HUNTING AND SHOOTING
=Ladies in the Hunting-Field.=--There is no arena better fitted to
display good riding on the part of women than the hunting-field, and no
better opportunity for the practice of this delightful accomplishment
and for its thorough enjoyment. It is urged, however, that it argues
cruelty of disposition and unwomanly feeling to join in the pursuit of a
poor, miserable, hunted fox, and worse still to be in at the death, and
that women are liable to be carried away by the enthusiasm of the hour
to applaud and to witness what they would otherwise shrink from. This
argument has a certain weight, and deters many from actually hunting who
would otherwise join in the sport, and they make a compromise by
regularly attending the meets, and even witnessing a throw-off of a
fox-break covert. Every strong point that a rider possesses is brought
out in the field. The canter in the Row, the trot through the
country-lanes, or the long country ride are very feeble substitutes for
the intense enjoyment experienced when taking part in a good run; the
excitement felt and shared in by the whole field exhilarates and
stimulates, and renders fatigue a thing out of the question, not to be
thought of until the homeward ride is well over.
Considering the number of ladies who hunt, the accidents that occur are
surprisingly few, for the obvious reason that ladies do not attempt to
hunt unless their skill as good horsewomen is beyond all question. Their
husbands, their fathers, their brothers would not allow them to
jeopardise their lives, unless their riding and experience, their
courage, their nerve, and their instruction justified the attempt.
There are also two other weighty considerations necessary to success--a
good mount, and a good lead. The father or husband invariably selects
the one, and the friend--either of the fair rider or of the husband or
brother--gives the all-important lead, without which few ladies venture
upon hunting, save those few who are independent enough to cut out
their own work.
Ladies, who are naturally fond of riding, cannot always indulge in the
pleasure of hunting, on the ground of expense, for instance. A lady may
possess a fairly good horse for ordinary purposes, to ride in the Row,
or for country exercise, but very few gentlemen of moderate means can
afford to keep hunters for the ladies of their families as well as for
themselves, although, in fiction, this is freely done. If a lady has one
good hunter of her own, she may expect two days' hunting a week,
providing the country is not too stiff, and the meets are fairly
convenient. Occasionally, a mount may be obtained from a good-natured
friend, whose stud is larger than his requirements; but this is not to
be depended upon in every-day life, and popular ladies and first-rate
riders are more in the way of receiving these attentions than the
general run of ladies.
As regards the presence of young ladies in the hunting-field, there are
two opinions respecting its advisability, apart from the question of
whether it is or is not a feminine pursuit. The long ride home in the
November and December twilight, in the company of some member of the
hunt, who has become the young lady's cavalier for the time being, is
not to the taste of many parents; chaperonage must of necessity be
greatly dispensed with in the hunting-field, and this is an objection
which many fathers advance against their daughters hunting.
Some husbands entertain equally strict views on this head, and are of
opinion that the boldest rider and the best lead to follow in the
field is not always the guest they would most desire to see at their
own firesides.
* * * * *
=Hunt-Breakfasts.=--A lady should not go to a hunt-breakfast at the
house of a country gentleman if unacquainted with him, or some member of
his family, unless asked to do so by a mutual acquaintance. All
gentlemen riding to hounds, whether strangers to the host or not, have
the privilege of entering any house where a hunt-breakfast is given and
accepting the hospitality offered. The breakfast, which is in reality a
cold collation, with the addition of wine, liqueurs, ale, etc., is
usually laid out in the dining-room, and no ceremony whatever is
observed; the gentlemen come and go as they please.
The mistress of the house should either be present at a hunt-breakfast
and receive the ladies who arrive in the hall or dining-room, or she
should receive them in the drawing-room, where refreshments should be
brought to them.
When a hostess intends riding to hounds, she is often mounted before her
neighbours arrive, in which case she invites them to enter the house for
refreshments, if they care to do so.
* * * * *
=Gentlemen who go down into a County= for a few days' hunting only
seldom wear "pink," and prefer riding to hounds in black coats.
The members of the hunt wear pink as a matter of course, but it is
considered better taste for a stranger to wear a black coat than to
appear in a _new_, _very new_, unspecked red one.
* * * * *
=Sporting Terms.=--Persons unversed in matters appertaining to "country
life" and "country sports," town bred, and who have had little or no
opportunity of acquiring a knowledge of the subject from personal
experience, can hardly fail to commit many and various mistakes when
brought into contact with sportsmen and their sports.
A knowledge of sporting matters and sporting terms, and the etiquette
observed by sportsmen, is only arrived at by associating with those
thoroughly conversant with the subject, and with whom "sport" has formed
part of their education so to speak.
* * * * *
=The Shooting Season commences= on the 12th of August with grouse
shooting in the north of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Partridge
shooting commences on the 1st of September and terminates on the 1st of
February.
The finest partridge shooting is allowed by general consent to be found
in the eastern counties.
Partridge driving does not take place until January to any great extent.
* * * * *
=Pheasant Shooting= commences the 1st of October and terminates the 1st
of February.
* * * * *
=Hares= may be shot up to the 1st of March.
* * * * *
=Rabbits= may be shot all the year round.
* * * * *
=Rooks= are shot during the spring and summer.
* * * * *
It is difficult to make a would-be sportsmen comprehend the strict
etiquette maintained between the owners of manors; that is to say, he
would think nothing of crossing the boundary of his host's manor, "gun
in hand," if he felt inclined to follow a bird or hare he had wounded,
oblivious of the fact that, in the first place, the greatest
punctiliousness is observed between gentlemen in the matter of
trespassing on each other's land when out shooting; and, that unless the
greatest intimacy existed, a sportsman would hardly venture to pick up
his dead bird if it had fallen on a neighbour's manor, and would on no
account look for a wounded bird, but for a dead one only. In the second
place he would carefully observe the rule of leaving his gun on his own
side of the boundary, and would certainly not carry it with him to his
neighbour's land. Those are points that strangers invited for a few
days' shooting very often fall foul of, creating thereby much
unpleasantness for their host through their ignorance and inexperience.
* * * * *
=When a gentleman is invited to join= a shooting-party, it would not be
necessary for him to take a loader with him, as his host would find a
man to perform that office for him, unless he had a servant with him
capable of performing that duty; but if he were residing in the
neighbourhood he would, as a matter of course, take his loader with him
when asked to join a shooting-party, and in both cases he would shoot
with two guns; as to shoot with one gun only causes a vexatious delay.
A frequent cause of offence to sportsmen is for a gentleman to be noisy
when out shooting, that is to say, to be "loudly talkative," or
"boisterously merry," or given to indulge in exclamations when a bird
rises, or when a bird is missed; your true sportsman maintains a strict
silence.
There are numberless other points relating to field sports wherein the
"inexperienced sportsman" is apt to give offence, but which would take
up too much space to enter into in a work of this description.
* * * * *
=The Fees, or Tips to the Gamekeepers=, vary from 10s. to L5,
according to the number of days' shooting enjoyed or the extent of the
bag.
For one day's partridge-shooting the tip to the head gamekeeper would be
a sovereign; for a good day's pheasant-shooting, as much as two
sovereigns would probably be given. A gentleman who does not tip or fee
up to this mark is not likely to find himself too well placed in a
battue.
The cost of a game licence is L3, and lasts twelve months, from 1st
August to the 31st of July the following year, or L2 from the 1st of
August to the 31st of October, or L2 from the 1st of November to the
31st of July in the following year, or L1 for fourteen days.