CHAPTER II
No one is too good to be a Master of Foxhounds. If he be gifted with the average endowment of tact, administrative talent, power of penetrating character, and all other attributes that form the essential equipment of a successful public man, so much the better; but he should at least be reared in the atmosphere and tradition of country life, fond of sport for its own sake, a good judge of Horses and Hounds, and the possessor of a remarkably thick skin. For in addition to directing the sport in the Field, the M.F.H. is indeed a public man who should have some faculty for the art of government, being ultimately responsible for the welfare of the country over which he presides. The character and ability of the Hunt Committee and Secretary, and the disposition of the owners and occupiers of land may make his task proportionately easy or difficult as the case may be. But there is no limit to the influence of the M.F.H. if he has the power and the will to use it wisely and well, fortified by the resolve to leave his country, when he lays down his office, in at least as good a state as he found it, and as much better as he can possibly make it. The proper administration of a hunting country is a vital part of Fox-hunting. As a general principle the Master should always work through the agency of the Secretary and the Committee, who should consult him before taking important decisions. But the Master had better not come into open and direct contact with anything that has to do with finance, however much he may advise in private council with regard to ways and means. The main postulate is that he should know everything that is going on, so that he may place his experience and influence at the disposal of the Secretary. The only administrative department that he might conceivably take into his own hands is that of the earth-stopping. If the Secretary hunts every day in the season from the beginning of Cub-hunting, he can manage the earth-stopping himself, and it is probably better so. But even then the M.F.H. and the Huntsman should be personally acquainted with every earth-stopper in the country, and know where to find him, especially if the Secretary lives some distance from the Kennel, and cannot therefore be communicated with on an emergency. But whoever actually manages the earth-stopping, the importance of it cannot be overestimated. A badly stopped country is responsible for more trouble to the cause of Fox-hunting than almost anything else. It acts and reacts on the whole reputation of the sport. To draw coverts blank because the earths are open places the entire Hunt in a ridiculous position. To run to ground just as Hounds are settled to their Fox causes acute disappointment to every one. If the Fox does not find an open earth until he has shown a good run, some of the ladies and gentlemen may indeed have enjoyed their gallop, and may take refuge in the comfortable formula that the good Fox will live to run another day. This light-hearted prophecy may or may not be fulfilled. No one can tell. Some one may make it his business to see that the Fox does not get out of that earth alive. But it is quite certain that constantly running to ground seriously impairs the moral of both Huntsman and Hounds. Nothing makes a pack of Foxhounds so well as killing beaten Foxes. Nothing unmakes them like being robbed of their game when they are running for blood. And with regard to the preservation of Foxes, the ancient paradox, “The more Foxes you kill, the more you have to kill,” contains a vital truth. The whole countryside soon gets to know whether the Hounds are killing their Foxes or not. If they kill them, all is well. If not, some officious person may think it his duty to save them the trouble.
A whole chapter might be written on the science of earth-stopping. It is probably right to try to proceed on the principle of putting permanent grates to every drain, which, with periodical inspection, shall last for all time, and to stop securely every earth at the beginning of Cub-hunting until about February 1, when the earths may be opened to allow the vixens access to them, and put to in the morning and reopened at night. But much will depend on the individual earth-stopper and the nature of the country. Some earth-stoppers seem to be born and not made, while in some countries the badgers will play havoc with the most elaborate defences. But there is one element that has an important, if indirect, bearing on earth-stopping which is within the orbit of the Master’s decision. This is the matter of digging. During Cub-hunting the Cub should always be dug out and eaten unless there are very obvious reasons to the contrary. To take an extreme case, a Cub may be marked to ground very early, before the Hounds have done any work, in a place from which it would obviously take a gang of navvies at least two hours to get him out. By this time the sun would be risen, and it might do the condition of the Hounds more good to try to find another Cub, not forgetting to stop the earth before drawing again. Some Masters will leave a digging-party and trust to getting back to the earth and killing the Cub later on. If this course is followed, one of the establishment should be left at the earth to direct operations. If the digging-party succeeds in digging down to the Cub, and there seems to be no prospect of the Hounds being able to come and eat him, the whipper-in, or whoever is in command, should have orders to let the Cub go rather than bring him to the Huntsman in a bag. A mounted man in livery carrying a Fox about the country in a bag is not an edifying spectacle; and to eat a Fox out of a bag on the way home does not do Hounds much good. If, on the other hand, the Hounds mark their Cub to ground after a fair morning’s work, then the M.F.H. should not be afraid to face a good long dig. He will blood his hounds, teach them to mark their Foxes to ground, give satisfaction to the Fox preservers, and very likely dig out the earth or drain in such a way that it is safe for the season.
So much for digging during Cub-hunting. Digging after November 1 is another matter. To dig or not to dig? That is the question. The general ethics of modern Fox-hunting would seem to preclude the practice; but the Master’s decision must be guided by the scent, the weather, the length of daylight, and the prospective magnitude of the operation. If it is a good scenting day and the precious hours of daylight are short, he will be wise to try to find another Fox, unless the dig is certain to be only a matter of a few minutes. Good scenting days are so rare that not a moment must be wasted. If he decides not to dig, he should have the Hounds called away immediately, and leave the earth quietly and quickly. He will in this manner cause the minimum of disappointment to the Hounds, and disclose the refuge of the Fox to as few people as possible. To potter about over the earth, to collect a crowd of foot-people who amuse themselves by an amateur dig after the Hounds have gone, to keep the Field waiting, and in the end to disappoint the Hounds,—all this is bad policy from every point of view. If the scent is so poor that the chance of a good run is remote, the weather fine, and the daylight long, a dig may be legitimate even during the regular hunting season.
Having digressed somewhat on the subject of digging for the purpose of illustrating its influence on the welfare of the Hunt, let us return to some other aspects of Mastership. Of these the engagement of the servants is one of the most difficult and hazardous. It is easier to choose a wife than to choose a Huntsman. The M.F.H. may know all about some particular Huntsman and have the fortune to find him free at the right moment, otherwise he will have to rely upon hearsay; but it is well to reinforce such knowledge by watching the man at his work. If a week or more can be spent in this way, so much the better. One day is a great deal better than nothing, but it requires a judge of very ripe experience to form an opinion in one day, and even then it is very easy to make a mistake. Something may be gathered from voice, manner, horsemanship, and the look of the Hounds. But the day may be one of those good scenting days when all Huntsmen are dubbed the finest Huntsmen in Europe, or it may be one of those terrible days a succession of which would ruin the reputation of the very elect. The cardinal tests of the ability of a Huntsman in the field are his capacity to mark and to bear in mind the exact spot where the leading Hounds lose the scent, and his power to keep his Hounds together well in front of his horse, with their noses to the ground, without too much help from his whipper-in. If a Huntsman is perpetually in front of the Hounds, drifting about with no apparent reference to the place where they threw up, or if he is constantly sending one of his whippers-in to collect small parties of Hounds, you may be sure there is something wrong.
An attempt will be made in another chapter to deal more fully with these points. We are now on our visit of inspection, and unless the scent is first-rate, a rough and ready judgement might possibly be formed by keeping them in view. In any case, a visit should be paid to the Kennel, not forgetting the boiling-house. If the Kennel and its inmates, both human and animal, are clean and tidy, and the food thick, with not too much soup in it—none would probably be better—then the impression is favourable.
Let us assume that the Huntsman is engaged and has entered on his duties on May 1. Although the M.F.H. is ultimately responsible for him and should know what he is doing, there is such a thing as the Master interfering too much in the details of kennel management. When a man is engaged for the important position of Huntsman, he is worthy of a free hand to develop the condition of the Hounds in his own way, and in modern phrase it “is up to him to make good.” His employer should satisfy himself before engaging him that he is likely to proceed upon sound principles with regard to feeding and exercise, the breaking of young Hounds, and the management of Whelps, and then leave the execution of these principles to the servant, who if he cannot be trusted to produce his pack in the autumn fit to kill an afternoon Fox, and well-broken enough not to need the whip, had better make way for some one else. The suggestion that the Master may be well advised to leave the Huntsman to do his own work in the Kennel is not meant to imply that he should neglect the Kennel in the summer. If he is really fond of Hounds he will want to breed a pack worth looking at on the flags, and it is a great advantage to the Huntsman if his Master will invite the visits and criticisms of various judges and breeders. No one is too old to learn, and a wise Huntsman who can keep his mouth shut and his ears open on these occasions will gather much food for reflection.
The choice of a whipper-in is in a certain sense less important. Provided he can take care of his horses and has a fair share of the great gift of receptivity, he will, as a general rule, become whatever the Huntsman can make him. Some establishments seem to have the art of turning out good men. Others never seem to be able to teach anybody, probably because no definite system is maintained, because blame is given when things go wrong, no praise when things go right, while those in authority are either incompetent or unwilling to give a reasoned explanation of the why and the wherefore of orders.
Having engaged his servants, the M.F.H. will have to find horses for them to ride. The governing principle is to give them good ones; this is not only the kindest but the cheapest plan. A high authority has remarked that a good servant will always take care of a good horse. Self-preservation will prompt him to do this, because he will not want to put a safe mount out of action. The same instinct will not make him particularly anxious about the welfare of a bad one. It is wise to buy as many horses as possible from the farmers. The hunting-farmer is one of the best, if not the best of friends to Fox-hunting, and from every point of view should be encouraged to own and breed good hunters. There is no greater encouragement to him in this direction than the knowledge that he will always have a willing customer in the M.F.H. if he can produce the goods. If this understanding can be created, the M.F.H. will have the great advantage of having the pick of all the best farmers’ horses in the country. He has an opportunity of seeing them because he visits all districts regularly when hunting, and can make it his business to know all the young horses which the farmers ride. The spectacle of a horse bought from a farmer carrying one of the Staff—or maybe the M.F.H. himself—well to the front, not only advances the national cause of horse-breeding by force of example, but promotes good-will and legitimate pride by giving the late owner of the horse a reflected, almost a proprietary, interest in the establishment. To quote Egerton Warburton:
If it is well for the M.F.H. to take a general interest in the farmers’ horses, it is essential that he should take particular interest in the puppies and puppy walkers. The personal touch in this matter, as in most others, is more valuable than many silver cups, though prizes and a good luncheon on a fine day in July undoubtedly warm the heart.
