INTRODUCTION 15 



These divisions and temporary loans of country 

 have occasioned some difficulty in deciding upon the 

 arrangement of chapters which follow. The fact 

 that more than one pack may have been operating 

 at the same time in different parts of the hunt is an 

 objection to the otherwise obvious arrangement of 

 devoting a separate chapter to each master. Any 

 other arrangement, however, was found on considera- 

 tion to be open to still greater objections, so that, 

 while conscious of its somewhat inartistic effect, I 

 have decided to adopt, as far as possible, the one 

 master, one chapter scheme. 



One of the main objections to this scheme lies in 

 the fact of its not fitting in with the periods into 

 which the history is divided. This is due to the 

 country, after division, having been reunited under 

 a master (Dr. Gaye) who had presided for some 

 years over one only of the two separate packs between 

 which the country was for a time apportioned. Yet 

 some division into periods was necessary on account 

 of the break in the continuity of the mastership of 

 the country as a whole and of the confusing changes 

 in the names of the two packs under the dual arrange- 

 ment. Despite this obvious drawback, the division 

 into the three periods selected, viz. "The Original 

 Country," "Partition" and "Reunion," appears to 

 be less objectionable than any other. It should be 

 noted that, in order to avoid complication and 

 confusion, the country has been treated as parti- 

 tioned only while the Haldon side was separately 

 hunted as an entire and self-contained country ; 

 mere temporary loans of the Haldon or other portions 

 to hunts which had also other country beyond the 

 borders of the South Devon are treated as loans and 

 not as a division of country and are dealt with under 



