Thomas Fownes
of Stapleton, in Dorsetshire, about the year 1730, and it appears that these hounds were subsequently sold to Mr. Bowes, of Streatham, in Yorkshire. The Dukes of Beaufort and Rutland, the Earls of Yarborough and Fitzwilliam, were amongst the earliest owners of EARLY MORNING.
England, but we may take it that it was not at all generally followed until the year 1756; though the Charlton, afterwards the Goodwood, were in existence in the reign of William III., and the Bridgewater hounds very soon afterwards, besides others. We read, indeed, that King James in the year 1603 was accustomed to hunt as a pastime in the course of the long journeys which were undertaken at that period. The writer tells us that "live hares in baskets being carried to the Heath made excellent sport for his Majesty, Sir John Harington's hounds with good mouths following the game, the King taking great leisure and pleasure in the same." Gervase Markham, writing in the time of James I., praises the chase, and lays it down that " of all the field pleasures wherewith old time and men's invention VOL. III celebrated packs, whose reputation has been jealously maintained ever since they were first established. It has been stated that there are 354 packs of hounds in England and Ireland, but Mr. Sargent, who has been at great trouble in compiling an accurate list, allows for "hunts not returned," and estimates the total number at 360. In these days, foxhunting establishments are often conducted on a scale of lavish expenditure which is not only unreasonable, but which deters many promising young country gentlemen from becoming masters, and it is on this account that, at the end of the season, we frequently hear that well-known countries are vacant, and afterwards that the mastership has been offered to and accepted by a stranger, who has no interest beyond the chase in the land over which he hunts. Owners and occupiers of land will B preserve foxes more readily for one born and bred in the country than they will for a stranger, however greatly they may appreciate his public spirit in coming forward to take the hounds.
Melton Mowbray may be considered as the metropolis of the foxhunting world, for Leicestershire, rich in glorious grazing grounds, has for a century been looked upon as the premier country; but the agricultural features of the provinces, which were for merly derided and looked down upon as being realms of heavy ploughed land, have undergone considerable improvement, a from a hunting point of view, during the last thirty years. The low price of wheat has effectually hindered the progress of the plough, and the land on which the crop formerly flourished has been laid or fallen down to grass.
Although the wave of agricultural depression which has swept over England and remained with us for so long a period has had the effect of diminishing the attendance of owners and occupiers of land at the meets, they still give their loyal allegiance to a sport they love to encourage. In many provincial countries the subscriptions, for the same reason, have become seriously reduced.
Although there is no statute book of laws which governs the rights of country, there is an unwritten law in such matters which is perfectly well understood and respected.