When my uncle undertook to teach me to shoot, his
first lesson was how to clean my own gun. It was thought meritorious on
the evening of a hunting day, to turn out after dinner, lanthorn in hand,
and visit the stable, to ascertain that the horse had been well cared
for. This was of the more importance, because, previous to the
introduction of clipping, about the year 1820, it was a difficult and
tedious work to make a long-coated hunter dry and comfortable, and was
often very imperfectly done. Of course, such things were not practised
by those who had gamekeepers, and stud-grooms, and plenty of well-trained
servants; but they were practised by many who were unequivocally
gentlemen, and whose grandsons, occupying the same position in life, may
perhaps be astonished at being told that '_such things were_.'
I have drawn pictures for which my own experience, or what I heard from
others in my youth, have supplied the materials. Of course, they cannot
be universally applicable. Such details varied in various circles, and
were changed very gradually; nor can I pretend to tell how much of what I
have said is descriptive of the family life at Steventon in Jane Austen's
youth.
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