RECENT SPORTING LITERAT1JRE.* SOME time ago Mr. Watson determined to
get different sporting experts, under the general title of " Masters of their Arts," to contribute a series of papers to the Badminton Magazine. These have now been published as a volume. The papers naturally vary much in merit and interest; but the book as a whole is a capital one to make a present of to a youthful, or even an aged, sportsman. The series was " in- tended to place on record the manner in which the chief English sports and pastimes were conducted and practised at the beginning of the twentieth century." We cannot say that the essays do this, or that the writers have attempted it. In spite of Mr. Watson's apology for their inclusion, we cannot see why Lord Delamere's article on lion-shooting in Somali- land or Lord Walsingham's on the Spanish ibex (good as they are) are reprinted in a book on English sport. We have not been able, either, to frame a definition of " sport" which includes billiards, on which Major W. Broadfoot writes, and excludes ping-pong, on which we find nothing. Mr. Horace G. Hutchinson is, of course, selected to write on golf ; but croquet is forgotten. And if motoring is a sport, why not driving a carriage or riding a bicycle ? After these captious criticisms, let us give praise where it is due. There is little about fox-hunting that the late Lord Willoughby de Broke did not know, and his chapter of advice to masters, to hunts- men, and to whippers-in will be read with as much interest as any. He deals chiefly with the science of hunting ; and what he says is born of experience and thought. Lady Augusta Fane writes from the woman's point of view, though she does not think only of riding after a pilot. How much better, she declares, to spend the day hunting than to pay calls, with the long cold drive ending with tea and a red nose. We agree ; but are inclined to add that we have seen ladies out hunting with red noses, and others with noses that would be red if their colour were not artfully subdued. The late Lord Suffolk and Berkshire has written on "Harriers: Ancient and Modern," a chapter which touches upon Xenophon, and ends with practical advice on getting together and starting a pack of harriers. In the fifteen pages which are allotted to shoot- ing Lord Granby dwells on the difference between shooting nowadays and a hundred years ago. He quotes from the Belvoir game-books of 1804 to show how the Duke of Rutland, Mr. Thoroton, and "Beau" Brumruell secured between them one pheasant, one hare, and one woodcock. Each contributed one. Did they enjoy themselves less than those who have come after them and kill in a day their thousand hand-reared
• (1) _English Sport. Edited by Alfred E. T. Watson. London: Macmillan and Co. [12s. 6d.]—(2) Fox-hunting in the Shires. By T. F. Dale, M.A. Illustrated from Photographs by R. B. Lodge and others. " The Hunting Library," edited by F. G. Afialo, Vol. IL London Grant Richards. [7s. 6d. net. —(3) The Master of Hounds. By G. F. Underhill. With Contributions by Lord. Bibblesdele. Lieut.-Col. G. C. Ricardo, Arthur Heinemann, John Scott, ie.
• ' The Hunting Library," edited by F. G. Altai°, Vol. III. Same publisher and price.—(4) The Best of the Pun, 18914897. By Captain E. Pennell- Elmhirst. With 8 Coloured Illustrations by G. D. Giles, and 48 others by T. Sturgess and G. D. Giles. London : Chat-to and Windus. [16s.]—(5) Snipe and Woodcock. By L. H. De Visme Shaw and others. " Fur, Feather, and Fin Series." London : Longman& and Co. [5e.]
pheasants ? Lord Granby evidently thinks not, and has a word of praise for the old-fashioned sportsmen ; but he dis- misses the subject, remarking that comparisons are odious. The same writer has contributed the chapter on fishing, in which be deals principally with the dry-fly, and leaves himself only a few paragraphs to touch upon the salmon. Lord Ellesmere on racing devotes the space allotted to giving some practical advice to a man who wishes to become the owner of race-horses. He imagines his pupil to be possessed of enough capital to justify his investing a sufficient sum in what must be a more or less hazardous speculation. But he does not tell us what that capital is. " Cricket," by Lord Hawke, and Rowing," by Mr. W. H. Greufell, show how successful the editor has been in securing eminent authorities to write. " Steeplechasing " is by an anonymous gentleman rider, who writes exceedingly well, and has more than once headed the list of successful gentlemen jockeys. His name is mentioned, with that of others, in the chapter, so that it ought not to be difficult to identify him. "Association Football," by Mr. R. E. Foster, and " Rugby Football," by Mr. F. H. B. Champain and Mr. E. G. N. North, complete the most noticeable articles, if we add " Falconry," by Mr. Gerald Lascelles, who always writes with enthusiasm and knowledge. There are a number of illustrations admirably printed in colours, which include " Woodcock Shooting," from a sketch by J. W. Turner.
Mr. Dale in his book on Fox-hunting in the Shires includes the Atherstone, North Warwickshire, and Warwickshire Hunts, and he has written something like a guide-book in which he tells us frankly that Leicestershire is not the place for the man who wants to bunt cheaply. He begins by taking a week at Melton, another at Market Harborough, another at Leicester, Rugby, Oakhain, and so on, showing what hounds will be within reach each day of the week, when a man will have to take the train, what sport may be looked for, with a little thrown in about expenses of lodgings and stabling and cost of horses. All this is practical enough. The chapters on Hunts and their histories are, however, much too abort to deal with the subject in any interesting detail. Who can write anything worth reading on the historic associations of the Quorn in five pages ? The chapters on riding over the shires are instructive in their way, and we have some photographs of the terrible fences and the great grass fields between them. But one day's hunting in Leicestershire will teach any man or woman more than all the books that ever have been, or ever will be, written. Again, what can one say in a chapter on "The Horse for the Grass Countries " ? There is, of course, the ideal hunter for a man who means to ride over the grass countries and not to be turned by any jumpable fence. This horse Mr. Dale describes. But on a Cottesmore fashionable Saturday one may see three hundred horses of every sort and size, which presumably suit the tastes of their owners. We feel sure the fashionable world of Melton and Oakham will be gratified to hear " that a lady or a clergyman can share in the sport to-day without the faintest possibility of offence to the most delicate susceptibilities." There are also chapters on " Ladies in the Shires" and on the future prospects of bunting in the grass 'countries, which we agree with Mr. Dale in thinking are bright enough as long as people who can afford it are willing to pay for their sport. In the chapter on dress and equipment Mr. Dale shirks the diffi- culties by advising a man to put himself in the bands of a first-rate tailor and bootmaker. Mr. Dale writes well, and his book will instruct' those who know nothing and amuse those who know the shires.
The other volume of "The Hunting Library" is disappoint- ing. Mr. Underhill died before it appeared, and we will say nothing more about his effort to write a book on the Master of Hounds. The title-page announces contributions by Lord Ribblesdale ; but we find nothing but his photograph (which is always pleasing to look upon) and four pages with very little in them. Colonel Ricardo is well qualified to write on the Master's expenses, having been secretary and Master of the Craven Hunt. He goes into every detail ; but, of course, much depends on the country and the style in which the hunting is carried on. There are chapters on stag-hunting, both of the Exmoor and of the carted deer. But they are not long enough to tell anything new. On the other hand, Mr. Heinemann has a good chapter in which he writes on the views, the difficulties, and the pleasures of a Master of otter- hounds.
What can we find to say about " Brooksby's " latest volume P Every one who reads the Field knows the regular letters and the cheery verbosity of this celebrated hunting correspondent. The reader who is not repelled by the title, the awful weight, and the tawdry binding of this volume will find plenty to read in Captain Pennell-Elmhirat's last book, in which he describes a few of his adventures between 1891 and 1897. He is always hunting. When there is a frost he is off to Ireland to follow the Meath or Tipperary packs. In the spring he lingers with the Woodland Pytchley until it is time to go to the New Forest. At intervals he makes excur- sions to hunt with Lord Zetland, or any one else, in the North, or to ride over the Blackmore Vale, or over the timber fences of Long Island, N.Y. He has included, too, a few chapters on shooting in Colorado or the Rocky Mountains. We some- times wish his style was a little less long-winded, and that he would tell us less often how frightened he is of the fences ; but he has a wonderful memory for all the incidents of a hunt.
A new volume in "The Fur, Feather, and Fin Series," after a rather long interval, is always welcome, though we must say at the outset that Mr. Shaw's book on Snipe and Woodcock does not come up to some of its predecessors in the series. Mr. Shaw knows a deal about his subject, and writes at such great length that the repetition and summarising are often trying to the reader's patience. Thirteen pages are devoted to the bleating of the snipe, and at the end of the disquisition we do not find we have learnt much. The strange habit of the woodcock in carrying its young is, of course, discussed ; and Mr. Thorburn, who con- tributes several of his incomparable drawings of birds, is bold enough to depict a woodcock in the act of clasping the youngster between its legs. We are interested to notice that Mr. Richard J. Ussher, who contributes an admirably written and very instructive chapter on snipe and woodcock in Ireland, believes that the woodcock also performs this act of parental devotion by pressing the young one to its breast by means of its long bill. We are told by Mr. Shaw (p. 133) that " the woodcock's eggs are generally three in number " ; Mr. Ussher (p. 263) writes, " the regular number of eggs is four." We should be unwilling to doubt so eminent an authority as Mr. Ussher, and every one who has found woodcocks' nests will know that Mr. Shaw is mistaken. The chapters on shooting contain some practical information as to guns, charges, and size of shot. We believe among the many record bags of snipe and woodcock which are referred to in these pages Lord Ardilaun's has never been beaten, and is never likely to be surpassed. In January, 1895, eight guns killed five hundred and eight woodcocks in one day. Mr. Alexander Inns Shand contributes his usual chapter on cookery. His gastronomic learning makes our mouths water, but does not much aid our cooks in the kitchen. We regret that space does not allow us to refer at greater length to many other interesting matters in the book.
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