion 

 of small hounds, the Wiltshire earl quite out-Herods him in 

 his liking for size, and has hounds which in most kennels would 

 be sent off to Mr. Bisset, to disport themselves after the red deer 

 over Exmoor. 



Much discussion has of late years arisen as to whether the 

 fox-hound still possesses the power of running a low scent that 

 he formerly had — one side contending that hounds were never 

 better in that respect than at present, while others say that by 

 breeding too much for appearance we have lost the nose, and, in 

 grasping at a shadow, let go the substance. I am by no means 

 inclined to put faith in the opinion of those who take this view 

 of the subject, as I think, were they given the chance, our hounds 

 would hunt as low a scent as ever, and that the fault lies 

 entirely in their education. The fact is, the system of hunting 

 in most countries is entirely altered, and people would no more 



