CHAPTER III 



Fox-hound Kennels of the present Day. — Aristocratic Fox-hounds. — 

 A disputed Point of Dog-lore — ^Varieties of Fox-hounds. — Fair Play 

 for the Fox. — The Duke of Beaufort's Hounds. — Cover-side 

 Chronology. — The Ted worth Pack. — The Heythrop Hounds. — Lord 

 Southampton and Mr. Osbaldiston. — Lord Middleton and Sir 

 Tatton Sykea. — Petworth. — Dead Beat. — Old Firebrand. 



Lord. — Huntsman, I charge thee, tender well my hounds ; 

 Brach Merriman — the poor cur is embossed, 

 And couple Clowder with the deep-mouthed 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 twenty pound. 



Huntsman. — Why, Bellman is as good as he, my lord ; 

 He cried upon it at the merest loss, 

 And twice to-day picked out the dullest scent ; 

 Trust me, I take him for the better dog. 



Taming of tht Shrew. 



Four of the oldest and most fashionable packs of fox- 

 hounds in the present time are those of the Dukes of 

 Rutland and Beaufort, and the Earls of Yarborough 

 and Fitzwilliam ; which have been maintained in their 

 respective families, from father to son, for more than a 

 hundred years ; and from these are principally descended 

 the numerous other packs which are spread over Great 

 Britain. 



Of these four kennels the Duke of Rutland's stands 

 at the head, for power and symmetry combined ; and 

 I think, taken all together, are decidedly the cleverest 

 pack of fox-hounds in England on the flags. Whether 

 they are the cleverest in the field also, I have no means 



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