For I'll have the brown Bay, if the blew bonnet ride,
And hold a thousand Pounds of his side, Sir;
Dragon would scow'r it, but Dragon Grows old;
He cannot endure it, he cannot, he wonnot now run it,
As lately he could:
Age, age, does hinder the Speed, Sir,
which would infer that Dragon was old and worthless as a racer before his death, and the other story falls to the ground.
When young, the Queen was very fond of hunting, and, in fact, pursued it after her accession to the throne, when, from her increasing size, she no longer mounted the saddle. 'The Queen came last Thursday to Hampton Court, and having assisted in council, and dined there, returned at night to Windsor, where she takes the divertisement of hunting almost every day in an open Calash in the forest,'[380] i.e. she drove down the long rides and saw what she could of the hunt. Again,[381] three years later: 'This morning her Majestie and the prince went for Winchester to take the diversion of hunting.' Still later[382]: 'The queen was hunting the stag till four this afternoon, and she drove in her chaise, above forty miles.'
The country gentry then, as now, were ardently fond of sport; but then the hunting field was a thoroughly neighbourly gathering, there were no subscription packs, and no fast trains to bring every snob that possesses, or can hire, a 'hunter.' The runs might not be so fast as now, nor were they ever recorded in any sporting paper—horrible disadvantages, doubtless, but still they brought neighbours together, engendered a kindly feeling, and gave legitimate occupation to people whose brains were not addled with too much reading. Where can there be a prettier picture of a thoroughbred old English sportsman than that which Addison draws of Sir Roger[383]: 'The Walls of his great Hall are covered with the Horns of several kinds of Deer that he has killed in the Chace, which he thinks the most valuable Furniture of his House, as they afford him frequent Topicks of Discourse, and shew that he has not been Idle. At the lower End of the Hall, is a large Otter's Skin stuffed with Hay, which his Mother ordered to be hung up in that manner, and the Knight looks upon it with great Satisfaction, because it seems he was but nine Years old when his Dog killed him. A little Room adjoining to the Hall is a kind of Arsenal filled with Guns of several Sizes and Inventions, with which the Knight has made great Havock in the Woods, and distroyed many thousands of Pheasants, Partridges, and Wood-cocks. His Stable Doors are patched with Noses that belonged to Foxes of the Knights own hunting down. Sir Roger shewed me one of them that for Distinction Sake has a Brass Nail struck through it, which cost him about fifteen Hours riding, carried him through half a dozen Counties, killed him a Brace of Geldings, and lost above half his Dogs. This the Knight looks upon as one of the greatest Exploits of his Life. The perverse Widow, whom I have given some Account of, was the Death of several Foxes; for Sir Roger has told me that in the course of his Amours he patched the Western Door of his Stable. Whenever the Widow was cruel, the Foxes were sure to pay for it. In proportion as his Passion for the Widow abated, and old Age came on, he left off Fox hunting; but a Hare is not yet Safe that Sits within ten Miles of his House.'
Hunting commenced both earlier in the season and in the day than now. 'It must be imagined it was near Day when we went to Bed and therefore could not be expected we should get out a Hunting at Five or Six in the Morning.'[384] From a set of nearly contemporary prints we gather that possibly little attention was paid to earth-stopping, when fox-hunting, for one part of the engraving shows a fox being dug out. In another part the hounds are breaking up the fox, which has not been denuded of his brush. Only the gentlemen are represented as being on horseback, the huntsmen having leaping poles. This was better for them than being mounted, for the country was nothing like as cultivated as now, and perfectly undrained, so that they could go straighter on foot, and with these poles leaps could be taken that no horseman would attempt.
Nor should the Fox shun the pursuing Hound
Nor the Tall Stag with branching Antlers crown'd.[385]
From the engravings referred to, we find that the stag was first found, or harboured, with a bloodhound—the staghounds were coupled, and let loose when wanted by the huntsmen, who were on foot. Its death was duly celebrated by a 'Mort,' or blowing of horns, when a hunting-knife was presented to the principal man present, to cut off its head, after everyone had passed his opinion as to its age, weight, etc.: the deer was then carted home. Guns were carried wherewith to shoot the stag, if necessary, when at bay.
Budgell, in Spectator No. 117, well describes a run after a hare, and the discipline of the hounds who were close upon the hare, when the huntsman threw his pole between them—this the well-tutored dogs would not pass, and the hare was rescued. Gay, too, tells the story of a run well:—
Now at a Fault the Dogs confus'dly stray,
And try t'unravel his perplexing Way;
They trace his artful Doubles o'er and o'er,
Smell every Shrub, and all the Plain explore,
'Till some stanch Hound summons the baffled Crew,
And strikes away his wily Steps anew.
Along the Fields they scow'r with jocund Voice,
The frighted Hare starts at the distant Noise;
New Stratagems and various Shifts he tries,
Oft' he looks back, and dreads a close Surprize;
Th' advancing Dogs still haunt his list'ning Ear,
And ev'ry breeze augments his growing Fear:
'Till tir'd at last, he pants, and heaves for Breath;
Then lays him down, and waits approaching death.[386]
Or what better description could we have of coursing a hare than the following:—