Manners and Rules of Good Society Part 33

=Gentlemen who go down into a County= for a few days' hunting only seldom wear "pink," and prefer riding to hounds in black coats.

The members of the hunt wear pink as a matter of course, but it is considered better taste for a stranger to wear a black coat than to appear in a _new_, _very new_, unspecked red one.

=Sporting Terms.=--Persons unversed in matters appertaining to "country life" and "country sports," town bred, and who have had little or no opportunity of acquiring a knowledge of the subject from personal experience, can hardly fail to commit many and various mistakes when brought into contact with sportsmen and their sports.

A knowledge of sporting matters and sporting terms, and the etiquette observed by sportsmen, is only arrived at by a.s.sociating with those thoroughly conversant with the subject, and with whom "sport" has formed part of their education so to speak.

=The Shooting Season commences= on the 12th of August with grouse shooting in the north of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Partridge shooting commences on the 1st of September and terminates on the 1st of February.

The finest partridge shooting is allowed by general consent to be found in the eastern counties.

Partridge driving does not take place until January to any great extent.

=Pheasant Shooting= commences the 1st of October and terminates the 1st of February.

=Hares= may be shot up to the 1st of March.

=Rabbits= may be shot all the year round.

=Rooks= are shot during the spring and summer.

It is difficult to make a would-be sportsman comprehend the strict etiquette maintained between the owners of manors; that is to say, he would think nothing of crossing the boundary of his host's manor, "gun in hand," if he felt inclined to follow a bird or hare he had wounded, oblivious of the fact that, in the first place, the greatest punctiliousness is observed between gentlemen in the matter of trespa.s.sing on each other's land when out shooting; and, that unless the greatest intimacy existed, a sportsman would hardly venture to pick up his dead bird if it had fallen on a neighbour's manor, and would on no account look for a wounded bird, but for a dead one only. In the second place he would carefully observe the rule of leaving his gun on his own side of the boundary, and would certainly not carry it with him to his neighbour's land. These are points that strangers invited for a few days' shooting very often fall foul of, creating thereby much unpleasantness for their host through their ignorance and inexperience.

=When a gentleman is invited to join= a shooting-party, it would not be necessary for him to take a loader with him, as his host would find a man to perform that office for him, unless he had a servant with him capable of performing that duty; but if he were residing in the neighbourhood he would, as a matter of course, take his loader with him when asked to join a shooting-party, and in both cases he would shoot with two guns, as to shoot with one gun only causes a vexatious delay.

A frequent cause of offence to sportsmen is for a gentleman to be noisy when out shooting, that is to say, to be "loudly talkative," or "boisterously merry," or given to indulge in exclamations when a bird rises, or when a bird is missed; your true sportsman maintains a strict silence.

There are numberless other points relating to field sports wherein the "inexperienced sportsman" is apt to give offence, but which would take up too much s.p.a.ce to enter into in a work of this description.

=The Fees, or Tips to the Gamekeepers=, vary from 10_s._ to 5, according to the number of days' shooting enjoyed or the extent of the bag.

For one day's partridge-shooting the tip to the head gamekeeper would be a sovereign; for a good day's pheasant-shooting, as much as two sovereigns would probably be given. A gentleman who does not tip or fee up to this mark is not likely to find himself too well placed in a battue.

The cost of a game licence is 3, and lasts twelve months, from 1st August to the 31st of July the following year, or 2 from the 1st of August to the 31st of October, or 2 from the 1st of November to the 31st of July in the following year, or 1 for fourteen days.

CHAPTER x.x.xVII

SHAKING HANDS

The etiquette with regard to shaking hands is not an open question, it is distinct enough and simple enough for all exigencies, but yet there is individual temperament to be taken into account which in many drives etiquette out of the field, if by etiquette is understood not merely stiff propriety of action, but politeness in the truest sense of the word, and doing that which is exactly the right thing to do. Etiquette rules when to shake hands and when not to do so, when to bow and when not to bow; but in spite of this knowledge, which is within every one's reach, there are many mistakes made on this head.

For instance, one does not offer to shake hands when expected to do so; another offers to shake hands three times; one displays unwarrantable warmth in shaking hands; another extends two fingers only; one shakes hands in a limp and uncomfortable manner, and takes the extended hand merely to drop it; another literally pumps the extended hand, or crushes the rings into a lady's fingers when shaking hands with her.

=A lady who does not shake hands= when expected to do so is actuated by one or other of the following reasons--she did not wish to shake hands with a certain acquaintance, and preferred to bow only, or she was not aware whether she should have shaken hands or not.

The gentlemen who shake hands with great warmth and _empress.e.m.e.nt_ are two distinct individuals; the one is cordial and large-hearted, and has a friendly grasp for every one--a grasp indicative of kindliness, geniality, and good fellowship--the other wishes to ingratiate himself in certain quarters, and loses no opportunity of demonstratively shaking hands, but no one is deceived by this spurious imitation of the real thing.

=When a lady gives but two fingers= to people whom she does not care about, she is always a person who fancies herself, and who feels very fine; she doubtless is, but her good breeding and her good feeling are both in question when she takes this method of showing the superiority of herself and her position over that of other people.

There are other eccentricities indulged in by different people who shake hands when they should not, and people who do not shake hands when they should.

It depends upon whom a lady is introduced to, or upon who is introduced to her, whether she should or should not shake hands. She should not shake hands on being casually introduced to a person altogether a stranger to her; but yet there are so many occasions when it is both proper and correct to shake hands on being introduced, that the rule on this head is a very elastic one.

For instance, a host and hostess should shake hands with every stranger introduced to them at their house.

A lady should shake hands on being introduced to the relations of her intended husband.

A lady should shake hands on being introduced to the friend of an intimate friend.

When a lady has entered into conversation to any extent with some one to whom she has been introduced, and finds she has much in common with her, she should shake hands on taking leave; but if she has only exchanged a few commonplace sentences, a bow would be all that is necessary.

A lady usually takes the initiative with regard to shaking hands as with bowing; but in reality it is a spontaneous movement, made by both lady and gentleman at the same moment, as the hand ought not to be extended or the bow given unless expected and instantaneously reciprocated.

A young lady should not offer to shake hands with one not expectant of the honour.

=Shaking hands on taking leave is=, with some few people, a graceful and pleasant fashion of saying good-bye; intimate friends hold the hand while the last words are being said. Women hold each other's hands thus on parting, and some few men take each other's hands; but with them it is rather a foreign fashion, and is princ.i.p.ally followed by those who have lived much on the Continent; for, as a rule, an Englishman prefers the hearty English shake of the hand.

A lady having once shaken hands with another, should continue to do so at subsequent meetings, unless a coolness of manner warns her that a bow would be more acceptable.

With regard to shaking hands at a dinner-party with acquaintances: if the dinner-party is a small one, and there is time to shake hands, it is correct to do so; but when there is little time before dinner, and no good opportunity for shaking hands, bows to acquaintances at distant parts of the room, or when seated at the dinner-table, are sufficient recognition for the time being.

At an evening-party it depends upon opportunity whether acquaintances shake hands or not.

=The fashion of raising the arm= when shaking hands is followed by very few in the exaggerated style in which it was first introduced, but a modification of it has distinctly become the fashion in general society.

The hand, instead of being extended straight out, is now offered on a line or parallel with the chest, a trifle higher than the old-fashioned style, and the fingers of the hand are held and gently shaken, but the palm is not grasped or even touched.