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diff --git a/41436-0.txt b/41436-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4d36bb7 --- /dev/null +++ b/41436-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7522 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41436 *** + +The Sportswoman's Library. + +Vol. I. + +[Illustration: _THE MARCHIONESS OF WORCESTER._] + + + + +THE SPORTSWOMAN'S LIBRARY. + +EDITED BY FRANCES E. SLAUGHTER. + +VOLUME I. + +[Illustration] + +WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS AND OLD PRINTS. + +WESTMINSTER: +ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE & CO., +2, WHITEHALL GARDENS, +1898. + + * * * * * + +DEDICATED +BY PERMISSION TO THE +MARCHIONESS OF WORCESTER +A KEEN SPORTSWOMAN AND WIFE +OF ONE OF THE FOREMOST +SPORTSMEN OF THE AGE. + + +BIRMINGHAM: + +PRINTED AT THE GUILD PRESS, 45, GREAT CHARLES STREET. + + + + +THE SPORTSWOMAN'S LIBRARY. + +Vol. I. + +Contents. + + +Preface. + +1. Englishwomen and Sport The Editor. + +2. Fox Hunting Mrs. Burn. + +3. Hare Hunting The Editor. + +4. Shooting The Hon. Mrs. Lancelot Lowther. + +5. Fishing for Tarpon Mrs. Murphy-Grimshaw. + +6. Archery Mrs. Berens and Miss Walrond. + +7. Skating Miss May Balfour. + +8. Golf Miss Starkie-Bence. + +9. Croquet Mrs. Spong. + +Appendix A. Golf Rules and Glossary. + +Appendix B. Croquet Rules. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +When I look at the completed MSS. of the first volumes of the +_Sportswomans' Library_, I feel deeply grateful to the many good +sportswomen who have aided me in my work, not only for the great stores +of practical knowledge they have brought to bear on the several subjects +of which we have treated, but for the way in which they have +collaborated with me. For this my warmest thanks are due to them one and +all. + +The object we have placed before us, is to give women the information +and help they are not likely to find in those books, which are written +chiefly from a man's point of view, and we have therefore avoided, as +far as possible, trenching on ground that has been already adequately +covered by those who, to sportsmen and sportswomen alike, are the best +authorities on the various subjects. If, therefore, our writings +sometimes seem to be wanting in completeness, it is, I venture to +think, to be attributed to this cause. + +When I first gathered round me the body of contributors, some of whom +were personally unknown to me, I could but feel that the many threads I +held in my hand might prove to be a very "tangled skein," before the +work was brought to completion. This foreboding, however, I am glad to +say, was entirely without foundation, for each writer threw herself into +her part with such genuine determination to do the best she could for +the _matter_ of her work, that the minor details as to the _manner_ in +which it should be given to the world, did not assume undue proportions, +and there has been nothing to throw the slightest shadow over the +harmony in which we have worked. That the effort we have thus jointly +made to give some help to our sister-sportswomen may be successful, is +to wish the writers the best reward they can have, for the labour they +have bestowed. + +Besides my fellow workers, I have a debt of gratitude to discharge to +all who have so kindly assisted me in my work. Foremost among these I +must acknowledge the valuable help given by Lady Gifford, Mrs. +Pryse-Rice, Mrs. Cheape, and Miss Lloyd, of Bronwydd, without whose +assistance I could not have ventured to write on the subject of +Hare-Hunting: by Mr. T. F. Dale, author of _The Game of Polo_, whose +great practical knowledge of sport has made him an invaluable referee on +many important questions: by another good sportsman, Captain the Hon. R. +C. Drummond, who generously gave me the benefit of his advice on matters +which have been a life-long study to him: by Elizabeth, Lady Wilton; +Lady Theodora Guest, Lady Gerard, Lady Dorothy Coventry, Mrs. Wrangham, +Mrs. T. E. Harrison, Miss Serrell, Mr. C. H. Bassett, late Master of the +Devon and Somerset Staghounds; Mr. Ian Heathcoat-Amory, Master of the +Tiverton Staghounds; Mr. W. L. Wyllie, A.R.A.; Miss Maud Earl, Miss +Walrond, Mr. Cuthbert Bradley, Dr. Lewis Mackenzie, Miss Florence +Ritson, and Mrs. Dudley Smith. + +I must also acknowledge the help so readily given by Mr. Charles +Lancaster, and Messrs. Holland and Holland, on the sport with which +their names are so closely connected, and I must thank those +photographers who have exercised their skill on our behalf, viz.: +Messrs. Lombardi and Co., who, from the first, have helped us largely; +Messrs. Lambert Weston, J. Weston and Son, Stuart, Becken, and A. +Debenham. + +My thanks are also due to the Proprietors of _Baily's Magazine_, _The +Field_, _The Gentlewoman_, and _The Lady's Pictorial_ for the use of +blocks which have been re-produced in their pages. + +Lastly, I must discharge the debt of gratitude I owe Messrs. A. +Constable and Co., for the unfailing courtesy I have met with at their +hands, and for the hearty way in which they have thrown themselves into +the interests of the book. + +Whether we have all succeeded in our object, viz., to give clear, +practical directions to women in the several out-door recreations of +which we have written, it is for our readers to determine, and on their +verdict will depend the extension of our plan to other branches of +sports and pastimes. + +To the great body of sportsmen, who so far have held almost undisputed +sway in the realm of sporting literature, I would plead: + + "Softly, my Masters! + Do me this right--hear me with patience." + + The Editor. + +Beeding, +March 31st, 1898. + + +[Illustration: _Lombardi and Co. 13, Pall Mall, East._ + +MISS FRANCES SLAUGHTER.] + + + + +ENGLISHWOMEN AND SPORT. + + +In all ages of the world's history, women have taken part in the +out-door recreations in which men have ever delighted, the extent to +which they have joined in these health-giving exercises being regulated, +by the amount of freedom and independence allowed to the sex, by the +unwritten laws of the spirit of the age. In a consideration of the +subject that is rather suggestive than attempting to deal with the +matter in any final sense, we can perhaps trace in the easiest way the +position held by women in the world of sport, at different epochs of our +history, by seeing how the subject was regarded by the authors of the +period. + +[Illustration] + +In the romances of the middle ages--to go no further back in our +researches--sport for all divisions of the upper classes of society was +regarded with a favourable eye. The nobles, the superior clergy, and the +dames of high degree had their deeds of prowess in the field extolled by +the literary lights of the time. For a noble not to care for hunting was +considered nothing less than a disgrace, while the clergy were expected +to require the relaxation of the chase, and to them was given the right +to hunt in their own parks and enclosures. Of this privilege they seem +to have availed themselves to some purpose, as at the time of the +Reformation the see of Norwich is said to have possessed no less than +thirteen deer parks. The wives of the nobles and those who ruled over +the religious houses for women, seem to have had an almost equal amount +of liberty in sharing in these recreations, and in organising hunts for +themselves. The doings of these gay dames--for the religious habit seems +to have made but little difference--are extolled by the poets, and if +the feats recorded of them are true, they must not only have been +accomplished horsewomen but very keen and determined huntresses. On +many occasions, we are told, they organised hunting parties, "winding +the horn, rousing the game and pursuing it by themselves." Nor, in spite +of what it is the fashion of the present time to say of that period of +our history, do the stay-at-home embroidery-loving dames come in for the +same share of praise at the hands of the old writers. + +In hawking especially women were proficient, and one scribe even tells +us that they excelled their husbands and brothers in the knowledge and +exercise of the art of falconry, from which, however, he deduces the +ungallant conclusion that the pastime was to be regarded as "frivolous +and effeminate." + +At the time of the great revival of letters, the art of falconry was at +the height of its popularity, and both in England and in other countries +of Europe it was the rule for women of noble birth to train, handle, and +fly their own hawks. It was the seventeenth century which saw the decay +of this sport as a royal and aristocratic amusement, for though in the +early years of the age it was still the most popular form of recreation +in the field, by the time the following century had dawned it was all +but extinct. + +After this, during the eighteenth century, there is no doubt that the +prowess of women in the field suffered an eclipse, and the few bold +spirits who from time to time broke through the trammels that restrained +their less enterprising sisters, were regarded with a certain amount of +suspicion and distrust. To come to the days when the writings of Sir +Walter Scott opened up a new field of enchantment to his readers, we +know that his creation of Di Vernon needed excuse at the hands of the +author for her sport-loving tastes, as the presumption was against her +being a true specimen of the "womanly" woman, in the best sense of the +word. + +Whyte Melville, entirely devoted to the chase as he was himself, is yet +doubtful of the place of his heroines in the hunting field, and in his +well-known novel, _Kate Coventry_, he seems to consider it a reasonable +condition on the part of the man Kate is about to marry, that she should +give up hunting when she becomes his bride. In the pages of Surtees, +which give such a vivid picture of the fox-hunter's life in the first +half of the century, the woman who hunts is nearly always an +adventuress, while in the social sketches of Trollope sport has no place +in the life of his otherwise charming heroines. + +[Illustration] + +But gradually and surely women once more made good their position in the +realm of sport, one of the early books to take a decided line in this +matter being, I believe, a little-known novel entitled _A Matched Pair_. +In this book which was published anonymously, a young man and woman who +have kindred tastes, are brought together through their common love of +hunting, and an amusing instance of the prevailing spirit, is given at +their wedding breakfast. When the hour is drawing near for the departure +of the bride and bridegroom, news is brought to the latter that the +M.F.H. of the country has met with an accident, which will keep him from +the saddle for the remainder of the season. The lady of course is told +the news, and she receives the suggestion that their honeymoon should be +given up, in order that her husband may stay and hunt the hounds, with +the most obliging readiness. This incident I give from memory, as it is +now many years since I have seen the book. The strangest thing about the +incident, perhaps is, that such a truly sporting couple should not have +delayed their marriage till the end of the hunting season. + +It is during the last ten years that women have come to be reckoned as a +power in the land, in the matter of sport, and it is now a matter of +course for the novelists of the day to make their leading +women-characters of almost all classes, join in some one or more form of +out-door recreation. Vivid pictures of the hunting-field, the banks of +the salmon river, the croquet lawn and the golf links, show the love of +the nineteenth century maid and matron for the healthy out-door +exercise, which has given to the younger generation a physique that +would have been regarded with wondering awe, not unmixed with +disapproval, by their gentle and delicate great-grandmothers. + +In a bird's-eye view, too, of the course of our history, we may note +that at the time of the absence of the great body of the nobles in the +Holy Land in the days of the Crusades, the women, so many of whom had +been left in charge of the castles and lands of their lords, came very +prominently forward in the domain of sport, as well as in the social +life of the period. On the return of the warriors, this liberty seems in +some degree to have been curtailed, and whether this is to be attributed +to any undue exercise of freedom during their time of independence, or +to the fact of the minds of their lords and masters having been effected +by the Oriental ideas as to the conduct of women, does not seem very +clear. + +[Illustration] + +The restraint however was but temporary, and when the highest place in +the land was filled by a woman, and "Queen Bess" ruled her subjects with +a judicious determination none could gainsay, her humbler sisters shared +in the reflected glory of her fame. Elizabeth herself, as we all know, +was an ardent sportswoman, and took the keenest delight in a run with +hounds, or a trial of skill with the cross-bow, long after she had +passed the age, at which even modern Dianas are wont to retire from an +active share in the fatigues of the hunting-field. + +The reign of Queen Anne on the other hand, although the Sovereign +herself and the members of her court were lovers of the chase, seems to +have had a distinctly depressing effect on the independent position of +women. It was not till the present century, when our beloved Queen by +her conduct on the throne, and in her private life, gave such a stimulus +to the position of her sex, that women came forward to take their share +in the sports, as well as in the more serious duties of our national +life, in a way that was new in the world's history. + +That the young Queen whose every act was eagerly copied by her girl +subjects, could have ridden after hounds as she did in the early years +of her reign, without having many followers, is not to be supposed. Thus +indirectly--for Victoria's early succession to the duties of a sovereign +left her but little time for the enjoyment of the lighter side of +life--Her Majesty's example has probably had not a little to do with the +increased love of sport among the women of the present day. + +In the history of sport, therefore, as in other departments of our life +as a nation, the name of Victoria will be remembered as the great +benefactor of women, by having given them larger, truer conceptions of +life, and by opening to them spheres of usefulness and pleasure which +the deadening influence of the eighteenth century, seemed to have closed +to them for ever. + +The Editor. + +[Illustration: _Speight. Rugby._ + +_MRS. BURN._] + + + + +FOX HUNTING. + + +"My dear young lady, you would enjoy your hunting so much more if you +would _only_ watch the hounds!" I once heard a Master of Hounds say to +an eager young woman whose only aim and object seemed to be to get on. +Such indeed was her anxiety to do this that she was quite oblivious of +the fact, she was meanwhile riding the hounds off the line. The M.F.H. +quoted being one of the finest huntsmen in England, I have remembered +his words. For it is simply wonderful to think of the hundreds upon +hundreds of people in Great Britain, who hunt regularly week after week +in the season, and who never "watch the hounds!" Talk and chatter when +they draw, gallop of course and jump--most probably--when they run, but +"know what they are doing?" _No._ + +And yet to anyone who is really fond of hunting, the greatest charm of +all is in watching the hounds and in taking an intelligent interest in +the hunt itself. Not that this interest is given to all, for crowds come +out, some because they can afford it and it is the right thing to do, +some to see their friends, and others to _ride_, and lastly some, not +many, to _hunt_. + +These last have generally been "bred to it," as a man would say, and +have the love of hunting born in them, and so they are able to enjoy +themselves when others do not. For even though the scent be bad, and +they "cannot run a yard," these few will take a pleasure in watching +hounds really hunt, and will hug themselves with delight as they +distinguish old Rhapsody feather up a furrow away from the rest till she +can assure herself that it is right, and then with a note like a bell +bring all the others flying to her cry, till one after another they pick +up the line and proclaim that it is good. + +Part of the charm of hunting is the beauty of its surroundings. I know +nothing prettier than the different scenes of a hunt. To watch the +hounds put into covert, to stand at a corner and see down the ride the +huntsman's red coat and all the hounds round him, among the brown +leaves on the ground and the dark trees in the background is simply a +picture, and time after time in each hunting day such pictures appear, +and delight the eye. Then the joy of listening to the cry, and not only +the cry, for it does one good to hear the huntsman cheering the hounds +in covert, especially if he has a good voice and can blow a good note on +his horn. + +Even the smell of the dank leaves turned over as the hounds rustle +through them is delightful, and like all loved scents it brings back +more than anything else the days of long ago. + +I never go out cub-hunting now without that scent bringing back to me +the old days at Brigstock, when my father[1] hunted the Pytchley hounds. +In Spring and early Autumn we always went to the Woodlands, for the +Woodland Pytchley had not then become a separate pack, and I once more +seem to see him, long of leg and lithe of limb on the raking chestnut +mare, and hear his cheery voice drawing those great woods. And as I +listen to his view halloa I feel a thrill run through me, and in fancy I +see them striding down the broad grass ride, while the hounds fly to him +from every side, and with an "over, over, over, over," which simply +make one shiver, he cheers them over the ride, while they swing to the +right and crash into the covert with a glorious burst of music like a +chime of silver bells. It is odd how these things remain in one's heart. + +[Footnote 1: Colonel J. Anstruther-Thomson.] + +"Wire and silence" will be the end of hunting, so he says; he being my +father whom on all things venatic I firmly believe. + +I suppose hardly one "hunting" woman out of every hundred who go out, +ever know how many couple of hounds there are out, or think of counting +them while the Master sits outside the covert blowing them to him. Yet +this is interesting in itself, and if you know the hounds personally all +the more so, as you watch them come tumbling through the fence by ones +and twos and go smiling up to their huntsman's side, with a satisfied +expression as if they were saying "here I am anyhow." + +[Illustration: _ELIZABETH, COUNTESS OF WILTON, ON WILLOUGHBY._] + +Hunting in the provinces has that great advantage over the shires, that +you have fewer people out, and consequently you really can take an +interest in the hound work and watch what they are doing, and when they +run you can keep your eye on them all through, and ride to them, whereas +in a fashionable country you get cramped up at a corner of a covert with +three or four hundred people hemming you in, behind a narrow gateway may +be, hardly wide enough for one horse to get through at a time. Your +horse probably gets frightened in the thick of the fray, and tries to go +backwards instead of forwards, the man's horse in front of you has his +ears back and a ribbon in his tail, while those behind keep cramming on +with cries of "_Get_ on, _do_, or else let _me_ come," so by the time +you have sniggled yourself through this turmoil, hounds have slipped +away and are out of sight. You may then ride for all you are worth, but +you probably will never see the _hounds_ again until they kill, or at +any rate check. So you must e'en be content with galloping in the wake +of somebody else's back, and trust to luck that he is going the right +way, but it is dull work compared to picking your own places and using +your own head to get to hounds the shortest way. + +Of course the country in the shires makes up for almost anything, and to +stride away over the pasture lands of Leicestershire or Pytchleydom, is +truly the realisation of the "Happy Hunting Grounds." After you have +once learned to find your way over a cramped country, intersected with +lime and mortar walls and barbed wire, in Scotland, or after you have +scaled the heights and fathomed the depths of the banks and drains in +Ireland, then to go down for a hunt in the shires is a holiday worthy of +the name. "Call this a ditch?" you exclaim inwardly as you flick over an +English fence, after encountering those gruesome dykes in Meath. True, I +only hunted in Meath one season, but my private verdict at the end of +the time was, "a splendid education, but an awful experience as far as +the fences are concerned." But then I do not like a ditch I cannot see +the bottom of, especially when it has sheer cut-out sides which every +person in front of you makes bigger and bigger. I also have a vivid +recollection of seeing several top hats (nothing else) wandering up and +down on the level of the ground, as other brave souls went at those +ditches and cleared them and their contents, human, equine and all. This +was on a pleasant spot in Meath, known as the "Bush Farm," and I don't +mind saying that for appalling fences I have never met its equal, and +devoutly trust I may never come in contact with its superior, unless I +am mounted either on a bird or a balloon. But for sport it was +undefeated, and the beautiful old turf was a pleasure to ride on. A +great blessing too it is having no ridge and furrow, for really +sometimes in England, the Bay of Biscay "is jokes" compared to the +ground you ride over. The continued galloping up and down is so hard on +horses, and though of course one knows the dodge of taking them +slantways, still it is not half such fun as swinging away over smooth +grass. + +One thing about Ireland--and when I say Ireland, I am thinking only of +the county Meath, for I have never hunted with any other pack over +there, barring one day in Kildare--is that a pony can get over it. It +will creep about and jump like a cat, and cross the country as it never +could in England. Then, too, people do not seem to hurt themselves so +often when they fall over there, and that no doubt is because they ride +_slowly_ at their fences, but then how one misses the gates. It is +almost impossible to believe at first that there really are not any, but +the cruel fact is proved time after time, till at last you are forced to +own that it is only too true. + +Scotland, some years ago, before so much wire crept in, was as good a +school as need be to teach anyone how to get to hounds. You sometimes +had to crawl and creep, and sometimes to jump a bit of timber standing, +perhaps uphill in a corner, or an awkward place under a tree, with +generally a wire somewhere through it or standing handy by, and it is a +great thing to _learn_ where there are difficulties, for it teaches you +to use your head, which is as important out hunting as it is in daily +life. Yet how few people seem to hunt with their heads. As long as they +can gallop and jump in sight of someone else's coat tails, there are +many who seem to be quite content, and will assure you they enjoy their +hunting immensely. + +But this is not the _real_ way. + +To use your own judgment, to have a quick eye to hounds, and as they +turn and swing to cut off the corners, to save your horse by choosing +the weak places in the fences and the best going in the fields, this is +the science of riding to hounds. Yet very few know how to do it, and +fewer still have the gift of being able to make a horse gallop. In a +crowded country where everything depends on your getting a start much +also depends on this. + +To be _strong_ on a horse is given to few, to ride light to very few, +and yet to be a really good horsewoman one ought to be both. It is +pretty to see a really good man or woman riding to hounds. How they keep +flitting along to one side of the pack, never seeming in a hurry, but +always moving on, down the furrows and over the gaps, and those who try +to catch them will find they are always in front and generally clean. + +One great thing to learn, and especially I think for a woman, is to go +quietly and not to splash. One hates to see the women of a hunt always +on the gallop, going from covert to covert across the fields. It looks +so much better, and _is_ so much wiser to trot quietly over them than to +go helter skelter past everybody else, probably squelching muddy water +over them as you go, and incurring the condemnation of the opposite sex, +who, if they are sportsmen of the right sort, will seldom be seen +bustling between times. + +Not only to ride your horse quietly, but to _be_ quiet yourself is also +an advantage. I shall never forget once in Leicestershire, after an +almost blank day, the whole field was drawn up to one side of a small +spinney by the road, and all our hopes of retrieving the day lay in our +getting a fox away from the far corner of the wood. All who understood +the importance of keeping quiet were dumb, and we could not help feeling +a little bit bored by one good lady, who in strident tones gave an +exhaustive history of her aluminium watch. Her listener would evidently +have gladly cut her short had his manners been less good, and the rest +of us wished heartily that both she and her watch were at the bottom of +the sea. Poor lady, she hunted with the greatest regularity several days +a week, but she had never learned the _why_ of things out hunting. + +Then there are what may be called the "let _me_ come" women--those who +have to gallop at their fences because they dare not go at them slower, +and if anybody happens to be before them think it necessary to shout. I +know, of course, that opinions differ as to riding fast or slow at a +fence, though personally I hold to the latter, and cannot help thinking +that people who always ride at them fast are afraid to do so any slower. +Certain it is that a horse will jump a place more surely and more +cleverly if you give him time to see what he is going at, and most of +them can jump very much bigger places even standing than people +generally give them credit for. If you take a pull to steady your horse +when you are a little distance from your fence, you will probably +arrive at the other side far more collectedly, and be striding away +again over the next field, before others who allow their horses to +gallop on right up to the fence are near you. They are going too fast to +notice the grip before they arrive at it, and consequently their horse +takes off from the wrong leg and lands like a star-fish in the next +field, then stumbles, pecks, and recovers again before he is once more +set in motion. All this takes time and tires the horse, moreover should +the luckless animal thus ridden fail to recover from the stumble and +peck, he will give his rider a far worse fall than if he had gone at it +slower. + +"Hands" of course have everything to do with the niceties of riding, and +"hands" cannot be taught. But, after all, _thinking_ has a great deal to +do with good riding, and if people would but remember that horses are +not machines, that they _do_ feel and their poor mouths _are_ sensitive, +it would go far towards improving their horsemanship and hands. I am +sure that half the falls we get are due to our own faulty riding, though +we all know how we say if our horse falls with us he is a stupid brute +for doing it, yet if the same mishap should occur while a groom is on +his back, it is then _he_ who gets that title for letting him down. We +read sometimes about people "lifting" their horses, but I do not know +what that means. One must _trust_ them to a great extent, and any +interference at the critical moment is most likely to land them head +over heels. + +I remember hearing a well-known coper say to a friend of mine who could +ride a runaway horse without being even pulled, "Ah, but then you've got +the fingers." I once tried to explain to my sister that she must "carry +her own hands," and she laughed at me for telling her to try and make +them be like souflés. "Anything will pull if you pull at it," I have +often been told, but it is _not_ easy to be like a souflé when you are +going forty thousand miles a minute, skew-ways on at a double wire fence +with a river in between. + +How women long ago could possibly ride across country without a third +pommel is a mystery to me. Yet we are told they went well. I cannot +credit their having been able to ride anything but patent safety horses, +for one needs all the strength the third pommel gives to steer an +awkward horse along, though of course one's knee should hang below it in +the ordinary way of riding. I believe the great tip in women's riding is +to ride off the right leg. So much strength is to be got out of pressing +the leg against the saddle flap, and it is noticeable what a much +prettier seat those have who rise in trotting off the right thigh than +others who laboriously rise out of the stirrup. + +[Illustration: _LANCER, IRISH HORSE._ + +(_Property of Mrs. Burn._)] + +Another thing that often strikes me is how few women carry their stirrup +foot in the right place. The proper position for the left foot is to +hang in a straight line from the knee, with the foot easy in the +stirrup, not pressed against it, but home in it _I_ think, though I see +many who only touch it with their toes. It is pitiful to ride behind a +woman and see the sole of her foot sticking up at the back, yet some +find they get their grip in this way, so they tell me, the grip which +_should_ come from the pressure I mentioned before, of the right leg +against the saddle flap. + +A well-known woman to hounds was once pointed out to me as a wonder on a +horse. So she was, very good; _but_ if she had ridden with a spur she +would have been killed long before, for she rode with her toe out and +her heel pressed against her horse's ribs. Why many women have not +broken their necks before now I do not know. Those who ride with a loose +rein, for instance. I once saw a gallant girl galloping hard across a +heavy plough, with her reins hung over one finger. It may have been +smart, it certainly was brave, but the sad thing was it showed her +ignorance so patently that one pitied her from the heart, and her horse +still more, for had he not been one of the cleverest in England he must +have tumbled her head over heels. + +Women out hunting should take their chance with the rest, and never +trade on the chivalry of the opposite sex, for this is what makes them +unpopular in the hunting field. + +If they are not brave enough to take their own place at a fence, they +must be content to wait their turn at the gap or gate. If they are wise +they will keep on the very _outside_ of the crowd in a gateway, as they +will pass through quicker like that than if they go straight into the +mass of struggling humanity, which will probably jam them out the more +they try to get in front. + +If you hunt, be ready to help other people, "and do unto all men as you +would they should do unto you." + +Don't let a loose horse gallop past you, because you happen to be a +woman, but _catch_ him. Always do what is wanted promptly. If the +Master says "hold hard," or only holds up his hand, "stop." It would be +very bad form for a woman to lead the way on such an occasion by going +on, as the Master cannot so well tell _her_ what is in his heart, as he +probably would if the delinquent were a man. If you should make a +mistake and earn a reproof, hold your tongue, and remember an M.F.H.'s +life is not a happy one, and there is more to worry and aggravate him +every hour of every hunting day, than his field ever dreams of. So +instead of feeling angry at his speaking to you, be sorry that you have +deserved it. Remember too that most people out hunting are exactly like +a flock of sheep, so if you show the way over a seedfield for instance, +or by unnecessarily jumping fences when hounds are not running, your +example is very likely to be followed, and the result will be damage +done and consequent trouble. + +Women are more generally accused of riding jealous than men, but real +good sportsmen of either sex will never think of such a thing. Of course +being "alone with the hounds" is a pleasure that cannot be denied, and +there is an uncontrollable feeling of joy when one happens to be among +the favoured few who get well away. But that is more because it gives +you a better chance of being with hounds, and more room to ride, than +when you are surrounded by hundreds of people hustling and bustling all +over the place. Live and let live, is just as sound a maxim out hunting +as elsewhere. + +Always make way for the huntsman at a gate, over a gap, or wherever it +may be. Let him pass, for it is his proper place to be with his hounds. +Always too, wait for dismounted men. If anyone has to get off to open a +gate or break down an impracticable place, cut a wire, or for whatever +cause it may be, pull up and wait till he is on again. For remember no +horse will stand still to be mounted while others are galloping past +him, though strange to say few people seem to think of that. It is +rather hard on a man after letting you through a gap or gate to see you +gallop away, leaving him to struggle with his impatient horse which +assuredly will give him little chance of getting on again in a hurry. +Possibly you might be able to help him by holding his horse's head till +he is up. There are so many little things like this that can be done +quietly, by a woman being quick to see what is wanted, and just being +helpful without being officious. + +If you arrive first at a gate, open it, and swing it back for the +others, that is to say, if you are sure you won't make a mess of it, and +only keep the whole crowd waiting while you fumble helplessly between +your whip and the latch. If you think you cannot open it, do not try, +but pull back and let somebody else do it for you, and so save time. No +one will thank you for it if you get in the way, and then only fumble. + +It always distresses me to hear men saying, as alas, they often do, and +very often I fear with every excuse, "a woman of course," or, "a lady as +usual," when a hound has been kicked or a man jumped on. It is so +unnecessary, for why should not a woman use her brains as much as anyone +else out hunting. + +I remember once hearing of a lady, who had not much experience, and was +mounted on a kicking horse. She stood among the crowd in a gateway with +her horse kicking viciously at everybody near, till at last an +exasperated man could bear it no longer, and remonstrated, saying, +"Really, Mrs. Smith, do you know your horse is kicking most +dangerously?" "Oh, yes," she replied with an innocent smile, "I know, +but I assure you I don't mind." Such innocence is sweet, but out +hunting it is as well to remember to turn your horse's heels to the +hedge, and his head to the hounds when they are coming past you, and if +your horse kicks to keep out of the crowd. For the sake of all other +women who hunt, do not risk their reputation by doing a stupid thing, or +not doing a kindly action whenever you get the chance, and try never to +give anyone an excuse for wishing that women should not come out +hunting. That warning shout of "seeds," or "young grass," in an agonised +tone from the Master himself, is too often unheeded by the hard riding +woman who has not taken in the fact, that in her anxiety to "show them +all the way," she is careering alone across a newly-sown field, while +the rest of the people have gone round on purpose to avoid doing damage +to the land. It is extraordinary how few people take such a state of +things in, but it is as well to know young grass or sown wheat when you +see it, and having seen, to avoid riding over it as much as possible, +also to shut the gates behind you if you can, and in all ways to try to +keep friendly with the farmers, for on them depends the continuance of +hunting. + +Now a word on the disagreeable subject of falling and getting into +difficulties. In the latter case I hold with the words of Solomon, who +said, "Their strength shall be in _sitting still_," and he generally +talked sense, though perhaps he was not thinking of hunting when he made +the remark. Anyhow, the best thing under difficulties is to keep your +head and sit still. Take your foot out of the stirrup, so that you may +get clear away as soon as opportunity offers and good sense dictates. A +good thing is to kick your foot free of the stirrip before you get into +the mess, if you think it at all likely to occur. It is well to be as +free as possible, and not to meddle with your horse's head, for he will +probably be as keen to set himself straight again as you are, if he only +gets the liberty to do so. + +One can but speak from experience, and my own is this, that since I +learned to ride slow at my fences, I have not had one-third of the falls +I used to get before. By riding slow, I mean taking a pull about three +or four lengths from the fence, and getting your horse to go steady and +_look_. When once you are over, you can go striding away again as fast +as you like, and so not lose your "pride of place." Indeed you are far +more likely to keep it in that way, than if you gallop over your +fences, for before long the _over_ will relapse into _through_, and then +it will be only a question of time how soon you will measure your length +on the ground. + +Of course one is bound to fall sometimes, however good the horse, +however good the horsewoman. Blind fences, wire, a wide place on the far +side, or the sun low so that it catches your horse's eyes, are all +pretty well bound to knock you over, and then the main thing is to fall +clear. Nowadays we are mercifully seldom hung up, thanks to our safety +skirts and safety stirrups, without both of which no woman should, in my +opinion, be allowed to hunt. It is wise to minimise the dangers of +hunting as much as possible, and I think that in one's clothes and +saddlery for hunting, everything should be as plain and as _safe_ as +possible. + +[Illustration: _COMET._ + +(_Property of Lady Gerard._)] + +I believe myself in Champion and Wilton's safety stirrup, and dislike +hunting on a saddle without it, though some people "crab" them, and say +they come off at the wrong moment. If indeed this does happen, the +stirrups must require mending, or else the movement of the rider has +caused the leather flap which protects the bar to rise, which of course +will set the stirrup leather free. But this is obviously not the +stirrup's fault. I also like the arrangement on the off flap, so that +you can tighten your own girths, for it is nonsense to say that women's +girths should "never need tightening." They need it far more than men's +as a rule, and if you can pull them up a hole or two after a gallop, +yourself, it is a great convenience, and much better than making some +unfortunate man, or his groom, fumble about at a buckle covered with mud +below the horse's body, as on other saddles. + +As for the safety habits, I believe in the apron skirt, for in that you +must fall clear. I have tried several so-called safety habits, and have +been hung up both on the near and the off side, but since I took to the +apron I have had no more danglings. Of course the drawback to the apron +is its appearance off the saddle, when it is certainly too scanty to be +becoming. I have, however, overcome that difficulty by having an extra +"modesty," made of the very thinnest serge, which I always carry under +the near flap of my saddle, so that it does not show, and yet when I get +off to ease my horse's back, I can put it on and feel quite independent +and happy. I therefore commend this plan to others, as being far +handier than buttoning the extra covering inside their habit skirt, and +much nicer than going without altogether. + +Women, as a rule, are not particular enough about the way they put their +boots on. Though they would be very much surprised if they saw a man out +hunting with the tags of his boots sticking out, they seem to forget +that anything wrong in the way they are put together, is sure to be +noticed, and that it is only when our clothes are right that they +attract no attention. One should always study, therefore, to be neat and +clean-looking beyond everything. + +I know many men assert that no woman should ever wear a spur. Of course +they are chivalrous enough to add, because women should never ride a +horse that needs one. Such a state of things would indeed be delightful, +but as there are some in the world still, who would rather go out on +anything than not go out at all, and that "anything" is as often as not +a refusing brute of a hireling, as cunning as a monkey, I cannot agree +with the opinion. In saying this, however, please note I do not mean by +a spur, that horrible sort of a dagger which works with a spring, and is +commonly sold as a "lady's spur," for of all the dangerous and cruel +inventions, that is about the worst. I mean the ordinary small man's +spur, with the rowels blunted, and of course this should only be worn by +those who know how to use it, never by a beginner, or indeed by any but +a really fine horsewoman, for if the foot is not carried in the right +position you are sure to touch your horse with it unwittingly, and if +you make a mistake you will probably have to pay for it. If your horse +is very hot and eager, too, you will be better without it. + +One of the most useful things for a woman to learn, is to be able to get +on her horse off the ground by herself. If you cannot do this, you are +so utterly dependent on the kindness of the long-suffering man. It is +very easy to learn, if you have any spring in your body. You simply put +your left foot in the stirrup, catch hold of the cantle of your saddle +with your left hand, and the pommel and reins in your right, and up you +go. Be careful, however, not to knock up the flap over the stirrup bar, +if it be a safety, in doing this, or out it will come, and down you will +flop again. Of course the main thing is, that your horse should stand +still and allow you to mount. A horse is generally so tactless about +this, he will fidget and dance and never give you a chance, but, by +taking the off reins up short in your left hand, you have at least so +much control over his curvetting, that by pulling his head away, you +make him turn his body and saddle towards you. But mind in doing this he +does not trample on your toes, which he is very likely to do. + +Of course you should always try to get your horse on lower ground than +yourself, and if he is still too high, you must let down the stirrup +until you can reach it. Always try and sandwich your horse between +yourself and a fence or house, so that he cannot revolve round and +round, as they are so fond of doing at the critical moment. Try, also, +not to tickle or kick him with your toe, after it is in the stirrup, as +that will probably induce him to kick you off before you are safely on. + +It is really a marvel how few men can jump a woman on to her horse +properly, and how few women go up as they should. The operation is quite +easy, if only the man can be persuaded to _stand still_ and merely give +his hand a little heave upwards. The majority of men who do not know, no +sooner feel the foot on their hand than they count hard and run +backwards towards the horse's head, carrying the unfortunate woman's +foot with them. Thus, instead of sending her up, dragging her down till +the whole thing ends in a wild struggle, she clinging round the pommels +with her chest, chin, and arms. Too degrading an exhibition. If the man +will stand still and take it quietly, and if the woman will just spring +off her right leg and straighten her left knee, she will arrive in her +saddle gracefully and lightly, and the man will not have felt her weight +at all. It is best to come to a thorough understanding with the man +before you begin, as to when he expects you to spring. If this is to be +when he counts three, or as soon as your foot is in his hand? Do not in +any case allow him to have hold of the hem of your skirt with your foot. +Unless this is free it will hold you down, and a sort of +Jack-in-the-box-performance will begin. You spring and the man's hand +remains inert, then he jerks up your left foot when you are standing +stolidly on the right, and generally the end of all is that you arrive +in a heap on your saddle, and finish by kicking the man in the face. + +How to have a quick eye to hounds? Yes, how? But I do not know. It is a +gift which few have, and most people have _not_. To keep looking out +for the hounds in front and all round if you are _not_ seeing them, and +to keep your eye on the leading hounds if you _are_ in that lucky +position, to notice every turn and be quick to turn with them, to cut +off the corners and go the shortest way, a sort of anticipation without +anticipating, that is all I can say about it. Never ride exactly +_behind_ the hounds, as if they check you are thus sure to hustle them +on over the line and incur the wrath of the huntsman besides spoiling +your own sport and everybody else's. Ride either to one side or the +other of the pack, down wind for choice, about forty yards in their +wake, so as to give hounds plenty of room to swing or stop, should they +come to a check. + +As there is hardly one woman in fifty or a hundred who can go her own +line and pick her way all through a run--or perhaps it would be more +courteous to say _I_ do not _know_ many who, if put down in a country on +an ordinary hunter alone with the hounds, could find their way into and +out of ten fields in succession; it is as well for most women to have a +pilot. First, though, ascertain that the man is willing to accept this +onerous position. Then be careful _to give him room_, not to ride in his +pocket or get in his way, and above all things to give him time at his +fences to land _or fall_ without jumping on him. + +[Illustration: _MISS SERRELL ON COLLEEN._] + +When you have once chosen your pilot, obey him. If at a gate or in a +crowd, or for any other reason, even if you do not understand it, he +should want you to go first, _Go!_ Nip through quickly and quietly, and +don't keep others waiting whatever you do. Take your turn whenever it +comes, and take every chance that offers without hanging back, which +hinders other people, and without hustling, which annoys them. In fact, +if after you have achieved being _quiet_ out hunting you succeed in +being quick, you will have begun to grasp the situation. + +It is as well for your own comfort and that of other people to ride sane +horses as far as in you lies. I once had a ride on an insane one, and it +was far from satisfactory. It was perfectly immaterial to that horse +whether he arrived at his fence with his head or his tail foremost. Now +it is not a pleasant sensation to waltz round and round, or to find +yourself bounding backward towards an impenetrable black bullfinch and +at the last moment to whip round and swish through or over as chance +befalls. It was rather like having a hunt on a wild cat, for I never +knew where or how he intended either to take off or land, but he would +not fall, though the bridle _behind his ears_ was a mass of mud and +grass, after one double distilled peck into a boggy field. + +Of course a woman has not half the strength on a phlegmatic horse that a +man has to "gar them gang," as we say in the North. A man can squeeze a +half-hearted one over a fence, where a woman would be simply powerless +to do anything, and I think the worst sort of a horse a woman can ride +is a refuser. It is bad for her in every way, for body, temper, and +nerve. One can forgive a horse everything if he will but try, but a +sulky or funking brute, who grows more and more slack as he nears each +fence until he collapses at the brink, is too high a trial, especially +when the fight which must come generally ends in rearing, which is of +all things most dangerous for a woman. + +I once had a racehorse given me, which had been spoiled in training, +with the temper simply of a fiend. In racing, he never would try, but +always shut up just when he ought to have won with ease, for to give the +devil his due--and he _was_ one--he could gallop. That horse out hunting +was simply purgatory; he could jump like a stag, which was the most +irritating part of the whole thing, and sometimes he would gallop and +jump with the best for a few fields, then all of a sudden collapse, +stop, dig in his toes, and that was the end of my hunt, for no power on +earth after that would induce him to go _forwards_. Backwards he would +go all round the field, with intervals of rearing. I saw him fall +backwards twice in one day, when one of the whippers-in was riding him, +because he refused to go through an open gate. + +Riding a refuser does I think teach one to be strong on a horse; but is +it worth it? You can always acquire strength to a certain degree by +riding different horses, which is a far more agreeable form of +education, and much more interesting than always sticking to two or +three of your own. For a beginner, of course, it is necessary she should +above all things have confidence in her horse that he will carry her +safely, so that when she finds one she had better stick to him. A made +hunter in the prime of life with nice manners, easy paces, and good +temper is the horse for her, for he will carry her safely without +fatigue, and for that there is nothing like the action of a +thoroughbred, whose low, slinking stride hardly makes one rise. A woman +should not ride too big a horse for her size, as a great stride is very +tiring, especially when hacking on the roads. One of the greatest +luxuries is a smooth hack, and if you wish to keep warm on your way to +the meet, then, instead of driving, to canter along the grassy sides of +our English roads on a thoroughbred polo pony, is one of the most +delightful sensations in life. + +The ideal hunter would be neither too young nor too old. For the young +one will be too brave, if he is bold by nature and ridden by a keen +beginner, he will with his rider probably come to grief through want of +discrimination. The old hunter will fall short, in the sense of being +too cunning to jump one inch bigger than he need; moreover when he falls +he will not pick himself up as quickly as he might. Therefore if, when +riding him he falls, you do not happen to be "top side" your peril will +be prolonged, though mercifully horses are mostly kind and really try +not to tread on one or hurt one if they can avoid it. + +It is more than foolish ever to jump a tired horse, it is unfair, for it +he is fond of hunting, horses mostly are, he will jump as long as he +can, so if, after a long run he refuses a place, _take the hint_ and go +home. + +No one knows better than I the lonely feeling of being obliged to pull +up in the middle of a good run because one's horse is beat, "while the +merry chase goes heedless sweeping by." But if you have only one horse +out, it is hopeless to compete with more fashionable souls who are on +their fresh second horses, so it is really wiser to make the best of a +bad job, and though you feel it hard, go home. Your horse will come out +again the oftener, too, and you can enjoy a hunt but little, if you know +you are asking more of your horse than you ought. A tired horse, too, +makes a tired rider, and _that_ makes a sore back, and then--where are +you? Talking of going home and tired horses, reminds me that if you are +at all far from home it is best to put your horse in a public, or some +friendly stable on the way, and give him a drink of gruel, for this will +freshen him up and make your ride home all the pleasanter. Perhaps it +would be as well to mention how the gruel should be made, in case you +should ever have to do it yourself. Thus, place two double-handfulls of +oatmeal in a bucket, pour boiling water over it and stir until it +becomes a thick cream; then pour cold water till cool enough for the +horse to drink, which will be when it is about blood heat. Should your +horse be very done, add a pint of ale or a little gin, to revive him. + +The ride home is now shorn of some of its terrors, by the saddles which +let you sit downhill. What a boon these are, for one used to suffer +anguish, jogging for miles on the old-fashioned saddle whose pommels +rose higher than the seat, so that your knee was almost under your chin, +and the consequence was a pain between the shoulder blades, which made +you long for rest. Oh! those long jogs home. Miles and miles at hounds' +pace, on a rough or tired horse. How I used to pull up and walk, and +then gallop to catch up my father, he jogging even on, even on, all the +time. I can hear him now answering my complaints with, "nonsense, child; +it rests one all the way." + +[Illustration: _GONE TO GROUND._ + +(_PORTRAITS OF FOUR B.V.H. PRIZE WINNERS._) + +(_From a picture by Basil Nightingale, in the possession of Lady +Theodora Guest._)] + +Perhaps I am a Sybarite, but I do like to drive both to and from +hunting, and to have a second horse out completes my joy. An open cart +with a polo pony to drive, is to me better than all the broughams in +Christantee. To drive on in the morning through the soft damp air that +smells like hunting, with hopes running high for the sport to come, +seeing the tiniest second horseman jogging on with the biggest of +horses, everything makes one feel the joy of life. And when the day is +over, to slide off your horse and send him home, and turn in yourself to +a bright fire, and tea and poached eggs, at some little Inn by the way, +is most comforting. Then you wrap yourself up in your fur coat and +woolly gloves, and tuck yourself in to the rugs, and bowl away home in +the twilight, with the stars twinkling above you, and the blackbird +chuckling his good-night, while the pony trots his best in the +anticipation of oats to come. A pleasant sense of healthy tiredness is +upon you, which serves to make you appreciate the comforts of your +drive, as you sit there cosy and warm, dreaming of the happy day that is +done. + +R. M. Burn. + +[Illustration: _Elliott and Fry. 55, Baker Street._ + +_LADY GIFFORD AND HER HARRIERS._] + + + + +HARE HUNTING. + + +This sport has a peculiar interest for women inasmuch as they are able +to take a leading part in it. With foxhounds, the duties of the huntsman +are too arduous, even though a woman M.F.H. has not been unknown in the +past. But to the Lady Salisbury of venatic fame who hunted the fox +manfully over Hertfordshire, we may refer as the exception that proves +the rule, for few women would feel they had the physical strength for +the task. + +With harriers, however, the case is different, for in the first place +the little hounds are very handy, and the hunting of the hare is a sport +which should above all things be conducted quietly. The less holloaing +and noise there is with them the better, for the hounds should be +trusted to work out the puzzles set them by the hare, with as little +interference as possible. Of course hare hunting may be turned into a +poor imitation of fox-hunting, by racing a hare to death with 22-inch +foxhound bitches, but this is not true sport in any sense, for it gives +the quarry little chance of saving its life, and should be +discountenanced by all lovers of the chase. Apropos of this subject, +there was in a certain harrier country a great, flat-sided, long-legged +hound which attracted the notice of a sport-loving stranger, as being +evidently too fast for the pack. In all innocence this visitor remarked +to the Master, "I suppose you will draft that hound?" To his +astonishment the Master, with an expression of horror and indignation, +exclaimed, "Draft him, why he is the best hound I have. He kills more +hares than all the rest put together." The visitor said nothing, but he +knew the kind of sport that lay before him. + +To leave the travesty of honest hare hunting, let us turn to the more +pleasing subject of how the chase should be carried on, and here at the +threshold we may pause to recall the names of those women, who of late +years have carried the horn and hunted their own hounds. Mrs. Cheape, +the Squire of Bentley, has shown good sport for many a year, first with +the Wellfield Beagles, and since 1892 with the Bentley Harriers with +which her name is so intimately connected. Mrs. Pryse-Rice became M.H. +only two years later, having started her pack in 1894, and last season a +third name appeared in our hunting lists, when Lady Gifford took the +field and carried the horn with her harriers. Great success has attended +both the kennel and field management of these enterprising sportswomen, +and when we come to consider the history of their efforts, we shall see +that they have proved the fitness of women for the duties in which they +themselves have excelled. Lady Ileene Campbell too, before her marriage, +proved herself fully equal to the hunting of her brother Lord +Huntingdon's celebrated pack in Ireland, the Duchess of Newcastle at the +present time enjoys the pleasure of hunting her little pack in the +neighbourhood of Clumber, while Mrs. Briscoe in Ireland whips in to her +husband's hounds, and Miss Lloyd of Bronwydd does the same to her father +Sir Marteine Lloyd's famous pack of beagles in South Wales. + +As we have already said, there should be no fuss and bustle in the field +with harriers. When hunting them you should never interfere with them +unless they are entirely at fault, and then you should have some +definite idea of where the hare is gone, and should know, or think you +know, something the hounds do not. There is no cracking of whips wanted +in this sport. A touch on the horn, or, better still, a low whistle--if +you possess this accomplishment which to many good sportswomen is +denied--should bring your pack round you, and you should then slowly +trot off in the direction in which you think you will pick up the line. +If you view the hare, as you often will, squatted close to your horse's +feet, do your utmost to prevent the hounds getting a view, for it is the +destruction of good sport with harriers for them to view the hare till +within a few moments of the end. The hunting should be done fairly and +honestly, inch by inch, till the quarry has been run down. Any hound, +therefore, that is given to staring about for a view, I would draft, or +make a present of to one of those packs which holloa, mob, and course +hares to death. + +[Illustration: _MRS. PRYSE-RICE'S KENNELS._ + +(_WOODMORTON CHARITY AND WILFUL._)] + +Foot people who as a rule come out largely with harriers will of course +holloa, and in some cases when they receive no encouragement to do so, +but their too noisy zeal should be steadily discouraged, and while you +show every willingness to let this part of the field see sport, you +should let it be known that you wish for, and expect silence from them. +If your wishes are not respected, I should then advise you either to +take hounds home, or trot right away for two or three miles before you +look for another hare. No woman should attempt to hunt hounds who has +not the resolution to keep her field--both mounted and unmounted--in +proper order. You may indeed--for it is very hard for some men to +believe that a woman can understand hound-work--be troubled by +suggestions from your field, which they would never dream of offering if +a man were carrying the horn, but most women will know how to meet such +cases with the courteous indifference which will protect them from +further interference. An instance of this has lately come to my +knowledge. A lady M.H.'s pack was drawing for a hare on some moorland, +and it was evident to her that hounds were on a very stale line, but +were slowly working it out foot by foot. This was not very amusing to +her field, and at last the farmer who owned the land went up to her and +said that hares never worked the way hounds were going, and asked if +she would not cast them up the moor. The M.H., however, answered quietly +that while she felt sure the farmer knew the run of his hares, she +thought the hounds were close on their's, and that in another moment or +two it would get up in front of them. The words were scarcely spoken +when up got the hare, and the worthy mentor had to sit down and ride for +all he was worth, for she ran as only a moorland hare can, and hounds +had a fast forty-five minutes before they ran into her in the open. + +Quietness and trust in her hounds are the two qualities without which no +woman can hunt a pack successfully. This brings me to the subject of the +hounds themselves, and though it may seem rather like putting the cart +before the horse, to speak of hunting them first, yet it is certain that +no one will find the hounds of much use until she knows how to handle +them. The first point of course to decide is the kind of hounds you mean +to have, whether dwarf foxhounds, stud-book harriers, or the old pure +harrier. + +[Illustration: _H. E. Coles. Redditch._ + +_BUXOM, BENTLEY HARRIER._ + +(_Winner of Champion Cup, Peterborough. 1897._)] + +The pure harrier has undoubtedly the advantage in tongue, but though +good music is a charm it is not so necessary with harriers as with +foxhounds, as the former are generally in sight. As against this they +have, unless very carefully bred, a lightness of bone and a tendency to +splay feet and flat sides. Here again, however, we shall see presently +what the experience of those who have taken the matter in hand has been. + +Dwarf foxhounds are only to be recommended in countries where hares are +bold and strong and go away like foxes, for most countries they have too +much drive, and will be continually flashing over the line, and if you +compare the hunting of one of these packs in an ordinary country with +that of good stud-book harriers, the balance of sport in the long run is +sure to be with the latter. What the foxhounds gain in speed they lose +in the tendency to over-run the line. And now we must face the question +of what a stud-book harrier is. A pure harrier, with an infusion of +foxhound blood some generations back, so that now the hare-hunting +instinct of the former, and the good feet and shoulders of the latter +are combined in the shapely, compact, little harrier to be seen taking +the prizes at Peterborough, is, I suppose, about as good a description +as we can have. The nose and the patience characteristic of the good +old-fashioned hare hunting hound are necessary to good sport, and that +power of hunting a cold scent down a road, which they transmit to their +descendants, is a most useful one. But the make and shape which will +enable them to stay through a long day's hunting, and a certain amount +of drive which adds greatly to the sport, come from an infusion of +foxhound blood. Then, after at least three generations devoted +exclusively to the chase of the hare, we may hope to get the happy mean +between the drive forward on the one hand, and the pottering and towling +on the other, in which lies the pleasure and success of hare-hunting. + +When you have got over the preliminary difficulties of starting a pack +you should draft down your hounds till you have as level a lot as +possible, 18-19 inches being about the general standard. Larger hounds +than these will smother the hare, and smaller ones cannot get over the +fences of any ordinary country. The ultimate aim of everyone is, of +course, to have a level pack, as otherwise, no matter how good the +hounds may be, they can never have the smart appearance in the field so +dear to the sportswoman's heart. I would always prefer to have even two +or three couples short, than to spoil the look of the pack by having out +hounds either too large or too small. It is not in any case desirable +to have out a large pack to kill hares, from eight to fourteen couple +being quite enough for any country. Some twenty couple of good stud-book +harriers then in kennel, will be enough for you to have a smart +workmanlike lot of the requisite number in the field, two days a week. + +There are no hounds so full of faults, both of make and disposition, as +harriers, and it is never an easy matter to buy a pack ready made. The +best way, therefore, to begin is with unentered drafts from known +kennels, such as the Boddington, the Aldenham, and the Bath and County, +and then to breed and buy as opportunity offers. + +I would remorselessly draft hounds that do not throw their tongues, and +this in spite of the fact that mute hounds are often good in other ways, +and the rest of the pack will fly to a trustworthy one directly it +begins to feather on the line. This recalls the amusing hypothesis +recently made by a brilliant writer on sport, that hounds have a system +of signalling with their sterns, analogous to the "flag wagging" of our +army. Did the original idea of signalling, this writer asks, come to +some gallant officer while he was watching hounds feather on a scent? If +not, many will agree that the system _might_ have originated in this +way. + +But to return. Worse hound faults, even than muteness, are jealousy, +skirting and babbling, any one of which should be at once met by +drafting. The last--babbling--is incurable, but the other failings often +appear in good hounds after they have lost their pace. As these habits +are very catching, the only remedy is to draft the hounds directly they +show symptoms of them, and you will find that you need to be constantly +drafting from the head and tail of your pack, and you will be wise to +keep few hounds over four seasons. + +The first thing in the training of hounds is to get them perfectly handy +and under control, and to do this will mean time and trouble. You must +win their affection, and consequently must spend much time with them, +both in the kennel and on the road. In this way you will soon get to +know the character of each hound, and you will take out the docile ones +first in couples, and then when you can trust these, the wilder and more +headstrong hounds. You should take notice of the hounds continually on +the road, speaking to them of course by name, and your whipper-in +should be ready with his thong whenever it is wanted. Not that the whip +should be much used, this will not be necessary if you study your +hounds' dispositions, and treat each one according to the peculiarities +you have noted. But all the same, chastisement should be prompt for any +attempt at rebellion after due warning given, and then you must harden +your heart to the piteous cries that will follow. Always keep a watchful +eye on the hounds when you have them out, and never let them break away +if you can possibly help it. If, however, such a thing does happen, it +will add greatly to your comfort it the ringleaders be transferred at +once to another kennel. At the same time when on the road, or out for +exercise, you should give hounds plenty of room, for it is bad for them +and certainly does not look well, to have them packed close round your +horse's heels. + +Never under any circumstances take a pack into the field before you are +sure that their discipline is perfect. Till the hounds know you +thoroughly you should drill them whenever you go into the kennel. Let +them greet you while you make much of them, for it is thus that you will +win their hearts, but, this over, it is a good thing to make them "lie +up," and not to let them venture to leave the bench till they are called +by name. Then you will call first one and then the other, making much of +the obedience and readiness shown, and rewarding the hounds with +biscuit. If you mean to hunt the hounds yourself, you must go to the +kennels daily, and in any case it is always well to see that the +servants are sufficiently careful in preserving perfect cleanliness and +sweetness, both with the hounds themselves and in the kennels. It cannot +be too much insisted on that cleanliness rigorous, absolute and +complete, must always prevail. This is quite practicable, and no excuse +should be accepted as to its failure in any one particular. A good +disinfectant such as Jeyes' Fluid, and constant vigilance on the part of +the kennel-man, are all that are required. + +[Illustration: _WOODBINE, WELLFIELD, BUXOM, + +BENTLEY HARRIERS._ + +(_W. West_, K.H., _with Three Champion Winners_.)] + +If you have a good kennel-man, it is not necessary for you to feed +hounds yourself, but you should frequently inspect the food, as even the +best servants are apt to be careless in this matter. If, however, you +study economy and only have a lad in the kennels, then you or some +member of your family should always see to the feeding of the hounds. +The food may consist of horseflesh and old oatmeal, with a few biscuits +and some bone-dust, and this diet I should say would be found the best +and cheapest in the end. This, however, is a matter in which each hound +owner will use her own judgment. There are of course various ways of +cheapening the diet, but I cannot honestly recommend any of them. On the +care in the kennel depends the sport in the field, and without health +and condition in the hounds you can hope for no good days. Far better to +have a less well-bred pack, or an inferior country, than hounds which +are out of sorts and condition. This reminds me that whenever you go +into the kennel you should have a watchful eye for the slightest +symptoms of a dull or heavy look in any hound, and order such to be +separated at once. A healthy hound should be clear of eye and bright of +coat, as well as bright and cheery in manner. If you are in doubt about +the health of one of your pack, remember that the pink of the mouth is a +great sign of health, while paleness and yellowness about the gums is +the reverse. + +Quite the worst part about keeping harriers, in my opinion, is the +constant drafting of the hounds. Perhaps in the case of some old +favourite which you know has taken to skirting and hanging on the line, +you overlook the faults and refuse to part with him. But what is the +result? You find the younger hounds are becoming demoralised, and +reluctantly are forced to recognise the truth of the verdict, that +harriers should be drafted in their fifth season. It is only the few of +exceptional constitution and strength to whom this does not apply, and +so you have constantly to be hardening your heart to send some old +favourite away. + +There are only two points on which I need touch further, and these are +your assistants in the field, and the treatment of the quarry. For the +first you should have two whippers-in, one an amateur and one a +professional, and though as long as things go right they will not be +needed, they should always be ready in case of riot, or when hounds are +nearing forbidden territory. For though harriers will do no harm in a +country if they are properly managed, it is well to remember that +M.F.H.'s are tenacious, and covert owners are ready to take alarm. + +A question that has to be faced is, what to do with the hare when your +little hounds have caught her, and my advice is to let hounds break her +up themselves without any fuss, as the Badminton hounds do their foxes. + +And now to turn to the interesting topic of the experience in kennel and +field of our present lady M.H.'s, and all will doubtless like to know +something of the methods in which each of these pioneer sportswomen has +built up her pack. + +In South Wales, where Mrs. Pryse-Rice has her kennels, the conditions of +sport are very different to what they are in the southern counties of +England. In the first place, the spare little black-backed mountain +hares of Wales, have a turn of speed beyond the powers of their better +fed English fellows, and are very hard to kill. Instead, too, of +circling round and round when before hounds, they will generally go +straight away and will often give a five mile point as bravely as any +fox. The reason of this fitness is to be found in the fact that they are +constantly being coursed by the farmers' cross-bred greyhounds and +collie dogs, which are often scantily fed and badly in want of a dinner, +and they have far to go themselves for food, as they have no nice fields +of roots at hand like the more luxurious lowland hares. + +It is evident then that the hounds to follow these speedy little hares +must be quick in getting away and have plenty of drive, and I cannot do +better than quote Mrs. Pryse-Rice's own words on the subject, as to how +she has succeeded in building up such a pack. + +"I started my harriers in 1894, being much helped in the first instance +by gifts of hounds from my father-in-law, Mr. Vaughan Pryse, who hunted +his harriers for forty seasons, and is one of the oldest Masters in the +kingdom. To these I added a few couple of the Woodnorton pack when it +was given up by the Comtesse de Paris, and some small foxhounds chosen +from my husband's pack, which he had given up the season before.[2] The +first year I ran a small pack of twelve couple, and though the hounds +were perhaps not a very level lot, they gave us a very good season's +sport. Now after four years of breeding, buying and drafting, they run +up well together, and are a Stud-book pack of twenty couple of 19-20 +inch hounds. + +[Footnote 2: Mr. Pryse-Rice was Master of the Tivyside +Foxhounds.--Editor.] + +[Illustration: _Elliott and Fry. 55, Baker Street._ + +_MRS. PRYSE-RICE AND HER HARRIERS._ + +(_MR. PRYSE-RICE AND A. MANDEVILLE_, K.H.)] + +"Although I am of course keen to breed a Peterborough winner, still my +great ambition is to own a pack that will hunt and drive. I am not in +favour of the slow, sure and persevering type of hound, for though these +may hunt and constantly kill their hare, they will by giving her time, +allow her to run round and round in the country she knows, instead of +_driving_ her out of her beaten track. I like hounds to get away on the +back of their quarry and if they drive her into a strange country she +will be almost certain to go straight. If hounds do this and possess +plenty of drive without flashiness, they will often _make_ a good scent, +when otherwise they would find an indifferent one." + +As an apt commentary on the remarks of this very successful M.H., we may +note that Mrs. Pryse-Rice's hounds had some really extraordinary runs +last season.[3] For instance early in December they found a hare in the +heather, and after running her down wind for nearly two miles, they +turned and went at a pace that tried their followers for a five-mile +point dead up wind, killing her in forty-five minutes from the start. In +the same month another mountain hare gave them a good five-mile point, +and on January 12th the hounds were two hours and forty-five minutes +going at a good pace, and travelling over a great extent of country, and +they did not reach kennels after this, their best run of the season, +till 7.40 p.m. + +[Footnote 3: 1897-98.] + +It is clear, therefore, that Mrs. Pryse-Rice is to be counted among +those who have attained more or less to the ideal they have set before +them in breeding, and she has beside scored high honours at +Peterborough. The noted Harrier Stud-book bitch, Aldenham Restless, a +veteran of pure foxhound blood, by the Whaddon Chase Tarquin--Oakley +Sarah, is now in the Llandovery Kennels. This bitch won the Champion Cup +at Peterborough in 1893, and three years later took the Silver Cup for +the best brood bitch,[4] after which she became the property of Mrs. +Pryse-Rice. + +[Footnote 4: I must express my regret that it has not been found +possible to reproduce the photograph of this famous hound, though it was +most kindly sent me by Mrs. Pryse-Rice.--Editor.] + +The stock of Restless are well to the fore, for last year--1897--no +fewer than nine of her descendants were winners at the Peterborough +Show. + +Rigby, a fine upstanding hound, of pure harrier blood, by Eamont +Barrister--their Russet was second for the Champion Cup in 1897, and as +he was unentered and was shown against old dog-hounds, this was a +remarkably good performance. + +To quote once more from Mrs. Pryse-Rice's own words: "We have never," +she says, "had a big count of hares killed. We--my husband acts as my +first whip and A. Mandeville is K.H. and second whip--are quite content +to come home having accounted for one hunted hare, or when we kill a +brace in this way, it is quite a red-letter day for us. I do not see any +fun in either chopping them, or in killing three or four hares that only +run a few fields, though of course this does make up the count." + +Touching on the subject of the introduction of the foxhound cross with +harriers, Mrs. Pryse-Rice says that she is "in favour of an infusion of +foxhound blood, in moderation, into the harrier kennel." + +The country hunted by Mrs. Cheape lies round Redditch, and extends into +Warwickshire and Gloucestershire. In 1892, when "The Squire" inherited +the Bentley estates from her father, she bought the well-known pack of +harriers belonging to Captain Spicer, of Spye Park, and several couple +of the Herondon Hall harriers. The Bentley pack of the present day +includes many Peterborough winners, and deservedly ranks very high among +the harrier packs of the land. The hounds, however, have not been bred +for show purposes only, but for nose and tongue, and to show sport. At +the Peterborough show of last year (1897) the first prize for dog +hounds, under 19 inches, was taken by Mrs. Cheape's Wellfield and +Gainer. The former of these is by Lord E. Somerset's Dancer--Woodbine, +and through his dam, which was the winner of the champion cup for bitch +hounds not exceeding 19 inches, at Peterborough in 1893, strains back to +the Aldenham Restless. Gainer, on the other hand, is a home-bred hound. +A grand three couple, which took the silver cup in 1897, are Buxom +(Wellfield--Bracelet, dam by Boddington Borderer--Breconshire +Lightstone) also winner of the champion cup; Gadfly, home-bred; Verity +(Aldenham Valiant--Their Restless); Waterwitch, home-bred +(Waggoner--Woodbine); Warlike, also a son of Wellfield; and Dahlia, home +bred (Druid--Worry); the sire of the last (Ashford Valley Pillager--H. +H. Dewdrop) being one of the winners of the first prize for best couple +of entered hounds, not exceeding 19 inches, in 1894, at Peterborough. + +Truly a triumph of breeding and selection of which any woman may be +proud. + +[Illustration: _BRACELET_, _WATERWITCH_, _VERITY_, _WOODBlNE_, +_GENEROUS_, _WORRY_. + +_MRS. CHEAPE AND HER PETERBOROUGH WINNERS._ + +(_Best Three Couple under 19 inches, Peterborough, 1896._)] + +[Illustration: _DULCIMA, PURE HARRIER._ + +(_Property of Lady Gifford._)] + +Lady Gifford began by having a small pack of beagles, but as she found +it impossible to keep with these hounds on foot, she gradually changed +to harriers. The ideal she then placed before herself was to get a level +pack of 17 inch hounds of pure harrier blood. In colour, too, Lady +Gifford is particular, her fancy being to get her hounds as dark as +possible, with golden-red tan on their heads, but, as she truly says, +though a smart appearance is much--and such hounds are very smart--"when +you get a good-shaped hound it does not do to quarrel as to colour." In +starting her pack Lady Gifford has gone a good deal to Mr. Allgood's +kennels, and Dulcima, a very beautiful bitch by his Durable--Darkeye, +has perfect colouring and good bone, and, moreover, an excellent nose, +and will gallop all day without tiring. Her owner naturally regrets that +owing to the fact of Mr. Allgood not being a member of the Association +of Masters of Harriers, she is not able to show hounds bred by him, +although Lady Gifford herself has joined the association. + +The country over which Lady Gifford hunts is the moorland near her home +in Northumberland, and she finds the little hounds of 17-18 inches +beautiful to ride to over the open grass land, and very quick to get +over the stone walls and the heather. That they need to be speedy after +a heather-fed hare there is no doubt, for such an one is stronger than +most of her kind, and will usually go straight as a good fox, after a +ring or two to start with. The open land, too, generally carries a fine +scent, and even though you have harriers before you, you will find you +need to be riding a horse with a good turn of speed to enable you to +live with them. + +In kennel management Lady Gifford takes the keenest interest, and her +system appears so excellent, that all engaged in hound breeding may find +something to learn from it. "I always think," writes Lady Gifford, "that +when hounds are in work, they are often given their food too wet. This, +I am sure, is a mistake. I give my hounds the best oatmeal that can be +got, and too much care cannot be given to the making of the porridge. It +must be boiled just right, or it is worse than useless. There is a +biscuit known as bread biscuit, which I find extremely good for hounds, +though it is a little difficult to get. It is made, I understand, from +the dinner rolls and bread left at London parties, and so you may be +sure it is made of the best meal. I always find, however, that my meal +merchant is anxious for me to have _any_ kind of biscuit except this. +The washing and grooming of hounds is, I think, a point in the kennel +not sufficiently thought of. All the summer months I have my hounds +thoroughly washed with soap and warm water, and of course thoroughly +dried, and though no doubt this takes a long time, the result well +repays you. If hounds are well groomed every day, they will keep twice +as healthy, and their coats will have a shine like satin, exactly like +a well-groomed horse. As to exercising, I take them out on the road +every morning about six o'clock, for two hours, and in consequence they +never really get out of condition, but by the time August comes round +they are quite ready for 'cubbing' so to speak." + +Another point on which Lady Gifford gives information which others may +find valuable, is concerning a cure for that "kennel dread," distemper, +which she learnt from the great veterinary surgeon, Professor Pritchard. +She advises a preparation of coffee and milk in equal parts, exactly as +you would have it made for your own consumption, then to drench the +puppy continually with it, allowing him to touch nothing else, and while +the treatment lasts to keep the puppy in an even temperature. The +results of this treatment, in Lady Gifford's kennel, has been all that +could be wished, and though previously she had had heavy losses from +this cause, she has never since lost one that she has tried it on. Is it +possible that as this simple remedy becomes better known, we may find +that cruel scourge, distemper, disarmed of its terrors? + +[Illustration: _MRS. PRYSE-RICE'S KENNELS._ + +_ALDENHAM BITCHES._] + +_Beagles._ Beside the harrier, there is sport and good sport too, to be +had with the beagle after hare, and those who are young and active and +to whom the merry cry of hounds is a delight, will find a never-ending +source of interest in hunting with these little hounds. This sport has +too the advantage of being inexpensive, for it not only requires but a +small outlay to start with, but necessitates a very moderate sum for the +keeping up of the pack. Of course there are degrees of expenditure both +in the management and hunting of beagles, to be determined by the means +at your command, but a sportswoman can have a good and efficient pack of +beagles in the field for very much less than she could have other +hounds. + +The first necessity, if you wish to hunt your own beagles, is to have a +country to hunt over, and you must get leave to pursue your quarry over +a farm or farms where there is a fair proportion of hares. The number of +hares, indeed, need not be very great, as not very many will fall before +beagles. Neither do you require a large extent of country to hunt over, +as a hare is not likely to be driven right away, but in a majority of +cases will circle round the place where she is found. Yet there is a +charm in beagling, which lies in the open air, the active exercise, the +music of the hounds, and the working out by them of the puzzles set by +the hare. + +When you have secured a country--or before, if you are so inclined--you +will need to get together your pack. If a good pack of beagles should +come into the market, you would do well to buy them, provided you do not +mind the expense to start with. If, however, you do not object to +trouble, and do mind the outlay, then, even before you think about +country, you will buy some well-bred bitches and set to work to build up +a pack. In any case, if you mean to have beagles, _have them_, and do +not have dwarf harriers. The Beagle Stud-book will help you in your +choice of strains. Go to good beagle kennels such as those of Sir +Marteine Lloyd, or the Caledon, and having decided on the type for which +you intend to breed, keep true to it. + +Having succeeded, either by buying or breeding, in getting a pack, you +will then have to keep your hounds up to a certain number. From about +six to twelve couple will be all that you will want to take out, but +this of course will mean that you want at least two couple more in +reserve. You should breed a certain number of puppies every year, and in +this you must be regulated to a great extent by the walks at your +command. You might keep one couple at home, giving them a free run of +the stables, yards and paddocks, and though you will find them +troublesome and as mischievous as monkeys, their small size will prevent +them being the unmitigated trouble that foxhound puppies undoubtedly +are. Still, the infant beagle has a marvellous appetite for sponges, +brushes, and all sorts of indigestible household requisites, and he will +besides be credited by the servants with even more mischief than he +really works. You will find some, or perhaps most of your field, ready +to undertake the charge of a few couple--and those who come out +regularly ought to look upon this as a duty--and for a small payment you +can secure homes in cottages, with those who will look after the puppies +carefully and intelligently, and who will, indeed, treat them so well +that you will not improbably have a very sulky lot of little dogs to +deal with, when they first come under kennel discipline. + +Perhaps it may be thought that I have touched too lightly on the very +difficult question of breeding beagles true to a type, for except it be +the Clumber Spaniel there is no dog more likely to give you trouble +than the beagle. Still it can be done successfully, and if you choose +your bitches in the first instance and are careful in you selection of +the sires, constant care, scrupulous cleanliness, careful feeding and +regular exercise will do the rest. + +The most charming and graceful type of hound, as well as the most likely +to be useful in hunting, is one that corresponds in miniature to that of +the foxhound. There should be the same alertness and good carriage, the +good shoulders and straight legs of the larger hound, and any puppies +that fall below the standard in any particular should be immediately +drafted. To a certain extent you must be guided by the sort of country +over which you are to hunt, for if this be fairly open, without thick +coverts, stout fences or wide drains, then you will find a small +lightly-built hound, of some fourteen or fifteen inches, the best, but +if on the other hand, you have much plough and strong fences, you will +require a beagle of the heavier and larger type, standing about sixteen +or seventeen inches. With beagles as with other hounds, muteness is a +fault which should immediately be met by drafting, and I would strongly +advise the same even for great economy of tongue. Skirting or any +suspicion of falsehood will meet with the same fate, as well as the very +slightest symptom of jealousy, for the little hounds should score to cry +at once. + +There was in a pack I used to know well, a certain very handsome little +bitch, aptly enough named "Fallible," which, when she found the hare, or +touched the line first after a check, would hunt with the best, but if +another hound was before her, she would scour away at right angles to +the line, throwing her tongue vigorously when she had nothing whatever +before her. So good was this hound _when she pleased_, and "such a +pictur'" to look at, that it was a great wrench for the Master to part +with her. It was found, however, that it was a choice between letting +her go and having the whole pack demoralised, so "Fallible" carried her +gifts and her failings elsewhere. This instance will also serve to +remind you, that good hounds are not easily parted with from any kennel, +and, therefore, it behoves you to be very careful in the choice of those +you take into your own. + +The kennelling and feeding of beagles is a comparatively simple matter, +cleanliness, warmth and wholesome food being the great requisites. On +the building of kennels you need not expend any great amount of money, +as almost any out-buildings you may have can be adapted for the purpose. +The cardinal points to be considered are: + + (_a_) Freedom from damp. + (_b_) Freedom from draughts. + (_c_) Good ventilation overhead. + +Then the hounds must on no account sleep on the floor, but have the +usual benches provided, and there should be a palisaded or walled-in +run, into which they can go from their sleeping room. If these points +are attended to, the workmanship of the buildings may be almost as rough +as you please, but above all things you must not let the use of the +limewash brush be spared. + +The scraps from the house boiled up with vegetables--with care that +everything is perfectly sweet and fresh--and any good dog biscuit, will +be found to answer for their food. No hounds will do well on biscuit +only, and it should be remembered that rice is not nourishing food. Meat +and vegetables are needed, and of the latter I should advise a certain +amount of cabbage to be given. The amount of food, and this specially +applies to meat, should be carefully proportioned to the number of days +you hunt in the week, and the length of days you make. + +It is a great mistake to feed hounds either too high, or too low. If you +have not an experienced and trustworthy kennel-man, you should see the +hounds fed yourself, and then observe the appetite and needs of each +hound in the pack. + +Hounds should have plenty of exercise before hunting, and as much on the +road as you can give them when they are not hunting. They should be +trotted out with horses if possible, and out of the season eight miles a +day or even ten, will be found necessary to keep them in condition. + +Since the establishment of the Association of Masters of Harriers and +Beagles--which body I would strongly advise any woman interested in +hound-breeding to join--and the foundation of Stud Books for both +classes of hounds, immense strides have been made towards the perfection +of the respective types. The competition for the prizes at Peterborough +consequently becomes keener every year, and the glory of success is +proportionately greater. + +No one has done more for the improvement of the Beagle than Sir Marteine +Lloyd, whose pack known as the Bronwydd Beagles, is the best, as it is +one of the oldest packs in the land. A feature of this hunt, specially +interesting to women, is that Miss Lloyd, Sir Marteine's daughter, takes +an active part in the management of the hounds, and in the field acts as +whipper in to her father. Miss Lloyd has been kind enough to write the +following short account of her father's hounds, in which all beagle +lovers will be interested. + +[Illustration: _Elliott and Fry. 55, Baker Street._ + +_SIR MARTEINE LLOYD +AND SOME OF THE BRONWYDD BEAGLES._] + + + + +THE BRONWYDD BEAGLES. + + +This pack was started in 1864 by my grandfather, the late Sir Thomas +Lloyd. Next to the Royal Rock (started by Colonel Anstruther Thomson in +1845) they are the oldest pack of beagles in the kingdom. They measure +15-1/2 inches, and we generally have fifteen couples. They are pure +bred; dwarf harriers never being admitted. In 1892, the Bronwydd "Nigel" +won the Champion Cup at Peterborough, for the best dog-hound, and in +1894, the Cup was won by our "Merryboy." The Harrier and Beagle Show was +started at Peterborough in 1889, as though before this there were rules +laid down for foxhounds on the show bench, beagles had not been given +similar attention, and it was suggested by my father and a few kindred +spirits, that it was time to stop the continual drafting of dwarf +harriers into beagle packs, regardless of rule or standard. My father +consequently appealed to the Peterborough Committee, asking them to form +a show for Harriers and Beagles upon the same principle as that on which +the Fox-hound Show was based. In 1896, the Bronwydd Beagles celebrated +their Jubilee. They have not been hunting this season. + +[Illustration: _SO BORED!_] + +"Sir Marteine succeeded to the Mastership in 1877, but he had begun to +hunt the hounds himself in 1867 at the age of sixteen, when the old +huntsman, John Walters, retired. George Davies commenced his career as +whip at the same time and I was added to the staff as whip a year ago." + +I have only to add to this that the photograph of Sir Marteine Lloyd is +taken on his mare "Grand Duchess," and that four of the hounds with him, +named "Liberal," "Favourite," "Comical," and "Comely," are special +favourites and excellent workers in the field. + +Frances E. Slaughter. + +[Illustration: _Lombardi and Co. 13, Pall Mall East._ + +_THE HON. MRS. LANCELOT LOWTHER._] + + + + +SHOOTING. + + +In these few words on Shooting for Women, I must begin by saying that as +this is my first attempt at writing, I hope any faults I may make will +be lightly treated. It is only within the last few years that the idea +of a woman being able to see a gun without screaming, much less fire one +off, has even been thought of, but now I venture to say that there are +many women who are just as good shots with both gun and rifle as men, +and perhaps some better. I do not mean to infer that we can count +amongst our number anyone who can take the place which Lord de Grey, +Lord Walsingham, and a few others take amongst men, but as shooting +becomes more popular, and is more practised among women, I daresay we +shall in years to come see some of the latter just as good even as those +I have named. + +I am afraid it will take some time for men to get over the terror which +the sight of a woman with a loaded gun in her hand always gives them. +The reason of this is that they think we are much too careless to be +trusted with such a dangerous weapon, and that we think no more of +carrying a loaded gun than if we had a walking-stick in our hands. The +first thing, therefore, that a women who takes up shooting has to +remember is, that as an Irishman once said about a gun, "loaded or +unloaded, she's dangerous." One cannot be too careful in handling either +a gun or rifle, always to have it at half cock when not actually +shooting, and always to take out the cartridges when getting over or +through a fence. Accidents happen quite easily enough without Providence +being tempted by the neglect of these simple precautions. + +A woman requires a light gun if she is to carry it all day. There are, +of course, as every one knows, a variety of different bores. I will +mention the ones mostly used, which are the 20, 16, 14, and 12-bores. +The 20 and 16-bores are mostly made for women, but personally I prefer a +12-bore double-barrel hammerless gun. Of course it must be made rather +lighter than for a man. I have always myself used one of these that was +specially made for me, weighing exactly 6 lbs., both barrels medium +choke, and a thick india-rubber pad at the end of the stock to prevent +all recoil. The cartridges I use are made with Schultze powder 35 +grains, and seven-eighths of No. 6 shot. I have found this a perfect +gun, and one I should always recommend. It is not too heavy, and is +first-rate for shooting pheasants, partridges, pigeons, etc. + +The great thing in ordering a gun is to have it very well balanced, a +thing which is hard to describe but which is easily told apart, as no +one who has tried the two can fail to appreciate the well-balanced gun +as against the badly-balanced one. It chiefly consists in having the +muzzle and stock of the gun to divide their weight, neither one nor the +other being a half ounce too heavy. When choosing a gun, it is necessary +to put it several times quickly to the shoulder at an object level with +the eye, and if the sight taken comes fair on the mark aimed at, the gun +will probably suit. Another thing to remember and guard against, is +having cartridges loaded too heavily for the gun, as it makes the gun +"kick," and nothing puts you off shooting so much as expecting every +time you fire to have your shoulder bruised. This is beside very +dangerous for a woman. If, however, a gun fits you properly, and the +charge of the cartridges is proportionate to the size of the gun, a +"kick" should never happen. + +You must also be particular to have the stock exactly the right length, +so that it can be brought up quickly and easily to the shoulder. It must +be held firmly against the shoulder, with the left arm extended as +straight as possible from the shoulder and the right hand behind the +trigger guard. + +More accidents happen by _following_ game with the gun than by any other +means. There are very strict rules of etiquette to be observed in +shooting, as in hunting or any other sport, and nobody is more hated and +feared than a jealous shot. These are indeed a source of danger to +everyone, as they are always so anxious to add another bird to their +score that they never give any thought to their neighbours, or think of +other people. For a person, whether a man or woman, who is beginning to +shoot, the best thing is to go out with some experienced shot or keeper +who will thoroughly explain the art of shooting, and show how to load +and unload a gun and how to hold it. To quote from the excellent article +on Shooting in the _Badminton Library_: "A beginner should at first +start with a small charge of powder and be taught to fire this off at +small birds, every attention being paid to his handling his gun with +safety as if it were loaded. He may next shoot at small birds with a +half ounce of shot. If he succeed pretty well, and is above all things +careful in the way he manages his gun, he can next be permitted to fire +at pigeons--with their wings slightly clipped, so as not to fly too +fast--from under a flower-pot or out of a trap, at a distance of fifteen +yards." + +[Illustration: _CLAY PIGEON TRAP._ + +(_Used at Charles Lancaster's Shooting Grounds._)] + +You must remember that accuracy of aim will only come by practice. When +you are fairly sure of yourself the next step is to go out to walk birds +up, but you must get it carefully explained by an authority what birds +you ought to fire at, and what are to be left alone, and on no account +should you, if walking in line, fire across a neighbour's gun, or at +birds that strictly belong to others from their having got up nearer to +them than to you. It is always better to fire a yard too far ahead of +flying birds or running game than too far in the rear. In the former +case, the shot is more likely to meet the mark, in the latter it never +can. In the former if it does count a hit it means one in a vital part, +the head, in the latter at most it means a wound in the extremities. It +is utterly impossible to measure distances in the air in front of a +flying bird or running game; instinct, aided by practical experience, +will alone teach the hand and eye to obey the brain in this respect, and +to give the correct distance at which to aim in front. + +If a rifle is required for small game such as rabbits and young rooks, a +300-bore Holland rook rifle would be useful. Rifle shooting is a far +more difficult thing, and requires more practice than shooting with a +gun. You must have a very steady hand and straight eye to be a good +rifle shot. It has often been remarked that a woman as a rule shoots +better with a rifle than a gun. I do not quite know why this should be +the case, but so it is. When shooting with a rifle one must never forget +that a bullet from even one of the smallest rifles goes a very +considerable distance. + +I used, as a girl, to have many an enjoyable evening's sport with my +rifle in the park at home, stalking "Brer" rabbit, of which there were +any number, but the difficulty was to get up to them, as they were very +shy from being constantly shot at, and at the slightest noise used to +scurry off and disappear like lightning down their burrows. Some +evenings I used to bring home two or three rabbits, though oftener than +not, none at all, but whatever the result, it was all the same a very +pleasant way of spending a summer's evening, and there was a good deal +of excitement about it. Then another great amusement of both my +brother's and mine was rook shooting. Most people, unless they have +tried it themselves, would think there couldn't be much sport in +shooting at a young rook sitting quietly on a branch of a tree unable to +fly away, but let them once try rook shooting with a 300-bore rifle, +when there is enough wind to blow the trees about, and they will find it +requires no small amount of skill to fetch down a young rook from the +top of a high tree which is gently swaying to and fro. There are two +difficulties in this particular form of shooting which affect a woman +perhaps more than a man. The strained attitude in aiming, necessitated +by the height at which the rooks build their nests, causes serious +stiffness at the back of the neck, which soon communicates with the +muscles of the shoulders and obliges one to rest awhile. Again, and +this more especially occurs when the tree-tops are moving, the tiny +target a young rook makes when peeping out of its nest, will soon become +indistinguishable among the twigs and branches around it, unless the +sight taken is both instantaneous and accurate. Many a time has it +happened to me to gaze and gaze down the barrel of my rifle vainly +attempting to draw a bead upon the swinging rooklet, until everything +becomes blurred and blotted, and I was perforce obliged to bring the +rifle down in despair. + +I may say at once that I have a decided preference for the rifle as +opposed to the gun, though I should be the last to minimise the +pleasures of pheasant and partridge shooting. I am not one of those +women who prefer the excitement of a regular "battue" to the more sober +joys of a quiet pot-hunt. To begin with, there is no doubt that a woman +is a great bore at anything like an organised shooting party. It would +do the intending lady-shot good to see the faces of the men on hearing +that they are to have the honour of her company during the day. The +smothered grumbles of the younger sportsmen are drowned in the more +forcible ejaculations of the older generation. But apart from this, and +I am not for one moment assuming that it is the duty of women to +consider exclusively the whims of the sterner sex, there always seems to +me to be some special enjoyment in sallying forth with the object of +replenishing an exhausted larder, and with the certainty of having to +work one's hardest to accomplish the task. Every shot then becomes of +importance, and the comparative scarcity of the prey redoubles one's +vigilance and activity. Should the wily partridge elude your aim on +these occasions, you feel as if some tremendous disaster had occurred, +and your spirits do not recover their normal condition until some +special success has rewarded your efforts, and a long and difficult shot +has added another victim to the bag. In shooting, as in so many other +pursuits, it is quality not quantity that should be sought. + +[Illustration: _From a Painting by Miss Maud Earl._ + +_POINTER ON PARTRIDGE._] + +One of the most amusing day's shooting I ever remember was a hare drive +in Austria. We left the house at one o'clock and drove about eight miles +through a very flat country to the "rendezvous," where we found a +perfect army of beaters who were chatting volubly in an unknown tongue. +I discovered later that they were talking Polish, which is the common +language of the peasants in that part of Silesia adjoining the +Austrian-Russian frontier. The men were mostly barefooted, but in other +respects resembled the average English beater. The keepers were +distinguished by their green livery and Austrian conical hats. They +carried horns slung from their shoulders, and when a line had been +formed some quarter of a mile in length, the signal was given by the +head-keeper on his horn and was taken up by his subordinates. An +excellent method was observed in allotting a certain number of beaters +to the care of each keeper, who was then responsible for their +maintaining a good line and preventing stragglers. + +The ten guns were of course distributed at intervals along the line, and +we started across level fields of potato and beet-root sugar roots which +took the place of our turnips, and were much easier to walk through. +There were no fences, and the fields were divided by ditches and low +banks. Game was plentiful, and although we only shot for about +two-and-a-half hours, we succeeded in killing about two hundred hares +and several partridges. The beater who carried my cartridges was greatly +excited whenever I was fortunate enough to kill a hare, and jabbered +away in his native tongue. I have never heard anything approaching that +language. It is a fearful and wonderful thing, and I wished I could have +brought some of it away with me to use on special occasions in England. +The only drawback was the weather. It rained cats and dogs, and while I +was glad to note that England has not the monopoly of inclement weather, +I must confess that the Austrians think no more of a wet jacket than we +do. At five o'clock we gave up, and returned home wet to the skin, but +none the less my husband and I have the pleasantest recollection of our +first day's shooting in Austria. + +Before closing this article I must refer shortly to the subject of +dress. The first thing to remember, is always to have a dress of some +dark or neutral tinted material that will not be conspicuous on a moor +or when birds are being driven, and which will also keep out the rain. A +short skirt, breeches, thick boots, and either woollen stockings or +gaiters, and a double-breasted loose coat are the most convenient as +well as the most sportsman-like. But the coat must be loosely made, so +as to allow one to bring the gun up to the shoulder quickly and easily, +otherwise it will seriously interfere with the shooting. + +Gwendoline Lowther. + +[Illustration: _From a Painting by Miss Maud Earl._ + +_IRISH SETTERS._ + +_CHAMPIONS SHANDON II. AND GERALDINE._] + + * * * * * + +A friend, whose name I may not divulge, has kindly given me the +following notes, and I venture to think that their excellence will make +them acceptable, even though the writer prefers to remain +unknown.--Editor. + +Shooting is a sport which requires neatness, accuracy, and the most +persevering practice. Its real pleasure lies in successful shots rather +than in the number of slain. Of course this does not mean that you +should chance doubtful shots, but rather that you should gain the skill +enabling you to kill a driven grouse, or partridge, or rabbit crossing a +ride, or a high-flying pheasant, neatly, instantaneously, and with +scarcely the loss of a feather or fluff of fur. To do this, constant, +steady and unremitting practice will be necessary. + +With regard to the choice of a gun I have little to add to Mrs. +Lowther's remarks. Many people would say that you might begin practising +with a common gun, but my strong advice is to get a good weapon to learn +with, for you will overcome difficulties much more easily if you have a +really good gun, and one that fits. The good shot, indeed, may do +fairly well with a less perfect gun, but in my opinion a beginner should +have the best possible weapons to her hand. Bad shooting will not spoil +a good gun, but an uncomfortable ill-fitting, too heavy gun, may spoil +the novice as a shot for ever. + +Having chosen a suitable gun, the next thing to do is to learn to shoot. +If the gun fits you well, this is no difficult matter, at all events up +to a certain point. Aim should be constantly taken at a small paper +target set up in a room, and regular practice should be had every day at +bringing the gun quickly up to the shoulder, with the sight on the mark +at which you aim. Thus, fixing the eye on the imaginary point at which +you are shooting, and holding the gun lightly and firmly, bring it up to +the shoulder so that as soon as it is in position you could fire at the +object without delay. As soon as you find you can do this, the gun still +unloaded, should be the companion of your walks, and should be brought +up to the shoulder in the same way at birds, rabbits, or any mark +animate or inanimate that you please. This practice will have the double +advantage of training your eye and hand, and accustoming you to the +weight of the gun, which though not great, will yet be felt after you +have tramped a good many miles. + +Then you need to learn to judge distance. A good plan is to fix on an +object in front of you when out for a walk, and after saying to yourself +how far it is off, to pace the distance. Another good plan is to cut out +of cardboard a rough figure of a bird, pheasant, or partridge, and +fasten it to a tree. Then measure forty yards, thirty-five yards, and +twenty yards, for you should never shoot at birds much nearer than that. +After this begin at twenty yards and move slowly back, aiming every yard +or so and making mental notes of the size of the cardboard bird as it +appears to you. Half the missing, and more than half the wounded birds, +come from a want of power to judge distance. Fortunately continued +practice is very easy, and you should be always measuring distance when +you are out walking. + +Boys when they learn to shoot either go out with the keeper or get shots +at jays, hawks, or other vermin in the woods, or they surreptitiously +prowl about the hedges and shoot at anything that moves. But there are +objections to both these plans for women, who may not have woods in +which to range, and it is hardly necessary to say that the shooting of +small birds is not to be encouraged. So for the next step I would +suggest the clay pigeon. I have found that practice at these is very +useful, and the flights are so ingeniously arranged that plenty of +variety is given to the shooting. If there are several shooting people +in the house, it will be possible to organise little competitions and +sweeps which will improve your shooting by the spirit of emulation. I +may add, by the way, that in country houses a clay bird shooting +competition is a capital thing to fill up the day in the cub-hunting +season, when after an early morning's sport, the rest of the day +sometimes hangs heavily on our visitors' hands. + +The next step is to the rabbit, though bunny is a most difficult and +deceptive animal to shoot, having been made by nature at least six +inches too short. The best way for a beginner to shoot rabbits is to go +out with the ferrets, and get shots at them as they are bolted. I prefer +shooting rabbits in this way for quite a beginner, to stalking them in +the open when feeding near their holes, as until one is pretty sure of +killing them, there is always a danger of wounding them, and then they +creep away into their burrows to die miserably. Never shoot at a rabbit +going dead away from you, and learn from the first to aim well forward. +Of course the easiest of all shots for a beginner is at a hare crossing +in covert, but hares are hardly numerous enough in most places and often +are more or less preserved for harriers or coursing. By the time you can +hit a wood pigeon and bowl over a rabbit neatly, you will have made some +progress, and will be able to take up the various kinds of shooting in +turn. + +I will speak of grouse first, because these birds afford the very best +shooting possible. For women who have the opportunity, there is no doubt +that driven grouse are in some respects more suitable to their powers +than the birds to be obtained after a long fagging tramp over the moors. +With the universal popularity of driving, both with shooters and the +owners of moors, such opportunities are likely to come frequently in the +way of women, whose means enable them to shoot in Scotland. Driving is +popular with owners because it is better for the moors, a larger +proportion of old and therefore useless and injurious birds being +thinned out by this method, than when a moor is shot over dogs in the +ordinary way. With shooters it is popular, because driven grouse afford +perhaps the finest shots of any known game, with the possible exception +of the Himalayan pheasants, as they sweep with their grand rush down the +sides of the mountains. + +There are certain points which all shooters of driven grouse should bear +in mind, one being that the eyes should be, so to speak, working in +front of the gun, which should come to the shoulder with one movement, +and the trigger be pulled at once. It is this instinctive action in +shooting which makes the constant practice, on which so much stress has +been laid, so necessary. It cannot, so far as I know, be acquired in any +other way, but if a woman has the perseverance and keenness necessary, +she is likely to acquire it more quickly than a man. + +Birds, it must be remembered, coming at the pace of driven grouse, fly +into the shot, and therefore the shooter must aim further in front than +would be the case with birds going at a slower pace. But the angle at +which the birds are coming, their height, and the inclination of their +flight, all make a difference. Infinite variety is the characteristic of +shots at driven birds, and it will need all the coolness and steadiness +of nerve of the shooter to meet each occasion as it arises with +promptness and success. When the birds are coming within shot, the +gunner should fix on the bird she means to shoot at first, this being +the one which is easiest for her, that is to say, the one which offers +the sort of shot at which she is best, and at which, therefore, she can +fire with the most confidence. Then keeping her gun at the shoulder, she +will take the second available one. There is no necessity to look to see +if the first one has fallen, for if you have missed you can do no more, +and if it is dead you should waste no more time on it. This is +undoubtedly the method of shooting grouse most suitable to women. It +gives the minimum of fatigue with the maximum of skill, and it is to +skill rather than bodily force to which a woman must look if she would +excel in sport. For however young, strong, and active she may be, it +must never be forgotten by the prudent sportswoman, that we _are_ the +weaker sex. + +If, however, the moor on which the woman has the chance of shooting is +not suitable for driving, and some far northern moors yield better +results to dogs, then she may try her luck over the pointers and +setters. Very delightful you will find this, but it is well not to +overtax your strength, not only on your own account, but also to avoid +being regarded as an encumbrance by the male members of the party. Beats +near the lodge, if possible, should be chosen, and luncheon should, in +my opinion, be the signal for the prudent sportswoman to retire. + +When I turn from the grouse to the partridge I shall probably have a +much larger public, for partridge shooting is, next to the rabbit, the +most easily attainable form of sport. It varies in quality of course, +but is always enjoyable, though it requires very much smaller +expenditure than the grouse. Almost every girl that can use her gun, may +hope to get a shot at partridges. The partridge is little inferior to +the grouse, or perhaps I may say, it is only inferior in its +surroundings. In its pursuit the wild romantic scenery of the moor, will +be exchanged for the tamer but not less beautiful landscape of the +manor. There are three ways of shooting partridges, the drive, walking +up, and shooting over dogs. The first of these is only suitable for +large estates, and is not therefore within the reach of many women. I +well remember the first time I saw one. The friend to whom I owe most of +my shooting, whom I will call Mrs. Robinson, had herself learned to use +her gun in order to accompany her husband who was very fond of the +sport, and when the management of the estates fell into her hands, she +threw herself enthusiastically into the improvement of the shootings. +Mrs. Robinson does not drive her estate, as she holds that walking up +and shooting over dogs is more suitable for her ground. But she has a +neighbour, Lord B., who does, and it was when I was staying with my old +friend, that the latter asked us both over for a "drive." + +I was all excitement at the prospect, novelty having ever a charm for +me, though I was a little nervous too as to how I should acquit myself. +My friend offered some earnest advice. "I have told Lord B. you are a +capital shot, so do keep cool, and remember that the birds fly much +faster than when you are shooting over dogs or walking, and, therefore, +the allowance must be greater. In the first drive you will probably find +yourself placed about twenty yards from a high hedge. Stay where you are +placed, and watch the top of the hedge, and try to shoot the birds as +they appear in sight over it. There are a good many red-legs on the +estate, so you may expect plenty of single shots. If you should be near +Colonel A. watch him, for he is one of the finest shots in England, both +for style and results." It was with a decided feeling of nervousness +that I found myself, as my friend had said, stationed about twenty yards +or more behind a high and rather thick hedge. "You will get some really +sporting shots here," said Colonel A. as he went on to his own station, +which I saw was near to mine. As it happened he got the first birds. I +saw his gun go up--quickly but without flurry--and he fired as it were +all in one motion. Two birds were topping the hedge, and a brace of dead +partridges dropped, killed neatly and instantaneously. Almost +immediately afterwards I got my chance at a single bird. My performance +was not so neat, for the bird went on, towered, and fell behind us. I +need not go into a long history of the day's performance, suffice it to +say I came away thoroughly delighted with partridge driving. The number, +variety and sporting character of the shots, made it a most exciting +day, and when at the close the slain totalled up to 123 brace, I felt +that we had had a really fine shoot. It was not that I took actual +pleasure in the numbers killed, but I had never before seen so many +birds which afforded such sporting shots. I have been almost inclined +since that experience to put partridge driving, for actual skill +displayed, at the head of shooting. + +As an illustration of shooting partridges by walking up, I may give an +account of a day's shooting over some of Mrs. Robinson's best ground. +Our party consisted of our hostess, Lord B. and his son, the rector of +the parish and myself. To each of us was assigned a man and a dog, and +in the dogs I took the greatest interest, as they had been bred and +broken by my father and myself. But of these more anon. They were three +good dogs, and one super-excellent one, named Dinah, a black retriever. +There was also a brace of pointers, to save time on the turnips. Mrs. +Robinson adopted the formation of beaters and guns recommended by Mr. +Stuart Wortley in his delightful volume on the Partridge--which every +shooter should read and re-read--that is, of a semicircle, with a gun in +the centre and one on each flank. This is undoubtedly the best plan, for +more, and I think better, shots are obtained than by walking in a +straight line. In root crops we left the beaters, and let loose the +pointers, which is a saving of time, and is far the most effectual. Two +guns went with each dog and took the points in turn. The root crops +finished, the pointers were called up and the beat resumed. Then we used +to walk up the partridges on the various beats. The estate was well +preserved, the keeper being both popular and efficient. + +But I think perhaps the days I liked best were those on which my friend +and I went out alone, with two steady pointers and my dear old Dinah, +and picked up what birds we could. Of course it is difficult now to make +large bags over dogs, even where birds are plentiful, as they do not lie +to dogs in the shaven fields of modern times as they used to do in the +days of stubble fields, nevertheless, we were generally able to pick up +four or five brace in a morning, and a few rabbits. Hares were preserved +for a pack of harriers, much affected by the farmers on the estate. +Sometimes too, we would beat the hedgerows with a brace of good clumbers +for rabbits, or stray pheasants, and once, in a little copse or spinney, +we found, and I shot, a woodcock. + +In turning to the subject of pheasants I have not a great deal to say, +the opportunity of shooting them in these days coming but rarely to +women. There are many reasons why a woman is out of place in big shoots, +and as pheasants now are not often shot in any other way, it is not easy +to get much practice at them. Nevertheless, there are one or two places +on my father's property where, with a steady old setter, I can generally +find a brace of pheasants or more. A pheasant flushed in a hedgerow, is +no doubt sometimes an easy shot when you are in practice, but it is good +for beginners, as is everything that gives you confidence in yourself. +When you shoot your first pheasant and he comes down stone-dead, you +feel you really are a sportswoman, and a new confidence which brings +success in its train, springs up in your heart. In woods, of course, the +birds give a greater trial of skill, as you must as a rule make longer +shots, for they will be travelling much faster. + +I seem to have said but little about pheasants which are after all the +most important game, but the principles of shooting are the same in all +cases, and with such pheasants as come in your way, you will be able to +deal, if you read and put in practice the general precepts I have given, +not forgetting to attend to the list of "Don'ts" to be found at the +end. + +We now come to rabbits, which are very important from one point of view, +for the woman who can get nothing else can often get shots at "Bunny." +There are so many ways you can get him. You may bolt him with ferrets, +you may stalk him with a rabbit rifle or a gun, you may drive him out of +covert with fox terriers or beagles, or you may make him the occasion of +a big shoot of his own. There is one thing about the rabbit which is +invaluable, he hardly ever offers you an easy shot, and very often he is +one of the hardest animals in the world to hit. Rabbit shooting in +company, unless that company be one of the most select, is decidedly +dangerous, for more stray, careless and excited shots are made at +rabbits than at any other form of sport. I am somewhat solitary in my +sporting tastes, and much as I love the _chasse aux lapins_, I like it +in solitude, or at all events with one trusted companion. + +The form that I really prefer is that which in my younger days prevailed +in Sussex, of bringing the rabbits out of their haunts with a small pack +of rough beagles, the charming cry of these little hounds adding greatly +to the pleasure of the day. About four couples are quite enough, and +they should be well under control or you may find yourself toiling +after your vanishing pack as they run the line of a hare, or even a fox. +Beagles which are wanted for this kind of work should be kept strictly +to rabbits and well exercised, so that they may be steady. Some +preparation is desirable for a day of this kind, and in order to keep +the rabbits above ground it is wise to run muzzled ferrets through the +burrows a day or two before. The rabbits will then lie above ground. +There is near my home a hill covered with patches of gorse, which we +keep for this kind of shooting. We are very careful about our invited +guns, as a careless shot easily mistakes a beagle for a rabbit. Indeed +this sport requires great care and steadiness. But to my mind it is one +of the most exciting and enjoyable of sports, the cry of the little +hounds, the ringing shots, the dart of the little brown forms with their +snowy patches of white down, the pleasure of success as the +neatly-killed "bunny" turns over dead in his tracks, make up a most +delightful whole for the enthusiastic gunner. The same kind of sport can +be followed by spaniels, free-tongued dogs of any race being the best. +Spaniels are better than any other dogs for working thick hedgerows, +into which rabbits have been previously bolted by ferrets. Some people +use terriers, but I only advise these when you have no other dogs handy. +It is most difficult to keep terriers above ground. They should at any +rate never be taken out in the spring, if you know of an earth in which +a vixen fox may have lain up, or into coverts where foxes are. + +If you wish to enjoy the pleasures of deer stalking on a small scale, +take out a small rifle and stalk rabbits. You will find it a most +entrancing sport, calling out all your knowledge of woodcraft, and +teaching you much you did not know before. You will not shoot many +rabbits, but those you do get will be well earned. Remember, however, +that bullets from these rifles travel a long way, and that you should +always know what is behind the rabbit when you shoot. By the time you +can kill a rabbit fairly often, at from fifty to sixty yards with a +bullet, you will be a good shot. + +[Illustration: _From a Painting by Miss Maud Earl._ + +_FLAT-COATED RETRIEVER._ + +_CHAMPION DARENTH._] + +Of other kinds of shooting it is not necessary that I should write much, +for if you can shoot easily and well under the circumstances I have +spoken of, you will be able to fire at anything with a fair and +reasonable chance of hitting it. One form of shooting is both difficult +and interesting, and that is catching wood pigeons on the return flight +in the evening. Many a time have I waited an hour or more for a few +shots, though often returning home empty-handed after all. But when +successful, I have had the greatest possible pleasure in getting only +one or two pigeons, which have been due to really creditable shooting. + +_Dogs and dog-breaking._ This is a subject on which I can speak with +enthusiasm, and with a certain amount of practical knowledge. Everyone +knows that in these days landowners have to consider all ways possible +of utilising their land, and of making money. Some years ago our home +farm came back on our hands in a very poor state. Never very good land, +the last tenant who had been insolvent for years, had not been able to +afford to keep the stock required, much less to use artificial manures. +My father and I decided to take it in hand ourselves, and to use it +partly as a game farm and partly as ground on which to break our dogs. +The cultivation of the farm was carried on in such a way as to form +covert for all sorts of game, and I may say that by care and personal +management, the farm is now one of the most profitable on the estate. +We always had some good retrievers, and we decided to increase the size +of our kennels, and to raise and break a certain number of retrievers +and setters for the market. My father and I reckoned that there was now +a real market for good thoroughly broken retrievers. I had seen enough +of keepers and their ways with dogs, to feel sure that very few of them +understood and cared for dogs, and I determined to see to the breaking +process myself. + +We have never shown, because we think the show bench and judging ring +are not good for dogs which are really meant for business, but we use +many of the leading prize strains. "Dinah," the best retriever I ever +had, and a bitch which seems to have the power of transmitting her +virtues to her descendants, is a black retriever of a well-known strain. +She is a model of intelligence and a beautiful worker. She watches the +birds fall, and is wonderfully good in marking the spot where they come +to the ground. No bird ever escapes her, unless it goes to ground, as +pheasants will sometimes, and you can call her up at any moment. I +attribute her obedience and docility to the fact that she has been my +constant companion, for retrievers cannot be too much with their +owners, and the first thing in training is to make friends with the +puppy, and get him thoroughly in hand before his field education begins. +Nothing is more fatal than a headstrong disposition, which I am +convinced is often the result of bad treatment. "In for a penny, in for +a pound," seems to be the reflection of a retriever, when looking back +at his raging master and evidently understanding that he will be beaten +in any case, he goes off for an entrancing chase after a hare, thus +perhaps spoiling half a day's sport for you. And vice once contracted is +most difficult to eradicate, indeed it was my bitter experience on this +point which led me to undertake the education of my retrievers myself. + +As soon as I had attained to some skill in shooting, it was my custom to +take my gun with me whenever I went out for a walk. Now, there is a +small river which runs through our grounds, and at a part of its course +feeds a number of ponds in which probably were fish stews in the time of +the monks, who were our predecessors. There are one or two small islands +on these ponds. One day I had out with me a new purchase, a good-looking +black dog. He came to heel, and retrieved a rabbit I shot, fairly well. +It so happened, however, that not far from the river an old cock +pheasant got out of the hedgerow, and as it was late in the season and +we had done covert shooting, this was a chance for me, so I fired and +hit him. The bird, however, went on, towered and fell into one of the +ponds. Directly I gave the word off went my dog, and I began to think I +had got a treasure. He went straight for the water, plunged boldly in, +and swam direct to the bird, but then to my horror, he went off to the +island, and taking the pheasant ashore proceeded to eat it. + +It was then and there that I determined to break my own dogs, and such +success attended my first efforts that we have since done it on a large +scale. "Dinah" was my first attempt. It so happened that a friend of +ours who used to breed retrievers for show purposes, took me to see a +wonderful litter of champion-bred puppies. There were eight, all black +except one which had a white star on her chest. This last, the owner +said, he was going to drown. "Oh! give it to me," I said, moved to pity +for the little round sleek victim. "Well, if you will take it away now, +you can have it." So I carried off "Dinah," and brought her up by hand. +From very early years I was able to teach her obedience, and to fetch +and carry, being greatly helped in her training, by her affection for +me. She has always lived in the house, and consequently understands a +great deal, and I had but little trouble with her. Her lessons in +seeking for hidden bits of meat were a delight to her, but I was very +careful never to allow her to chase. I believe if a dog once does this, +it is most difficult to cure, and that the vice is always liable to +break out again. + +I break all the dogs to my own voice and whistle, being attended by a +kennel boy who manipulates the check cords. As to punishment, I carry a +small dog whip, the crack of which is generally sufficient. If a young +persistent offender requires a blow, three stripes will be found enough, +but my experience is that if I cannot break a dog without beating, he is +beyond my powers. The great secret of breaking, however, is +companionship, my retriever for the time being never leaves me, and I +have the kennel dogs in my company as much as possible. Above all, I +always take them out for a run, at least once every day. + +The cardinal rules for retriever breaking are: + +(_a_) To get the dog thoroughly obedient and under control. + +(_b_) To make them perfect at the down charge before you attempt to +shoot over them. + +(_c_) To make friends of them. + +(_d_) To check faults at once, and never pass them over. + +(_e_) If a dog shows real vice to get rid of him. + +(_f_) To be patient, and not confound a headstrong disposition with +vice, for some dogs that are troublesome to break, turn out the best. + +I believe in high feeding for sporting dogs, and hard work. The fewer +dogs you have and the harder you work them in reason, the better. The +kennel food of our dogs is really the same as that of a pack of hounds, +viz.: good Scotch oatmeal, after it has been kept for a year, horseflesh +or mutton--I dislike beef--with a certain proportion of cabbage boiled +up with it. Once a week I give a _raw_ bone to each dog. No biscuits, +except as rewards. + +As to the best kind of retriever, we have had of all kinds, and perhaps +the best after "Dinah" herself, is a cross-bred between her and an Irish +water spaniel. But we do not now keep cross-bred dogs, as they are no +use after the first generation, though you may often get very good ones +then. We now use curly and flat-coated blacks, bred from prize strains. + +The grooming of sporting dogs, especially of setters and retrievers is +most important, and cleanliness, assisted by a good disinfectant, will +be found after all the chief element in kennel management. + +I have not said anything about the breaking of pointers and setters, +because there is nothing to add to General Hutchinson's system. +Patience, kindness and perseverance will lead you to success, but the +patience required is often great, for it is sometimes not till the third +season that a dog is really at its best. On the other hand there is much +pleasure in it and some profit, and as time goes on, it becomes much +easier, for the young dogs not only inherit the capacities of their +parents, but learn a great deal from them in the field, especially from +their mothers. + +_Books._ The general topics concerning shooting have been so ably dealt +with in several recent books, that it may be well to give a short list +of those likely to be of service to the beginner. I would especially +recommend + +_The Art of Shooting_, by C. Lancaster. The diagrams in this book are +most valuable and practical, and there are many useful hints. + +The Badminton Library, _Shooting_, 2 vols. The chapters dealing with +Pheasant shooting are particularly good. + +The Fur and Feather Series, _The Partridge_, a book as delightful to +read as it is useful to study. + +Hutchinson on _Dog Breaking_, a book which has never been approached, +much less surpassed. + +Daniel's _Rural Sports_, to be found in most country house libraries, a +thoroughly useful and practical book from which many subsequent writers +have borrowed. It deals of course with sport from an old-fashioned point +of view, but is none the worse for that. + +Tegetmeier's _Pheasants_, a first-rate standard work, by an expert. + +Now let me give a few useful cautions to young shooters: + +Don't point your gun at anything but the game you wish to shoot. + +Don't risk a shot if you have doubts as to its safety. + +Don't fire at birds when too near. + +Don't try long gallery shots. It is cruel. + +Don't fire at your birds, but in front of them. The exceptions to this, +are birds coming direct to you or going away. + +Don't potter in your aim, but aim and fire quickly. + +Don't, if you can help it, shut either eye. + +Don't wound. If you can't kill neatly, don't fire. + +Don't fire at a pheasant's tail feathers, but try to intercept his head. + +Don't climb over stiles with a loaded gun. + +Don't keep your cartridges in the gun, except when actually waiting for +game. + +Don't talk when shooting, or if you must do so, let it be in a low +voice. + +Don't fire at fur going directly from or to you. + +Don't talk about shooting except to sportsmen and sportswomen. + +Don't stay out too long and get over-tired, or some or the foregoing +warnings may be forgotten. + +[Illustration: _MRS. MURPHY-GRIMSHAW._ + +(_With a Tarpon caught at Fort Myers. Weight, 147-lbs. Length, 6-ft. +7-in. Time, 1 hour 25 minutes._)] + + + + +FISHING FOR TARPON. + + +Whether there be any truth in the saying "that opportunity makes the +thief," it is decidedly the case that it makes the sportswoman, for +although I now find myself in such goodly company, low be it spoken that +until I went to Florida I had never fished in my life. Such being the +case, it will easily be understood that when I found myself one blazing +day in a very small boat, with a sturdy rod in my hand, listening to a +very black guide retailing many wonderful stories of what tarpon did +when they were hooked, my feelings were chiefly those of trepidation. +However I was destined to have a large and varied experience with +sharks, jew fish, bass and many other monsters of the deep, before the +eventful day arrived on which I killed my first tarpon, and here let me +advise anyone who may be meditating an expedition to Florida for tarpon +fishing, to beware of going to Punta Gorda. + +This most charming and picturesque place was once a very favourite haunt +of the tarpon, but owing to works which have been recently started, +which entail a constant passing of steamers up and down the river, the +fish have quite deserted it. We fished there for six whole weeks, +starting often at 5 a.m. and generally staying out till 7.30 or so, and +we never saw one fish the whole time. We proved a fruitful source of +revenue to the guides and boatmen who had ever some fresh reason for our +non-success, and we had on the whole a charming time, for the hotel is +comfort itself and is a perfect paradise of flowers. We had lovely +expeditions up the river, and any amount of bass, sea trout and other +fishing, but neither we nor anyone else ever saw a tarpon. We got tired +of this at last and decided to move further down, to a place called Fort +Myers on the Caloosahatchie River. This we found to be an extremely +pretty little town, with low white-painted houses, nestling in roses and +magnolias, surrounded by gardens full of brilliant-coloured flowers and +luxuriant orange plantations, with however most primitive arrangements +in the shape of an hotel. We were fortunate in securing the two best +guides on the river and a good sailing boat, and at last our luck +changed. + +We always followed the same routine. Breakfast about 6 a.m., sometimes +earlier, then we sailed down the river towing our tarpon-boats (for each +person has his own guide and boat), till we found some place where the +fish was feeding, when we anchored the sailing-boat and went off each on +our own account. I wish I could convey the charm of those early morning +sails, the crisp, exhilarating feeling in the air, before the heat of +the day began, the brilliant sunshine, the pale blue vault above, +reflected in the shining depths beneath, where we and our snow-white +boat seemed to be floating in some delicious ether in a crystalline +bowl. Or again it might be a cloudy grey morning, when the heavens above +and the wide expanse of river below, were all one lovely pearly +opalescent haze of pinks and greys and soft indefinite blues, suffused +with a warm light, telling of the golden glory of the sun which would +presently melt the clouds away; and all the teeming population of the +river seemed to be rejoicing with us in having awakened to another long, +happy, busy day. The solemn pelicans decorating every post and +sand-bank, too intent on their breakfasts to notice us, excitable +flocks of little black duck which would rise scolding and chattering +like a crowd of school-children to settle, still volubly objecting to +us, a few hundred yards or so further on, gaunt fishing-eagles and +turkey buzzards, leviathan-like porpoises gambolling round our boat, and +everywhere the flash of the silver mullet as they leapt and played; both +the bird and animal life being an incessant source of amusement and +interest to watch. + +When we arrived in Florida on the 6th of March, we found the weather +just like that of a perfect English summer, cool mornings and evenings, +in which a thick cloak was always acceptable, for the air on the water +was invariably fresh, then blazing hot in the middle of the day. One's +poor face suffers terribly from the glare off the water, and till you +get hardened it is quite painful from the intense burning, though at +last you settle down to a uniform tomato-red or brick-dust tint. So far +as clothes are concerned, you require the very loosest form possible. +Thin silk shirts, and light serge or holland skirts for fishing, and +thin, very high boots, for when you land on sand banks or on one of the +fascinating little islands which dot the river, your ankles will be +devoured by what is euphoniously named "the red bug," and then you will +be driven nearly mad with the irritation. Indeed one English woman I met +in Florida had been quite lamed and laid up for weeks from these bites, +after having walked in low shoes along the beach. Then you must have a +large and shady hat, or do as most of the American women do, and wear +sun-bonnets. I adopted the latter plan, as the sun-bonnet shelters the +back and sides of the neck, which otherwise suffer from the heat. Then +for days when you are not fishing, you will want the thinnest of white +frocks, and for the evening or sitting on the piazza, where it is always +deliciously cool and shady, being surrounded by orange trees and a +tangle of roses, I found some muslin tea-gowns which I happened to have +with me, the greatest comfort. + +Last, but most important of all, you must be well provided with the +thickest leather driving gloves, at least one size too large, indeed +men's gloves will be found the best, as otherwise your hands may get cut +to ribbons by the line swishing out. I have had all the fingers of one +hand cut to the bone through this, and it is of course most painful. A +leather tarpon belt such as is sold at the Army and Navy Stores, is +also quite necessary. The rod I killed most of my fish on was a bamboo, +about 7 feet long. In choosing a rod, remember it must not have too much +spring, and you will require from 150 to 200 yards of linen line. But +all requisites of this sort are to be found at the Army and Navy Stores. +The great difficulty is to find a really satisfactory hook. We tried all +kinds and varieties, but I think the chief thing is to be sure that they +are made of the best steel, with good large eyes. The hooks are attached +to the line by a raw hide snooding, which is far better than wire or any +other kind, though it is true that sharks, which very frequently take +the bait, can bite through that much easier than piano wire. + +The bait used, is the soft part of the silver mullet, and the providing +of this bait was one of the greatest troubles we had. Each person +requires at least one dozen mullet a day, and the natives are very lazy +about catching them. We used to be down on the pier sometimes, with the +tide just right for starting, only to be told that the bait had not +come, and then we had to wait, fuming and fussing, for nearly an hour +perhaps, with all our chances of getting off on the flood tide +disappearing. At last a coloured man would come sauntering along with +the long-looked-for bait, and would meet all our remonstrances with the +most hopeless and exasperating good humour, and probably the same thing +would be repeated the next day. At Fort Myers however, we had less +trouble about it, our guides being white men, who very often caught the +mullet themselves. Such nice, cheery fellows these guides were, most +amusing and interesting companions, and real sportsmen. + +After we had been at Fort Myers a few days, I caught my first tarpon. He +was a fine fellow, 6 ft. 7 in. long, and weighing 147 lbs. He gave me a +very hard fight indeed, lasting for an hour and twenty-five minutes. I +never felt so sorry for anything in my life as I did for that tarpon as +I played him. He made such a plucky struggle for life, and was worthy of +a better antagonist, for he could not know that it was no skill on my +part that finally conquered him, but a sheer determination to get the +better of him. I was thankful indeed when at last I succeeded in working +him near enough for Santi to gaff, for my arms and thumbs were +absolutely numb with the enormous weight and strain. One very quickly +learns the knack of playing the fish and tiring them out, and I rarely +took longer than twelve or fifteen minutes, and sometimes less, in +killing my fish after a little practice. + +The tarpon were late in coming up the river the year we were there, +owing to the water being very cold after the dreadful "freeze" which +devastated so many flourishing orange plantations, so that the fishing +was not really good till about the middle of April. From then till we +left, however, about the 15th of May, we had splendid sport, killing +forty-eight tarpon between us, of which seventeen fell to my share. My +husband's biggest kill in one day was five, mine was three, and I found +that quite enough, for though it does not take long in point of time, to +kill your tarpon when once he is hooked, the strain on all your muscles +is enormous. It calls all your faculties into play, as may be imagined, +to kill a 150 lbs. fish on a small rod, and a line no thicker, if as +thick, as a salmon line. The one thing to avoid is letting your reel +over-run. If that happens, and it easily does, for the reels are on ball +bearings and run at a touch, your fish is practically lost, you can +rarely clear the line again. + +I was miraculously lucky in never losing a fish through breaking the +line, but the danger of letting your reel over-run has been very +strongly impressed on me, and you quickly find out how much strain you +dare put on the rod. The great point to be remembered is always to keep +the rod as upright as possible, and your thumb on the brake. + +I think very few things can equal the keen excitement of playing a +tarpon. You may have been sitting in the boat perhaps for hours, on the +look-out for the bubbles on the water, and the sound of the "puff," +which show a tarpon is feeding near. Your line, of which twenty yards or +so have been coiled loosely in the bottom of the boat, suddenly begins +to creep out, gently, almost invisibly. You think, as you see it, "it is +those wretched cat-fish again," but no, it is too determined and +continuous for that. You watch the line, breathless with excitement, +till nearly all is gone, and the pace gets quicker and quicker, then you +take the rod up carefully, so as not to interfere with the line, for at +this stage the very slightest jerk or stoppage of the line will cause +the tarpon instantly to spit the bait out. Now the line is whizzing out. +You strike with all your might and main, and have a confused feeling of +having hooked an avalanche, an earthquake and a thunderbolt all in one, +for instantly a huge mass of shining silver leaps yards high into the +air, falling with a mighty splash, to leap again, and again, and again. +Your reel is screaming as the line whistles out, but long before the +tarpon has finished his first leaps the guide has hauled up his anchor +and is away, rowing with all his strength down on the fish, which soon +settles down to a long, steady, dash downstream. You do your utmost to +make him leap again and so exhaust himself, by reeling up a yard or so +of slack at a time, then pausing with both thumbs hard on break and line +as he throws himself wildly out of the water. But away he goes again, +taking out perhaps every foot of line on the reel, and again you reel +up, working him hard. Slowly and by degrees his leaps become shorter and +fainter, you work him nearer and nearer the boat till he lies exhausted +on his side, but with one wary eye on the gaff, ready to slew round and +make another dash for life and liberty. But you hold him tight. One +skilful blow with the gaff, and another gallant fish has met his fate. + +[Illustration: _MRS. MURPHY-GRIMSHAW_ + +_ON BOARD THE TARPON BOAT._] + +A rope is passed through his gills, and in triumph you return to the +sailing-boat, there to tie him up. This all sounds very simple and +straight forward, but there is no end to the tricks of which a tarpon is +capable. He will dash backwards and forwards beneath the boat, till you +think no power on earth can ever prevent your line becoming hopelessly +entangled with yourself or the oars, he will double up and down, and +round and round, he will even leap clean over the boat, often +threatening to land himself inside it, and so swamp you. On one occasion +a fish I had hooked started away up stream, then suddenly turned in his +tracks, met the buoy of our anchor, took three clean turns round it, and +continued his mad career towards the Gulf. I thought all was over, but +Santi by some marvellous _tour-de-force_ somehow unwound it, shouting as +he did so "Let your line out as hard as you can," and away we went. All +this with a tide running about seven knots an hour, and the boat +swinging wildly in mid-stream. We killed that fish, which greatly +surprised us both. + +One hears wonderful stories of fishermen being towed many miles by +tarpon, and one Englishman we met had been over four hours one day +having a desperate fight with a very large fish, which I believe he +lost in the end. After we had been at Fort Myers some time, we heard +great accounts of the sport to be had at a place called Captiva, an +island in the Gulf of Mexico. We were also told it was a very dangerous +form of tarpon fishing there, as the place where you fish is a very +narrow pass between two islands, where there is always a tremendous sea +running, so that you are liable to be swamped. They also told us it +would be quite impossible for a woman to attempt to land a tarpon there, +as owing to the rapid tide you must land in order to play your fish, and +this entails running up and down the beach after him, which is very hard +work with a heavy fish. All this naturally made us much keener to go, so +we made our preparations, which had to be considerable, as the only +accommodation on the Island consisted of two or three fishermen's huts. +We laid in a couple of small camp bedsteads, while sheets, pillows, +blankets, and the ever necessary mosquito curtains were lent us by our +host at the hotel. We also invested in a tin plate, mug, knife and fork +each, a few cooking utensils, the largest tin bowls we could find to tub +in, a large supply of tinned provisions, chickens, ice, in fact, all we +could think of. Then we found a coloured cook, a vast and very cheery +young man, who turned out an excellent _chef_. Finally we started, with +our guides and tarpon boats--and towing our sailing-boat--on the steamer +which plies every other day between Punta Gorda and Fort Myers, and +which passes within a mile of Captiva Island. + +Captiva is a dream of loveliness, lying like a pearl on the +sapphire-blue, ever changing waters of the Gulf of Mexico--an enchanted +garden where all the ordinary troubles and cares of life seem to have no +place. As we landed for the first time on its snowy beach, where the +brilliantly green trees and vegetation come down almost to the water's +edge, and cast intense violet shadows on the low-growing cactus, with +its yellow, starlike blossoms and redly purple fruits, and gazed out on +the wondrous waters of the Gulf, where every exquisite shade of palest +and brightest emerald green gradually deepened into softest yet most +vivid blue, we felt we had indeed chanced on the Land of the Lotus +Eaters, and that here we could spend our days in dreaming blissful +dreams, far away from the multitudinous cares of civilisation. Life was +so simple there, one's requirements narrowed down in a remarkable way. +The climate is so exquisite, with the blazing sun tempered by breezes +from the Gulf, and the hut we had was a simple structure of two or three +poles thatched with palm leaves, into which you entered by a square hole +in the wall. Guiltless of furniture was the hut, beyond two trestle-like +tables, on one of which I erected my bed, to escape the numberless +cockroaches which infested the thatch. + +Our meals we had in the other hut, where cooking went on, and what +delicious repasts they seemed to us. They generally consisted of fish, +soup or chowder, a sort of "olla podrida" of bits of chicken, +vegetables, green corn, anything our _chef_ could lay his hands on, or +fried fish fresh caught, and such delicious varieties of these there +were too, and bananas fresh or cooked. We always marvelled at the +inventive genius of our coloured Soyer. But in reality you never think +of being hungry, or thirsty, or tired, or anything else at Captiva, you +feel quite superior to all bodily wants. + +We used to bathe at night in the mystical moonlight, when the air was +heavy with scents, a belated mocking bird's song perhaps mingling with +the soft rush of the tide on the shelly beach. Then we would sleep +sounder than we had ever done before, till 4-30 or so, and awake keen +and eager for another delightful, long, busily lazy day. It used to be +my greatest delight to get out on the beach, before any of the old +sailors even were about, and watch the daily miracle of the sunrise over +the shining waters of the gulf, when the air seemed stilly waiting for +the wonderful moment when the golden glory of the sun should flood land +and sea, and chase away the dreamy evanescent hues of greys and rose and +blues, which had clothed the world but a moment before. + +The island is about three miles long and one mile wide, curved rather in +the shape of a letter S, which made the most fascinating little bays and +inlets. We used to spend all our spare time rambling about and exploring +it. It is quite uninhabited except for four or five old Spanish +fishermen, who have their little settlement of two or three huts and a +drying shed for the fish, on the beach where we landed. The whole island +is covered with trees and a thick undergrowth, with here and there open +spaces covered with flowers of all varieties. The butterflies are +another great feature, of every size and colour imaginable, and the +mocking birds make the air ring again with their lovely plaintive note, +so like our nightingale. On the beach the shells were a never ending +interest to collect, so wonderful and varied they are. With all these +different amusements we never found time too long, for when we were +tired of investigating the hidden nooks and corners of our Garden of +Eden, we could always sketch, and occupy ourselves in vainly +endeavouring to reproduce the ceaselessly changing and indescribably +beautiful tints of the Gulf, with its waters rippling gently on the +golden shore at our feet, or the picturesque old fishermen in their +faded blue garments, as seen against the dim background of the drying +shed, where the fish were a mass of irridescent mother-of-pearl and +jewel-like hues, and where huge, green glass demijohns for water made +yet another note of brilliant light. + +[Illustration: + + _7-ft. 0-1/2-in._ _6-ft. 7-in._ _5-ft. 4-in._ + _156-lb._ _136-lb._ _80-lb._ + +_A GOOD BAG OF TARPON._] + +At Captiva you fish on the flood tide, which when we first arrived +there, chanced to be about 6 p.m. so we had all the day at our disposal. +About 4-30 p.m. would see us setting forth in the tarpon boats, bigger +and deeper ones than those used on the river, so as to minimise the +danger of capsizing. Gently pulling down to the fishing ground, half a +mile or so away, we would take up our places as near a tide-rip as +possible, for that is where the fish love to feed. The pass is very +narrow, about a quarter of a mile across, so we and any other boats that +might be there would be at very close quarters, indeed the swinging of +the tide frequently brought about collisions between neighbouring boats. +There we anchored, a somewhat difficult business, as the bottom is so +rocky it is very hard to get an anchor to hold. + +While waiting for the tarpon to begin to bite, we would pass the time +catching smaller fish for the next morning's breakfast, red grouper, +with their cavernous rosy-red mouth, very excellent eating; black ones +of that ilk; king fish, an extremely difficult gentleman to catch, as he +is very active and game for his size, and in colour and shape rather a +cross between an eel and a mackerel; sea trout always welcome for the +pot, or some unhappy fisherman perhaps would discover he had hooked a +jew-fish, which would mean either hours of hauling and much expenditure +of bad language and energy, or cutting the line and sacrificing hook and +snood. The jew-fish is a horrible looking thing like a large pig, a +dirty yellow in colour, covered with scales so minute that they look +like a skin, and with a huge head. These fish generally weigh over 200 +lbs., and fishermen naturally dread them, for they are absolutely +unsporting and just bore down and down on the line, never jumping or +showing any fight, but steadily resisting all efforts to raise them, +till it is like trying to lift an elephant. But whenever or wherever you +throw a line, a catch of some sort is a certainty, for the water simply +teems with fish, and you probably get a different one every time, which +adds greatly to the interest and excitement. + +In bottom-fishing, as it is up the river, the more rods you have out the +more chances of bites, but at Captiva the fish bite so voraciously and +so incessantly that two rods are as much as you can do with, one for +yourself and one for the guide. Even then if you hook one fish out of +every ten strikes, you do well. In bottom-fishing you wait for the fish +to gorge the bait before striking. At Captiva you must strike the very +instant you feel a bite, or otherwise the tarpon spits the bait out on +feeling the line, and you must strike with all your strength too, for +the tarpon's vast mouth is lined with a perfect coat of mail, in which +there is but one soft spot, an inch or two in length, where the bones +divide. The hook is put into the bait about two inches from the end, and +the shank, seized to the end of the bait, is connected with the line by +three feet of piano wire, which replaces the raw hide snooding in this +Pass fishing, where there is so much strain on everything owing to the +difference in the way the fish take the bait, and the tremendous tide +running. You need a rather more limber rod too, to help you keep a tight +line on your fish, no easy matter in very rough water. The fish are in +innumerable thousands in the Pass, which they must all enter on their +way up the river, and it is a fine sight to see the water literally +alive with these splendid fish, all leaping and playing like minnows in +a pond. + +I must say I felt very nervous at first as to my chances of landing a +tarpon at Captiva, having been told it was so impossible a feat for a +woman to achieve. Great therefore was my delight and pride, when, the +second day after our arrival, I landed a fine one, weighing 126 lbs., +and measuring 6 ft. 5 in. It was a thrilling moment, when, after many +futile strikes, I at last got one on safe, and saw his huge silvery bulk +leaping wildly into the air, while Santi threw out his buoy and we +started down towards the Gulf. I strained every nerve to keep a tight +line on the fish, working in the slack by a foot at a time, while +keeping the tip of my rod high in the air. By very slow degrees we edged +towards the shore, and at last felt the welcome grating of the keel on +the beach. I scrambled out, knee deep in water, and then the real tug of +war began; for it is a very difficult matter to run up and down a +shelving, shingly beach with nearly 130 lbs. fighting for dear life at +the other end of your line, threatening every instant to snap it, or to +make a wild dash out to sea. After about twenty minutes of this, when I +was very nearly exhausted, I felt to my great relief that the tarpon's +struggles were becoming less effectual. We could see him occasionally, +and at last I hauled him close up, Santi made his usual clever stroke +with the gaff, not however till after many attempts, and much splashing +and objecting on the part of the tarpon. I was decidedly thankful when I +saw him lying high and dry on the shore. + +My husband had two great battles in one night. He hooked an enormous +tarpon which ran straight out to the gulf. He and his boat disappeared +entirely from sight, and when after about two hours we went in search, +we discovered him breathless and exhausted but triumphant, having just +gaffed his fish, which measured 6 ft. 10 in., and weighed 180 lbs.! The +second one measured 6 ft. 8 in., and weighed 175 lbs., a fine kill for +one day at Captiva. These two, with mine, looked splendid specimens +lying side by side in the moonlight. + +It is if possible even more exciting to fish in the dark than during the +day. When you have it all to do by "feel," it is a weird sensation, to +struggle with an invisible foe, the only outward signs of which are the +showers of phosphorescent spray, as the tarpon leaps and falls again. Of +course on a moonlight night you can see all that is going on, and the +tarpon looks like a dream fish as the silvery light glitters on his +gleaming sides. + +After ten days or so of fishing in the Pass we heard they were getting a +good many fish at Port Myers, so we returned there, quitting our idyllic +life at Captiva with much regret. It is a lovely trip by steamer between +these two places. The river is thickly studded with islands of all +shapes and sizes, some flat and low, covered with an impenetrable +thicket of mangroves, others larger with a few houses and probably an +hotel. We called at two or three of the more important ones, always +finding the same scene, a dilapidated wooden pier, constructed on +slender piles standing far out into the river, where most of the people +gathered for the event of the day, the arrival of our boat. A +queer-looking motley crowd they were, coloured people of all shades of +blacks and browns and dirty yellows, languid, lazy-looking "crackers," +as the native Floridians are called, with here and there a pretty girl +in a sun bonnet, flirting with the lanky and very leggy young men in +shirt sleeves and sombrero-like hats. All were lounging in the sun, most +of them with a line, pulling up cat-fish, sea-trout, jack-fish, or +sheepsheads, as fast as they put the bait in. + +The sea is a wondrous emerald green, and we lean over the side of the +boat watching the rolling porpoises, some of which follow us for miles, +and catching an occasional glimpse of an evil-looking shark, or again +passing through huge shoals of stingarees, like enormous submarine birds +with their flapping wing-like sides. The day wears on in warm drowsiness +till at last we approach Fort Myers, and are met at the dock with eager +enquiries and congratulations on our successful expedition to the Pass. +By the 15th of May the weather had become very hot, and the mosquitos +very bad, and all the other fishermen having already taken their +departure, we felt our time had also come. It was only a few days before +we left, that I caught what was supposed to be a record fish in point of +length, 7-ft. 1/2-in., weight, 156-lbs. + +On a blazing morning we lingeringly and regretfully bade farewell to +Fort Myers, where we made so many pleasant friends, and had such +glorious sport, and we had a blazing ten hours passage on the _Laurence_ +up to Punta Gorda, so that we hailed the evening cool with thankfulness. +At Punta Gorda the big hotel was closed, and the visitors and fishermen +had all fled long since, but we found a room in which to pass the short +time that elapsed till the train was ready to start for Jacksonville. +There we arrived after twelve hot weary hours in the cars. We waited +there two nights for the boat to New York. Jacksonville is the chief +town in Florida, and a most bustling and amusing place to see. + +We had an exquisite passage to New York, five days of absolutely calm +and glorious weather, with scarcely a ripple on the sea, or a cloud in +the intensely blue sky. We arrived to find New York shivering in cold +winds and a prey to spring weather of the worst description, heavy +showers and dreary intermittent gleams of sunshine, a strange contrast, +indeed, to the perfect climate we had so recently left. Among our +luggage was a gigantic coffin-like case, in which reposed the body of my +first tarpon. I had insisted on having him stuffed and set up, as I was +quite convinced at the time I could never catch another one so fine, +though afterwards I rather regretted my haste, when I found I was +destined to even greater success. + +Hermione Murphy-Grimshaw. + +[Illustration: _Lombardi and Co. 13, Pall Mall East._ + +_MISS WALROND._] + + + + +ARCHERY. + + +There is probably no weapon in modern use which can boast a more ancient +and distinguished lineage than the bow, and so slight is the change it +has undergone during its lengthened career, that the bow of the present +day is in no-wise--save in strength and finish--dissimilar to the more +deadly instrument of far-off times. In dealing with the history of +Archery as relating only to women, a volume might be filled with the +stories of the marvellous military exploits of the warlike ladies who +lived in the East. + +But leaving these and coming to medieval times we are told of a stirring +incident, during the plundering of a village in Usbec Tartary, by some +soldiers belonging to the Emperor Aurunzebe's army. An old woman warned +the plunderers to desist, threatening them with the vengeance of her +daughter should they continue. Her words having no effect the marauders +collected their prisoners and booty and were retiring when a damsel rode +up carrying bow and arrows and mounted on a warlike steed. She boldly +summoned the soldiers to release their prisoners and return their +plunder, and promised that if they did so their lives should be spared. +Finding that no attention was paid to her, she then raised her bow and +shooting three or four arrows, emptied a corresponding number of saddles +among the enemy. In return the soldiers attempted to shoot her, but +finding that their weak Indian weapons were not equal to her Tartar one, +and that their numbers were being lessened by her incessant shower of +arrows, the veracious historian tells us they released their captives, +too late, however, for their own safety, as those who did not fall to +her arrows were put to death by the sword. Truly a remarkable episode. + +In Dr. Southey's _History of the Cid_, it is stated that Clorinda, a +Moorish Queen, "was so skilful in drawing the Turkish bow, that it was +held as a marvel," and it is said that they called her in Arabic, +Nugneymat Turga, which is to say, "Star of the Archers." + +Hansard, in the _Book of Archery_, writes of the Persian beauties of +the Harem, who were permitted to amuse themselves with Archery. These +oriental bow meetings he says, "take place within the recesses of the +Royal Gardens where, their black-bearded tyrant and a bevy of female +attendants excepted, no spectators are allowed to be present. The butts +consist of moistened sand enclosed in a wooden frame, and beaten into a +hard compact mass. These are set up in a slanting direction at the +boundary of some verdant alley, where the over-hanging branches of vine +and orange tree exclude the fierceness of an Eastern Sun. Consistent +with that gorgeous taste so prevalent throughout the East, the whole +exterior of this butt is covered with elegant scroll work and patterns +of flowers. Gold and silver intermingled with various pigments of the +most brilliant hues, are lavishly employed to produce this effect. A +female Abyssinian slave stands beside the mark, provided with a large +round pebble, to form and preserve an unbroken hollow in the centre, and +at this cavity every arrow is directed. She repeats the operation +several times whilst her mistresses are shooting: for the triumph of +Persian archery consists not merely in a central shot, but also in +making the arrow penetrate deeply into the sand at every discharge." + +Still more striking are the words of a French traveller named Gentil, +who speaks of a race of Amazons, seen by him in the retinue of an Indian +Prince. They were about a hundred in number, were well paid, lived in +the Palace, and accompanied the Prince when he hunted, or formed his +body guard in time of war. + +There are Prints and Records dating from the fourteenth century, which +show the fondness of the English women for sports. We find them in the +field with the men, sometimes taking part in shooting at the animals as +they were driven past them, and proving themselves no mean markswomen. +They are said often to have conducted a hunt entirely by themselves, +"winding the horn, rousing the game," and following it without any help +from the opposite sex. Strutt tells us that on these occasions, some of +them went so far as to wear divided skirts and sit their horses like +men, but we do not hear that the fashion became general. + +[Illustration: _From a Harleian MS. in the British Museum._] + +John Yonge, Somerset Herald, who attended Margaret Tudor, the daughter +of Henry VII., on her journey to Scotland for her marriage to James IV., +states under the date Alnwick, 27th July, 1503: "Two mylle from the sayd +place, the sayd Erle (Northumberland) cam and mett hyr well accompayned, +and brought hyr thorough hys park, when she kylde a Buk with hyr bow." + +In Sir II. Nicolas' _Household Expenses of Henry VIII._ we find these +entries: + + May, 1530. Itm the same day paid to Scawsely for bowys, + arrowys, shafts, brode hedds, bracer, and shooting glove + for my Lady Anne xxxiijs iijd. + + June. Itm the same daye paied to the King's Bowyer for iiij + bowes for my ladye Anne at iiijs iiijd, a pece xxiiijs + iiijd. + + June, 1537. Itm payed to Charles Morley for Bowes, Arowes, + a qwyver, wt other thinge for my lade g'ce xijs xd. + +These show us that archery was among the Royal amusements of this time. +Elizabeth is said to have been extremely fond of hunting, and to have +been expert with her bow. Roger Ascham, a great lover of archery who +wrote the first treatise on the pastime, and after whom the long +cupboards so well known to every archer are named, was Elizabeth's +tutor, though whether he initiated her in the mysteries of the art is +not known, but certain it is that during this Queen's reign archery was +a popular pastime among the ladies of the Court. + +When Elizabeth was being entertained by Lord Montecute at Cowdray, in +Sussex, it is stated in _Nicol's Progresses_ that "On Munday at eight of +the clock in the morning her Highnes tooke horse and rode into the +parke, where was a delicate bowre prepared under the which were her +Highnesse musicians placed, and a crossebowe by a Nymph with a sweet +song, delivered to her hands, to shoot at the deere, about some thirtie +in number, put into a paddock, of which number she killed three or four, +and the Countesse of Kildare one. Aug. 18th, 1591." + +It is stated on this occasion, that the Queen was surpassed in skill +with the bow by her favourite Lady Desmond, the latter, however, +courtierlike, avoided giving her mistress any cause for jealousy, by +judiciously missing her quarry occasionally. Again Robert Cary, Earl of +Monmouth, speaking of events which happened in 1596 says "the Queen came +to dinner to Enfield House, and had butts set upon the park to shoot at +marks after dinner."[5] + +[Footnote 5: Memories of Robert Cary, Earl of Monmouth.] + +Lady Berkeley is said to have "used the longbow, and was in those days, +among her servants, so good an archer at the butts, that her side by her +was not the weaker, whoes bowes, arrowes, gloves, braces, scarfe, and +other ladylike accomodation, I have seen and heard herself speak of them +in her elder year."[6] + +[Footnote 6: MS. Memoirs of the Berkeley Family.] + +Lady Shrewsbury also was an adept in the use of the bow, as we find Sir +F. Leake writes to her husband: "My right honourable goode Lorde,--Your +Lordeshyppe hath sent me a verie greatte and fatte stagge, the welcomer +beynge stryken by your ryght honorable Ladie's hande; I trust by the +grace of God, he shall be meanlie eaten at thes assizes, when your +Lordeshyppe and my ladie shall be often remembered. My bold bucke lyves +styll to wayte upon your Lordeshyppe and my Ladie's comyng hyther; +howbeit I knoe her Ladishipp takes pitie of my bucke sense the last tyme +yt pleases her to take the travell to shote att them. I am afræyde that +my honourable Ladies Alathea and my Ladie Cavendish will commande their +aroe heades to be verie sharpe: yett I charitablé trust that such good +Ladies wyt be pittifull." (1605). + +From this time until the revival of archery at the end of the last +century, its practice among women appears to have been gradually +abandoned. + +The first Archery Society to be established in 1781 was the Royal +Toxophilite, but this consisted only of men. Shortly afterwards many +other societies were started, among them in 1787 the Royal British +Bowmen, and to them belongs the honour of being the first to admit +ladies as members, and very sociable, pleasant gatherings they seem to +have had. Other societies soon followed this good example, some admitted +ladies as members, and some like the Woodmen of Arden only as guests. +The assemblies at Meriden are still held every year, the old customs +being strictly kept up. + +[Illustration: _Hertfordshire Society of Archers_ + +_Dutchess of Leeds._ _Marchioness of Salisbury._ _Hon'ble Miss +Grimstone._ _Miss Seabright._] + +Women were not slow to appreciate the gracefulness of archery, and it +soon became a fashionable amusement, the Lady Salisbury of the time +being one of its most ardent supporters. Most of the societies adopted a +distinctive dress, in which white and green predominated. The Royal +British Bowmen adorned their Lady Patroness with a white feather in her +hat, the other lady members being compelled to wear black ones, while +their dresses were green with pink vandykes round the edge of skirt. The +Harley Bush Bowmen were so fond of the distinctive colour, that they +even had green boots, and it is pleasant to know that it was provided by +the rules these should be "easy fitting!" + +Archery was taken up very strongly in the closing years of the last +century, and of the doings of this period many interesting particulars +are to be found in the collections of Miss Bank Banks, daughter of Sir +Joseph Banks, which are in the British Museum. They give descriptions of +the various meetings, the balls given by the different societies at +which both ladies and gentlemen appeared in uniform, and one of the +anecdotes given may be worth quoting, as, if authentic, it shows greater +success with the bow than has been achieved by any woman in modern +times. "A match was shot at one hundred yards between Mr. Gilpin, Mr. +Wyburgh, and Miss Littledale, in which the last was victorious: during +the shooting, which lasted three hours, Miss Littledale hit the gold +four times, and, what evinces superior skill, the three last hits made +by Miss Littledale were in the gold." + +Though archery was taken up so warmly, it died out a few years later, in +consequence of the war, and it was not again taken up until the final +conclusion of peace, in 1815, when it was revived. Many new societies +were started and old ones restored, and from this time it has continued +to flourish, not only in England but in many other parts of the world, +notably in the United States of America, the Mauritius, and at +Melbourne. Space prevents my mentioning these at length. + +Besides these societies, which hold prize meetings at intervals, there +are five public meetings in the year, beginning with the Leamington and +Midland Counties' Meeting at Leamington, in June, where the +Championships of the Midland Counties are competed for. The Crystal +Palace Meeting follows, at which the Southern Counties' Championships +are shot for in July. The Grand National Meeting, where the +Championships of All England are shot for, and the Grand Western Archery +Meeting, at which the Championships of the West are awarded, come next, +either meeting being occasionally held before the other. The Grand +Northern Meeting for the Northern Counties' Championships is usually the +last held. These three meetings are held in a different place each year, +to encourage archery in local clubs. At the Grand National, in addition +to the prizes, badges and medals are given, and it is a great joy to the +young archeress to get her first "spider," which is a little brooch in +form of a target with three arrows placed through it. + +[Illustration: _Archery Dresses_ + +(_About 1832_).] + +If you wish to compete at a public meeting you pay a +subscription--unless you are an annual subscriber to that particular +society--and a target entrance fee, besides which each archer subscribes +sixpence a day, for the payment of the target boys. There are usually +five or six competitors at each target, No. 3 is the captain or scorer, +who has to keep order, instruct the boys how to pull the arrows out of +the ground, and see that the judge comes to measure golds, etc. She is +assisted in adding up and checking the scores at the target by No. 4, +the lieutenant. + +The first Grand National Meeting was held in 1844 but no ladies shot, +and it was not until 1849 that the Double National Round was first shot +by ladies, so that it is only possible to compare the shooting +subsequent to this date. On this occasion the highest score (189) was +made by Miss Temple, two years later Miss Villiers making 504 with 108 +hits, the second score being only 293. The number of 600 was first +reached by a lady in 1857, when Miss H. Chetwynd made 634, and this +score remained unbeaten till Mrs. Horniblow scored 660, which in its +turn was surpassed two years later by Miss Betham with 693. + +It was not until 1870, at Bath, that 700 was attained, that score being +made by Mrs. Horniblow. Mrs. W. Butt added 52 to this record in 1876, +and this remained the top score until 1881, when Miss Legh made 763. The +highest score made by any lady at any Grand National was Mrs. Bowly's +823 in 1894. Miss Legh's 866 at Leamington, in 1895, being the highest +ever made by a lady at a public meeting, though perhaps the same +shooter's score at Bath, in 1881, of 840, was an even better +performance, as no arrow was dropped on either of the first two days, +and only one on the third. + +It will thus be seen what a great improvement has taken place in +shooting during the last fifty years. + +Beatrice P. M. Walrond. + +[Illustration: _Lombards and Co. 13, Pall Mall East._ + +_MRS. BERENS._] + + + + +ARCHERY.--II. + + +I have been asked to write the practical part of this article, though +why I cannot imagine, for although I can sometimes pull off a good score +with bow and arrow--when the wind does not blow and when my loose is +good--I am of no use whatever with a pen, and never wrote an "article" +on anything in my life. The Badminton book on Archery, with its valuable +teaching, often stands me in good stead when I get into any of the +innumerable tricks which beset the path of the archer, and which well +nigh bring the beginner to _despair_ of ever becoming a steady shot. How +many beginners have I met who have had to learn by bitter experience +that to shoot a good arrow is not so easy as appears at first sight, and +that to make perhaps a very fine score of three hundred and odd, does +not by any means prove that one has conquered all difficulties. There +are so many things to think of at once, and though you may try to do +this conscientiously you will find your performance often terribly +inadequate. But after all the great fascination of archery consists in +the continual battling against faults which creep upon the archer +unawares. This we find to our cost on a windy day, for there is nothing +like wind to prove that we do not get the real power out of bow and +loose. + +I always recommend to a beginner an inexpensive lancewood bow weighing +about twenty-four to twenty-six pounds, the cost of which amounts to +about twelve shillings, but when the archeress has practised +sufficiently to understand what she requires and _why_, then I should +advise a yew-backed yew of good quality as giving more cast and +retaining it longer than other kinds. I should perhaps say that by cast +is meant the rapidity and ease with which the arrow is delivered from +the bow. Many shooters prefer to use a self yew bow, but it must be +remembered that this is more delicate and requires to be drawn with +great care. A three piece bow of yew, fustic and hickory, price about +thirty shillings, will do good service, though the cast does not last so +long if one practises constantly, as that of the yew-backed yew. There +are many archers who have ruined their style and shooting with too +heavy a bow, one weighing twenty-seven or twenty-eight pounds can do all +that is necessary for the National Round of sixty and fifty yards if it +is properly handled, and for the six dozen arrows at seventy yards, +called the Hereford Round, I can use one of the same weight. For eighty +yards, however, I prefer a bow of twenty-nine or thirty pounds, still my +advice to all beginners is, "Do not shoot with a bow which is beyond +your control." + +Now to choose the bow. The first thing to see to is that the grain of +the wood is straight, even, close, and free from knots or pins, more +especially on the rounded part and within about six inches of each end. +This applies to any sort of bow, but more especially to yew, as crysals +are apt to develop wherever there is a pin. A crysal is a small crack in +the wood, which at first is often difficult to detect, but which is a +serious source of weakness and often ends in the breaking of the bow. +The length of a lady's bow should be from 5 ft. 3 in. to 5 ft. 6 in. + +[Illustration] + +To string the bow, place the lower horn against your right foot, the +"back" or flat part of the bow towards the body, and taking the handle +of the bow in your right hand, place the ball of your left thumb four +inches from the top horn. Then while drawing it to you with the right +hand, press it from you with the left and slip the upper loop of the +string into the nock of the horn. The method of unstringing is precisely +similar, except that the loop is slipped out instead of being passed in. +When the bow is strung, the distance from the inside of the handle +should be five-and-a-half inches to the string, which for one inch above +and five inches below the handle should be neatly whipped with waxed +thread or silk to prevent its being injured, should it strike the +bracer. Then exactly opposite the top of the handle of the bow, the +nocking point must be made, which should be sufficiently tight to retain +the arrow when hanging downwards from the string. When strung the bow +should be held, string uppermost, the lower horn resting on the ground, +and on looking down the string, it should appear to cut the bow in the +centre. In a good bow the centre sixteen inches should be rigid, and +thence the bend should be regular and even. The string should be of the +best hemp whipped with silk, and a nocking point neatly made exactly in +the right spot. It is better looped at each end, as in the event of its +being slack it can then be twisted up in a moment, thus avoiding all +flurry of undoing in the old way of knotting the end. I have already +said that it is better to have a string with loops spliced at each end, +it is as well, however, to say how the loop can be made in a new string. +The knot is a timber hitch, to make which take a turn of the lower end +round the string and twist it three times round the loop. The string is +whipped in the following manner: String the bow and find the exact spot +where the nocking of the arrow will come, then wax the string for an +inch and a half above, and five inches below the spot, and take some +silk or carpet thread, also waxed, and lay half an inch of the thread +along the string beginning at the upper portion. Then wrap the thread +over that part of itself which has been laid down until the waxed +portion is covered. In order to fasten off, take six or seven turns of +the thread over the string in the reverse way, place the end of the +thread against that part of the lapping that was last done, wrap the +reverse turns of the thread over the end of the lapping of the string, +then pull the end through and cut it off. The manner of putting on the +knocking point is the same. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +The weight of the arrow is mainly determined by that of the bow. Arrows +are weighed against new silver, and when one talks of a 3/6 arrow, the +allusion is to the weight, not to the price. For a beginner a 3/- or 3/3 +arrow is about right for a 26 pounds bow, but all these little points +are for the archer to work out for herself. If the experienced archer +should find that she has to aim considerably below the target, she may +increase the weight of the arrow with advantage, as the heavier the +arrow, the lower will be the trajectory. It is bad economy to have any +but the best arrows, and these should be made according to the archer's +pattern, that is to say, as to the colours on them, and should have her +name and the number painted on each. To prevent the paint from the +target sticking to the arrows, it is well to wipe the ends of the latter +with a little vaseline or sweet oil, and care should be taken to choose +the arrows of as nearly as possible the same weight before shooting, as +whatever they are marked, they are sure to vary slightly. The best +arrows are footed as it is termed, _i.e._, they have a piece of hard +wood dovetailed in at the pile end. The best shaped arrow for a beginner +is the straight one, and care should be taken that it is stiff, and not +weak at the feather end. There are two kinds of feathers, parabolic and +straight, but there is very little difference in their flight. The best +kind of feathers come from the wing of the peacock, turkey's wing +feathers being the next best. + +[Illustration] + +The other equipment required is an arm guard or bracer with straps, cut +out of one piece of brown leather,--the leather bracers lined with silk +having elastic fastenings are no good--and a belt with a quiver to hold +six arrows, as the first shooter at a target at a big meeting should +always have six arrows to shoot with, to avoid delay in the beginning. +On this belt should hang a tassel for wiping dirty arrows, a pencil and +scoring book, a little bag containing glove, extra string, a piece of +wax and some silk to whip the bow string when necessary. It is also +useful to have a knife, and a pair of scissors. + +[Illustration] + +As to the question of gloves or tips, I always recommend a kid glove, a +size larger than the ordinary wear, with pieces of smooth leather--not +soft or spongy--neatly sewn on to the three first fingers, care being +taken not to put the leather below the first joint of the finger. Many +people, however, shoot with either knuckle or screw tips, which are +bought ready made of the bow maker. If tips are used they should fit the +fingers accurately, all three being of the same thickness. It is +important to have two gloves or sets of tips for shooting in case of +accident, and they should be exactly alike. Other necessaries are a +waterproof bag for bow, and a wooden box with spaces for arrows. + +The usual distances shot by women are sixty and fifty yards, four dozen +arrows at sixty yards and two dozen at fifty yards, being what is called +the National Round. Of late, shooting at seventy yards has been +re-introduced, six dozen arrows at that distance followed by four dozen +at sixty yards and two dozen at fifty yards, being named the Hereford +Round. + +The targets are four feet in diameter and are made of twisted bands of +wheat straw fastened together with tar cord, then covered with painted +canvas. There are five concentric rings painted on them, the centre +gold, which scores nine, the red seven, blue five, black three, and +white one, and in scoring, the arrow counts as being in the highest +colour which it touches. The targets are supported by iron or wooden +stands, the centre of the target being four feet from the ground, and +slightly tilted back. They should not be placed at the exact distance it +is intended to shoot at, but from two to four yards further back, a mark +being placed in the ground at the correct distance for the archer to +stand on, and no one should be allowed to stand in front of the targets +except the archer who is actually shooting. It is important that quiet +should be maintained behind the target, and archers, especially at +public meetings, should assist the captain, whose duty it is to see that +order is kept. + +The ground should be as level and smooth as possible, and the targets +should be placed exactly opposite each other; if more than one pair are +in use, the ground will require squaring, in order that the pairs may be +exactly opposite each other. + +The directions given for the position for shooting hold good at all +distances, and no alteration ought to be made with the exception that +the left hand must be raised higher at the longer distance, greater +elevation being required in order to obtain a sufficiently high flight. +It is a great mistake to draw to a different place on the face, or not +to draw the arrow fully up, at the shorter distance. _Always_ draw the +arrow till the pile reaches the bow and your hand the right place, viz., +under your right jaw below the axis of vision of the right eye. + +Having described most of the details to be attended to, we now come to +the all important subject of how to shoot. I must first of all impress +on all beginners that it is absolutely necessary there should be +nothing on the dress which could by any means catch or interfere with +the string. Nothing is more suitable than a plain tailor-made dress, or +a skirt and blouse, the latter with no frills. The sleeves should be +sufficiently easy to allow the elbow perfect play without being too +large. In putting on the bracer care should be taken to keep the sleeve +smooth, any fulness being drawn to the back of the arm, and the top of +the sleeve pinned back out of the way. + +_Standing._ Take up your position on the shooting spot, with feet six or +eight inches apart, standing easily in an upright position, with the +shoulders in a direct line between the targets. Care should be taken +that the knees are perfectly straight, the balance of the body being on +the heels, and the position of the shoulders must be obtained by moving +the feet and not by twisting the body. + +_Nocking._ The bow to be held in a perpendicular position, between the +second knuckle of the first finger and the ball of the thumb of the left +hand. The main grasp of the bow should be in the upper part of the hand, +the other fingers being held close to the bow. The test as to whether +you are holding the bow correctly is to drop the left arm by the side, +the wrist being quite straight, and if the string touches the bracer, +the position of the bow in the hand is not correct. The nocking is to be +accomplished by bringing the arrow over the bow, which should be held +directly in front, and fitting it on the nocking place, remembering to +keep the cock feather--_i.e._, the one which is at right angles to the +nock--uppermost, and not to alter the grasp of the bow until after all +three arrows have been shot. Place the three fingers of the right hand +evenly on the string, and do not pinch the arrow with the first finger, +otherwise it will fall off the left hand at the moment of drawing. The +right wrist should be held straight. + +[Illustration: _BEFORE THE DRAW._] + +_Drawing._ The usual position of archers before they actually begin to +draw, is with the left elbow bent just above the hip, the bow being +perpendicular, but to speak from my own experience, I find it better to +hold the bow easily in the hand with the left elbow straight, though +without stiffness, raising both arms simultaneously on a level with the +point of aim. Then draw in a straight line with the target, till the +pile of the arrow comes on to the bow, and the right hand with the +fingers bent, is held in such a position that the thumb is pressed +against the throat below the jaw and under the axis of vision of the +right eye. The left arm should be straight but not rigid, the final +grasp of the bow being made directly the aim is taken. The head must be +erect, and turned towards the point of aim. The body should be erect and +the weight thrown as much as possible on the heels. A common fault I +have noticed with young archers, is to draw the right hand too high and +rest it outside the jaw instead of underneath it. This should be guarded +against. Bring the pile of the arrow on to the point of aim immediately, +keeping the right elbow up as you do so and the shoulders pressed back. +Every care, too, should be taken that the arrow does not "creep," +_i.e._, that it is not allowed to slip forward on the bow. + +_Aiming._ To aim correctly the archer should see the point of the arrow +covering the point of aim. By "the point of aim" I mean some given spot +on the target or ground, the height of which must be found by each +archer for herself, as it is governed by so many things, such as +difference in sight, height, weight, and cast of bow or arrow, etc., +etc. If the archer finds that she has persistently to aim to the right +or left of the target, there being no wind, it is a proof that +something in her position, draw, or loose is incorrect, _i.e._ that she +does not stand with shoulders in line with the targets, or that she does +not keep her right hand in the proper position, or again that she does +not loose the arrow evenly from all three fingers at once. I must +caution every young archer against the terrible habit of merely glancing +at the target and then loosing the arrow, without taking proper aim. +Very many archers who have asked my advice on decreasing scores or +inability to hit the target have had really _no clear_ idea of any aim +whatever. They "think they aim at the top of the target," perhaps, but +by a system of catechising I discover that such is actually not the +case, and until a real firm point of aim is found and known to the +archer--though an occasional good score may be fluked--no lasting +progress will be made. Therefore as soon as you have learnt to draw up +properly, make it your next study to find your point of aim, and +remember that this will vary with different bows and according to the +direction of the wind, and also according to whether the atmosphere be +heavy or light. + +_Loosing._ Remember that the grip of the left hand on the bow must not +give, nor the tension of the muscles be relaxed, until after the arrow +has left the string. Keep the right hand tight to its place, with the +thumb pressed under the jaw beneath the axis of vision of the right eye, +taking care not to relax the pull on the string until the moment of +release, or the arrow will creep. The release is effected by drawing the +fingers back evenly towards the thumb, and the hand must on no account +leave the face while this is being done, nor must it drop down or follow +the string in ever so slight a degree. The wrist must be straight and +the elbow well up. After the release keep up the bow hand and retain the +right hand in its place till the arrow has reached its destination, then +drop the right hand easily and without hurry, preparatory to nocking the +next arrow. Nothing is more ugly or more likely to unsettle you than any +flurry or undue haste. + +It is well to warn beginners that great care must be taken of all the +archer's equipment. If the bow or arrows at any time get wet, they +should be carefully dried and the bow should not be replaced in its +waterproof case for some time. The feathers of the arrows can be +restored after being wet by passing them quickly backwards and forwards +above a jug of boiling water. Neither bow nor arrows should be put near +the fire. They should be kept in a dry even temperature. + +It is a good thing if a beginner can find a friend who is able and +willing to correct her and help her to overcome some of the faults into +which she is almost certain to fall. But great care should be taken in +the selection of this coach, and even after the beginner has obtained +some degree of proficiency, she ought to be very careful whose opinion +she takes as to her shooting. I have met many young archers who will ask +anybody at the same target "if they would kindly tell them any faults +they see in their shooting." But such general advice will do little +good, for some people cannot detect a fault when it is there, much less +describe it with any accuracy, and some again imagine faults which do +not actually exist. Too many instructors thus spoil the archer, who will +get hopelessly muddled with all the advice given her, and will often +alter what she should leave alone, and not correct her real faults. + +[Illustration: _FULL DRAW._] + +The amount of nonsense heard on the archery field on the subject of "why +that arrow did not go in" is to the old hand most entertaining, and to +the young one extremely confusing. But I would give this advice to all +beginners: strive to preserve an even temperament in all conditions of +your shooting. Do not get too jubilant and excited when you make either +a pin hole or three reds or golds at one end, and when it happens, as it +certainly will, that what you believe to be three beautifully shot +arrows fall exactly underneath the centre of the target, do not give way +to any irritation of temper or manner, or your succeeding arrows will be +affected. I know many archers who when they want to compete for any +coveted challenge badge do not put down or add up their score, but I +have always found when I tried this plan that ignorance cannot be kept +up on one's score, as some kind friend will always come up and +congratulate you on a dozen of _eighty_, or condole on one of _thirty_, +and then you get more flustered than if you had known all there was to +know. You should always endeavour to preserve a quite equable +temperament even in great success until the round is over, and not go +chattering all round the target as to what you have done or not done, +for this upsets other competitors at your target, and does you no good. + +_To form a Club._ An experienced archer knows well how to get a club +formed if there are enough archers to subscribe to it, but for the +beginner to start one is more difficult. Having first selected a ground, +which should be about 80 yards in length, the width being proportionate +to the number of targets it is intended to put up, and obtained targets +and stands, fix one day and hour in the week for your club meeting, on +which you can all meet and shoot your Club National Round. The +subscription should not be high, and when the members get numerous, an +entrance fee can be charged. Have a little paper pamphlet of rules based +on those of the Grand National, or any well-known club founded on those +principles. As soon as your members make scores of over a hundred, +divide them into classes, and when you get members to join who can make +first rate scores, let your classes be as follows: + + Class I. Over 300 } { made on your ground + Class II. " 200 } { or at any Public or + [7]Class III. Under 200 } { Club Meeting. + +[Footnote 7: These scores might perhaps be slightly lowered for a young +club.] + +[Illustration: _BEFORE THE DRAW._] + +Have all targets pitched so as to begin your round punctually on your +Club day, and begin by shooting the four dozen at sixty yards. When this +is over, if tea is provided it is a pleasant rest, and then you will +shoot the two dozen at fifty yards. It is a good thing to get some +experienced archers to join a young club, and the system of classes will +prevent their taking the beginners' prizes when the club has got on far +enough to start a prize meeting. Prizes are usually given for best score +in each class, and best gold. When men join the club, they must either +shoot altogether at one target, or they must shoot at eighty yards at +each end before the women shoot at sixty. Admission to a club is +generally made by a proposer and seconder writing the name of a +candidate to the Secretary, and having it entered in the candidates' +book, which is put on the table for two meetings of the club. If a +ballot should be demanded the members will all vote, and one blackball +will exclude. When the club is well on its legs, I am an advocate for +getting up a match with a neighbouring club, and I am also very much in +favour of asking visitors to shoot at the prize meetings--a little prize +for visitors adds to the amusement--it creates interest in the young +club, and often gives the members opportunities of seeing good shooting. + +After each weekly club meeting, the scores, hits, and golds of the +members at every distance should be entered in a book kept for that +purpose, and any prize won should be marked against the score. + +Cordiality is a great element in a club's success. Let each member then +take an interest in the scores of her fellow competitors and rejoice in +their successes. + +With regard to the literature on the subject of archery, the books are +numerous and varied, but for all practical purposes it will be +sufficient for the beginner to consult Butt's Ford, the Badminton +Library Volume of Archery, and No. I. of Encyclopædia of Sport. I would +recommend to all archers, either beginners or otherwise, to take an +annual copy of the _Archer's Register_, which gives not only the scores +of the Public and Club Meetings in England and abroad, but also contains +many interesting and instructive articles on the subject. + +Ellinor F. Berens. + +[Illustration: _Lombardi and Co._ _13, Pall Mall East._ + +_MISS MAY BALFOUR._ + +(_MRS. TALBOT._)] + + + + +SKATING. + + +I. + +I propose in this article simply to give my own personal views on the +subject of skating in general, and to say what I consider to be the best +method of attaining proficiency in the art. As what I have to say will +be rather jottings from my personal experience than anything in the +nature of a formal treatise, I hope I may be excused if my remarks are +of a somewhat scrappy and discursive character. + +In England at the present time, the art of skating is passing through a +transition stage, and it is quite possible that what to-day is regarded +as a necessary condition of good skating, will in a few years' time be +discarded as obsolete and old-fashioned. I think it therefore wiser, not +to formulate any theory, or lay down any general rule on the subject, +but to confine myself to giving my readers a few hints gathered from my +own experience, which may prove useful to those who wish to attain a +certain measure of proficiency in the art. + +My earliest skating experiences were probably similar to those of most +English people, that is to say, I was limited to the very short periods +of frost that occur in English winters, and I had none of the advantages +of regular instruction from competent teachers which it is easy now for +anybody to get. I learnt to keep my balance, not on ice, but with roller +skates on asphalte, and this was sufficient to enable me to go forward +with a certain amount of ease when I first skated on ice. I remember +vividly the first time I attempted the outside edge. This is a grand +epoch in the life of any skater, and the sensation of accomplishing it +for the first time, however clumsily, is never to be forgotten. I may +say here, that I consider a real mastery of the outside edge the only +foundation for all figure skating, and I believe it would be a mistake +to attempt such accomplishments as going backwards, or turning a three, +without first being fairly steady on the outside edge. Another point +that I early learned to be of great importance, was to approach as near +as possible equality on both legs, to attain which of course it is +necessary to give one's weaker leg--in most cases the left--double +practice. + +The next advance I made was to turn a three from the outside edge. For a +long time I practised this on my right leg alone and neglected my left, +which of course was extremely unwise, and resulted in my being much +weaker on that leg than on the other. The ordinary turning of a three is +a comparatively simple matter, but the difficulty lies in being able to +do it to a centre on both feet. Yet this accomplishment is absolutely +essential to anyone who would attempt combined figures. In my opinion +there is more enjoyment to be gained, both for performers and +spectators, from combined figures gracefully and neatly done, than from +far more difficult turns performed alone. I will not go into details as +to particular figures, because they can be learnt so much better from +the innumerable books that have been written on the subject. + +Hand-in-hand skating is another most delightful branch of the art, and +has been very strikingly developed in the last few years in England. A +number of new scuds have been elaborated by the ingenuity of experts, +many of which are most fascinating to do, and in many cases they have +the great advantage of being performed either with one or two +companions. The advance in this department of the art is largely due to +the number of covered rinks that have been started lately in England and +France, these being particularly adapted to the practice of this style +of skating. + +Another accomplishment, to which the practice of covered rinks is +specially suited is waltzing on skates--which merely consists in a +series of turns of threes, and outside-edge forwards and outside-edge +backwards. The important point to remember about waltzing is, that the +partners must accommodate their steps, and the woman must take care not +to drag. When gracefully and neatly done by two people, well used to +each other, and to the sound of a good band, this sensation surpasses +anything that can be enjoyed in ordinary dancing. + +For my own part I have concentrated my energies on combined figures and +hand-in-hand skating, and have never given much attention to the great +variety of difficult turns that are to be done alone, though I do not by +any means wish to depreciate the beauty of these, or the skill needed to +perform them. But, under the conditions that prevail in England, it is +difficult to get enough space in which to practice elaborate figures +alone, so I am inclined to think that my course has been a wise one. + +[Illustration: _SKATING IN HOLLAND._ + +_From an unpublished Drawing by A. Van de Velde, Circa 1650, A.D._ + +(_By permission of Lawrence B. Phillips, Esq._)] + +I mentioned above, that skating in England is in a transition stage, and +by this I mean that the last few years have witnessed the introduction +of what is called the foreign style of skating in England. At the +present time most of our instructors are foreigners, or Englishmen who +have thoroughly imbibed the foreign method, and the result is that +beginners are induced to purchase foreign skates and to base their style +on foreign models. The main difference between the two styles is, that +the Englishman is taught to keep his unemployed leg close to the other +and to be always erect, not to bend his knee, and in general to keep the +body rather stiff and quiet. The foreigner, on the other hand, as might +be expected from his more lively temperament, allows himself much more +freedom in swinging and bending about. He thus gives the impression of +enjoying himself more than the Englishman, and, in consequence, is more +attractive to watch. To my mind, the ideal skater is one who combines +the excellencies of both styles, that is one who, to the firmness and +unobtrusiveness of the Englishman, adds the easy pace and brilliancy of +the foreigner. The followers of both styles have a great deal yet to +learn from each other, and, therefore, the blending of the two methods +in England at the present day, is certain to lead to most beneficial +results. + +A few words now on the important subject of skates. Enormous +improvements have been effected in them of late years, but in my opinion +we are still very far from possessing the ideal skate. The main object +of the best English skates (for instance the Mount Charles, or the +Dowler) is to enable the wearer to hold long edges, whereas the foreign +blade is especially adapted to rapid turns. What is wanted is some +invention that would combine in one skate the special merits of both +these kinds, so that the long firm edge and the sharp turn may be +equally possible. At present this is only a dream of the future, and in +the meantime I should be inclined to advise a modified form of the +French skate, as on the whole the best adapted for all purposes. I +should strongly recommend everybody to keep their skates permanently +fixed to one pair of boots. This is a practice however so generally +adopted that it may seem superfluous to mention it. Laced boots should +be worn specially made for skating, with thick soles and high in the +leg, so as to give as much support as possible round the ankle. + +[Illustration: _OUR SISTERS IN CANADA._] + +In the matter of dress women have a distinct advantage over men. Our +skirt both conceals deficiencies in style, and makes it easier to be +graceful, the man with his closer garb being sadly exposed to the fierce +light of criticism. The only essential for us, is to have a skirt short +and well cut so as not to drag, and with this precaution we can indulge +in as much variety as we choose. + +In conclusion let me say, I know of no exercise more exhilarating and +healthful for women than skating in the open air, though, I am bound to +say, this cannot be said of the exercise in covered rinks, as one is +liable to get very hot and then to catch cold. The combination of hot +air above and the cold current rising from the ice, does not tend to +produce a very healthy atmosphere. But as we should not make such rapid +progress, or have the advantage of seeing together so many good skaters +of all nationalities, if we had not the covered rinks, many of us will +not be inclined to complain. + +I am afraid my remarks are very disconnected, but the subject is a +difficult one to treat from a general point of view. I shall be +satisfied if what I have said should inspire even one of my readers with +a greater devotion to the beautiful art of skating. + +May Balfour. + + +II. + +It is natural that the art of skating should come to us from the North, +for it is in the land of ice and snow that the problem of traversing the +frozen surface of the snow-covered ground and the ice-bound water would +have to be solved. With the Greeks and the Romans indeed, the great +ruling nations of the South, there was no word to designate the +exercise--a conclusive proof that it was unknown to them. But from +Scandinavia we have an old war song which tells of the progress of the +God of Winter over the water, supported on the bones of animals, and +this shows that the skates of those early days were made of bone, though +they were, as might be expected, of most primitive structure. It is +generally agreed that the necessity of crossing the enormous fields of +frozen snow during the long Scandinavian winters led to the fashioning +of snow-shoes, and that from these were made the smaller skates, by the +aid of which the frozen waters could also be crossed, locomotion thus +being made possible. + +The early form of the bone skate was brought to England by the Northern +tribes which settled in our midst, though it was to our Dutch +neighbours, at a much later period in our history, that we owed the +introduction of the wooden skate bound with iron, which is the prototype +of our skate of to-day. From the earliest efforts with the primitive +bone skates to the graceful evolutions now possible on a modern Mount +Charles there is a marvellous change, and the art which has a history of +nearly two thousand years behind it, is entitled to a place among the +time-honoured pastimes of the world. + +A beginner in this, as in all other pursuits, is met at the outset of +her career, when she is without practical knowledge to guide her in the +choice, by the difficulty of selecting a proper instrument. She must +then trust to others. As the choice however is not large, she can +scarcely do wrong in investing in a Mount Charles, which should be fixed +to a well-fitting-boot with low heels, a fairly thick sole, and laced +upper leathers. + +[Illustration: _MOUNT CHARLES._] + +But the first efforts will, if she is wise, be made on roller-skates, +for though the tide of fashion has set against this form of skating, and +it is only in far-off Simla and a few scattered places that it still +holds its own, it is unrivalled as a means to the end of skating on ice. +On roller-skates the learner can follow up her study systematically day +after day, independent of weather conditions, and can acquire the two +primary essentials of successful skating, viz., balance and confidence. + +When these have been acquired you may then make your first attempt on +ice with every prospect of success. With steady practice you will soon +learn to manage your skates, but never forget during these early days +that you must ever be on your guard against the countless tricks which +beset the beginner at every stage of her progress. Some people will +indeed advise you, when you first put on your skates proper, to walk +about a carpeted room with them, while others will tell you to make your +first efforts on the ice itself. In this you will probably be guided +partly by the age at which you begin the pastime--whether, that is to +say, a fall is a serious matter or one to be disregarded with the +smiling carelessness of youth--and partly by the degree of confidence +you have acquired on the roller-skates. + +In any case, when you find yourself on the ice for the first time, you +will endeavour to walk forward on your skates with short and careful +steps. If you have assistance to prevent you from the inevitable tumbles +that will otherwise be your lot, your progress will be safe but slower +than if you take your courage in both hands and carry out unaided the +good old nursery maxim of "try, try, try again," till the delightful +foretaste of success comes to you, in the first quivering glide forward +_without_ a too sudden descent at the end. + +Remember, when making these first efforts at walking, that the foot on +which you are resting on the ice should have both the ankle and knee +kept stiff, or you will find your ankle twist sideways. You must also +take care to keep the feet well under you, as until you have found your +balance they will have an inclination to slide apart, and thus render a +fall imminent. After a short experience of this tottering effort after +equilibrium, you will probably almost instinctively begin to slide +forward with both feet, and for the moment you will find sufficient +pleasure in movement of any kind. I have indeed seen quite a rapturous +expression of triumph come over the face of a middle-aged beginner, when +she first managed the smallest of small slides without it ending in a +catastrophe, or in a wild clinging to her guide. The good lady doubtless +saw in the dim future the end in view for which she was willing to +expend so much patient effort, and so shall we, and in a shorter time, +if fewer winters have passed over our heads before we make our first +venture. + +A few hours at least should be devoted to this preliminary experience, +and then you will probably be able to try the inside edge forward, which +is the first step to master. With your feet turned at an angle of 45°, +you will press downward with the ball of your left foot, so that you may +have a secure position from which to start, and you will slide forward +with your right foot only on the inside of the skate, balancing +yourself entirely on that foot. You will then bring the left foot +forward from the position it has held with the toe of the skate held +just off the ice behind the right foot, and pressing the inside edge of +the skate under the ball of the right foot into the ice, you will slide +forward with your left, striking out farther and farther as you find you +can keep your balance during the stroke. The position of the body should +be slightly sideways, with the face in the direction of progress. + +To perform a half-circle and a circle will then be your aim, until you +can succeed with a perfect figure of 8. By the time you have mastered +this, you will be ready for the turn on both feet and the backward +stroke of the inside edge, after which the forward and backward stroke +of the outside edge will be your study. In all backward movement the +head must be turned in the point of direction, while the weight of the +body is thrown on the back part of the skate, instead of on the front +part as in a forward movement. + +As soon as complete mastery of both edges has been gained, and that the +fate of the immortal Winkle may not be yours, you have learnt the art of +stopping, you will find all the simple figures within your powers. Do +not, however, be hurried into trying any combination, however simple, +until you have acquired the art of easy and graceful motion on the +inside and outside edges, both forward and backward. + +The Hand-in-hand Figures are much in vogue among women in all countries, +and these are pretty and effective, as well as simple to execute by +anyone who has thoroughly grounded herself in the rudiments of skating. +The more usual way of executing these figures in this country is for the +partners, generally a man and a woman, to stand side by side, joining +their right hands underneath the left, which are also clasped sideways, +though occasionally what is known as the Austrian mode is adopted, viz., +by the woman standing in front of her partner and bending her hands +under and backward at her side, when they are taken in the clasp of the +man behind. + +It is to the daughters of the inventor of the Plimpton roller-skates +that we are indebted for the various fascinating forms of hand-in-hand +skating now in vogue, and for the effective movement known as "a pass," +we are equally beholden to Miss L. Cheetham, who was, I believe, the +first to put it in practice. For the many varieties of Scuds and Rockers +now constantly to be seen at the much patronised covered rinks, +reference may be made to Mr. Maxwell Witham's book "A System of Figure +Skating," in which are to be found diagrams of some very simple figures +taken originally from the archives of the Oxford Skating Society. These +will be well within the powers of all, and in the case of the stronger +and more enthusiastic women skaters will form a fitting prelude to the +execution of the more elaborate "Club Figures." + +In Figure 1, the skaters take up their positions facing one another upon +each side of a square, the start being made by each skater with the +right foot, on a curve of outside edge, continuing this for half a +circle when the left foot will be put down and the stroke taken, either +in the ordinary way or from the cross, and the whole circle of outside +on the left foot skated. This will bring each skater into the original +place of the other and the movement can be repeated. + +The figure can also be skated backward, in which case the position for +starting will be with the backs instead of the faces of the skaters +towards each other. + +Figure 2 is very similar to the former. The skaters take up their +positions facing one another at four points of the inner circle, +skating off on a curve of outside edge with the right foot and going +round the inner circle. The left foot is thus put down and the stroke +taken in the ordinary way or from the cross, another circle of outside +edge being skated on the left foot. This will bring the skater to the +inner circle again when the movement can be repeated, and the whole +figure can be skated backwards. + +A variation of this figure can be made thus: "The skaters only go +three-quarters round the centre circle, so that the outside circle +described always lies immediately behind the one on which each skater +last travelled round. The skaters thus changing their positions has a +pretty effect. + +"Arrived at the common circle the movement is repeated, each skater +taking her partner's hand (the four hands being thus crossed) which is +retained until the whole circle, which all have in common, has been +skated, when each again branches off as before described."[8] + +[Footnote 8: _A System of Figure Skating_, by T. Maxwell Witham.] + +In all skating, neatness, precision, and an easy, upright carriage are +the things to be aimed at, and as you feel yourself getting at home on +your skates, remember it should be your object to disguise your stroke +as far as possible, so that your progress may have the smooth, graceful +ease of apparently unbroken motion. + +Shortly, the great points to be attended to when learning are: + +1. An upright carriage without stiffness. + +2. Straightness of the knee of the employed leg. + +3. Approximation of the feet. + +4. A slight sideways position of the body, with the face in the +direction of progress. + +5. Equality of power on either leg, to attain which extra practice for +the weaker leg--generally the left--will be needed. + +When these have been acquired the full delight of the health-giving +exercise of skating will be open to you. + +[Illustration: _Lambert, Weston and Son Folkestone._ + +_MISS STARKIE-BENCE._] + + + + +GOLF. + + +The object of the game of golf is to complete the round of eighteen +holes in as few strokes as possible, starting for each hole from a place +called the teeing ground, and hitting the ball with various clubs till +the green is reached. Upon the green is a flag denoting the spot where a +round hole with a diameter of four and a quarter inches and a depth of +four inches, is cut. Into this hole the player must get the ball in as +few strokes as may be. The distances between the teeing grounds and the +greens vary at every hole. The game when played by two persons is known +as a single, when by four persons, as a foursome. + +The scores in medal play are kept upon cards provided for that purpose, +each player noting the other's score, which is then marked down at the +conclusion of each hole, the totals being added together at the end of +the round, when the card must be signed by the scorer and placed in the +score card box. Failing to sign a card entails disqualification. In +match playing, the scores are reckoned by the terms, "the like," "the +odd," "the two more," "one off two," etc., and the hole is won by the +player who has holed in the fewest strokes. Being the person to lead off +at the tee, is styled having the honour, and is a privilege accorded to +either the player who has the least handicap, or to the winner of the +latest match, or again to the winner of the last hole. In foursomes the +strokes are played alternately by the partners, through the green and +from the tee. + +The ground played over is known by the name of the links, or the course, +and covers an area generally from two, to three and a half miles for a +full-sized or man's course, and very often much under this distance for +what is known as the ladies' links, whilst the distances between the +holes vary from fifty yards to 480 yards or more. The game is pursued +over obstacles of all sorts, known as hazards and bunkers, till the +green is reached. This is a beautifully kept piece of grassy lawn, some +twenty yards in extent, either undulating, sloping, or sometimes quite +level, in which the holes are cut. The term stance is applied to the +position of the player's feet, when addressing herself to the ball. The +term grip denotes either that part of the handle of the club covered +with leather, which is held in the hands, or the grasping of the club +itself, and the term lie, applies to the situation of the ball, good or +bad. The further technical terms may be found in the Glossary (p. 382) +or in any instruction book on the game, the most highly recommended of +the latter being _The Badminton Library on Golf_, by Mr. Horace +Hutchinson, _The Game of Golf_, by W. Park, jun., or Sir W. C. Sampson's +_The Art of Golf_. But to the early history of our game. + +The exact date of the founding of the Royal and Ancient game of Golf is +still a somewhat disputed point. But we read that in Holland and also in +Belgium, about the year 1353, a very popular pastime was then in vogue, +styled Chole, and as far as can be ascertained from old documents, +pictures, and the familiar and curious Dutch tiles of that period, the +mode of play and the weapons used, although rather crude in many +respects, were not at all unlike those of the present day. Some writers +go so far as to tell us that this game rather resembled hockey, and that +the ball used was about the size of an ordinary cricket ball. Others +who have searched even more deeply amongst the archives of the royal and +ancient game, relate that the aim and object used to be to strike the +ball against stone posts, which appears to have corresponded with the +later practice of holing out. Anyway we have it on good authority that +the game was much played during the sixteenth century in Scotland. + +In 1608 the Blackheath Club was formed in England, and in 1735 that of +the Edinburgh Burgess Society in the north, although the game had been +extensively played for some time before this. Closely following the +institution of the Edinburgh Burgess Society Club, came those of The +Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers in 1744, St. Andrew's in 1754, +and Mussulburgh in 1774, followed again in the south by Old Manchester +in 1818, and Westward Ho! in 1864, till at the present time there are +links all over Europe, in America, India, Australia, New Zealand, and +even in Egypt. Not content with this, we even have the Royal game on the +West coast of Africa, in that spot of treachery and massacre, Benin. But +of course, to Scotland the gratitude of the world will ever be due for +having really been the home of the game, besides which for grandeur in +natural hazards, and finest of fine turf, the north will ever bear the +palm. + +[Illustration: _J. Ross. North Berwick._ + +_MISS E. C. ORR._ + +(_Winner of the Championship, 1897._)] + +Golf, as far as women are concerned, is indeed both royal and ancient, +for we know that Mary, Queen of Scots, was a great adept and devotee +thereof, but till this century women's doings appear not to have been +much chronicled, although they used to play, and our Scotch sisters have +always been more or less brought up to it. Latterly both the English and +Irish have taken wonderfully to what was at one time styled "That old +man's game," and in so doing have found it not at all a bad pastime, +till now-a-days the lady-golfers make quite a formidable army on the +occasion of the yearly championship, or the other big open meetings. + +To arrange for such events, and to give more uniformity in general +matters, the "Ladies' Golf Union" was formed a few years ago. To this +body all troublesome questions are referred by the associated clubs, for +which it acts as legislator in chief. It arranges too the details for +the yearly championship, and has lately started a system for universal +handicapping which is progressing very well. But I shall have occasion +to speak of this useful institution later. + +When ladies' courses were first started, they were chiefly conspicuous +for their shortness, and general lack of hazards, it being calculated +that the ordinary wooden putter would be sufficient to see the player +safely over any obstacles encountered during the round. But woman's +ambition was not satisfied, she sighed and fretted for more elbow-room, +longer holes, more difficulties, and last but not least on inland +courses, real sand at the bottom of the bunkers. Till then it had not +entered into the head of man to conceive that any woman was equal to, or +would care for, daily tramps over rough and broken ground, bogs, dykes, +and sand, or that even if she did care, she could ever become proficient +at so sacred a pastime. Was it possible either that a woman's strength +would prove equal to propelling the ball a sufficiently long distance, +to make her in any way a rival to one of the sterner sex? But +nevertheless, even with all these doubts, the men's club were ready to +assist in giving what was asked for, by helping to institute links at +St. Andrew's and Westward Ho! in 1868, Musselburgh and Wimbledon in +1872, Carnoustie in 1873, Pau in 1874, Troon in 1882, Bath in 1883, +Yarmouth in 1885, etc. + +Of golf as a game for the health, it must be said that it is suited to +all seasons of the year, and also to the hundred and one changes of +climate which occur in the twelve short months. Through snow we pursue +the game on the frozen and ice covered links, with balls painted red, +again in March gales, we toil round regardless of the flapping skirts +and blow-away hats, but in May days when the weather is lovely, when the +courses and their greens are at their best, then it is that we lay +ourselves out for pure enjoyment, and reap the well-deserved fruits of a +winter of steady practice. So through summer and autumn the game still +retains its fascinations, at least for those who have mastered its inner +mysteries, but for the uninitiated it must indeed be more than a trifle +dull, beside savouring rather of madness to walk miles and miles only to +hit along a little white guttie ball, with instruments of weird and +curious shape. + +[Illustration: _Figure 1._ + +_POSITION FOR DRIVING._] + +Although ladies' courses are now vastly superior to what they were a +short while back, there is still room for great improvements in the +matter of scope for brassey and cleek play through the green. The usual +courses consist of a series of holes, generally nine holes--eighteen +being the exception--closely resembling each other, interspersed with +hazards of sorts, but in point of length and play nearly all these holes +are reached by a fair drive, followed by a short iron or approach shot +on the green. This is occasionally varied by a cleek shot from tee to +green, which constitutes the whole and monotonous ring of change that is +to be found, to say nothing of the total banishment of the brassey, one +of the most useful clubs in existence. Excepting, therefore, when women +play over men's courses, or at least over a part of them, they rarely +find themselves called upon to play cleeks, or full iron shots either. A +notable exception to this is the West Lancashire ladies' course, at Hall +Road, near Liverpool. There we find not only eighteen holes most +craftily laid out amidst hazards of all description, which call into +requisition a variety of useful clubs, but the distances between the +greens have been so varied that any monotony is quite impossible. For +whilst at one hole it may require three full shots to reach the green, +very likely the next will be but a cleek shot, and so on. One of the +irresistable influences of the game to a beginner, is undoubtedly that +vexation of spirit caused by some strange mixture of obstinacy and +helplessness, which smarts and rankles bitterly after a morning spent in +trying, to stand in the correct position with your club grasped firmly +in your hands, and after the preliminary waggle, to swing up and down +and hit the ball into space. It looks so easy, ridiculously easy, and as +if it was quite impossible not to hit that little white globe, perched +on its sand tee, but in reality, till the eye and the hand have been +trained to do so, it is one of the most difficult tasks in life, and a +process tending to many abusive speeches! The experience naturally +produces a spirit of dogged determination not to be beaten, wherein lie +the first seeds of interest, and the desire for improvement. The younger +it is possible to begin the game, the better, for at an early age the +muscles are tractable and supple, and the slightest stiffness which +gives a noticable jerkiness to the strokes, is very difficult to +overcome. The strokes should on the contrary be performed, and the arms +and wrists should work, with the smooth evenness of windmill sails. But +speaking of evenness and smoothness of movement, more especially in the +case of a person in the act of driving, brings to mind the late +championship at Gullane, where, for the first time, it became possible +to compare, side by side, the styles of the Scotch and English players. +Between some there was but little difference, excepting that the Scotch +swing was rather short and quick, whilst that of the English was +somewhat longer and slower, but in whatever style our Scotch sisters +played, their whole action was so even and pendulum-like, so entirely +free from any jerk or strain, that it clearly demonstrated their +familiarity with clubs from the days of early childhood. + +Of course such familiarity is more than half the battle, making as it +does in after life a vast difference to the skill and style, although in +this as in all else, there are many and notable exceptions amongst those +who have only come across the game when nearing the days of discretion. +The greatest example of this, is our triple champion, Lady Margaret +Hamilton-Russell, née Scott, whose style has been pronounced perfect by +many competent judges. + +Great self-control and good nerve, with a large amount of endurance, are +the requisites of golf, for without wishing to say one word to its +detriment, it cannot be denied that it is a game somewhat conducive to +selfishness, and with a distinctly rousing effect upon the temper. To +those who are adepts at other out of door sports and pastimes, golf +presents one great difficulty, namely, that most of the clubs have to be +gripped firmly by the left hand only, the right hand being used quite +lightly in comparison, simply as a general support and guide to +direction. + +Having once decided to become a player, the best course by far is to +arrange for daily lessons from some competent and painstaking +professional, for by this means we start from the very beginning by +being placed in the right positions, and moreover, are taught to use the +right club in the right place, which knowledge will prove of invaluable +assistance in future matches and competitions. No beginner should +however forget to obtain a book of the St. Andrews' rules and to study +it well, for one of the first essentials in a game is to know the rules +thoroughly. By thus starting with lessons from a qualified instructor, +you do away with the risk of having to unlearn most of what has been +already grasped, as is so often the case where your mentor has been some +kind and amiable friend. Once having mastered the rudiments and +mysteries of the game, steady daily practice should be indulged in, if +you would hope in time to figure in the front rank of players. + +The driver, iron, mashie and putter are the chief clubs to master +thoroughly, for at any time these will suffice on all courses to play a +good round with, whereas if only one club is taken out at a time to +master, the eye and hand are apt to become wearied by continuous +repetition, whilst the varied strokes necessitated by three or four +clubs, prove both instructive as well as absorbing. + +In the choice of clubs arises great difficulty. Patents unlimited are to +be had, each claiming special advantages. For instance, W. Park's +putting cleek, or wry-necked putter as it is often called, and Brougham +or Yeoman's aluminium drivers, so utterly indestructible when playing +off roads or other hard lies. Then there are Taylor's or Teen's mashies, +the former rather short in the head and broad on the face, particularly +useful for the high-pitched approach shots, the latter shaped more like +a spoon, having at the back and in the exact centre, a crescent-shaped +and convex piece of extra steel, so as to concentrate the full force and +weight at the point of impact. But the good old-fashioned clubs can hold +many candles to various latter-day inventions. A very useful driver head +of ordinary beech-wood has within the last three or four years come +from the able hands of J. Ray, of Randalstown, Co. Antrim, called a +"Bap." This is in appearance exactly like a large and rather flat penny +bun attached to the shaft, but its driving powers are tremendous owing +to the amount of wood behind the spot from whence the ball is hit, which +naturally induces a long carry and run, especially in a wind, when it +seems to send a capital long, low straight shot. + +[Illustration: _Figure 2._ + +_GRIP OF HANDS FOR DRIVING._] + +It is best to choose the first clubs with the assistance of a +professional, or that of an experienced amateur, who will know at once +what weights are most suited to your powers of wrist and arm. Having +done this, and by a study of the rules prepared yourself for +instruction, you will naturally wish to make your first attempt. On +arriving at the first teeing ground and after mounting your ball on its +sand tee, take up your position with the driver, so that the club head +may be within easy reach of the ball, and without the least straining or +stretching forward to reach it. + +[Illustration: _Figure 3._ + +_WRONG GRIP._] + +[Illustration: _Figure 4._ + +_CLUB HEAD WRONG. HANDS WRONG. RESULT OF A GRIP, AS SHOWN IN FIG. 3._] + +[Illustration: _Figure 5._ + +_"TOE" OF DRIVER POINTING DOWNWARDS. HANDS RIGHT._] + +The left foot should be slightly in advance of the right, rather turned +in if anything, and both feet some sixteen inches or thereabouts apart, +the ball, club, and hands being as nearly as possible in direct line +with your waist buckle, perhaps slightly inclined to the left. The hands +then require to grip the club as shown in Figures 1 and 2, the left hand +should hold with a grip of iron, the right much more easily, but still +with a tenacious grasp, turned well over so that the back of the hand is +to the front. Care should be taken that the thumb is not as shown in +Figure 3, for such a grip would cause the head of the club, when at +the top of the swing, to be turned broadway as in Figure 4, instead of +pointing toe downwards as in Figure 5. When off your drive entirely, and +when instead of being able to swing your ball nicely and cleanly away, +you can only keep hitting down on the top of it, called smothering, take +a swing with the club, pausing at the top (that is to say when the club +has reached its usual high curve over the right shoulder, and just +before its descent is commenced) to note the angle of the head. This +will generally be found as in figure 4, whilst the position of the hands +will be as in figure 3. Then alter your grip to as near that of figure 2 +as possible, when the angle of the club-head at the top of the swing, +will become as in figure 5. But to continue, being in the correct +position for addressing the ball both as regards distance and grip, +after a short preliminary waggle which will give the needed impetus, +raise the club away to the right, not too quickly, with a scythe-like +sweep, till well over the right shoulder, at the same time lifting the +left heel and turning the body slightly on the toes of the left foot. +Figure 6. The action of the swing should be entirely done from the +shoulder, and not with a twist of the whole body as is often seen. +Descending again and driving away the ball, then continue the swing till +it finishes up quite naturally over the left shoulder, called "the +follow through," Figure 7, thus describing an entire circle round the +body, the _whole_ of which must be as evenly performed, without the +least signs of force or disjointedness, as though it was the revolution +of a wheel. Many players stand to drive with the ball in a line with, or +even outside, their left foot, but having the ball nearer the centre of +the body, as described above, is the more usual position, and one to be +recommended. + +[Illustration: _Figure 6._ + +_GRIP WHEN AT THE TOP OF SWING._] + +[Illustration: _Garland. Woking._ + +_Figure 7._ + +_FINISH OF SWING._ + +(_Mrs. M. C. Willock._)] + +Brassey shots through the green are played in a similar manner to +drives, the only exception being, that instead of a ball teed on the +sand, it has to be taken off the flat, therefore it becomes necessary to +swing the club head into the ball with a smart click, nicking in between +it and the ground, so as to cause the ball to rise away in its flight +quickly and cleanly, avoiding any taking of turf, or sclaffing as it is +styled, and thereby losing half the propelling force. When to reach the +green two or three full shots are required after the drive, the brassey +is generally taken, or for a medium length shot the cleek, the latter +being used with a full swing, till some eighty or a hundred yards from +the hole, when the lofting iron is called into requisition. + +With this latter club, as with the cleek, the grip of both hands must be +very firm, for at the moment of striking the ball with the face of the +club, there is the danger of the sole at that very second taking the +turf, when, unless the club is firmly gripped in both hands, it must +naturally turn somewhat, with the result that the shot will be +hopelessly foozled. + +[Illustration: _Figure 8._ + +_SWINGING UPWARDS FOR A THREE-QUARTER IRON SHOT._] + +The position of the feet in iron shots differs from that of driving. For +one thing the right foot should be slightly in advance of the left, +whilst the ball is more opposite the former, and in the second place the +knees must be a little bent, the whole body assuming more of a crouching +stance than when driving. The swing, too, with an iron, is somewhat +different, for even in the full shot it is never of such a length as +that taken with a wooden club. It is more of an up-and-down stroke. In +the three-quarter shot, the arms and not the shoulders are responsible +for the swing, the club going as far back as the length of the arm +comfortably permits (figure 8), whereas, in the half shot, the fore arm +and wrist work only, the arm from the shoulder to the elbow being then +nearly close into the side. The approach shot with the mashie is played +when the green is some fifty yards or more distant, the player desiring +either to run the ball up to the hole along the ground, provided the +intervening space is pretty clear of hazards, or to pitch it up, with +that short "choppy" wrist shot, so that the ball falls without run, +nearly dead. Many players place the right thumb down the shaft of the +club in this stroke, claiming that it is easier thus to gauge the +distance and be more accurate as to direction. But whichever way it is +played, remember that it is the wrists and not the arms that work the +club. This shot is played with the face of the club very much laid back +(figure 9), and a peculiar species of cut from right to left +administered to the ball at the moment of impact. A stroke that can with +difficulty be taught, being more the outcome of instinct after +experience, than of instruction. The hard part of approaching lies in +making the ball fall sufficiently dead, and _not_ to strike it so, that +after pitching, it will run nearly as far off the green on the opposite +side. + +The mashie is one of the most useful clubs, for besides being your +"right hand" in approach shots, it is simply indispensable when playing +out of a bad lie, or whenever the ball is snugly reposing in some sand +bunker. To extricate oneself from such a lie, it is necessary first and +foremost that both feet should be _firmly_ planted on the ground, for +every atom of strength must be brought to bear on the right spot, at the +right moment. About two inches behind the ball is the place to let your +club-head delve into the sand, and it is upon _this_ spot that the eye +must be fixed, and _not_ upon the ball, as is otherwise the case. The +force of hitting the club-head into the sand, causes it to shoot up, +bearing the ball high into the air, and over the confronting obstacle. + +Whilst speaking of bunkers and difficulties, it is as well to have in +mind the St. Andrew's rule, No. 14, which runs as follows: "When a ball +lies in or touches a hazard, the club shall not touch the ground, nor +shall anything be touched or moved before the player strikes at the +ball, except that the player may place his feet firmly on the ground for +the purpose of addressing the ball, under the penalty of the loss of the +hole, but if in the backward or downward swing, any grass, bent, whin, +or other growing substance, on the side of a bunker, a wall, a paling, +or other immoveable obstacle be touched, no penalty shall be incurred." +In medal competitions the penalty for breach of this rule is +disqualification. + +If there should be any doubt as to what is considered a hazard, rule No. +15 is very explicit. "A hazard shall be any bunker of whatever +nature--water, sand, loose earth, mole hills, paths, roads, or railways, +whins, bushes, rushes, rabbit scrapes, fences, ditches, or anything +which is not the ordinary green of the course--except sand blown on to +the grass by wind, or sprinkled on grass for the preservation of the +links--or snow, or ice, or bare patches on the course." + +[Illustration: _Figure 9._ + +_SHORT APPROACH SHOT WITH THUMB DOWN THE SHAFT._] + +In _match play_, rule 29 states: "A ball must be played wherever it +lies, or the hole be given up--except as otherwise provided for in the +rules." Whereas in _medal play_, rule 8 reads: "A ball may under a +penalty of two strokes be lifted out of a difficulty of any description, +and be teed behind the same." The niblick, in bunkers where the sand is +at all heavy, is rather a better club to use than the mashie, being so +short, thick, and powerful in the head, therefore capable of delivering +a stronger blow into the sand. A most useful club for bad lies through +the green, is the driving mashie, made much after the order of a cleek, +only being shorter in the face and very solid in the sole, it is able to +hit a long, powerful shot under the most trying conditions in the way of +bad lies. + +Having spoken of the many clubs used from the tee till the green is +reached, the putter alone remains for a few words. Till quite recently +this was made of wood only, rather in shape like an elongated +driver-head. In fact these very old clubs, such as were used by +celebrities like Jamie Allan, young Tommy Morris, Mr. George Glennie, +and others, are now worth fabulous sums of money. But of late years, +steel and gun metal have come much more into vogue. Park's patent putter +with the twisted socket or neck, is a universal favourite, the fact of +looking straight down the shaft on to the ball appearing to make the +line of transition somewhat more easy for the eye to take in. The mode +of holding the putter is similar to that of the iron, only that the +thumbs are both placed downwards and the fingers are called more into +play, as shown in Figure 10. The general grip is a trifle looser, +although the right hand requires to be firm. Mr. Horace Hutchinson, in +the _Badminton Book on Golf_, says as follows: "The principal secret of +good putting, as of good driving, is that the club should travel as long +as possible on the line--or a production of it--on which the ball is to +travel. + +"Putting is a stroke made almost exclusively with the wrists. The wrists +do not hit the club on to the ball and then check it, but the club is +swung by a movement of the wrists... any checking of the club as it +meets the ball being fatal to consistent good putting.... The hands +should be allowed to fall into a natural position.... The putter should +be held rather short, and preferably with a light grip, and should be +worked backward and forward by the wrists, mainly perhaps the left +wrist.... The left elbow may, if preferred, be a little crooked to the +front: the club head will in this method be swinging somewhat after the +fashion of a pendulum, and if a golfer gets the hanging arrangements of +this pendulum correct, it can not very well swing out of the true line." + +[Illustration: _Figure 10._ + +_PUTTING OFF THE RIGHT FOOT._] + +The above describes the stroke exactly. The stance for putting is as +shown in Figure 10, at least that is about the usual position, but many +people putt with the ball about mid-way between the right foot and the +left, in a straight line with the centre of the body (Figure 11). The +crooked left elbow is certainly a great help in keeping the ball on the +right road to the hole, while the right elbow should be resting against +the hip. Iron shots too can be kept from diverging with the vagaries of +the wind during a gale, if the left elbow is well crooked towards the +front, so as to follow through in that position over the line of flight +of the ball. A very similar position to that of playing forward at +cricket. + +In golf there is a good deal of etiquette to be observed, but again all +hints will be found in the book of St. Andrew's rules, or in that very +useful compendium _The Golfer's Referee_, which was compiled lately by +the Editor of _The Golfer_, in Edinburgh. It may be as well to mention +that No. 2 of these rules is one to be observed, if not for courtesy's +sake, at least for the sake of danger, a blow from a golf ball being no +light matter. Therefore out of pure humanity it is only right to let the +party in front play their second shots, or get off the green, so that +they may be out of range of those behind. Besides match and medal play, +another species of competition has of late years been started, namely, +"Bogey." This is simply a score fixed for each of the eighteen holes, +the same as the par of the green, the player having to hole out in one +less than the given par, it she would win the hole, or in the like for a +half. At each hole, any strokes taken beyond the number of the fixed +par, count as a loss to the player and as a win to "Bogey." The mode of +marking this on the competition cards being + for a win and O for a +half, and - for a loss. + +[Illustration: _Figure 11._ + +_PUTTING WITH BALL BETWEEN THE FEET._] + +One of the greatest features of golf is that although you may only +perhaps be a third-class player, and your opponent a first-class, or as +it is termed, scratch player, yet by the system of handicapping you will +both play on equal terms. In match play the difference between handicaps +is allowed as follows: in singles, three-fourths of the difference +between handicap allowances, in foursomes, three-eighths of the +difference of the aggregate handicap allowance on either side, a half +stroke of over counting as one, but smaller fractions not being +reckoned. Thus if the difference between your own and your opponent's +handicap in a single is 12, you will have to allow her nine strokes, or +a half, viz.: a stroke every other hole, whereas if in a foursome the +difference of handicap between yourself and partner and your opponent +and her partner was likewise 12, you would then only give an allowance +of five strokes. As a rule, clubs have their own special table of holes, +at which the strokes are to be taken in matches. + +Nerves undoubtedly play a great part in golf, for the person who can go +on quietly and steadily when her opponent is two up at the turn has an +immense advantage. For as nothing is certain in life, still less is it +so in golf! A topped drive, or a short putt, and the whole luck of the +game may alter. Therefore the player who has perfect control over her +nerves has a decided advantage over one who becomes flustered, and she +will very often come in with a rush and flourish of trumpets at the +last. When playing a tight match never risk going for the hole if a +halved one will answer as well, for there is always the chance in going +for it from some way off of placing the ball out of holeing distance for +the next shot, and so losing the hole altogether. + +Much the same in medal play: never risk a very long carry or dangerous +shot if instead, by playing short and then over the difficulty, you can +insure more safety. Medal play is essentially a matter of stolid +steadiness, while match play bristles with excitements from start to +finish, but it is by no means the case that the best match player will +be the best in a medal round, the almost mechanical steadiness of play +required in the latter being often found too irksome and tedious. + +Of the faults that a golfer may drift into, slicing, hooking, and +topping are the most common, and these are often too the most difficult +to cure. Slicing is caused by drawing the club across the ball and +towards yourself. This will cause the ball to dive off to the right, and +is either the result of an error in the stance, or the grip of one or +both hands, or possibly because the club is being swung away too +quickly, causing more of a straight up and down stroke than is the case +in the proper and rounded swing. If hooking is the fault, then the ball +will fly off to the left. The reason of this may be either that you are +standing with the ball too much opposite to the left foot, or that you +are hitting it with the club's face turned in, the latter being the +result of faulty gripping. Topping as the name denotes is simply not +getting well down to the ball, and means the ruin of both its shape and +paint! Yet another fault is that of heeling, or hitting the ball off the +neck of the club, this can generally be cured by standing a little +farther away from the ball and letting the arms go out well free of the +body. + +One of the most difficult shots you can be called upon to play is when +the ball is in a "cuppy" lie, viz., in a small hole or hollow. The club +then has to be swung _into it_ without taking any of the surrounding +edges, which seems so impossible to accomplish, and yet to get the ball +away any distance, but the more quietly and without pressing you succeed +in doing this, the more chance you will have of a good result. A ball +lying above you, say on the side of a hill, is awkward, as the club +shaft when used in such a position seems so lengthy and unwieldy, but +taking the stroke quietly and again not pressing for an extra long shot +is the best way out of the difficulty. If on the other hand the ball +lies on a slope below you, shorten your grip of the club, for the body +will naturally fall a little forward in the downward swing, owing to the +stance being on the slant. Sometimes the ball may be found lying with a +disused and grass-grown mole-hill, or some such lump immediately in +front. In such a case it would be equally impossible to sweep away the +ball with a full swing, or with a three-quarter one. The club must +therefore be raised just as far backwards as in a half shot, when it +should be smartly brought down, thus hitting the ball and jerking into +the turf, causing it--the ball--to rise over the obstacle. This will cut +a large divot out of the ground, which must be replaced and stamped +down, ever remembering the text, "It is the duty of every golfer to +replace, or to cause to be replaced any turf cut in the act of making a +stroke." Of course care must be used not to break the shaft of the club, +owing to the force with which the head will cut down into the turf. + +To keep yourself in good form it is not necessary after the game has +been thoroughly mastered to practise every day. Three or four times a +week will keep both the eye and the hand well up to their work, without +getting either tired or stale. Whenever the chance presents itself of +playing a round with a scratch player, or someone who is really more +skilled than yourself, do so. Such experience will not only serve as a +lesson, but will stimulate the spirit of ambition in no small degree. +Besides, it will be most excellent training and a decided gain in the +way of steadiness, and will also teach you not to get flustered when +confronted by difficulties. Merely to watch your opponent's +self-possession, as she extricates the ball from the heaviest sand, +without the least sign of force or irritability, will be a lesson worthy +of taking to heart. To have made good progress in the game, and to be +able to hold one's own with some of the longer handicap members, perhaps +even to be able to give them a point or two besides a beating, has the +effect of making most people rather proud and pleased with themselves. +Then it is that a sound beating from some good player will do your game +pounds of good and show you how much you still have to learn. If one +were to play golf for ever, yet would the feeling remain that there are +many things to be mastered. + +One of the most trying times for the nerves, and in fact for your play +all round is when at some big open meeting, or perhaps even in the +championship, you find yourself drawn to play with or against a +celebrity. Some of the on-lookers may, and probably will, elect to +follow you round just to see your famous partner perform, as well as to +criticise both players. Naturally, this will cause you some +embarrassment, but beside your own feeling on the matter, you have to +consider those of your partner, and the risk that if you play badly you +may very likely put her off too. For in golf the laws of imitation are +very subtle, and nothing is more common than to play down to another +person's standard. However trying it may be, therefore, to have every +shot watched, whether it is a long raking drive, a foozled iron, or some +twelve inch putt that lips the hole instead of going down, do your best +to be steady, even if brilliancy be out of the question, for consistency +can never be very hardly criticised, even when seriously put in the +shade by a superior display of knowledge. Attending open meetings, and +taking part in club matches, will do more for your nerves and be the +means of your gaining greater experience than a hundred rounds on the +quiet home course, with just those players around you to whose +criticisms the ear has become so used, that they cease to make the +slightest impression. At such big gatherings you can see for yourself +the endless varieties of style, grip, stance, and a dozen other details +which will go more towards teaching you how you should or should not do +this, or do that, than many lessons and many chapters on the subject. + +To play a tight match in a championship, is generally a doubtful +pleasure. The severe strain of knowing that every stroke should be +soundly good, or at all events useful, the amount of care that must be +taken over the shortest putt, the dogged determination that you _will_ +beat your opponent, or if you do not quite succeed in this, that you +will only be beaten by the most narrow margin, and last but not least, +the total obliviousness to the crowd that may be following the match; +all this self-possession cannot be learned in a day or even in a few +months. To attain to such a level is a matter of test and training. +Before any of these big events, it is as well to go and reside for a +time in or near the spot where the meeting is to be held, as you will +thus gain a thorough knowledge of the course, lies, bunkers and greens, +not forgetting that most useful appendage, the caddie. To secure a sharp +boy, who knows every nook and cranny of the links, will often mean half +a stroke a hole to the credit of your match or score. + +The most suitable and workmanlike clothes for the game are a simple coat +and skirt of Harris tweed or other strong material, thick boots with a +few nails in the soles to prevent slipping, and a straw sailor hat by +way of head covering. Fly-away and feather-bedecked hats, together with +garden-party dresses, look, and are, terribly out of place on a course, +which in this country, owing to the variable moods of the clerk of the +weather, may not always be without mud! Many players wear red coats with +their club facings and buttons, and these always look smart. Among them, +and one which is quite the neatest of all club uniforms, is that of the +Wimbledon Ladies' Club--a coat, with black collar and cuffs, outlined +with a piping of white, the buttons being of black, with the club +initials in white on them. All clubs that have the privilege of calling +themselves Royal are entitled to facings of Royal blue. The Littlestone +ladies wear rather a smart coat with white facings, round which are the +narrowest of narrow pipings in tri-coloured silk cord, of the club +colours, white, green and salmon pink. Green facings are very popular, +and are used by the St. Anne's Ladies, the Mid-Surrey and many others. +Perhaps the only club with a membership of several hundred, which has no +distinctive coat is Princes, at Mitcham, but the charming mixture of +chocolate and light blue, in the form of hat ribbons and ties worn by +the members, makes rather a welcome change. + +Going away to other links to play matches for one's club is by no means +the least of the minor pleasures of being a golfer, for it carries one +to many "lands unknown." The fascinations, too, of a new course are +great and wonderful, especially during the first round when you are +quite ignorant of the pitfalls that await the unwary. There is something +so exhilarating in driving over carries of unknown breadth, and in +taking one's iron to reach a blind, or hidden green, with several sandy +obstacles between you and it. + +[Illustration: _MISS PASCOE._ + +(_Winner of the Championship, 1896._)] + +Of the five courses which have now been used for the Ladies Golf Union's +Annual Championship Meeting, that of Gullane, in 1897, was by far the +best and most difficult, Portrush being next in order. But before +entering into further details it may be as well to give just a brief +outline of the said "Ladies' Golf Union" and its origin. Early in 1893, +the idea of such an institution was started, Dr. Laidlow Purves, Miss +Issette Pearson and several Wimbledon members being the moving spirits +in the scheme, ably backed up by such clubs as Ashdown Forest, Barnes, +Eastbourne, East Sheen, Great Harrowden, Great Yarmouth, Lytham and St. +Anne's, Minchinhampton, North Berwick, North Warwickshire, Portrush, +Belfast, St. Andrew's, Southdown and Brighton, and Wimbledon. A large +and influential meeting was held in London during the month of April, +and it was then decided that an annual championship should be held, the +winner of which was to receive a gold medal and be styled Lady Champion +for the year, whilst a magnificent silver trophy was to pass into the +possession of her club for the same period. Strangely enough the Lytham +and St. Anne's Club had already thought of, and in fact advertised, a +splendid £50 silver challenge cup, to be competed for annually over +their links, the winner of which was to be styled champion. + +This handsome offer had been made before the golfing world was even +aware that the subject of a Ladies' Union had been mooted. After some +discussion the matter was amicably settled, by the delegate from the St. +Anne's Club and the council, deciding to hold the first Championship +over that course. The subscribers towards the magnificent cup include +the clubs of St. Andrews, St. Anne's, Ashdown Forest, Blackheath, +Cotswold, Royal Belfast, Royal Eastbourne, Southdown and Brighton, +Minchinhampton, and Wimbledon. The 13th of June and three consecutive +days were chosen for the event, and the following circular was issued to +all the ladies' clubs throughout the United Kingdom: + +"The Ladies' Golf Union have decided that the Ladies' Golf Championship +Competition, 1893, open to all lady golfers, members of any golf club, +will take place at St. Anne's-on-the-Sea, Lancashire, on Tuesday 13th, +Wednesday 14th, Thursday 15th June, when the trophy, value fifty +guineas, and four medals will be competed for under the following +conditions: + +1. Competitors shall enter for the competition through the secretaries +of their respective clubs. + +2. The competition shall be played by holes in accordance with the rules +of the Lytham and St. Anne's Golf Club. + +3. The draw shall take place on Friday, 9th June, and shall be conducted +as follows: + + Depending on the number of entries, such number of byes + shall be first drawn as shall after the completion of the + first round leave four, eight, sixteen, thirty-two, or + sixty-four players, and one draw shall decide the order of + play throughout the competition; those who have drawn byes + being placed at the head of the list of winners of the + first round, and taking their place in the second round, in + the order in which their names then stand. + +4. Each game shall consist of a round of eighteen holes. + +5. In the event of a tie in any round, competitors shall continue to +play on until one or other shall have gained a hole, when the match +shall be considered won. + +6. The winner of the competition shall be the champion lady golfer for +the year, and the trophy shall be held for that year in the club from +which the winner shall have entered. + +7. The winner shall receive a gold medal, the second a silver medal, and +the third and and fourth bronze medals. + +8. All entries must be subject to the approval of the Lytham and St. +Anne's Golf Club. + +9. All disputes shall be settled by the Council of the Lytham and St. +Anne's Golf Club. + +10. Entries close Thursday, 8th June, 1893." + +Truly perfect weather favoured the meeting, and some thirty-eight +competitors entered, including two members from the Pau club. The +drought that year had been exceptional, but the "green committee," +headed by Mr. T. H. Miller, had kept the greens verdant, thanks to +constant care and unlimited watering. The course being one of nine +holes, two rounds had to be played. The chief hazards were "cops," or +high turf banks, sand bunkers, and one or two ditches. + +At that time, when ladies' golf had not reached its present standard of +excellence, the links appeared sufficiently difficult for a championship +test, but now, when entries number a hundred or so, and players think +nothing of a carry of 140 yards, which will clear the great obstacles +easily, it becomes necessary to have a shortened man's course for such +events. Although at Gullane, in 1897, the full men's links were used, +the round of which is two miles and three quarters, with a few yards +over, at Littlestone, in 1894, the course was not quite two miles and a +half long, whilst Portrush, in 1895, measured only a few yards more than +two miles and a quarter; the Hoylake course, used in 1896, was within a +hundred and ten yards of two miles and three quarters. Great Yarmouth, +which is to be the scene of the present year's--1898--struggle, is some +three miles in extent, but will doubtless be a trifle shortened, if it +be in any way possible. + +Harking back to St. Anne's and the first championship, it was a matter +of surprise and pleasure to witness the splendid play of Lady Margaret +Scott, and the ease with which she used her clubs, whether in a good, +bad or indifferent lie. It came in the light of a revelation to the +non-golfing many, who were not used to such a beautiful exhibition, and +were not aware to what pitch of perfection a lady-golfer might rise. +Whilst to the golfing few it was a fine lesson, on the subject of how +the game should and could be played, if it was only properly engrafted +into the player from the beginning, and if proper pains were taken not +to leave the minutest detail unconquered. The only two who approached +Lady Margaret Scott in her easy swing, and the manner in which she +extricated herself from difficulties, were Miss Issette Pearson, the +energetic and hard-working Honorary Secretary of the Golf Union, and +Mrs. Wilson-Hoare, of Westward Ho! The final issue of the great battle +resulted in Lady Margaret becoming champion, a title she held for three +consecutive years, and Miss Pearson being the runner-up. This first +championship was not without its fruits amongst those who witnessed it. +On all sides the tide of ambition ran high to emulate even in a small +degree the splendid example that had been given, which was the talk of +the golfing world. So much so, that by the spring of 1894, there was a +much improved band ready to struggle with each other for the coveted +title at Littlestone, Kent, an off-shoot of that charming and quaint +cinque port town, New Romney, which the continual wash of shingle, and +silt of the sands, has left a mile and a half high and dry inland. + +In comparison with St. Anne's, Littlestone was three times more +difficult. Not only was the latter an eighteen hole course, but it +fairly bristled in sand bunkers, canals, rabbit holes, and endless traps +for the incautious. However, everyone had profited by the previous +experience, and the play of most of the competitors called forth +expressions of approval on all sides. The number of entries was +sixty-four, including players from seventeen different clubs. Ireland +was unrepresented this year, although at St. Anne's the previous season +there had been four entries from the Sister Isle. Lady Margaret Scott, +and Miss Pearson, again stood first and second, after a very fine match, +which was watched attentively by a large crowd from all the neighbouring +golfing centres. Following the championship in the Autumn came the +largely-attended and first open meeting of the Ranelagh Club, at Barn +Elms. This was a huge success, thanks to the untiring energies of the +Committee, and Miss Pearson, so much so that another gathering was +organised for the following April--1895--and since then this fixture has +been kindly allowed to become an annual event. + +Early in the May of 1895 the enthusiastic army of golfers was under +weigh for the quiet little Irish town of Portrush, the scene of both the +Irish and the English Championships that year, the former preceding the +latter by a few days. The bustle and excitement in the streets of the +little town was great, and outside cars came tearing round the +perilously sharp corners, laden with red-coated golfers either off to +watch the semi-finals of the Irish ladies, or else to sample the truly +grand course on their own account. Every train too brought in fresh +relays of competitors, till the huge Northern Counties Hotel had not a +corner untenanted. + +The trophy of the Irish Ladies' Golf Union, which is a remarkably +handsome worked silver bowl, had, after a good fight, together with much +steady play, including some glorious long putts, been won by Miss Cox, +Miss Maclaine being the runner up. An open meeting was held the day +before the Golf Union Championship, where the scratch prize was easily +won, with the fine score of 89, by Miss Sybil Wigham, the first Scotch +representative to attend one of these events. Miss Wigham's style was +grand, being both easy and sure, and she proved herself equal to sending +terrific long balls from any lie. It was much hoped that she and Lady +Margaret might meet in one of the heats, but being unused to play before +so large a crowd, Miss Wigham's nerve rather gave way in her match with +Miss Dod, and she suffered defeat by two up and one to play. Two of the +finest matches of this championship were those between Lady Margaret +Scott and Miss Phillips, in the opening heat, and between Lady Margaret +and Mrs. Ryder-Richardson in the semi-final, wherein the latter player +was four up at the eleventh hole to the champion, who after this +gradually assumed the lead, and won in the end by two up. + +[Illustration: _LADY MARGARET HAMILTON-RUSSELL._ + +(_Winner of the Championship, 1893, 1894, and 1895_)] + +Perhaps the marvellous coolness and self-possession of Lady Margaret +were never seen to better advantage than in this match. The course at +Portrush seemed to abound in bunkers at every conceivable and +inconceivable corner. The greens were in excellent condition, and the +whole links sporting as anyone could wish to play over. If anything the +soil was a trifle too sandy, for it was dangerous to take the least +scrap of turf with one's brassey or iron, for fear of a foozle. The end +of the meeting found Lady Margaret for the third time champion, with +Miss Lythgoe, of the St. Anne's Club, as Silver medallist. + +The 1896 championship meeting, at Hoylake, was remarkable for the number +of very close matches, many of which were only decided on the +eighteenth, nineteenth, or twentieth greens. Miss Pascoe ultimately +became the winner after many hard tussles, with Miss Lena Thompson, of +Wimbledon, as runner up, Lady Margaret Scott not being among the +eighty-two entrants. It was noticeable what an improvement in all parts +of the game had taken place within the last three years, many of those +who had witnessed the St. Anne's Championship being present, and +stating this as their opinion. In the length of the tee shots and +brassies, in getting out of difficulties, and in putting, the +improvement was everywhere visible. The first visit of the Union to the +home of Golf, viz., Scotland, took place in the middle of May, 1897, +when Gullane, on the East Lothian coast, was the place of Meeting. +Gullane is famed not only for the excellence of its links and the very +superior quality of its turf at the present time, but in early years it +was a great Pictish burial place, and the ruins of an ancient church, +dating from about 1170, still stands in the middle of the village. In +after years it was known as the birthplace of the celebrated racehorse, +_Blair Athol_, as well as of several minor lights of the racing world. +Gullane indeed is a spot of many varied interests. + +The links are most sporting, and it is altogether a splendid course for +a big event like the championship. The only regret murmured--and that +but faintly--was that some would have liked more hazards to carry from +the tee, as is the case at North Berwick. However, this want was well +atoned for by the manner in which the greens were guarded, a style of +defence that would do credit to a first-class engineer, and which taxed +the powers of approaching not a little. Especially was this the case at +the twelfth, fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth holes, +where grief unlimited awaited the topped or foozled ball. Starting with +the record entry of one hundred and two competitors, the whole meeting, +if one excepts the weather, was an unqualified success. For the first +time, the Scotch and English women-players met to do battle for the same +trophy, but it was to be regretted that in so many instances the draw +had coupled two very strong scratch players together, or in the same way +put English players to do battle with each other, when it would have +been both so much more exciting and interesting to have found them +pitted North against South. In the first round two of the best matches +were those between Miss Pascoe--the holder of the cup--and Miss Issette +Pearson, and between Miss N. Graham--the Irish Champion--and Miss +Nevill, the holder of the Midland Counties Championship. Miss Pearson, +who gave one of the finest exhibitions of golf that she has ever shown, +won after a hard fight by four up and three to play. Miss Pascoe too +made some magnificent shots, but she certainly did not display the same +deadly accuracy which characterised her game so much at Hoylake, in the +previous year (1896). However such thorough knowledge of the game was +shown on both sides, that some of the old Scotchmen in the crowd were +heard to exclaim, "Hoot, mon! This is fair golf, and worth coming to +see." + +The match between Miss Nevill and Miss N. Graham was even closer, the +latter losing only at the last hole. In the next round the matches of +Miss Maud Aitchison _v._ Miss G. Graham, Miss A. L. Orr _v._ Miss Frith, +and Miss A. Maxwell _v._ Miss M. R. Nimmo, attracted the most attention, +and in each case were won by the first-named player. Round number three +contained many more tight matches, especially those between Miss +Titterton and Miss Maud Aitchison, which was carried to the +twenty-second hole, Miss Titterton winning ultimately. Whilst Mrs. +Edward Smith beat Miss N. Haig, the Yorkshire champion, only at the +twenty-first hole, Miss Bertha Thomson beat Miss Lugton at the +nineteenth green, and Miss Dod only succumbed to Miss Blyth on the last +green. The fourth round was not marked by any special feature, although +all the matches were well contested. But the fifth heat had some grand +fights, notably those of Miss Titterton and Miss Madeline Campbell, +which only finished on the eighteenth green, and Miss Kennedy and Miss +Nevill, which was another display of real golf soundly well played, Miss +Nevill losing by two holes only. The sixth and semi-final round was +indeed exciting, Miss Kennedy playing a magnificent match against Miss +Orr. The play on both sides was bold, free, and accurate, Miss Kennedy's +shots from the tee and through the green were brilliant, especially so +at the sixteenth hole from whence she reached the green in two, a +distance of 314 yards from the tee. It was in putting alone that she +lost to her formidable and well-known North Berwick opponent. Miss E. C. +Orr, who was playing a most beautiful and steady game, downed Miss +Titterton by two up after a fine match. The final between the two Miss +Orr's was a good exhibition of steady golf, but Miss E. C. Orr +out-played her sister somewhat easily, her shots all through being +beautifully judged, especially the full iron shots or half iron +approaches, which never failed to be within a putt of the hole. Indeed +it was in these shots that she obtained such an immense pull over her +opponents throughout the whole of the meeting, and one might with +advantage take a lesson from her in this most useful and necessary +department of the game, for it is undoubtedly in approaching and putting +that so many of us fail. There is nothing very hard in hitting a good +long drive or brassey shot, but when it comes to pitching the ball +_perfectly accurately_ on to the green, so that it may be within a +putt's length of the hole, or at the outside within two such strokes, +then it is that we seem to be "all over the place." Perhaps once or +twice during the round, we may lay an approach or two fairly dead, but +to do this consistently for eighteen holes we cannot, and it was here +that Miss E. C. Orr and several other Scotch ladies, scored heavily. + +The competitions that are held at many open meetings for "approach +shots," generally result in anybody but the scratch players being the +winners, and show that this branch of the game is neglected by many good +players. Somehow far less pains are taken about this kind of shot, than +for the drive. Notice before the drive, how the player will fuss about +the height of her tee, the position of her feet, the waggle and swing +of the club, then notice the same player on nearing the hole, when she +takes up her iron or mashie. Just a glance at the hole, then a quick hit +and the ball lights _somewhere_ on the green, perhaps with such a run +that it is nearly as far off on the other side as it was on this side, +before the stroke was played. No pains as to position, stance and angle +of the club-head are taken; an iron shot in the _direction_ of the green +being the stroke played, instead of an approach shot _at the hole_, +which just makes all the difference. Putting, too, is much more natural +to some people than to others, but it is surely within the power of +everyone to improve themselves in this useful science. + +It is after closely watching such a display of the game as we saw at the +Championship meeting at Gullane, that one feels how much we might +improve in our game by simply taking a little ordinary and common care. + +The lengths of the holes at Gullane were about as follows: 1st, 300 +yards; 2nd, 251; 3rd, 211; 4th, 353; 5th, 313; 6th, 252; 7th, 347; 8th, +304; 9th, 249; 10th, 353; 11th, 153; 12th, 355; 13th, 189; 14th, 160; +15th, 244; 16th, 314; 17th, 309; 18th, 306. Lengths that required every +variety of shot, together with uphill and downhill lies innumerable, +but as was mentioned a page or two back, the feature of the course lay +in the grandly-guarded greens, where the consistent approacher had all +the best of the game, and time besides to cogitate on the niblic shots +of her less consistent opponent. + +Besides arranging the annual championship, and settling any questions or +difficulties relating to golf, the Ladies' Golf Union undertook to +organize a matter that had for years shown itself in need of revision. +The Union started the "handicapping scheme" among its associated clubs, +in order that in crowded open meetings, the committee chosen to arrange +the handicaps, should have some basis to work upon. It is a delicate +matter to settle the points that one player shall concede to another, +and till then this had been more or less guess-work, excepting for such +little guidance as the local handicaps provided. The scheme is now in +full working order, with a special sub-committee to guard over its +interests, of which Miss Pearson is in command. This committee consists +of four other ladies, to each of whom is portioned out six or eight +clubs, and whose duty it is to work out by averaging the scores +returned, what handicap each member of these several clubs shall +receive, in accordance with the fixed par of the green, also to lower +the various allowances when the players return scores under those from +which they are already handicapped. Once a month the whole of the medal, +or other stroke competition returns are made up, and published in the +golfing papers. To stimulate interest in this scheme the Golf Union +offers a silver medal to every club, to be won by the member returning +the best aggregate of four nett scores under their handicaps during the +year, as well as a gold medal to be competed for annually by the winners +of the silver medals. + +The rules for the guidance of those who compete, which will be found on +the notice board in every associated club's golf room, run briefly as +follows: + +"1. Any member of a club belonging to the Union, and desirous of having +a handicap for this competition, must have returned two medal scores, +neither of which shall have exceeded the par of the green, as fixed by +the Union by more than twenty-five strokes. A member having a handicap +in one club shall receive the same handicap at all clubs to which she +may belong, when playing for the Union medals, such handicap to be the +lowest she shall receive at any one club. + +2. Each Honorary Secretary will receive monthly a form with Members' +Union Handicap, on which she shall enter the medal scores and return the +sheet directly to one of the members of the sub-committee. + +3. The par of the green is fixed from details sent by each club to the +Ladies' Golf Union Hon. Secretary, and all competitions for the medals +must be played on the full medal course, but if circumstances such as +ground under repair, etc., prevent this, a note must be made, and the +difference explained when sending in the scores to the sub-committee." + +But a most able article on this subject from the pen of Miss Pearson +will be found in volume four of the _Ladies' Golf Union Annual_. A neat +little shilling publication, which not only contains a splendid map of +the Gullane Golf course, but much useful information as to the +associated clubs and their members throughout England. + +[Illustration: _Reinhold Thiele and Co._ _Chancery Lane._ + +_MISS ISSETTE PEARSON._ + +(_Hon. Secretary Ladies' Golf Union._)] + +Golf has done much for many branches of trade, giving them a stimulus in +out of the way corners. The revival of trade, indeed, that marks the +opening of golf links, falls little short of a species of colonizing, +resuscitating as it does decayed towns and villages, in which the game +has fanned the almost extinct embers of industry into a glowing flame. +While the men find work on the course, the boys have employment as +caddies, or the sharper ones get a berth in the club maker's shop, +whilst the players who come and go every day in the year, cause the +hearts of the local butchers, bakers, and grocers to rejoice. In Kent +alone, such old places as Sandwich, Deal, New Romney and Rye, some of +them famous in the by-gone days of the Cinque Ports splendour, owe a +great deal in these bad times to the royal and ancient game. The +membership of their respective golf clubs, number about as follows: +Sandwich, 650; Deal, between 300 and 500; Littlestone, 500; and Rye, +270; and some of these players at least, must visit one or other of the +courses, and spend a certain amount of money in the place. New hotels +and houses become necessities in the neighbourhood, and the old inns, +too, have to look to their laurels that they keep up to date, and are +well stocked with food, for the golfer's appetite is not renowned by +reason of its smallness. + +In the "upkeep" of the links there are many and heavy expenses to be +taken into account by the authorities, but clubs can generally amply +recoup not only by subscriptions and entrance fees, but by that certain +source of revenue, the green fees of visitors, provided of course the +links are fairly sporting and well kept. Taken all round, the number of +green keepers and men employed on the various courses throughout the +country, would alone make a respectable-sized army. Then the industries +in club and ball-making should be considered, and the thousands and +thousands of dozens of the latter that are sold annually. In a recent +number of _Golf_ it was stated that some five hundred tons of +gutta-percha are, within twelve months, converted into balls alone! To +quote the paragraph on the subject: "The material is sold at four +shillings and sixpence or five shillings per pound, but adding the cost +entailed in producing good well-seasoned balls from the raw material, we +find that there is an outlay approximately of £500,000 a year with +manufacture and sale of golf balls. A fact like this tells not only a +vivid story of the growth and popularity of the game, but of the +commercial importance of the golf-ball trade." + +Of course balls are at their best from six to nine months after being +finished, but for a year or more they do not deteriorate to any great +extent. The weight usually played with, is 27 or 27-1/2 drams. Of +different kinds there are no end, some people pinning their faith to +"Melforts," others to "Woodley Flyers," and so on, but very satisfactory +makes are the "Black A.1.," the "Silvertown," or the "Eureka." Recently +the "Agrippa" balls have been highly spoken of, and it is undeniable +that even a gale of wind does not very perceptibly upset their flight, +it they are struck true. + +Having now touched on most of the subjects to do with the technical part +of the game, it may be of interest to add a few more words on links and +players generally, but before doing so, let it be said again, that golf +is not a game that can be grasped or learned in a week, or yet in a +year, but it requires steady perseverance for a very long period. If at +any time you are off the game thoroughly, it is much better to go to a +good professional, who will quickly put you on the right road again. In +so doing you will avoid any chance of picking up bad habits, in your +efforts to make the ball speed on its journey as it should. + +[Illustration: _Brown, Barkes, and Bell. Liverpool._ + +_MISS EMMA KENNEDY._ + +(_Bronze Medallist, 1897._)] + +Of Ladies' courses, that of the West Lancashire will take a great deal +of beating, for reasons that have been already stated. A course of +eighteen holes, heaps of elbow room, and with a large and splendidly +planned club house, in which a daily bill of fare is always to be +found--the last, by the way, not met with every day in a ladies' club +house--there is little left to desire. To Mrs. Alsop and her able +committee the visitors at the last open meeting, which was held just +before the Hoylake ladies' championship in 1896, were greatly indebted. +Not a hitch occurred in the starting of any of the seventy-eight +competitors. It was on this course too that the Southern ladies, when on +their Northern tour, in September of 1895, sustained their first and +only defeat. The West Lancashire Club can boast of one of the strongest +match teams that it is possible to place in the field, seeing that it +contains the names of Miss Kennedy--holder of the record with a score of +77--Mrs. Ryder-Richardson, Miss Young, Miss Carr--a bronze medallist of +the first championship--Miss Welch, Mrs. Fowler, and other scratch +players. The next eighteen hole course is just south of London, at +Mitcham, viz., that of the Princes Ladies', one of the most delightful +spots near London possible to find one's self detrained for a day's +golf. The holes on these links vary in length from a full mashie shot to +a distance that will require two or three strokes to reach the green. +The chief hazards are dykes, gorse bushes, rushes, railways and turf +bunkers, the trenches of which appear to be amply filled with sand. The +putting greens are very good, especially the last seven holes, the other +eleven being still rather in their infancy, as they were only opened in +May, 1897. The eighteen hole record of 83, is held by Miss Phillips. A +very attractive object of competition at this club, is the monthly +medal, a unique little gold charm mounted as a brooch. Twice a year, in +May and November, the club holds most successful open meetings. Indeed +for the last Spring event, that of 1897, the record entry of 106 was +received, and at the forthcoming Spring meeting, a challenge cup is +advertised to be competed for annually by representatives of all +counties in Great Britain and Ireland, one year's residential +qualification being necessary. For this event any number of players are +permitted to enter for each county, and the cup is to be held for a year +by the county returning the four best medal rounds for thirty-six +holes. Miss Langley is the untiring secretary and prime mover in all +matters connected with the welfare of the club. In fact it is mainly due +to her unrelaxed exertions, that the new piece of ground for the eleven +holes was obtained, and worked into the excellent state that it now is. + +Still another course of eighteen holes is that of the County Down Club +in Ireland, where play is over part of the famous Newcastle links, some +three miles round. The "Bogey" and scratch score of these links is 100, +and this has only been approached by Miss Maclaine, who has completed +the course in 102. The hazards are principally of the lofty sand hill +order. 465 yards is the length of the longest hole, 448, 367, 325, to 93 +yards, being about the lengths of the others. The greens are +magnificent, and the turf is of the proverbial billiard cloth +smoothness. Miss N. Graham, the champion of Ireland, hails from this +club, which may justly be proud of such an able representative. A little +further north, is the course of the Royal Portrush Ladies', another +sporting eighteen holes. This club is presided over by Mrs. J. M. +McCalmont, and contains among its members Miss Cox, the ex-Irish +champion. + +[Illustration: _Hembry. Belfast._ + +_MISS N. GRAHAM._ + +(_Irish Champion, 1896 and 1897._)] + +Crossing over to Scotland, we find only putting courses at St. Andrews +and at Carnoustie. But at Troon, Musselburgh, North Berwick, Edinburgh, +Aberdeen, Machrihanish (eighteen holes), Prestwich, St. Nicholas, +Dumfries, Elie and Earlsferry, Bridge of Weir, and Ranfurly, etc., etc., +there are some fine links with perfect greens and most trying hazards. +Returning once more to the South country, we have a splendid long +eighteen-hole course at Woking, where one gets every variety of hazard +and lie imaginable. The Wimbledon Ladies' course too is most trying, +thanks (!) to the conservators of the common, who have caused tarred +circles to be daubed outside all the gorse bushes, so that when the +player finds herself within one of these charmed rings, she is bound to +drop and lose a stroke. Flints too are rather prevalent, causing havoc +to one's iron clubs. The eighteen, and nine-hole records of the green +are both held by Miss Pearson, the former with 68, the latter in 31, the +holes varying in length between 100 to 190 yards. + +For links that are of a lawn-like smoothness, excepting for the bunkers, +Eltham has no rival, and some pretty iron shots are to be had there. At +Eastbourne the holes differ in length from two hundred and twenty, to +one hundred and fifteen yards, and the hazards consist of turf bunkers +and hurdles. The record, held by Miss M. E. Phillips, is 69. One of the +nicest short inland courses on the South coast is that of the Brighton +and Hove Ladies' at the Dyke, the record for which is 73. Gorse bushes +are the principal hazards, but it is a course where good play is always +soundly rewarded. Being on down turf, the greens are always excellent, +though perhaps a trifle small. Not many miles away from the latter +course is that of Ashdown Forest, a very tricky green abounding in +heather. In fact, when on the long course, what with the fir trees +scattered here and there, the burns and the heather stretching for miles +on every side, you can imagine yourself anywhere but in the heart of +Sussex. Seaford is another very short ladies' course, which is yet +splendid practice for iron and mashie shots. Miss Gilroy holds the +record with 62. The long course there is very taking, especially for +anyone who drives a long raking ball both off the tee and through the +green. A very successful open meeting was by kind permission of the +gentlemen's committee held over the latter course in September, 1897, +there being forty-two entries. + +Of all courses though, where accurate iron and mashie shots tell, the +Hoylake Ladies' links at the Dale, take any amount of beating. With +holes varying in length from 60 to 166 yards, it is the most delightful +practice course for short shots that can be well imagined. Mrs. Ryder +Richardson holds the record with 63. The Hastings and the Bexhill ladies +both play over part of the gentlemen's courses, there being plenty of +scope for brassey and cleek shots through the green. Chorley Wood, +Richmond, Barham Downs, Folkestone, Lelant, Cheltenham, Chester, +Malvern, and Rhyl are all courses of some length, and in playing over +which most of one's clubs are called into use. + +Of links abroad, there are some eleven clubs in Australia, eleven in New +Zealand, including four ladies' clubs, five in the Straits Settlements, +twenty-four in India, twenty-one in Canada, four in the West Indies, one +hundred and fourteen in the United States, where the game may be fairly +said to have "caught on," and fifteen clubs in South Africa, besides +links at Malta, in Egypt, Cyprus, Algeria, Arabia, Ceylon, China, +Tasmania, Mauritius, Canary Islands, and nearer home in Belgium, +Holland, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, and last but not least +France, where we find fourteen clubs, most of them largely patronized by +the leading players from Scotland, England and Ireland during the winter +months. Of all the colonies, New Zealand and Australia are said to be +the keenest over golf, so far as ladies are concerned, and in both these +countries they have even instituted an annual Ladies' Championship, thus +following the lead of the mother country. As to the American ladies, +they are intensely keen over the game and spare no pains to become +proficient in it, their annual woman's championship being a very large +gathering. This tournament is played upon the lines of the men's amateur +championship, but only the eight lowest scores qualify in the medal +round, and the final round, as in this country, is only eighteen holes, +the thirty-six hole test being considered too tedious for a woman. +Between thirty and forty players usually enter; Miss Hayt, Mrs. Turnure, +Mrs. Shippen, Miss F. C. Griscon, and Miss Sands appear to be some who +play from scratch, and before long we shall hope to welcome some of +these cousins from over the "Herring Pond" to one of our annual +championships. + +Recently, in America, a golf school has been started, in a large and +well-lighted drill hall, where the game can be taught by the hour. The +windows in the hall are protected by netting, and on the floor is a +large square of rubber, from off which drives, brasseys, and iron shots +can be practised. Many other clever devices for learning the game and +gaining accuracy are also in force in this school. + +Local championships are now established in some of our counties, those +of Yorkshire and the Midlands being the biggest events. A real golf +treat on the south coast is a day at Sandwich or Deal, preferably the +former, the St. Andrews of the south, where the carries are indeed as +big as one could wish for, especially at the third hole, or "Unknown +Sahara," as the huge sandy desert of a bunker confronting the tee is +called. Again at the sixth hole, or "The Maiden," as its world-renowned +name is, a gigantic bunker some forty feet high, which grows on its +steep side a prolific crop of rough bent rushy grass, gives full scope +to your powers be they what they may. "Hades," too, is a hole that +requires a very well hit ball to carry the surrounding troubles, and +numbers nine, fourteen, and seventeen are all holes where long drivers +get a tremendous advantage. At the same time, one finds at Sandwich a +line marked out by blue guide flags, in the following of which the +rather shorter driver will not be so severely punished. The total length +of the course is some six thousand odd yards, the longest hole being +about four hundred and eighty yards, and the shortest about one hundred +and eighty yards. The Gentleman's Amateur Championship was held over +this course in 1896, when Mr. Tait won, after some splendid fights with +Mr. C. Hutchings, Mr. J. E. Laidley, Mr. J. Ball, junior, Mr. Horace +Hutchinson, and finally with Mr. H. Hilton. Amongst the lady-players +there are many dozen who might well claim notice, but space being +limited it is only possible to refer to a few of the best known, Lady +Margaret Hamilton-Russell, Miss Pascoe, Miss E. C. Orr, and Miss Issette +Pearson have already been mentioned. But to give the honour to Scotland, +at Prestwich Miss Sybil Whigham reigns supreme, with her splendid long +raking drives and iron shots. This player takes a full easy swing, using +her shoulders well, and turning but very slightly upon the left toe in +driving. In the matter of getting out of bunkers, she is especially +adept. From Dumfries hails Miss A. Maxwell, another grand player, but +one who has the half swing only, with a peculiar action of the left foot +at the moment of driving. Mrs. Murray, of the Torwoodlee club, was one +of the best "all-round" players in the recent Gullane Championship, her +approaching and putting being nothing short of grand. Miss Blanche +Anderson and Miss Madeline Campbell of North Berwick, are both shining +lights in that club which is so rich in golfing talent, Miss Campbell's +handling of her clubs being specially taking. But turning more +Southwards, at Windermere, Miss Bownass, with her fine drives and +approach shots, can hold her own on that very undulating course. Twice +she has accomplished the rather difficult eighteen holes in eighty-nine +strokes. In Lancashire, we find Mrs. Ryder Richardson, whose play is too +well known to need a description. Besides taking endless prizes in the +North, including the Isle of Man, Mrs. Richardson performed a marvellous +feat at Ranelagh, in April of 1897, by doing that somewhat tricky course +in seventy-nine strokes, the record for a woman. In North Wales, Miss +Kennedy keeps up the golf reputation, but her recent doings at Gullane +have already been discussed. In Worcestershire, Miss Nevill and Miss E. +Nevill carry all before them. Both splendid drivers, they play a very +bold game all through, besides which bunkers and other difficulties hold +few terrors for them. At Cheltenham, on the Cleeve Hill Common, Mrs. +Aylmer and Miss Johnson are formidable opponents. At Westward Ho! we +find Mrs. Wilson-Hoare, whose game is as well known as it is admired. +She has a fine workmanlike swing, both in driving and brassey shots, and +very few can touch her in extricating herself from a difficult lie. On +links not far from London, we find such players as Miss Phillips, Miss +K. Walker, Mrs. Worssam, Mrs. Willock, Miss Lena Thomson[9] and many +others, who are looked upon in the light of towers of strength in club +matches, or team competitions. + +[Footnote 9: Holder of the Championship, 1898.] + +But here a word on _Esprit-de-corps_, that most essential qualification +of all games, without which no sport can be worthily pursued. In these +days of endless clubs, each containing many of the same members, the +want is felt of some species of rule, or at least an understanding, on +the subject of the same member--whose name may be on the books of +several clubs--playing for or against such clubs promiscuously. If there +be real _esprit-de-corps_, there can be but little doubt which club +really claims one's sympathy and interest, when the inter-club match +season is in full swing. + +[Illustration: _Reinhold Thiele and Co. Chancery Lane._ + +_RANELAGH GROUP, APRIL, 1897._] + +Yet another matter, is a word on the penalty stroke, namely, on dropping +the ball, as put forth in rule 39: + +"In all cases where a ball is to be dropped, the party doing so shall +front the hole to which he is playing, standing behind the hazard and +dropping the ball behind him from his head." + +So many women throw the ball over the head, or else stand partly round +and drop it with a kind of jerk over the shoulder, turning the head at +the same time, so as to watch the place where it is desired the ball +should alight. Instead of doing this, you should step back a few paces +in the exact line in which the ball entered the hazard, then stand +erect, raise the hand over the head and drop the ball simply behind you. +Of the Stymie, let it be said, that as it always has been a freak of the +game, so let it continue to be. A stymie, is when the opponent's ball is +on the line of your own putt. But though much is talked of its +abolition, yet as it has always been a case of "fortune's fickle smile +upon the player," why not let it remain so? + +Having gone somewhat lightly through the various parts of the game of +golf, it may not be amiss to close with a few remarks taken from an +early volume of the _Golf Annual_, and occurring in an article written +by Mr. John Thomson, which sets forth the advantages of the game in no +mean manner. "Good games should benefit both mind and body, and no game +can stand this test better than golf. To the mind it shows the need of +caution, courage, coolness, and many other good qualities. Above all it +teaches one to keep the temper under due control in all circumstances +and situations. Our royal game brings out the strength and weakness of +character both in yourself and others, and gives an excellent chance to +study human nature. Some folks think they can know a man from his face, +his mode of hand-shaking, or other such things, but if you wish to look +a fellow through and through, play two or three stiff matches of golf +with him. As to the healthy nature of the game, it is surely needless to +say a word." + +Here the writer quotes a favourable passage from Burton's _Anatomy of +Melancholy_, closing his remarks with the words, "All round we may thus +say our game promotes that greatest of all blessings, sound mind and +sound body." + +A. W. M. Starkie-Bence. + +[Illustration: _Lombardi and Co. 13, Pall Mall East._ + +_MRS. SPONG._] + + + + +CROQUET. + + +In Dr. Prior's "Notes on Croquet," published in 1872, the origin of the +game is traced to Pêle Mêle, or Pall Mall, a game played with mallet and +balls as long ago as 1661, and written of by the celebrated Mr. Pepys in +his diary about that time. Pall mall was played with long handled +mallets, with small balls, on gravel, and with long swinging strokes, +and appears to have much more resembled golf than croquet; but Dr. Prior +writes of a modified form of the game which only occupied a narrow but +smooth space of ground, and in which two small arches and one iron peg +were employed, while the strokes were made with a spoon-headed mallet, +resembling the mace used at billiards. + +A hundred years later, a game bearing the name croquet was played by the +peasants of Brittany, a rough pastime, detailed accounts of which may be +read in Mr. A. Lillie's work on croquet published last year, or in Dr. +Prior's earlier book. The game, as first known in this country, seems to +have come from Ireland somewhere about 1857, when it was brought out by +Mr. Jaques as a social garden game; a trivial enough pastime from which +gradually developed the more interesting game of the present day. It was +to Mr. Walter Jones Whitmore that the first start of really scientific +croquet is due, and he it was who organised the first tournament in +1867, held at Evesham, when Mr. Whitmore became the champion. +In the following year, a much larger tournament was held at +Moreton-in-the-Marsh, when the Championship fell to the late Mr. W. H. +Peel, whose interest in the game never flagged, and to whose untiring +exertions much of the success of the present revival is due. He founded +the present All-England Croquet Association, two years ago, (1896), and +became its honorary secretary, his sadly sudden death last October +leaving a blank hard to fill. + +In 1868, Mr. Whitmore got up the All-England Croquet Club, and from this +point the tactics of the game became its prominent feature. With the +expulsion of tight croquet (viz., when two balls were together, placing +your foot on your own ball to keep it in position, and hitting it so as +to send the other ball away), and the introduction of the dead boundary, +croquet became a game more of the head than the hands, the various +positions in a game requiring perfectly different treatment according to +the capabilities of the antagonists. At this time, too, a code of laws +was drawn up by Mr. Whitmore and a few leading spirits, which in some +respects differed materially from the rules of to-day, notably in that +requiring the side stroke. + +From 1869, the date of the first Open Tournament, held on the +All-England Club grounds, at Wimbledon, till 1882, yearly matches were +played there for the Championship and Challenge Cup, and for some years +there was also a Ladies' Championship contest, but either the extreme +narrowness of the hoops, the large size of the grounds, or the necessity +for constant practice, so reduced the number of competitors that these +matches were abandoned, and even the Gentlemen's Championship for three +or four years practically dwindled down to a match between two players +(Mr. Bonham Carter and Mr. Spong), till in 1882, the Cup having been +finally won by the latter, croquet became a thing of the past at +Wimbledon. The club grounds were then handed over to lawn-tennis players +until 1896, when a small body of enthusiastic croquet players started +the game afresh, and in a few weeks several old players rallied round +them, and one or two small but successful meetings were held. + +In the interval, croquet had not altogether died out. At Brentwood, a +small club had held its meetings for some time, and at Maidstone, a +yearly tournament had taken place since 1894, while players were to be +found in the remote village of Budleigh Salterton, and in the far west +of Somersetshire, Dr. Prior kept up a perfect lawn, on which in former +years most of the well-known players had tried their skill. + +To make a croquet lawn as perfect as possible, it should be absolutely +level, of fine hill turf, not mossy or intersected with plantains, and +if possible there should be a layer of cinders or other Ballast a few +inches below the surface, as this serves to drain it more quickly and +also prevents worms from working through. + +[Illustration] + +The measurements now required are 35 by 28 yards, though until last year +40 by 30 yards was considered a match ground. The boundaries should be +marked by a chalk line, and at each corner a white spot should be made +exactly one yard from each boundary, to mark the position for replacing +a corner ball, a matter of much importance in every game. The six hoop +setting, with 4-inch hoops and two stout pegs is universally adopted. +The hoops are of round iron half an inch thick, square topped, and +painted white, No. 1 being generally a light blue to shew the +starting-point. They should be long enough to be driven quite nine +inches into the ground, and stand the same distance above it, and they +are generally painted black in the lower half to show when properly +driven in. Of the pegs, one should be plain white, the other (the +winning peg) painted with the four colours, blue, red, black, yellow, in +order, and both should have small crossbars inserted on which to place +the clips. It is essential that the balls should be in these plain +colours, and it would be well if the vendors of croquet implements would +avoid the striped balls, so bewildering in sequence, and so much more +difficult to aim at. Every so-called set should be provided with four +iron clips, painted to match the balls, which are used to indicate the +position of the game, and are placed on the top of the hoops in the +first half, and on the sides in the return journey. + +In the matter of mallets every licence is given, each player using the +kind he likes best. The weight of these varies from 2-1/3 to 3-1/2 lbs., +and the length of the head and shape is a matter of individual fancy. +Many well-known players keep a variety of mallets and sometimes change +the weapon frequently in a game; but for my own part I believe in +getting accustomed to one mallet and sticking to it. The shapes are some +of them most peculiar, and one of the old players for years used a +mallet head like a thick solid block with square ends, while a player +recently appeared with a mallet head of extraordinary length, and +somewhat resembling the bottom of a rocking-chair. Some mallets are +sliced at the bottom, with the idea that by this means the ball is hit +more directly in the centre, and is not so liable to be topped. Some +again have a flat brass plate attached at the bottom for extra weight, +while one lady plays with a beautiful ivory mallet, long in the head +but of smaller diameter than the usual box-wood ones. Heads of lignum +vitæ are also used, and many players have india-rubber 1/4-inch thick +affixed to one end, by which means two balls can be rolled together a +distance of nearly thirty yards without any undue effort. This is a +great boon to lady players, as without the india-rubber a very powerful +following stroke is required, a hard hit only separating the balls, the +hinder or playing ball rarely reaching half the distance. + +The manner of equalising in a competition is by handicapping the strong +players, who give bisques, viz., one or more extra turns in each game, +which may be taken at any time in continuation of a break, but not more +than one bisque in the same turn. + +The manner of holding the mallet and striking varies in the hands of +different players, Mr. C. E. Willis the present Champion at Wimbledon +and at Maidstone being the finest example of a side stroke player, as +set forth by Mr. Whitmore and and Mr. Peel, while Mr. Bonham Carter, Mr. +Spong, Capt. Drummond and many others consider the aim much more certain +with the forward position, a kind of pendulum stroke in which the weight +of the mallet tells more than any force used. Some of the most +successful of the lady players, too, use this method of striking, +notably Miss Maud Drummond (winner of the Ladies' Gold Medal in 1896, +and of the Wimbledon Championship Badge in 1897) and Miss Elphinstone +Stone (present holder of the Maidstone Ladies' Cup), but Miss de Winton +(Gold Medallist, 1897) and Mrs. Wood adhere to the older side stroke. + +Since the early days of Croquet, when six or eight players engaged in +one game on a small lawn, with hoops often wide enough for a child to +crawl through, and sometimes a cage and bell occupying the centre of the +ground, the game has changed almost beyond recognition. Then "tactics" +were unknown, everybody's idea being to go into position for the hoop +their ball was to pass through, and by tight croquet to send off every +adversary to the greatest possible distance. Players thus disposed of +were often required to shoot back from a ground occupied by a second set +of players, and a good long shot won more applause than anything else in +the game; but with the introduction of the dead boundary, the game +changed entirely. Rules were made, more than 4 balls were never employed +in a game, and the terms "roquet," "dead ball," "live ball," "pioneer," +"break," "rush," &c., soon became familiar words, a complete list of +these, with detailed instructions for playing the game in a scientific +manner, are so admirably set forth in Mr. Lillie's book, published last +year, that intending players will do well to study it, but the meaning +of a few of the terms may not be out of place here. + +A "roquet" is made when the playing ball strikes another ball; after a +"roquet," croquet must be taken by placing the two balls together, and +either striking your own ball so that it goes to some required point, +only moving the other ball a little, which is called taking two off; or +by sending each ball in a different direction (a splitting stroke); or +again by rolling the two balls together. In taking croquet, if either +ball touches the boundary line it is considered dead, and the turn +ceases. The "live ball" is the next to play, and the "dead ball" is the +name given to the adversary's ball which has just played. A ball is +considered "in play," when in its turn it has made a point and has still +to continue its turn, but is "in hand" after making a "roquet" until +"croquet" is taken. The "rush" is a roquet sending the ball hit in some +desired direction. Thus in taking croquet, it is often advisable to get +near another ball on some particular side, to "rush" it into position +for a hoop, etc. The rush is one of the most telling strokes in a game, +but requires some practice, as the ball must be struck low, with the +mallet held freely and pointed rather in an upward direction. A ball hit +at all on the top is apt to jump, and indeed a leapfrog stroke which +will clear another ball and sometimes a hoop, is often successfully +carried out by the best players, when their ball is blocked from the +desired object. To "wire" is to place the balls in such a position that +they are screened from the next player's shot, by one or more hoops. +Making a "point" is the hoop or peg made in order. The "pioneer" is the +ball sent on to the hoop next but one in order, to assist the playing +ball at that point. "Break" is the name given to a succession of points +made in the same turn. A "rover" is a ball which has passed through all +the hoops, and only has to touch the winning peg. To "finesse" is to +play into a corner so that the dead ball shall not be easily available +to assist in the adversary's game, and that the friendly ball may join +it when it's turn arrives. This is only done when the opponents' two +balls are together. "Counter finesse" is for the adversary next playing +to send his partner's ball to join the dead ball in the corner, thus +preventing the others getting together. To "peel" to put another ball +through its hoop by croquet. This stroke is named after the late Mr. W. +H. Peel, who was particularly successful with it, and only last autumn +at a handicap meeting on the Wimbledon grounds he won a game in which he +"peeled" his partner's ball through the four last hoops. + +The option of beginning in a match falls to the winner of the toss, who +always elects to do so, and by that means usually secures the first +break. In a partner match, however, the winner of the toss often puts in +the other side first, as it is an advantage for the captain to play +immediately before his strongest opponent. In starting the ball is +placed one foot from the first hoop, in position for making that point. +It has been suggested that a change in this rule would be of advantage. +For instance, if each ball started from a spot in the centre of the +ground, it would make a greater variety in the opening tactics. + +[Illustration] + +One of the advantages of croquet is its suitability to players of all +ages and to those not in robust health, as, unlike golf, it requires no +great physical strength. People who would not be able to walk miles +across the rough ground of the links, exhilarating as this is to the +strong, can yet enjoy the more gentle exercise on a level lawn. It is a +well-known fact in the croquet world that many of its players attribute +their improved health to the hours they have spent on the croquet +lawn--the late Rev. Mark Pattison, of Oxford, being one of these, and +the Rev. D. J. Heath another. + +There is a charm, too, in the equal terms on which men and women players +can meet. I do not say but what men as a rule are the better +players--their constant practise at aiming at billiards and other games +giving them more accuracy of aim--but setting this aside, there seems no +reason why women should not play equally well with practice. Where they +often fail doubtless is in attempting too much. Not content with +leaving the dead ball with their partner's ball, and laying its break by +sending off the next player and going to act pioneer at the partner's +hoop, it is said of women especially, that they often try a difficult +hoop with the live ball, break down and thus let the other side in, +which with the more cautious plan would have been avoided. Again, +croquet is a game in which success is by no means a matter of mechanical +skill alone, for in croquet, as in chess, the player must look ahead not +only for one move but must count on the probability of the adversary's +success or failure, judging by the power already exhibited, and by the +state of the ground, etc. Thus it is often good policy if the opponents' +balls are together in a corner on a fast dry lawn, not to risk a long +"take off" with a probability of going over the boundary in an endeavour +to separate them, but for the player to roll his own and partner's ball +into another corner (if possible across the ground) leaving a rush for +the partner's ball towards the adversaries, or to its own hoop, thus +necessitating the opponent trying the difficult take off with hoops in +the way, and the possibility of going over the boundary or catching in a +wire, etc. I think, too, there is less of the element of "luck" in +croquet than in many games, though of course we are all apt to cavil at +our bad fortune now and then. + +The present condition of croquet may be considered as encouraging. Its +popularity has revived very rapidly, though it is only from the Southern +and one or two of the Midland Counties that we have as yet met players +of any prominence. In Scotland, it is true, there has long been a +championship meeting held at Moffat, where Mr. and Mrs. Macfie, of +Borthwick Hall, Midlothian, are among its most liberal supporters. We +have had one or two Irish players at the recent Wimbledon meetings, and +I hear that in County Down the game is much played. Croquet lawns are, +indeed, set out at the fashionable Social Clubs of Hurlingham and +Ranelagh, but alas, the game and its requirements are little understood +there. A well-organised tournament on the picturesque grounds of the +latter club, at Barn Elms, in the height of the season, might do much to +spread its popularity, for the large tournament at Eastbourne last +autumn, showed a marked increase in spectators, who displayed some +knowledge of the tactics of the game, and the keenest interest in the +contests. Another interesting feature of each season would be +inter-county matches. Devonshire, Gloucestershire, Sussex, +Hertfordshire, Middlesex, Northamptonshire, Bucks., &c., all furnish +some strong players, and representative fours might be selected, and +gentlemen's doubles, ladies' doubles, and mixed doubles might be +arranged, as well as, of course, single matches. Monthly Club Handicaps, +too, we hope to see at Wimbledon, and there are rumours of an +International Tournament with a strong contingent of American players, +with whom the game is popular, though it is hardly played on the same +lines as in England. + +[Illustration] + +It is contended against croquet that the games are too long, and +certainly, with some overcautious players, a close match becomes a very +tedious thing. To obviate this difficulty, in all handicap matches in +the big tournaments last year, time games were resorted to, an +hour-and-a-half being generally the allowance for each single match, +and two hours for doubles, ample time to finish a game in most +instances, though, if not finished, the side ahead wins, and if points, +are even when time is called, the first roquet afterwards constitutes a +victory. This gives scope for some amusing strategy, when the contest is +a very close one. + +Reducing the size of the lawns has undoubtedly made the game easier and +more equal, for the weaker players can now get a ball from end to end, +which many women were formerly unable to do, while the opportunities of +wiring one's adversary are more frequent. The main point resolves +itself, not so entirely into a matter of skill, as in rightly estimating +one's own strength and one's adversary's knowledge of the game. In +handicap play this is specially needful, and it is only by match +practice it can be gained. In double handicaps it is usual for the pairs +to be drawn, the captain from one of the first four classes, and the +partner from a lower class, and nothing gives an intelligent beginner a +better insight into "tactics" than being guided by a really good +partner. Mr. Bonham Carter is an ideal captain, never leaving his +partner a difficult stroke, and never making a long break himself with +the partner's ball behind, thus being able to help the weaker player, +who is not discouraged with the idea that it is her ball which is the +laggard. It is only by match practice that this knowledge is gained, and +to play in a good tournament handicap is excellent training. + +As a garden-party game, Mr. Lillie, in his book, suggests some amusing +innovations, but croquet proper, as the rules now stand, is something +better than a garden-party game, and stands among out-door amusements as +chess and billiards do among in-door games. + +Gertrude Spong. + + + + +APPENDICES. + + + + +APPENDIX A. + +RULES FOR THE GAME OF GOLF, + +AS REVISED AND ADOPTED BY THE ROYAL AND ANCIENT GOLF CLUB, ST. ANDREWS. + + +1. The Game of Golf is played by two or more sides, each playing its own +ball. A side may consist of one or more persons. + +2. The game consists in each side playing a ball from a tee into a hole +by successive strokes, and the hole is won by the side holing its ball +in the fewest strokes, except as otherwise provided for in the rules. If +two sides hole out in the same number of strokes, the hole is halved. + +3. The teeing-ground shall be indicated by two marks placed in a line at +right angles to the course, and the player shall not tee in front of, +nor on either side of, these marks, nor more than two club-lengths +behind them. A ball played from outside the limits of the teeing-ground, +as thus defined, may be recalled by the opposite side. + +The hole shall be 4-1/4 inches in diameter, and at least four inches +deep. + +4. The ball must be fairly struck at, and not pushed, scraped, or +spooned, under penalty of the loss of the hole. Any movement of the club +which is intended to strike the ball is a stroke. + +5. The game commences by each side playing a ball from the first +teeing-ground. In a match with two or more on a side, the partners shall +strike off alternately from the tee, and shall strike alternately during +the play of the hole. + +The players who are to strike against each other shall be named at +starting, and shall continue in the same order during the match. + +The player who shall play first on each side shall be named by his own +side. + +In case of failure to agree, it shall be settled by lot or toss which +side shall have the option of leading. + +6. If a player shall play when his partner should have done so, his side +shall lose the hole, except in the case of the tee shot, when the shot +may be recalled at the option of the opponents. + +7. The side winning a hole shall lead in starting for the next hole, and +may recall the opponent's stroke should he play out of order. This +privilege is called the "honour." On starting for a new match, the +winner of the long match in the previous round is entitled to the +"honour." Should the first match have been halved, the winner of the +last hole gained is entitled to the "honour." + +8. One round of the links--generally 18 holes--is a match, unless +otherwise agreed upon. The match is won by the side which gets more +holes ahead than there remain holes to be played, or by the side winning +the last hole when the match was all even at the second last hole. If +both sides have won the same number, it is a halved match. + +9. After the balls are struck from the tee, the ball farthest from the +hole to which the parties are playing shall be played first, except as +otherwise provided for in the rules. Should the wrong side play first, +the opponent may recall the stroke before his side has played. + +10. Unless with the opponent's consent, a ball struck from the tee shall +not be changed, touched, or moved before the hole is played out, under +the penalty of one stroke, except as otherwise provided for in the +rules. + +11. In playing through the green, all _loose_ impediments, within a +club-length of a ball which is not lying in or touching a hazard, may be +removed, but loose impediments which are more than a club-length from +the ball shall not be removed, under the penalty of one stroke. + +12. Before striking at the ball, the player shall not move, bend, or +break anything fixed or growing near the ball, except in the act of +placing his feet on the ground for the purpose of addressing the ball, +and in soleing his club to address the ball, under the penalty of the +loss of the hole, except as provided for in Rule 18. + +13. A ball stuck fast in wet ground or sand may be taken out and +replaced loosely in the hole which it has made. + +14. When a ball lies in or touches a hazard, the club shall not touch +the ground, nor shall anything be touched or moved before the player +strikes at the ball, except that the player may place his feet firmly +on the ground for the purpose of addressing the ball, under the penalty +of the loss of the hole. + +At the General Meeting of the Royal and Ancient, held in the spring of +1895, the following addition was made to Rule 14:--"But if, in the +backward or downward swing, any grass, bent, whin, or other growing +substance, or the side of a bunker, a wall, a paling, or other immovable +obstacle be touched, no penalty shall be incurred." + +15. A "hazard" shall be any bunker of whatever nature--water, sand, +loose earth, mole-hills, paths, roads or railways, whins, bushes, +rushes, rabbit scrapes, fences, ditches, or anything which is not the +ordinary green of the course, except sand blown on to the grass by wind, +or sprinkled on grass for the preservation of the links, or snow or ice, +or bare patches on the course. + +16. A player or a player's caddie shall not press down or remove any +irregularities of surface near the ball, except at the teeing-ground, +under the penalty of the loss of the hole. + +17. If any vessel, wheel-barrow, tool, roller, grass-cutter, box, or +other similar obstruction has been placed upon the course, such +obstruction may be removed. A ball lying on or touching such +obstruction, or on clothes, or nets, or on ground under repair or +temporarily covered up or opened, may be lifted and dropped at the +nearest point of the course, but a ball lifted in a hazard shall be +dropped in the hazard. A ball lying in a golf hole or flag hole may be +lifted and dropped not more than a club-length behind such hole. + +18. When a ball is completely covered with fog, bent, whins, etc., only +so much thereof shall be set aside as that the player shall have a view +of his ball before he plays, whether in a line with the hole or +otherwise. + +19. When a ball is to be dropped, the player shall drop it. He shall +front the hole, stand erect behind the hazard, keep the spot from which +the ball was lifted (or, in the case of running water, the spot at which +it entered) in a line between him and the hole, and drop the ball behind +him from his head, standing as far behind the hazard as he may please. + +20. When the balls in play lie within six inches of each other, measured +from their nearest points, the ball nearer the hole shall be lifted +until the other is played, and shall then be replaced as nearly as +possible in its original position. Should the ball farther from the hole +be accidentally moved in so doing, it shall be replaced. Should the lie +of the lifted ball be altered by the opponent in playing, it may be +placed in a lie near to, and as nearly as possible similar to that from +which it was lifted. + +21. If the ball lie or be lost in water, the player may drop a ball, +under the penalty of one stroke. + +22. Whatever happens by accident to a ball _in motion_, such as its +being deflected or stopped by any agency outside the match, or by the +fore-caddie, is a "rub of the green," and the ball shall be played from +where it lies. Should a ball lodge in anything moving, such ball, or, if +it cannot be recovered, another ball, shall be dropped as nearly as +possible at the spot where the object was when the ball lodged in it. +But if a ball _at rest_ be displaced by any agency outside the match, +the player shall drop it or another ball as nearly as possible at the +spot where it lay. On the putting-green the ball may be replaced by +hand. + +23. If the player's ball strike, or be accidentally moved by, an +opponent or an opponent's caddie or clubs, the opponent loses the hole. + +24. If the player's ball strike, or be stopped by, himself or partner, +or either of their caddies or clubs, or if, while in the act of playing, +the player strike the ball twice, his side loses the hole. + +25. If the player, when not making a stroke, or his partner or either of +their caddies touch their side's ball, except at the tee, so as to move +it, or by touching anything cause it to move, the penalty is one stroke. + +26. A ball is considered to have been moved if it leave its original +position in the least degree and stop in another; but if a player touch +his ball and thereby cause it to oscillate, without causing it to leave +its original position, it is not moved in the sense of Rule 25. + +27. A player's side loses a stroke if he play the opponent's ball, +unless (l) the opponent then play the player's ball, whereby the penalty +is cancelled, and the hole must be played out with the balls thus +exchanged; or (2) the mistake occur through wrong information given by +the opponent, in which case the mistake, if discovered before the +opponent has played, must be rectified by placing a ball as nearly as +possible where the opponent's ball lay. + +If it be discovered before either side has struck off at the tee that +one side has played out the previous hole with the ball of a party not +engaged in the match, that side loses that hole. + +28. If a ball be lost, the player's side loses the hole. A ball shall be +held as lost if it be not found within five minutes after the search is +begun. + +29. A ball must be played wherever it lies, or the hole be given up, +except as otherwise provided for in the rules. + +30. The term "putting-green" shall mean the ground within 20 yards of +the hole, excepting hazards. + +31. All loose impediments may be removed from the putting-green, except +the opponent's ball when at a greater distance from the player's than +six inches. + +32. In a match of three or more sides, a ball in any degree lying +between the player and the hole must be lifted, or, if on the +putting-green, holed out. + +33. When the ball is on the putting-green, no mark shall be placed, nor +line drawn as a guide. The line to the hole may be pointed out, but the +person doing so may not touch the ground with the hand or club. + +The player may have his own or his partner's caddie to stand at the +hole, but none of the players or their caddies may move so as to shield +the ball from, or expose it to, the wind. + +The penalty for any breach of this rule is the loss of the hole. + +34. The player or his caddie may remove (but not press down) sand, +earth, worm casts, or snow lying around the hole or on the line of his +putt. This shall be done by brushing lightly with the hand only across +the putt and not along it. Dung may be removed to a side by an iron +club, but the club must not be laid with more than its own weight upon +the ground. The putting line must not be touched by club, hand, or foot, +except as above authorised, or immediately in front of the ball in the +act of addressing it, under the penalty of the loss of the hole. + +35. Either side is entitled to have the flag-stick removed when +approaching the hole. If the ball rest against the flag-stick when in +the hole, the player shall be entitled to remove the stick, and if the +ball fall in, it shall be considered as holed out in the previous +stroke. + +36. A player shall not play until the opponent's ball shall have ceased +to roll, under the penalty of one stroke. Should the player's ball knock +in the opponent's ball, the latter shall be counted as holed out in the +previous stroke. If in playing the player's ball displace the opponent's +ball, the opponent shall have the option of replacing it. + +37. A player shall not ask for advice, nor be knowingly advised about +the game by word, look, or gesture from any one except his own caddie, +or his partner or partner's caddie, under the penalty of the loss of the +hole. + +38. If a ball split into separate pieces, another ball may be put down +where the largest portion lies, or, if two pieces are apparently of +equal size, it may be put where either piece lies, at the option of the +player. If a ball crack or become unplayable, the player may change it, +on intimating to his opponent his intention to do so. + +39. A penalty stroke shall not be counted the stroke of a player, and +shall not affect the rotation of play. + +40. Should any dispute arise on any point, the players have the right of +determining the party or parties to whom the dispute shall be referred; +but, should they not agree, either party may refer it to the Green +Committee of the green where the dispute occurs, and their decision +shall be final. Should the dispute not be covered by the Rules of Golf, +the arbiters must decide it by equity. + + +SPECIAL RULES FOR MEDAL PLAY. + +1. In Club competitions, the competitor doing the stipulated course in +fewest strokes shall be the winner. + +2. If the lowest score be made by two or more competitors, the ties +shall be decided by another round, to be played on the same or any other +day, as the Captain, or, in his absence, the Secretary shall direct. + +3. New holes shall be made for the Medal Round, and thereafter no member +shall play any stroke on a putting-green before competing. + +4. The score shall be kept by a special marker, or by the competitors +noting each other's scores. The scores marked shall be checked at the +finish of each hole. On completion of the course, the score of the +player shall be signed by the person keeping the score and handed to the +Secretary. + +5. If a ball be lost, the player shall return as nearly as possible to +the spot where the ball was struck, tee another ball, and lose a stroke. +If the lost ball be found before he has struck the other ball, the first +shall continue in play. + +6. If the player's ball strike himself, or his clubs, or caddie, or if, +in the act of playing, the player strike the ball twice, the penalty +shall be one stroke. + +7. If a competitor's ball strike the other player, or his clubs, or +caddie, it is a "rub of the green," and the ball shall be played from +where it lies. + +8. A ball may, under a penalty of two strokes, be lifted out of a +difficulty of any description, and be teed behind same. + +9. All balls shall be holed out, and when play is on the putting-green, +the flag shall be removed, and the competitor whose ball is nearest the +hole shall have the option of holing out first, or of lifting his ball, +if it be in such a position that it might, if left, give an advantage to +the other competitor. Throughout the green a competitor can have the +other competitor's ball lifted, if he find that it interferes with his +stroke. + +10. A competitor may not play with a professional, and he may not +receive advice from any one but his caddie. A fore-caddie may be +employed. + +11. Competitors may not discontinue play because of bad weather. + +12. The penalty for a breach of any rule shall be disqualification. + +13. Any dispute regarding the play shall be determined by the Green +Committee. + +14. The ordinary Rules of Golf, so far as they are not at variance with +the special rules, shall apply to medal play. + + +GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS USED IN THE GAME OF GOLF. + +_Addressing the Ball_: When the player puts himself in position to +strike the ball. + +_Approach_: When the player is sufficiently near the hole to be able to +drive the ball to the putting-green his stroke is called the "approach +shot." + +_Baff_: To strike the ground with the "sole" of the club-head in +playing. This sends ball high in air and causes it to fall "dead." + +_Baffy_: A wooden club much lofted in the face. + +_Bent_: Rough, coarse grass on seaside greens. + +_Bogey_, _Colonel_: A score, usually par play, fixed for each hole. + +_Bone_: A piece of ram's horn or other substance inserted in the sole of +the club to prevent it from splitting. + +_Borrow_: When the player, on a sloping putting-green, plays the ball up +the slope a little way. + +_Bottom_: Putting back-spin on a ball. + +_Brassey_: A wooden club with a brass sole. + +_Break-club_: An obstacle lying near a ball of such a nature as might +injure the club when played. + +_Bulger_: A wooden club with a convex face. + +_Bunker_: A sand-pit. + +_Bye_: Any hole or holes that remain to be played after the match is +finished. + +_Caddie_: A person who carries the golfer's clubs. + +_Carry_: The distance the ball is driven before it touches the ground. + +_Cleek_: Iron-headed club used for driving. + +_Club_: The implement with which the ball is struck. The heads are of +various kinds--wood, aluminium, wood with a brass sole, and iron, steel, +or gun-metal. + +_Course_: That portion of the links on which the game ought to be +played. + +_Cup_: A small hole in the course, frequently one made by the stroke of +some previous player. + +_Dead_: A ball is said to be "dead" when it lies so near the hole that +the "putt" is a _dead_ certainty. A ball is said to fall "dead" when it +does not run after alighting. + +_Divot_: A piece of turf cut out by club. Replace carefully. + +_Dormy_: A player is said to be "dormy" when he is as many holes ahead +as there remain holes to play. + +_Draw_: To drive widely to the left hand. (Synonymous with "hook," +"screw" and "pull.") + +_Driver or Play-Club_: A wooden-headed club with a full-length shaft, +and with which the ball can be driven the farthest distance. + +_Duff_: To hit the ground behind a ball. + +_Face_: First, the slope of a bunker or hillock; second, the part of the +club-head which strikes the ball. + +_Flat_: A club is said to be "flat" when its head is at a very obtuse +angle to the shaft. + +_Fog_: Moss, rank grass. + +_Foozle_: A bungling stroke. + +_Fore!_ The warning cry to any person in the way of the stroke. +(Contracted from "before.") + +_Fore-Caddie_: A caddie employed to go in advance of the players and +locate the balls. + +_Foursome_: A match in which four persons play: two on each side. + +_Gobble_: A rapid, straight "putt" into the hole, such that, had the +ball not gone in, it would have gone some distance beyond. + +_Grassed_: This is said of a wooden club whose face is slightly +"spooned" or sloped backward. + +_Green_: First the whole links; second, the putting-green around the +different holes. + +_Grip_: First, the part of the handle covered with leather by which the +club is grasped; second, the grasp itself. + +_Gutty_: A gutta-percha golf ball. + +_Half-one_: A handicap of a stroke deducted every _second_ hole. + +_Half-shot_: Less than a full or a three-quarter shot. + +_Halved_: A hole is said to be "halved" when each side takes the same +number of strokes. A "halved match" is a "drawn game"--that is, the +players have proved to be equal. + +_Hanging ball_: A "hanging" ball is one which lies on a downward slope +in the direction in which the hole lies. + +_Hazard_: A general term for bunkers, long grass, roads, water, sand, +whin, mole-hill, or other bad ground. (Rule 15). + +_Head_: A head is the _lowest_ part of a club and possesses, among other +mysterious characteristics, a _sole_, a _heel_, a _toe_ or _nose_, a +_neck_, and a _face_! + +_Heel_: First, the part of the head nearest the shaft; second, to hit +from this part, thus sending the ball to the right hand. + +_Hole_: First, the hole lined with iron; second, the whole space between +any teeing-ground and the hole in connection therewith. + +_Honour_: The right to play off first from the tee. + +_Hook_: See "Draw." A hooked club has the face lying in to the ball. + +_Horn_: See "Bone." + +_Hose_: The socket of iron-headed clubs into which the shaft is fitted. + +_Iron_: A club with an iron head, more or less laid back to loft a ball. + +_Jerk_: In "Jerking," the club should strike with a quick cut behind the +ball. + +_Lie_: First, the inclination of a club when held on the ground in a +natural position for striking; second, the situation of a ball, good or +bad. + +_Lift_: To take a ball out of a hazard and drop it behind or tee it. + +_Like_: See under "Odds." + +_Like-as-we-lie_: When both sides have played the same number of +strokes. + +_Links_: The ground on which golf is played. + +_Loft_: To send the ball into the air. + +_Long odds_: When a player has to play a stroke more than his adversary, +who is much farther on--that is, nearer the hole. + +_Long game_: Driving from the tee and playing through the green. + +_Mashie_: An iron club with a deep, short blade. + +_Match_: First, the sides playing against each other: second, the game +itself. Match play reckoning the score by holes. + +_Medal play_: Reckoning the score by strokes. + +_Miss the globe_: To fail to strike the ball is counted a stroke. + +_Neck_: The bent part of the head where it joins the shaft. + +_Niblick_: A small narrow-headed heavy iron club, used when the ball has +a bad lie. + +_Nose_: The point or front portion of the club head. + +_Odds_: First, means the handicap given by a strong player to a weaker +in a single match, consisting of either one, two, three, or more holes +to start with, or one stroke per hole, or every alternate hole, or at +every third hole, etc.; second, to have played "the odds" is to have +played one stroke more than your adversary. + +_One-off-two, one-off-three, etc._: When your opponent has played two +strokes more your next stroke is one-off-two, and so on. + +_Play-club_: See "Driver." + +_Press_: To strive to hit the ball harder than usual. + +_Putt_: To play close to the hole. (Pronounce _u_ as in _but_.) + +_Putter_: An upright, stiff-shafted, wooden, iron, or gun-metal headed +club, used when the ball is on the putting-green. + +_Putting-green_: The prepared ground round the holes. + +_Rind_: A strip of cloth under the leather to thicken the grip. + +_Rub of the green_: A favourable or unfavourable knock to the ball. +(Rule 22.) + +_Run_: Running the ball along the ground instead of lofting it; and also +the run of a drive is the distance the ball runs after reaching the +ground. + +_Scare_: The narrow part of the club head by which it is glued to the +shaft, and which is spliced over. + +_Screw_: See "Draw." + +_Sclaff_: Hitting the ground behind the ball first, thus not getting a +clean stroke. + +_Scruff_: Slightly razing the grass in striking. + +_Set_: A full complement of clubs. + +_Shaft_: The stick or handle of the club. + +_Slice_: To draw the face of the club across the ball, sending it with a +curve towards the right. + +_Socket_: That part of the head of iron clubs into which the shaft is +fitted. + +_Sole_: The flat bottom of the club head. + +_Spoons_: Wooden-headed clubs of three lengths--long, middle, and short: +the head is scooped or grassed so as to loft the ball. + +_Spring_: The degree of suppleness in the shaft. + +_Square_: When the game stands level, neither party being any holes +ahead. + +_Stance_: The position of the player's feet when addressing himself to +the ball. + +_Steal_: To hole a long unlikely "putt" from a distance, not by a +"gobble," but by a stroke which just succeeds in getting the ball as far +as the hole. + +_Stroke_: Any movement of the club which is intended to strike the +ball. + +_Stymie_: When your opponent's ball lies in the line of your "putt"; +from an old Scotch word, meaning "obscuring." + +_Swing_: The sweep of the club in driving. + +_Tee_: The pinch of sand on which the ball is placed at the +teeing-ground. + +_Teeing-ground_: A space marked out within the limits of which the +ground must be teed. + +_Third_: A handicap of a stroke deducted every _third_ hole. + +_Toe_: Another name for the nose of the club. + +_Top_: To top the ball is to hit it above the centre. + +_Two-more, three-more, etc._: See under "Odds." + +_Upright_: A club is said to be "upright" when its head is not at a very +obtuse angle to the shaft. + +_Whins_, furze, or gorse. + +_Whipping_: The pitched twine uniting the head and handle. + +_Wrist-shot_: Less than a half-shot, generally played with an iron +club--the old saying was "played from the knee." + + + + +APPENDIX B + +THE ALL-ENGLAND CROQUET LAWS. + +1897. + + +1. _Mallets._--There shall be no restriction as to the number, weight, +size, shape, or material of the mallets; nor as to the part of the +handle held. The ball must only be struck with either end of the head of +the mallet. + +2. _Size of Balls._--The balls used in match play shall be three and +five-eighth inches in diameter, of even weight, each ball weighing not +less than thirteen and three-quarter oz. or more than fourteen and a +quarter oz. + +3. _Choice of Lead and of Balls._--It shall be decided by lot which side +shall have choice of lead and of balls. In a succession of games the +choice of lead shall be alternate, the sides keeping the same balls. + +4. _Commencement of Game._--In commencing, each ball shall be placed on +the starting spot. The striker's ball, when so placed and struck is at +once in play, and can roquet any other ball in play or be roqueted +whether it has made the first hoop or not. + +5. _Stroke, when taken._--A stroke is considered to be taken if a ball +be moved in the act of striking; but should a player, in taking aim, +move his own or any other ball accidentally, it must be replaced to the +satisfaction of the umpire or the adversary, and the stroke be then +taken. If a ball be moved in taking aim, and then struck without being +replaced, the stroke is foul (see Law 25). + +6. _Hoop, when run._--A ball has run its hoop when, having passed +through from the playing side and ceased to roll, it cannot be touched +by a straight-edge placed against the wires on the side from which it +was played, after the hoop has been placed upright. + +7. _Ball driven partly through Hoop._--A ball driven partly through its +hoop from the non-playing side cannot run the hoop at its next stroke, +if it can be touched by a straight-edge placed against the wires on the +non-playing side. + +8. _Points counted to Non-Strikers Ball._--A ball driven through its +hoop, or against the turning peg, by any stroke not foul, of its own +side, or by any stroke of the adverse side, scores the point so made. + +9. _Points made for Adversary's Ball._--If a point be made for an +adversary's ball, the striker must inform his adversary of it. Should +the striker neglect to do so, and the adversary make the point again, he +may continue his turn as though he had played for his right point. + +10. _The Turn._--A player, when his turn comes round, may roquet each +ball once before making a point, and may do this again after each point +made. The player continues his turn so long as he makes a point or a +roquet. + +11. _Croquet imperative after Roquet._--A player who roquets a ball must +take croquet, and in so doing must move perceptibly both balls (_vide_ +Law 27 (_h_) (_i_)). + +In taking croquet, the striker is not allowed to place his foot on the +ball. + +12. _Ball in Hand after Roquet._--No point or roquet can be made by a +ball which is in hand. If a ball in hand displace any other balls, they +must remain where they are driven. Any point made in consequence of such +displacement counts, notwithstanding that the ball displacing them is in +hand. + +13. _Balls roqueted simultaneously._--When a player roquets two balls +simultaneously, he may choose from which of them he will take croquet; +another roquet will be required before he can take croquet from the +other ball. + +14. _Balls found touching._--If at the commencement of a turn the +striker's ball be found touching another, roquet is deemed to be made, +and croquet must be taken at once, but if it be found touching two balls +the striker can take croquet of which ball he chooses. But another +roquet will be required before he can take croquet from one of the other +balls. + +15. _Roquet and Hoop made by same Stroke._--Should a ball, in making its +hoop, roquet another that lies beyond the hoop, and then pass through, +the hoop counts as well as the roquet. A ball is deemed to be beyond the +hoop if it lies so that it cannot be touched by a straight-edge placed +against the wires on the playing side. Should any part of the ball that +is roqueted be lying on the playing side of the hoop, the roquet counts, +but not the hoop. + +16. A rover can be pegged out by any stroke (not foul) of another rover, +whether of the same or the adverse side. Players can, however, mutually +agree before the commencement of the game that rovers shall not be +pegged out by adverse rovers. + +17. _Rover pegged out by Roquet._--A player (rover) who pegs out a rover +by a roquet loses the remainder of his turn because a rover when pegged +out is out of the game and croquet cannot be taken from it. The law does +not apply when there is no pegging out. + +18. _Balls sent off the Ground._--A ball sent off the ground must at +once be replaced three feet within the boundary, measured from the spot +where it went off, and at right angles to the boundary. If this spot be +already occupied, the ball last sent off is to be placed in contact with +the other, but no ball is to be placed less or more than three feet from +the boundary, the player merely having option whether he place the +second ball going off at the same spot to the right or left of the first +ball. If a third ball go off on the same spot it must be placed touching +the first ball. + +19. _Ball sent off near Corner._ A ball sent off within three feet of a +corner is to be replaced three feet from both boundaries. If more than +one ball be sent off within three feet of any corner, the ball last sent +off is to be placed in contact with the ball occupying the corner spot, +and three feet from one of the boundaries at the option of the player. +When a player roquets one of the corner balls he is entitled to place +the balls in any order, provided one is on the corner spot, and the +others touch it or some other corner ball; but he must take croquet off +the ball he has roqueted. + +If a player's ball be in a corner with two or more other balls the +player is at liberty to choose off which ball he will take croquet, and +previous to his doing so he may alter the position of the other balls to +his liking, provided one is on the corner spot and the others touching +it or some other corner ball. + +20. _Ball touching Boundary._--If the boundary be marked by a line on +the turf, a ball touching the line is deemed to be off the ground. If +the boundary be raised, a ball touching the boundary is similarly deemed +to be off the ground. + +21. _Ball sent off and returning to Ground._--If a ball be sent off the +ground, and return to it, the ball must be similarly replaced, measuring +from the point of first contact with the boundary. + +22. _Ball sent within three feet of Boundary._--A ball sent within three +feet of the boundary, but not off the ground, is to be replaced as +though it had been sent off; except in the case of the striker's ball, +when the striker has the option of replacing his ball, or of playing +from where it lies. + +23. _Boundary interfering with Stroke._--If it be found that the height +of the boundary interferes with the stroke, the striker, with the +sanction of the umpire or the adversary, may bring in the balls a longer +distance than three feet, so as to allow a free swing of the mallet. +Balls so brought in must be moved in the line of aim, and placed at the +same relative distance. + +24. _Dead Boundary._--If, in taking croquet, the striker send his own +ball, or the ball croqueted, off the ground, he loses the remainder of +his turn, unless (_a_) with the playing ball he make a roquet, or (_b_) +the croqueted ball be caused to make a point in order (the striker's +ball not passing the boundary). + +25. _Balls touched by Adversary._--Should a ball when rolling, except it +be in hand, be touched, diverted from its course, or stopped by an +adversary, the striker may elect whether he will take the stroke again, +or whether the ball shall remain where it stopped, or be placed where in +the judgment of the umpire or the striker it would have rolled to. + +26. _Balls diverted or stopped by Umpire._--Should a ball be diverted +from its course or stopped by an umpire, he is to place it where he +considers it would have rolled to. + +27. _Foul Strokes._--If a player make a foul stroke he loses the +remainder of his turn, and any point or roquet made by such stroke does +not count. Balls moved by a foul stroke are to remain where they lie, or +be replaced at the option of the adversary. If the foul be made when +taking croquet, and the adversary elect to have the balls replaced, they +must be replaced in contact as they stood when the croquet was taken. +The following are foul strokes: + + (_a_) To strike with the mallet another ball instead of or + besides one's own, in making the stroke. + + (_b_) To spoon--_i.e._, to push a ball without an audible + knock. + + (_c_) To strike a ball twice distinctly in the same stroke + (except in the case of rolling two balls together if only + one player use india-rubber). + + (_d_) To touch, stop, or divert the course of a ball when + in play and rolling, whether this be done by the striker or + his partner. + + (_e_) To allow a ball to touch the mallet [or any part of + the player's person] in rebounding from a peg or wire. + + (_f_) To move a ball which lies close to a peg or wire by + striking the peg or wire [_i.e._, to touch with the mallet + a wire or peg in making the stroke]. + + (_g_) To press a ball round a peg or wire (crushing + stroke). + + (_h_) To play a stroke after roquet without taking croquet. + + (_i_) To fail to move both balls in taking croquet. + + (_k_) To croquet a ball which the striker is not entitled + to croquet. + + (_l_) To knock a wire of the hoop out of the ground when + making a stroke. + + (_m_) To move a ball in the act of taking aim without + replacing it to the satisfaction of the umpire or the + adversary before striking it. + + (_n_) To hit a ball with any part of the mallet other than + one of the ends of the head (_vide_ Law 1). + + (_o_) To improperly handle or touch a ball with foot or + mallet (_vide_ Laws 5, 34). + +28. _Playing out of Turn or with the Wrong Ball._--If a player play out +of turn or with the wrong ball, no point made after the mistake can be +scored unless as specified below. The balls shall be replaced by the +umpire, or to the satisfaction of the adversary, where they were +immediately before the mistake was made, and the player shall recommence +or continue his turn as the case may be. But if the adverse side play +without the mistake being discovered the turn shall hold good, and any +point or points made properly (_i.e._, in order for the ball he is +playing with) during the turn shall be scored. In the case when the +error is not discovered the adversary cannot be penalised for playing +with either ball (of his own side), provided that he can prove that a +mistake was made in the turn immediately preceding. + +29. _Playing for Wrong Point._--If a player make a wrong point it does +not count, and, therefore (unless he have, by the same stroke, taken +croquet, or made a roquet), all subsequent strokes are in error, the +remainder of the turn is lost, and any point or roquet made after the +mistake. The balls remain where they lie when the penalty is claimed, or +are replaced as they were immediately before the last stroke was made, +at the option of the adversary. + +30. _Information as to Score._--Every player is entitled to be informed +which is the next point of any ball. + +31. _State of Game, if disputed._--When clips are used, their position, +in case of dispute, shall be conclusive as to the position of the balls +in the game. + +32. _Wires knocked out of Ground._--Should a player, in trying to run +his hoop, knock a wire of that hoop out of the ground with his ball, the +hoop does not count. The ball must be replaced, and the stroke taken +again. + +33. _Pegs or Hoops not upright._--Any player may set upright a peg or +hoop, except the one next in order; and that must not be altered except +by the umpire. + +34. _Ball lying in a Hole or on Bad Ground._--A ball lying in a hole or +on bad ground may only be moved with the sanction of the umpire or with +the consent of the adversary. The ball must be put back, _i.e._, away +from the object aimed at, so as not to alter the line of aim. + +35. _Umpires._--The duties of an umpire are: + + (_a_) To decide any questions that may arise during the + game, if appealed to. + + (_b_) To keep the score, and if asked by a player to + disclose the state of the game. + + (_c_) To move the clips or to see that they are properly + moved. + + (_d_) To replace balls sent off the ground or to see that + they are properly replaced. + + (_e_) To adjust hoops or pegs or to see that they are + properly adjusted (_vide_ Law 33). + + (_f_) To inform the striker when he is about to play or has + played out of turn, or with the wrong ball, or when he has + made a wrong point. + + With the exception of the instances named in clause (_f_), + an umpire shall not draw attention to, or give his opinion + on, any mistake made unless appealed to by one of the + players. The decision of an umpire on a question of fact + shall be final, but on a question of law, if required by a + player, he must appeal to the referee. + +36. _Absence of Umpire._--When no umpire is present permission to move a +ball or to set up a peg or hoop, or any other indulgence for which an +umpire would be appealed to, must be asked of the other side. + + +PRIZE MEETINGS, HANDICAPS, ETC. + +A committee must be appointed and a referee. They will issue a programme +announcing the details of the matches, size of grounds, width of hoops, +amount due for entry, date of the draw, hour of the match play. + + +ENTRIES. + +No entry shall be valid unless the entrance money is paid by such date +as the committee appoint. + + +THE DRAW. + +This is now conducted as in lawn tennis, the byes being got rid of in +the first round. + +If the number of players should be 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, or any higher power +of 2, there are no byes. If on the other hand the number of players is +not a power of 2 (let us say 19) matters are arranged after this +fashion. The names of the players are drawn out of a hat and written +down in order. To ascertain how many of these shall be byes subtract the +number of players from the next highest power of 2 (19 from 32), which +gives us 13. Of these, half go to the top of the list, the other half +with the odd one to the bottom. + + Winners. Winners. Winners. + First Second Third Semi-finals. Finals. + Round. Round. Round. + + A bye A \ + > B \ + B bye B / \ + > C \ + C bye C \ / \ + > C / \ + D bye D / \ + \ + E bye E \ > C \ + > F \ / \ + F bye F / \ / \ + \ / \ + G \ > G / \ + > G \ / \ + H / \ / \ + > G / \ + I \ / \ + > J / \ + J / \ + > S + K \ / + > K \ / + L / \ / + > K \ / + M bye M / \ / + > O \ / + N bye N \ / \ / + > O / \ / + O bye O / \ / + > S / + P bye P \ / + > Q \ / + Q bye Q / \ / + > S / + R bye R \ / + > S / + S bye S / + + +This leaves six players, G, H, I, J, K and L, to play the matches of the +first round. Let us suppose that G, J and K win. Sixteen players now are +left in. Consequently there will be no more byes. The players are paired +in order through the line for the remaining rounds. + + +HANDICAPS. + +For handicaps the players are divided into classes by the referee, class +1 giving one bisque to class 2, two bisques to class 3, and so on. In +partner handicaps the bisques of the partners are added together and +then divided by two. Thus if Miss A. (class 6) and Mr. G. (class 2), +eight bisques in all, play Miss B. (class 7) and Mr. F. (class 4), +eleven bisques in all, the weaker side gets one and a half bisques, the +half being always changed to a whole one. These may be taken by either +partner. + + +TIME HANDICAPS. + +These are often a necessity at croquet meetings. The All-England Club +laid down that there should be not more than eight players for singles +and sixteen for double matches. One third of the time should be allotted +to each game. If a game be unfinished the side ahead in points wins, a +player being allowed to finish his break and take a bisque if one +remains. If the points are equal the first roquet decides the contest. + +In time handicaps the side which receives more than one bisque can only +take half its bisques, until both balls have passed the turning peg. + + + + +INDEX. + + +A. + +A good bag of Tarpon, 175 + +_A Matched Pair_: Story of wedding breakfast and accident to M.F.H. in, 5 + +Aberdeen, ladies' golf links at, 341 + +ALDENHAM RESTLESS. + Descendants winners at Peterborough Show, 84 + Winning Champion Cup, 1893, 84 + +All-England Croquet Association, 358 + +All-England Croquet Club, 358 + +Allgood Kennels, 90 + +Archer's Register, 232 + +ARCHERY, by Miss Walrond, 187 + Bow, lineage of, 187 + Eastern ladies' exploits, 187 + Improvement in, 204 + Revival of, 200 + Royal amusement, 193 + +ARCHERY (practical) by Mrs. Berens, 207 + Aiming, 221 + Arm guard, 213 + Arrow, weight of, 212 + Before the draw, 218, 219, 229 + Beginners, advice to, 208 + Books recommended, 232 + Bows recommended, 208 + Club National Round, 228 + Club Prize Meeting, 231 + Coach desirable for beginners, 224 + Distances shot by women, 215 + Drawing, 218 + Dress suitable for, 217 + Equipment needs care, 223 + Full Draw, 225 + Gloves or tips, 214 + Hereford Round, 215 + Loosing, 222 + Nocking, 217 + Standing, 217 + String recommended, 210 + Stringing bow, 209 + Targets, 215 + To form a club, 227 + Weekly Club Meeting, 231 + +Archery Dresses (about 1832), 201 + +Archery Societies, 196-200 + +_Art of Golf_, Sir W. C. Sampson, 261 + +_Art of Shooting_, by C. Lancaster, 152 + +Ascham, Roger, treatise on Archery, 193 + +Association of Masters of Harriers and Beagles, 101 + +Australia, Golf Clubs, Ladies' Championship, 343 + +Austria, hare drive in, 121 + + +B. + +_BADMINTON LIBRARY._ + Archery, 207 + Golf, 261 + Quoted on Shooting, 116 + +Balfour, Miss May, Article on Skating, 235 + Portrait, 234 + +Banks, Miss, on Archery, 199 + +Banks, Sir Joseph, 199 + +Barham Downs, ladies' golf course, 343 + +Beagle Stud-book, 96 + +BEAGLES. + Breeding, 96, 97 + For rabbit-shooting, 140 + Hunting with, 92, 95 + Kennelling and feeding, 99 + +Bentley Harriers, 61 + Account of, 85 + +Berens, Mrs., Article on Archery, 207 + Portrait, 206 + +Berkeley, Lady, using longbow, 195 + +Betham, Miss, archery score, 204 + +_Book of Archery_, Hansard, quoted on Persian ladies' archery, 189 + +Bowby, Mrs., archery score, 204 + +Bownass, Miss, golfing at Windermere, 347 + +Brentwood Croquet Club, 360 + +Brighton and Hove ladies' golf course, 342 + +Briscoe, Mrs., whipping in hounds, 61 + +Bronwydd Beagles, account of, by Miss Lloyd, 105 + +Budleigh Salterton Croquet Club, 360 + +Burn, Mrs., Fox Hunting, 13 + Portrait, 12 + +Burton, _Anatomy of Melancholy_, quoted, 352 + +"Bush Farm," Meath, fences, 20 + +Butt, Mrs. W., archery score, 204 + +Butterflies at Captiva Island, 173 + +Buxom (hound) account of, 86 + +Buxom, Bentley Harrier, 67 + + +C. + +Caledon Beagle Kennels, 96 + +Campbell, Lady Ileene, hunting Lord Huntingdon's pack, 61 + +Canada, golf clubs in, 343 + +Captiva Island (Gulf of Mexico). + Account of, 171 + Tarpon, fishing at, 170 + Vegetation, 173 + +Carnoustie, ladies' putting course at, 341 + +Carter, Bonham, croquet playing, 372 + +Cartridges recommended for women, 111 + +Cheape, Mrs., and her Peterborough winners, Bracelet, Waterwitch, +Verity, Woodbine, Generous, Worry, 87 + +Cheape, Mrs., buying harriers, 85 + +Cheape, Mrs., Wellfield Beagles and Bentley Harriers, 60 + +Cheetham. Miss L., skating "a pass", 252 + +Cheltenham, ladies' golf course, 343 + +Cheltenham, lady golfers at, 348 + +Chester, ladies' golf course, 343 + +Chetwynd, Miss H., archery score, 204 + +Chole, game of, 261 + +Chorley Wood, ladies' golf course, 343 + +Clay Bird shooting competition, 130 + +Clay Pigeon Trap, 113 + +Clorinda, Moorish Queen, skilful with bow, 188 + +Clumber Spaniel, 97 + +Comet (property of Lady Gerard), 37 + +County Down ladies' golf links, 338 + +Cox, Miss, ex-Irish Golf Champion, 338 + +CROQUET, All-England Laws. Appendix B., 391 + Article on, by Mrs. Spong, 357 + Advantages of, 368 + Balls, 361 + Beginning, option of, 367 + Bisques, 363 + Championships, 370 + Clips, 362 + Clubs, 360 + Handicapping bisques, 363 + Hoops, 361 + Lawn measurements, 360 + Lawns at Hurlingham and Ranelagh, 370 + Lawns, size reduced, 372 + Mallets, 362; manner of holding, 363 + Origin of game, 357 + Pegs, 361 + Qualities necessary for good player, 369 + Revival of, 370 + "Roquet", 365 + Terms employed in, 365 + Tight croquet, expulsion of, 358 + Time games, 371 + Tournaments, 358 + +Crusades, women prominent in sport during, 6 + +Crystal Palace Archery Meeting, 200 + +Cub-hunting at Brigstock, 15 + + +D. + +Dahlia (hound), 86 + +Davies, George (Whip), 106 + +Deal Golf Club, 331 + +Desmond, Lady, skill with bow, 194 + +"Dinah," retriever, 146, 148 + +_Dog breaking, secret of_, 149 + +DOG BREEDING, by Hutchinson recommended, 152 + +Dogs and dog-breaking, utilising land for, 145 + +Driving popular with shooters and owners of moors, 131 + +Dulcimer, pure harrier, 89; account of, 90 + +Dumfries, ladies' golf links at, 341 + + +E. + +Eastbourne Ladies' Golf Course, 341 + +Edinburgh, ladies' golf links at, 341 + +EDITOR (FRANCES E. SLAUGHTER). + Englishwomen and Sport, 1 + Hare-hunting, 59 + Portrait, 1 + +Elie and Earlsferry, ladies' golf links at, 341 + +Eltham Ladies' Golf Course, 341 + +Englishwomen and Sport, by the Editor, 1 + + +F. + +"Fallible," beagle bitch, 99 + +FISHING FOR TARPON, by Mrs. Murphy-Grimshaw, 157 + Bait used, 162 + Bottom-fishing, 178 + Catching first tarpon, 163 + Clothes required for, 160 + First tarpon stuffed and set up, 184 + Fishing at Captiva, 176-77, 179 + Florida, arrival in, 160 + Playing a tarpon, 164; + excitement of, 165 + Rod suitable for, 162 + Season for, 164 + +Flat-coated Retriever, Champion Darenth, 143 + +Folkestone Ladies' Golf Course, 343 + +Fort Myers, on Caloosakatchie River, 181, 183 + Fishing for tarpon at, 158 + +FOX-HUNTING, by Mrs. Burn. + "Alone with the hounds," pleasure of being, 31 + Beauty and fit surroundings, 14 + Champion and Wilton's Safety Stirrup, 36 + Country in the shires, 19 + Driving to and from hunting, 52 + Falls, 35 + Gates, opening, 32, 33 + Gruel for horse, directions for making, 51 + "Hands" cannot be taught, 25 + Hunting in provinces advantage over shires, 16 + Huntsmen, way to be made for, 32 + Ideal hunter, 50 + Mounting, 41 + Need for pilot, 44 + People hunting like a flock of sheep, 31 + Quick eye to hounds, 43 + Quietness necessary, 24, 47 + Riding a refuser, 48 + Riding sane horses, 47 + Riding slow, 35 + Riding to hounds, advice on, 22 + Safety habits, 39 + "Seeds" "Young Grass", 34 + Spurs, 40 + Stirrup foot, position of, 29 + Tired horse, jumping a, 50 + Women in hunting field, why unpopular, 30 + Women riding without third pommel, 26 + +France, golf clubs in, 344 + + +G. + +Gadfly (hound), 86 + +Gainer (hound), account of, 86 + +_Game of Golf_, by W. Park, junr., 261 + +Gentil on Amazoni in retinue of Indian Prince, 190 + +Gifford, Lady + And her Harriers, 58 + Beagles-harriers, 89, 90 + Carrying horn with harriers, 61 + Cure for distemper, 92 + Interest in Kennel Management, 90 + On hounds' food, 91 + +_Golf Annual_, Article by John Thomson in, 352 + +GOLF, by Miss Starkie-Bence, 259 + Approach Shot, 284 + "Approach Shots," Competitions for, 324 + Balls, different kinds, 333 + "Bap", 275 + "Bogey" Competition, 297 + Books recommended, 261 + Brassey, 283 + Bunkers, 260 + Cleek, 283 + Clubs, 262 + Clubs, choice of (instruments), 274 + "Cuppy" lie, 300 + Dress suitable for, 304 + Driver, 274, 279 + Dropping the ball, Rule on, 351 + _Esprit-de-Corps_, 351 + Etiquette to be observed, 294 + Failing to sign card, 260 + Faults--Slicing, Hooking, Topping, 299 + Foresome, 259 + Founding of, 261 + Green, 260 + Grip 261; + wrong grip, 276 + Grip of hands for driving, 275 + Grip when at top of swing, 280 + Handicapping, 297 + "Handicapping Scheme" 326; + Rules, 327 + Hazard, St. Andrew's Rules 14, 288; + 15, 288 + Hazards, 260 + Iron 274; + lofting iron, 283 + Iron shots, 284 + Ladies' Courses, 266, 267 + Lessons from professional desirable, 273 + Lie, 261 + Links, size of, 260 + Links, "upkeep" of, 332 + Mashie, 274, 287 + Medal play, 298 + Object of game, 259 + Position for driving, 269, 276 + Practice required for, 271, 301 + Putter, 274, 291 + Putting, 293, 295 + Scores in Match playing, 260 + Scores in Medal play, 259 + Scotch and English players, Styles of, 272 + Short Approach Shot with thumb down the shaft, 289 + Suited to all seasons, 267 + "Smothering", 279 + Stance, 260 + Stimulus to trade given by, 328 + Stymie, 351 + Swing 280; + Finish of, 281 + Swinging upwards for three-quarter iron shot, 285 + Glossary of Technical Terms, 384 + Golf Links abroad, 343 + +_Golf_ quoted on gutta-percha used for balls, 332 + +Golf Rules, Appendix A, 377 + +Golf School in America, 344 + +_Golfer's Referee_, 292 + +Gone to Ground (Portraits of four B.O.H. Prize-winners), 53 + +Graham, Miss N., Golf Champion of Ireland, 338 + Portrait, 339 + +Grand National Archery Meeting, 200, 203 + +Grand Northern Archery Meeting, 200 + +Grand Western Archery Meeting, 200 + +Great Yarmouth Golf Links, 313 + +Greeks and Romans no word for Skating, 246 + +Grey, Lord de, 109 + +Grouper, red and black, 177 + +Grouse Shooting, 131 + Best Method, 133 + +Gullane, Ladies' Golf Union Championship Meeting at, 306, 320 + +Gullane Links, lengths between holes at, 325 + +Guns suitable for women, 110, 111, 127 + + +H. + +Hamilton-Russell, Lady Margaret (_née_ Scott) + Golfing, 272, 313 + Portrait, 317 + +Hare Drive in Austria, 121 + +HARE-HUNTING, by the Editor, 59 + Cleanliness absolutely necessary in kennels, 74 + Dwarf foxhounds, 69 + Feeding hounds, 74 + Harrier, advantage of pure, 66 + Harriers, faults of, 71, 72 + Hounds, drafting, 77 + Hounds, kind of, 66 + Hounds, signalling, 71 + Hounds, signs of health in, 77 + Hounds, standard for, 70 + Lady M. H.'s Pack, story of, 65 + Quietness necessary for, 59, 61, 66 + Stud-book harrier, 69 + Training hounds, 72 + Viewing the hare, 62 + Whippers-in, 78 + +Harrier and Beagle Show, Peterborough, 105 + +Hastings and Bexhill Ladies' Golf Course, 343 + +Hawking, women proficient in, 3 + +Hertfordshire Society of Archers, 197 + +Himalayan pheasants, 132 + +_History of the Cid_, by Dr. Southey, quoted on "Star of the Archers", 188 + +Horniblow, Mrs., Archery score, 204 + +Hoylake Golf Links, 311 + +Hoylake Ladies' Golf Links, 343 + +Huntingdon, Load, harriers in Iceland, 61 + +Hutchinson, General, system of breaking pointers and setters, 151 + +Hutchinson, Horace, Golf, Badminton Library, 261 + +Hutchinson Horace, on putting, 292 + + +I. + +India, golf clubs in, 343 + +Irish Ladies' Golf Union, meeting at Portrush, 315 + +Irish Setters, Champions Shandon II. and Geraldine, 126 + +Irishman on gun, 110 + + +J. + +Jacksonville, Florida, 183 + +Jaques bringing out Croquet, 358 + +Jew-fish, 177 + + +K. + +"KATE COVENTRY," heroine, giving up hunting when she marries, 4 + +Kennedy, Miss Emma: + Golfing in North Wales, 347 + Portrait, 335 + +Kildare, Countess of, shooting deer, 194 + +King-fish, 177 + + +L. + +Ladies' Golf Union, 265 + "Handicapping Scheme," 326; + Rules, 327 + Outline of, 307 + +_Ladies' Golf Union Annual_, Miss Pearson's article in, 328 + +Ladies' Golf Union Championship Meetings, 306 + Great Yarmouth, 313 + Gullane, 306, 320 + Hoylake, 312, 319, 334 + Littlestone, 312, 314 + Lytham and St. Anne's, 309, 311 + Portrush, 306, 312, 315 + +Lancer (Irish horse), 27 + +Leake, Sir F., extract from letter to Lord Shrewsbury, 195 + +Leamington and Midland Counties Archery Meeting, 200 + +Legh, Miss, archery score, 204 + +Leicestershire, account of blank day in, 23 + +Lelant, ladies' golf course, 343 + +Lillie, A., work on croquet, 355; + suggestions in, 373 + +Littlestone Golf Club, 331 + +Littlestone Golf Links, 312 + +Lloyd, Miss, of Bronwydd: + Account of Bronwydd Beagles, 105 + Whipping-in beagles, 61, 106 + +Lloyd, Sir Marteine: + And some of the Bronwydd Beagles, 104 + Beagle kennels, 96 + Beagles, 61 + Bronwydd Beagles, 101, 145 + +Lloyd, Sir Thomas, started Bronwydd Beagles, 105 + +Lowther, Hon. Mrs. Lancelot, Portrait, 108 + +Lowther, Hon. Mrs. Lancelot, Shooting, 109 + +Lytham and St. Anne's Golf Club, 309 + +Ladies' Union, meeting at, 310 + + +M. + +M. F. H. advice to young lady, 13 + +Machrihanish, ladies' golf links at, 341 + +Maidstone Croquet Club, 360 + +Malvern, ladies' golf course, 343 + +Mandeville, A., K.H. and Second Whip to Mrs. Pryse-Rice, 85 + +Mary, Queen of Scots, adept in golf, 265 + +Maxwell, Miss A., golfing at Dumfries, 347 + +Meath, hunting in, 20, 21 + +Melville, Whyte, heroines in hunting field, 4 + +Meriden, archery assemblies at, 196 + +Midlands Golf Championship, 345 + +Mitcham, Princes Ladies' Golf Links, 334 + Meetings, 337 + +Moffatt, Croquet Championship Meeting at, 370 + +Monmouth, Robert Cary, Earl of, extract from Memories of, 194 + +Montecute, Lord, entertaining Queen Elizabeth at Cowdray, 194 + +Murphy-Grimshaw, Mrs.: + Fishing for Tarpon, 157 + Portrait, 156; + on board the tarpon boat, 167 + +Murray, Mrs., golfing at Gullane, 347 + +Mussellburgh, ladies' golf links at, 341 + + +N. + +Nevill, Misses, golfing, 348 + +New Zealand golf links in--ladies' championships, 343 + +Newcastle, Duchess of, hunting harriers, 61 + +Nicholas', Sir H., _Household Expenses of Henry VIII._, entries from, 193 + +_Nicol's Progress_ quoted, 194 + +North Berwick Ladies' Golf Club, 347 + +North Berwick, ladies' golf links at, 341 + +Norwich, deer parks owned by See, 2 + + +O. + +Orr, Miss E. C., Portrait, 263 + +Our Sisters in Canada, 243 + + +P. + +Park, W., junr., _Game of Golf_, 261 + +Paris, Comtesse de, giving up Woodnorton harriers, 80 + +_Partridge_, Fur and Feather series recommended, 152 + +Partridge Shooting, 121, 134 + Driving, 134 + Over dogs, 134, 138 + Walking up, 137 + +Partridge, work by Stuart Wortley on, 137 + +Pascoe, Miss, Portrait, 307 + +Pearson, Miss Issette, + Article in _Ladies' Golf Union Annual_, 328 + Golfing, 306, 313 + Portrait, 329 + Records at Wimbledon, 341 + +Peel, W. H., founded All-England Croquet Association, 358 + +Pelicans, 159 + +Persian ladies amusing themselves with Archery, 189 + +Pheasant Shooting, 138 + +_Pheasants_, by Tegetmeier recommended, 152 + +Pointer on Partridge, 119 + +Portrush Golf Links, 312 + +Portrush, Irish Ladies' Golf Union Championship Meeting, 315 + +Prestwich, ladies' golf links at, 341 + +Prior, Dr., Notes on Croquet, 357 + +Pritchard, Professor, cure for distemper, 92 + +Pryse-Rice, Mrs. + Account of harriers, 80 + And her harriers, 81 + Kennels, Aldenham Bitches, 93 + Kennels (Woodmorton, _Charity_ and _Wilful_), 63 + M. H., 61 + On hares killed, 85 + On infusion of foxhound blood into harrier kennel, 85 + Runs of hounds, 83 + +Pryse, Vaughan, hunting harriers for forty seasons, 80 + +Punta Gorda 183; + deserted by tarpon, 158 + +Purves, Dr. Laidlow, 306 + + +Q. + +Queen Anne, lover of the chase, 8 + +Queen Elizabeth, an ardent sportswoman, 7 + +Queen Elizabeth at Cowdray, skill with bow, 194 + +Queen Victoria, benefactor of women, 9 + +Queen Victoria riding after hounds, 8 + + +R. + +Rabbit difficult to shoot, 130 + +Rabbit Shooting, 140 + +Ranelagh Club, Ladies' Golf Meeting at, 315 + +Ranelagh Ladies' Golfing group, 1897, 349 + +Ranfurly, ladies' golf links at, 341 + +Retriever breaking, rules for, 150 + +Rhyl, ladies' golf course, 343 + +Richardson, Mrs. Ryder, golfing, 347 + +Richmond ladies' golf course, 343 + +Rifle for small game, 116 + +Rigby, second for Championship cup in 1897, 84 + +Romans and Greeks no word for skating, 246 + +Rook shooting, 117 + +Royal British Bowmen, 196 + +Royal Portrush Ladies' Golf Links, 338 + +Royal Rock Beagles, started by Colonel Anstruther Thomson, 105 + +Royal Toxophilite Archery Society, 196 + +_Rural Sports_, by Daniel, recommended, 152 + +Rye Golf Club, 331 + + +S. + +St. Andrew's, ladies' putting course at, 341 + +St. Nicholas, ladies' golf links at, 341 + +Salisbury, Lady, hunting fox over Hertfordshire, 59 + +Salisbury, Lady, supporting archery, 196 + +Sandwich Golf Club, 331 + +Sandwich Golf Course, 345 + Gentlemen's Amateur Championship at, 346 + +Lady golf players at, 346 + +Sampson, Sir W. C., _Art of Golf_, 261 + +Scotch ladies' golf links, 341 + +Scotland, hunting in, 21 + +Scott, Sir Walter, excuses Di Vernon for sporting tastes, 4 + +Sea trout, 177 + +Serrell, Miss, on Colleen, 45 + +Shooters, cautions to young, 152 + +SHOOTING + Article on, by the Hon. Mrs. Lancelot-Lowther, 109 + _Badmington Library_ on, 115 + Beginners, advice to, 112 + Books recommended, 152 + Dress suitable for, 123 + Etiquette to be observed, 112 + Judging distances, 129 + Measuring distances, 115 + Practice recommended, 128 + Qualities necessary for, 127 + +Shrewsbury, Lady, adept with bow, 195 + +SKATES, 242 + Bone, 246-47 + Mount Charles, 247 + Primitive, 246 + Roller-Skates, 248 + +SKATING + "A pass", 252 + Beginning, 249 + Club Figures, 253 + Dress suitable for, 245 + Equality on both legs, 236 + Exhilarating and healthful exercise, 245 + Foreign style introduced in England, 241 + Half-circle and circle, 251 + Hand-in-hand skating, 237, 252 + Ideal Skater, 241 + In Holland, 239 + Introduced from North, 246 + Mastery of both edges, 251 + Outside edge, 236 + Points to be attended to, 255 + Rockers, 252 + Scuds, 252 + Transition stage in England, 235, 241 + Turning a three, 237 + Waltzing on skates, 238 + +South Africa, golf clubs in, 343 + +Spaniels for rabbit shooting, 141 + +Spicer, Captain, of Spye Park, harriers sold to Mrs. Cheape, 85 + +Spong, Mrs., article on croquet, 357 + Portrait, 356 + +Sport for upper classes in middle ages, 1 + +Sporting dogs, grooming, 151 + +Starkie-Bence, Miss, article on golf, 259 + Portrait, 258 + +Straits' Settlements, golf links in, 343 + +Stuart-Wortley, work on partridge, 137 + +Surtees, his hunting women, 4 + +_System of Figure Skating_, by Maxwell Witham, 253 + + +T. + +Tarpon boats, 159; + at Captiva, 174 + +Tarpon fishing (see Fishing for Tarpon). + +Temple, Miss, archery score, 203 + +Thomson, Colonel Anstruther, started Royal Rock Beagles, 105 + +Thomson, John, article on _Golf Annual_, 352 + +Trollope, sport no place in life of his heroines, 4 + +Troon, ladies' golf links at, 341 + +Tudor, Margaret, journey to Scotland, 190 + + +U. + +United States, golf clubs in, 343 + +Usbec Tartary, incident during plundering of village in, 187 + + +V. + +Verity (hound), 86 + +Vernon, Di, excused for sport-loving tastes, 4 + +Villiers, Miss, archery score, 203 + + +W. + +Walrond, Miss, article on archery, 187 + Portrait, 186 + +Walsingham, Lord, 109 + +Walters, John, huntsman, 106 + +Warlike (hound), 86 + +Waterwitch (hound), 86 + +Wellfield (hound), account of, 86 + +Wellfield Beagles, 60 + +Welsh hares, speed of, 79 + +West Indies, golf clubs in, 343 + +West Lancashire ladies' golf links, 268, 334 + Match team, 334 + +Whigham, Miss Sybil, golfing at Prestwick, 346 + +Whitmore, Walter Jones, started scientific croquet, 358 + +Wilson-Hoare, Mrs., golfing, 313, 348 + +Wilton, Elizabeth, Countess of, on Willoughby, 17 + +Wimbledon ladies' golf club uniform, 303 + +Wimbledon ladies' golf course, 341 + +Witham, Maxwell, _System of Figure Skating_, 253 + +Woking, ladies' golf links at, 341 + +Women. + At shooting parties, 118 + Middle ages, hunting in, 2 + Position in world of sport, 1 + Proficient in art of falconry, 3 + +Woodbine, Wellfield, Buxom, Bentley Harriers, 75 + +Woodmen of Arden, 196 + + +Y. + +Yonge, John, Somerset Herald, 190 + +Yorkshire golf championship, 345 +&/ + + * * * * * + +BIRMINGHAM: +PRINTED AT THE GUILD PRESS, 45, GREAT CHARLES STREET + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Sportswoman's Library, Vol. 1 of 2, by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41436 *** |