4 OBSERVATIONS ON FOX-HUNTING 



spring. The forming such a pack from draughts 

 is by no means an easy task ; it requires con- 

 siderable judgment, with long experience ; and 

 you will find great difficulty in procuring even a 

 jew Hounds to start with that are not either vicious 

 or worn out : it is very certain, no Master of 

 Hounds will part with one which is useful and 

 steady. Huntsmen will humbug if they can about 

 their draughts, but I have very rarely known a 

 draught entered Hound good for much. 



Hounds have always been much under-valued : 

 we sometimes hear of eight hundred, or even a 

 thousand guineas, as the price of a Himter, and 

 the sum of three or four hundred is often con- 

 sidered a mere trifle ; whereas, till very lately, a 

 Pack of Hounds, on ivhich every thing depends, 

 was only considered worth a few hundreds. Yet 

 Shakespeare himself appears to have known the 

 value of a Hound ; for, in his " Induction " to 

 the " Taming of the Shrew," a nobleman returned 

 from hunting thus speaks of his hounds with 

 delight to his huntsman : 



" Lord. Huntsman, I charge thee, tender well my 

 hounds ; 

 Braeh Merriman, — the poor cur is emboss'd, 

 And couple Clowdcr with the deep-mouth'd brach. 

 Saw'st thou not, boy, how Silver made it good 

 At the hedge-corner, in the coldest fault ? 

 I would not lose the dog for twenttj pound. 



