DRESS AND EQUIPMENT 287 



very hard, but I think I have read somewhere that 

 strict temperance was the rule of the Old Club at 

 Melton, and that one bottle of wine after dinner was 

 the limit. But we must recollect that our fore- 

 fathers did not smoke long cigars or short cigarettes 

 as we do. Looking back over the men I have known 

 who were hard riders and that have kept their nerve, 

 it appears to me that they all exercised much care 

 and self-denial. There are two forms of indulgence 

 that would destroy the strongest nerves in time. 

 Tobacco in the form of cigars or cigarettes in large 

 quantities — a pipe does not seem to have the same 

 effect, and late hours. 



It is of importance to have your clothes well made, 

 because they cannot otherwise be comfortable, and 

 comfort is a matter of great moment in hunting. 

 We ought to be at our ease, and not to be reminded 

 of our dress by untimely wrinkles or pinches. We 

 require also to have the free use of our arms and legs, 

 and, above all, we need comfortable boots, and this 

 is barely compatible with a smart boot on the leg 

 of a man who has ruined its proportions from a boot- 

 maker's point of view by riding a bicycle, walking 

 over the moors, or running with otter-hounds. It 

 is only the very greatest artists in boots who fit us 

 nicely, and even for them it is no easy task. But, 

 at whatever cost, the boot must be comfortable. To 

 ride really well to a flying pack on the grass needs 

 that we should have absolute control of our limbs 

 and all our faculties undistracted. Thus every detail 

 of the hunting kit deserves the greatest attention 

 from this point of view. The shirt, the tie, the 

 gloves and even such minor articles as the collar 

 studs, which no manufacturer will ever make reason- 

 ably long in the shank, all should be of such ex- 



