THE KENNEL. 
685 
had better be prevented. Let the kennel, therefore, be your 
particular care. 
* Upon some little eminence erect, 
And fronting to the ruddy dawn ; its courts 
On either hand wide op’ning, to receive 
The sun’s all-cheering beams, when mild he shines, 
And gilds the mountain tops.’ 
Such as Somerville directs may be the situation ; its size 
must be suited to the number of its inhabitants ; the archi¬ 
tecture of it may be conformable to your own taste. 
“However deserving your confidence, still it should be the 
care of the master to see the state of the kennel frequently. 
Two kennels are absolutely necessary to the well-being of 
the hounds : when there is but one, it is seldom sweet; and 
when cleaned out, the hounds, particularly in winter, suffer 
both whilst it is cleaning, and as long as it remains wet 
afterwards. To be more clearly understood, I shall call one 
of these the hunting-kennel, by which I mean, that kennel 
into which the hounds are drafted which are to hunt the 
next day. Used always to the same kennel, they will be 
drafted with little trouble; they will answer to their names 
more readily, and you may count your hounds into the ken¬ 
nel with as much ease as a shepherd counts his sheep out of 
the fold. 
“ When the feeder comes to the kennel in the morning, he 
should let out the hounds into the outer court, at the same 
time opening the door of the hunting-kennel, as want of 
rest, or bad weather, may incline them to go into it. The 
lodging-room should then be cleaned out, the doors and 
windows of it opened, the litter shaken up, and the whole 
kennel made sweet and clean before the hounds return to it 
again. The great court and the other kennels are not less 
to be attended to, nor should any omission that is hurtful 
to the hounds be passed over in silence. 
