THE HUNTING YEAR 



FOREWORD 



" Hunt, fish, shoot, 



Would a man fulfil life's duty ! 

 Not to the bodily frame alone 



Does sport give strength and beauty; 



But character gains in — courage ? 



Ay, sir, and much beside it ! 

 You don't sport, more's the pity : 



You soon would find, if you tried it, 



Good sportsman means good fellow, 



Sound hearted he, to the centre ; 

 Your mealy-mouthed, mild milksops 



There's where the rot can enter! " 



— Browning. 



An idle word, idly spoken, often brings about 

 results which were never expected, either by the 

 man who spoke them or by him who heard. 

 Sometimes, indeed, an idle word has struck the 

 world to its centre ; upheaving dynasties, shaking 

 thrones, and bringing revolution with it. Some- 

 times it has had but a trivial result, yet a result 



