COUNTRY HOUSE HOSPITALITY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 194, 11 May 1908, Page 5

COUNTRY HOUSE HOSPITALITY.

'.Only provide; your guests with' the 'same cheer and comforts of all kindsi.as th'oy would find in a well-appointed hotel; leave them to . enjoy-; themselves':' in their own fashion, • and'-to lay out their timo* as' pleases .their fancy. (saysiT:' H. _S. Escott in-" Hearth and. Home,"':.' discoursing on ' English country' : house visiting of to-day.) Above 'all, no programme.:. No excursions ,ono' day., to ruined abbeys ; |no ■ piqiics on another by the side, of a lake which poets have, or,oiight to have,, sung;: 'Provide your guests with-such mean's of locomotion- as' your establishment-affords 'or • display aboveV the letter-box' in-'; the hall' information whereconveyances', "and - saddle-' horses may be hired in the neighbourhood. V Tlio ; country house most characteristic' of , blio, .twentieth - ceiiliiiry is an hotel where ■ the'; guests. to a great oxtcnt order, .from a bill" of. faro' posted-about -the "mantelpiece,' tho dishes ' they like; ' and between certain' timo limits, at tho, exact hour which suits them. • With the great' ovent of. the; day, the-eight dinner, it js, of,course, different; '>As' regards tKe„preceding' iriepls,- breakfast and. even' lunch may .;be. taken by\ the'.visitprs sin •. their own. .rooms;'. If. on florecnds's to • tho' general refectory, one finds up to .the stroke' of noon- a.huraber-of lit'h iib!?s ;.u'.diich the' visitors .seat, themselves;, oitl'er for tho English.'breakfast .or. - .tho Continental dc- 1 jcuuer.;; Not, -of course, that this will ever bo. more than a thing to bo tallied of rather than actually witnessed by hundreds, of< country house visitors. The .arrangements just described, • however,' indicate a growing tendency,'if not a custom likely over to grow at all general. Moreover, in many cases, the object of the. country house visit paid after tho summer heat is over, is sport;' No host with really good shooting to offer.his guests can tolerate. unpunctuality such as would ensue if breakfast were to be too'much of a moveable feast;. ■ <' • . ■"