312 COVERT-SIDE SKETCHES. 



hound in general use in the Weald of Sussex. I cannot do 

 Letter than quote a portion of an article I contributed on this 

 pack to "Baily's Magazine" in 1876, when the remembrance of 

 a capital day with them was yet fresh in my memory : — 



" There, before the house, but on the other side of the road, 

 are the pack. Let us just look them over and see the kind of 

 hounds with which our ancestors were wont to 



Awake the mountain Echo in her cell. 



But, my friend, come with no sarcastic remarks anent necks, 

 shoulders, straight legs, and so forth. Here, nose and voice 

 are more thought of than beauty of proportion, and yet they are 

 beautiful. Look at that old hound, the patriarch of the pack, 

 and father of many of them as well ; note his solemn head, eye 

 like a blood-hound, and low set, long hanging ears set far back. 

 Deep fleAved is he, and throaty withal, but compact and full of 

 bone ; and the veriest tyro who ever looked a dog in the face 

 must see at a glance that hunting is his mission, while his 

 black-and-tan and blue-mottled coat bespeak the old Southern 

 hound. Some amongst them are flat-sided and gaunt, others 

 below the regulation standard, for they are not very level as 

 regards height; but in one and all there is the deep-flewed 

 head and drooping ear, soft and flexible as silk. In their midst 

 stands the huntsman, proud of his pack as Frank Gillard at 

 Belvoir, Alfred Thatcher at Brocklesby, or Tom Firr at 

 Kirby Gate; albeit, instead of being mounted on a sixteen- 

 hand thoroughbred, in the pink of condition, a pair of stout 

 hobnailed boots have to carry him through the day. He is a 

 thorough sportsman, nevertheless, and points out the favourites 

 of his pack with as much gusto as Tom Firr would call Eacer 

 or Alfred into the show-yard at the Yorkshire tryst in August. 

 Eight well will he do his duty ; and where the hare is killed, 

 Jack will be there to see. 



" But hold ! here comes the Squire, on hospitable thoughts 

 intent, to ask us to refresh the inner man ; and so, leaving Jack 



