FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175   176   177   178   179   180   181   182  
183   184   185   186   187   188   189   190   191   192   193   194   195   196   >>  
o ride in the Row, or for country exercise, but very few gentlemen of moderate means can afford to keep hunters for the ladies of their families as well as for themselves, although, in fiction, this is freely done. If a lady has one good hunter of her own, she may expect two days' hunting a week, providing the country is not too stiff, and the meets are fairly convenient. Occasionally, a mount may be obtained from a good-natured friend, whose stud is larger than his requirements; but this is not to be depended upon in every-day life, and popular ladies and first-rate riders are more in the way of receiving these attentions than the general run of ladies. As regards the presence of young ladies in the hunting-field, there are two opinions respecting its advisability, apart from the question of whether it is or is not a feminine pursuit. The long ride home in the November and December twilight, in the company of some member of the hunt, who has become the young lady's cavalier for the time being, is not to the taste of many parents; chaperonage must of necessity be greatly dispensed with in the hunting-field, and this is an objection which many fathers advance against their daughters hunting. Some husbands entertain equally strict views on this head, and are of opinion that the boldest rider and the best lead to follow in the field is not always the guest they would most desire to see at their own firesides. * * * * * =Hunt-Breakfasts.=--A lady should not go to a hunt-breakfast at the house of a country gentleman if unacquainted with him, or some member of his family, unless asked to do so by a mutual acquaintance. All gentlemen riding to hounds, whether strangers to the host or not, have the privilege of entering any house where a hunt-breakfast is given and accepting the hospitality offered. The breakfast, which is in reality a cold collation, with the addition of wine, liqueurs, ale, etc., is usually laid out in the dining-room, and no ceremony whatever is observed; the gentlemen come and go as they please. The mistress of the house should either be present at a hunt-breakfast and receive the ladies who arrive in the hall or dining-room, or she should receive them in the drawing-room, where refreshments should be brought to them. When a hostess intends riding to hounds, she is often mounted before her neighbours arrive, in which case she invites them to enter the house for r
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175   176   177   178   179   180   181   182  
183   184   185   186   187   188   189   190   191   192   193   194   195   196   >>  



Top keywords:

ladies

 

breakfast

 
hunting
 

country

 

gentlemen

 

dining

 

member

 
arrive
 

hounds

 

riding


receive

 

equally

 

family

 
unacquainted
 
gentleman
 

opinion

 

follow

 
boldest
 

firesides

 

Breakfasts


desire
 

strict

 
collation
 

present

 

drawing

 

refreshments

 

mistress

 

ceremony

 

observed

 
brought

invites

 

neighbours

 

hostess

 
intends
 

mounted

 
entering
 
accepting
 

privilege

 

acquaintance

 
strangers

hospitality

 
offered
 
liqueurs
 

reality

 

entertain

 

addition

 

mutual

 
Occasionally
 
obtained
 

natured