Introduction 



" glorious twenty-three hounds " clustering sedately round 

 his horse's heels ; we can see them return, late at night, 

 those fortunate few, mudstained and weary, but one and 

 all in that state of ecstatic delight which I think fox-hunters 

 alone can feel when they have ridden from start to finish of 

 the greatest hunt of their life-time — of " The greatest Chace 

 that ever was," for thus the Master describes it in his 

 Journal. And then, as the night wears on, we seem to 

 watch them still, those old-time sportsmen, as they gather 

 in the " Great Hall at Charlton." Hark ! my friends, to 

 their who-hoops and holloas as they drink again and again 

 to huntsmen, horses, and hounds, but most of all, we like 

 to think, to the memory of that gallant fox that has stood 

 up before them from dawn till dusk ! 



And then the solemn dehberation, and possibly no little 

 argument (for they are tired, and the port wine is old and 

 potent), as they settle down to the careful selection of the 

 quaint phrases which shall hand down to posterity the 

 ** Full and Impartial Account " of this red letter day. 



Ah well I Charlton is very silent now. Honest Tom 

 sleeps sound enough in the neighbouring churchyard of 

 Singleton ; dust long, long since are all the gay and gallant 

 company for whom the twang of his horn and his rousing 

 cheer were wont to set every nerve a-tinghng with that 

 electric thrill of dehght which we, their successors, know 

 and appreciate so keenly ; but as we ride slowly home along 

 the broad rides, in the dusk of a winter's evening, we who 

 know the old " Forest " and love it, not only for its own 

 sake, but for the sake of Auld Lang Syne, feel that we have 

 assuredly much to be thankful for in that the " changes and 

 chances of this mortal life " have not as yet succeeded in 



XV 



