THE BROOKSIDE IIxVRRIERS. 307 



days a week. A large proportion of it beir.g old maiden turf, 

 which carries a good scent, is all in their favour ; but, on the 

 other hand, the hares are very wild and strong, and a slow 

 hound, no matter how good his nose, would inevitably be rur 

 out of scent before he could catch one. How the small beagle 

 harrier would do here it is impossible to say, but my own im- 

 pression is that he would not have power enough for the country. 

 Apropos of this, a friend of mine, who was very intimately con- 

 nected with the Brookside, went to see a pack of this description 

 which had gained great celebrity in Wiltshire, and was shown as 

 perfect a lot of about sixteen to seventeen inch harriers as could 

 be seen. " Oh ! " he remarked, " you call these harriers ; that i?; 

 what we hunt rabbits with in my country." I fancy, good as 

 they may be, the little ones would tire on the hill-sides, steep as 

 the roof of a house, and in the deep combs which intersect the 

 Brookside country. On the other hand, I should say that Mr. 

 Beard's hounds would prove very efficient in any situation. 

 Their music is especially fine, and to hear their voices come 

 ringing up from a comb, when they are below you, and very pos- 

 sibly out of sight, is one of the most charming things in my ex- 

 perience of hunting. There is a melodiousness in their note 

 (not by any means so deep as that of the Southern hound or blue- 

 mottled harrier) that is seldom heard in the present day. In this 

 country, moreover, it is exceedingly useful, for where the hill- 

 sides are steep you cannot always see them, and when there is a 

 sudden turn, unless you could hear distinctly, it is possible that 

 you may be riding away from instead of to them. Indeed, 

 hounds without plenty of music would be very little use here. 

 It is said, "Happy is the nation that has no history," and the 

 maxim applies equally well to a hunting country, for it is an 

 undoubted fact that the fewer the changes the greater chance of 

 success. In this way the Brookside have been especially lucky, 

 and all that can be said about them is comprised in a very few 

 words. More than a hundred years ago they were kept and 

 kennelled in the town of Lewes, but who was the master I have 



Y 9. 



