INTRODUCTION 



In the course of this book I have endeavoured to 

 set before my readers a sketch of the sport of fox- 

 hunting as it is throughout that part of the Mid- 

 lands known as the Shires. Whatever may have 

 been the case in the past, the fashionable hunting 

 districts may now fairly be embraced within the 

 wider limits treated of here. Such a book, though 

 I hope it may not be without interest to those who 

 know something of sport in grass countries, yet must 

 naturally be of use chiefly to the man who wishes 

 to learn more about fox-hunting in the historic hunts. 

 It must not be forgotten, moreover, that the Mid- 

 lands are not fashionable without reason, for people 

 crowd to them because grazing districts are best 

 suited of any to hunting in its brightest and most 

 attractive form. But while I have striven to be of 

 some practical service to the man who is, at the 

 present day, anxious to hunt from some of the counties 

 named, I have not been unmindful of the charms of 

 the associations with the past so closely interwoven 

 with hunting in these districts. No one who has not 

 studied the subject can form any idea of the extent 

 of the literature of hunting in the Midlands nor of 

 its interest in throwing a light, not only on the sports 

 but also on the social customs and ideals of. our im- 

 mediate forefathers. But such a book as this could 



