The Newtown bee., 1906-03-09
Navan. Meath Co.,, Ireland,
 February 13, 1906.

Navan. Meath Co.,, Ireland,
 February 13, 1906.
 "It vas on a New Years day. on the hill !of That VI let out poor Keynard and we chased
 -[Old Song.
 To the Editor of THE BEE, Dear Sir: wish to say in justice to myself that these letters written to THE BEE have been composed hurriedly and amid numerous distractions l have no books of reference, not even dic- tiOnary. There is substantial libra ry at Athlumly, but the books are se- cured by wires strung across the shelves. l am sure the historical ref erences are correct; but the form may have imperfectionS as l have had no time for revision. With this slight ex- planation proceed.
 In my former communication l promised to send description of fox hunting, and to supplement- it with some remarks on the present condition of Ireland. The Irish, as a people, are fond of sports. Some of the best ath- The sport of the gentry is fox hunting. The season beglns in October and lasts until sometime in April. Each coun- ty has it's park. There is a Kildare hunt, Carlow hunt, the Clare hunt, the Meath hunt, etc.; that is, in each county, or in most of them, there is a club that supports the hounds and a master of hounds. The master pur- chases and trains the hounds and keeps them. In Meath the master receives 3l5, COG year. Of course he has to employ large number of men. He is what is called gentleman" over l>Sc u01 ic ~vy} sory. He sends the hounds to a "meet' in charge of two "whips." But when the hunt begins he takes charge of the hounds. He is always in the lead with the hounds, and DO one dares precede him until the chase has actual. ly begun. He-must have the best of norses necessarily, and at each hunt mas t.o, sometimes three. so that when one horse becomes tired he m ly have fresh one. In Meath there is hunting five days of the week during the season. The meet" is always at II o'clock a. m. The hunt begins i'm mediately and lasts in most cases un- til dusk. And so you may imagine what time and energy are exhausted in this pastime. The very wealthy | horse cannot last; he has not the en- durance. Think of a horse being sent, perhaps, eight or ten miles to a meet" then hls rider mounting him aud sending him across country, over ditcheS and fences, at bredkneck speed, and you can see that the horse becomes tired out after a few hours. As I said, those who can afford it have fresh horse when the first gives out 1 Those who cannot afford d second horse l generally drop out before the hunt is | finished. But it is wonderful to see the endurance of these horses. It is 50 or 60 miles, and carry his rider, in one of these hunts. I myself have rid. den the some horse five hours continn. | ,usly. It is true the horse is used on. l ly once a week. It takes week, ol l nearly a week, for him to recuperate. So for man to follow the hunt every 1 day it is necessary for him to have a large stable. Many men here keep ten or fifteen hunters for their person. al use. Those who have only one hunter, or two, can hunt only once ol twice week as the case may be. T( have fox-hunting there must be foxes Now
 ALL OVER THE COUNTRY THE FOX Es ARE PROTECTED
 and enjoy immunity from harm. On the estates of landlords and large far. mers, who are interested in hunting there are 'covers'' where the foxes live and breed. A ''cover" consists o1 l a patch of woodland and thick under brush. It may occupy an acre or two l In this cover the foxes have their denS, often constructed by men. The covers are two, three or four miles apart The hunt or club has a fund to reim burse the tenants who may suffer from the depredatiOnS of the foxes Ii lamhs or poultry are taken by Rey. nard, and the claim is established, the club pays for them.
 At the beginning of each week a schedule is published of the plans o1 the meets. From Athlumley, where I live, it may be one day eight miles to the westward; another day three miles to the south ward, and so. Often it is at some lordly estate where lunch ] con will be served. The meet is at II