DEER 107 



luoderate animal. When it was a question of carting him. 

 he used to rear up on his hind legs and strike in a most 

 unfriendly way and with painful celerity. 



The ' Druid,' in one of his books, attempts to draw dis- 

 tinctions between different breeds of deer from the hunting 

 point of view. The Woburn deer, for instance, he speaks of 

 with admiration ; the Chillingham deer, imported by Lord 

 Kinnaird w'hen he was Master of the Buckhounds, with faint 

 praise. I think it very doubtful myself whether the strain has 

 much, if anything, to do with deer running well or ill. Yet, 

 if I do not attach importance to how they are bred, I do 

 attach it to where they are bred, and I should always prefer 

 deer drafted to the paddocks from large parks like Windsor 

 and Eichmond. The larger and the rougher the better. 



Except for an occasional drive in the deer-cart — in reserve 

 — many of the Swinley deer are mere walking ladies and 

 gentlemen, • or at best understudies for the leading character 

 parts. ' Fruges consumere nati,' they are bovine in their 

 habits and interpretation of everyday life, preferring the 

 quiet plenty of the paddock to the distinctions of the chase. 

 However, they justify their existence very tolerably as veni- 

 son. A fat saddle helps amazingly to repair the gaps in 

 Farmer So-and-So's fences, or even the depredations of Lord 

 Suffolk's ' turnip tramplers.' 



In my time only the good deer were hunted — deer that 

 I knew could go and would go. This has always been the 

 rule in the Eoyal establishments. I hear they were better 

 than ever last season. It is difficult to say whether a deer 

 will run well or ill. Much depends upon temperament 

 and accident, a good deal upon the state of the ground, 

 and a little upon the weather. Like other professionals, deer 



' Our crack deer come out four or five times a season. Bartlett one season 

 was out six times, I think, and never had a scratch of any sort ; but this is an 

 unusual number of times. Three would be about the average for the good deer. 



