He shut his book. "Come on," he said, "I'll pray and bless no more, sir!" He drew the surplice o'er his head, And started for the door, sir! Sing, Tally ho! &c. In pulpit Parson Hogg was strong, He preached without a book, sir! And to the point, but never long, And this the text he took, sir! O Tally ho! O Tally ho! Dearly Beloved--zounds, sir! I mount my mare to hunt the hare, Singing, Tally ho! the hounds, sir! One of the very worst types of the hunting parson was that man Chowne, whom Mr. Blackmore has immortalized in his delightful story of _The Maid of Sker_. Many of the tales told in that novel relative to Chowne--the name of course is fictitious--are quite true. As I happen to know a good many particulars of the life of this man, I will here give them. He was rector of a wild lonely parish situated on high ground--ground so high that trees did not flourish about the rectory, nor did flowers thrive in his garden. Flowers in Chowne's garden! the idea is inconceivable. The people were wild and rough in those days, especially so in that storm-beaten, almost Alpine spot, accessible still only by abominable roads up hill and down dale, like riding over the waves of a stormy sea. They were not, therefore, particularly shocked at their parson's lack of sweetness and light. Probably, if they thought anything about this, they considered that sweetness and light were as ill adapted to Blackamoor as lilies and roses. His force of character impressed them, and commanded and obtained respect. To shock moral feelings, moral feelings must first exist. The parson was not disliked, he was feared. A curious man he was in appearance, with eyes hard, boring, dark, that made a man on whom they were fixed shiver to his toes. The parishioners believed he had the evil eye, and "over-looked" or "ill-wished" those whom he desired to injure, or any one who had given him offence. There is no breaking such a spell save by drawing the blood of the "over-looker," and no one was hardy enough to attempt this of Chowne. When a woman is thought to have cast a spell through her malignant eye, the person that suffers scratches the inflicter of evil.