R. S. Surtees
The author's description of a hunt
is read by an actor:
"The town of Croydon
furnishes an interesting scene
on a hunting morning,
particularly on a Saturday.
At an early hour,
groups of grinning cits
may be seen pouring in.
Bills are paid, pocket pistols filled,
sandwiches stowed away,
they mount, and away.
Trot trot, bump bump,
over Addington Heath.
At length the hounds approach the cover.
"Yoy in there!", shouts Tom Hill,
who has long hunted this crack pack.
And Crack! Crack! Crack!
go the whips of some scores of sportsmen.
Yelp! Yelp! Yelp! howl the hounds
and the woods begin to resound
with the shouts of: "Yoicks!";
" Push him up!"; "Wind him!"
At length,
the hounds' discordant bickerings
rend the skies,
and now dozens of sportsmen
view with delight the quarrels
of the hounds,
as they dispute with each other
the possession of their victims' remains.
The members of the Surrey
are the people that combine
business with pleasure,
and even in the severest run
can find time for talk
about the price of stocks of stockings
and every one agrees
that the fox has not only been killed,
but killed in a most sportsmanlike,
workmanlike, business-like manner,
and long and loud are the congratulations".