CECM u JOHNA.SEAVERNS TUFTS UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES 3 9090 014 533 075 of ■''-'- of/s Seaverns SF 285 C43 1877Z RECORDS OF THE CHASE This Edition de Luxe is limited to One Hundred Copies RECORDS OF THE CHASE AND MEMOIRS OF CELEBRATED SPORTSMEN ILLUSTRATING SOME OF THE USAGES OF OLDEN TIMES AND COMPARING THEM WITH PREVAILING CUSTOMS By CECIL BRENTANOS NEW YORK Made and Printed in Great Britain FOREWORD The first edition of this book, a small thick octavo, appeared in 1854; and in 1877 a second edition, also in small octavo, " thoroughly revised,'* was put forth. The preface to the second edition reads as follows : — " Since the publication of the first edition numerous changes in hunting countries have taken place ; some have been divided and new ones con- stituted. Many masters of hounds have resigned — fresh ones have been installed, and a sad number have paid the debt of nature. All the subjects connected with these events have been carefully in- vestigated by the Author with scrupulous attention to accuracy, and he trusts his readers will favour- ably appreciate his labours." The Author's additions to this second edition amount to nearly 10,000 words — of small and often trivial detail; and the sum effect of them is to render the book verbose and tedious. In the first edition Cecil set out to write a conspectus of fox- hunting, and admirably he succeeded : in the second edition he lost sight of his original design and, being anxious only to bring the book up-to-date, ex- panded it into a voluminous catalogue of masters. The result is that the second edition is neither so readable nor, to-day, useful. To prepare a third edition which should contain the large amount of historical information concerning the various packs and their masters that has come to light in recent years through the publication of monographs and vi. Foreword memoirs, would indeed be a labour of Hercules. It would expand the book to several volumes and would obliterate all vestiges of Cecil's original work. The Editor has thought it best, there- fore, to reproduce Cecil's first edition, confining his editorial activities to correcting the quotations from Beckford and Somerville, to comparing the extracts from The Master of Game with Mr. Baillie-Grohman's edition of that work and amend- ing them accordingly, and to expunging some of the commas with which the first printer had so liberally besprinkled the book. He has also broken up most of the longer paragraphs. With regard to the extracts from The Master of Game (which Cecil wrongly assigns to Edmund of Langley), the transcript which our Author used was faulty at times ; e.g. Cecil has " Duke of Teyne " for Duke of Guienne ; " hem," the ancient form of " them," he renders " him"; mote he spells " note," lymers " lymes," lodges " logs," rally " relay," etc. All these things the Editor has corrected from Mr. Baillie-Grohman's book and has added in foot- notes the meanings of obsolete words. It was the Editor's intention at first to add a number of notes ; but on second thoughts he decided that to annotate the work would, again, be to destroy its character. At present it is eminently readable, and it is to be hoped that in its present shape it will give pleasure to many who have not yet made Cecil's acquaintance or have read him so long ago that this book is to all intents a new one. Four illustrations from old prints have been added. PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION The great popularity which the Chase has acquired renders it a subject of vast interest to a large bodj^ of the community ; and I have endeavoured to embody in these pages such incidents in reference to its origin, progress, and present state, as, I humbly conceive, may at once gratify curiosity and afford amusement. An account of the habits of the crafty fox, and the origin of the sagacious, faithful hound, will, I trust, be perused with interest. The memoirs of some of the most celebrated sportsmen whose talent has added grace to the 'Noble Science' will show the zeal with which our forefathers entered into the sport ; and the descrip- tion of some of the most fashionable hunting countries may serve to entertain the sportsman on a frosty day, or beguile the time when he makes the steam-engine his covert hack ; while they will im- part to the stranger some idea of the country in which he is about to seek his sylvan pastime. Without attempting to enter into the mystic details of kennel management or the intricate duties of the huntsman in the field, we have thrown out a few hints which may perhaps prove useful to the uninitiated. Vll. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Gone Away ! Frontispiece The Draw page 64 In Full Cry „ 144 The Death „ 240 IX. CONTENTS CHAPTER I. The Origin of Hunting PAGE I 11. The First Foxhounds 21 III. Masters and Privileges 31 IV. The Origin of Hounds 41 V. Instinct and Foxes 51 VI. The Fame of Leicestershire 78 VII. The Shires .... 104 VIII. Beaufort and Badminton . 124 IX. Cheltenham and V.W.H. 140 X. Sporting Shropshire 160 XI. Hampshire .... 190 XII. Staghounds 209 XIII. Railways and Hunting 218 XIV. Scent and Seasons 236 XV. Habits and Customs . 252 XVI. Sport and Character . 266 XVII. The Objects of Hunting . 282 XI. RECORDS OF THE CHASE CHAPTER I THE ORIGIN OF HUNTING Whatever period we select to investigate the manners, customs, and occupations of the human race, we find that hunting has formed a prominent and interesting portion of their engagements. There are two conspicu- ous causes from which the origin of the chase may be traced — one, for the purpose of procuring food ; the other, that of destroying ferocious or noxious beasts. The fox is the only one remaining in Great Britain originally included in the latter category; a classifica- tion in which it is scarcely consistent to retain him, now that the pursuit of that animal has become one of our principal and most popular national amusements. Hunting is not confined to the civilised portion of man- kind ; it still continues to be the engagement of the un- cultivated savage, as a means of obtaining sustenance. It is a fact worthy of remark, which we derive from ancient history, that as the prosperity of any country has increased, gymnastic exercises and sporting enter- prises have flourished ; and whenever they were aban- doned, luxury, idleness, and debauchery obtained a footing. As evidence of the great estimation in which he held field sports, Alexander the Great commanded the renowned Aristotle to write a treatise on the subject, for which he was compensated with a large sum of money from the treasury. During the reign of the Emperor Severus, who built the Picts Wall in England, Appianus wrote four books on hunting. Grotius studied the same subject, more intimately connected with the sport of coursing. Nemesianus, likewise, wrote some poems on hunting, and many other classic authors A 2 RECORDS OF THE CHASE devoted their talents and labours to a similar purpose. That our m.anh'^ sports have been considered worthy the pens of the most able ^vriters of their respective ages, cannot be refuted ; and their appreciations must be received as evidence of the importance with which these sports were regarded. The manner of conducting field sports has varied very considerably at different periods, not only with reference to the customs which have been obsierved in the pursuit of animals of the same kind, but, taking into account the great numbers which in the feudal ages infested our wilds and forests, and the essential differences in the habits of those creatures, it was evidently impera- tive to approach and pursue them with various strata- gems. The sturdy bristly boar and ferocious wolf could not be secured on the same terms as the fleet and bounding deer, or the more cautious, timid hare. Hunting was an expression evidently not confined to the pursuit of any particular animals ; every creature, from the active squirrel to the sullen wild boar, was, if found in the woods, considered a suitable subject for exercising the talent and feeding the passion — amor venandi — of the hunter. The term hunting in those days took a wide range ; for it was used to signify the pursuit and destruction, by any means that could be devised, of any of the wild natives of the woods calcu- lated for food, or of the ferocious ones whose presence was dangerous and annoying. But the word in its present acceptation is confined to chasing animals with hounds. Without being able to describe from personal experience the customs connected with "La Chasse " in France, as pursued at the present time, the accounts with which we are favoured by various friends, both orally and in print, savour vastly of those which we read of in the earliest ages. Whether it be the boar, the stag, or the wolf, a few hounds only are cast off in seaxch ; the body of the pack, as we should call it, being kept in reserve till the game is fairly roused from THE NEW FOREST 3 his resting-place. This is no doubt a necessarj'^ pro- ceeding with hounds which are kept for the purpose of hunting various animals, and especially in strong woods difficult of access to man and horse. Neverthe- less these practices, no doubt, might be amended, to what extent I will not presume to state ; but if hounds were kept to the chase of one kind of animal only, properly attended by skilful whippers-in, there is no doubt they would find their game, whether stag, boar, or wolf, with as much certainty as our hounds do the fox ; and they would unquestionably be steadier in chase than they are under the present management. The French custom of destroying the animal with spears, guns, or swords, whenever opportunity offers, while the hounds are in pursuit, is precisely similar to that of the ancients, excepting that before the use of fire-arms, spears, swords, or bows and arrows were the weapons of destruction. Fox-hunting is an amusement almost exclusively confined to this nation. To identify the precise period when it was first conducted according to the prevailing system of the present century, would be an impossi- bility, and indeed it is quite evident that it has under- gone many gradations and changes. We have authentic testimony that William the Conqueror brought with him to these shores an inordinate appetite for the chase, and the laws which he established in order to pursue his pleasure, by dispossessing the poor peasants of their abodes in the New Forest to render that wide tract of land an arena for royal amusement, were such as a tyrant ruler only would have attempted ; but hunting foxes formed no part of his diversion. This regal prerogative, although modified, existed during a period of nearly 800 years; for it was only during the enlightened reign of our amiable and beloved Queen that the rights and privileges of the forest were abandoned by the Crown. The death of the Conqueror's successor, William Rufus, by the discharge of an arrow levelled at a sta^ in the aforesaid forest, is a circura- 4 RECORDS OF THE CHASE stance so universally known that it would not be worthy of remark except for the purpose of comparing the deer-stalking of the present times with the kind of hunting, as it was termed, when those primitive weapons the bow and arrow were made use of. The invention of fire-arms, and the numerous improve- ments that have been introduced, render the rifle in practised hands a most unerring implement ; armed with which, the amusement of deer-stalking still main- tains its supremacy with Royalty. The early annals of the chase are imperfect in detail, but still we have quite sufficient authority for the con- viction that it was pretty generally followed as an amuse- ment by sovereigns and the nobles of England from the reign of the Conqueror to the present time. As feudal usages passed away, as the sunshine of civilisation gained ascendancy, as landed property became more generally diffused and independence assumed a footing, hunting, which was previously enjoyed exclusively by royalty, the nobility and their retainers, gradually became an amusement for all classes. I have met with a very old and curious treatise on hunting, in the possession of a gentleman of ancient family, for many years residing in Herefordshire, and a true lover of sporting. The book, although the leaves are of vellum, encased in oak boards, by the ravages of time is slightly mutilated — that is, the title-page is wanting; but I have no doubt it is the production of Edmund de Langley, one of the sons of Edward the Third, Earl of Cambridge and afterwards Duke of York.* The writing is well executed, and it may no doubt be received as one of the best authorities descrip- tive of the chase as it was followed during the period when the book was composed. It would be difficult to assign a precise date to this work ; it is sufficient to state that it must have been written about the close of * ' Cecil ' is wrong here. ' The Master of Game ' was compiled by Edward, second Duke of York, grandson of Edward III, and son of Edmund of Langley. [f.d.] THE MASTER OF GAME 5 the fourteenth century, prior to the invention of the art of printing. Many of the customs relative to the treat- ment of hounds and the observances in the field, which are mentioned in the work, continue in practice. The numerous abbreviations, together with curiously formed characters, render it difficult to decipher, especially as several of the terms made use of are nearly obsolete ; but as I feel assured a few extracts from such a quaint and scarce work will be received with interest by the lovers of research into ancient customs, I make a selec- tion of the most remarkable passages, somewhat modernized, to render it more easy of perusal. The dedication commences thus : — •' Unto the wise, excellent, and Christian Prince, Henry the Fourth, by the aforesaid grace King of England and of France, Prince of Wales, Duke of Guienne, of Lancaster, and of Cornwall, and Earl of Chester, I your own in every humble wise attempt to make a simple book, which I recommend and submit to your noble and wise correction. The which book, if it like to your aforesaid lordship, shall be called and named the Maister of Game, and for this cause. For the matter that this book treateth of what in every season of the year is most desirable, and to my thinking to every gentle heart the most honest and most disport- ful of all games, that is to say hunting. For if it be so that hawking with gentle hawks for the heron be noble and commendable, it lasteth but seldom, at the most not passing half-a-year. And if men find game enough from May to Lammas to hawk at, then might they not find hawks to hawk with. But of hunting there is no season of all the year that game may not be m every good country right well found, and eke hounds to enchase it. And since this book shall be all of hunting, which is so noble a game, and eke lasting through all the year to divers beasts, me thinketh that I may well call it Maister of Game." Enumerating the different beasts of venery which were hunted in those days when our author wrote his book, we find the following treated of : — " The hare, the herte, the bukke, the roo, the wild 6 RECORDS OF THE CHASE boore, the wolf, the ffox, the gray (or badger), the eat, the martin, and the otir." The prevalence of supersftition must have been con- siderable ; in the description of the gray, commonly called the badger, the following strange observation appears : — "Men say that if a child that had never worn shoes, and the first shoes that he should wear were made of the gray's skin, that child should heal horses of the farcy if he should ride upon them ; but thereof I make no affirmation." Hunting he earnestly recommends as an antidote for all the evils of mind and body, in which most authors on the mysteries and science of wood-craft, whether ancient or modern, fully concur. In those times, when the science of medicine was very little understood or practised, every healthy exercise calculated to invigor- ate the body was of the utmost importance ; and although the devotees of Hygeia might have performed many exploits in their hunting excursions widely different from those of the present day, the same object was accomplished. The fashion of the sport matters but little, so that the benefits appertaining thereto are secured. Upon this subject we glean the following remarks : — '' Now shall I prove that the hunter, that is a good hunter, may not be idle nor dreaming, nor may not have evil imaginations, nor be after any evil works ; for the next day before that he shall go on hunting, he shall lie him down in his bed, and he shall not think but for to sleep, and for to do his office well and beseemly as a good hunter should do. And he shall not have to think but on the deeds and needs that he is ordained to do. And he lies not idle, for he hath to imagine to rise early well to do his office, without think- ing of other things — sins or evil deeds." Following up the advantages of an active life, to divert men's minds from sinful cogitations, the ancient author continues : — THE JOY OF HUNTING 7 " Wherefore I say that such an hunter is not idle : he may have no evil thoughts, nor may do no idle works ; wherefore he must go into Paradise. For by many other reasons which were long to write may I prove these things, but it sufficeth me ; for any man that hath good reason knoweth well that I say the high truth. Now will I prove how hunters live in the world most joyful of any other men : for when the hunter riseth in the morning, and seeth the fair and sweet morning, and clear weather and bright, and heareth the song of the small fowls which sing so sweetly with great melody, and full of love, each in his language, after that he learneth of his own kind. And when the sun has arisen he shall see the fresh dew upon the small twigs and grass, and the sun which by his virtue shall make them shine. And that is great joy and liking unto the hunter's heart. After when he shall go to his quest, or searching, and shall see or meet with the hart anon, without great seeking, and shall harbour him well and readily within a little compass ; it is great joy and liking to the hunter." The excitement occasioned upon laying the hounds on the scent, is thus curiously expressed : — * "Then hath the hunter great joy when he beginneth to sue, and hath sued but a little. And he shall hire others to start the hart afore him. And shall well know that it is right ; and his hounds that shall be that day finders shall come to the lair or to the fues t and shall there be uncoupled, and all they shall run, and enchase. Then hath the hunter great joy and liking. After he leapeth on horseback if he be of estate, and else on foot, with great haste, for to follow his hounds. And then shall he see the hart pass before him, and he shall halloo, and rout mightily ; and he shall see which hounds come in the van chase, and in the middle chase, and which be skirters. And then when all his hounds be passed afore him, then shall he ride after them, and * This passage is somewhat different in Mr. Baillie-Grohman's edition of ' The Master of Game,' which is a version of M. S. Cott. Veep. B. xii., in the British Museum, [kd.] t Fues, Toyes = track, line. 8 RECORDS OF THE CHASE shall rout and blow as loud as he may with great joy and liking. And I assure you that he thinketh to none other sin, to none other evil. And when the hart shall be overcome, and shall be at bay, he shall have great liking; and when the hart is spayed, and dead, he un- doeth him and maketh his quarry, t and requireth or rewardeth his hounds, and so he shall have great liking. And when he cometh home he cometh joyfully, for his, lord hath given him drink of his good wine at the quarry. And when he cometh home he shall do off his clothes, and his shoes, and his hose, and he shall wash his thighs and his legs and peradventure all his body. And in the meanwhile he shall order his supper with worts and of the neck of the hart, and of other good meats, and of good wine and ale. And when he hath well eat and drank he shall be glad and well at easei. Then shall he go take the air in the evening of the night, for the great heat that he hath had. And then shall he go drink, and lie in his bed in fair fresh clothes, and sleep well and sadly and stedfastly with- out any evil thoughts of sins; wherefore I say that hunters go into Paradise when they die, and live in this world most joyfully of any other men." There is a business-like manner diffused throughout the above remarks which proclaims our author to have been a practical man and an enthusiast in the sport which he describes. He observes that the hounds should settle to the scent before the horseman rides after them, a precaution which every sportsman admires. Many of the customs prevail even at the present time, not the least conspicuous of which is the drink of good wine at the breaking up of the quarry, whether it be fox or stag. A change of dress and the salutary effects of an ablution were luxuries, even in those days, duly appre- ciated. Doubtless they passed their evenings in jovial conviviality. At the period when the book in question was written, t Quarry, curee, kyrre, or quyrreye; the ceremony of givinp; the hounds their reward, so called because it was originally given to the hounds on the hide or citlr of the stag. \yo.'\ ANCIENT HARE-HUNTING 9 the hare was considered the most important object of the chase; a distinction, I imagine, supposed generally to have been acceded to the stag ; but as the hare is the more cunning of the two, there is good reason why she should be honoured with the precedence. The suc- ceeding passage appears on this subject: — •' Ere I speak how the hare shall be hunted it is to wit that the hare is king of all venery; for all blowing, and the fair terms of hunting, come of the seeking and the finding of her, for certain it is a marvellous beast." That the hounds were given to riot is a circumstance not calculated to occasion any astonishment, because it does not appear that they were confined to the chase of any particular species of game. The following directions are given, supposing a hare to be found in a wood or coppice : — '• And then should the horsemen hold them out aside and somedele tofore, with long rods ini their hands to meet with her, and blow a moot and rechase,* and halloo and set the hounds in the rights if they see her. Also for to keep that no hound follows to sheep nor to other beasts ; and if they do to ascry t him sore and alight and take him up and lash him well, saying, Ware, ha, ha, ware, ware, and lash him forth to his fellows." Blooding or rewarding the hounds was a ceremony with which considerable importance was connected, and the performance is directed in the following manner : — " And when she hath been well chased and well retrieved, notwithstanding her rusing,§ squatting, and reseating, so that by strength at last she be bitten t by the hounds, whoso is next should start to get her whole * Rechase or recheat, a note on tlie horn to call back the hounds. t Ascry, rate. § Rusing, making a ruse or stratagem. ^ Bitten, taken. 10 RECORDS OF THE CHASE from the hounds, and hold her from the hound;^ over his head high, and blow the death that men may gather thither. And when they be come, then should she be stripped, all save the head, and the gall and the paunch cast away. And all the remainder should be laid on a great staff, or on a board, whoso hath it, or on the earth ; and there should be chopped as small as it might be, so that it hang together. And when it is so dight then should one of the berners * take it up and hold it as high as he may in his hands, t And when the hounds have bayed as long as the aforesaid master has lust, then should the bemer, as high as he may, pull every piece from the other, and cast to every hound his reward ; and then should the most master blow a mote and stroke, if so be that he thinketh that the hounds have done enough, and else he should rest a while if the hounds were hot, till they are cool, and then lead to the water to lap." The performance closely resembles our manner of ' breaking up ' the fox, except that the hounds are encouraged ' to tear him and eat him,' without previ- ously chopping him into mincemeat, " as small as it might be, so that it hang together." There is also a part of the ceremony which appears strange — that of stripping or skinning the hare, all save the head, and that the gall and paunch are to be thrown away. Masters of harriers in the nineteenth century are wont to preserve the carcass for their own cuisine, and think it quite sufficient to reward their hounds with the paunch. The ' chorus of horns ' is likewise dispensed with. Fancy the effect of two hundred hunting-horns aJl sounding at once in the midst of a large pasture field ! The direction for taking the hounds to lap after they have broken up their quarry is good ; when suffi- ciently cool such refreshment may be sanctioned ; but I have seen hounds taken to water before they broke up their fox, when over-heated by their exertions in the * Keonelmen. t M. S. Cott : here adds: — " And then whoso is most master, blow the death, and anon as he beginneth every man help and holloa." THE GATHERING 11 chase, a custom which I could never reconcile with propriety. Although the term hunting was applied to chasing the deer with ' rennynge houndis,' and also slaying the game with ' bowes and with grey-houndis,' there was evidently a distinction in the preparations for the chase, and the mode of assembling. The sports of the field were not the only amusements ; joyful festivity was introduced as a finale, and doubtless the old walls of regal and baronial tenements were made to echo with the voice of hilarity. The succeeding extracts are descriptive of the customs adopted preparatory^ to hunting : — "Hotf the assembly should he made winter and summer, " The assembly that men call gathering should be made in this manner. The night before that the lord or the master of game will go to the wood, he must make come before him all the hunters, their helps, all the grooms, and the pages ; and should assign to each of them their quests in certain places, and sever the one from the other, that one should not come uj>on the quest of the other, nor do him no annoyance nor let.* And each should quest in his best wise, as I have said. And he shall assign them the placei where the gathering should be made at the most ease of them all, the nighest to their quests. And the place where the gathering should be made shall be in a fair mead, well green, where the trees waxith all about, one from the other, and a clear well or some running brook besides. And it is called gathering because that all men and hounds for the hunting gathereth them thither before they go in the quests ; and should come again in a cetrtain place that I have spoken of. And also they that parteth from them, and all the officers that parteth from them, should bring thither all that they needeth, each one in his own office, well and plenteously. And should lay the towels and the board clothes all about on the green grass, and set divers meats upon great plenty, after the lord's power is. And some should eat sitting, and some standing, and some leaning upon their * Hindrance. 12 RECORDS OF THE CHASE elbows. And some should drink, some laugh, some jangle, some bound, some play; and, shortly, do all manner of sports of gladness. And when men shall be set at tables, ere tliey eat should come the hunters and the grooms, with their lymers * which have been m the quest. And each shall say his report to the lord and lay the fumes t before the lord, he that hath any found. And the lord or the master of the hunting, by the council of them, shall choose to which they will move and run to, and which be the heaviest deer. And the relays shall go, and other things which I shall say more plainly. And then every man shall speed him to his place, and they also haste them that shall go to the finding." Undoubtedly the arrangements for taking the field were orderly. A post or office was assigned to each attendant, and then the ' gathering ' in a fair mead, well sheltered with trees, and a repast under the green- wood shade, harmonising with the picturesquci — nothing could be conceived more enchanting, ' weather permitting' and at a seasonable time of the year — important provisos which our author has unfortunately omitted. A breakfast al fresco in our variable climate on any morning from the first of November to the month of April would not be a very seductive attrac- tion. Happily we now dispense with such ceremonies, or we seek a more genial atmosphere in the spacious dining-room of some hospitable squire, at or near to whose residence the hounds may happen to meet. But why some should eat sitting, others standing, and some leaning on their elbows, is a mystery which I caimot elucidate. Those ancients must have been jovial souls, if they carried out the directions given to theni. They are told to drink, laugh, jangle, bound, play and perform all manner of sports of gladness before the chase began ; and if, after it was over, they indulged in the suggestion of a salutary ablution while * Scenting Iiounds, tnfters. t Excrement. CUSTOMS AT THE GATHERING 13 the venison cutlets were being prepared, with a drink of wine, merry companions, and all the agremens of conviviality, before retiring to the clean sheets, we must accede to them the credit of having known how to enjoy themselves. If those exertions did not invoke the favours of Somnus, he must have been an unap- proa-chable deity. We are often apt to imagine that the worthies of olden times were wont to enjoy much more happiness than we do at the present. If the foregoing sketches of sporting life in the fourteenth century could be taken as a faithful representation of daily occurrences, the inference would be correct ; but when we contemplate the wars, tumults, and contentions with which England was beset, we must fairly conclude that the heroes of those days did not drink from the cup of pleasure without participating in much gall. Quaintly as the aforesaid directions are laid down, they contain many very shrewd ideas, and conspicuously as many of the customs in England have from time to time undergone changes, most of them appear to be continued to the very letter on the Continent. In a very interesting narrative by " Acteon," published in the Sporting Review, we read the following description of the events which he witnessed at the place of meeting of a hunting party in France during the autumn of 1852. " The party is at length arrived, and reposing under the picturesque canopy of this ancient monarch of the forest [an old oak tree previously mentioned]. The centre is occupied with divers baskets of cold game pies, roasted meats of various descriptions, and numerous other delicacies, with hampers of wine, and bags and boxes of sporting tackle. On some of the already empty hampers repose the chasseurs, laughing, joking, and chattering in the most degage hilarity." *' Of the ordainance, and of the manner of hunting when the king will hunt in the forest or in the pork for the hart with bows and with greyhounds. 14 RECORDS OF THE CHASE '• The master of the game should be accorded with the master or parker, whither that it be where the king should hunt such a day. And if the seat be wide the foresaid forester or parker should warn the sheriff of the shire that the hunting should be in, for to ordain stables* sufficient, and carts eke for to bring the deer that should be slain to the place where the quarries t at hunting hath been accustomed. And then he should warn the hunters, and the feuterers t whether they have men ready to meet with them, that they should come. And the foresters should go no further nor straggle not about, for dread lest they fray the game ere the king come. And if the king's hunting shall be in a park, all men should abide at the park gate, save the stables, which ought to be set ere the king comes, and they should be set by the foresters or parkers. And at the mom early the maister of the game should be at the wood to see that all be ready, and he or his lieutenant or which of the hunters that him lust, ought to set the greyhounds, and whoso be teasers § to the king, or to the queen, or to their lesses.*! As oft as any hart cometh out, he should when he is past blow a mote and rechase, and let run after to tease it forth, and if it be a stag he should let pass, as is said, and rally for to make the feuterers advised what cometh thereout. And to lasse* deer he should not let run. And then the master forester or parker ought to shew him the king's standing, if the king will stand with his bow, and where all the remainder of bows shall stand. And the yeomen of the king's bows ought for to be there to keep or make the king's standing, and abide there without noise till the king comes. And the grooms that keep the king's dogs and that chastith t the grey- * Men and hounds stationed at different places to slip the hounds at the quarrj'. t See note on page 8. % Men wlio lead greyhounds. § Small hounds that ' tease ' forth the game in coverts. fl Attendants. * Less, smaller, t Breaketh in. THE YOUNG IDEA 15 hounds should be there with them, for that belongs to the yeomens office. And also the master of the game should be informed by the forester or parker what game the king shall find within his set.J And when all this is done then should the master of the game worthe § upon his horse and meet the king, and bring him to his standing, and tell him what game is with the set, and how the greyhounds are set and eke the stable, and also to tell him w^hether it be better to stand with his bow, or with his greyhounds, for it is to wit that the lesses of his chamber and of the queen's should be best set. And there two feuterers ought for to make lodges of green boughs or trysts for to keep the king and the queen and the gentlemen and the greyhounds from the sun and from evil weather. And when the king is at his standing or at his tryst whichever that he prefers, and that the master of the game or his lieutenant have set the bows, and assigneth who shall lead the queen to her tryst, then he should blow three long moots to the uncoupling." The succeeding chapter, containing instructions for bringing up a youth intended for the occupation of huntsman, is highly amusing : — " Thou, sir, whatever you be, great or little, that would teach a man to be a good hunter, first he must be a child eight years of age or a little older ; and if any man shall say why I take a child of so tender age for to put him to travail, I answer and say that all natures shorteth and distendeth. For every man knoweth well that a child of eight years old can more in this time, that now is, of such things that he liketh to learn than, some time, could a child of twelve years ; and therefore I put him so young thereto ; for a craft requireth all a man's life ere he be perfect thereof, and also men say that what a man learneth in his youth he will hold in his age. And furthermore to this child belongeth many things, first, that he love his master and that his heart be busy on the hounds. And he must take him and X That quarter of the forest around which are ' set ' the men and hounds, or ' stables.' § Mount. 16 RECORDS OF THE CHASE beat him when he will not do that his master com- mandeth him, unto the time the child be a-dread to fail. And first I shall teach thee to take him and write all the hounds' names and of the hues, unto the time the child knows them both by the hues and by the names. After, I shall teach him to make clean every day in the morning the hounds' kennel of all foul things that is therein. After, I will him learn to put before them, twice in the day, fair clean water of a clean well in a vessel thereas the hounds drinketh, or fair running water, in the morning and in the evening. After, I will teach him that once in the week he void the kennel, and make all clean and renew their straw, and put again fresh new straw a great deal and right thick, and thereas he layeth it the hounds should lie. And the place thereas they should lie it should be made of tree a foot high from the earth, and then should the straw be laid upon that, because that the moistness of the earth should not make them morfounde nor engender any sickness by which they might be worse for hunting. And also that he love a field, and in a wood delighteth, and be well eyed, and well advised of his speech and of his terms, and ever glad to learn, and that he be not in nowise no boaster nor no jangler. Also I will teach the child to lead the hounds twice in the day, in the morning and in the evening, so that the sun be up, and especially in winter. Then should he let them play long in a fair meadow in the sun, and then comb every hound after other and wipe them with a great wisp of straw. And this shall he do every morning. And then he shall lead them to some fair place thereas the tender grass groweth as corn and other things, that there they may feed them for to take their medicines, for some- time houndsi be sick and with grass that they eat void and heal themselves." It must be confessed that the age of eight years was a very early period of life for a boy to commence even the most insignificant studies or operations in the mysteries of woodcraft ; but the remark is a very true one, that it requires all a man's life to make him a pro- ficient, much less to make him perfect in the science. Some insight into the management of hounds in the olden time is obtained from the last chapter; and it is REMEDY FOR SLUGGISHNESS 17 quite clear they had a knowledge of kennel lameness, which malady thej^ called ' morfounde.' Combing and dressing the hounds with wisps of straw is evidence that they bestowed some care upon them ; at the same time it may be observed that the first-named operation inculcates an idea that they must have possessed longer coats than we are wont to ascribe to any of the varieties of the canine order used even at that period for the purpose of hunting. Walking the hounds into the grass courts is in conformity with present practice, and the fact of their partaking of grass asi an emetic had not escaped the observation of the ancients. Divesting them of the cruelty they convey, the perusal of the ensuing directions would afford amuse- ment ; the first is a remedy to rouse a sluggish horse, and the other to subdue an intemperate one : — " For Defy of the Spur. " Take and shave him the breadth of a saucer on both sides thereas you will spur him ; then take a lancet and make six issues through the skin the length of a wheat corn, and then take a haundelere and raise the skin from the flesh, and then put in a quantity of burned salt, and this will make his sides to wrankle ; and keep him three days, that he be not ridden, and then set on him a child with spurs, and spur him in that place ; and then at night wash that same place with urine and salt and nettles sodden therewith, and this shall grieve him sore that he will never abide spurs after : then let him stand so three days after this washing; then take half a pint of honey and anoint his sides therewith three times, and this shall make the hair to grow, and make him whole for evermore." " For to tame a wild Horse. " Set on him a saddle and a bridle, and strain the rein upon the saddle head ; and then take a doublet and stuff it full of straw, and fasten thereto a pair of hosen, and fill them full of sand ; and set a pair of spurs on the heels and fasten the doublet sure to the saddle and the hosen to the stirrup, and then put him in a close field and let him run. And all way as he runneth the spurs B 18 RECORDS OF THE CHASE will dash him on the,' sides, and so he shall run till he be weary and that he stand still for weariness. Then take the horse and lead him to a stable and lay litter enow under him and clothes enow upK)n him, and then lift up his feet and smite upon them with a stone, on every foot, and then keep him with little meat three days after, and every day twice or three times come to him and lift up his feet, and knock on them with a stone, and see that he be well curried and wiped, and he will be more tame ever after than any horse that is tame of his own kind." To rouse an idle horse by such means was certainly a barbarous custom, of which, in modem days we have no parallel. It was establishing a ' raw ' with a vengeance. But the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was not then in existence. Children were very probably numerous, and maternal affection at a discount. What effect the sight of a young urchin might • have upon a horse which had been so tortured, must be left to the imagination to conceive. The process of taming a wild horse was, no doubt, effective. A dumb jockey with spurs would be a novelty in the nineteenth century, and we have good reason to rejoice that the march of civilisation, refinement, and humanity has introduced measures by which the most noble of our domestic animals, the horse, can be rendered subservient to our use by kind, instead of harsh or cruel, treatment. A journey on horseback two hundred and fifty years ago, from Edinburgh to London, ere roads were in a convenient state for travelling, must have been an undertaking attended with many irksome anticipations and realities ; yet it was one which a monarch was destined to perform. Even royalty might have been at a loss how to render it agreeable. The fertile mind of King James the First, and his courtiers, devised the means; and we find in the account of the journey that his Majesty enjoyed the diversion of hunting. Having advanced as far as Newark, he proceeded to Belvoir IN THE TIME OF SOMERVILLE 19 Castle, hunting all the way, attended by many lords and knights. Train scents were prepared, and live hares, conveyed in baskets, were turned down on the heath, which afforded excellent sport for his Majesty. Sir John Harrington's hounds are mentioned as having been in requisition for the occasion, and that the King took ' great leisure and pleasure in the same.' The contrast is amusing to contemplate when we consider the style of riding which the royal James was accustomed to enjoy, on steeds highly broken and so completely subservient to the hand that, going with their haunches well under them, they never exceeded three-parts speed. The hounds, therefore, must have been equally slow, or the stately sovereign could not have enjoyed their company. Queen Anne gave encouragement to sporting amuse- ments in the way of racing, but took no part in hunting. Neither did the succeeding kings, George the First or Second ; but about the period of their reigns fox- hunting became an amusement with the nobility and wealthy landholders of Great Britain. Before that time the sport was confined to driving the foxes to ground and digging them out, trapping, destroying them, or worrying them with terriers. We have ample testimony that at the period I have named fox-hunting had assumed a position, from the inimitable descriptions and directions sung by the poet Somerville, who, I find, was born in the year 1692 and died in 1742. The practical knowledge which he had acquired on the subject is incontestible evidence that the chase of the fox was in vogue ; for it would be too great a stretch of imagination to suppose that his ideas arose from problematical fancies. No man could have introduced the forcible arguments, the cor- rectness of which has stood the test of a century, unless he had been in possession of facts to guide his opinions. Although born in the reign of William and Mary, it must have been during the time of George the First that Somerville wrote his beautiful poem, The Chase, 20 RECORDS OF THE CHASE I come to this conclusion from the following impressive lines : — " As some brave captain, curious and exact, By his fix'd standard forms in equal ranks His gay battalion ; as one man they move, Step after step; their size the same, their arms, Far gleaming, dart the same united blaze; Reviewing generals his merit own. How regular ! how just ! And all his cares Are well repaid, if mighty GEORGE approve. So model thou thy pack, if honour touch Thy generous soul, and the world's just applause." CHAPTER II THE FIRST FOXHOUNDS At what date the first pack of hounds was established, whose labours were exclusively devoted to the pursuit of the fox, is a question which cannot be accurately determined. Doubtless there was a transition between the chase of the stag and the hare to that of the fox which renders the elucidation more obscure than it otherwise would be. It not unfrequently happens, even in the present day, that a gentleman makes his dSbut as a master of hounds in pursuit of the hare, and ultimately converts his pack into fox-hounds. This was the case with the renowned Mr. Corbet and several other sportsmen who have taken high degrees in the noble science. Under similar circiunstances it is very fair to conclude that when fox-hunting was becoming, but had not reached, the position of a distinct amuse- ment, the change was brought about by degrees, and that foxes, stags, and hares were hunted by the same pack. Indeed, that practice has been continued in some of the provincial countries during the present century. When game became more abundant and foxes more numerous, the inconvenience of such a. system could not fail to be experienced ; for although I have heard wonderful tales of hounds in the olden time staunchly adhering to the scent of fox on one day and hare on the next, whichever they might happen to find in the first instance, I must confess want of faith. Besides, the style of hunting which is perfection in the fox-hound is not desirable in the harrier. To follow the hare through her various windings, short turnings, and foil- 22 RECORDS OF THE CHASE running propensities, a very close hunting hound that will pick through the coldest scent is best adapted for the purpose. When he comes to a check his natural cast should be close. A fox pursued after that fashion will in all probability run from day-break till sunset. Hounds for the chase of the fox require greater speed, with more dash, enthusiasm, and energy. When they come to a check, their cast, without being wild, should be extensive, and they should, to use the simile of an old huntsman, " spread like a sky rocket." Beckford has treated this subject so well that I cannot refrain from making an extract. After some observations on the difference between hunting foxes and hares, he adds : — " The hounds themselves also differ in their manner of hunting. The beagle, who has always his nose to the ground, will puzzle an hour on one spot sooner than leave the scent ; while the fox-hound, full of life and spirit, is always dashing and trying forward. A high- bred fox-hound, therefore shows himself to most advantage when foxes are at their strongest, and run an end. A pack of harriers will kill a cub better, per- haps, than a pack of fox-hounds ; but, when foxes are strong, they have not the method of getting on with the scent which fox-hounds have, and generally tire themselves before the fox. To kill foxes when they are strong, hounds must run as well as hunt ; besides, catching a fox by hard running is always preferred, in the opinion of a fox-hunter. Much depends on the style in which it is done ; and I think, without being sophistical, a distinction might be made betwixt hunting a fox and fox-hunting. Two hackneys become not racers by running round a course, nor does the mere hunting of a fox change the nature of the harrier. I have also seen a hare hunted by high-bred fox-hounds ; yet, I confess to you, it gave me not the least idea of what hare-hunting ought to be. Certain ideas are necessarily annexed to certain words — this is the use of language — and when a fox-hound is mentioned. HOUNDS FOR DIFFERENT PURSUITS 23 I should expect not only a particular kind of hound as to make, size, and strength, (by which the fox-hound is easy to be distinguished) ; but I should also expect by fox-hunting, a lively, animated, and eager pursuit, as the very essence of it." Somerville recommends distinct packs of hounds for the chase of different animals. He says : — " A diff'rent hound for ev'ry diff'rcnt chase Select with judgment; nor the tini'rous hare O'ermatch'd destroy . . . * * * * * * * But husband thou thy pleasures, and give scope To all her subtle play; by nature led, A thousand shifts she tries; t'unravel these, Th' industrious beagle twists his waving tail, Thro' all her labyrinths pursues and rings Her doleful knell." It is quite evident that some masters of hounds had made the discovery, ere the poet penned those lines, that it was desirable to keep their hounds to one kind of game. The noble family of Berkeley have been famous for their hounds of all sorts and love of sport from the time of William the Conqueror to the present day. The earliest record from which I have been able to gain in- formation is, I understand from good authority, mentioned in Smith's MS., which states, " When Lord Berkeley kept thirty huntsmen in ' tawny coats,' and his hounds at the village of Charing, now Charing Cross, in the middle of London, and hunted in that vicinity." What animals they were in the habit of hunting I am not able to state ; probably, deer, boarsi, and wolves, as it was the custom to destroy ferocious beasts. Viewing London in its present condition, it seems strange to associate wild beasts and hunting with those parts which are surrounded for miles with human habitations ; although a furious elephant, an inmate of Cross's mena- gerie, was shot as recently as the year 1826, close to the 24 RECORDS OF THE CHASE spot where the Lord Berkeley of ancient renown was wont, attended by his thirty huntsmen in tawny coats, to enjoy his venatic pastime. Devoted as the family were to the chase, I have been anxious to obtain some history of their sporting career from the earliest period to the present time, but un- fortunately have not been able to do so. Frederick Augustus, the fifth Earl Berkeley, who was bom in the year 1745, hunted a most extensive country for many years, distinguished by the title of the Old Berkeley ; but the precise time when the hounds were established I have not been able to ascertain. His lordship had a kennel at Cranford, his seat in Middlesex; another at Gerrard's Cross, in Buckinghamshire ; a third at Nettle- bed, in Oxfordshire, where the house is yet standing but not the kennels; the fourth at Berkeley Castle. Commencing at Scratch Wood, close to Wormwood Scrubs, about five miles from London, the country held by the late noble lord reached beyond Thombury, in Gloucestershire ; from point to point somewhere about 120 miles. The kennels appear to have been singularly situated; the Gerrard's Cross kennel not being more than twelve or fourteen miles from Cranford, and that at Nettlebed not much more than a similar distance from Gerrard's Cross ; whilst from Nettlebed to Berkeley Castle it cannot be much less than eighty miles, the country around which was principally devoted to cub- hunting. When hunting the intermediate country, the hounds, I suppose, must have had temporary accom- modation at inns. The foxes were not so numerous in those days, and the hounds were removed from place to place according to circumstances. Previously to Sir John Cope hunting the Bramshill country, the Old Berkeley paid occasional visits to some parts of it. In fact, they were the only hounds kept to hunt over a vast extent ; and wherever foxes were heard of, they went to hunt them. I have been informed by Mr. Grantley Berkeley that the old huntsman, Tom Oldaker, told him the hounds once found a fox in Scratch Wood LORD LINCOLN'S COUNTRY 25 and lost him in Kensington Gardens, about which there was in those days some rough ground. The late Earl of Berkeley gave his hounds and resigned the country to the Club a few years before his death, which was in 1810; they were kept by subscription till 1842, and the servants continued to wear the orange plush, or ' tawny coats ' of Lord Berkeley's ancestors. Mr. Harvey Combe was of late years the leading man. They did not, however, continue to hunt so great an extent of the country as formerly, and in course of time new countries were formed. The Earl Fitzhardinge, then Lord Dursley, established a pack of hounds either in 1807 or 1808, with which he has hunted the Gloucester- shire portion ever since. The old Berkshire and Mr. Philips' countries have been formed more recently. Latterly the Old Berkeley countr^^^ was confined to the neighbourhood of Rickmansworth, where Mr. Harvey Combe had kennels. In 1842 the country was given up, in all probability never to be restored, and the hounds were purchased by Lord Southampton ; but there could have been very little, if any, of the leaven of the old sort. The masters of these hounds had been dependent on drafts for many years, to which Sir Jacob Astley's pack was added when the baronet gave up hunting in Norfolk. On Mr. Osbaldeston's retirement from the Pytchley, and unfortunately from fox-hunting altogether, he disposed of his celebrated pack to Mr. Harvey Combe. This was in 1834 ; therefore it was principally the blood of Mr. Osbaldeston's kennel that passed into Lord South- ampton's, although in the course of eight years much of that must have been lost, from the circumstance already named. If I am not mistaken, Mr. Harvey Combe did not hunt the Old Berkeley country at all in 1833, as that must have been the year when Captain Freeman was hunting it with the hounds which he brought from the South wold. The country around Retford clauns notice from having been hunted at a very early date. More than two 26 RECORDS OF THE CHASE centuries ago it was hunted by Theophilus, the fourth Earl of Lincoln, who died in 1667. He was succeeded by his grandson, who maintained the establishment twenty-five years, when he died without leaving issue, and the hounds were either given up or supported by the gentlemen residing in the country. Soon afterwards, however, the country came into the possession of James Sanderson, Lord Castleton, of Castleton in Ireland, and Sandbeck, who kept the hounds till his decease in 1723, having a very noted huntsman named Twisitleton. On the demise of Lord Castleton, Thomas, the third Earl of Scarborough, succeeded to the estates, and continued to hunt the country twenty-nine years, when the final who-hoop of mortality closed his earthly career. At the death of the last-named nobleman in 1752 the titles and estates came to his son Richard, the fourth earl, who maintained the honours of the chase with great spirit during the succeeding thirty years, at the expiration of which time he paid the debt of nature, when the property fell to his eldest son George Augustus, the fifth earl, who did not inherit a taste for hunting as his noble predecessors had done ; consequently the hounds were again returned upon the resources of the gentlemen residing in the country. This was only for a short period, when they were taken in hand by Mr. Francis Foljambe, grandfather of Mr. George Saville Foljambe, under whose management they remained till the year 1788, at which period they were taken, during the lifetime of his elder brother, by Richard, afterwards sixth Earl of Scarborough, who kept them with great success and in very first-rate style till 1822, when age and infirmities compelled him to resign ; on which oc- casion the hounds were disposed of to Mr. George Saville Foljambe, a most zealous and highly accomplished sportsman, who hunted them in person several seasons, uniting great skill, untiring perseverance, and a liberal expenditure of money, by which means he succeeded in establishing one of the mosit celebrated packs of hounds in the kingdom. MR. FOLJAMBE'S HOUNDS 27 From defective sight, in, 1845 Mr. Foljambe was compelled to give up a pursuit of which he was a most unwearied patron and adherent. Under the influential hammer of Messrs. Tattersall, the hounds were sold in lots at the kennels, and realised upwards of £3,500. The horses were taken to London, where four of them produced £1,170, and the remaining sixteen averaged £115 each. The aggregate amount is a sufficient test of the judgment which prevailed throughout the establishment. The principal purchasers of the hounds were Lords Gal way and H. Bentinck. The former nobleman hunted the country one season, since which time they have been under the direction of Mr. Lumley, Mr. Foljambe continuing to take much interest in the breeding depart- ment, although unable to accompany the hounds in chase. At one period Mr. Foljambe had much to con- tend with from kennel lameness. He erected kennels at Beilby, the lodging-rooms of which were formerly apartments in the old mansion-house. The soil was dry and sandy; here the malady evinced itself in the most formidable manner; all devisable means and remedies were tried in vain, till they were removed to another situation. About the period when Mr. Foljambe took the country, a portion of it was, as I am given to under- stand, retained by Johrj, the fourth Earl of Scarborough, who hunted it till his death, which unfortunate event was occasioned by his horse falling in some ruts in 1835, and was succeeded by Lord Henry Bentinck, who removed into the Burton country in 1842 ; Sir Richard Sutton at that time taking the Cottesmore, Captain Percy Williams following Lord Henry Bentinck in what had been denominated the Rufford Hunt. Thus no vestige of the original pack kept by the Earl of Lincoln can be traced, or even of any antecedent to those of the two Earls of Scarborough. From the best information I have been able to obtain, the Earl of Yarborough's hounds are the oldest estab- lished of any that have continued in the same family; 28 RECORDS OF THE CHASE they having des 46 RECORDS OF THE CHASE Kennel madness was the cause of their being nearly all of them destroyed. Mr, Heron sold his pack many years ago to the Duke of Rutland, and those hounds were extensively used to breed from ; thereiore, in all probability, there is as much or more of the old Quorn blood in the Belvoir kennels than any other. Mr. Meynell Ingram of Hoarcross, Staffordshire, grandson of the celebrated Mr. Meynell, had some of the old blood from Mr. Heron, and that is another kennel to which it can be directly traced. Ten couples of Mr. Meynell's hounds were presented by that renowned sportsman to his friend the late Mr. Musters, who sold his hounds to Mr. T. A. Smith in 1814, when the latter gentleman was hunting the Quorn country. The history of Mr. Corbet's celebrated pack with which he hunted Warwickshire is singular, and there- fore deserving of particular notice. He became the purchaser of some harriers at Tattersall's, among which was a bitch named Tidings ; but her pedigree was not known. Being very superior, and having the appear- ance of a dwarf fox-hound, she was sent to the Pytchley kennels and put to the Earl Spencer's Trueboy, and she produced a hound named Trojan, which was entered in 1780, ten or twelve years before Mr. Corbet went into Warwickshire, at the time when he hunted in the neighbourhood of Lichfield. Meeting one day at Chillington, a fox was found which ran a ring, and returning leaped the park wall, over which Trojan followed him ; but none of the other hounds could ac- complish it. On being taken through the gate they found Trojan, single-handed, had marked his fox into a drain. He performed ai similar feat of activity at Sand- well Park, the seat of Lord Dartmouth, between Birmingham and Wednesbury. A fox was found in a neighbouring wood, and he cleared the high wall inte Sandwell Park, followed by Trojan only. The pack, as on the former occasion, entered at the gate, and found Trojan carrying on the scent, when the wall at the opposite side arrested their progress, with the exception TROJAN 47 of the single hound. He still carried on the scent to another wood, where the pack joined him, and, pointing for Uffmoor Wood between Halesowen and Hagley, after an excellent run they killed their fox. I have often heard the exploits of this celebrated hound spoken of by the late Mr. Holyoake (father of Sir F. L. Goodriche and of Mr. T. Holyoake), who was a distinguished member of Mr. Corbet's hunt. Trojan however, could not have been in existence at the time Mr. Corbet entered upon the Warwickshire country, because, as nearly as I can make out, it was not till about the year 1792 that he had the kennels at Stratford-on-Avon. Be that as it may, Trojan was the favourite progenitor of the pack, and, from what I have been informed, Mr. Corbet rather went into extremes by breeding too closely ; yet the very great fame which his hounds attained must be confirmatory of the assertion that no extensive indiscretion of that kind could have been practised. Beckford says, *' A very famous sportsman has told me that he frequently breeds from brothers and sisters. As I should be very unwilling to urge anything in opposition to such authority, you had better try it ; and if it succeeds in hounds, it is more, I believe, than it usually does in other animals." Whether this great authority referred to Mr. Corbet as *' the very famous sportsman," I cannot presume to state, as he makes no allusion to any name, neither does he recommend incestuous breeding from his own experience ; and breeders of hounds of the present day are unanimously opposed to it. Beckford very judiciously observes, " that to look well they should be all nearly of a size ; and I even think they should all look of the same family." Somerville adds weight to this in his usual beautiful style : — " But above all take heed, nor mix thy hounds Of diff'rent kinds; discordant sounds shall grate Thy cars offended, and a lagging line Of babbling curs disgrace thy broken pack." Again Beckford says, "There are necessary points in 48 RECORDS OF THE CHASE the shape of a hound which ought always to be attended to by a sportsman." Holding these opinions in great respect, I have often been surprised at masters of hounds resorting to kennels for fresh blood, the character- istics of which are totally different from those of their own packs in symmetry and style of working. On Mr. Corbet's retirement from the list of masters of hounds in 1812, he sold his pack to his successor, the late Lord Middleton, who hunted Warwickshire till 1822, when, in consequence of a severe fall, his lordship declined, and the hounds were transferred to the care of his friend Sir Tatton Sykes. Judging from a portrait which I have seen of the celebrated Trojan and a stud hound from Sir Tatton Sykes 's named Villager at the Berkeley kennels in 1852, the same character is pre- served. Whether the latter is a descendant of Trojan I have not been able to ascertain. But he may be thus described ; his colour is black and white, with tan, rather compact in form, with short good legs, verj' deep in his chest, capital loins and thighs, and remark- ably quick and active ; has a sensible-looking head, and is twenty-three inches high. That it is not possible Trojan was in work when Mr. Corbet hunted Warwickshire will be gleaned from the following particulars. The precise time of his com- mencement as a master of hounds isi not known ; but he was born in 1752, and therefore, assuming that on coming of age in 1773, he made his debut, that must be very nearly the correct time. At first he had some fox- hounds, with which he hunted in his native county of Salop; but Mr. Childe, of Kinlet, hunting one portion, and Mr. Forester, of Willey Park, another, he was con- fined for want of space, and converted them into harriers. After a time he obtained possession of the country near Lichfield, and resiumed the chase of the fox, the village of Shenstone being head-quarters from whence he hunted some of the boundary coverts in Warwickshire ; and in 1792, or thereabouts, he entered upon the whole county, having his kennels at Stratford- JOHN WARDE 49 on-Avon. Trojan was entered in 1780, therefore it is not possible he should have formed a portion of the working hounds so many years afterwards : it was with his progeny that Mr. Corbet shone so conspicuously as a master of fox-hounds. As an extensive breeder of hounds of the old school, the late Mr. John Warde stands pre-eminent. This highly esteemed and worthy specimen of the English country gentleman died in London, Dec. 9th, 1838, at the great age of eighty-six, having been a master of hounds during the lengthened period of fifty-six years. To render this statement explicit it is necessary to remark that he sold his last pack to Mr. W. Horlock in 1826 for 2,000 guineas, at which time he was hunting the Craven country in Berkshire. Mr. Warde must have commenced at a very early age, as prior to 1776 he hunted the country around Westerham, in Kent, when he went to Yattenden, in Berkshire, but only remained there two seasons. During the succeeding eighteen seasons he occupied that part of the country in Oxfordshire which is situated near BicestL^r, aiid, as I am given to understand, he also at the same period hunted Warwickshire for a part of the season ; but that could only have been prior to Mr. Corbet's time. Mr. Warde subsequently hunted the Pytchley country, and made an addition to his kennel by procuring some hounds from his predecessor, the Earl Spencer. In 1808 Lord Althorpe purchased the hounds at the previously unheard-of price of 1,000 guineas, and took the country in which they had been hunting. On this transaction Mr. Warde made a reservation of a few of his bitches, wherewith he was enabled to continue his own blood, and making purchases from other establishments soon raised another pack, with which he commenced opera- tions in the New Forest, where he continued about six years, and then hunted the Craven country,' until the end of the season, 1826. Mr. Horlock at that time came forward with 2,000 guineas, in exchange for which he obtained the hounds, and Mr. Warde retired from the D 50 RECORDS OF THE CHASE field. Having seen these hounds after they came mto the possession of Mr. Horlock I can form a tolerably accurate idea of their appearance : they were on a very large scale, though I have reason to believe Mr. Horlock had improved them considerably in that respect; that is to say he had reduced the standard, and bred them finer. The blood is dispersed throughout several kennels of the present day, and it may be pretty generally distinguished. CHAPTER V INSTINCT AND FOXES Instinct is a ruling faculty possessed by animals of every description : it exists, in a modified degree, even in the lowest. The powers of reasoning with which the human race is gifted derive their origin from instinct, cultivated by the aid of speech and literature. By comparing and communicating the consequences of past events we are enabled to form certain conclusions of what may be likely to result from similar occurrences. This faculty, nevertheless, is limited ; for we cannot either foresee or control the events of an hour. Hunger prompts a man to eat, and a similar impulse induces animals to do so likewise. The civilised classes of the human race make provision for future wants ; but very few animals follow that example : most of them depend on the bounteous hand of Providence for their supplies. The squirrel is said to lay up a store for the winter season, in order that he may crack his nuts at leisure; and it is instinct that teaches him to do so. The fox, in some measure, partakes of this forethought b}" concealing a part of his food when he accidentally procures more than he requires for present purposes. But it is for his own security and the preservation of life that instinct is most conspicuous in this animal, and with which, on many occasions, recollection of past events is associated. This knowledge may then be termed the result of experience, and it is that which enables some crafty old specimens of the vulpine family so frequently to elude the huntsman's skill. All living 52 RECORDS OF THE CHASE creatures seek protection from the vicissitudes of the elements according to their habits and constitutions. It is one of the most forcible impulses of nature which prompts them to do so, and it is one with which the lowest classes of animals are endowed : it is innate, or hereditary. Varieties of circmnstances lead to numer- ous difficulties, necessities, desires, pleasures, pains, and conclusions by which instinct is cultivated, till it almost appears to assume the refinement of reason, and analogy enables us to trace so many degrees of this faculty in the brute creation that we are almost led to the belief that they are gifted with the latter power. Somerville thus beautifully expresses himself: — " Nor will it less delight th' attentive sage T' observe that instinct, which unerring guides The brutal race, which mimicks reason's lore. And oft transcends." Among our domesticated animals none possesses so near an approach to the power of reasoning as the dog. Many extraordinary examples might be introduced, and I have in my own possession two which serve to illus- trate this remark. They are both terriers ; one a rough, hardy, Scotch-bred animal that will attack any living creature he may be set upon ; the other is of the Isle of Skye kind (a lady), she would not kill a mouse. The former is constantly tied up in the yard ; the latter has the privilege of the house, and eveiy room in it. Whenever she sees me preparing for a walk she instantly runs off to the dog, and, by her joyous move- ments and a peculiar whimper, prepares him for the pleasure of being my companion, and in the absence of the faculty of speech it is quite obvious she has a method of conveying her ideas to her fellow-creature. Being thickly surrounded by game, the hares, rabbits, and pheasants will occasionally visit my garden, which is open to the yard in which the dog is secured, and I can decide for a certainty when game is trespassing by the peculiar manner he has of throwing his tongue. It is quite a different note from that which he utters when INSTINCT 53 strangers or intruders of any kind are on or near the premises, concerning whom he is impressed with the propriety of giving me warning. Such faculties almost induce us to believe that the canine race is gifted with the powers of reason. There are two kinds of instinct, one which leads to a supposition of what will most probably happen ; the other from a knowledge of what has followed certain events and vnW occur again in case those events are repeated. The first is enlightened instinct, the peculiar faculty of man — the other blind instinct pos- sessed by animals. The latter includes hunger and thirst, the necessity for shelter against the vicissitudes and inclemency of the weather, the desire to repeat causes which have produced agreeable sensations, the fear of pain or death, with others calculated to continue the propagation and preservation of their respective kinds. Foxes, after they have been pursued by hounds, may be said to gain a kind of mechanical instinct, or restless- ness ; they have experienced terror, and fatigue may have caused them pain ; therefore they hold in remem- brance a variety of sensations ; a sense of danger is established to which " terror adds wings." After having once undergone the ordeal of being hunted, they are more on the alert to avoid a repetition of the ceremony; and whatever the stratagem may be by which a fox first makes his escape, he will generally adopt the same ruse on future occasions. This is con- vincing proof that they possess the faculty of memory. Habit inculcates a chain of conceptions, differing materially from each other according to the circum- stances from which they derive their origm. This affords a reason why foxes differ so very essentially in the methods they adopt to effect their escape when chased by hounds. The wild mountain fox, the woodland fox, and the fox bred in small game preserves, spinnies, and gorse coverts, differ from each other in their modes of living. 54 RECORDS OF THE CHASE WTien hunted, their style of running is directed by their habits. The first of these is the most hardy ; like the necessitous labourer he has to work for his living. Accustomed to being in rocky cavities, adorned in some instances by the unassuming privacy, oftentimes by the grandly picturesque beauties of nature, his birthplace and retreat are generally secure from all human intrus- ion. In the most fashionable parts of the midland counties such places do not prevail ; but there are a few such spots in Derbyshire. The Wrekin, the Titterstone and Brown Clee Hills, in Shropshire, are noted places of this kind, and the foxes which frequent them are proverbially stout ; on the sea-coast they are more numerous, and some of these refuges may be found in Yorkshire. There are many in different parts of Wales, especially in Breconshire, and in the Gogerddan Hunt. There is a kind of cavern called the Harp in Borth Rocks, in the last-named country, truly awful to contemplate, where many a fox has saved his life and many a gallant hound has rushed headlong to destruc- tion by endeavouring to pursue his game along the narrow winding path which leads from the top of the precipice to the chasm midway between the summit and the sea-shore. There are several coverts within a few miles, and foxes found in them frequently make for the stronghold, and, should the hounds follow, accidents to some of them are almost inevitable, unless the huntsman and whips are aware of the line they have taken in time to stop them. The mountain foxes are certainly the most difficult to kill ; accustomed to travel considerable distances for food, they are ac- quainted with an expansive country, and, not being overburdened with superfluous flesh, are generally in good wind. I think there is little doubt that the first time a fox is found he generally treads the mazes he has been accustomed to when in search of his food, unless foiled by some peculiar circumstances. Having led the hounds as far as his knowledge of country extends, he will ver\' HABITS OF FOXES 55 probably return, or endeavour to return, to the place where he was found, especially if there be any earths in that locality. If foiled in that attempt and driven into a country with which he is unacquainted, the difference in his style of running may be detected ; holding coverts, main earths, dingles, and such like places are no longer objects which he endeavours to gain. Not being aware of their locality he will now pass by a head of earths, or skirt a covert. Whether a fox will instantly quit a large wood on being disturbed by hounds will depend on circum- stances. If it happens that he gets on his legs consider- ably in advance of the pack, and the scent is not good enough to press him, in all probability he will continue to run those paths with which he is intimately acquainted, among thorny brakes and briars, through which the hounds find a difficulty in following him. If he escapes the first attempt made on his life, by what- ever means he effects his safety, I believe he will, on ever\' future occasion, if possible, resort to the same manoeuvre ; and as this is a conclusion which I have arrived at from observation, I shall, in due order, relate some events in support of this opinion. Foxes which are bred in extensive woodlands where game is not profuse, although not so wild in their nature as the mountain breeds, are much more so than those which are bred in small coverts, gorse preserves, and spinnies abounding with rabbits appropriated to their support. Where game is assiduously cultivated it becomes necessary to supply the foxes with food during the breeding season, and it is the trouble of doing that which occasions some of the animosity which many keepers entertain against the speciesi. As to foxes taking game to any extent if well fed at the time I have named, it is a perfect fallacy. But I will not go so far as to assert that such semi-domesticated foxes will afford the runs those do which are compelled to seek their own living in a wilder manner. Hunted by hounds themselves, foxes retaliate upon the inferior animals, 56 RECORDS OF THE CHASE and in their turn enjoy the pleasures of the chase in the pursuit of rats, mice, moles, frogs, beetles, and such like vermin. Perchance they may now and then hunt a hare up to her form, but the rabbit is much easier prey : the fox can follow this game to ground m many instances, but it is not so easy to pounce upon a hare when sitting. I have heard it related that foxes will actually run hares down, following by scent like hounds ; but I think they must be very much distressed by hunger before they resort to such alternatives. At the same time all such exercises axe calculated to increase their bodily powers and their knowledge of country. Generally speaking, I do not fancy the foxes are so wild as they were when I first became an obser\'er of their habits. So far they may be said to have degener- ated, and that may be from the treatment they receive. I can well recollect on approaching the large woods in Shropshire, before a hound was put into covert a fox would frequently break away from the opposite side, and unless some quick-eyed whip or other person of experience was there to give notice, the run would be lost. Many persons entertain an opinion that they are not so stout, and, perhaps, that may be the case like- wise, but they are by far more numerous, and, there- fore, what may be lost on one hand is more than com- pensated for on the other. This decrease of stoutness may be accounted for : changes in circumstances have led to changes in the habits of these animals ; their wants are more carefully provided for in the way of food, and, therefore, not having to travel far in search of it, they are not in such high condition. There is another cause why they should be less shy, in conse- quence of the increase of population; in many cases their haunts are more frequently intruded upon by man, and, seldom experiencing any molestation or injury, except when chased by hounds, they gain con- fidence. If we are to compare the long runs which we have heard and occasionally read of in the days of BUFFON ON FOXES 57 Meynell, Corbet, Forester, and Warde with those of the present period, we should most assuredly come to the conclusion that the foxes are by no means as stout ; but then it must be remembered the speed and condition of hounds have greatly improved. The greater proportion of foxes which we now have are those which are bred in moderate-sized and small coverts, and, as I have before observed, they are not either so wild or stout as those which are bred in mountainous districts and large tracts of woodland. When found in such places as the former, unless the underwood is very strong they are generally obliged to quit. With a fair start and a holding scent, the chances would be in favour of the hounds killing their fox ; but it frequently happens that a numerous jealous conclave of hard riders exert their utmost energies in the pre- servation of the vulpine tribe. Collectively they will ride so close to the pack as to prevent the hounds hunting from want of room, and will not unfrequently absolutely ride between the hounds and the object of their chase, as if desirous of destroying the scent by every available means. Although collectively they do this, every man individually censures such proceedings. The knowledge of country which these foxes acquire arises principally from their being hunted. Their preservation has, undoubtedly, become the general rule, and their destruction by unfair means is happily the exception. It is proved that they do not commit those depredations among game which at one time they were supposed to do. Perad venture, like the human race, they are more civilised ; for they do not levy the contributions on the lambs of which they were accused in former days, most frequently very unjustly. Buffon gives us some curious remarks on the habits of the fox, the correctness of which I will not presume to dispute ; but the animal has mended his manners con- siderably since the time when the great naturahst made his observations. Moreover, they were French foxes concerning which he made his remarks : our English 58 RECORDS OF THE CHASE ones are not such desperate marauders. He tells us of the fox that, " He forms his earth at the side of a wood or near a hamlet ; he listens to the crowing of the cocks and the cackling of the poultry ; he scents them from afar — he chooses skilfully his time and his oppor- tunity—carefully conceals his movements and his in- tentions— creeps stealthily along, at times even dragging his belly along the ground — springs suddenly on his prey, and rarely fails of capturing it. If he can manage to leap the enclosure, or burrow underneath, he loses not an instant — he ravages the poultry-yard, puts all indiscriminately to death, and then craftily re- tires, carrying with him part of what he has slain, which he takes away and conceals among the grass, or carries to his home. Shortly afterwards he returns in search of more, which he removes and hides in like manner; he returns a third, and even a fourth time, imtil either the appearance of daylight or some stir about the house, warns him to retire and return no more." Where is the farmer's wife who could read this without horror, anticipating the fate of her poultry ? That the fox is not the guilty culprit whose constant practice it is to commit these depredations we are certain ; for if he were the henroost would soon become untenanted. Within a radius not exceeding one mile of the spot where I am now writing, fifteen brace of cubs were littered this season, and, within five miles, thirty-five brace, to my certain knowledge. Many more there may be which I do not know of ; where they are so numerous, if they were in the habit of committing the depredations named by Buff on, there would not be a head of poultry in the country. But there is scarcely a farm-house in the neighbourhood where they do not keep from twenty to thirty hens, and in many instances double that number. The game in the district to which I allude is also very abundant. Buff on was not content with watching poor Reynard to the henroost and ac- cusing him of devastations, but adds, " He plays the same game with the nets of the bird-catchers, and the BUFFON ON FOXES 59 snares in which they take thrushes and woodcocks. He is stirring with the earliest dawn, and often visits the traps several times during the day. " He examines the snares and the lime twigs, and regularly makes off with the birds that have been taken in them ; these he conceals in different situations, at the road side, in a furrow or rut, among the grass, or at the root of a tree. " He often leaves them there for days, but still knows well where to find them when wanted. He chases the leverets on the common, not unfrequently takes the hare upon her form, and seldom fails of sur- prising such as may have been wounded : he digs out the rabbit in the warren, discovers the nest of the partridge and of the quail, secures the mother upon her eggs, and, in short, destroys a vast quantity of game.'* According to Buffon, the fox levies insatiate contri- butions on the henroost and on the game preserves ; and, if his opinions were correct, would very soon devastate an extensive country ; but practical experi- ence proves that such is not the case. The havoc described as being committed among the nets and snares of bird-catchers must be imaginary ; because, having laid his devices, where is the bird-catcher who is not, as the fox is represented to be, " stirring with the earliest dawn," and watching his snares? The fox may occasionally indulge his appetite with a leveret or a hare that may have been wounded ; but the most scrupulous game preserver would scarcely begrudge him the latter delicacy, knowing that the hare would otherwise perish and rot. He may perhaps surprise a hen pheasant on her nest if not amply provided with food, such as rabbits and rooks, with which it is the duty of every keeper to supply him during the breeding season of the birds ^ which is the period when the vixens have to procure food for their cubs, and by the time the latter have attained any size the pheasants have taken to the trees as a roosting place where they are tolerably secure. I have alreadv observed that I am led to believe 60 RECORDS OF THE CHASE whatever manoeuvre a fox resorts to the first time of his bemg hunted, if it proves successful to his escape he will, if possible, adopt on future occasions. I will now introduce a few circumstances in corroboration thereof. Several years since I was hunting with the Albrighton hounds in those very severe woodlands, the Ran Dans, on the borders of the Worcestershire country- and neutral with the two hunts. They found a fox, and ran him upwards of two hours. These hounds had on previous occasions found a fox which always beat them. The Worcestershire hounds had experienced the same disappointment. The fox invariably persevered in working round the wood, and when the hounds arrived at a particular spot they always came to a check of considerable duration. At length it was determined to watch that point, which was at a division in the covert where a very strongly plashed hedge extended a dis- tance of two or three hundred yards and connected the two portions of the woods. It was there discovered that the fox had gained so much advantage by running along the top of this fence, and no doubt laid himself up there till the hounds had passed him, when he retraced his steps and regained the thick under-wood behind the disappointed pack. This stratagem being detected, the hounds were laid on in view, which caused him to break covert; and in a short time they ran into him. On the 8th of Februarj^ 1851 I met the Vine hounds at West Heath. They found a fox at Tadley Place, and after a short ring ran him to Eyeford, where he ran the plantations and covert for some time. On the boundary of the covert there is a large pool of water with tumps of earth or little islands, separated from the banks by deep water ; there are also many sedges, rushes and tufts of rank grass, similar to those which generally grow in such situations. The hounds brought a ven," cold scent up to the margin of this pool, and, as I wa,s close to them at the time, I observed one hound throw his tongue in angry mood, as if he had seized his fox. ANECDOTES OF FOXES 61 which I expected was the case ; but at that moment the horn was heard back in covert, and the under-whip being at hand immediately turned the hounds to the huntsman, who, not being then aware of this circum- stance, made his cast. From what I saw, and the result, I was quite convinced the fox had crossed through the water and laid himself up on one of the rough tumps of earth and sedges ; but the scent being bad, ' the hounds scarcely owned it up to the water, although the single hound that spoke to it knew the fox was very near to him. When the hounds had left that point, and while they were working to recover the scent in the covert, the fox got upon his legs again and was fortunately viewed, and finally after two hours' running was killed on a similar spot within a short distance. This fox had no doubt found by experience that in such situations he was not pursued with the same ardour he was on dry land. The place abounds with wild ducks and other birds of aquatic habits, and most probably it was in search of them that he first became acquainted with its locality. Another circumstance, illustrative of this argument, occurred with the Duke of Beaufort's hounds on the 11th of April 1853. They met at Newark Park and commenced operations by drawing the covert close to the lodge gates, where they found immediately. Being on the outside I viewed the fox away and observed that he ran along the top of a wall more than twenty yards. It was a fine, bright, warm day, and the scent far from being good. They ran him on the surrounding hills, which abound with coverts, for some time, and, after taking a ring, he pointed over the open for Tiley, and I had an opportunity of observing, by the manner in which the hounds picked up the scent by some of the walls, that the fox had resorted to his manoeuvre of running along the top of them when the nature of the walls permitted him, descending, as he was compelled to do, at gate-ways and other spaces, where the line was broken. In this way he reached Tiley, when, being 62 RECORDS OF THE CHASE somewhat distressed, the hounds killed him in the act of descending from a wall. It was an old fox of a very light colour, and I have little doubt he had performed the same trick, though more successfully, on other oc- casions. I have heard an anecdote of a fox, one without a ' brush,' that was many times found by the late Duke of Beaufort's hounds when they hunted the Heythrop country. His haunt was generally near the sajne spot, and when hunted he always took the same line of country, and by some stratagem escaped ; but his device was never discovered. At length, however, he was killed, probably from being disappointed in ac- complishing his trick. An event was related to me of a somewhat curious kennel which a brace of foxes had adopted in the Badminton country. On the 3rd of January 1853 the Duke of Beaufort's hounds met at the Lower Woods and found a fox in the Withey Moor, which they lost at Kilcot. It was reported that a fox had been frequently seen in the open field near Little Badminton, and that he had his kennel in a stubble rick placed against a wall, to which spot the hounds were taken ; but they were unable to dislodge him, or in fact to decide that he was ' at home,' and went away to draw another covert. A countryman who was present per- severed, and having pulled down a portion of the wall, with the assistance of a dog bolted a brace of foxes. The hounds being brought back and laid on the scent of one of them ran him through Swangrove to Sop- worth, from thence to Sherston and Foxley, where they killed him. It may be remarked, that the weather had been unusually wet, and in many places in the vales the foxes had no dry lodgings to resort to ; therefore their taking to the hills and selecting a spot where they could lie secure from floods was by no means an unac- countable proceeding. The companion fox, which was not hunted on this occasion, continued to use the same place of seclusion. On the 20th of the same month the ANECDOTES OF FOXES 63 hounds again visited the stubble rick ; but although the fox was not there at the time, there was evidence of his having been very recently, from the fresh print of his pads and other conclusive proof in which sportsmen could not be mistaken. This may serve as an explanation why it frequently happens that hounds draw a great extent of country without being able to find, when weather or some particular cause induces the foxes to abandon for a time their usual places of resort. I remember on the 19th of November 1844 Earl Fitz- hardinge's hounds met at Hazleton Grove, when they drew the Brake, always considered a sure find, blank ; but they found in the Grove, and went away at a great pace, leaving Puzedown on the left, to a spinny, where they doubled up their fox in double quick time. In consequence of the coldness of the season and late- ness of the harvest there was a field of barley standing, in w^hich it was stated a fox had frequently been seen — no doubt one which belonged to the brake previously mentioned as having been drawn blank. On the approach of the hounds he was instantly on foot ; was viewed crossing the wall, and went away over Puze- down, when he turned to the left and across the Cheltenham road, as if making a point for Compton or Star Wood ; but he again bore to the left and recrossed the road by Puzedown Inn. Up to this point the pace was first rate ; but as the hounds were now running down wind the scent diminished, and they came to a check. Nevertheless they hunted him to the New Gorse, where an unfortunate halloo to a fresh fox destroyed the chance there was, with but an indifferent scent, of killing him. Another occurrence of a similar nature took place on the 23rd of November 1848 with the H. H., which were then hunted by Lord Gifford. They met at Ellisfield and found their first fox in Hal Wood, which they lost near Herriard. His lordship was informed that a fox had been seen constantly in a field of turnips on Hatch 64 RECORDS OF THE CHASE Warren Farm, and was induced to go in search of him ; the hounds had spread all over the field without touching upon him. Not being accustomed to find foxes in such situations, very probably they did not draw well. As the land seemed alive with partridges, it did not appear likely that the fox was there ; and Lord Gifford was in the act of taking his horn out of the case to call the hounds away, when the fox jumped up within fifty yards of the spot ; a singular instance of concord between the fox and the feathered tribe. The hounds were soon at him, and ran him merrily over the road, by Kempshot to South wood, through Bull's Bushes to Ash Park, Steventon to North Waltham, back to Bull's Bushes, and from thence to Itching Row, near Oakley Park, where, after a chase of two hours, they ran into and killed a fox, but certainly not the one they found in the turnip field, for which I can assign two reasons : the one they killed had a pad damaged, and was therefore lame, which the one originally found was not ; and a fox was on several subsequent occasions seen in the turnip field. Where they changed I will not take upon myself to determine, unless it wasi in Bull's Bushes, the second time they got to that covert, which is most probable, as there certainly were two foxes there when the hounds ran into it the first time. Foxes have been frequently known when chased by hounds to seek refuge among ivy growing about stumps of trees, in farm-buildings, and other unaccountable places. They are no doubt haunts which they have been accustomed to frequent in the first instance in search of food ; for it is not probable in the heat of pursuit that they should be able to select such sanctu- aries on the impulse of the moment. I have often known hounds run their fox to a certain point with a good scent and lose him instantaneously, as if he had vanished into ethereal space. On those occasions it is evident they must have gained some unaccountable place of safety to which the hounds had not the power of scenting them. I remember hearing of an event A FOX IN A NEST 65 which occurred with the justly celebrated Mr. Meynell's hounds, which shows the great patience, perseverance, talent, and keen-sightedness for which he was so eminently distinguished, and also what extraordinary places foxes will sometimes seek for refuge. They were drawing a gorse covert when a single hound, that could be relied upon, spoke. " That will do," exclaimed Mr. Meynell ; but the hounds could make nothing of it. They were drawn round again to the place where the single hound had spoken; but they could not "roust him out." Still persevering, I believe upwards of two hours, the field became impatient and the greater portion went home. At length, holding a consultation with Raven, his huntsman, he enquired the exact spot where the hound spoke, which was close to a bush that he pointed to. " Then get off and examine it," said Mr. Meynell. It was a low bush or stump of a tree which leaned over the gorse and in which was an old magpie's nest, where the fox had rolled himself up and was peep- ing over the side of the nest at the proceedings below. Raven whipped him out, laid on the hounds, and, with a good scent, had a capital run, and killed the intruder on the magpie's forsaken property near the kennel. It does not very frequently occur that opportunities offer of watching the movements of foxes when they are chased by hounds ; but a circumstance of this kind happened to me on the 22nd of January 1839. I was staying at Cheltenham at the time, and not having a horse to ride on that day walked out to call on a friend near to where Lord Fitzhardinge's hounds met, which was at Norton Village. While sitting in my friend's dining-room I saw a fox crossing a meadow in front of the house. We immediately went out, and heard the hounds at a considerable distance, but evidently not running towards us. Our attention was turned to the wily animal, and we scrupulously observed his motions, in which he favoured us by running in the direction of where we stood. He stopped occasionally, as if to listen, and then trotted on again, quietly reconnoitring E 66 RECORDS OF THE CHASE the country, and selecting the most convenient places in the fences to pass through. He actually appeared as if he were thinking what course to pursue. At this crisis, however, he was safe from the pursuit of the hounds. At the time I mention, the railway was in progress of formation between Cheltenham and Gloucester, passing within a field or two of the spot, and from which direction the fox came. My friend and I therefore proceeded to the embankment, expecting to hear or see something of the hounds, and there found upwards of one hundred men at woi:k, by some of whom we were informed that the fox had passed among them and close to a bull terrier, which the owner had luckily secured. On making inquiry after- wards, I discovered the reason the hounds were not then in pursuit of this fox. They had found him in Nor- ton Wood, and with a good scent ran him at a racing pace to Down Hatherley and through the covert, where a fresh fox was disturbed, when, after running a mile clear of the wood, they got on the heel of the latter, and ran it several fields- up wind before it was possible to stop them. Thus the hunted fox, after having had a good breathing, escaped ; and his movements, as already mentioned, were regulated by his doubt for his safety. From this it appears that when not pressed by hounds foxes will merely jog on at a moderate pace and will only increase it in order to keep at a convenient distance from their canine adversaries; and I have very little doubt but that is their general custom. Nimrod was of the same opinion. He observes — " It is the nature of all game to fly in proportion as it is pressed in flight. The fox before the slow hound is, I should say, nine times in ten not a yard further ahead than he would be before the quick one, having reason to believe (and I here speak from my experience) foxes regulate their speed by the cry of hounds.*' I shall recur to this subject in a future chapter on the comparative speed of hounds of past and present times. As a proof to what state the domestication of the fox A TAME FOX 67 may be brought, and as an original idea, I must here introduce an anecdote of a tame fox kept in Shropshire in Mr. Boycott's time, and also when Mr. Walter Gifford had the management of the Albrighton country. Nearly in the centre of the hunt at Cranmere, close to the house, was a covert well known as Mr. Vickers's Gorse — a name given to it in consequence of its being on the estate occupied by that gentleman, who in early life was an excellent sportsman and a first-rate per- former over a country ; and although an accident subsequently prevented him participating in the pleasures of the chase he was not the less desirous to pro- mote the sport of others. Mrs. Vickers and her niece. Miss Miller, were most determined admirers of fox- hunting, and generally met the hounds whenever they were within reasonable distance. But Mrs. Vickers' devotion to fox-hunting was not confined merely to participation in the sport ; for it extended to the pro- motion of it. She had a tame vixen fox chained up near the house, and an artificial earth constructed for the accommodation of her protegee. On the approach of the * merry spring time ' the vixen fox was liberated and allowed to roam into the gorse — an indulgence which she did not abuse but returned to her accustomed earth in due course of time, where she brought forth a litter of cubs several successive seasons. These cubs, being allowed to stray off into the gorse, were generally found when the hounds paid their respects. I will not, however, go so far as to assert that they were of much value as affording sport — they were too much domesticated ; but the fact of the vixen returning after having been liberated shows the attach- ment she had for the earth to which she was accustomed. My highly esteemed friend Captain Bowen Davies, late of Maesycrigau in Carmarthenshire (who, alas ! has been gathered to his last home), often related to me an event which occurred with a tame fox which he had. He kept fox-hounds at the time; and in the summer 68 RECORDS OF THE CHASE months a few of the old favourites were permitted to range about the premises; but they never attempted to molest the fox that was chained up. One summer, thinking his fox would be, happier if allowed his liberty, he released him, but with a short piece of chain attached to his collar. He, however, soon made serious havoc among some fancy poultry. Incensed at such ingratitude, my friend was resolved on the destruction of the depredator, and, knowing his haunts, released the hounds from the kennel, and followed them on foot. They soon found the culprit, who broke covert in due form, the pack after him in full cry. They had not proceeded far before the harmonious concert ceased, and their huntsman was preparing to give a who-hoop when, to his utter astonishment, he observed the hounds returning to him with the fox in the midst of them, waving his brush, unhurt, and all appearing on the most social terms ; upon which he secured the caitiff and had him again chained up, where he remained for several years. A singular coincidence has been communicated to me of a fox which was disturbed in one of the Earl Fitzhardinge's coverts during the shooting season of 1852. A party of his lordship's guests were beating a small covert ; and the game having been driven to the extremity, the Hon. Craven Berkeley heard a hare cn^'^ out. No one having fired at that moment, and there not being any dog near, curiosity was excited, and close to the spot a fox was viewed, which had evidently committed the outrage. There the hare lay dead. What could have instigated him to commit such an act must remain a mystery. Whether he thought he was bound, in honour to his aristocratic visitors and patrons, to join them in their sport and contribute his quota to their list of ' killed ' — whether a sudden impulse of anger, fear, or hunger prompted him, it is impossible to conceive. Although he was surrounded by his best friends he might have anticipated danger and therefore snapped at the hare as she was passing; BREAKING UP EARTHS 69 but whatever motive induced him to do it, it was certainly a most extraordinary proceeding. Seeing how much the nature of foxes is regulated by their mode of living, it becomes a matter of interest to inquire to what extent those habits may be cultivated so as to insure sport. To effect this I am quite of opinion that if all the breeding earths were to be broken up foxes would be wilder and stouter. There are, I am aware, many masters of hounds who are opposed to this course from reasons which I will explain. There is, however, a medium practice which might be resorted to, probably with benefit ; namely, that of stopping the main earths as soon as hunting commences, and of keeping them stopped till the vixens are about to lay up their cubs. I believe Mr. T. Smith was the first to propose this plan, and likewise to put it in operation ; and the success which attended him as a master of hounds during the number of years which he hunted the Craven, the Hambledon, and other countries, is a guarantee for the soundness of his doctrines. The custom has been adopted also in the Vine Hunt and other parts of Hampshire. With reference to the plan of destroying all the main earths, I must observe that in the Oakley country the foxes are all ' stub-bred ones,' which I know from the authority of two gentlemen who hunted that country, both of whom agree that they are uncommonly stout and ' take a great deal of killing.' If foxes breed and thrive above ground in one country they will do so in another; and many advantages would arise from the system. In the first place, fox-stealers would not be so readily enabled to get at the cubs, because they would experience difficulty in finding them after they have attained an age when they are capable of feeding themselves; and it would be useless to take them before that time when the object is to transport them into another country. Fortunately the day has gone by when persons would desire to take them for the purpose of absolute destruction. The fox-stealing 70 RECORDS OF THE CHASE fraternity would never accomplish the capture of a half-grown or an old stub-bred fox. It is only when they go to ground that the devices of those marauders can, with facility, be put into effect. An event occurred a few years since, when I was residing in Hampshire, the details of which are worth mentioning, because they go very far to show the advantages which would arise from the adoption of my recommendation. A vixen fox had laid up her cubs in an earth on the banks of a chalk-pit, and one day in the spring, seeing a very notorious fox-stealer lurking about, I immediately communicated with the keeper, who caused the vixen to remove her cubs by burning some tar and brimstone-matches at the mouth of the earth; she took them to a neighbouring covert and brought them up on a stub, and they afforded some good runs when they were sufficiently old enough. To have dug them out would have been impossible from the nature of the earth ; but the vulpicide in question practised a far more cunning and systematic device. He had a small female terrier which he had taught to go into the earths and bring out the cubs one at a time in her mouth, and she would perform it with the utmost tenderness ; a plan by far more dexterous and destructive than that of digging, from two causes. In the first place, if a fox-stealer resorts to digging it necessarily occupies some time, during which he may be detected ; and although the laws are not very severe on such occasions, he may be punished for trespass, a penalty which he will not willingly incur. In the next place, he cannot do it without disturbing the soil, which leaves indubitable evidence that some depredation has been committed. But with the terrier trained to the performance a whole country may be robbed and no discovery made till cub-hunting commences. The operation is performed in a few minutes. Regarding the fact of having caused the vixen to remove her cubs as equivalent to breaking up or stopping the earth, I will now proceed to illustrate two A SCURRY WITH THE VINE 71 striking events connected with the noble science : one bearing on the practice which I am now advocating ; the other, on what hounds can do if not pressed upon by horsemen or interfered with by a huntsiman. On the 15th of February 1851 the Vine homids met at Monk's Sherborne and drew Mr. Holton's coverts, the resort of the cubs which had been removed from the earth in question. They very quickly found, and with a good scent went away with Uttle or no ciy. It was a foggy morning, and none of the field was aware for some little time that they had found, much less that they had gone away ; missing the hounds, however, it was soon discovered they had slipped off silently by themselves, pointing for Ramsdell, leaving that hamlet on the right, to Skyres, when they ran in the direction of Ewhurst Park, but skirting the coverts, went straight through the Deans Wood, and on gaining the open the hounds ran into and killed their fox. The run occupied thirty-five minutes, but not one of the field saw any- thing of the hounds till they had passed Ramsdell, and were never able to get near them till they reached the Deans Wood, immediately after which he was killed. This was only a young fox of the preceding season, he was one of those which had been disturbed from the earths, and I had often seen him. He was a good, wild specimen of the vulpine fraternity ; there was no dis- position in him to run the chain of woodlands which prevail in the neighbourhood, the usual propensity of the foxes generally which are bred there. The moment he was found he faced the open, skirted the Ewhurst coverts, and ran through Deans Wood, more probably because it happened to be in his line than from any knowledge of its locality, for it contains earths which he never tried. Although there are some impediments to first-rate sport in the Vine country, in consequence of the inter- minable woodlands and hedgerows in one part and the bad-scenting properties of the other, it abounds in wild, stout-running foxes, which may be attributed in 72 RECORDS OF THE CHASE a great measure to the custom of finally closing the earths when hunting commences. When the earths are closed at the commencement of the season the danger of stopping foxes under ground is entirely obviated, and I have no doubt it is not an unfrequent occurrence. If the weather be rough and unfavourable foxes will not always, unless pressed by hunger, leave their earths at all ; and if they do, are very apt to return as expeditiously as possible after having pro- cured their food. With regard to breaking up the earths entirely, the plan appears to possess many recommendations ; it would save a vast deal of trouble in earth-stopping; and as the propensities of foxes, like those of other animals, are controlled by habit, those which are bred above ground would not run to earth when pressed by hounds so frequently as those which have been accus- tomed to seek repose and safety in such asylums. A fox bred in an earth resorts to such places when dis- turbed ; he has found repose there and seeks it in the moment of danger ; it becomes his habit. After his nocturnal rambles in search of food he returns to his natural dormitory, though it may not be the identical place in which he was born. Foxes that are accustomed to this ' life below stairs ' instinctively fly to those asylums when chased by hounds ; they find a barrier opposed to their entrance, but if the scent be not good and the underwood is thick, they will often hang in covert, in a great measure attracted by the earths, which they scarcely fail to visit every time they pass by them. At length becoming weary, they enter some rabbit hole, or drain, sufficiently spacious to receive them. The objections which I have heard against this plan are that it would cause the foxes to leave the coverts where it was practised, and take themselves off to those of a neighbouring hunt. In the first place, I do not think it would have that effect to any extent, and that objection would be obviated if the adjoining hunt would adopt a similar course. BREAKING UP EARTHS 73 Masters of hounds are usually desirous to promote the sport of their neighbours, especially if by so doing they can augment their own; the jealousy which existed in former days is exploded. Those who are most intimately acquainted with the habits of the fox are aware that breaking up or finally closing the earths will not cause the foxes to leave their accustomed woodlands if they be kept quiet. It is when they are disturbed by rabbit shooters and cur dogs at the com- mencement of the breeding season that they will seek repose in more peaceful quarters. The difference in point of stoutness, stamina, and wildness between stub-bred foxes and those which are half-domesticated is well known, and any master of hounds would not, I conceive, hesitate in making the election with which he would prefer to have his country stocked. Even if they were not so numerous, thirty brace of good wild, flying foxes would afford more sport than treble the number of bad ones. In case that cordial arrangement could not be effected, if the main earths were to be broken up in the centre of the country it would soon be decided if the practice were good or not, and in that case there would be no risk of driving them into another hunt. It has been contended that foxes so treated would die from want of shelter, and that the cubs while very young would be liable to fall victims to hawks and other birds of prey ; on the latter point not so much so as the young leverets; and on the other, when it is observed that in the Oakley country they are all stub bred, and in other countries they are partially so, that objection is confuted. I must now quote a few lines from that great authority on hunting, Beckford, who, it will be seen, had an idea of the plan which I have been advocating. He says : "I am not certain that earths are the safest places for foxes to breed in ; for frequently, when poachers cannot dig them, they will catch the young foxes in trenches dug at the mouth of the hole, which I believe they call 'tunning' them." 74 RECORDS OF THE CHASE An objection to breaking up the earths has been pointed out to me as relates to the fees to keepers, that if there were no earths to stop, and consequently no fees for doing so, the keej>ers, feeling less interest in the preservation of foxes, would be still greater enemies to them ; but that difficulty is very easily overcome by a custom adopted in some countries of paying the keepers a certain sum every hunting day on which a fox is found in the coverts of which they have the care, a portion of that sum being reserved in case a fox goes to ground in an earth which they have neglected to stop. Before I conclude this chapter on the habits of the vulpine race, it is necessary to introduce the subject of coverts. When our forefathers first began to hunt the fox they no doubt confined their operations to the large woods and rocky cliffs, the original, and, I may add, natural places of resort of the vulpine race. In wild, uncultivated districts a species of gorse springs up, generally on the sides or summits of hills; it appears to be indigenous to the soil. Those situations may like- wise be included as having afforded amusement to our worthy ancestors. It may be very readily understood that when the large woodlands had been frequently routed the foxes took to the smaller coverts which then existed, formed both by nature and art, such as are known by the names of gullies, dingles, spinnies, coppices, and brakes, hollows, or bottoms, generally acknowledged as ' fox-ground.' At the same time, it may be observed there are some particular spots which those animals do not appear to patronise ; for I have known some ' very likely places ' where foxes never lie, and very seldom, if ever, run through them. As foxes became dispersed, it was found more agree- able to hunt them over the open plains than through the woodlands, especially by those who were ambitious to exhibit their equestrian prowess ; and to encourage the foxes to frequent smaller coverts from whence each horseman had an equal chance of ' a fair start ' followed FOX COVERTS 75 as a matter of course. For this purpose artificial gorse coverts were formed, independently of coppices and plantations, for the treble purpose of preserving game and foxes, and of converting rough unfertile spots, unfavourable to agriculture, into profit by growing coppice wood and plantation timber. Whether the prevalence of gorse coverts in some of the most fashionable countries, especially in Leicestershire and Northamptonshire, is conducive to sport of the highest class, is rather questionable ; but it appears that the public taste is better pleased with a fifteen or twenty minutes' burst without a check, or any impediment to call forth the talent of the huntsman or the exquisite hunting faculties of the hounds, than with a longer run of five-and-forty minutes* or an hour's duration. From the time of Mr. Meynell to the present, Charnwood Forest has been the stronghold of the vulpine family affecting Leicestershire, though I have no doubt it is very materially changed from what it was formerly. The Pytchley country, perhaps, may be ranked first as possessing the most important wood- lands in England, which includes Rockingham Forest, where they frequently hunt till very late in the season ; and my memory deceives me if I have not heard of some master of hounds who actually hunted throughout one summer. The principal woodlands in Warwickshire are in the northern division of the country, situated between Warwick and Coleshill, extending to Meriden. With intervals of heavy-ploughed land they are extensive and hold a good scent, and when regularly hunted the foxes have been notorious for their stout- ness ; but there have been several periods during which no hounds have been kept ; and where that has been the case, foxes are in general destroyed by un- sportsmanlike means. Wychwood Forest, in the Heythrop country, is very extensive ; it is in length about seven miles and nearly four in breadth, intersected with numerous rides and some roads. For the purpose of a nursery for foxes 76 RECORDS OF THE CHASE it is invaluable and is an excellent arena both for cub- hunting and hunting in the spring of the year, when the young crops and the nature of the coverts render it imprudent to continue the sport in the open. Capps' Lodge, Chadlington Gate, Combury Park, Fair Spear, Potter's Lodge, RLngwood Oak, and White Oak Green, otherwise Wittey Green, are the principal places of meeting in the forest. Foxes found at Bruern, Tangley, Westwell and Bradwell Grove will often run direct to Wychwood, and a more splendid country to cross cannot be desired. In the Duke of Beaufort's country the Lower Woods are the most important. Though by no means so ex- pansive as Wychwood Forest, they are a favourite rendezvous of the vulpine race. In a wet season such as that of 1852 and 1853, the rides are awfully deep, and lost shoes and occasionally loose horses are the results. By the excellent management for which the duke's hounds are signalised, these woods are constantly hunted ; therefore the foxes are wild, and very frequently afford good runs. It is not an uncommon occurrence to find a fox in the Lower Woods whose line is up Hawkesbury Hill (a choker at the commencement) to Bodkin Hazles, Swangrove, across Badminton Park, and if the hounds do not previously taste him, his point is Sopworth, Sherston, and perhaps Pinkney Park. There is also a considerable tract of hilly woodlands about Kilcot, Boxwell, Alderley, and Newark Park, well stocked with foxes. Earl Fitzhardinge's Berkeley country has a con- siderable portion of woodland, although none of the coverts are individually very extensive. The principal ones are those on the line of hills between Dursley and Wotton-under-Edge, extending to Stinchcombe and Westridge in one direction, and towards Kingscote in the other, where they are bounded by the Duke of Beaufort's country already mentioned, Kilcot, Boxwell, and Alderley. His lordship has also a fine preserve for foxes and game in Michaelwood ; in fact it is un- BEWDLEY FOREST 77 necessary to state that his lordship's estate is well stocked with the requisites for sport of all kinds. In the Cheltenham country the strongest woodlands are the Chedworth, Withington and Star Woods, all of which are close together. The Guiting Woods are like- wise of considerable magnitude. Although Shropshire may be fairly denominated a woodland country, it does not contain any woods of great size ; but they are numerous in many parts, and so far prejudicial to first-rate sport, and many of them are very strong — consequently hounds experience great difficulty in driving the foxes through them. In the Albrighton Hunt the Areley Woods are the most considerable and lie on the north-western bank of the Severn. The Ran Dans, which are in Worcestershire and neutral with the two hunts, are as strong as any I ever saw. The latter country in its general character is similar to Shropshire ; but in parts of it there is more grass. There is a large extent of woodland bordering on the two counties, called Bewdley Forest, and though not preserved it is a very favourite resort of foxes. It has not been hunted by any hounds for the last thirty years, although it is admirably adapted for cub-hunt- ing. I once suggested this to a late master of the Worcestershire, who was horrified at the idea, exclaim- ing if he were to take his hounds there he should never expect to see them again. CHAPTER VI THE FAME OF LEICESTERSHIRE The pre-eminence which Leicestershire has acquired as the great and fashionable arena of fox-hunting may be ascribed to three causes : the nature of the country being peculiarly adapted to the purpose ; the eclat which the late Mr. Meynell established at an early date, when ' the science ' was in a crude state ; and the lustre subsequently shed over it by many of that talented fox- hunter's successors. Mr. Meynell hunted the Quorn country about five and forty years, commencing soon after the termination of the first half of the last century, and continuing till the first or second year in the present. It was, of course, long before my time ; but having for many years enjoyed the friendship of one of his grandsons, and also of the late Mr. John Lockley, a contemporary of Mr. Meynell's, I am indebted to them for many interesting facts and circumstances connected with the chase at the period when elegance and refinement first shed their influential rays upon it. When Mr. Meynell first entered upon Leicestershire he resided with Mr. Boothby, who contributed towards the expenses, at Langton Hall, and the hounds were kept at Great Bowden Inn, which, although in Leicestershire, is quite on the confines, bordering on Northamptonshire ; and I believe he hunted part of what is now the Pytchley country. He subsequently purchased Quorndon Hall from the Earl Ferrers, which ENTERING HOUNDS TO HARE 79 had been previously occupied as a club and to which many of the most fashionable men of the day belonged. On removing the establishment to that place they were designated the Quorn hounds. One of the peculiarities of Mr. Meynell's system was that of entering his young hounds at hare, a custom exploded in all kennels of the present day. I have reason to believe hisi motive for doing so was because many contemporary packs hunted both hare and fox, a custom which experience proves to be incompatible with the perfection of steadiness. Another motive was that of teaching hounds to hunt, or, in kennel language, 'to enter.' Although inconvenient, it was, perhaps, less objectionable at that time than it would be now, because hares were by no means so numerous; but, under any circumstances, it cannot be surprising that hounds should have a predilection for the pursuit of an animal they had been first encouraged to hunt, and that great severity must be exercised before the poor hounds could be made steady to the proper scent. If hares abound in the neighbourhood where young hounds are reared, they will very probably amuse themselves with a little independent hunting on their own account ; to which there is no objection, probably the reverse : it teaches them to hunt, the purpose for which they are bred and kept ; therefore, it is highly desirable they should be proficient in the accomplish- ment. It is a very different affair when they take to it from the natural impulse of instinct, and, being encouraged to hunt a scent one day are chastised for doing so the next. As young hounds are now treated, by taking them to exercise among hares and checking them when they show a disposition to chase the timids, they are rendered steady without punishment. When cub-hunting commences those hounds are generally found to enter more readily which have indulged in a little self-hunting after hares when at their walks. Mr. Meynell was an advocate for taking out an immense number of hounds, and would have as many 80 RECORDS OF THE CHASE as one hundred couples in the field. Evidently he did not value the advice given by Somerville, who says, " Here must th* instructive Muse (but with respect) Censure that numerous pack, that crowd of state, With which the vain profusion of the great Covers the lawn, and shakes the trembling copse. Pompous encumbrance ! a map:nificence Useless, vexatious ! For the wily fox. Safe in th' increasing number of his foes, Kens well the great advantage; slinks behind. And slyly creeps thro' the same beaten track, And hunts them step by step; then views, escap'd. With inward ecstasy, the panting throng In their own footsteps puzzled, foil'd and lost." The extraordinary command, or rather subjection, under which Mr. Meynell's hounds were disciplined, will be gleaned from an anecdote related of them by Colonel Cook. In his Observations on Hunting he mentions " the circumstance of Mr. Meynell's hounds waiting in the same field, while a few couples selected from the pack were running hard in an adjoining gorse, nor did they attempt to break from the whipper-in until cheered to the cry by Jack Raven.'* The plan of selecting a few couples of hounds to draw the gorse was, no doubt, adopted in order to avoid the danger of chopping the fox in covert, an event very likely to happen with such a numerous phalanx as one hundred couples of hounds. I also remember having heard Mr. Lockley mention similar instances of the subjection under which they were managed, but he thoroughly exonerated both the master and the huntsman from any acts of severity. The steadiness and docility of the hounds were manifested on all occasions. They hunted three days in the week, and the average number of foxes which they killed throughout a season was about thirty-six brace ; but then it must be remembered the country was of far greater extent than at the present time, as it then included the Donnington. Since Sir Richard Sutton has hunted the Quom HUGO MEYNELL 81 country the average number of foxes killed annually has been about forty-six brace, besides many which have been marked to ground and left, for they seldom dig a fox out after the regular hunting commences. As Mr. Meynell hunted only three days in the week and Sir Richard Sutton hunts six, it appears there were a greater number of foxes killed in the ' olden times,' in proportion to the number of hunting days. On the other hand, it must be remembered that the country was nearly, if not quite, double the present extent. Neither is the number of foxes killed a criterion of sport. It was the custom with Mr. Meynell to have the hounds taken the night before hunting to the immediate vicinity of the coverts which they were to draw on the following day, even if the distance did not exceed a few miles. This was of course done with a view of having them fresh to commence their work, but it must have been a mistaken idea ; for it is quite certain neither man, horse, nor hound reposes so comfortably as in the bed, stall, or kennel to which he is accustomed. The good taste which Mr. Meynell displayed in other affairs besides those of the chase led him into the best society of the day ; the man of fashion being combined with the sportsman must have assisted most materially in stamping upon the ' Noble Science ' that distinction with which he impressed it. He has been represented as having been the beau ideal of society, if such a term can be used individually ; and his courteous yet en- thusiastic manner in the field gave him a command which few masters of hounds ever enjoyed. Moreover, there were not so many horsemen, neither were there any of the promiscuous class to interfere with the working details of the chase. In the selection of a stomachic, cordial, restorative, tonic, or by whatever term he might have been pleased to describe it, his choice was certainly singular. Some gentlemen go forth into the hunting field provided with small flasks of sherrAs curagoa, cherry brandy, or similar spirituous com- F 82 RECORDS OF THE CHASE pounds ; but it was Mr. Meynell's pleasure to take none of those ; a small dose of tincture of rhubarb supplied the pla^e of more stimulating, and to most palates more agreeable, restoratives. How the constant use of the draught might have the effect of rendering the consti- tution less susceptible of its properties, I will not pre- sume to state, but it was such a one that few persons could indulge in without experiencing some inconveni- ence. As a very constant attendant at the covert-side with Mr. Meynell'si hounds I have already mentioned the name of Mr. Lockley; and I cannot pass him over without some further notice, for as a sportsman of the old school he was justly celebrated ; perhaps more as a rider to hounds than for his judgment in hunting. This veteran sportsman was bom at Barton Hall, in the county of Derby, in the year 1750. It is somewhat remarkable that the house in which he was born was at one time the residence of Oliver Cromwell and that Mr. Lockley subsequently resided at Boscobel House in Staffordshire, renowned in history as the refuge of King Charles II. after the battle of Worcester, The places in which the king was concealed were carefully preserved when Mr. Lockley resided there, but most of the other parts of the house were altered. In a field adjoining the garden stands the royal oak, raised from an acorn of the original oak in which the king found shelter ; and I believe all these relics are still kept in order. Mr. Lockley may be said to have passed more than half his life-time on horseback. He was a very early riser, and no sooner had he taken his breakfast than he mounted his horse, if in the winter, to ride to covert ; in summer, either to go on a journey, call on his friends, or inspect his farming — a pursuit which he followed at Boscobel and subsequently near Pershore, where he resided during the last ten or twelve years of his life, although it is to be regretted agriculture was not to him a profitable speculation. At the time he lived at JOHN LOCKLEY 88 Boscobel he hunted with Lord Talbot's hounds in the neighbourhood of Cannock Chase, Rugeley, Lichfield, and parts adjacent, which were often within reach of his own house ; Lord Vernon's, in the Sudbury, and what is now called the Atherstone country' ; Mr. Corbet's, in Warwickshire, and, as before stated, with Mr. Meynell's. He has often told me of a great day's sport he once enjoyed with two packs of hounds, some- where about the year 1790 ; and Uttle did I think at the time I should ever attempt to narrate his anecdotes, otherwise I should have treasured them more carefully in the form of memorandums. My memory does not serve me with minute particulars ; but he always com- menced the tale with, " We breakfasted at twelve o'clock." Mr. Hawkes, of Snitterfield, his contem- porary and intimate friend, a gentleman equally cele- brated as himself, was his companion. They met Lord Talbot's hounds, to begin with, at a very early hour, which implied the necessity for breaking their fast at midnight. They saw a capital run with those hounds, and then went on to meet Mr. Meynell's, who threw off later in the day. They had also an excellent run with them, and the tale was concluded with the declara- tion that " it was twelve o'clock at night before they retired to rest." It must have been a very severe day for them and their horses ; of course they had fresh hunters for the second pack ; but it was not the fashion in those days to have second horses in the field. As a rider to hounds Mr. Lockley was very superior, and his great experience rendered him a valuable acquaintance to a young beginner. An admonition which he once gave me I have never forgotten. We were hunting with Lord Lichfield's, then Lord Anson's hounds in the Atherstone country, and in the run my horse fell at a fence. When I got on him again, thinking he had been somewhat careless, I drove the spurs into him, which Lockley remarking said, "Never punish your horse after he is over his fence ; it is the most likely thing in the world to cause him to refuse ; 81 RECORDS OF THE CHASE besides which,*' added he, " people in this country will think you never had a fall before." The latter part of his counsel made some impression, the former a great deal. When hunting in the Albrighton country, then under the management of Mr. Boycott, and riding a horse belonging to Mr. William Grazebrook, poor Lockley had a bad fall, from the effects of which he never recovered ; and he breathed his last at that gentleman's house. This happened, if my calculations are correct, in the spring of 1827 ; consequently he had nearly attained the patriarchal age of eighty years. If his activity had failed him his pluck had not ; for a very few seasons before the accident occurred which termin- ated so fatally, he had distinguished himself in the three best runs of the year — in Leicestershire, Warwickshire and Shropshire. Without presuming to be an accomplished scholar, Mr. Lockley was ' well up ' in sporting language, and always appeared annoyed when he heard it mutilated. He had a great and proper aversion to hear a hound called a dog, and used to say it was an insult to the highest-bred and most sagacious of our domestic animals, synonymous with snob as applied to the human race ; and invariably included any person who made use of the term in the category of the synonym. During the latter period of his life the word ' meet ' came into use as designating the appointment or place of meeting of hounds, to which he had an equal dislike. I remember a juvenile sportsman saying to him one day when out hunting, ''Where is the meet to- morrow.^" Upon which he replied, "There will be a leg of mutton on my table to-morrow at six o'clock, if that is what you mean, and I shall be happy if you will come and partake of it." So far he was right, for the word is not to be found as a substantive in our language upon the authority of the dictionaries ; it has been coined for the purpose, and custom has brought it into use as a common term ; nevertheless it is not a correct one, or an elegant mode of expression. LOCKLEYS MAXIMS 85 With young beginners, if intimately acquainted, he was verj'^ kind in giving them hints and advice — teaching them how they should go in a manner peculiar to him- self ; and if sometimes they were mixed up with a slight degree of sarcasm, as in the latter instance, they were well meant and impressive. His great experience and age entitled him to some latitude of expression, and he was sincere in his motives. For one, I feel much indebted to him, and often regret not having followed his injunctions more implicitly. It would have saved me many misadventures and many five-pound notes ; but, unfortunately, it is too often the case in our youthful days that we slight the admonitions of our best-experienced mentors, and in no walk of life is good counsel of greater importance than in the sporting world. From Mr. Lockley's experience, observant habits, and devotion to fox-hunting, his maxims were worthy of attention. I recollect a message he sent by me to Mr. Boycott, when that gentleman first began to hunt the Albrighton country. When he commenced, he killed several cubs and some old foxes with rather an unrelenting hand, which reached Lockley's ears. " Give my compliments to Mr. Boycott," said he, "and tell him not to be too fond of killing his foxes do\vn. It is as necessary for sport to have a stock of foxes in condition, and acquainted with the country, as it is to have hounds and horses in condition." When riding to hounds he was particularly careful to avoid pressing upon them. '* Anticipating a check," as he called it, '' was a necesisary caution with every man who desired to ride like a sportsman." By this he meant taking notice if there was anything, such as a flock of sheep, herd of cattle, team at plough, or labourer at work in the line, calculated to head the fox and occasion a check. There are many gentlemen of the present day who would profit greatly by this hint. The successor to Mr. Meynell was the late Earl of Sefton. The magnificence and style which his lord- 86 RECORDS OF THE CHASE ship introduced far exceeded anything of the kind heretofore heard of in the fox-hunting world. At all events, it was introduced in a different light, in accordance with the fashion of the day ; of which, it is almost needless to add, the noble earl was the magnet and the polar star. Driving four-in-hand was in great vogue, and his lordship was a professor of the art. It was not, therefore, an unusual thing to see Lord Sefton's splendid team, as well as those of several other noblemen and gentlemen, at the place of meeting when available for wheels. Being a heavy-weight his lordship introduced the fashion, which has subsequently become prevalent, of having a second horse in the field; and it is a custom which cannot be too strongly advocated, effecting, in the long run a great saving of horse-flesh. Masters of hounds will always find it conducive to economy to have second horses for themelves and their servants. When a horse is tired down, jaded, he requires some time to recover, and may often not be fit to ride again under nine or ten days ; at all events not under a week ; but a horse that has only had moderate duty to perform will come out again in four or five days and will go through a season more satisfactorily than one which is ridden till he is tired, if it be only once in a fortnight. Those who only keep small studs may say they cannot do it. With three horses a man may desire to hunt four days in the week, which, barring accidents, he may do, pro- vided also that they are of mature age, in first-rate condition, and carefully ridden. Even with that small stud when the hounds meet near home it will be most desirable to have two horses out; but not exactly Uf>on the system generally adopted with second horses, which implies that the second horse goes to the place of meet- ing and is kept out the day through. The plan which is now frequently adopted in such cases is to have a fresh horse brought to an appointed place, where the hounds are expected to draw, about two o'clock, and to ex- change the one that has been ridden up to that time. TOM ASSHETON SMITH 87 It is thus very little more than exercise for either. Of course it may sometimes happen that the hounds find early and run in a contrary direction to where the fresh horse has been ordered to go ; but the line of country usually drawn from certain places of meeting is pretty generally known, and therefore it will not often occur that the fresh horse cannot be found. Moreover, it will occasionally happen that a second horse, although out all day, is not to be met with when wanted, in the event of a run with a straight-going fox. Lord Sefton was the first, and I believe the only master of hounds who had not only two packs but also two huntsmen — John Raven, who occupied that ap- pointment to Mr. Meynell, and Stephen Goodall. In fact his lordship was, from what I can learn, perfectly liberal in everything conducive to sport, or in any way calculated to add eclat to fox-hunting, but did not con- tinue verj'^ long at the head of affairs. In 1810 his lord- ship sold Quorndon Hall, which he had purchased from Mr. Meynell, with all its appurtenances, to the late Lord Foley, who was also a distinguished friend and contemporar>^ of Mr. Meynell. This last nobleman's career as a master of hounds in Leicestershire was very short ; other amusements at that time rising in the estimation of many of the wealthy fashionables of the day unfortunately attracted his lordship from the chase, and Mr. Thomas Assheton Smith made his debut in 1812. That gentleman's name and high reputation as a sportsman are so well-known in fox-hunting circles that any eulogiums from me would be superfluous. I must, however, observe that he was the first gentleman who essayed to hunt his own hounds in the far-famed Quorn country, and, moreover, that it was his first appearance in that character in any country. It was a bold at- tempt undoubtedly, but that was always a dis- tinguishing feature throughout his life. His idea of the practicability of a fence was that it could be got over with a fall ; his object was to be in the same field with 88 RECORDS OF THE CHASE his hounds, at any risk. And it has been asserted that his falls averaged something like one hundred during a season ; yet I believe he never sustained very serious injuries in the way of broken limbs, though doubtless he must have received many very hard blows. This proves two facts, Mr. Assheton Smith's superiority as a horseman, and perfect coolness in the time of danger. If an inferior horseman happens to meet with one awkward fall he isi almost certain to sustain some damage, more particularly if his nerve is deficient. In fact the art of falling may be considered as forming part of the science of equestrianism necessary to a man who rides with hounds. In 1817 Mr. Assheton Smith transferred his title to the possession of Quorndon Hall and the country to Mr. Osbaldeston, a gentleman whose sporting exploits of all kinds are generally known throughout all the civilised districts of the globe. At one period of his life he would have challenged any mortal breathing to a diversity of achievements! ; in fact he did so, but there was no response. There were very few men who could compete with him in individual enterprises ; but it was not till some years had elapsed, after his first appearance in Leicestershire as a master of hounds, that he distin- guished himself in the various accomplishments of shooting, cricketing, steeple-chasing, race riding, cum multis aliis. However, I must not get off the line to describe them. About the middle of the season of 1821 Mr. Osbaldeston sold the greater portion of his hounds, horses, and the establishment at Quorn to Sir Bellingham Graham, who at that time had just com- menced hunting the Hambledon country in Hampshire, where Mr. Osbaldeston succeeded the baronet, who only remained in Leicestershire one clear season after- wards. The Hambledon country was by no means consonant with Mr. Osbaldeston's taste or talent as a huntsman. It was more suitable to one of the old school, by whom brilliant bursts, distinguished for SQUIRE OSBALDESTON 89 pace, were not held in so much estimation as hunting runs; and in 1823 ' The Squire,' as he was termed by his friends, returned to his old quarters at Quorndon Hall, and Sir Bellingham Graham w^ent into what is now called the Albrighton country. Mr. Osbaldeston then undertook the arduous post of hunting his own hounds. On the previous occasion Tom Sebright offici- ated ; Dick Burton was the first whip to Mr. Osbaldeston, until he met with a severe accident, when his place was occupied by the equally well-known Jack Stevens, assisted by James Shirley ; and two more efficient whippers-in never turned hounds to their huntsman's horn. With what pleasure do we retrace our lives to the period of our youthful days, and what a happy circum- stance it is that we retain more vivid recollection of subjects which afford us delight than of those which create vexation ! Thus we refer to by-gone days with considerable satisfaction, and compare them with the present as having been more profuse of prosperity and social happiness. This is not an unaccountable feeling considering that youth is the stage of our existence when we are most susceptible to the impressions of joy, ere we have encountered the deceits of mankind, the stratagems of malevolence and the vicissitudes of fortune ; ere we have gained knowledge by experience, and are more capable of detecting imperfections, which being discovered detract something from the enjoy- ment of pursuits with which they may be connected. Highly elated was I when I first contemplated a visit to the Elysian Fields of Leicestershire. It was at Christmas, 1826, I made an engagement with a neigh- bouring friend, a junior relative of Mr. Lockley's, to join our forces and take a trip to Melton. Not wishing to incur unnecessary expenses, our arrangements were made in this fashion. My friend had three hunters, and he undertook to drive me to Melton in his buggy, which was likewise to be our mode of conveyance to covert, when the place of meeting 90 RECORDS OF THE CHASE admitted of that mode of travelling. He sent his valet, who officiated for both of us, and one man with his horses. My stud consisted of four hunters and a hack ; with wliich I sent my groom, a helper, and boy to take our horses to covert, and the servants assisted each other in the duties of the stable. We set off on Thursday the third of February, and after paying a visit to a friend on the road, reached Melton about mid-day on Sunday, when we took up our quarters at the well-known and well-conducted hotel the George ; the horses and servants were quartered at the Harborough Arms, twenty-six shillings per horse being the charge for stabling and all neces- sary provender. On our arrival we found the fixtures rather unpropitious. The following day the Duke of Rutland's, Lord Lonsdale's, and the Quom were too far off to admit of our hunting with either without sending our horses on, and we arrived too late for that, consequently we had to amuse ourselves in the best way we could, although there was not such a thing as a public billiard table in the town. But on the Tuesday the Quorn hounds met at Rollestone. Anticipating any event upon which great interest is centred, it is a very common thing to form a sort of picture in the mind of the tout ensemhle and the details. It is a natural conclusion that I had done so on this occasion, and as my experience in hunting had been confined to the provincials, and my knowledge of the noble science was but limited, it is an equally nat- ural conclusion that my ideas turned upon superficial objects. Although so many years have elapsed, I have still the most lively recollections both of ideas and realities. Of course, I had heard of Mr, Osbaldeston's fame— of that of his hounds, his horses, and of the country. I imagined that in the person of ' The Squire,' I should see a man of the highest fashion ' got up ' most elaborately and with some little affectation, and that on any occasion of his hoimds being pressed upon he would be outrageous. Of the hounds I had SQUIRE OSBALDESTON 91 formed a tolerably correct estimate ; of the horses, I expected to have seen everything delightful to the eye ; with respect to appearance — I may say beauty — on that I had formed an erroneous conclusion. Touching the whippers-in, I had pictured them smart in the extreme ; and of the country, that it abounded in double posts and rails, fences of impracticable magni- tude, and brooks innumerable. Having indulged in this little dream, and discoursed to my friend, who, like myself, was a novice in the country, on the probabilities of what we should find, we arrived at the appointed place, and I will now proceed to give some description of the realities. Instead of finding Mr. Osbaldeston what I had fancied, I found him attired in precisely what a master of hounds ought to be ; that is clad in what is necessary to comfort and convenience, without any superfluous attempts at 'effect;' and although hats were the fashion of the day for gentlemen, he wore a cap similar to those of the men ; an unassuming single-breasted coat, white cords, with top-boots, neither peculiar for their whiteness or any eccentricity of shade, comprised the Squire's costume. Of the hounds, they certainly exhibited everything and more than what I had anti- cipated, much as I had heard in their praise, and perfect as I expected them to be. The whippers-in, neat and clean, but everything apparently selected with an eye to business, for they were not half so smart as some which I had recently seen in a provincial country. The horses nearly thorough-bred, but certainly chosen more for their intrinsic goodness than appearance ; in fact had they been offered singly for sale in a fair they would not at dealer's valuation have realised five and thirty pounds apiece, though from their known good qualities they would have commanded long prices at Tattersall's, where scratches and scars from stubs and briars, or blows from stakes, are not much heeded. I could not fail to admire the precision with which the 92 RECORDS OF THE CHASE hounds drew three small coverts blank, every hound beinji: intent on trying to find his fox. Mr. Osbaldeston spoke to them but little when in covert. In strong gorse he went in with them himself, and spaniels could not have done their work more satisfactorily. As to their steadiness from hare, I could form no opmion ; for I did not see more than three during the whole of my sojourn in Leicestershire. On entering Shangton Holt a hound almost immediately challenged, and a fox, without any pressing gallantry, broke in the direction of Rollestone, when being headed short back about a mile from where he was found, turned up wind and skirting Shangton Holt, was lost, after a very pretty burst of twenty-nine minutes, at Kibworth. The first twenty-five minutes was without a check, excepting momentarily at the point where he was headed, but asi he was viewed no time was lost. The pace was fast, and the distance six miles. I will not enumerate the runs which my diary affords me an opportunity of doing ; for, unless some particular events had occurred, details of them would be uninteresting, especially after a lapse of years. In the difficult art of breeding hounds, it is universally admitted that Mr. Osbaldeston had no superior, and their condition was equally perfect ; their stoutness, in a great measure the result of condition, was pre-eminently good. As they hunted six days in the week, meeting at half-past ten o'clock, and often having long days, neither Mr. Osbaldeston nor the first whip could devote their attention to the feeding department ; they must have been entrusted to the kennel-man, upon whom a vast deal of the condition of a pack depends, but not all. Good sound constitutions are necessary to begin with, and plenty of strong exercise, or work, in due season, to complete the desideratum. The favourite stud hound in the Squire's kennel was Furrier, by the Belvoir Saladin out of Mr. Osbaldeston 's Fallacy, entered in 1821 ; and in the year 1829, at which SQUIRE OSBALDESTON 98 period they were in the P}i:chley countr>% there were no less than twenty-four and a half couples by him. The Squire would occasionally make the whole of his draft for the day's hunting of hounds by this celebrated sire, a circumstance which, I believe, no other master could imitate. In the abstruse mystery of breeding hounds Mr. Osbaldeston was to the highest degree eminent ; he perfectly understood the symmetry of the fox-hound and those combinations which are necessary to attain perfection. His retirement from the list of masters of hounds, which took place in 1834, was a sub- ject of serious regret to every devotee of ' the noble science.' Many persons were of opinion that Mr. Osbaldeston was hasty ; that he was quick cannot be denied, especially in getting his hounds away after a fox had broken covert, and it was that quickness which occasioned so many of the fast bursts for which he was so highly celebrated. To make a good beginning is of the greatest importance ; if the first burst is sufficiently fast to blow the fox and force him off his point, a huntsman may plaj' with him as he pleases afterwards. A long slow run of three or four hours' duration was not then, any more than it is now, the kind of chase to suit the pre- vailing spirit in Leicestershire. That was exploded in Mr. Meynell's time, and is not likely to be revived. With respect to pace, Mr. Osbaldeston was perfectly suited to the country and the taste of those who hunted in it. Leicestershire is a county peculiarly adapted to Mr. Osbaldeston's style of hunting, where he could throw his hounds into a gorse covert with almost a certainty of finding; where he could get them away close to his brush, and with anything like a scent bring his fox to hand in from half an hour to five and forty minutes. Having accomplished that, he could go and find another. It was on those occasions the Squire shone conspicuously. It was his maxim to kill his fox expeditiously. When his hounds came to a check his cast was a bold one, quick and decisive, and by this 94 RECORDS OF THE CHASE means he either hit the scent again immediately or lost his fox. Slow hunting runs after foxes that had gained a great advantage would not have been satisfactory^ to one in fifty of the field, or the master himself. Many who frequent Leicestershire care very little about hunting; it is the pace they admire, and if hounds cannot go sufficiently fast to get away from the horses they are sure to be ridden over. When merely going from one covert to another Mr. Osbaldeston would pro- ceed as fast or faster than hounds in the provincial countries generally go through their hunting runs. All this suited the tastes of the men of the day, and it was evident he could not fail to be popular. It was vastly amusing when the hounds, with a good scent and the assistance of a brook or some rasping fence got a field or two ahead of the first flight, to hear the Squire call out in ecstasies, "Now ride ; why the devil don't you ride over them now?" Perhaps it was bad policy, because it excited many thoughtless men to override his hounds, when they had opportunities of doing so, out of bravado ; but I can always enter into the enthusiastic delight of a master of hounds when he beholds his darlings beating the horses. The next in succession was Lord Southampton, who took the country^ in 1827 or 1828, at which time Mr. Osbaldeston removed his establishment into North- amptonshire. Not having hunted in Leicestershire during his lordship's occupation of it I am unable to give any account from personal observation ; but it was unanimously acknowledged that Lord Southampton's anxious desire to promote sport could not be exceeded by any other master of hounds before or since. The two first seasons the hounds were hunted by Dick Burton, who lived with Mr. T. A. Smith during his occupation of the Quom country, and likewise at one period with Mr. Osbaldeston. What pack of hounds his lordship commenced with I cannot ascertain, unless (which I believe to have been the case) he purchased some from the latter gentleman. THE QUORN 95 When the Duke of Bedford, then Marquis of Tavistock, gave up the Oakley country to the Honourable Grantley Berkeley in 1829, Lord Southampton purchased the Oakley hounds, which from their blood were in high repute, combining much of the old P>i:chley and Badminton sort, and engaged George Mountford to accompany them as huntsman, with George Beers to whip-in. About this time new kennels were built at Leicester, and the hounds were removed to them, and instead of being called the Quorn as heretofore, they were called Lord Southampton's hounds, in conse- quence of which it wasi generally apprehended by those whose fond remembrances associated with ' days of auld lang syne,' that the quondam glories of the Quorn would be lost. Still the country was unaltered, and the hounds afforded first-rate sport. In 1831 Lord Southampton found a successor in Sir Harry Goodricke, Bart., who undertook to hunt the country without any subscription, and payed covert rents, earth-stoppings, and even damages, with a liberal hand. They were now called Sir Harry Good- ricke's hounds; and another removal of the kennels took place. Leicester was certainly not a central situ- ation, whatever other advantages it might have pos- sessed ; to obviate which Sir Harry built new kennels at Thrussington, nearly mid-way between Melton and Leicester; a more convenient spot could not be selected. Mountford continued with the hounds as before, when either illness or an accident prevented him from performing his duties in the field, his place was supplied by William Derry. At the con- clusion of the first season Sir Harry had an opportunity of making an addition to his pack by the purchase of Mr. Shaw's hounds ; that gentleman giving up the country in the neighbourhood of Lichfield and Sutton Coldfield, in consequence of deficiency of foxes. During the short period Sir Harry was destined to preside over the hunting arrangements of Leicester- shire, his liberal disposition, kindness of manners, and 96 RECORDS OF THE CHASE sporting talent gained for him the highest respect, I may say affection and adoration ; but unhappily he was cut off in the prime of life when sojourning at his seat Ravensdale Park, in the county of Louth, in Ireland, on the twenty-second of August, 1833, in the thirty-seventh year of his age. I was given to under- stand by some of his aequaintances- that a short time previous to his death he had been amusing himself otterhunting, and at all times regardless! of weather, had taken a severe cold, the shock from which his con- stitution was unable to withstand. To the astonishment of everybody, and, I believe, not less so to his for- tunate successor, he left all his unentailed property to his friend, Mr. Francis Littleton Holyoake, a gentle- man who had been well known in Leicestershire as one of the best, if not the best man over a country of his time. He was the eldest son of Mr. Francis Holyoake of Tettenhall, Staffordshire, a great friend and contem- porary of Mr. Corbet's, and a member of the Stratford Hinit Club, when Warwickshire first became distinguished in the annals of fox-hunting. Leicestershire now came into the possession of Mr. Holyoake as it were by inheritance, together with the horses and hounds. A part of it was very soon after- wards separated for the purpose of the Marquis of Hastings establishing a pack of hounds to hunt that which has subsequently been called the Donnington country ; an example which has been followed in other parts with manifest advantage. As foxes have become more numerous, the preservation of them more care- fully considered, a given tract of country is capable of affording more hunting by such an arrangement. Mr. Meynell only hunted three days in the week over a greater extent of country than the Quorn was prior to the separation of the Donnington. The former now affords five or six days in the week, the latter three ; thus eight or nine days* hunting is obtained where, in olden times they could only enjoy three. Shortly after coming into possession of the property LORD SUFFIELD 97 Mr. Holyoake took the name of Goodricke, and was subsequently made a baronet. No material alterations were made in the hunting establishment, except such additions of horses and hounds as circumstances required ; and after two seasons of remarkably good sport, the management was taken by Mr. Errington, who kept them till the spring of 1838, when the late Lord Suffield came forward, and supplying a lavish expenditure of money his lordship was expected to eclipse every former master of hounds in this aristo- cratic atmosphere. How frequently are human expectations disappointed — unfortuitous, unexpected events frustrate our hopes ; for there is luck, whether it be good or bad, attendant upon fox-hunting as well as upon other mundane affairs. The weather, for example, has great influence, and as first impressions carry great weight in public opinion, if a new aspirant to the honours of being a master of hounds is fortunate enough to have a good scenting season, which enables him to show great sport, to begin with, his fame is established ; if, on the other hand, the prevailing condition of the elements is such that there are very few scenting days, all the misadven- tures are ascribed to want of experience and bad management. This was in some measure the case during Lord Suffield's short reign in Leicestershire. No man could possibly have been more anxious to show sport than his lordship ; but unpropitious circumstances appeared at the commencement and did not quite clear off afterwards. Desirous to procure the most efficient and valuable pack of hounds in the market, Lord Suffield applied to Mr. Lambton and received a partial refusal of that gentleman's pack at the previously unparalleled price of 3,000 guineas. In the interim, the sale of them was contracted by two friends of Mr. Lambton's to Sir Matthew White Ridley for 2,500 guineas, and they were actually paid for and in his possession, and the servants who had been for many years with these G 98 RECORDS OF THE CHASE hounds were also engaged. There was a question whether the friends of Mr. Lambton were quite in position to contract the bargain, but in this dilemma Sir Matthew most honourably prevented all cavil by- giving up the claim to his lordship ; at the same time retaining the servants to officiate with the hounds he then had in his possession; he also purchased those with which Lord Galway had been hunting the Rufford country the preceding season. So far, matters appeared to have taken a favourable turn, but with a strange huntsman, fresh whippers-in, and a new kennel-man, all of whom were perfectly unacquainted with the hounds, their qualifications, properties, habits, dis- positions, and constitutions, in a fresh country totally different from the one in which they had been ac- customed to hunt, where they were seldom, if ever, pressed upon by hard-riding men, or even molested by crowds of horsemen, and with these inconveniences having to encounter a vast deal of very changeable weather, at all times adverse to scent, it is not wonder- ful that their sport was far from brilliant. At this period another change took place in the locality of the kennels ; Lord Suffield erected new ones, with stabling and all other requisites, in the village of Bildestone. They were only occupied by his lordship one year, when the hounds were sold to Mr. Robertson, to hunt the adjoining country to Sir M. W. Ridley's. In November 1839 Mr. Hodgson was hunting Leices- tershire with a clever pack of hounds exhibiting great power, which he brought with him from the Holdemess country. This gentleman likewise brought with him the reputation of being a first-rate sportsman, but his style of hunting differed materially from that of Mr. Osbaldeston. Although he did not hunt his hounds himself, as he had done when at Beverley, he liked to see them work up to their fox — an accomplishment which I feel assured can never be realised in this country as a general practice till every field is surrounded by a nine feet brick wall, or some other equally impractic- TOM HODGSON 99 able barrier, which will effectually prevent the horsemen from pressing upon hounds. I hunted with them several times after the Christmas of their first season, and was particularly struck with Mr. Hodgson's conciliatory manner with his field. On one occasion the hounds were running their fox in a plantation near Beau Manor ; there was a green ride near the side of the covert, in which was the greater portion of the field and into which the hounds brought the scent — a very ticklish one — just in front of the leading horseman. They carried it on along the side some trifling distance to where there was a gateway leading short out of the covert, and to a sportsman attentive to the working of the hounds it was quite probable the fox had turned through the gate, therefore pressing on them at that crisis might have occasioned a check. Very fortunately the leading man observed it, and pulling up his horse held up his hand, as a caution to those who were close to him, which had the good effect of inducing them to slacken their pace. The hounds, having room, turned the scent beautifully, and Mr. Hodgson riding up to the gentleman who had evinced so much care thanked him for having done so. Such courteous bearing on the part of a master of hounds has a great effect in keeping a field in order. Mr. Hodgson adopted a pecu- liarity of costume when in Leicestershire as a master of hounds by wearing a brown instead of a scarlet coat. This he was said to have chosen because, having hunted his hounds in person when in the Holderness country, they should not recognise their former huntsman when that trust was deputed to another. Mr. Hodgson only continued in the country two seasons, and on his retirement it was taken by Mr. Greene, of RoUestone, whose popularity and influence rendered him in every respect admirably calculated to occupy the ostensible and honourable distinction ; he was the first country gentleman who ever had these hounds, and under his management everything was conducted with the utmost satisfaction. But within 100 RECORDS OF THE CHASE the present century this far-famed land of fox-hunting has been destined to undergo numerous changes of masters; events sadly opposed to the success of the chase. However talented, however wealthy, however gifted with all the accomplishments and the various desiderata to render a new master of hounds unexcep- tionally eligible, the fact of a change is a serious im- pediment to the advancement of the noble science in any country. There are so many minor details influenced by changes that in the aggregate they become important. No less than fourteen different masters of hounds have presided during the time I have named, and fifteen changes have taken place, Mr. Osbaldeston having been twice the occupier of the Quom establishment. In 1847 Sir Richard Sutton, whose celebrity had been established in the Burton and Cottesmore countries, removed his hounds from the latter to the Quom kennels, again restoring the title which had been in abeyance for several years. The Donnington country becoming vacant in 1851, Sir Richard Sutton under- took to hunt it ; so that the Quorn country may be said to have regained its original extent. That the surface of Leicestershire is most materially altered no doubt can exist ; nor can those changes fail to have had great influence over fox-hunting. Since Mr. Meynell commenced, a considerable extent has been enclosed, and consequently the nature of the soil is greatly altered by cultivation and agricultural improve- ments. A great increase in the quantity of stock, both cattle and sheep, has followed, which cannot fail to present difficulties to hounds and huntsmen. Mr. Lockley was wont to speak of the numbers of double posts and rails in many parts, which in Mr. Meynell 's time had been recently enclosed. While they offered scarcely any impediment to hounds, they were often serious ones to horses. To go in and out cleverly was an accomplishment of some importance. At the distance the posts and rails were frequently placed, there was LEICESTERSHIRE FENCES 101 scarcely room for a horse to land between them ; it was therefore necessary to take them obliquely, which was an inducement to many horses to refuse, and which thej^ would do, unless the riders were gifted with super- latively good hands and their horses with delicate mouths. Clearing both flights at once was in many instances impracticable in consequence of their height and width. Some of these fences were remaining in 1826, and the worst fall I ever experienced was at one of them. I was riding a very resolute horse, and put him at the rails slowly, to induce him to jump in and out, but he attempted to fly them at one effort, conse- quently he fell on the second rail, and, rolling over me, I was very nearly crushed. The principal timber fences now to be encountered, exclusive of gates, are in the gaps or weak parts of the hedges, placed there to pro- tect the quick ; and the bullfinches, although many of them are strong, especially in the Harborough side, are not to be compared with those in the Pytchley country. Most of the quickset fences are placed on the ground ; therefore those difficulties which proceed from false or rotten banks in many other countries are not met with here. The ox-fences, as they are termed, consist of a ditch, quickset-hedge, and a flight of posts and rails, which must be cleared in the stride, to do which requires resolution in both horse and rider; and when the rails happen to be on the furthest side, a fall is a frequent result. The strong thorn fences which abound require horses of great courage ; and good water jumpers are indispensable, for the brooks are numerous, and many of them wide. The Whissendine and the Smite are names known to many by report who are strangers in the country, and are not unfrequently fathomed by those who enjoy their venatic pastime in this aristo- cratic shire. There are numerous others of minor importance, and some which come under the denomina- tion of rivers ; they are of course not negotiable. Fortunately, however, hounds do not very often cross them ; thev are not in the run of the foxes. 102 RECORDS OF THE CHASE Ridge and furrow prevail so extensively in this country that it is scarcely possible to go into a field which has not been laid in that form. When they are to be crossed they are distressing to horses, and as they vary con- siderably both in width and height it is desirable very frequently to take them in an oblique direction to accommodate the horse's stride. This will make a vast difference in the animal's capability of endurance, and especially with those which have not been accustomed to it. Some of the furrows are very deep, and in wet weather horse's feet will often cut in over the fetlocks, if they happen to step in the furrows. To obviate this, horses require to be nicely held together and ridden in such a direction that their feet will not fall in the deepest part of the furrows; which, independently of causing horses to tire very soon, is apt to make them hit their legs and produce over-reaches. An anecdote is told of Dick Knight, a very celebrated huntsman to the Pytchley hounds during the time the late Earl Spencer was the master. It must be observed that Dick considered everything perfectly unconstitutional which in any way interfered with hunting. With a dolorous countenance he addressed the earl, "It's all over with the country, my Lord!" "What now?" inquired Lord Spencer. "Oh those d — d canals they are cutting must ruin it, my Lord ; there will be no getting across it after hounds." Now had this zealous huntsman lived at the time railways were projected, he would most assuredly have joined in the cry against them ; for it was generally expected that they would become such positive impediments as to annihilate fox-hunting entirely. In this, as in all other matters, experience is the most certain guide, and railways do not present those obstacles which were anticipated. Indeed, canals may be considered more opposed to fox-hunting than railways, without pre- senting any of the accommodations which are derived from the latter. The surface of Leicestershire has been extensively marked with railways. The Midland BOUNDARIES OF THE QUORN 103 Counties intersects the Quorn country nearly midway, passing from Leicester to Melton, with a branch from Syston Junction to Loughborough and Derby. The Leicester and Swannington branch affords communi- cation with the south-western portion of the hunt, and the Donnington country is equally provided for. As evidence of the accommodation which railways afford, on the 16th of January 1852 Sir Richard Sutton, accom- panied by Lord Cardigan, came to meet the hounds at Wymeswold from the baronet's seat in Norfolk, where they had been on a shooting excursion the previous day, and after enjoying a night's rest in the land of turnips, barley, and birds, were not fifteen minutes behind time in the land of grass, ox-fences, and foxes. The Quorn country, according to the arrangements made for its division from the Donnington, extends from Widmerpool to Gumley ; Bunny, which is beyond Widmerpool in a northerly direction, being neutral. Great Dalby is on the eastern point, where it is bordered by the Cottesmore, and on the north-eastern by the Duke of Rutland's. The Pytchley claim the country on the south-east, and the Atherstone on the south- west and west. The Donnington country intervenes between the Quorn and Mr. MejTiell Ingram's Hunt. CHAPTER VII THE SHIRES By comparison we are enabled to decide upon the merits which one hunting country p>ossesses over another ; but in making those comparisons, many minor details must be brought forward before we can arrive at a fair conclusion, and these details can only be appreciated by persons who have had practical experi- ence in them. The Quorn country is generally acknowledged to have assumed a preference over all others ; perhaps that may have originated, in some degree, in consequence of the importance with which Mr. Meynell's brilliant career adorned it. With such a fortuitous commence- ment as an introduction, at a period when ' the noble science ' was in its infancy, and not conducted with much form or system, it is not surprising that this high character should have been established. Melton Mowbray at an early period became the favoured resort of aristocratic fashionable fox-hunters. No other hunt was equally fortunate, and, as a nucleus of wealth, it has given every encouragement to render Leicester- shire perfect. Next in superiority the Pytchley Hunt was by many ranked ; but with all the advantages which Leicester- shire presents, it is doubtful whether Northamptonshire is not equally deserving of fame. No one can be more capable of judging on this point than Mr. Osbaldeston, as he hunted both countries, and has been known to declare hisi opinion in favour of the Pytchley. Without desiring to detract from the one at the expense of the other, or to create any jealousy in the minds of the THE PYTCHLEY 105 partisans of either, it is but just to place them on an equality, or, in kennel phrase, ' couple ' them together. Whoever has ridden over the grassy plains of North- amptonshire cannot fail to be delighted with the pre- vailing nature of the pasture lands. The fences in both countries are similar, except that those in the Pytchley Hunt are the stronger of the two. Brooks are nearly equivalent. The coverts are in each unexceptionable ; giving the preference to Northamptonshire for wood- lands of inestimable value in the opinion of masters of hounds. Unfortunately the Pytchley country has been destined to change hands very frequently. Prior to 1799 the country was hunted by the late Earl Spencer, but the precise number of seasons his lordship continued I am not in a position to state, but it was certainly as long back as 1779. At the close of the last century and the commencement of the present the justly celebrated Mr. John Warde was huntmg it ; he was succeeded by Lord Al thorp in 1808 ; and Sir Chajles Knightley entered, in conjunction with his lordship, during a few seasons. In 1820 Sir Bellingham Graham had the management, but only retained it one season. Mr. Musters also had the hounds, though not long. In 1828 Mr. Osbaldeston made his entree, and hunted the country with unparal- leled success till the spring of 1834, when Mr. Wilkins, of Maeslough, undertook the responsibilities, but, like Sir Bellingham Graham, did not continue more than one season. In 1835 Mr. George Payne had them, with a liberal subscription from his brother-in-law Sir Francis Holyoake Goodricke, who took the principal responsibility after his resignation of the Quorn. Lord Chesterfield took the country in 1838, and hunted it in magnificent style about three seasons, attracting a numerous coterie of aristocratic fashion- ables. In 1841 Mr. Smith was also on the list ; and, subsequently, Mr. George Payne a second time ; indeed the latter gentleman appears to have been ready to lend a helping hand on all occasions when the 106 RECORDS OF THE CHASE interests of his country required his assistance, and highly must his services be appreciated by his friends and neighbours. If any proofs were wanting of the esteem in which many gentlemen are held who have zealously devoted their time and talents to fox-hunting, they would be found in those gratifying testimonials which are frequently presented to them. However complimentary and flattering such offerings may have been on other occasions, none could have exceeded that which was proffered to Mr. George Payne on the last day of March, 1846. Between three and four hundred of the nobility, landlords, farmers, and others, all good men and true to the noble cause, connected with the Pytchley Hunt, assembled at the festive board to request Mr. Payne's acceptance of a piece of plate, designed for the purpose of a candelabra and epergne, standing three feet six inches in height, and weighing six hundred ounces, upon which was the following inscription : " Presented to George Payne, Esq., Sulby Hall, by upwards of six hundred farmers, tradesmen, and others, of Northamptonshire, as a testimonial of their gratitude for his unceasing efforts to promote the manly and healthful sports of the county. March, 1846." The late Lord Alford hunted the country with great spirit, liberality, and success, and kept the hounds on a whole season after declining health prevented his lordship participating in the sport. The Hon. F. Villiers succeeded his lordship in 1851, and the following year resigned to Lord Hopetoun, under whose management they cannot fail to maintain the distinction for which they have been so justly celebrated. The Pytchley country is surrounded by the Quorn ; the Cottesmore, Earl Fitzwilliam's ; the Oakley, Lord Southampton's ; the Warwickshire, and the Atherstone Hunts. Comprising a portion of Leicestershire, about an equal extent in Warwickshire, and an angle of Stafford- shire, is the Atherstone country, very little inferior to THE ATHERSTONE 107 the Quom ; indeed that part which is in the county of Leicester is quite equal to any in the kingdom. He must be fastidious who cannot be pleased with the country from Burbage Wood, Peckelton, Bos worth, Osbaston, Sutton Ambion, Normanton Gate, Ullesthorpe (a railway station), Newnham, Churchover, Coomb Ab- bey, and several other places of meeting on the eastern boundries, most of which are easy of access from London by rail. Ashby-de-la-Zouch may be mentioned as the northern extremity, and Coventry the southern. Sutton Coldfield and Lichfield are on the west, which is the most indifferent f>ortion of the country. This is the present extent of the district ; to reach this point it has undergone numerous changes of masters and boundaries, rather perplexing to describe in consequence of its having been hunted in parts by so many different persons before it became identified by the name which it now bears. The first master of hounds in this district of whom I can obtain any information was the late Marquis of Donegal ; but the exact period when his lordship hunted the country I am not able to state, neither can I ascertain the extent; suffice it, therefore, to say that it was principally in the neighbourhood of Lichfield and Tam worth. After the marquis came Lord Talbot, of Ligestre Hall, who was succeeded about the close of the last century by Lord Vernon, in what was then called the Sudbury country but which now forms a part of Mr. Meynell Ingram's. Lord Talbot's hounds were sold to Mr. Lambton in 1793, which affords some criterion of the date when they were in force. Lord Vernon hunted a considerable extent of country around Lichfield, including Cannock Chase (not used in the present day as a hunting district, a great portion of it being converted into coal fields), Black Slough, and Hop was Hayes. To this the country near Gopsal appears to have been added by Lord Vernon, where there were kennels ; and his lordship resided at Gopsal House six weeks at a time, alternately with his own 108 RECORDS OF THE CHASE seat at Sudbury, thus dividing the hunting season in the two countries. These hounds were in great repute, and esteemed among the most celebrated of the day. Instead of wearing the prevailing colour, scarlet, in the hunting field. Lord Vernon and the members of the hunt appeared in coats of a bright orange, which, so long as they were new and fresh, must have presented a very gay appearance. The distinction of costume occasioned much rivalry between the members of this and other hunts when they happened to meet in the field. There was jealous riding even in those days. Matters went on thus for several seasons, when in 1805 Lord Vernon gave them up to the Hon. George Talbot, and they were kept by subscription, his lordship giving £500 per annum, which was liberally augmented by other noblemen and gentlemen in the neighbourhood, and they were called Lord Talbot's hounds, in conse- quence of the ostensible manager being a member of the Church. That gentleman's death in 1812 occasioned another change, when some of the hounds were sold, and the remainder kept at Sudbury a short time by Mr. Harbord, Lord Vernon's son-in-law, who confined their operations to the immediate locality of the kennels. At this period the late Colonel Cooke, a sportsman of great celebrity, and author of Observations on Fox- hunting, hunted a portion of that which was not retained by the Sudbury hounds, and Mr. Adderley, of Hams Hall, hunted the Gopsal side, or that in the neighbourhood of Lichfield and Sutton Coldfield, but where I cannot clearly define. The late Sir Richard Pulestone visited the vacant district, whichever that was, occasionally, having at the same time another country in Shropshire. But these gentlemen made way for Mr. Osbaldeston. Messrs. Hall and Arkwright also hunted some portion of it, but only for a short period : and, as they sold their hounds to Mr. Osbaldeston, it must have been prior to the decease of Lord Vernon, which event took place in 1818. Mr. Adderley, of Hams THE SUDBURY COUNTRY 109 Hall, kept hounds, and also Mr. Otway, of Sandford Hall ; but the precise dates and districts are subjects which, from the conflicting accounts with which I have been supplied, lead me to the conclusion that they hunted the country on terms of mutual accommodation, without much regard to the punctilious restraints of modem times. In fact there appears to have been at least four districts, sometimes blended, at others separ- ated from each other ; the Sudbury, the Gopsal, the Lichfield, and the Warwickshire. We now approach a period when the arrangements for hunting the country assumed a greater degree of regularity ; and it was entered upon by Mr. Osbaldeston with a very trifling subscription. It wasi now for the first time called the Atherstone Hunt, and the coverts around Dunchurch were included. This took place in 1814 or 1815. A club was formed, and with funds supplied by the members the kennels and stables at Witherley were erected. The first two years the Sudbury country was hunted by Mr. Osbaldeston, and he occupied temporary accommodation at the Flitch of Bacon, Wichnor Bridge. In addition to hounds which he brought from Nottinghamshire, including the pack he had purchased from Lord Monson, he likewise bought those with which Messrs. Hall and Arkwright had hunted the Sudbury country previously to his occupying it. After a short time, finding the foxes were sufficiently numerous, Mr. Osbaldeston resigned the Sudbury country, and confined himself exclusively to the Atherstone, which, in consequence of the increased preservation of foxes, afforded excellent sport five days in a week. In 1816 Mr. Meynell, who has since added the name of Ingram on the acquisition of a large fortune, came forward and established the Hoar Cross country, com- prising the Sudbury and Derbyshire districts with that around his own seat. It is bounded on the north by Ashbourne, on the south by Lichfield, which takes in Black Slough, Orgreave, and Catton ; it extends to no RECORDS OF THE CHASE Radboume Hall, four miles from Derby, on the east, and to Blithfield, siix, and Chartley Park, eight miles from Stafford, on the west; altogether forming a very superior country. It is hunted in a most sportsman- like manner ; for this gentleman inherits all the qualifica- tions of his celebrated ancestor. The pack with which Mr. Meynell Ingram commenced hunting consisted principally of the hounds from Mr. Talbot's kennels, and subsequently procuring others from Mr. Heron, which were descended from the old Quom blood, with vast pains taken and superior judgment exercised in breeding during a period of thirty-seven years, they have now arrived at a state of perfection equal to any in the kingdom. From 1817, when Mr. Osbaldeston retired, to 1820 the Atherstone country was hunted by Sir Bellingham Graham. The truly sporting character of the honour- able baronet's establishment is fresh in the recollection of those who are old enough to have hunted with him. Both hounds and horses were of a very superior description. As a huntsman Sir Bellingham ranks among the first, whether amateur or professional ; and he was always attended by superior servants. William Staples, Kit Atkinson (whose son now hunts the Vale of White Horse hounds), John Wigglesworth, and Thomas Flint, were each of them in the baronet's service, though I believe not all of them in the Atherstone country'. They have, however, subsequently occupied the ostensible post of huntsmen in various establish- ments with great credit to themselves. Sir Bellingham Graham commenced hunting the Atherstone country with the hounds which he brought with him from the Badsworth, which he had occupied two sea^sons previously. He made a considerable augmentation by the purchase of the Worcestershire hounds from Colonel NewTiham in 1818, when that gentleman resigned. His complement was kept up by drafts from Lord Lonsdale's. I never saw Sir Belling- ham's hounds till he took the countrj^ now called the A CURIOUS ACCIDENT 111 Albrighton in 1823, by which time, through sales, ex- changes, and drafting, few if any could have remained of those with which he hunted the Atherstone ; but I can well recollect they were celebrated for their great power and substance. When Sir Bellingham Graham quitted this country for the Quorn in December 1821, Lord Anson, now Earl of Lichfield, became the baronet's successor; this was not only his lordship's commencement as a master of hounds but likewise as huntsman. He purchased a lot of hounds to begin with from Mr. Mytton, and it was a scratch pack to all intents and purposes. Sub- sequently his lordship procured augmentations from the late Sir Thomas Mostyn and Mr. Musters, which enabled him in a short time to form an effective pack. Considering the odds and ends he had to begin with, the highest compliments are due to his lordship's talent and energy, especially as a debutant. Many masters of hounds, with a superior pack ready made to their hands, have spoilt them in a very short period. It was Lord Lichfield's task to make a good pack out of rough materials, and most successful was the issue. In this he was ably assisted by Robert Thurlow and Jesse, two most effective whippers-in. These men had the misfortune to meet with a most fearful accident on Lichfield race-course, when engaged clearing the ground at the Anson Hunt Meeting in the year 1823 or 1824. I was close by them, and witnessed it. Riding towards each other, intent upon their duty, and each of them going at three parts speed, they came in furious contact, the consequence of which was most dreadful contusions. By the force with which they met, Jesse was hurled into the air; Thurlow 's leg was fractured, and it is a miracle they were not both killed. The hounds purchased from Mr. M>i:ton, it must be observed, were well bred ; many of them were from Sir Richard Pulestone, others from the Bel voir and Cheshire kennels ; but from the way in which they had been managed they were wild and uncertain. The 112 RECORDS OF THE CHASE success which attended Lord Lichfield's zeal and per- severance is evidence of what may be accomplisihed with hounds if the blood is good from which they are descended. I perfectly well remember hunting with Lord Lichfield in the beginning of 1825, and have vivid recollections of a run from Odstone late in the day, on which occasion Colonel Wyndham, of the Scots Greys, a very heavy weight, distinguished himself. The hounds found in the wood, and, without any pressing, the fox broke at the upper end, pointing straight for Chartley Forest. The hounds got away on very good terms and never checked till they arrived at the stone walls on the borders of the forest, where they lost him. Colonel Wyndham took the lead at starting and was never dispossessed of it. There were only six up when the hounds came to the check, among whom were the noble master and the two whippers-in. Lord Lichfield continued to hunt the country nine seasons, and showed unexceptionally good sport. Large fields were attracted, and many gentlemen not connected with the country made it their place of winter residence. Like Lord Sefton, Lord Lichfield was a patron of ' the ribbons,' and it was a very usual occurrence to see his lordship's and several other four- in-hand teams at the covert side. Mr. Applethwaite's neat turnout of greys, which, if my memory serves me correctly, were previously the property of Lord Lich- field, never failed to excite admiration. General regret prevailed when it was known that his lordship was about to resign, not only in consequence of the excel- lent sport which he had afforded, his kind, affable, and effective management in the field, his liberal hospi- tality, and all the other qualifications and accomplish- ments which adorn an English nobleman ; but likewise from the ostensible cause — indisposition. Severe and repeated attacks of gout compelled Lord Lichfield to relinquish the sport which he had followed with so much enthusiasm and success. When his lordship's intention to resign was made SIR JOHN GERARD 113 known, Sir John Gerard, with a long purse and a liberal heart, offered to hunt the country at hia^own expense, which proposal was accepted ; and at the commencement of the season 1830 and 1831 Sir John was in possession of the hounds, and occupying the kennels and stables at Witherley, Thurlow and Jesse still continuing to whip-in. Little if any alteration was made in the establishment, wherein Sir John evinced much discretion and judgment. The horses only were changed, and those which were provided for the use of the men were superlatively good. Sir John Gerard essayed to hunt the hounds himself, but was not so successful as his predecessor. It is an accomplishment which all cannot attain; even men who have been brought up in the kennels as whippers-in, and in that calling have been eminently successful, have in some instances failed when they attempted to undertake the duties of huntsmen. At the conclusion of the first season Sir John Gerard resigned the country to Mr. Applethwaite, together with the hounds. Thurlow then assumed the post of huntsman, and Jesse took the place of first whip. A subscription was at the same time entered into for the purpose of defraying the expenses. Well acquainted with the country and well known in it, and, as well as he was known, highly respected, no gentleman could have been selected better calculated to have the management of the Atherstone hounds than Mr. Applethwaite. He interfered but little with the active management in the field, but presided over all with the kind and placid demeanour of a country gentleman. One of the most substantial proofs of the satisfaction which he gave exists in the fact that he continued to be master of these hounds for a longer period than any other. On Mr. Applethwaite 's resig- nation he was succeeded by Captain T. A. Thomson, who still retains possession of the country. In former days there wag a country of confined extent in the neighbourhood of Shenstone, on the western H 114 RECORDS OF THE CHASE boundaries of the Atherstone, at one period hunted by Mr. Chadwicke, and subsequently by Mr. Shaw, but there has not been hounds kept in it during the last twenty years. This tract separates the Atherstone from the Albrighton Hunt. Mr. Meynell Ingram's country is on the north of the Atherstone, the Quorn on the east, and Pytchley joins it on the south east in the neighbourhood of Lutterworth, and the Warwick- shire on the south, with which there are some neutral coverts. Ver}^ few counties have attained greater importance than Warwickshire, and, as the Quom gained its primitive celebrity under Mr. Meynell, so was Mr. Corbet the founder of fox-hunting renown in Warwick- shire. I find that about the year 1790, and for some few years previously, Mr. John Warde hunted this country in conjunction with a portion of Oxfordshire in the neighbourhood of Bicester, but only during a part of the season. Mr. Corbet is said to have hunted the country about twenty seasons, and as it is well known that he gave up to Lord Middleton in 1812, the period of his commencement is easily determined. In those days the kennels were at Stratford-on-Avon, and there was a club upon an extensive scale established, although both Mr. Corbet and his successor. Lord Middleton, hunted the country without any sub- scription. The name of Will Barrow is well known in Warwickshire and Shropshire, as he was born and died in the latter country, and during the whole of the time Mr. Corbet hunted the former, he was the huntsman. This poor fellow's end was a melancholy one ; after escaping all the perils of fox-hunting he met with his death in consequence of a fall with the harriers kept at Sundorne by Mr. Corbet, the son of his first master. The Warwickshire country was originally very ex- tensive, but, like all others, it has been reduced and divided to suit the convenience of masters of hounds and resident sportsmen. At the time Mr. Corbet occu- pied it, exclusive of the principal kennels at Stratford- LEAMINGTON 115 on- Avon, he had others at Meriden, between Coventry and Coleshill, for the purpose of hunting the neigh- bouring coverts, in those days known as the Warwick- shire Woodlands. The coverts near Dunchurch have at times been hunted by the Warwickshire hounds, sometimes by the Atherstone, at others by the Pytchley. From Mr. Corbet this country passed to Lord Middleton, who hunted it ten seasons, showing great sport ; but I doubt whether his lordship's general arrangements were highly appreciated. The celebrated John Wood was huntsman during the greater portion if not the whole of the time. In 1822 Lord Middleton had the misfortune to receive a fall from one of his horses which shook his lordship considerably and in- duced him to give up hunting for a time ; upon which Mr. Shirley of Eatington Hall came forward and under- took the management of the hounds till some other gentleman could be found ambitious of distinction. After keeping them two seasons, Mr. Hay of Dunse Castle in Scotland succeeded. During three or four seasons this gentleman had been hunting the Woore country" in Staffordshire ; therefore he was no novice when he entered upon Warwickshire, and he undertook the duties of huntsman himself, with William Boxall as first whip. By this time, Leamington was beginning to assume some importance. The first time I hunted in Warwick- shire was during the period when Mr. Shirley had the hounds. In those days the only hotel affording toler- able accommodation was Copps's, and that was com- paratively a cottage. This country had no doubt under- gone considerable changes since the palmy days of Mr. Corbet. The plough had been introduced extensively, and at the present time it is still more generally used. About twenty years ago it was declared in moments of exultation by a few sanguine friends of Leamington, that the hunting attractions in that place would be so powerful as totally to eclipse Melton. That, however. lie RECORDS OF THE CHASE has not yet come to pass, and many very great changes must take place before it does. There are doubtless many accommodations to be met with in a large town, which Leamington has now become. Family men may find it suit their convenience to make it their winter residence; but men of family will generally prefer Melton as hunting quarters— that is if hunting in a good country is their motive. Mr. Hay only continued to hunt the country three seasons, and it is somewhat singular that his four suc- cessors respectively held it precisely the same time ; they were Mr. Fellowes, Mr. Russell, Mr. Thornhill, and Mr. Granville. Boxall was appointed to the office of huntsman on Mr. Hay's retirement, and continued till 1835, when he was succeeded by Thomas Day, who had previously turned the hounds to him. At the time Mr. Thornhill hunted the country, when the hounds were drawing the gorse coverts or small plantations, it was the custom for all the field to assemble on one spot, to avoid heading the foxes, and a most excellent precaution it was ; but on one occasion, I remember, the hounds, Mr. Thornhill, and his men alone got a start, which was not quite fair. They were drawing Watergall Gorse, and a large conclave of anxious sportsmen were quietly stationed in the field above it. The hounds found their fox very silently, and he immediately went away on the lower side, pointing for Burton Dasset, and they had nearly reached the canal bridge before any one was aware they had found. Although it is nearly twenty years since, the circumstance is fresh in my recollection. One gentleman, seeing the master and a whipper-in riding across the country, dashed off in the same direction ; others followed his example, but as the hounds went away mute at a great pace, and neither a halloo nor touch of the horn was heard, they were not fairly overtaken till they came to a check. After Mr. Corbet declined, a portion of the country foil into disuse, or was only hunted occasionally. The ROBERT VYNER 117 extensive wcK)dIands at Birchley Hayes and Corley were sometimes visited by the Atherstone, and I believe are still neutral ; at all events they were when Mr. Hellier hunted the North Warwickshire. The portion of country already named being literally though not actually, vacant, Mr. Robert Vyner of Eathorpe, a gentleman who had been zealously fond of hunting from his boyhood and whose literary talents have been subsequently devoted to the noble science with very great success, found it a fitting opportunity to establish a pack of hounds in the deserted regions. In this praiseworthy effort he was cordially supported by Mr. Bolton King of Umberslade and other county gentlemen interested in the good cause, and in 1834 we find him with about thirty couples of hounds at Solihull, where some out-buildings were converted into kennels, and Mr. Vyner was occupying apartments in a house close at hand. George Gardner officiated as whipper-in. Most enthusiastically did the new master enter upon his duties. With a scratch pack, a small subscription, no great abundance of foxes, and those from not having been hunted not knowing much country, he showed capital sport the first season. But what cannot a man accomplish, aided by talent and observation, if his heart is in the right place ? Mr. Vyner may be said to have studied fox-hunting from his infancy. Thus was the North Warwickshire country established, but not as an integral one — a reservation being made in the arrangements that it should be given up to any future master of the Warwick- shire who might desire to hunt the whole, as the late Mr. Corbet had done. So great was the satisfaction given by Mr. Vyner that the following year the sub- scription-list was considerably augmented by the inhabitants and visitors at Leamington and the sporting men at Birmingham, shortly after which the establish- ment was removed to Leamington. In 1888 Mr. Thomas Shaw Hellier succeeded Mr. Vyner, and however great the latter gentleman's zeal 118 RECORDS OF THE CHASE and ability were manifest, his successor entered into the spirit of the chase con amore. Mr. Hellier had kept a pack of harriers at his seat in Staffordshire, and for several years had made Leamington his winter residence for the purpose of hunting. He was, there- fore, no novice in the management of hounds or acquaintance with the country; and having a purse sufficiently weighty to withstand any disappointments which might arise from inadequate or unpaid subscrip- tions, entered upon his duties with most flattering prospects of success ; nor were they disappointed. The large fields attendant upon these hounds whenever they met at any of the favourite fixtures in the Dunchurch country afforded ample proofs of the estimation in which they were held. Although a heavy weight, Mr. Hellier hunted his own hounds, and he was superlatively well mounted. Nothing puts the perseverance of hounds and the patience of huntsmen to a stronger test than short-running, dodging foxes which appear to have no point to make for; in hunting them Mr. Hellier ex- celled. Leamington had by this time become a gigantic town, and many excellent sportsmen made it their place of abode during the winter season ; but if there were many good sportsmen there were a great many more who only hunted for the purpose of sporting their pink and leathers on parade. That they are great obstacles to sport cannot be denied ; when hounds cannot run they are perpetually pressing upon them ; when they can run these gentlemen generally go home, and if they are asked what sport they have seen, answer 'None.' In that they speak the truth, having either gone home before the run commenced or been left behind ; but it is not very satisfactory to a master of hounds who exerts himself to the utmost to afford sport to hear such reports have been circulated, when in point of fact an excellent run had been shown to those who remained out and rode to the end. The South Wold countr\^ becoming vacant in 1843, THE KINETON KENNELS 119 Mr. Hellier removed his hounds into Lincolnshire ; and the North Warwickshire being without hounds, Mr. Wilson of Gumley came forward and hunted it with great liberality, but only about two seasons. Previously to this period the Warwickshire country was unoccupied, and in 1839 Mr. Barnard (now Lord Wllloughby de Broke) undertook to hunt it, and his lordship still continues to hold it. In this year the kennels and stables at Kineton were erected, and as so much liberality and good feeling were connected with the undertaking, a brief account of the proceedings will not fail to be interesting. The land on which the buildings were erected was the gift of George Lucy, Esq. of Charlecote Park, and the design was made by his brother-in-law Hugh Williams, Esq. without the assistance of any professed architect. They consist of two houses, one for the huntsman and the other for the sftud-groom ; sleeping-rooms over the stables for the helpers, and a mess-room for their accommodation. There are ten loose boxes, three three- stall stables, and a bail-stable capable of holding four hacks, convertible also into two boxes. The kennel con- sists of three principal lodging-rooms and two smaller ones, with all the necessary appurtenances of feedmg- room, boiling-house, flesh-house, etc. The funds for the construction of these buildings! were supplied by the Members of the Warwickshire Hunt. The materials were drawn to the spot by the united efforts of one HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FARMERS, who CollcCtivcly had at work five hundred and fifty-three waggons. The first stone was laid on the 24th of July, and on the 15th of October the various apartments were occupied — ^the hounds, horses, and servants were in their respective quarters. It is doubtful if greater expedition in the construction of buildings was ever practised on any other occasion. What can be more conclusive of the good feeling which the Warwickshire farmers entertain for fox-hunting than that they would come forward as they did gratuitously at a time, be it remembered. 120 RECORDS OF THE CHASE when they were also engaged with their corn-harvest? They always were a liberal sporting class of men, and their example is worthy of imitation. The North Warwickshire country having for several seasons been without hounds, the Dunchurch side ex- cepted, in 1850 it was arranged w4th Captain Thomson, the master of the Atherstone, that he should hunt a part of it as far as Hampton Coppice, Stonebridge, and Packington; the other portion to be hunted by the Warwickshire two days a week; a subscription being entered into at Birmingham to meet the extra expenses. At that time the Warwickshire kennels had to find hounds, horses, and men for six days in the week. This was accomplished by the whipper-in performing the duties of huntsman in the North Warwickshire district. Mr. Selby Lowndes, after having shown great sport in a portion of the Duke of Grafton's country during the preceding ten years, returned it to Lord Southampton in the spring of 1853, and entered upon North Warwick- shire. As Leamington is provided with railway accomoda- tion, there is no difficulty in reaching either the Quom, the Pytchley, Lord Southampton's, Mr. Drake's, or even the Heythrop hounds, at some of their places of meeting, if the sportsman is desirous to vary the field of his amusements ; which he may sometimes be induced to do, for it must be admitted that many of the best parts of the Warwickshire country lay very wide. The North Warwickshire will, no doubt, be again con- sidered as the Leamington pack; but there will be, as there always have been, many sportsmen frequenting that town who will not admire the heavy plough and woodlands which mostly prevail. The Warwickshire country, as at present defined, extends from Marton Village, between four and five miles north of Southam, to Wolford Wood, near More- ton-in-the-Marsh, and from Radboume on the east to Oversley Wood on the west. It is thus surrounded by other hunts : the North Warwickshu-e, Mr. Drake, on WILLIAM SOMERVILLE 121 the east, the Heythrop on the south, and Earl Fitz- hardinge's Broadway country joins in the vicinity of Chipping Campden and Moreton-in-the-Marsh, with a small portion of country not hunted : the Worcester- shire forms the western boundary. The North Warwick- shire reaches from Hill Moreton on the east, where it is joined by the Pytchley, to Castle Bromwich, within five miles of Birmingham ; the Atherstone is situated on the north and north-east; and the Worcestershire is the nearest on the West, where there is a narrow continua- tion of country not hunted. Warwickshire is celebrated as the birthplace of the inimitable poet Somerville ; not forgetting also that Shakespeare drew his first breath in the same county. A greater compliment could not have been paid to the author of The Chase than an observation made by Earl Fitzhardinge in the spring of 1852, on the occasion of his lordship being presented with a superb piece of plate in testimony of the subscribers' appreciation of the noble lord's generosity in maintaining a pack of fox-hounds for hunting the Berkeley and Cheltenham countries. Earl Fitzhardinge having acknowledged the testimonial and made some remarks on the duties of masters of hounds, traced his ardent love of the sport to his perusal, when a boy, of Somerville 's poem of The Chase. It would be a fortunate circumstance if every young nobleman and gentleman of property were to follow his lordship's example and derive a similar impulse from the poet's effusions. Somerville's resi- dence was at Edstone, close to the well-known fox- covert Austywood, in the parish of Wotton Wawen, where he was buried in 1742, aged fifty ; and the following letter from him to Mr. Mackenzie at Wotton is characteristic of the customs of those days. " Sip., I am very sorry I must deny myself the pleasure of your good company to-morrow. I was' to-day with my Lord Coventry's harriers, and I know Ball will not 122 RECORDS OF THE CHASE hold out two days together. I meet them again on Thursday morning in Wilmcote Pasture, near Stratford ; and should think myself very happy in your good com- pany. I must be there at six in the morning. It may be that a little variety may please you, and induce you for once to condescend to hunt hare. If you do, it will be a great satisfaction to Your most humble servant, W. SOMERVILLE. Pray let me know by the messtenger if you can con- veniently come on Thursday; and I will wait for you at Edstone." Ball was of course the poet's horse, and evidently the only one he had ; and it speaks highly for his kind feel- ings that he declined taxing the animal's pK>wers with unnecessary severity. He says he must be at Wilmcote Pasture at six in the morning, which was doubtless the usual hour of meeting in those days. The eloquent persuasion with which he endeavours to induce his friend to join him in the field is admirably expressed. It is impossible to read Somerville's poem without being thoroughly convinced that many of the customs, events, and circumstances connected with the chase, which we are generally disposed to consider as modem disco veriesi or improvements, were known to him and must therefore have been practised in or before his time. He says. — " In thee alone, fair land of liberty, Is bred the perfect hound, in scent and speed As yet unrivalled, while in other climes Their virtue fails — a weak, degenerate race." His instructions in the selection of an appropriate site for a kennel are admirable, and his directions appertaining to kennel discipline have scarcely under- gone any alterations. On the size of hounds Somerville has given an excellent lesson ; and although some masters have disregarded it, experience has corrobor- ated the value of the poet's admonition : — " THE CHASE " 123 " But here a mean Observe, nor the larjre hound prefer, of size Gigantic ; he in the thick-woven covert Painfully tugs, or in the thorny brake Torn and embarrassed bleeds : but if too small, The pigmy brood in every furrow swims ; Moiled in the clogging clay, panting they lag Behind inglorious; or else shivering creep Benumb'd and faint beneath the sheltering thorn." On the breeding of hounds his opinion is beautifully expressed, and well worthy of attention : — " Observe with care his shape, sort, colour, size; Nor will sagacious huntsmen less regard His inward habits ; the vain babbler shun, Ever loquacious, ever in the wrong. His foolish offspring shall offend thy ears With false alarms, and loud impertinence. Nor less the shifting cur avoid, that breaks Illusive from the pack ; to the next hedge Devious he strays, there every muse he tries; If haply then he cross the steaming scent, Away he flies vain-glorious and exults As of the pack supreme, and in his speed And strength unrivalled. Lo ! cast far behind His vexed associates pant, and lab'ring .strain To climb the steep ascent. Soon as they reach Th' insulting boaster, his false courage fails. Behind he lags, doomed to the fatal noose, His master's hate, and scorn of all the field. What can from such be hoped, but a base brood Of coward curs, a frantic, vagrant race?" The interesting subjects of rendering hounds steady from riot and entering them to their game are amusingly and harmoniously discussed ; but as I have quoted sufficient to show that many of the present customs and circumstances connected with the chase were known to our ancestors, I will only urge those of my readers who have not read Somerville's poem and are anxious to become more intimately acquainted with the subjects on which it treats, to follow the excellent example of Earl Fitzhardinge. CHAPTER VIII BEAUFORT AND BADMINTON The Duke of Beaufort's hounds claim distinction for having been in the uninterrupted possession of the family, descending from father to son, during a long series of years. When hounds were first established at Badminton, they were devoted to the pursuit of the stag. Fox- hunting was introduced by Henry, the fifth Duke of Beaufort, as nearly as can be ascertained, about the year 1780. A circumstance is related which affords authority for this. At the period named, there was a very celebrated divine, a most worthy gentleman and highly respected by his Grace's family, named Doctor Penny, who resided at Badminton in the capacity of chaplain, and his bell-rope was ornamented with a pad of a fox set in metal, upon which there was an inscrip- tion, and this is said to have been a pad taken from the first fox killed by the Duke of Beaufort's fox-hounds. In addition to the country around Badminton was another in Oxfordshire which had previously been hunted by the Lord Foley of that day, who disposed of his hounds to Earl Fitzwilliam. The Duke of Beaufort rented Heythrop House from Earl Shrewsbury for the convenience of hunting that country alternately with the Badminton, as in those times foxes were not suffic- iently numerous to afford a season's sport without such an arrangement. This duke died in 1803, and was succeeded by Henry Charles, the sixth duke, in whose possession the hounds gained the great celebrity which they have ever since maintained. Philip Payne, the huntsman, was first entered as whipper-in to the Earl THE DUKE OF BEAUFORT'S 125 of Thanet's hounds, from whom he went to Lord DarUngton, and afterwards to the Earl of Lonsdale as huntsman, which engagement he retained twelve years ; he then hunted the Cheshire hounds two seasons, and was engaged to perform a similar duty at Badminton in 1802. This appointment he held till 1826 ; and on his quitting the duke's service, William Long, who had for many years whipped-in to him, occupied his place. I never had an opportunity of meeting the sixth Duke of Beaufort's hounds but twice, some twenty years ago, which was in their Heythrop country; on one occasion at Addlestrope Gate, on the other at Boulter's Barn. They had not anything remarkable in the way of a run on either day, except on the first a pretty scurry from Oddington Ashes over the Evenlode brook — in which several enjoyed the delights of a cold bath — nearly to Chastleton, where they lost their fox. I perfectly well remember the aristocratic character of the establishment, and also am anecdote of the noble duke, who found it necessarj^ to remonstrate with a young Oxonian on a previous occasion who had wantonly pressed upon the hounds, so much so as to cause them to lose their fox. It is so consistent with his Grace's kind yet impressive deportment that I must not omit its introduction. The zeal for notoriety had so far overcome the propriety of this young aspirant to equestrian fame, that he had several times pressed the hounds off the scent, which was but an indifferent one ; and at length the fox was lost, when he was doomed to receive this well-directed admonition. His Grace rode up to him, and taking off his hat, exclaimed, '' Sir, I have to thank you, and I beg every gentleman in the field will follow my example, take off their hats to you, and thank you for spoiling a very good day's sport." An unfortunate accident occurred at Heythrop — the destruction by fire of part of the mansion when airing it for the reception of the duke and family. A portion was saved, which is still devoted to the use of the servants of the present Heythrop hounds. This 126 RECORDS OF THE CHASE caused his Grace to take up his temporary winter abode at Chapel House ; but that was only during part of one season, and in the spring of 1835 the noble duke, in consequence of ill health, signified his intention of relinquishing the Heythrop country. Some difficulty was at first experienced in finding a successor ; but at length a committee was formed and subscriptions entered into, when Mr. Langston of Sarsdon undertook the active management, supported by Lord Redesdale and Mr. Mostyn. Jem Hills, who had been first whip to the late Lord Ducie, then the Honourable Henry Moreton, was engaged as huntsman ; Edward Bullen, from the Duke of Beaufort's, as first and John Goddard as second whipper-in. Thus was the Heythrop established as a distinct country ; and the result speaks incontestibly for the increased favour in which fox-hunting is held at the present period. Previously to the time when the Duke of Beaufort relinquished it, it was supposed that neither of his Grace's countries, individually, was sufii- ciently extensive, or that the foxes were sufficiently numerous, to afford three days a week throughout the season ; they now each of them admit of four days in the week, and are abundantly stocked with foxes. In point of fact the number of hunting days is doubled. A line drawn from east to west, commencing at Deddington and ending at Moreton-in-the-Marsh, de- fines the northern boundary ; there are only two places of meeting south of Witney, which are Westwell Village and Tar Wood, and the latter is neutral with the Berkshire. North Aston, Hopcrofts Holt, Sturdys Castle, and Begbrook, are on the eastern extremity ; New Barn, Cold Aston, and Eyeford, are on the western. These are the extreme places of meeting, although there are coverts which they draw beyond those boundaries. The length of the country from east to west as the crow flies does not much exceed twenty miles, and the width from north to south is little more than fifteen. It is surrounded by Earl Fitzhardinge's, THE HEYTHROP 127 the Warwickshire, Mr. Drake's, the Old Berkshire, and the Vale of White Horse Hunts. It may well be designated a nice compact country, and I feel con- vinced there is no other of the same limits that can vie with it in the number of foxes which it contains, and the sport afforded on an average of years. It is to the consideration and persevering attention of landlords, tenants, and the occupiers of their own estates, in the strict preservation of foxes, that such an abundance of them is maintained. The Heythrop pack was at first composed of twenty- three couples of hounds from the Duke of Beaufort's kennels, ten couples of draft hounds from Lord Radnor's, a like number to enter from Mr. Drake, nine couples and a half of draft hounds from the Warwick- shire, one couple of draft and one couple and a half of unentered hounds from the Honourable H. Moreton, and one couple from the Duke of Rutland. The custom of walking puppies being new to the country, the opportunities of breeding for the first few years were very limited, when they had recourse principally to Mr. Drake for reinforcements; but as the popularity of the new establishment increased, that difficulty was over- come, and they are enabled most years to put forward a sufficient number of young hounds of their own breeding to recruit their ranks, resorting of course to other kennels when required for fresh blood, generally selecting those of the Earls Yarborough and Fitz- hardinge, the late Mr. Drake, and the Warwickshire. They are a wirj'^, active style of hound, and proverbially stout, with very great speed, admirably adapted to the country in which thej?^ hunt, some of which is not very favourable to scent. Principally descended from the old Badminton sort, they possess the good qualities inherited by that blood, although in point of substance they may be lighter and their symmetry' somewhat changed. Every breeder of hounds has his peculiar fancies, and endeavours to obtain a particular style suitable, as he considers, to the nature of the country 128 RECORDS OF THE CHASE in which they are to hunt; and although the blood of two packs may be identical and their general qualities similar, their shape and make may be quite different, simply from the fact of two huntsmen putting forward hounds of different proportions. This may be clearly exemplified by a comparison of size; one man prefers only the large upstanding hound four or five and twenty inches high, and another will only enter those which do not exceed one or two and twenty inches. The celebrated Mr. Meynell was wont to say, " the height of a hound has nothing to do with his size." By this it must be readily understood that he meant " power;" and with due respect to the memory of that great authority, it would have been more explicit had he adopted the latter expression. Without abounding with what can be denominated severe hills, the country consists of alternate hill and vale ; there is consequently much variation of scent especially on the Cotswold Hills, celebrated for the famous breed of sheep, which stain the ground to a considerable extent. Most of these upland soils hold but a fleeting scent, especially in windy weather; and when the hounds come to a check, if unnecessary time were to be lost there would be very little chance of showing a run, much less of killing foxes. Inde- pendently of this, the hounds are very often subjected to being pressed upon too closely in chase. The nature of the country is generally favourable for horses ; the fences, particularly the stone walls, are practicable ; and the number of ardent spirits from Oxford and other parts do not always give the hounds the room they require. These circumstances have in- duced Jem Hills to adopt a system of lifting his hounds, perhaps more frequently than any other huntsman of the day ; and they certainly bear it in an extraordinary manner. It was my good fortune to hunt with them nearly three seasons, and I had therefore an opportunity of forming some opinion of the manner in which they were handled. Doubts are sometimes expressed on the JEM HILLS 129 propriety of Hills' method, and I particularly recollect a circumstance a few years ago which confirms me in the opinion that it is correct under the difficulties by which he is surrounded. They met at New Barn early in December, and found in Farmington Grove a brace if not a leash of foxes, but there was no scent to afford a run with either. They then proceeded to Sherborne Cow Pasture, where they again found, and Hills seemed determined not to lose a chance by allowing the scent to die away whenever a check occurred. A master of hounds accustomed to a slow, good-scenting, woodland country, not intruded upon by many horsemen, who was out, expressed to me his astonishment, at the same time giving an opinion that hounds so treated would never hunt when required to do so ; and in which opinion I should certainly coincide with respect to nine packs in ten. Almost at the moment the observation was made the hounds came to a check. They spread beautifully, and every one of them had his nose to the ground, trying to recover the scent. They soon hit off the line, and by dint of hunting and Jem's talent they killed their fox after a dodging run of an hour, in the osier bed close to where they found him. "There," said I to my neighbour, " can any hounds work better than that ?" Jem Hills is actually thought by some people to possess an intuitive — it may be said a supernatural — knowledge of a fox's line, and I have heard a somewhat ridiculous anecdote of his having nearly ridden a fox down himself, without any hounds, in a covert, merely by placing himself in the ride and hallooing to the fox as he crossed ; but the tale is rather too marvellous, because it is well known a fox will not continue on the move — more especially he will not cross open spaces, unless pressed by hounds. Neither can I believe Hills ever perpetrated such an unsportsman-like act. If a huntsman does not know the run of the foxes, he does not know a most important part of his business. Of Jem Hills' talent I have a very high opinion, and what- ever may be said against his system of lifting his hounds I 130 RECORDS OF THE CHASE I maintain that it is a practice thoroughly adapted, and I may add, indispensable to sport in that countr>\ To see these hounds draw the hanging covert at Eyeford or Jolly's Gorse (a favourite covert near to Bra dwell Grove) is a treat worth riding any distance to enjoy. The alacrity which Hills displays in getting his hounds away and on the line when a fox has broke covert exceeds that of any man I have ever yet seen, Mr. Osbaldeston not even excepted ; and it is one of the most important operations towards attaining a good run with blood at the finish. After three or lour years' practice as underwhip John Goddard was promoted, and a more effective one never turned a hound. He entered on the duties of first whip some ten or twelve years ago, since which the White Hart at Chipping Norton being vacant, he determined to try his hand at inn-keeping. That, however, did not suit his taste long; and he has again entered into the service of the chase. During the last twelve years the Heythrop country has been entirely under the control of Lord Redesdale. A more popular master of hounds cannot exist. His lordship's devoted attention to parliamentary duties occasions his absence from the field more frequently than those who hunt with these hounds would wish. After business commences in the House Lord Redesdale almost invariably repairs to London. It was reported at one period, in consequence of the railway which now passes through the country but which was then only in anticipation, that his lordship would no longer keep on the hounds. Fortunately, however, that intention was abandoned, and it is cheering to observe that railways do not prove the impediments to fox-hunting that they were expected to do. It is not always^ — perhaps with more propriety I might say it is not often — that any man has it in his power to lead that course of life which he most desires. If I had the good fortune to possess an income adequate to the expenses I should certainly prefer Leicestershire THE BEAUFORT KENNELS 131 before any other countrj'^ to hunt in. But not being so ambitious, I should be perfectly contented with three or four good horses, with a convenient house and stabling in a central part of the Heythrop country. It is not one in which the wear and tear of horseflesh is great ; there are decidedly more than an average of good runs during the season ; it is an agreeable country to ride over; and the noble owner of the pack is a most affable and accomplished stportsman. Before the close of the year in which the sixth Duke of Beaufort resigned the Heythrop country, his Grace was called ' to that bourne from whence no traveller returns.' On the 23rd of November 1835 the noble duke expired at his seat, Badminton, in the sixty-ninth year of his age. It generally happens on the decease or retirement of a master of hounds that considerable changes take place, and the pack very frequently suffers materially in con- sequence. A son or successor usually fancies he can improve upon the works of his ancestor or predecessor, and in attempting to do so by hasty proceedings very commonly finds himself in a' labyrinth of error. A fresh huntsman is probably engaged, and selected from the ranks of hard-riding whippers-in, in whose opinion the old pack is too slow, and, endeavouring to remedy that failing, heaps confusion on confusion. This, however, was not the case on the death of the Duke of Beaufort. The same huntsman was retained ; the same hounds remained in the kennels ; the same good taste pre- dominated in selecting hounds worthy of the honour of perpetuating their species ; and, excellent as they no doubt were at the time Philip Payne handed over the couples to William Long, I have no hesitation in pro- nouncing them superior to what they were, at all events according to the taste and opinion of the present day. I well recollect going through the kennels in 1845, and have the form of several of the favourite hounds in my mind's eye at the present moment. Potentate was then just entering into his prime ; Flyer and Frankfort pos- 132 RECORDS OF THE CHASE sessed much character, as also Launcelot, Rutland, Boaster, and Dashwood. The hound I liked the least was Duncan. I thought him too short and compact to be a stud hound in a fast, fashionable pack; but, to make amends, he was of a capital good sort, and I see there is some of his blood now going. I was never fortunate enough to meet the Duke of Beaufort's hounds on what is called a Lawn day, which is a meeting on Badminton Lawn, when foreign princes and potentates are invited to participate in the glories of the chase, after the custom of English fox-hunters ; when one of the most beautiful packs of hounds is drafted for the occasion; when many of the finest hunters which England can produce are paraded for admiration and are in readiness to perform their duties ; when vehicles of all kinds, from the aristocratic four- in-hand to the humble sporting dog-cart, are freighted with loads of joyous hearts; when the hospitalities of the mansion are offered to all classes; and when all orders and degrees of sportsmen, from the peer to the peasant, join, unceremoniously yet courteously in the pleasures of the chase, and representatives of all other orders come to enjoy the scene. The programme of the arrangements for celebrating the coming of age of the present duke included an appointment for the hounds to meet on the Lawn ; and I hoped it would have afforded me an opportunity of seeing what has been represented to me as the most perfect thing of the kind that can possibly be conceived. In this I was destined to disappointment. Two days' hard frost had set at defiance all possibility of hunting; and the only out-door amusement consisted in the ' breaking up ' of a huge ox, which was roasted in the ' open.' The uniform worn by the members of the Duke of Beaufort's Hunt is blue, lined with a very light buff. It is the only hunt which does not adopt scarlet for field costume. The huntsman, whippers-in, and second- horse men are clad in green plush, as are likewbe the men belonging to the Heythrop. This, I apprehend. THE BADMINTON 188 originated in the circumstance, already named, of the stag-hunting establishment kept up at Badminton previously to the introduction of fox-hunting, when green was no doubt the colour usually worn on those occasions. The Badminton country is considerably more extensive than the Heythrop ; and so well are the foxes preserved that it affords quite a sufficient number for four days in the week, admitting forty-nine and a half brace to be killed in one season ; which was the case with that of 1852-53, said to have been the best they ever had ; and the number of the foxes killed exceeded that of any former winter by four or five brace. It will long be remembered both by sportsmen and farmers as the wettest period ever known. The scent being especially good, the hounds fairly ran away from the horses, and therefore, not being pressed upon, were enabled to exert their hunting faculties to great advantage. I was impressed with a remark made by William Long, which is so characteristic of the huntsman, who is in ecstasies when he sees the hounds run away from the horsemen, and by their condition enabled to maintain their advantage. A gentleman observed to him the very deep state of the country, when Long replied, "What does it signify how deep the country is, so that the hounds can run.^*" The Duke of Beaufort's country is joined on one side by the Earl Fitzhardinge's Berkeley country ; that is, principally on the west and north-west. On the extreme north there is a hilly district, about Stroud, scarcely ever hunted. On the east is the Vale of White Horse ; and in the neighbourhood of Devizes Mr. Thomas Assheton Smith's comes within reach. On the south is a countr>% now without hounds, which was formerly hunted by Mr. Horlock. Avening village is the farthest place of meeting north of Badminton ; and New Park, one mile from Devizes, on the south, which may be estimated in a direct line at about thirty miles. Bushton is the eastern extremity ; and Stoke Park the 184 RECORDS OF THE CHASE western. There is much variety of hill and vale, the former being fenced with stone walls, and the latter with hedges and ditches mostly of a practicable nature. In the vale are several good brooks, some of which are not easily negotiable. There is a considerable portion of grass about Hullavington, and what is called the Christian Malford country, which, with an accomplished hunter, is a good one to ride over and see sport in. Badminton Park, which is nine or ten miles in circum- ference, is on an elevated situation. It is a magni- ficent demesne ; and the stranger cannot fail on arriving near it to be impressed with its noble grandeur. The approach from Worcester Lodge is superlatively beautiful. When viewed through the gates, the park, full three miles in length, with the fine avenues of trees and the mansion at the distance, presents the ne plus ultra of a ducal residence. In the estimation of a sportsman, the interest of the scenery is not a little enhanced when Worcester Lodge is the appointed place for the hounds to meet at. There is a singular fox covert in this hunt, called Boxwood ; and, as the name implies, it is composed entirely of that evergreen shrub. It is situated on a hill, and is therefore very dry, and a favourite resort of foxes. Mr. Huntley, the owner of the estate, like all the other country gentlemen in the neighbourhood, is a zealous friend of the vulpine family. The most perfect coverts, perhaps, in England are to be seen on the property of Mr. Holford at Weston Birt. The attention bestowed upon them is extraordinary. They are composed of various kinds of plantation trees, shrubs, thorns, and gorse ; and whenever an open or bare space presents itself, some neighbouring thorn, shrub, or a young tree most suitable and convenient, is plashed down in a manner similar to that of laying a hedge, by which the barren part is covered. The underwood is consequently very thick, and difficult to draw. They abound with game and foxes to an extra- ordinary extent ; and great credit is due to the keeper, THE BEAUFORT IN 1852 135 whose name is Garland, for his exertions in earr\'ing out his master's wishes. To the unfeigned regret of every member of the hunt, and all others who were accustomed to attend the late duke's hounds, his Grace was unable to appear in the field on horseback during the season of 1852 and 1853, in consequence of his old enemy the gout. But, evidently enlivened by and enjoying the cheering melody of the hounds, the Duke of Beaufort very fre- quently attended in a light phaeton drawn by a pair of piebalds, with a postillion and an extra pair of horses in readiness, with long traces, to assist up the hills or in deep ground, or to exchange if the first pair became fatigued. With an outrider to open the gates, and occasionally lower the walls, over the remains of which the carriage was sometimes taken, not without some apparent danger, guided by a thorough knowledge of the usual run of the foxes, his Grace was enabled very frequently to see a great portion of a run. The difficult position of a master of hounds was invariably maintained by the noble duke with that elevated yet courteous authority in the field for which the family has at all times been distinguished. Some years ago when the Marquis of Worcester was quite a boy, following the hounds on a pony, an unmannerly individual caused him great annoyance by rudely pushing before him at gateways and gaps, so much so as to induce the young sportsman to complain to his father. The duke desired the marquis to point out the person, upon which his Grace rode up to the offender and said, ''Allow me to introduce the Marquis of W^orcester, and to express a hope that he may be per- mitted to follow his father's hounds without molesta- tion." The Marquis of Worcester * is, doubtless, as fond of hunting as any of his noble ancestors, never missing a day, when the imperative duties of his military ap- * Now Duke of Beaufort. 136 RECORDS OF THE CHASE pointment or his senatorial engagements will permit. In the field his lordship takes an active part, and being always well mounted invariably secures a good place in a run. His excellent judgment in horses is decided bv the very superior animals which he has of late years selected for the hunting stables. The youthful Lord Glamorgan,* who has already made a good commencement, generally accompanied his noble grandfather in the phaeton, with a pony in attendance, and escorted by an experienced, careful groom. When the hounds found, he mounted his steed, and, riding to points, was enabled to see a great portion of a run, unless it might be at a very fast pace with an uncommonly straight-necked fox. The young nobleman evidently takes vast delight in all the pro- ceedings, closely watching every operation in the event of a fox being killed, and investigating every minutiae when the hounds mark their game to ground. So well brought up, his lordship cannot fail to become a talented sportsman, t * Now Marquis of Worcester. tAt the moment of these pages going through the press, the sad intelligence arrived of the dissolution of the Duke of Beaufort, which melancholy event took place at Badminton on the lith of November, 1853. His Grace had suffered considerably from his painful enemy the gout, but immediate danger was not apprehended till the pre- ceding day when it was found necessary to send an express to the Marquis of Worcester, to announce the dangerous state of his noble father's health. With all the celerity of railway communication, his lordship was unable to reach home before the vital spirit had fled from its earthly tenement. If the whole of this volume were devoted to the purpose, it would be insufficient to enumerate the exalted and amiable virtues for which the departed duke was distinguished. But when the bead of a noble family, with whose history and fortunes we have for a long time been acquainted, descends into the tomb, we -cannot, in common with the surrounding neighbours, fail to cherish the deepest concern and sympathy. That voluntary respect which is paid to rank becomes mingled with courteous and afiFectionate reverence. The mortal remains of Henry, the seventh Duke of Beaufort, were WILLIAM LONG 187 Upwards of half a century passed in the service of one family is of itself a sufficient circumstance to com- mand respect; but there are many other events to be added in commendation of the Duke of Beaufort's huntsman, Mr. William Long. Skilful and experienced in the field, he affords the hounds all the assistance they at any time require. Well conducted and appro- priately civil to all classes, he has never been known to assume an offensive demeanour. Of his excellent judgment in breeding hounds I have already spoken. The exact year when he entered the establishment at Badminton I cannot state — that is immaterial ; but I remember his having informed me he was at the funeral of the fifth duke, the founder of the fox-hounds, and that event took place in 1803, which is my authority for stating he has been upwards of half a century in the family.* At first he was engaged in the stables, and, when a boy, was employed in conveying the letter-bags to and from the post. His superior seat on horseback attracted attention, and when the hounds were in the Heythrop country the Duke of Beaufort at that time Marquis of Worcester, being at Oxford and always hunting when the pla-ce of meeting was within reach, young Long was deputed to take his lord- ship's hunters to covert. About this period John Wood, one of the whippers-in, met with an accident, when William Long was appointed to supply his place, and deposited in the family vault at Badminton on the 24th of November. It was a gloomy, wet, melancholy day, quite in accordance with the mournful hearts of those who attended the ceremony, which was conducted in the most private manner consistent with the rank of the deceased ; but a large concourse of persons assembled to pay the last tribute of respect to the memory of the noble-minded, generous duke, of whom it may be truly said, he was the rich man's friend, the poor man's benefactor. * William Long also attended the funeral of the succeeding Duke of Beaufort; again on the late melancholy occasion; and, as he still continues in the service, he claims the distinction of having lived with four generations of this noble family. 138 RECORDS OF THE CHASE he has continued with the hounds ever since. He is whipped-in to by a nephew, Charles Long, a most res- pectable quiet man, and a son, Nimrod, and if he becomes as good a man as his father, he will have great reason to be satisfied with his good fortune. As a specimen of the sport which the Duke of Beaufort's hounds afford, I introduce the particulars of two runs which they had in one day, the 10th of March, 1853. It may be, and doubtless often has been, exceeded in respect to the time of a single run, but with reference to the pace, the distance of ground passed over, and the two runs combined, it may be considered the perfection of a day's sport, and thoroughly in accordance with the prevailing taste. The expression made use of by my informant, who was with them, was, " they had two good days' sport in one." The place of meeting was Yate Turnpike, and they found on Yate Common, went away immediately, crossing the Bristol road clos€ by the railway station, passed the Yate Colliery, leaving the village on the right, making a strong point for Mapleridge Bushes ; but the pace was too good, and the fox turned to the right over Sodbury Ridings to the margin of Sodbury Common, leaving the town on the right and Haines Grove on the left ; over the vale through Wapley Bushes by Westerleigh village, across the Bristol rail- road, and ran into their fox in the open a few fields from the Ram-hill covert on Coalpit Heath. Time, fifty-five minutes. The second fox was found in the pleasure grounds at Dodington, the seat of Sir William Codrington, one of the county members. They went away ver>' fast over the park, when they crossed the road leading from Bath to Tormarton half a mile on the Bath side of Cross Hands, over the wall countr>^ for lies Quarry, evidently intending to visit Bad- minton, but being hard pressed, made a short turn before reaching New House farm, bearing to the left for Eyegrove, leaving the Plough and Cross Hands on the left over Old Sodbury Hill, and across the Bristol A RUN WITH THE BEAUFORT 139 road again entered the vale, to Coombend, and passing close by Dodington House, gained the wood by Dodington Ash, and straight to Keynton Down, skirting Sherril Bottom, which is a mile long and contains several main earths ; running parallel with it made a strong attempt to reach Keynton Wood, when turning short up for the village succeeded in making his point to Keynton Down Gorse, but was pressed through and away over the Pucklechurch road near the turnpike ; when leaving Tormarton on the right they pulled him down one field from Dodington Park wall. The latter run occupied one hour and seventeen minutes, and the two united being two hours and twelve minutes, the whole at a great pace, com- pleted a very severe day's work. The lady pack did the honours and were all up at the finish, but many of the horses had declined before they had gone half the distance. My friend observed that he never saw so many really good horses completely beaten as he did during the last run. The splendid condition of the hounds has been a theme of universal admiration throughout the season, and nothing short of the acme of perfection would have enabled them to have tasted their second fox on the severe day mentioned. CHAPTER IX CHELTENHAM AND V.W.H. One of the most celebrated packs of hounds, which have been in the possession of the same proprietor during the greatest number of years without inter- mission, is Earl Fitzhardinge's. Mr. Farquharson is, I believe, the only other master of hounds who has had them a similar length of time. His lordship established them during the lifetime of the late Earl Berkeley, which I take from his own words in a speech made by his lordship on the occasion of a piece of plate being presented to him at Cheltenham in the spring of 1852, when he facetiously enumerated some of the difficulties he had to encounter and gave an amusing account of his first day's sport in Newent Woods on the 24th of September, 1808. Difficulties which prove fatal to men of weak minds are incentives to greater exertions with others, provided they are gifted with resolution. From the following remarks made by his lordship it will be gleaned that he formed his pack from drafts :— " He was obliged to take what he could get — the refuse of other kennels — those whose capital sentence had been commuted to transportation." It must be universally acknowledged that under judicious treatment the con- victs became thoroughly reclaimed, and their offspring distinguished ornaments of the canine race. His lord- ship farther remarked, " but though so untrained, there was good stuff in them, and they were the ancestors of his present pack, which were acknowledged to be good hounds." Here is the secret unravelled, the blood was good, and " blood will tell," whether it be in man, horse, or hound. I cannot state what kennels EARL FITZHARDINGE'S 141 were had recourse to during the fir&t twenty years for fresh blood, but smce that time the Duke of Beaufort's prevailed extensively, and subsequently the Duke of Rutland's, the Earls Yarborough's, Fitzwilliam's, and Ducie's, Lord H. Bentinck's, Sir Richard Sutton's, and the Warwickshire ; their Tarquin having found con- siderable favour, also a clever hound named Villager, from Sir Tatton Sykes. The bitches have been ex- clusively bred in the Berkeley kennels for many years, ajid the fresh blood has been obtained by the introduc- tion of stud hounds. But with such a good sort in such an extensive establishment, the necessity for resorting to other kennels is not urgent. For a combination of all the perfections which are capable of being united in one pack. Earl Fitzhardinge's cannot be excelled. Power, symmetry, constitution, and sense, are qualities for which they are pre-eminent ; their hunting faculties cannot be surpassed — for music they have always been celebrated ; whether picking a cold scent over the plough, racing over the grass, or working the intricate line of the wily animal through gorse or woodland, they invariably speak to the scent. The wonderful head they carry is another subject for admiration. I could not fail on one occasion last season observing the judicious system adopted to insure this important property, which is universally practised with them. The hounds had been running their fox some little time in covert, when he broke over a large grass field, and was viewed by one of the second horsemen, who hallooed him, upon which two couples of hounds got to the halloo in advance of the pack. Coming up at the moment, and therefore enabled to see this, Ayris stopped them from going on with the scent till the body of the pack arrived — ^a plan which I am satisfied is perfectly correct, although I have seen many hunts- men of celebrity who would go on with one or two couples of hounds, leaving the remainder to be brought forward by the whipper-in. The motive for doing so is that one or two couples of hounds being allowed to 142 RECORDS OF THE CHASE carry on the scent, will show the line the fox has taken ; yet it must be remembered that hounds will not run so fast single-handed as when they are in a body. Those which have got forward destroy the scent for those which are following, and if the fences are strong, being obliged to creep, the practicability of carrying a head is defeated. Moreover, if it happens that a covert is at hand, and the fox enters and runs through it, the difficulty is increased, or even if he remains in the covert there will be much uncertainty in hunting up to him, and a considerable time lost under any circum- stances. There is also another objection, when there is a large field of horsemen out, in the danger which exists of having hounds ridden over in their efforts to work through the crowd. As long as there are hounds forward, every man considersi he is justified in riding to them; and then the greater portion of the pack is among the horses. Opposed to any frivolous innovations or changes of fashion, his lordship has adhered to one stamp of hound, and by that means they have been brought to their present high state of perfection. It is the frequent changes which have taken place from uncontrollable causes, such as deaths, the retirement of masters of hounds, fresh huntsmen and other alterations in hunting establishments, that have ruined many of the most celebrated packs. It is unfortunate that after many of the most superior packs have been established, some circumstances have occurred to disperse them in all directions. The masterly artists who formed them no longer preside, and under different treatment and various tastes the chief merits are lost. Mr. MeynelPs, Mr. Corbet's, Mr. Osbaldeston's, Mr. Lambton's, and Mr. Drake's, have all suffered this unlucky fate. Earl Fitzhardinge may be said to have three countries — the Berkeley, the Cheltenham, and the Broadway. When his lordship first commenced he had likewise a considerable extent, called the Corse Lawn country, between Gloucester and Ledbury, including the Newent THE BERKELEY VALE 143 Woods, which are close to a prominent feature in Gloucestershire scener^'^ known as May Hill. This district has not been hunted by Lord Fitzhardinge for many years, although I am not certain that it is' actually given up ; it now forms a principal portion of the Led- bury Hunt. The Lords Berkeley have a grant to hunt the wild cat, fox, and badger in the Forest of Dean, of which they seem to be hereditary rangers, or nearly so. The Berkeley vale is principally grass, and, except in very wet seasons, holds a capital scent. It is not extensive, and is bounded on one side by the River Severn, on the other by the Duke of Beaufort's country. For cub-hunting and entering young hounds it is very superior. The hunting season always commences with these hounds on the 1st of October, when the place of meeting is the kennel. They continue during that month at Berkeley, and on the 1st of November proceed to Cheltenham, where they hunt out that month ; in December they return to Berkeley, remain there till after the festivities of Christmas and his lordship's birthday, which is on the 26th, have been duly honoured, when they again visit Cheltenham to commemorate the first month of the new year ; pass February at Berkeley, which concludes the season in that country, and finally wind up at Cheltenham about the middle of April. A great portion of the Cheltenham country is on the Cots wold Hills, commencing about three miles from the town, extending to Naunton Inn on the road to Stow, and bearing off on the right in the direction of North- leach, including Star Wood, Chedworth Wood, and Withington, all of which is a stone- wall country. Dumbleton, on the borders of Worcestershire, and the district eastward of Cheltenham, are vale, and the principal portion of the country hunted from the Broad- way kennel is also vale. By a recent arrangement, Mr. Villebois, the master of the Vale of White Horse, is allowed to draw the Chedworth Woods during the months when Earl Fitzhardinge 's hounds are in the Berkeley country. This is of great advantage to all 144 RECORDS OF THE CHASE parties ; it affords the sportsmen located at Cheltenham an opportunity of meeting hounds when his lordship is absent, and it keeps the foxes, which are very numerous, in exercise. The Broadway country is- hunted every Saturday during the periods when the hounds are at the Cheitenham kennels. They hunt every day in the week except Friday, which is occupied in travelling to Broadway. The best fixtures within reach of Chelten- ham are Andoversford, Pusedown, Hazleton Grove, Brockhampton, Naunton Inn, Lidcomb, and Dumbleton. Good runs are often obtained from Norton and Down Hatherley. To state that the country is first rate would be an assertion not to be borne out by facts, but yet it affords very suj>erior sport ; this without some explanation may appear paradoxical. But it is in consequence of the excellent management of every detail connected with the chase that so much good sport is obtained. From the hounds to the horses and the servajits, no establish- ment in England is maintained with greater liberality or directed with greater ability. Earl Fitzhardinge's extensive landed estates and numerous tenantry presicnt opportunities for putting out a greater number of puppies than almost any other master of hounds enjoys ; and the walks are of the best description, nearly all of them being at dairy farms. The horses are of first-rate character; some of them are bred at Berkeley, but in this I believe his lordship has not been very fortunate. Independently of a second horse for the earl, there is always one out for the huntsman and another for the first whip, besides which there is a man constantly in attendance with the hounds, whose business it is to ride and make the young horses. Till within the last few years, Earl Fitzhardinge always hunted the hounds himself, attended by Henr^- Ayris, to whom that office is now deputed. Ayris was first entered to hounds by Captain Freeman in Berk- shire ; he was engaged as whipper-in at Berkeley in 1826, and in a few years was promoted to the post which JERRY HAWKINS 145 he now holds. In the field and in the kennel his talent is well known ; out of it, a more steady, well-conducted, civil, obliging, and resipectable man cannot exist. The two whippers-in are Charles Turner, from the Ledbury, and John Cummings, from the Lyneham. The average number of foxes killed in each season may be estimated at rather more than fifty-five brace ; they certainly increase annually, making allowance for variations in bad j^ears, such as that of 1851 and 1852. It is impossible they should be preserved with greater attention in any hunt. With the exception of one individual in the Broadway country, whose name is not worthy to be mentioned, there is not a landed pro- prietor, game preserver, or farmer, who is not favour- ably disposed towards fox-hunting; although very few of the latter class join in the chase. There is certainly no rank or station in life which is not represented in the hunting-field, and this country affords an example in the extraordinary zeal and devotion of four decided characters, who seem to form the link. Three of them are gone, it is to be hoped, to the land where ' all good hunters go.' The first of these whom I shall introduce is Mr. Jerry Hawkins, better known in his own neighbourhood as ' Jerry Hawkins,' one of that respectable class commonly denominated gentlemen farmers. He lived on his own estate, and devoted all his energies to fox-hunting; any other species of hunting he held in sovereign contempt. If the likeness of a sportsman on horseback is seen por- trayed on an ale-jug or cider-cup of the old-fashioned brown ware, it may be taken for granted to be a repre- sentation of Jerry Hawkins, in the height of enthusiasm, riding well up to the leading hounds, just as they are running from scent to view into their beaten fox. Many characteristic anecdotes are related of this worthy sportsman, but I shall confine myself to one circumstance only which marks so strongly his ardent devotion to the chase. Some years before his death he built a kind of tower or observatory on his property at K 146 RECORDS OF THE CHASE the Haw, in the most commanding situation, from whence he could obtain a view of the surrounding country ; so that if from old age or sickness he might not be able to follow hounds on horseback, he would be able to mount his observatory and watch their pro- ceedings. It was an extraordinary precedent, evincing circumspection and provision for the enjoyment of his only earthly Paradise in the event of accident or infir- mity. This worthy, kind-hearted, highly-respected, enthusiastic sportsman died at the age of seventy-one in the year 1835, without, I am informed, ever having made use of his eccentric Pegasus. Contemporary with Jerry Hawkins was Mr. Fretwell, usually known as Tommy Fretwell, who was also at one period engaged in agricultural pursuits, which, however, he relinquished many years since to enjoy the society of his friends at Cheltenham, where at one period he had the management of a i>ack of harriers. His name is recorded by the Poet Goulbum in his exquisitely amusing ajid sporting poem. The Epivell Hunt, de- scriptive of a run in Warwickshire with the late Mr. Corbet's hounds after a second fox from Epwell to Heythrop in the Duke of Beaufort's Hunt, over a country twenty-three miles in extent, wherein divers disasters ' by flood and field ' are humourously ex- pressed. After describing the finding of this second fox and the line he took, the poet continues : — " From thence, quite determined to give us our fill, For Swarford he made, and went right up the hill, Cross'd the road at a speed that made some people stare, And was fatal, poor Fretwell, alas! to your mare." The decease of this worthy specimen of the fox- hunter of the ' olden time ' took place on the 4th of May, 1848, to the great regret of all his brother sports- men. He was buried at Fladbury. Whoever has hunted at Cheltenham must have met with the well-known Jem Hastings. His history is singular. He was a man of respectable family, his pre- JEM HASTINGS 147 decessors having been claimants for the Huntingdon peerage, upon which unsuccessful claim they expended nearly the whole of their substance, leaving the subject of this memoir in reduced circumstances, and he was brought up as a tailor. He seems, however, to have had ' hunting blood ' in his veins, and preferred the chase of the fox to handling the goose. He followed Lord Fitzhardinge's hounds about five and twenty years, and always on foot ; for whether it was in associ- ation with his trade or not I cannot say, but he had an unconquerable aversion to the pig-skin. One of his first personal essays of a sporting nature was a frolic which had nearly resulted in a fatal con- clusion. Jem owned a terrier dog, and while one of the London coaches was changing horses in the High Street of Cheltenham, he applied ' a drag ' not to the wheel but to the hinder part of the vehicle, in the form of a red-herring; when the coach started, he laid the terrier on the scent. He was soon joined by every cur and mongrel on the line, and Jem cheering on his pack, they entered the Gloucester road in full cry. Excited by the novelty of the pursuit the horses became un- manageable, and things began to wear a serious aspect, but ' the mixed pack ' succeeded in running the coach to ground in a ditch near the Pheasant public house, without any serious accident. The extraordinary distances which he has travelled apj>ear almost incredible; they are, nevertheless, incon- testibly correct. On one occasion, the hounds being at Berkeley, he walked from Cheltenham to the kennels, five and twenty miles, when he found they were gone to Haywood, beyond Thornbury, nine miles further, to which place he followed them, and was in time to see the day's sport. The most wonder- ful performance was one day when they were in the Broadway country. He walked from Cheltenham, which is sixteen miles, and on to the covert side, a moiety of that distance ; he followed the hounds all day, and was with them when they killed their fox U8 RECORDS OF THE CHASE after a run of twelve miles. He then went back to Broadway, twenty miles, and from thence to Chelten- ham. Not contented with this, by way of finishing the day he went badger-hunting at night in Queen's Wood and West Wood, adding some eight or ten miles to his day's work ; and in the course of the time he must have gone over upwards of eighty miles of ground. Of what use would a railway have been to such an untiring specimen of human nature? In 1851, 'he shuffled off his mortal coil,' and was ' earthed' in Charlton Church- yard. Samuel Cornock, frequently announced as " Mister Samuel Cornock of North Nibley, near Berkeley, in the county of Gloucester," is another of those persons in whom the love of hunting prevails above all other con- siderations. Sammy boasts of no aristocratic parentage, his father having been a weaver, an occupation which prevails extensively in the clothing districts of the west. At an early age he was apt to get off self- hunting with the hounds kept by the late Earl Berkeley, when they were in their home country-, for which insubordination his father was wont to hunt him round the room with a stick ; but the earl, noticing the boy, often gave him a shilling, which had the effect of a peace-offering with his parents. He attends the Earl Fitzhardinge's hounds when in the Berkeley countr>% but has seldom gone to Cheltenham ; and when they are absent, ' he hunts with the duke ; ' his costume is the coat of whichever hunt is honoured by his presence — ^a present of course from one of the members ; the skirts of which he preserves with great diligence and care by fastening them in front to prevent their being splashed ; a white ' tile ' surmounts the whole. He mentions having gone, some years since, to meet the Duke of Beaufort's hounds at Draycott Park, more than eighteen miles 'to covert.' They had a capital run with their first fox, which they killed, and they ran a second a considerable time when, having ten miles to trudge home, he left them. This, he says, was the SAMUEL CORNOCK 149 hardest day's work he ever experienced. He had gone twenty miles to meet hounds in the morning, with the same distance to return ; but he does not appear ever to have accomphshed the feat of his contemporary Jem Hastings. Not to be behind in the fashion, Mister Samuel Cornock visited the Exhibition, availing himself of the opportunity of paying his respects to his aristocratic sporting patrons. On the day on which her Majesty attended to close the Session of Parliament, a noble lord introduced him to the care of a policeman, in order that he might be placed in a situation where he would most advantageously ' see and be seen.' Attired in the coat of the Berkeley Hunt, which is of scarlet with a black velvet collar, having a flying fox embroidered thereon in silver and gold, a pair of white cords and new leggings, he failed not to attract notice ; albeit it is reported that some of the ignorant cockney juveniles who swarm on such occasions accosted him with their impudent slang, in the supposition that he was a rat- catcher. He was safely conducted into the park by his friendly guide the policeman, and placed between two Life-guardsmen, with instructions from a high author- ity that they should preserve such space for Mister Samuel Cornock of North Nibley as would protect him from inconvenience. Thus guarded, he awaited the approach of the royal carriage, upon which he took off his hat, and waving it with an attitude similar to that which he would adopt when endeavouring to cap the hounds to a scent, gave three hearty and loyal view- halloos, which he declares, and no doubt conscientiously believes, her Majesty was graciously pleased to acknow- ledge with smiling approbation. The Earl Fitzhardinge's hunting appointments not being advertised in the Berkeley country, Sammy is employed to make them known to the gentlemen who reside in the neighbourhood ; for which and other similar services he is liberally remunerated by his lord- ship, independently of the presents which he receives. 150 RECORDS OF THE CHASE What was Cheltenham when Earl Fitzhardinge, then Colonel Berkeley, first hunted the countr>^ ? And what would Cheltenham now he, compared with what it is, had it not been for his lordship's patronage and in- fluence, and the attraction of his lordship's hounds ? I can remember the place when, as a schoolboy, I spent part of the mid-summer holidays there in 1816, which was a few years after his lordship commenced huntmg the country. The High Street formed the principal portion of the embryo town, and, with the exception of a few small, straggling houses, did not extend, in the direction of the London road, further than the Plough Hotel. It is not necessary to describe Cheltenham as it now stands ; neither will I go so far as to assert that it would not have increased in size very considerably even if Lord Fitzhardinge had not given it his supjxDrt ; but it certainly would not have increased to anything like its present extent, or with equal rapidity, had it not been fostered by his lordship. As it became a hunting quarter, many gentlemen made it, if not their usual, at all events their winter residence. Thus society increased ; and the town, which, as a fashionable watering place, was only frequented during a few months, in course of time was made a place of resort throughout the whole year. Here all classes, from the peer to the retired tradesman, may meet with society suitable to their condition. At all times considerate of the welfare of Chelten- ham, Earl Fitzhardinge has countenanced a pack of stag-hounds, to fill up the interregnum when his own hounds are absent, and has always been very liberal in supplying them with deer. This year they have been discontinued. His lordship never kept racehorses, although friendly disposed to the race-meetings, and strongly opposed to the tenets of those who at one time denounced them, and, in fact, all other manly and national amusements. The Cheltenham Steeple Chases were formerly sanctioned by his lordship giving several cups to be run for, with the view, no doubt, that it CHANGES IN WORCESTERSHIRE 151 would confer a benefit on the town ; but this custom has been abandoned for some years, which, when the practices connected with steeple-chasing are considered, is a result not calculated to create any surprise. The sporting community resorting to Cheltenham have on two occasions expressed their acknowledgments of his lordship's kindness and liberality in hunting the country by the presentation of pieces of plate ; the first in the year 1826, and the other in 1852. There are, however, many others whose interests are immediately blended with the prosperity of Cheltenham, from whom some similar expressions of gratitude and respect would not be inappropriate. Previously to the Earl Fitzhardinge commencing to keep hounds, part of the country in the neighbourhood of Corse Lawn was hunted by Major Bland, who also hunted a considerable portion of Worcestershire ; a countrj'^ which has not been without hounds for many years, and, although a provincial district, is capable of affording much sport. After having the Quom hounds two seasons, the late Lord Foley hunted the Worcester- shire country a similar i>eriod. Richard Foster officiated as huntsman, and he was for many years afterwards with the H.H. in the same capacity. Colonel Newnham had the hounds several seasons till 1818, on whose retirement Mr. Hornyhold took them and afforded a vast deal of sport. Kit Atkinson was the huntsman, John King first and Joe Maiden the second whip. Having hunted the country five seasons, and also occasionally that portion of what is now called the Albrighton, in the vicinity of Stew Poney, to the great regret of all the sporting inhabitants Mr. Homy- hold broke up his establishment. A subscription, zealously encouraged by Lord Deer- hurst, was then entered into, and the country placed under the management of Mr. Parker, who with slender means contrived to get together a scratch pack. The kennels during the first five years were at Whittington, two miles from Worcester, on the Pershore 152 RECORDS OF THE CHASE road, but were subsequently removed to Malvern Wells. He hunted them himself, and although but indifferently mounted was a first-rate man over a country, and had it not been from want of that which is absolutely essential in a fox-hunting establishment, would have shown above the average of masters of hounds. Struggling in difficulties, he kept them on till the spring of 1832, when from want of funds they were given up. Mr. Clutton Brock then came forward, and with an increased subscription undertook the management. A kennel was provided at Henwick, and the horses were kept in Worcester. William Carter was engaged as huntsman, and a fair average amount of sport followed ; but the subscriptions not being adequate to the expenditure in the course of four seasons, Mr. Brock signified his intention of resigning. Under these cir- cumstances, considering the deficiency of subscription, the indifference of several landed proprietors, and the known hostility of one to the preservation of foxes in his coverts, which are in the very centre of the country, it was apprehended there would be no hounds. At the eleventh hour Captain Candler came forward and offered his services, which were gladly accepted. This gentleman had been for several years a resident in the county, occasionally appearing in the field, without, as it was supposed, taking any interest in hounds or hunting, but he was much esteemed for his friendly and social disposition. A naval officer un- initiated in the mysteries of kennel details had neces- sarily many difficulties opposed to him ; however, in the field his management was most successful. He had a humorous and kind word for every one he met with, and was especially popular with the farmers ; thus he succeeded in keeping the country together ten seasons, when he sold his hounds to Mr. Davenport, who about that time established the North Staffordshire Hunt. Captain Candler resided at Newland, five miles from Worcester, on the road to Malvern, where the kennels THE VALE OF WHITE HORSE 153 were situated. Carter hunted the hounds during the first five or six seasons, and Grant, who had previously lived with Lord Kintore, the remainder of the time. The Worcestershire country was then taken in hand by a committee, of whom Mr. Cookes and Mr. Edward Dixon were the active members. Kennels were then built at Rankswood, a short distance on the east of the ancient city; and they are very central. This lasted only about three or four seasons, when Colonel Clowes came forward, and has had the management ever since. I have never seen the hounds since that gentleman has had them, but from report am led to believe they are a veiy effective, useful lot. William Stansby, who was for many years first whip at Badminton, has hunted the Worcestershire hounds several seasons with great success, and cannot fail to know the essential qualities of a fox-hound, and the necessity for condition. The second whip is spoken of in high terms for his assiduous attention to the hounds, and observance of his duties in assisting the huntsman. Worcestershire is indiffer- ently circumstanced with respect to walks; recourse must therefore be had to other kennels for young hounds, and an annual draft from Earl Fitzhardinge has assisted in making up the deficiency. Very few countries present greater attractions for fox-hunting than the Vale of White Horse, and this arises from two causes — the natural capabilities of the country, and the celebrity of the masters of hounds, who have at various times occupied it. I understand it has been enlivened with the cheering notes of horn and hound from a very early date ; but by whom it was hunted I am not in a position to state (unless it was by the late Lord Berkeley), prior to Mr. Codrington, who commenced in or about the year 1818. This gentleman has been represented as a very superior sportsman of his day, and he continued till 1824, when Mr. Harvey Coombe entered upon it and hunted it conjointly with the Old Berkeley for three seasons. Lord Kintore had it a similar period, when the late Earl Ducie, then the 164 RECORDS OF TBGE CHASE Honourable Henry Moreton, succeeded, which brings us to the year 1880, and it was during the latter pari; of the time his lordship hunted it that I had several op- portunities of meeting the hounds from Cheltenham. Lord Ducie engaged in an arduous undertaking — that of forming a pack from drafts. He had, however, an able assistant in Jem Hills as first whipper-in, till the establishment of the Heythrop hounds, when he left the Vale of White Horse, to become huntsman to the former pack. Thomson and John Grant were then en- gaged to turn the hounds to his lordship's horn. The first kennel which these hounds occupied was at Farringdon; but subsequently they were removed to new ones built at the entrance to Oakley Park, about a mile from Cirencester, and they have been occupied ever since. Lord Ducie commenced principally with drafts from the Duke of Beaufort, Mr. Osbaldeston, and Mr. Thomas Assheton Smith. The blood of Mr. Osbaldeston 's kennel was in great favour, and of late years much of Mr. Horlock's was introduced. His lord- ship's taste was for large, slashing hounds, and he appeared to adopt as the model the largest of Mr. Osbaldeston 's and the most symmetrical of Mr. Horlock's. They were more distinguishable for useful- ness than beauty. Many masters of hounds, especially young beginners, fall into great error by drafting too much for appear- ances. It is much easier to breed, or to form a pack from drafts that shall be unexceptionable to the eye, than it is to get together such as are intrinsically good. To effect all the combinations of suj>eriority requires time, money, and experience. Any man accustomed to hounds may go into a strange kennel and select those which are the handsomest, but it is impossible for him to choose the best workers and such as are most useful in killing foxes without seeing them in the field and knowing something of their blood; even then unless he possess considerable judgment, he will not be able to form a correct opinion. LORD DUCIE 155 It has been remarked by a very excellent judge that to be perfect a pack should consist of hounds gifted with various accomplishments. This observation is extremely just, providing vices are carefully excluded. There are hounds very clever at finding their foxes which are not very superior in chase ; others good in chase which have not the notion of finding ; some which can pick out a very cold scent which are not famed for speed — qualities which are often hereditary. The happy combination of individuals gifted with different properties constitute an effective pack ; for it is rarely to be found that all the good qualities are centred in one hound ; and if a young beginner can attain what is requisite towards finding and killing his foxes, he must be contented to compromise a little with appearances. Lord Ducie's zeal in hunting the country was un- bounded, and unfortunately it was too great for his constitution. Frequently travelling long distances to covert, generally in an open gig, sometimes borrowing a few hours from the night, exposed to the wet, in that state having to encounter the exertion of hunting his own hounds, with a constitutional predisposition to gout, rheumatic disorders ensued, and in the spring of 1842 his lordship lent his hounds to Lord Henry Bentinck, in the hope that rest might restore his health — a hope, however, that was unfortunately never realised. Devotedly attached to rural engagements. Lord Ducie turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, and con- ferred lasting obligations on the farming community by his excellent judgment and example, till on the 2nd of June, 1853, his lordship departed this life at his seat Tortworth, Gloucestershire, to the infinite regret of the surrounding neighbourhood. The second year of Lord Ducie*s hunting the country a considerable alteration was made in the extent of it. In fact it was divided, when a new one was established, and hunted with a subscription by Mr. Parker, but only for one season, when it was taken by Lord Radnor, subsequently by Mr. Moreland, and is now hunted by 156 RECORDS OF THE CHASE Mr. Morrel. This is what is called the Old Berkshire country. Some misunderstanding as to the limits took place during the period Lord Gifford hunted the Vale of White Horse, which, being settled, it is unnecessary to explain. The present boundaries may be thus described. Aids worth is the extreme northern point of meeting, where the Heythrop country joins, bearing off in an easterly direction. The River Cole forms the line of demarcation on the extreme east from the Old Berkshire ; Wroughton and Burdrope Park are the furthermost fixtures on the south, about five miles from which is Albourne Chase, in the Craven Hunt. Charlton Park, Crudwell, and Jackaments Bottom join on the south-west and west with the Duke of Beaufort's country; when, bearing from west to north-west, comes Earl Fitzhardinge's Cheltenham district. Foss Cross is the usual place of meeting, when the Vale of White Horse hounds draw his lordship's Chedworth and Withington Woods. There are several places of meeting which may be readily reached from London by the Great W^estern Railway, especially those which are near to Swindon, Purton, and Minety stations, the principal of which are Wroughton, Stratton, Lydiard Park, Cold Harbour, Red Lodge, Minety Pound, Eastcourt, Crudwell, and Charlton Turnpike. Any London sportsman w^ho has not visited this countr>^ will be amply repaid for a trifling additional expense and exertion in reaching it. Lord Gifford, who had the year previously established a pack of hounds to hunt the Ludlow country, removed them into the Vale of White Horse in 1842, and occupied the same kennels, stables, and premises which Lord Ducie had used. No country could be better adapted for Lord Gifford than this, neither could any one be better adapted for the country than his lordship, who of course hunted the hounds himself and was whipped-in to by John Grant, who had been in Lord Ducie 's service many years previously to his being entered as a whipper-in. The most severe day LORD GIFFORD 157 I ever saw with hounds was with Lord Gifford's on the 27th of February, 1843. They met at Crudwell, where they found. I was not sufficiently acquainted with the country to register the precise Une at the time, but they ran to Somerford Common, Webb's Wood, Flax- land, Ravenroost, Red Lodge, Minety, and finally whipped off at dark when running for Charlton Pond ; having been hard at work upwards of four hours, and the land being very wet and deep, much distress pre- vailed among the horses. During the three years which Lord Gifford hunted the country the sport was very superior. His lordship's best energies were zealously devoted to the service ; with John Grant for his whipper-in it was not possible to conceive anything more effective ; and every sports- man in the hunt felt serious regret when the noble lord expressed his intention to resign. The management of the hounds then devolved on a committee, with Mr. Cripps as master of the cere- monies in the field ; and, subsequently, Mr. Barker. John Grant was engaged as huntsman the first season, after which he went to Lord Parker till 1847, when his old master, Lord Gifford, taking the H. H., he was again engaged to whip-in to his lordship. Grant was succeeded in the Vale of White Horse establishment by John Dinnicombe, who remained there till after Mr. Villebois took the country, which was in 1850. Boothroyd, on the Donnington country being re-united with the Quorn, hunted Mr. Villebois' hounds one season ; and in 1852 Christopher Atkinson, more com- monly known by the name of Kit, who had whipped-in some twelve or thirteen years in Earl Fitzhardinge's establishment, was engaged as huntsman. His career, poor fellow, was a short one. He died, after a short illness, on the 30th November, 1853. Last season was Kit's first essay as huntsman, and report spoke highly in his praise. It sometimes happens that a verv^ superior whipper-in makes but an indifferent huntsman ; but Kit had every opportunity of gaining 158 RECORDS OF THE CHASE experience. His father, who was a thorough-bred Yorkshireman, at an early age entered into the service of Sir BelHngham Graham, and whipped-in to the baronet, I beheve, first of all in the Badsworth, and afterwards in the Atherstone country. When Mr. Hornyhold took the Worcestershire hounds he engaged the elder Kit as huntsman, and upon that gentleman's resignation he went to the Surrey Union ; from thence to Mr. now Lord, Portman, in Dorsetshire, where he first entered his son in the mysteries of woodcraft. When scarcely, if any, more than fourteen years of age, he officiated as whipper-in to his father. However the celebrated masters of this hunt have dis- tinguished themselves for liberality, talent, and en- thusiastic zeal to afford sport, none can have excelled Mr. Villebois, the gentleman who now hunts the country. He is the nephew of two masters of fox- hounds whose names have long been renowned — the late Mr. J. Villebois, who hunted the Hampshire, and Mr. F. Villebois, the Craven countries. This gentleman's father also kept stag-hounds. Most of Mr. Villebois' predecessors hunted the hounds themselves, but this duty is now deputed to a professional huntsman. The Vale of White Horse has always been a great acquisition to the sportsmen frequenting Cheltenham during the months when Lord Fitzhardinge's hounds are absent. The railway, which passes through the country, is an essential convenience, although it takes somewhat of a circuitous route through Gloucester. There is a great proportion of grass in this hunt, which holds a good scent, the fences are strong, and the land in wet weather is heavy. In the neighbourhood of Aldworth, Bibury, Foss Cross, Barnesley, the Hare Bushes, and Jackaments Bottom there is an abundance of stone walls and more ploughed land. The principal woods are close to the kennels, at the extremity of Oakley Park, and they are extremely convenient for cub-hunting. The park is an admirable place to exer- cise hounds in, as it is full of deer and hares. MR. VrLLEBOIS 159 The present pack has been formed by Mr. Villebois with a very Hberal hand. He commenced with large drafts from the Earls Fitzhardinge and Fitzwilliam, and he also purchased the Herefordshire hounds when Mr. Symons gave up that country. CHAPTER X SPORTING SHROPSHIRE Few counties offer more attractions to the sports- man than Shropshire. Without investing it with the highest rank as a fox-hunting country, it presents the charms of variety. The fisherman has ample oppor- tunities for exercising the gentle art in the Severn, the Teme, the Corve, the Worfe, the Rea, and some other tributary streams. There are various parts which vie with Norfolk for partridge-shooting, especially in the neighbourhood of Shiffnal, extending thence on the borders of Staffordshire to Shipley, Enville, and Bridge- north, on the eastern banks of the Severn. The county of Salop stands very high in estimation for the breed of horses, in which we must include the adjoining parts of Herefordshire, Montgomeryshire, and Radnorshire. This distinction has, perhaps, of late years been some- what in abeyance in consequence of the apprehension that the demand for horses would fail as railroads became prevalent, and therefore there have not been so many bred ; but that fear being now dispelled, the energies of breeders are again in the ascendant. The recent establishment of an annual fair, which takes place early in March, exclusively for the sale of horses, which continues three days, will, no doubt, tend to encourage the breeding of horses. There is no other place more worthy of patronage by those who wish to purchase well-bred and useful animals. Most of the breeding farmers are sportsmen ; they ride their young horses with hounds, while the diversified nature of the country and the fences are particularly adapted to inculcate perfection in the accomplishments of the hunter. SHROPSHIRE SPORTSMEN 161 It is a natural inference that where the state of a country' is adapted and inviting for sport the inhabi- tants should be distinguished for their sporting propen- sities. By habit sporting becomes an acquirement, metaphorically, indigenous to the soil. Shropshire may justly boast of being the native land of a greater number of sportsmen of high caste and repute than any other county in England of equal magnitude ; among whom may be introduced the late Mr. George Forester of Willey Park, who hunted the country during the latter part of the past and at the commencement of the present century, co-temporary with Mr. Meynell and Mr. Corbet ; and if he did not enjoy the advantages of so good a country as theirs to exercise his talent in, he was by no means deficient in zeal and enthusiastic love of fox-hunting. His country must, like most others in those days have been very extensive ; for including a great portion of what is now called the Shropshire, he had the coverts at Enville, Dudmaston, and Apley, in the present Albrighton Hunt. This gentleman's nephew, the late Lord Forester, who succeeded to the estates on the death of the Squire of Willey in 1811, also a Salopian, when known as Mr. Forester, was a distinguished rider to hounds in Leicestershire ; and likewise his friend the late Mr. Childe of Kinlet, characterised in those days by the title of the " Flying Childe," from the pace at which he rode over the country. These two gentlemen are said to have introduced the fashion of hard riding, which has increased up to a more recent date. "It is the pace that kills," was an expression made use of by Lord Forester ; a truism universally correct. The present Lord Forester, so well-known in Leicestershire, is another nobleman who graces the list of Shropshire sportsmen. The gallant Lord Hill patronised fox- hunting on all occasions, and the late Sir John Hill, Bart., of Hawkestone, the father of so many valiant sons who attracted the notice of their sovereign, was a master of hounds several seasons; also his son. Colonel L 162 RECORDS OIT THE CHASE Hill. Sir Rowland Hill hunted the North of Shropshire from 1834 to 1838, and several other masters of hounds whose names will be introduced in regular order. In fact, the only one who has hunted this country not being a county man was Sir Bellingham Graham; and it is somewhat singular that in only one instance has the Quorn country ever been hunted, except by one gentleman, Mr. Green, who was a county man. It appears almost unnecessary to remark that the late Mr. Corbet of Sundome, renowned as the most celebrated master of fox-hounds ever known in Warwickshire, was a Salopian. Without including those reckless riders who by their jealousy are constantly pressing upon hounds and calling forth bursts of just anathemas from masters, there are many of first-rate celebrity in this accom- plishment— and as an accomplishment it must be fairly recognised when tempered with sportsman-like dis- cretion— who claim Shropshire as the county of their birth. Mr. John Lyster, of Rowton Castle, ranks as one of the very best performers over a country of this or any other age. Without over-riding hounds he is always with them, let the pace or the difficulties be what they may. The late Mr. Lloyd, of Aston, was equally good ; and his son, I am informed, inherits the same properties. The late Colonel Gatacre, of Gatacre Hall, on the Bridge-north side, the respected colonel of the militia during many years, was a fine horseman, an excellent sportsman, and a most estimable, worthy specimen of the English country gentleman. He lived to attain the good old age of eighty-one, and was taken from his family, his friends, and his country in 1849, an event which occasioned the most unfeigned regret. The list of distinguished sportsmen, natives of Shrop- shire, has yet to be increased with the names of the late Mr. George Aston, formerly of Newton, but since of Seisdon, in the county of Stafford; also his two brothers, the late Mr. Thomas Aston Pudsey, and his successor, Mr. John Aston Pudsey. No three so nearly SHROPSHIRE SPORTSMEN 163 related ever did greater honours to the science of sporting equestrianism. To make a comparison would be invidious ; they were all equally good over a country ; and without occasioning the mischief which hard riders are prone to do, were always in the front rank when pace told in its effects. Mr. George Aston departed this life, to the extreme regret of his friends, in Sep- tember last. The late Mr. Thomas Baker, brother of the gentleman who now hunts the Wheatland country, was equally good ; and the late Mr. Edward Botterel was an extraordinary powerful and daring horseman. There were likewise two clergymen who did much honour to the ' noble science.' Though not assuming to unbecoming emulation as bruising riders, their steady advocacy of fox-hunting was unremitting, and the names of the Reverends William Bate of Willey, and William Smith of Badger, well deserve to be handed down to posterity. Mr. Smith was the pre- ceptor or private tutor of the late Mr. Hugh Campbell, a gentleman deservedly distinguished in Warwickshire, and also of Mr. Thomas Clutton Brock, for several years master of the Worcestershire hounds. Shropshire has also produced three very celebrated huntsmen : George Carter, formerly huntsman to the Duke of Grafton and now with Mr. Thomas Assheton Smith, George Mountford, and Joseph Maiden. Maiden was born on the Willey estate and commenced with Mr. Whitmore of Apley, where, as a boy, he whipped- in to a pack of harriers ; from thence he went to whip- in for Mr. Hornyhold in Worcestershire, and on that gentleman giving up his hounds, accompanied Kit Atkinson to the Surrey Union. He was also a short time with Mr. Hay in Warwickshire, and became huntsman to Mr. Shaw, near Lichfield, where he met with a most serious and painful accident — one which would have deterred most men from following the chase and which unhappily he feels the effects of to this day ; but his courage is undaunted. He was in the act of taking a piece of flesh from the boiler, and, 164 RECORDS OF THE CHASE standing over it for that purpose, the flesli-fork sUpped, and he fell into the boiling broth, dreadfully scalding his legs and thighs ; but he recovered from the accident and went to hunt the Cheshire hounds for Sir Harry Mainwaring and the subsequent masters till after Captain White took them, when he entered upon the quieter life of an inn-keeper at Sandiway Head. Upon the North Staffordshire hounds being established, he again returned to 'active service.' In the cabalistic engagement of breeding hounds he has been eminently successful, and he has had more than one occasion of putting his talent to the test. Having brought the Cheshire hounds to a state of great perfection, they were attacked with the fearful disorder called kennel madness, and in consequence nearly the whole of the pack fell a sacrifice. This was soon after Captain White had them. It was then necessary to form a fresh pack. When the North Staffordshire hounds were established, Maiden had to renew his labours. In 1845, he commenced with drafts from the Duke of Rutland's, Lords Yarborough's, Chesterfield's, and Ducie's.; Messrs. Foljambe's, Osbaldeston's, Hodgson's and Horlock's kennels ; principally from Mr. Foljambe's, but in all, only five and twenty couples. The following year an augmentation was effected by the purchase of the Worcestershire hounds, but there is not much of that blood now left. From the reports I have heard. Maiden has once more succeeded in forming a very superior pack. George Mountford, who for several years hunted the Quorn hounds, was also a Shropshire man. The eccentric Tom Moody, who was whipper-in for Mr. Forester, must not be forgotten ; there are many curious anecdotes related of him in the county, one of which exemplifies the ready tact which he possessed when in what is termed ' a fix.' Endeavouring to cross one of the dingles, which are numerous in the neigh- bourhood of Willey, his horse fell upon him, and he was unable to extricate himself, whereupon he gave one TOM MOODY 165 of his well-known view-halloos, and expecting a fox was on foot, his master hastened to the spot. Although Tom continued hallooing he was invisible, when Mr. Forester enquired which way the fox was gone. " I have not seen any fox," said the whipper-Ln; "but I am at the bottom of the dingle, with my horse on the top of me, and I knew a halloo was the most likely means of calling some one to my assistance." This ardent sportsman commenced his career with Mr. Chambers of Whitbume Court, on the borders of Herefordshire and Worcestershire, from whom he went to Mr. Forester, and lived with that gentleman several years. He then went to Mr. Corbet, and whipped-in, a season or two, to William Barrow; but returned to Mr. Forester, and died in that gentleman's service November 29th, 1796. His remains are deposited in Barrow churchyard. William Barrow, the celebrated huntsman to Mr. Corbet's hounds, must be added to the list. You cannot enter the good old county of Salop, where it is bounded by Worcestershire and Stafford- shire and converse with any of the old inhabitants who have any taste for sporting subjects, but they will tell you some anecdotes of the Squire Forester of Willey, and his no less celebrated whipper-in Tom Moody, whose proficiency in and ardour for the chase are so quaintly expressed in the well-known song which bears his name. Mr. Forester being undeniably the oldest master of fox-hounds in this country, he, and those who succeeded him, must be mentioned in rotation. I have no means of determining the precise date when this gentleman first established his hounds, but from circumstances which have been related to me, I have reason to believe he commenced about the year 1775, and that he kept them upwards of thirty years. It was his custom to be at the covert side before sun- rise, so that he might commence operations at the first dawn of day. The rough country about the Wrekin was his favourite spot, one which modem fox-hunters 166 RECORDS OF THE CHASE are not prone to admire. Mr. Forester died in 1811. About that period a pack was established by subscrip- ton at Bridgenorth, when it was called the Wheatland Hunt. Mr. Skelding had the principal management, and was joined by Mr. Thomas Baker, the elder brother of the present master, the late Mr. George Aston, his brothers, the late Mr. Thomas Aston Pudsey, and Mr. John Aston Pudsey, the latter of whom is still one of the most ardent sportsmen in the Albrighton Hunt. It was distinguished as a most con- vivial and sporting coterie, and continued till about the year 1818 ; Mr. Skelding having previously resigned his post as huntsman to one John Chorlton, a kind of amateur yeoman, and the death of Mr. Thomas Baker taking place, the hunt was broken up. The taste for hunting is innate in the inhabitants of this soil, and the farmers kept the hounds' on for several seasons, some in a small kennel under the care of the aforesaid John Chorlton, who still acted as the hunts- man, and the others at the farm-houses, from whence they were collected on the morning of hunting. The late Sir Richard Acton, of Aldenham, gave them his countenance ; in fact it was his tenants who were the principal supporters of the hounds, and they were used both for hunting the foxes and for the purpose of taking the deer which escaped from the park, to facilitate which a few couple of blood-hounds were introduced. The late Lord Forester also patronised them ; and through his lordship's interest drafts were occasionally procured from the Bel voir kennel. By that means, and breeding a few among themselves, they managed to keep up a small scratch pack. It may readily be understood that they set more value upon a hound that could hunt a very cold scent than one which could go a great pace, and recourse was had to crossing with the blood-hound. I can well remember hunting with them in the year 1822, when the pack at the covert side was composed somewhat after the following fashion: — About six couples of well-bred fox-hounds, three or four couples THE WHEATLAND HOUNDS 167 of the cross between fox-hounds and blood-hounds, and two couples of true-bred blood-hounds. It was highly entertaining to observe them in chase ; by the time they had run a mile or two the fox-hounds would be several fields a-head ; at a respectful distance came the half- bred ones, toiling in vain to reach their more speedy companions ; behind them came the blood-hounds, ever and anon, as they touched upon the scent, throwing their tongues with sonorous, deep-toned melody, some- times actually sitting on their haunches, evidently in- dulging their olfactory sensibilities. When the leading hounds came to a check, those which had been following in the rear had a chance of getting up, and if the check was of long duration, the tender-nosed blood-hounds would sometimes recover the line ; but if it was a good scenting day they scarcely participated in the perform- ance. This was quite enough to enable any unpreju- diced person to decide upon the superiority of the fox- hound ; but still some of the old worthies would contend that the blood-hounds were serviceable in hitting off a very cold scent. If they could have been carried to the place where they were wanted, they would no doubt have been useful ; but having to travel on foot they were not, being blown and half beaten before they arrived. At the same time, I believe that a distant cross would be an improvement in the kennels of several of our high-bred packs, but it would take many years to acquire it. In this manner some of the hounds now in the Wheatland kennels are bred, but it is more than five and twenty years since the addresses of the blood-hounds have been discontinued. Stud hounds from the Belvoir, Cheshire and other celebrated estab- lishments were used, and thus the deficiency of symmetry, speed, activity, and endurance has been obviated. If extraordinary sport is a test of the excel- lence of a pack of hounds (and I cannot conceive a more conclusive one), they are certainly very superior. It is quite clear that four or five strains of the true fox- 168 RECORDS OF THE CHASE hound are necessary to get rid of the imperfections of the blood-hound. In 1843 a subscription was entered into, when the management of the Wheatland hounds was confided to Mr. Baker, and from that period they have occupied kennels at Bridgenorth. Thisi gentleman's attention to the improvement of the pack since he has had the management of them has been amply repaid. Born in the country and accustomed to following hounds from his boyhood, he knows every field in it; and, what is of more importance to a huntsman, he knows the run of the foxes. This affords an opportunity for observing that much excellent sport may be obtained without a lavish expenditure of money, providing things are well conducted ; and also that it may be accomplished in a country of limited extent, if foxes are well preserved. Shropshire is a country whose sons are proverbially zealous sportsmen, and in no portion of it is it more conspicuous than in that which comprises the Wheat- land Hunt. To persons not acquainted with the locality it may be an object of inquiry why it should have received the title. It is a provincial term among the inhabitants to distingush it from the turnip and barley soil, extending a considerable distance on the eastern banks of the River Severn, which is hunted by the Albrighton hounds. The difference between the two countries is very remarkable and interesting, con- sidering that the river only marks the distinction. Ap- proaching the picturesque borough of Bridgenorth, either from Shiffnal, Wolverhampton, Stourbridge, or Kidderminster, land of a verj^ light, loamy, and sandy character prevails, and with the exception of a small portion of strong land near Alam Bridge, six miles from Bridgenorth on the Kidderminster road, the light soil extends from twelve to fifteen miles. Having crossed the Severn and passed through Bridgenorth, the strong clay presents itself, where the cultivation of wheat and beans forms the principal portion of the farmers care ; there is, however, a fair quantity of grass, and the MR. PELHAM 169 country is favourable to scent. Half way between the last-named town and Ludlow is the Brown Clee Hill, a favourite resort of foxes; and a horse that can live with hounds to that point on a good scenting day, from Spoonbill Wood, Monk Hopton, Lightwood, Middleton Gorse, Wallsbatch Gorse, or Sidbury Coppice, must be in good condition, formed of the right materials, and able to go in any country in England. This country is not much approved of by the generality of those sportsmen who belong to the Albrighton Hunt; com- pared with that it is rough in the extreme. Heavy land, strong fences, numerous dingles, which can only be crossed at certain places, known but to a chosen few of the natives, now and then deep brooks and perpen- dicular banks, are formidable impediments to those who are accustomed to light fences, sound ground, a very few brooks, and no dingles. At one period a great portion of the county of Salop was hunted by Mr. Pelham of Cound Hall, a gentleman of high honour and amusing, eccentric devices. It was his pleasure to attire his servants in white hunting- coats, which, as I am informed, being cleaned with pipe-clay, maintained their purity of appearance ; but a fall must most assuredly have illustrated the Latin quotation, color, qui albus erat, nunc est contrarius albo. This gentleman has been known to amuse him- self with the exercise of breaking stones, in order to demonstrate the exact quantity a labourer ought to operate upon in the course of the day. The numerous pleasantries in which Mr. Pelham indulged were more generally diversified than appertaining to the sports of the field, and therefore not precisely presentable in these pages. Another part of the country was hunted, about the same period, by Sir Edward Smythe, Bart., of Acton Burnell, an excellent sportsman ; but what the limits were of this hunt I cannot precisely identify, nor the exact time when Sir Edward commenced ; but I per- fectly well remembered meeting his hounds on the 16th 170 RECORDS OF THE CHASE of April, at Thatcher's Wood, in the year 1822, as a memorandum in an old note-book supplies me with the reminiscence that it was the last day of the season; an event which, juvenile as I was, impressed me forcibly with regret. This was also Sir Edward Smythe's last day of hunting till his re-commencement in 1831. I imagine the country he hunted must have been what has subsequently gone by the name of the South Shropshire, and a portion of the Wheatland ; Thatcher's Wood being in the latter district. These imperfect recollections are strengthened by the fact of Mr. Mytton succeeding Mr. Pelham, either in 1817 or 1818 ; and Mr. Mytton certainly never hunted any part of the Wheatland, or much, if any, of the South of Shropshire. His country was more in the immediate vicinity of Halston, Atcham Bridge, and Sundorne. A part of what now constitutes the Al- brighton country, in the neighbourhood of Ivetsey Bank, where he had kennels, was also hunted by Mr. Mytton, including Chillington, Wrottesley, Pudsey's Gorse, and Morfe. When hunting this district he would sometimes have a relay of hacks on the road, and ride from his own house, a distance of forty miles, and return after hunting. On one of these occasions, when the hounds met at Weston, he had on one black and one white silk stocking, which were conspicuous between his white cords and boot tops. Whether he had dressed in the dark, or whether he had ever been in bed, or whether he had put them on for effect, I will not pretend to state. His first exploit was to ride his horse Baronet over the deer hurdles in Weston Park, which were very high and strong, just to ascertain if he was in a jumping mood. I also recollect his coming from Halston on a very wet morning, to meet his hounds at the White Sytche, near Weston, in the year 1820, before waterproof garments were in fashion. The only affectation of protection from rain that he wore over his hunting coat was a tight military surtout, cut according to the existing fashion, with a very short JACK MYTTON 171 waist ; and he was literally as wet as if he had ridden through the Severn. On another occasion he came from Cheltenham in his carriage to an appointment at the Wheelgate. A frost had for several days prevented the hounds from going out, and he resorted to Chelten- ham for a lark. It commenced raining in the night, when, ordering horses to his carriage, he set off to the place of meeting. But he was behind time, and the hounds on his arrival had gone to draw Morfe Gorse without any horse being left for him, as his servants did not know whether he would come on wheels, or whether he would come at all. There was no approach to within a mile of the covert for a carriage ; conse- quently he mounted one of the post horses, and with the encumbrance of some of the harness, especially the winker-bridle, he came straight over the fences, arriving at the gorse just in time to see his hounds find their fox, and declared the horse jumped better with winkers than he would have done without them. Ever prone to play some pranks, after a short s^curry in the same country his hounds hunted their fox to the Severn and crossed at Quatford, where Mytton jumped into the ferry-boat alone, and having gained the op- posite side sent the boat adrift, thereby precluding the possibility of any other persons crossing. All those who were desirous to see the end of the run had to ride round through Bridgenorth ; and we found the Squire of Halston with his horse in a ditch, and the hounds staring about with their heads up, having lost their fox, their huntsman, and their whipper-in. Mr. Mytton ostensibly gave up his hounds in 1822 ; but he still kept on a sort of scratch pack, with which he hunted near home. An amusing volume might be composed of Mr. Mytton 's freaks and fancies, exclusive of any of his faults, which, unfortunately, have been already too glaringly paraded before the public ; but, poor fellow, he is gone to rest, and it is to be hoped his indiscretions have met with more lenient judgment from Heaven than 172 RECORDS OF THE CHASE they have from many of his earthly censors, to whom, and to all others who presume to judge their companions in sin, the 11th verse of the 4th chapter of James is strikingly applicable. '* Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgetli his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law; but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge." On the 9th April, Anno Domini 1834, his mortal remains were deposited in the family vault at Halston Chapel, at the com- paratively early age of thirty-eight. The late Sir Richard Pulestone, a very distinguished sportsman, considered the best judge of hounds of his time, hunted divers parts of Shropshire, and indeed several other countries, during a period of between thirty and forty years. To point out the various districts and the precise dates would be impossible. During the latter part of the time, he confined his hunting to the neighbourhood of Emral, in Flintshire. I never met his hounds but once, which was at the Twemlows, near Whitchurch, a great many years ago, and have but a very slight recollection of them. Sir Richard Pulestone sold his pack in the spring of 1833 to Lord Radnor for 500 guineas, when he retired from the field as a master of fox-hounds. He departed this life in 1849. In 1823 the gentlemen of Shrewsbury and the neighbourhood built some kennels and stables about two miles from the town ; soon after which Sir Belling- ham Graham undertook to hunt the Shropshire in con- junction with what was subsequently called the Albrighton country, which he had previously himted exclusively ; but that arrangement only continued one season, the Albrighton men being inconvenienced every alternate month or six weeks by not having hounds within their reach ; and Sir Bellingham confined his operations to the Shropshire side during the re- mainder of the time of his keeping hounds. The baronet hunted his hounds in person ; and as an amateur huntsman, if he has been equalled, he certainly has not SHROPSHIRE KENNELS 173 been excelled. He was very ably assisted in the field by William Staples and John Wigglesworth. After having hunted the Atherstone, the Quorn, and the Pytchley countries, it appeared a condescension to hunt a provincial one ; but Sir Bellingham introduced every requisite for the promotion of sport, and was most successful in the results. On Sir Bellingham Graham's retirement in 1826, he sold his hounds to the committee which was then formed, of whom Sir Edward Smythe, Mr. Lloyd, and Mr. Smythe Owen, were the principals. Staples was appointed as huntsman, and Wigglesworth remained as first whip. This continued till the conclusion of the season 1833, when the country was divided into North and South. Sir Rowland Hill, Baronet, of Hawke- stone, took the former portion with Staples in his former appointment; the kennels at Lee Bridge being the domicile of the hounds. The southern district was hunted by Mr. Smythe Owen, who promoted Wiggles- worth; and kennels were provided at Coundover. Mr. Hodson succeeded, kept the hounds two or three seasons, but gave them up in 1841. Mr. T. C. Eyton subsequently became the master of the southern district, and Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, Baronet, added the northern to an extensive tract of country around Wynnstay, which he now hunts in great style, having the celebrated John Walker, who was for many years with the Fife hounds, as huntsman. This arrangement was entered into in 1849. Sir Watkin Wynn's country is comprised in what may be called the Old Shropshire, verging on the Cheshire and North Staffordshire, with a part of the Garden district, and that near Wynnstay. Mr. Baker undertook to hunt the country vacated by Mr. Eyton, conjointly with the Wheatland; two days in the week being devoted to the former, and one to the latter district. This only continued for one year, but with a very limited subscription he succeeded in showing most extraordinary sport. One of the runs is 174 RECORDS OF THE CHASE especially worthy of notice ; it took plaee on the 16th of November, 1849. The place of meeting was the fifth mile stone on the Baschurch road. The hounds were scarcely in the covert at Merrington, on Mr. Slaney's estate, one of the Members for Shrewsbury, and a most zealous sportsman, when a fox was viewed away by Pearce, the head whip. After taking a ring round the covert, he made a point for Leaton Shelf, best pace ; without a moment's hesitation he ran through the covert, straight as possible to Preston Gobalds, and away to Pimhill, Harmer Hill, and Middle Park nearly to Baschurch, when bearing to the right he gained the covert in which he was found at Merrington; through it and again to Leaton Shelf. He then crossed the River Severn, which, although bank full, Mr. Webster of Preen, one of Shropshire's gallant heroes of the chase, plunged into, leaving the whole of the field behind him. This however, was an unprofit- able daring; for having tried a refuge in Bickley Cop- pice the fox re-crossed the Severn near Montford Bridge, which afforded Mr. Webster another oppor- tunity for exercising his amphibious qualities. From this point the fox went to Forton, and nearly to Nesscliffe, where he turned to the right by Fitz, with the pack close at his brush ; through the gardens at Grafton, when he once more tried the earths at Leaton Shelf, and after a terrific run of nearly four hours' duration, was pulled down near Leaton Knoll, the residence of J. A. Lloyd, Esq., a small portion of the field only being up to witness the termination. Among the select few were Mr. Baker the present, and Mr. Eyton the late, master of the hounds, Mr. Webster and Mr. Harnage. All the horses were completely beaten, and had it not been for some friendly roads which occasionally intervened, it appears impossible that any could have gone half the distance, which is computed at upwards of thirty miles. Not finding the subscription adequate to the expenses Mr. Baker resigned the Shropshire district to Mr. A RUN WITH THE WHEATLAND 175 Edward Corbet of Longnor, in 1850, when the latter gentleman purchased five and twenty couples of Mr. Baker's hounds to commence with, and constructed kennels at Dorrington. Since that time Mr. Baker has confined his hunting to the Wheatland country, and although it may be justly termed a rough one he has contrived to show a vast deal of sport. The following sketch of a run which these hounds had in the memorable wet but good- scenting season of 1852 and 53 is a specimen of their performance and conclusive proof of the state of the country. On the 28th of December they met at Stanley, and drew till rather late in the day before they found. A good game fox, however, was in waiting at Willey, which went away across the Park for Linley to Frog Mill, and along the chain of coverts opposite Apley, on to Stanley, when he turned to the right and made his point good to Mr. Stephen's coverts and from thence to Caughley, which large covert he passed quickly through, making in the direction of the Wooden Bridge ; but soon after leaving Caughley the hounds got away from the whole field of horsemen, and night coming on they lost them entirely. WTien last seen they were running breast high, but what they did with their fox, no one could tell. The time from the find to when they ran out of sight of the horsemen was one hour and twenty minutes. Such an event is seldom heard of, and in modern days is only paralleled by a run with Lord Drumlanrig's hounds. Some of Mr. Baker's hounds did not come home for two or three days ; and although the performance is highly credit- able to the pack in respect to their condition and stout- ness, it is scarcely possible to conceive anything more vexatious and annoying to a master of hounds than to be compelled to return home without his pack, and in answer to interrogatories what has become of them to be compelled to acknowledge they have fairly beaten him. The nature of this severe country and the heavy state it was in afford, however, an ample apology. 176 RECORDS OF THE CHASE That which is called the Ludlow country was, I believe, many years ago hunted by the late Mr. Childe of Kinlet, and after him by the late Mr. Dansey of Easton; also by Mr. Adams of Ludlow, and when he gave up, the country was vacant for a short time. Mr. Stubbs of the Westmore had them, on and off, nearly twenty years, although during part of the time Mr. Dansey, a son of the gentleman already named, re- lieved Mr. Stubbs a season or two. Lord Gifford also had them in 1841. When no one else could be found to keep on the hounds, Mr. Stubbs invariably responded to the voice of the sporting inhabitants, and for so en- thusiastically promoting the welfare of fox-hunting they cannot but feel deeply indebted to him. This gentleman and his son must be included among the most ardent of Salopian sportsmen. The gift is in them hereditary; as the late Mr. Stubbs, the father of the elder one of whom I am now writing, was a very celebrated man in his day, and is thus introduced in the Epwell Hunt. " With his hat in his hand, looking out for a gate, Neither looking nor riding by any means straight, Mr. Stubbs, a great sportsman, no doubt, in his time, But who himting on Sundays once deem'd it no crime; Making desperate play through some fine muddy lanes, With kicking and skirting, got in for his pains. High waving the brush, and with pleasure half mad, Roaring out ' Yoicks ! have at 'em; we've kill'd him, my lad.'" It is necessary in order to explain the allusion made about hunting on Sundays to introduce an anecdote re- corded of this gentleman. During many years he resided at Beckbury in this county, where he kept a pack of hounds, and to guard against a blank day usually had some foxes confined in a building appro- priated to their use. Going to feed them on a Sunday morning one of them made his escape, but not unper- ceived by this keen sportsman, who immediately let the pack out of the kennel and laid them on the scent. After a run exceeding twenty miles the fox was killed THE SHROPSHIRE COUNTRY 177 in a village just as the good people were returning from church. The Ludlow hounds came out this season under the direction of a new master, Mr. Sit well, who has, I am informed, made every preparation necessary to pro- mote sport. The best portion of Shropshire, as a hunting country is that which is hunted by Sir Watkin Wynn, but it varies exceedingly. There is some very fair land about Ercal Heath and Sundome, and the Wheatland country, although very rough, holds a capital scent and good stout, wild foxes. The fences in many parts are very strong and are often augmented with wide blind ditches, and in places there are some nasty brooks. If a horse is soifficiently accomplished to get safely over the fences, and has pace, he may be trusted in any country. On the Titterstone Clee Hill the foxes have a stronghold, I believe unequalled in any other part of England. In many places there are huge masses of granite lying about in a most chaotic fashion, under which the foxes have their runs and from which it is useless to attempt to bolt them. As it is utterly impossible to stop these earths, on the night before hunting, at the time the foxes are supposed to be abroad in search of food, a range of fires isi lit along the hills to cut off their retreat at daybreak, and the men — generally colliers from the neighbouring mines, who are employed to make the fires — remain on duty till the hunting is over, that they may guard the entrances to what may be appropriately termed the fortifications of the foxes. The result of this is that they are found in all directions; some in the coverts, others in the dingles or hollow pits, and being of a very wild nature with anything of a scent they are sure to occasion a clipping run. It is, however, an expensive process, as it requires from thirty to forty men to manage the fires, and they consume a considerable portion of ale and cider, exclusive of their pay. The appearance of the bonfires on the hills is a sure indication of what is about H 178 RECORDS OF THE CHASE to take place on the morrow, and as the love of sport prevails as much among the lower order of Shropshire natives as any other class, some hundreds of the colliers will be seen in waiting on the hills to participate in the diversion. Clad in the roughest style of dress, if demi- nudity can be acknowledged or associated with the expression, they present a strange appearance, and are as black as demons from the nature of their work. To hear their unearthly Kaffir-like shouts and yells mingled with the melodious cry of the hounds when a fox is viewed making an attempt to gain his ac- customed haven, still guarded by the lingering embers of the fires, and behold these human imps literally of ' the world below,' afford a scene as exciting as it is extraordinary. The riding on the Titterstone Hill is a service of great danger; the huge and rugged stones which lie about in all directions, some several feet above, others nearly level with the surface, present very uncertain footing for the horse; but many of the sportsmen, especially the farmers, ride over these obstacles at an alarming pace. I must not omit to mention that during the time the Wheatland hounds were kept on by the farmers — that is about the year 1828 — Mr. Jones of Maesmawr, near Newtown, in Montgomeryshire, occasionally brought his unique pack for a fortnight at a time into this district. They were designated the Welsh hounds, and most truly did they preserve the ancient system in every respect. Many of them were the old-fashioned rough-coated hounds ; a breed which I imagine to be now extinct, except for the purpose of otter-hunting. It is, however, but fair to state they seldom missed their fox. Commencing their operations at a very early hour, they hunted their game up to his kennel by the drag, and a run of three or four hours' duration was very frequently the result. When this establishment was broken up the sale of the horses occasioned con- siderable interest in the sporting world, not only in consequence of the cleverness of many of them but also MR. PINCHES 179 from the curious description given of them in the cata- logues, wherein the runs in which they had dis- tinguished themselves were faithfully portrayed. The late Mr. Pinches of Ticklerton at one time like- wise hunted a portion of the country now claimed by the Wheatland Hunt ; and that was another pack which rejoiced in ancient tactics. It was called the United Pack, but whether that was intended jocosely I will not presume to state. The Independent Pack would have been a more appropriate term ; for they were all over the country, each hound appearing to be devoting his attention to his own specific object. This their worthy master considered a great perfection, arguing that if they were kept together, fifteen couples would be of no more use in the field than four or five ; but by spreading extensively each hound had an oppor- tunity of distinguishing himself by rendering assistance either in finding a fox or recovering a scent. Houndsi which other masters would have drafted for being rank skirters Mr. Pinches considered invaluable. The first time I ever saw them was at Willey Park, and they had commenced drawing the covert when I arrived. I soon found the master, who hunted them himself. At his horse's heels was a powerful, good-looking hound, but awfully disfigured by having one ear cropped close to his head, and his stern docked to within three inches of the stump. On my expressing astonishment, and inquiring from Mr. Pinches why the poor animal had been so mutilated, he replied, " That is the best hound in England ; he was given to me by Mr. Jones of Maesmawr; he was docked and had his ear cut off that he might not be stolen." " An effectual remedy," I observed, "and, doubtless, an original idea; but how is it," I enquired, " that he is not with the other hounds in covert, trying to find his fox?" "Oh," said his master, "I always keep him with me, so that if I have a chance of seeing a fox break covert, I can lay him on in view ; he would not leave my horse's heels even if the other hounds were running hard, until I told him ; he 180 RECORDS OF THE CHASE has been trained to it." This might have been, as Mr. Pinches supposed, the best hound in England ; but it was certainly a very extraordinary way of obtaining his services. Like Mr. Jones's hounds, they had long runs and killed their foxes after the fashion of olden times, and their performances gratified those who were in the habit of hunting with them. So that they were pleased, it would be uncourteous to compare them with modern packs. Their kind-hearted, good-tempered master died a few years since in the prime of life, and the hounds having passed into the hands of Mr. Luther still continue to hunt a rough countr^^ near Bishop's Castle and in Clun Forest. We will now turn to the Albrighton country, which comprises a portion of Shropshire, a part of Stafford- shire, and a few coverts in Worcestershire. This country was very irregularly hunted till the year 1825. As I have previously stated, the late Mr. George Forester of Willey hunted a part of it. The late Earl of Stamford and Warrington also hunted it with a very magnificent establishment ; at least such is the tradition of some of the ' oldest inhabitants;' but I believe, his lordship took his hounds occasionally to his estate at Grooby, in Leicestershire, so that a part of the season the Shropshire and Staffordshire sportsmen were with- out hounds, an inconvenience very prevalent in those times. When the earl gave up. Sir Richard Pulestone occasionally hunted the Shropshire side, which was then called the Shiffnal country, and Colonel Newnham drew the covert on the Worcestershire borders when it suited his convenience. When Colonel Newnham gave up his hounds in Wor- cestershire Mr. Hornyhold succeeded, and hunted this country occasionally, his hounds lying at the Stew Poney Kennels. Kit Atkinson was the huntsman, John King, first whip, and Joseph Maiden, second. With these hounds I saw one of the most severe days of which I have any recollection. It was on the 9th of January, 1822. They found in Pudsey's Gorse at five MR. BOYCOTT 181 minutes after twelve, and lost their fox near Orton Hills! at fifty minutes after three; they had very few checks, and none of those of any duration. Thus was the country hunted till 1823, when Sir Bellingham Graham entered into an engagement to hunt it, and resided at Compton House, near Kinfare, where kennels were provided ; he also used those at Ivetsey Bank, as a temporary accommodation when the appointments were on the Shiffnal side. The magnificence of Sir Bellingham's establishment, the very superior sport which he afforded, and his hunting accomplishments, were acknowledged by all, and it was a source of great regret when, the following season, the baronet undertook to hunt the Shropshire country in conjunction with this ; inasmuch as every alternate month or six weeks each district was without hounds. The year after — that is in 1825 — Mr. Boycott of Rudge entered upon the country, from which period it may be said to have been regularly hunted and the limits defined. This gentleman was unquestionably a sportsman, and at one time a first-rate performer over a country ; but he had arrived at a time of life when the keenness for riding usually diminishes, and as he hunted his own hounds the failing was obvious. The pack with which he commenced operations was pur- chased from Mr. Nunn and had been hunting in Essex ; they were not level in size, nor was their condition by any means good ; but Mr. Boycott certainly improved them vastly. His first whipper-in was old Zac. Goddard, a very celebrated man in Warwickshire when in the service of Lord Middleton. Skinner whipped-in under him, and subsequently took his place. Mr. Boycott was frequently much annoyed, and often not without cause, at the way in which his hounds were over-ridden; and I certainly must declare I have at times seen those proceedings carried to a greater excess in this than in any other country I ever hunted in. The fields were generally ver^'^ numerous, sometimes from one hundred and fifty to two hundred horsemen out ; 182 RECORDS OF THE CHASE the nature of the country is particularly calculated to facilitate the manoeuvres of aspiring characters, much of the land being very light and the fences moderate with an infinity of roads. It was not an unusual event as soon as a fox was found — ay, before he had broken covert — to see horsemen spread in all directions, spec- ulating as to the line the fox would take. Under any circumstances such conduct is exceedingly provoking, and in a bad-scenting country certain to destroy all prospects of a run. Withal, Mr. Boycott was- a kind- hearted, good-natured man, and conciliatory with the farmers. A circumstance illustrative of this is worthy of being introduced. Close to a covert called Lightwood was a field of wheat over which on a previous occasion the whipper-in had ridden for the purpose of viewing the fox away. The farmer, unnecessarily annoyed at this, came to the place of meeting and made a com- plaint. "Ah," said Mr. Boycott, "I have heard all about it, I turned him away;" and the farmer looking at the two whippers-in who were with the hounds, and not being able to recognise the offender, was perfectly satisfied. It happened that the whipper-in who had ridden over the wheat had met with an accident, and his place was supplied for the day by the kennel-man, which enabled Mr. Boycott to satisfy the complaining farmer. After serving a short apprenticeship Mr. Boycott sold his pack to Captain Freeman and resigned. In 1831 the management of the hounds was undertaken by Mr. Walter Gifford of Chillington, when kennels were built at Albrighton, from which circumstance the name of the hunt originated. John Beardshaw, who had been hunting Mr. Shaw's hounds and was previously in the service of Mr. Foljambe, was engaged as hunts- man, and John Pugh as whipper-in. The hounds at Albrighton were unfortunately very unhealthy, and that serious malady kennel lameness made its appearance most extensively. The disorder was attributed, and no doubt justly, to the situation. SIR THOMAS BOUGHEY 183 which was on a sandstone rock. In the hope of effectmg a remedy the floors were taken up to introduce a layer of cinders, but as may be conjectured without pro- ducing any good results. The hounds were then re- moved to another place ; there the same cause existed, and no benefit was derived from the change. Mr. Walter Gifford had kept harriers some years previously, and as a sportsman was gifted with first- rate qualifications. His style of riding over a country was quiet and very workman-like. He had a little bay horse remarkably clever at all kinds of intricate fences, particularly at standing leaps; and the way in which he crept over the country, appearing to be going no pace and yet always in a good place, was quite re- markable. After keeping the hounds five seasons, during which time he showed a vast deal of sport for the country, in 1837 his brother-in-law. Sir Thomas Boughey, took the management without any subscrip- tion. On removing the hounds to fresh kennels at Aqualate the lameness, with a few exceptions of in- veterate, old-established cases, disappeared — a con- vincing proof of the cause. Sir Thomas performed the duties of huntsman him- self, having a very clever man, William Wells, to pre- side in the kennel. However zealous he was in the cause, the baronet was not successful in the field. The hounds were in good condition, the horses unexcep- tionable, and Sir Thomas rode well over the country ; but public opinion did not resound in his praise as a huntsman ; he did not appear to be acquainted with the run of the foxes, and when his hounds came to a check with a bad scent, did not avail himself of the most likely points to hit upon the line. The baronet only kept them three seasons, when Mr. Thomas Holyoake was called upon to undertake the responsible duties of master, with a committee, who exonerated him from all liabilities in the expenditure. The Summer-house, halfway between Wolverhampton and Shiffnal, was selected as the site of the kennels, 184 RECORDS OF THE CHASE and a more unfortunate one could not have been chosen. It was upon a very light, sandy soil, with sandstone rock for substratum, and being superficially dry it was conjectured that all the evils of kennel lameness would be avoided — an opinion which at the time I ventured to dissent from. The lodging-rooms were constructed in a brick-built barn which had been erected some years, and therefore dry, which it was expected would insure the sound condition of the inmates, as many persons ascribed the malady to the dampness of the kennel walls — a conclusion which is far from being correct. There is no doubt that kennel lameness isi originally produced from the damp exhalations arising from the earth, and from that cause rheumatism is promoted by the hounds lying together in a large body ; therefore the more porous the soil, the greater the amount of exhalation. There is no question that the disorder is also to a certain extent hereditary, inasmuch that the produce of hounds so afflicted have a predis- position, which will be brought out in a kennel having a slight tendency to occasion the disease. It must also be observed that there are different degrees of unhealthy properties in kennels, depending upon the nature of the soil on which they are built. Various plans have been resorted to for the purpose of rendering unsound kennels healthy ; large stones, chalk, clay, impervious cement, and all such devices that human ingenuity can suggest have been introduced under the lodging-rooms and yards in several kennels which I am acquainted with, but without any satis- factory result. I have only heard of two instances where any permanent benefit has arisen from any plans that have been tried in kennels decidedly unsound, and those are with two packs of harriers, the respective property of Mr. Jasper of Stableford in Shropshire, a gentleman well-known as a very superior sportsman in the Albrighton Hunt, and Mr. Wilson Roberts, for many years Member for Bewdley in Worcestershire. Mr. Jasper's hounds were so very lame from the kennel. KENNEL LAMENESS 185 which is on a sandy soil, that he most reluctantly determined upon giving them up. Having tried various experiments, including those already mentioned, he came to the conclusion that the affliction was produced from the damp exhalations and atmosphere surrounding the kennel acting upon the hounds after severe work, when lying close to each other in the usual way on the benches. Being very unwilling to give up his hounds, he determined to try one experiment, which fortunately proved successful. The plan is simple, not expensive, and may readily be adopted in any kennel. It is to form a separate box or compartment for each hound on the ordinary beds. A board is fixed down the middle, which may vary m height from two to two feet six inches, according to the standard of the pack. The front and back are also provided with a similar con- trivance, running parallel with the boards in the centre, but these are not required to be so high. The separate compartments are then formed by short cross boards extending from the centre to the back and front ; and being made to slide into grooves, they are readily removed for the purpose of replenishing or sihaking up the straw, which passing under these boards is kept neat and straight. Mr. Jasper, who gave me the details of his plan some years since, informed me of the complete success which he had experienced, adding many good reasons for adopting it. Besides that of rendering the pack free from kennel lameness, it prevents hounds fighting or defiling their beds, and every hound having once taken to his lodging retains it. Mr. Roberts followed the example with equally satisfactory results. Bad as was the condition of the pack with which Mr. Boycott commenced, part of that which Mr. Holyoake began with was still worse. Sir Thomas Boughey's hounds were sold at Birmingham, and the late Duke of Cleveland's being disposed of at the same time, several lots were purchased to form the new pack, nine couples of which were put forward. I certainly never saw hounds in such a woeful condition. However, they had the 186 RECORDS OF THE CHASE whole of the summer to dress them and bring them round, which was to all appearance done satisfactorily. At the same time I believe it to be utterly impossible, when hounds have been reduced by neglect to such a miserable state as they were, to re-establish their con- dition under twelve months; and some never recover it at all. The remainder of the pack (thirty-one couples in all) was composed of drafts from the Ludlow, Mr. Smyth Owen's Mr. Candler's, and other neighbouring hunts. In 1848 the Earl of Stamford and Warrington relieved the members of the Albrighton Hunt from all the ex- penses attendant on the undertaking. His lordship took the entire management, and drew William Staples forth from the inactive duties of an innkeeper, to which calling he had devoted himself during the last two or three seasons. He had become very stout, but his lord- ship supplied him with horses equal to his weight. After the first season, greatly to the regret and disappoint- ment of the resident sportsmen, Lord Stamford signified his wish to withdraw, but most liberally engaged to contribute a large sum to the maintenance of the hounds, and kindly offered several valuable horses to the com- mittee, which was again formed to conduct the arrange- ments, and the Honourable Arthur Wrottesley under- took the duties of mastership, retaining the services of William Staples. Mr. Thomas Shaw Hellier, who succeeded Mr. Vyner in North Warwickshire, which he hunted four or five seasons, and subsequently the South Wold country, came forward in 1852 and relieved Mr. Arthur Wrottes- ley from his duties. A better selection certainly could not have been made ; for, independent of his general knowledge of everything appertaining to the ' noble science,' as he was born in the country and passed his noviciate in it, he is perfectly acquainted with every detail necessary to afford sport. Edward Bullen, who was with Mr. Hellier in the South Wold country, remains as huntsman. THE ALBRIGHTON COUNTRY 187 Although I have not seen Mr. Hellier's hounds since he left North Warwickshire, I have reason to know he has a very superior pack. He commenced upon an excellent principle, that of procuring them in the first instance from one or two of the most celebrated estab- lishments and subsequently breeding a sufficient number, or nearly so, every year to form his entry. This is im- portant for obvious reasons ; by doing so a master of hounds knows the peculiar excellences or failings of the progenitors, which he cannot ascertain so minutely if he procures drafts from other kennels. On this subject Somerville gives some excellent counsel, which may be found at page 123. Beckford also observes that a pack " to look well should be all nearly of a size ; and I even think they should all look of the same family." This latter perfection cannot be obtained so readily if a master of hounds breeds from various sorts totally dissimilar in their characters. Mr. Hellier procured most of his hounds in the first instance from the Earl Yarborough's ; some from the Quorn, which contained much of the Brocklesby blood and were very similar in appearance ; a few from Mr. Smyth Owen's and the Warwickshire. The following season he had a large draft of unentered hounds from the Duke of Rutland's kennels, fifteen couples and a half of which were put forward. Upon these he has engrafted his present pack, and it was impossible for him to choose better blood. As he has been a master of hounds fifteen seasons, having made good use of his time, there is no doubt he has a most superior pack. There are many serious impediments to sport of a first-rate character in the Albrighton country which cannot be readily overcome. It holds a very indifferent scent ; the land generally being of a light, sandy nature, except in wet weather, it frequently happens there is no scent at all. The coverts, though not large, are numerous and very strong; consequently, hounds have great difficulty in forcing the foxes through them. The estates are in the hands of a great number of proprietors, 188 RECORDS OF THE CHASE and with the exception of the Duke of Sutherland's, the Earls Stamford and Warrington's, and Bradford's, Lords Ward's and Wrottesley's, Mr. Gifford's and Mr. Moseley's, are small. They are most zealous preservers of foxes, and, without asserting that any of the landed proprietors are at all hostile to fox-hunting, they are very fond of their game. There is a great abundance of rabbits, for which steel-traps are constantly set, and many a fox is sacrificed by that means ; and I know that at one period the annual destruction was so ex- tensive as to render it imperative to procure many brace of cubs to turn down. That they should afford much sport could not be expected, and the only remedy that can be suggested is to prevail on the owners of the coverts where the rabbits are abundant to have wires set instead of steel-traps. I do not intend to stigmatise any of the landed pro- prietors in the Albrighton Hunt with the unsportsman- like, unneighbourly practice of wilfully killing the foxes. I am quite certain, as a body, they are as zealous in the good cause as in any other country ; and some years ago there was one worthy individual who certainly exceeded all others I ever met with in his affection for the vulpine race. This person was an honest miller, one George Burgess, who lived on a farm belonging to the Enville estate, upon which, close to the house, there was a gorse covert in which a litter of cubs was invariably bred, and they were as regularly fed by the miller as any of his family. He was not only a very good friend to the foxes but a very hospitable man withal ; pork-pies, bread and cheese, and ale, were always provided for those who liked to partake thereof. One day, when Sir Bellingham Graham was drawing the gorse, I called for some lunch, when the hounds found a fox, and hastening to depart Mrs. Burgess exclaimed, " Oh, they have found, but I hope they wonH kill him.'^ The last words were expressed with that energy which pro- claimed that they came from the heart. He ran a short way and returned, by which time the earth was un- BOUNDARIES OF THE ALBRIGHTON 189 stopped, a proceeding not quite fair towards the hounds ; but who could be angry with such affectionate friends to the foxes as George Burgess and his wife ? He had a grey horse which he rode for many years, and was a very constant attendant when the hounds met within reach. Poor fellow, he has been dead some years ; but I hope there are many of the good sort left. The Albrighton Hunt claims a considerable extent of country and is more than thirty-five miles from north to south. The coverts of Seighford were a few years since drawn by these hounds ; but since the establishment of the North Staffordshire they have either been given up to them or held neutral. The Ran Dans on the southern extent are neutral with the Worcestershire. Hilton Hall, Lanely or Lowney Green, and Teddesley, are on the east, oeyond which there is a considerable extent of country, including Cannock Chase, which has not been hunted for many years. Travelling from thence towards the south, the mining districts preclude the possibility of hunting. The North Staffordshire Hunt is at the northern extremity, and the Worcestershire on the south. The River Severn divides the western boundary. Although there are several coverts beyond, which were drawn by Mr. Boycott, Mr. Walter Gifford, and Mr. Thomas Holyoake previously to Mr. Baker having the Wheatland hounds, that is a country which the fastidious first-flight men of the Albrighton Hunt alwaj's hold in sovereign contempt — or dread. CHAPTER XI HAMPSHIRE It is a singular fact that Hampshire although far from being a first-rate country should have so many packs of hounds as there are kept in it ; but it proves the good taste of the inhabitants, and their inherent love of sport. The great celebrity of three masters of hounds, the late Mr. Chute, the late Mr. Villebois, and Mr. Thomas Asshe- ton Smith, has no doubt been to a great degree the cause of the distinction which it has acquired, and serves to show how much may be effected by masters of hounds who possess the talent, the means, and the inclination. A sportsman who is a stranger travelling through this country forms a highly favourable opinion of it as a fox-hunting district. It appears very open, the fields large, many of them upwards of one hundred acres, the coverts do not inculcate the idea of being extensive or over numerous, and therefore he judges that a good wild fox and a superior pack of hounds must insure sport. With that view I took up my abode in the county three seasons, being further induced to do so in consequence of Lord Gifford at that time hunting what is called the H. H. country, previously having had experience of his lordship's talent as a sportsman in the Vale of White Horse. I cannot say that my expectations of the country were altogether realised. It certainly is open, but the foxes do not very often face that part of it. The fences many of them are composed of hazel twenty or thirty feet wide, and are cultivated for fuel ; in fact what would in many countries be called belts or plantations. These you caimot in all places penetrate, although there is THE NEW FOREST 191 nothing to jump, and the consequence is you have to ride to the openings, or as they are provincially termed shards, which are sometimes protected with hurdles. There is a considerable portion of ploughed land, which in wet weather is distressingly deep ; and in parts the flints abound most excessively. The first impression with respect to the coverts is erroneous ; they are many of them very large, and the foxes usually run from one to another ; thus the hardest-riding men may be thrown out, for it is impossible to follow hounds through them. The only alternative therefore is to keep on the outside of the smaller coverts, and follow the rides through the larger ones, when, if the fox turns short from you, in all probability you are thrown out. Many of the woods are light in the bottom, and consequently hounds can run nearly as fast through them as they can in the open. Of brooks there are very few, and there is not much meadow land ; but to make amends for that there are some fine open downs, over which, when the scent is favourable, hounds can rim at a most extraordinary pace. Although the New Forest takes precedence in history as the hunting domain of British kings, when William the Conqueror is said to have extended its previous boundaries and converted it into a royal chase, and when Rufus his son exercised despotic sway to render his hunting grounds exclusive and complete for the enjoyment of the diversion in which he lost his life, it is comparatively of recent date that fox-hunting was introduced, and not till after that sport had been common in many other parts of England. The first pack of fox-hounds of which there is any record in the New Forest were established at the close of the last century by Mr. Compton, who was succeeded by Mr. Gilbert. In 1808 Mr. John Warde, who had been up to that period, hunting Northamptonshire, where he sold his hounds with the exception of three couples of bitches and their whelps to Lord Althorp, engaged to hunt the New Forest and purchased thirty couples of 192 RECORDS OF THE CHASE hounds from the late Colonel Cooke to enable him to fulfil his agreement. This talented sportsman of olden days experienced a sad loss and disappointment : mad- ness broke out in his pack, whereby he lost forty couples of hounds, and in 1814 gave up the New Forest to Mr. Nicol, who had the repute of being at that time a very first-rate sportsman and of having had a very superior pack of hounds, consisting of the best blood from the Duke of Beaufort's and hisi predecessor's keimels, which in the year 1828 he sold to Lord Kintore for a thousand guineas. They went into Aberdeenshire, after which Mr. Wyndham took the country vacated by Mr. Nicol, and hunted it till 1838. Mr. Codrington then had it four years, when Captain Sheddon relieved him from the duties and continued till the spring of the present year, although he sold most of his hounds in 1851 to Mr. Thomas Drake ; subsequently to which it has, I believe, been hunted only two days in the week. Mr. Theobald, who had been hunting a country in the neighbourhood of Bath two seasons, has now engaged to hunt this. Kennel lameness is a malady said to afflict hounds in the New Forest most extensively ; and such, I am in- formed, isi the nature of the soil that, build kennels where you may, the disorder makes its appearance. There are, however, other parts of Hampshire where much difficulty exists in keeping hounds free from this painful disorder. As a master of hounds, an amateur huntsman, and a horseman, Mr. Thomas Assheton Smith's name ranks so high that it would be superfluous in me to attempt to raise his fame. I have no data by which I can state the exact period when Mr. Smith first commenced hunting in the neighbourhood of his seat, Tidworth House ; but I apprehend it must be about thirty years since, prior to which the country had been irregularly hunted ; in fact Mr. Smith formed it. On making inquiry from the oldest sportsman in the country, a gentleman who was a frequent guest of George the Fourth when Prince of Wales, then residing at Kempshot OLD HMIPSHIRE PACKS 193 House between Basingstoke and Winchester, my kind friend wrote me a long letter which I cannot do better than transcribe. As he is still an enthusiastic admirer of fox-hunting there is little doubt the taste was en- grafted in those ver>^ early days which he alludes to, when, as a schoolboy at Andover, Lord Stawell's hounds attracted his notice; such is the irresistible force of early impressions. My communicative correspondent has not only supplied the names of the respective masters of the hounds in his youthful days, but has given a brief account of their proceedings illustrative of the life and customs of fox-hunters in olden times. " Dear Sir, " I think in the year 1783, I was at school at Andover, and recollect that, during the two years I was there Lord Stawell brought a clever pack of fox- hounds to the Star Inn, kept by Mercer. During that time I saw them frequently pass the school on their way to Doles Wood and other places. Tom Harrison was the name of the huntsman, who lived afterwards with Mr. Russell at Grey well, near Odiham ; whether George Sharp and John Richmond were at that time his assistants I cannot say. Lord Stawell, I believe, lived at Marsland, near Farnham, and hunted about that country. I presume there were not many foxes at that time ; in consequence his pack was shifted about a good deal. For instance, he had a kennel at the public house a mile out of Basingstoke, on the Preston Candover road ; his own quarters very frequently at Hackwood, in the late Duke of Bolton's time, where I several times met him, the duchess having taken some notice of me as a little boy. On one occasion, early in September, we found a vixen and six cubs in Spring- wood. The vixen got away ; and in about two hours we killed the whole of the litter. About two years after, Mr. Barber, of Fremington near Barnstaple, brought up one of the best packs of the day, and hunted a great part of Mr. Smith's country. The first year he came to the Star Inn — having with him some very choice companions from Devonshire, all of whom were neighbours to my mother's family and other relations ; among them Colonel Bassett, who succeeded N 194 RECORDS OF THE CHASE Sir Thomas Acland as master of the stag-hounds in Devon. " Things were done differently from what they are in these days. I expect there were more pipes of port wine finished by this party and their neighbouring jolly com- panions during their winter visits — perhaps four — than have been since in twenty years. They had great assistance in their festivities as well as field pursuits from such as we seldom see now — Messrs. Harry and Walter Blunt of Amport, Colonel Beaver, with several others. General Sir Sidney Meadows, I believe, con- tinually joined them in the evening. Mr. Pile, an alderman of Andover, who, together with his horse, numbered a hundred years, was a general attendant in the field. Jack Haines, the star of Devon huntsmen, was idolised by all the Hampshire sportsmen ; and I had the pleasure of seeing him cut off several brushes, having frequently gone with my brother Etonians, Newton and Coulson Wallop, from Hurtsbourne. Mr. Poyntz, I believe, for many years hunted a part of Mr. Smith's country from Midgham, and for several years was in the habit of bringing a strong pack to the Red Lion at Overton. He lived, during his visits there, at the large inn; but always slept at the Red Lion, his bedroom looking into the kennel. His hounds derived some advantage from what those of the present day seldom do; for they had plenty of room to make their casts. Eight pounds was the maximum price for the hunters, and no corn allowed between Lady Day and Michaelmas. The hounds were never over-ridden. John Topper, huntsman, had sometimes difficulty in keeping his hounds together. During the last few years of Mr. Poyntz's hunting he invariably came to covert in his carriage and four, with two postilions ; his valet, John Child, assisting Topper in the field. Also Topper had sometimes a boy to assist in bringing the three horses. Freefolk was a very favourite covert with my old friend ; for being large, he usually went there on Monday and the following Wednesday ; also because he had frequently a tired fox to hunt, and besides he picked up the hounds which were left behind. He continued his hounds very late in life, and latterly seldom left his carriage. To insure amusement, he had a loaded gun ready for a shot at a hare, or partridge, or whatever came in his way. He was always a very OLD HAMPSHIRE PACKS 195 agreeable companion; and I remember with gratitude his kindnessi to me when a boy. The Honourable W. Bowes, assisted by his brother-in-law Barry Price, had a clever small pack two or three seasons, lying at the inn at Everleigh ; and I frequently joined them from the late Mr. Beache's at Netheravon, and recollect a capital run from Southgrove, their best covert. An active man, Wilkinson, well known in Leicestershire, was their huntsman. Mr. Powlett Powlett of Somboume used for many years to hunt the Stock- bridge side. He also patronised Overton some months in the year, and from thence the Crux Easton district. His twenty-four good runs from Freefolk Wood are not yet forgotten. It happened that between the time of Mr. Poyntz and the latter gentleman there was a general carnage of the vermin, and only a few old cun- ning foxes remained. Mr. Smith, the father of the present gentleman, always kept a strong pack of harriers at Tidworth ; and I believe latterly they were all small, high-bred fox-hounds, and generally hunted foxes. I am sorry I cannot supply you with dates ; but if there is any other information you wish for that is in my power to give you, I shall be happy to do so. " Yours truly, " T T " This letter furnishes an admirable sketch of the mode in which fox-hunting was conducted in former days. Lord Stawell's hounds, like the Old Berkeley, were removed from one part of the country to another as foxes happened to be heard of, and their destruction was as much the motive for hunting as sport — instance the case of killing six cubs in September. Our fore- fathers were no doubt jovial souls; but of what materials their heads were composed to endure such potations of port it is difficult to imagine. And what an old veteran the alderman of Andover must have been ! There is an originality in the management of Mr. Poyntz' hounds, and if we take it as a specimen of fox-hunting in early times, the high fame which Mr. Meynell attained in Leicestershire is accounted for. Hounds constantly moving from one place to another, 196 RECORDS OF THE CHASE with very inadequate kennel accommodation, never could be in condition; and woeful must have been the plight of those unfortunate creatures which were on ' the loose ' in Freefolk Wood from Monday to Wednes- day. The gun to shoot " at a hare or partridge, or whatever came in his way," savours very much of the French custom ; but I hope for the honour of the ancient order of fox-hunters that he never assisted his hounds unlawfully. It is true Mr. Poyntz did not take any unfair advantage of the vulpine family in the con- dition of his horses, which was, no doubt, on an equality with that of his hounds. I am unable to state from what source Mr. Smith's pack was at first formed ; but his very extensive estates in Wales afford facilities for breeding a vast number of hounds annually. Many years since this gentleman gave Sir Richard Sutton one thousand guineas for a pack of hounds ; and when the Duke of Grafton gave up hunting in 1842 his Grace's hounds were introduced into the Tidworth kennel at a similar price. Carter, who had been hunting them, was engaged to succeed Richard Burton. The bone and power they possess are quite extraordinary, and that without any approach to coarseness, constituting the very perfection of symmetry, so difficult to acquire. The usual comple- ment is generally about one hundred couples of hounds in kennel, a very ample number although they do hunt six days in the week ; but Mr. Smith likes a full pack in the field, and five or six and twenty couples are usually taken out — a number equal to what is kept for two days a week in many of the provincial countries. The blood is in great request, especially among the neighbouring hunts. Bangor, Newsman, Bobadil, Nabob, and Nigel, are stallion hounds of great celebrity, particularly so the latter; and I have seen many of his progeny, which are excellent. They are generally of a grey-pie, or light hair-pie colour, and may be distinguished by their symmetrical proportions. They had a hound in the Vine kennels a few years since TOM ASSHETON SMITH 197 by him, and named after him, out of Mr. Smith's Boscobel, quite the champion of the pack. Mr. Smith hunts his own hounds four days in the week, for which he of course drafts the pick of his kennel, and selects the best portion of his country. George Carter works the young hounds in the wood- lands on Wednesdays and Saturdays ; and sometimes they have a bye-day, when of course there are two packs out. The woods in which Carter's pack usually operate are Wherwell (provincially pronounced Orrel) Wood, Doles Wood, and Faccombe Wood, and they are admirably adapted for the purpose of entering hounds and making them steady. The old-fashioned custom of flogging hounds for chasing hare is com- pletely dispensed with. If at any time a hare jumps up before them and a few should join in chase, a whipper-in rides to head them, and the instant they check turns them to the horn with a rate but scarcely a cra^k of the whip ; as to a thong being laid on a hound in such cases, it is not permitted. Plenty of work, and encouragement to hunt their fox, are the only means resorted to for the prevention of riot. Hares are not generally over numerous in the county of South- ampton. Mr. Assheton Smith's countr^'^ is very open, especially that portion of it which is in Wiltshire, on the borders of Salisbury Plain, over which a fox oc- casionally makes his point. This the western boundary is joined by the South Wiltshire Hunt, Mr. Wyndham's. Oare Hill, three miles and a half from Marlborough, is the extreme northern point of meeting, and Savemake Forest, near at hand, is in the Craven country, which traverses from thence in the direction of Kingsclere. Stratford Sub Castle near Salisbury, Clarendon Park, and Spirewell are the southern limits, which adjoin the New Forest country. The Hursley and Vine Hunts lie towards the east. The warmest thanks of the gentlemen of the neigh- bourhood are due to Mr. Smith for the splendid establish- 198 RECORDS OF THE CHASE ment which he maintains entirely at his own exp>ense, and the superior sport which these hounds afford in a country by no means first-rate is incontestible evidence of the judgment with which the hunting arrangements are conducted. Considering that Mr. Smith had been for many years accustomed to hunt in the Quom and Belvoir Vale, where grass, ox-fences and gorse coverts prevail, it occasions some surprise that this celebrated sportsman could reconcile himself to so great a change. The possession of property around his mansion may have been the inducement, and a more worthy impulse cannot be suggested. Foxes are zealously preserved ; indeed it would be ungrateful of the landowners if they were not mindful of such a return for Mr. Smith's liberality. It will be gleaned from the letter of my friend that Mr. Powlett Powlett occasionally brought his hounds to Overton to hunt the surrounding neighbourhood. About the commencement of the present century the late Mr. Chute of the Vine near Basingstoke kept a pack of harriers, which he very soon converted into fox-hounds and established the country known by the name of the estate. Having been a master of hounds some thirty years this gentleman is said to have formed an exceed- ingly clever pack famed for stoutness and symmetrical proportions. The quaint motto over the kennel door, Multum in parvo, was particularly characteristic of their merits. They are to this day spoken of by old sportsmen who were in the habit of hunting with them as having been remarkably well adapted to the country, and showing a vast deal of sport. Mr. Chute at his decease in 1824 left a sum of money to be paid annually to the support of his favourites, provided they still retained the name of ' The Vine Hounds.' After that event they were kept during very short periods by Mr. Beaver and Mr. Pole of West Ham, when Mr. Henry Fellowes undertook the management of them, and, I have every reason to believe, improved them considerably by procuring the best blood and drafts THE VINE HOUNDS 199 from the Duke of Beaufort and Mr. Assheton Smith's kennels. In 1835 Mr. Donnithorne Taylor became the master of the Vine hounds ; but he only kept them one season, when Mr. Fellowes resumed the important office. Adamson occupied the situation of huntsman for many years. Sir Richard Ryecroft, Bart., of Manydown Park, succeeded Mr. Fellowes, and engaged William Cox as the huntsman, he having previously hunted the Hampshire hounds for Captain Haworth, where he gained much reputation. Mr. St. John relieved Sir Richard Ryecroft in the year 1849, still retaining Cox to hunt the hounds. If evidence were wanting to show the disadvantages which arise from changes of masters of hounds and huntsmen, this would afford a most con- vincing example. During the period when Sir Richard Ryecroft had the management, the breeding and kennel details were left entirely to the huntsman. As soon as Mr. St. John took the command he essayed to make many alterations, especially in the breeding and feeding departments. He was anxious to introduce a very different style of hounds, and procured a lot which had been drafted from Mr. Drake's draft. Assimilating the condition of hounds with the training of grey- hounds, sheeps' trotters were substituted for horse- flesh ; an experiment which did not continue the season through. Had Mr. St. John kept the hounds longer, so as to have established the kind he appeared anxious to introduce, he might in time have formed a pack with some pretensions ; but during the period when such changes are being effected the pack must inevitably suffer. This gentleman relinquished his trust at the conclusion of his third season to Captain Mainwaring, son of Sir Henry Mainwaring, Bart., of Peover Hall in Cheshire, who was for many years master of the Cheshire hounds. The Vine country claims additional distinction from the patronage for many years afforded by the hero of a hundred fights, the late Duke of Wellington. Although 200 RECORDS OF THE CHASE the Strathfieldsaye estate is in the country formerly hunted by the late Sir John Cope and now by Mr. Wheble, and his Grace has not many coverts in the Vine Hunt with the exception of those at Wolverton Park and Ewhurst, he was for many years prior to his death a very liberal subscriber to the Vine houndsi; something equivalent to a third of their annual expen- diture being contributed by the gallant Duke. Fox- hunting derived not an insignificant prestige when the name of so great a hero became enlisted among many other zealous promoters. Justly appreciating the ad- vantages which a taste for fox-hunting is certain to inspire, his Grace gave great encouragement to the officers under his command to join in the chase when employed on foreign service. Duly estimating the con- sistency of the noble Duke's character, it is not pro- bable that he should relax in what he regarded as a duty when peaceably enjoying the reward of his valour and of his countrymen's gratitude in the possession of an estate awarded as an appropriate tribute. During many seasons his Grace was a frequent attendant in the field, both with the Vine and Sir John Cope's hounds ; yet numerous public duties and increased age must of late years have operated materially to prevent his appearance at the covert side. None but the purest motive — that of patronising a national amusement essential to the welfare of his country — could have actuated his Grace to continue the large amount of £500 per annum under such circumstances. The anniversary of the judges making their accus- tomed circuit was for many years the occasion of the Bramshill hounds meeting at Strathfieldsaye. Those learned personages were invited to meet the masters of hounds in the neighbourhood on the previous day, to partake of the hospitalities of this his Grace's favourite country seat. The meeting of the hoimds was a great attraction, to which sportsmen far and near resorted, all intent upon a good purpose. It may be inquired why the Duke of Wellington subscribed to the Vine THE VINE COUNTRY 201 hounds when Sir John Cope hunted the greater portion of the country in which the Strathfield&aye estates were situated, and met at the gallant Duke's seat. This may be readily answered. Sir John Cope did not receive or require any subscription, which after Mr. Chute's death the Vine did. The foxes being well preserved, this country admits of being hunted four days in the week. It may be divided into two districts, the woodland and the hills, or rather the open, for there are but few hills in it. The woodlands are, in my humble opinion, the most un- suitable for fox-hunting of anything that can be con- ceived, albeit there are those who delight in them. They are so disposed that the coverts are not only numerous but extensive, and the hedgerows are so very wide that to see hounds from the time they are put into covert till the time they kill or lose their fox is rarely practicable. The flints, in some parts, are very numerous, and often productive of accidents. During the three years I hunted in this country I had six horses, three of which met with bad accidents in conse- quence of the flints. One, jumping into a road where there were many loose ones, slipped down and cut his knees. Another horse tore his shoe off and lacerated his foot severely, from the shoe becoming locked, as it were, with a large flint embedded in the earth. The third horse cut his hind fetlock in a shocking manner in galloping over a flinty field. He divided an artery, and the hemorrhage was frightful ; but getting him to a farm-house, binding it up tightly, and applying a ligature round the leg, he recovered. The quickest run I saw with the Vine hounds during my residence in Hampshire was on the 20th of January, 1849, on which day they met at Nuthanger. They drew Fro Park, where they soon found, and the fox broke in the direction of Kingclere, but turned to the right over the vale, upwind to Sidmonton Down, which is rather a severe hill; at all events it proved so on this occasion, both to hounds and horses. Such a 202 RECORDS OF THE CHASE tailing of the latter with nothing but pace to contend against I never saw on any other occasion. Having gained the summit, where there was a slight fog, the pace became first rate, and at the farther extremity of the downs the hounds came to a check, literally from being blown. With more haste than judgment they were immediately cast to the left in the direction of some earths, but they could not recover the scent, and after trying a long time quite in the opposite line to what the fox had taken, it was discovered that at the point where the hounds checked the fox bad turned to the right down the hill, followed by three couples of hounds, which the fog and the breast of the hill hid from observation. They followed on the line of the fox to the covert in which he was found, and were not at first missed. The time from the fox breaking covert to the check was twenty-three minutes. Tread well, the whipper-in, had a few months previously been dis- charged, and his place was not filled up by an efficient substitute. Nine days afterwards the Craven hounds found the same fox, and gave a different account of him. Fro Park, it must be observed, is neutral with both hunts. These hounds found him in the siame part of the covert ; he broke at the same point and was viewed by Clark, the first whip, who got the hounds away in a body in a very workmanlike manner. They soon settled down to the scent and raced to the same point as the Vine had done, as far as the bottom of Sidmon- ton Down, but the pace was too great and the fox was too closely pressed to admit of his bearing to the right and facing the choking hill as he had done before, and he kept on by a more easy ascent to Combe Hole, and thence to Canon's Heath, where they experienced a slight check. They soon recovered it by a masterly cast, crossed the Roman road to Ridgeway Heath through a small spinny bearing a little to the left, and straight to Overton Court Farm, where running from scent to view he was pulled down in the Harrow-way THE CRAVEN 203 road, in thirty-two minutes. The reason the Craven hounds succeeded more fortunately than the Vine may be readily accounted for : they got away upon better terms with their fox. The Vine not having an efficient whipper-in were dreadfully slack in leaving the coverts and being slow in settling to the scent lost the most important crisis. The notoriety and fame which the late Mr. John Villebois attained as a sportsman, and the high esteem in which he was held as a country gentleman, very materially raised the character of Hampshire in public estimation as a hunting district at a time when fox- hunting was growing into favour. His Majesty George the Fourth, when Prince of Wales, at one period resided at Kempshot Park, and was a member of the H. H. (the abbreviated distinction of the Hampshire Hunt) ; and the Prince's Feathers with which the buttons are still ornamented are the emblems of royal patronage. His Royal Highness also keeping a pack of stag-hounds attracted the wealthy men of fashion, and doubtless Hampshire was in those days the scene of much sylvan and jovial harmony. Mr. Villebois' hounds are described as having been very superior. At his decease, in 1837 they were left to his brother, Mr. F. Villebois, master of the Craven hounds, who in return presented his pack to Major Barrett to hunt the H. H. country with. The blood of the latter wasi prin- cipally from Mr. T. A. Smith's, the Honourable H. Moreton's, Mr. Osbaldeston's, and Mr. J. Villebois' kennels, some of which may be still traced in the present establishment, although, from changes of mastership and divisions of the pack, it must be very considerably dispersed. In February, 1840, I met these hounds twice, once at Farley Mount, and once at North wood Park ; and from the very high encomiums I had heard of their hunts- man, Richard Foster, was particularly anxious to have seen a run. But the elements decided against it, for it does not require the aid of my memorandum-book to re- 204 RECORDS OF THE CHASE fresh my memory that the weather on both days was remarkably boisterous. Foster had been huntsman to Lord Foley's hounds in Worcestershire, previously to his engagement with Mr. Villebois, and his talent was highly appreciated. When in Hampshire, of late years, he got a good deal upon the telegraph system, for which the open nature of the country is somewhat seductive. By sending a whipper-in forward to view the foxes as they pass from covert to covert a vast deal of assistance may be given to hounds, but it is not a workmanlike method of hunting them. Having kept them seven years, Major Barrett gave the hounds up to Mr. Onslow, when the members of the hunt built new kennels at Ropley, to supply the place of those which had heretofore been occupied for many years at Arms worth, and William Cox was engaged as huntsman. At this period the Hursley country was portioned off and entered upon by Mr. Cockburn, a very zealous sportsman from Devonshire. Mr. Onslow only kept the H. H. a short time, when Captain Haworth became the master and retained Cox in his situation. Lord Gifford succeeded in 1847, bringing with him a pack of hounds, with which he had been showing a vast deal of sport in Herefordshire. These, in conjunction with the pack left by his predecessor, formed a very powerful body; and many a good run did they show. Lord Gifford's quickness and determination shone con- spicuously; and I shall ever remember a run on the 18th of February, 1850, when they met at Lasham, and found in the wood, from whence they went away at a tremendous pace to Weston Common, where they crossed the line of a fresh fox, and the hounds divided. This being instantly noticed by Lord Gifford and Grant (ever alive to his lordship's horn), the hounds that had got upon the fresh fox were immediately stopped, the body of the pack and their noble master holding on with their hun^td fox by Blounce's Farm, over Swain's Hill nearly U Crondall, and killed between Famham THE H. H. 205 and Bentley after a capital run of one hour and thirty- five minutes. The workmanlike manner in which the hounds were managed by Lord Gifford and his whipper- in when they divided was the ne plus ultra of per- fection; and Grant's quickness in getting forward with the tail hounds was equally a subject for praise. I have never seen any whipper-in do his work better than Grant when whipping-in to Lord Gifford. The country' known as the H. H. is by no means one in which a hard-riding man has opportunities for dis- tinction; neither did I ever think it was quite the kind of country to suit Lord Gifford ; in which opinion it would appear his Lordship concurred, retaining it only three seasons, when he made an arrangement to hunt Herefordshire. However rough the latter country may be, it is a sporting one withal, capable of affording some good substantial old-fashioned runs, and of putting the qualities of hounds and the skill of their huntsman to the test. Lord Gifford met with a very rough reception early in the cub-hunting season, not from either the sportsmen or farmers, who were all rejoiced to receive him, but from a nest of hornets. They met at Trebandy on the 1st of October, where they found a leash of foxes, and presently settling to one of them, ran him to ground in a bank over-hanging a brook, when his Lordship jumped off his horse to examine the place, and was momentarily assailed by a quantity of hornets which the unexpected visit had aroused from their nest in an old ash-pollard. Lord Gifford was glad to retire from their territories with all imaginable precipitancy, but was unable to escape their venomous weapons, with which they attacked him about the head, neck, and hands. The gentlemen and farmers who were present extracted the stings, and the acuteness of the pain being allayed, determined that his hounds should, if possible, have blood, he drew for another fox, which in an hour's time was brought to hand, compensating him in some measure for the agony he had experienced. All who are acquainted with Lord 206 RECORDS OF THE CHASE Gifford are well aware of his pluck. After such a painful assault most men would have gone home rather than have drawn again ; and killing his second fox under such circumstances is a proof of what enthusiasm will cause a master of hounds to undergo for the purpose of obtaining blood. It was some time before the inflammation produced by the stings of those venomous insects wasi entirely subdued. Lord Gifford has shown great sport in Herefordshire, but the season of 1852 and 1853, which will ever be remembered in the annals of fox hunting as the wet season, was essentially unfavourable to that county; a great portion of it was continually flooded, and it was therefore impracticable to ride over it ; and, the scent failing in the flooded grounds, they were not always able to finish satisfactorily with their foxes. A new master of fox-hounds in the person of Mr. Wall came forward to hunt the Hampshire country on the resignation of Lord Gifford, and all the necessary arrangements were made for the campaign. Mr. Napper's hounds were purchased to fill up the vacancy occasioned by Lord Gifford taking his own hounds with him. Some men are doomed to be " doubly blessed," and such was Mr. Wall's case. No sooner were the arrangements completed for hunting the H. H. than the Hursley became vacant by the death of the worthy and highly esteemed master, Mr. Cockbum. This country being in the immediate vicinity of Mr. Wall's residence, he determined upon taking it, which wdth the H. H. would entail the necessity of having a pack in the field six days in the week. He was, however, relieved from so heavy an engagement by the gentle- men of the H. H. taking their country off his hands; Mr. Knight of Chawton House undertaking the prin- cipal responsibilities. They commenced hunting with fifty-five couples of hounds, about twenty couples of which were those purchased by Mr. Wall from Mr. Napper but given up to the club on Mr. Wall taking to THE HAMBLEDON 207 Mr. Cockburn's. They were a thick-set, cloggy sort of hounds, as different as possible from the H. H., and however they might be calculated to hunt in strong deep woodlands they were certainly not adapted to associate with the speedy hounds of the present day. Summers, who had been hunting the hounds for Mr. Napper, and previously to that for Mr. Richardson in Sussex, came with them into Hampshire. Having but few opportunities of seeing his performances and those entirely in the woodlands, I can only observe that in the tedious and patience-provoking occupation of hunting a foil-running fox he certainly excels. The year 1852 ushered in another aspirant to the honours of M.F.H., and these hounds were transferred to Mr. R. Pearce of South Warnborough, a young but very energetic sportsman. Having begun early in life it is to be hoped he will continue for many years. Such numerous changes must affect the pack seriously. Every master of hounds may be quite correct in the alteration which he is desirous to accomplish, but it is the alteration which occasions the mischief, and more particularly so if there is not time for it to be matured before another system is introduced. Mr. Pearce has exercised good judgment by introducing a large draft from Earl Fitzhardinge's kennel, a sort which cannot fail to be particularly useful in Hampshire. During my residence in this country I was very anxious to have seen the Hambledon hounds, but from uncontrollable circumstances I was prevented. My desire to do so was augmented by various causes : it has been hunted by several masters of hounds of high repute, among others by Sir Bellingham Graham and Mr. Osbaldeston, and at the time I was in the county by Mr. T. Smith, who may be said to have rescued it from becoming vacant. This, however, was some thirty years ago, since which time several other gentle- men have hunted it while Mr. Smith was providing sport in the Craven and Pytchley countries, but again to return to the scene of his early experience in w^ood- 208 RECORDS OF THE CHASE craft. With a very insufficient subscription this good sportsman afforded much sport, and relinquished his charge to Mr. Wall in the spring of 1852. CHAPTER XII STAGHOUNDS The ancient and royal diversion of stag-hunting is coeval with the earliest annals of sporting in the British empire. In honour of it sovereigns and princes levied tyrannical inflictions on their subjects, but those evils have long since passed away, and we are content to read of them in history, and rejoice at their dissolu- tion. The abolition of rigorous enactments) adopted in the uncivilised feudal ages is deserving of common gratitude from all who make the excellence of our con- stitution a national and proverbial boast. The Forest Laws were not, however, all repealed at once, although the exactions were relaxed. In the year 1814 Windsor Forest was disafforested ; but it is only recently that similar concessions have been made respecting the New Forest in Hampshire, and the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire. When the preservation of deer in the royal forests be- came only partially enforced, and those places were no longer retained for the exclusive privileges of royal hunting, a new custom was introduced — that of keeping deer for the purpose, and conveying them to the place of meeting in a cart, there to be enlarged at an appointed hour. This obviates the evils which pre- viously existed in the preservation of the game, and also the necessity of harbouring the stag and driving him from his lair with two or three hounds called tufters, according to ancient usage, which must have entailed much uncertainty and frequently occupied much time. Yet it should be admitted that it divests the amuse- ment of the wildness of character, uncertainty, and enthusiasm inseparable from legitimate sporting. Conveying the stag in a cart is somewhat synonymous with turning down a bag fox. o 210 RECORDS OF THE CHASE The royal buck-hounds, though kept in the neigh- bourhood of Windsor for many ages, were formerly kept at Swinley, where I believe the kennels were in the reigns of Henry the Eighth and Queen Elizabeth, both of whom are said to have taken great delight in the chase. It is on record that Henry the Eighth, after a severe chase, dined with the old Abbot of Reading, to the ruin of the latter. In the year 1684, during the reign of Charles the Second, a wild deer was found at Swinley in Windsor Forest and was hunted thence into Essex, where he was taken at Thorndon Hall, the seat of Lord Petre. The chasie led through Amersham and Chesham in Buckinghamshire, Redboum and Hatfield, in Hertfordshire, and ended at Brentwood. There was a large field out in the morning, but only five went to the end, and they remained for the night at Lord Petre 's. The Duke of York, brother to Charles, was out on the occasion and was present when the deer was taken. The distance must have exceeded seventy-five miles. The Ascot kennels have been in use many years. George the Third was an enthusiastic admirer of stag- hunting, and during the early part of his reign the establishment was in great force ; but at one period it fell into a very ineffective state. That, however, was speedily altered by his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, who in the year 1814 commanded the purchase of the Duke of Richmond's fox-hounds, which were forthwith installed in the Ascot kennels. This gave a fresh impetus to stag-hunting, as the hounds which had previously been used for the purpose were of a coarse, heavy description, with, as I imagine, a very near alliance to the blood-hound. In the reign of George the Third and his royal predecessors it was the practice to stop the hounds whenever they outpaced their sovereign; — an operation which could not be on all occasions effected with high-bred fox-hounds, even if it were desired ; but the plan of stopping them has been for many years abandoned. THE ROYAL BUCKHOUNDS 211 As Somerville mentions this custom, it was doubtless practised in the time of George the Second. " If haply tlien Too far escap'd, and the gay courtly train Behind are cast, the huntsman's clanginp; whip Stops full their bold career; passive they stand, Unmov'd, an humble, an obsequious crowd. As if by stern Medusa gaz'd to stones." Mr. Charles Davis has for many years presided as huntsman to the royal buck-hounds. His fame is so widely spread that it would be vain in me to attempt to increase it. Few men are so amply gifted by nature with the symmetry of a horseman. Although rather tall, he is of very spare make, with thin, lengthy legs and thighs ; and his seat in the saddle is perfect. For many years the royal hounds were grievously afflicted with kennel-lameness. Every remedy that could be suggested (except that which I have alluded to in these pages as having been successful with Mr. Jaspers and Mr. Roberts's harriers) has been adopted ; and there is no doubt they have been, to a certain extent, productive of good results, perhaps as much so as the locality will permit. The usual complement of hounds is about fifty couples ; and there is a good deal of Mr. Foljambe's and Mr. T. A. Smith's blood in these kennels ; but of late years they have bred nearly all the hounds they require to enter. Until within the last few years these hounds were accustomed to pay a visit in the spring of the year to the New Forest, where they hunted the wild stags, after the custom of the ancients ; and it was an oc- casion which attracted a vast number of sports,men. They also generally took an annual trip to the Vale of Aylesbury, where, favoured with grass, they had clipping runs. But those days are gone by; and as that country is now regularly hunted by Baron Rothschild, the admirers of stag-hunting residing in that quarter enjoy a succession of sport, whereas pre- 212 RECORDS OF THE CHASE viously they had only occasional tastes of it. The country to which the appointments of the royal buck- hounds are principally confined is that around the Ascot kennels, extending from Beaconsfield on the north to Woking on the south. Hayes is the nearest point to London, and the Warren House the most distant in a westerly direction. In the neighbourhood of Windsor, Salt Hill, Slough, Riching's Park, Beacons- field, Gerard's Cross, Red Hill, Denham, and Uxbridge, there is a fair proportion of grass, and in many parts some strong fences. In that about Ascot, Swinley (comprising Bagshot Heath,) Chobham, Woking, and Bracknell, it is of a sandy, peaty char- acter, which in wet weather is exceedingly deep and distressing to horses. There is much heath, and like- wise several extensive fir plantations, which are impedi- ments to first-rate sport. These hounds have been a great acquisition to the admirers of stag-hunting residing in London, and particularly to the officers quartered in and near to Windsor; perhaps more so previously to the establishment of railroads, which convey them most expeditiously into fox-hunting quarters. The next pack of stag-hounds which demands notice were those of Earl Derby, the grandfather of the present Earl, who established them about the year 1780, and kept them with princely magnificence till 1830, when declining health and the infirmities of age precluded his lordship from participating in the sport, and he presented the hounds and deer to his old and trusty huntsman, Jonathan Griffin. They were kept on two years by subscription, with Mr. Maberly as the principal manager; but although there was no defici- ency of funds that gentleman declined the management and no one else being disposed to embark in the respon- sibilities, they were sold at Tattersall's in 1832. During the time Lord Derby kept them the kennels were at the Oaks, and their sport was principally confined to the countv of Surrev. LORD ROTHSCHILD'S 213 When the Honourable Moreton Berkeley, now Earl Berkeley, and his brother the Honourable Grantley Berkeley came of an age to hunt, they kept a pack of harriers at the family seat at Cranford ; but they were soon converted ino stag-hounds. It was a truly aristo- cratic establishment. The earl hunted them, and Mr. Grantley Berkeley whipped in. Another brother, the Honourable Henry Berkeley, joined them for a short time, taking the occupation of second whipper-in. When he withdrew he was succeeded by Mr. Henry Wombwell, who officiated as whipper-in. They all wore the orange plush or ancient tawny coats of the Berkeley family, with black velvet hunting caps. This continued about twelve years, the only change in it being that Mr. Grantley Berkeley became master of the hounds and hunted them himself, the earl and Mr. Henry Wombwell whipping-in to him. They afforded abundant sport, and were highly popular. About 1829 or 1880 they were given up, and Mr. Grantley Berkeley entered into arrangements to hunt the Oakley country, vacated by the then Marquis of Tavistock, now Duke of Bedford. Mr. Grantley Berkeley gave them up in 1834, to attend to the urgent calls of parliamentary duties. The far-famed Baron Rothschild's stag-hounds enliven the country in the neighbourhood of Aylesbury ; their kennels are at Mentmore and the establishment is vastly popular with London stag-hunters. They are kept in the most liberal manner, and are in every respect de- serving the esteem in which they are held. The superi- ority of their country, in the Vale of Aylesbury, prin- cipally grass, is a great attraction, and the facility with which they can be reached by railway at all their places of meeting is a great accommodation. A few years since a very clever little pack, all ' ladies,' was kept at Leamington by Mr. Henry Bradley. If any stag-hunter is sceptical concerning the capabilities of small hounds he might have been con- vinced by the operations of these. They scarcely ex- 214 RECORDS OF THE CHASE ceeded twenty inches in height, but the pace they could go over the grass grounds at Kites Hard wick, Priors Marston or Ladbroke, was quite extraordinary, and for stoutness they could not be excelled. They were hunted in a very workmanlike style by their worthy master, and the establishment was in every respect ably conducted. The utmost neatness prevailed throughout every department. Cheltenham has also, till the present season, had a pack of stag-hounds, to which the Earl Fitzhardinge, with his accustomed liberality, afforded support by finding the deer and also occasional drafts of hounds, although his lordship never joined them in the field. A pack is likewise kept at Bath, but as few gentlemen are willing to undertake the management and defray the greater portion of the expenses out of their own pockets, some difficulty is experienced in continuing them. Nevertheless Captain West contends against these obstacles with great perseverance. The Cheltenham stag-hounds were certainly an accommoda- tion to sportsmen residing there during the months when Earl Fitzhardinge 's hounds are in their Berkeley country. But at Bath it is rather a different affair. The Duke of Beaufort's hounds are generally within reach, if not by the road at all events by the rail; the amount of an annual subscription to stag-hounds will defray the expenses by rail, and it certainly does not involve any dereliction of taste to prefer hunting with the duke to a pack of stag-hounds, let them be ever so well appointed. The north of Devonshire and Somersetshire is the only part of England where stag-hunting is conducted ac- cording to the original fashion, where the game is harboured by a man accustomed to that duty, who is requited according to ancient usage for his service and who can tell by the slot the age of the stag. The prac- tices appear to be precisely similar to those which are described by Edmund of Langley, from whose work I have made some extracts in the early pages of this STAG HUNTING IN DEVONSHIRE 215 volume. This must certainly be the most exciting mode of pursuit ; but it appears to be going fast to decay, despite the exertions of several zealous sup- porters of the time-honoured sport. The wandering propensities of the deer in their wild state cause them to travel many miles in search of favourite food ; con- sequently there is great difficulty in preserving them. I am informed that the damage they do is often con- siderable ; for on entering a field of turnips, they will only partially consume the roots, leaving the re- mainder, which soon rots ; and if a stag only takes a single bite at a turnip it may be readily conjectured that he will taste a great number before his hunger is appeased ; and as cultivation is gradually spreading up the sides of the moors, the injuries) will year by year become more extensive. Their company, therefore, is not welcomed by the small farmers, who require com- pensation for the damages they sustain ; but considering that it is the last relict of the ancient custom of stag- hunting, it will be a subject of much regret if some re- munerative arrangements cannot be effected. Those who have participated in it represent this kind of hunting as highly exciting, and I can readily con- ceive it to be so. To view one of these splendid red deer come bounding from the thicket with all the energy and confidence of a wild and free animal, pursued at that moment by none but the tufters, whom by his looks he appears to regard with insignificant contempt, must be an interesting scene. And then when the anxiously-waiting pack is laid on the scent the pace is no doubt terrific. To follow them over so wild a country perchance a distance of twenty or thirty miles, where treacherous bogs and impassable ravines impede the progress of the most determined horsemen, must afford a zest immeasurably superior to that which is experienced in the ordinary mode of stag-hunting. Not that I for one should desire to ride constantly over a country that cannot in most parts be crossed upon a horse that is entitled to the name of a hunter; yet the 216 RECORDS OF THE CHASE speculation, if I may use such an expression, of falling in with hounds to enjoy their company in rideable places is perfectly consistent with this species of hunting. Those who are acquainted with the country must possess manifest advantages over strangers ; in fact it is quite evident that bogs, dingles, ravines, and other imprac- ticable passes, by whatever provincial name or names they may be distinguished, can only be avoided or negotiated by persons who are intimately acquainted with their locality. Not being a professed stag-hunter myself I must plead guilty to some diffidence in discussing the sub- ject, but I must observe it is not a sport to my taste. I may sum up my experience of it with a notice of the very few occasions on which I have joined in the amusement. With the Aldenham buck-hounds, as they were styled, which I have noticed as the connecting link of what are now known as the Wheatland hounds, I may have hunted about a dozen times, but that was quite thirty years ago. Capital fun we had ; and, be it remembered, it was always with outlying deer which had escaped from the park and which were found in coppices in a manner very similar to the practice still continued in North Devon, except that the whole body of the hounds were thrown into covert to draw for their game. Twice I have met the Royal stag-hounds when George IV. was King, and once during her present Majesty's reign, in October, 1849, before they had com- menced regular operations for the season. The deer was enlarged at Southill and taken at Everley, after a good hunting run. I was out twice with Mr. Bradley's hounds, and once with the Cheltenham stag-hounds during the time they were under the management of Mr. Barton. To those who are intent upon a gallop and to whom time is of importance stag-hunting is particularly adapted. The stag is seldom enlarged till twelve o'clock, and a run of three hours must be sufficient for the greatest glutton. Yet compared with fox-hunting STAG HUNTING v. FOX HUNTING 217 there is a lameness about it — an artificial character not quite in accordance with the true spirit of a sportsman. Keeping an animal in a semi-domesticated state, con- veying him to the place of meeting in a cart to be en- larged and hunted by hounds, is certainly not in ac- cordance with my views of legitimate sport. Hunting an animal of such a size that he can constantly be viewed detracts vastly from the association of ideas connected with the sagacity of the hound. In the little experience I have had I have never seen hounds when following the stag run together, which failing is con- firmed by the acknowledgment of all those with whom I have conversed, and who are well able to form an opinion. The perfection of hunting, in the estimation of one accustomed to fox-hunting, is certainly lost when the pack do not run together and carry a good head. The stratagems of the fox and also of the hare are wonderful, and occasion a vast deal of excitement, besides the talent of the huntsman which they call in requisition, as well as the instinctive faculties of the hounds. The stag resorts to few subterfuges, with the exception of the unavailing one of running through a herd of his own species if he has an opportunity, and, when distressed, provokingly taking soil — the most ob- jectionable feature in a run, and an unsatisfactory termination of a day's sport, which Somerville thus describes : " He vents the cooling stream, and up the breeze Urges his course with eager violence ; Then takes the soil, and plunges in the flood Precipitant ; down the mid stream he wafts Along, till (like a ship distress'd, that runs Into some winding creek) close to the verge Of a small island, for his weary feet Sure anchorage he finds; there skulks immers'd His nose alone above the wave draws in The vital air; all else beneath the flood Conceal'd and lost, deceives each prying eye Of man or brute." CHAPTER XIII RAILWAYS AND HUNTING In whatever situation an Englishman fixes upon to reside, his love for the chase accompanies him. If it be his fate or his taste to lead a country life, he must be a melancholy creature unless he beguiles some of his leisure hours with the sports of the field. The murky dull, oppressive atmosphere of the metropolis does not extinguish the ainor venandi; peradventure it serves to increase it by the contrast it affords to the pure air of the fields, and the elastic, exciting, enthusiastic, exhilarating, bounding, bracing, buoyant accompani- ments of the chase. We are informed that many centuries ago the Lord Mayor of the great city kept a pack of hounds, and that Lincoln's Inn Fields, St. James's, and May Fair were the favourite places of meeting; that the civic dignitaries and functionaries had ample food whereon to feed their venatic appetite. Increase of population drove the game further afield, and however the ardour of the mind might be attracted by sylvan pastimes, the difficulty of enjoying them, in consequence of the distance, precluded many from making the attempt. To trace the means which were available for sports- men residing in London through remote ages would be a task imposing much tedious research to very little purpose ; it is quite sufficient to mention the difficulties they had to encounter, up to a time considerably be- yond the first quarter of the present century, and com- pare them with the facilities of the present day. Pre- viously to the establishment of railways, the principal packs within reach of London were the Royal Stag- LONDON SPORTSMEN 219 hounds ; the late Earl Derby's stag-hounds ; the Old Berkeley fox-hounds, given up in 1842 ; those which hunted the country now hunted by Lord Dacre ; the late Mr. Conyer's ; the Surrey Union ; the Surrey fox- hounds, and the Surrey stag-hounds. There might have been some others, which I do not recollect to have heard of ; that, however, is immaterial ; but to meet any of them it was imperatively necessary to send a horse to sleep out on the night previous to hunting, and it was by no means improbable, if the hounds ran to a distant point, that he would also have to remain out the night after hunting — a most vexatious necessity ; for nothing tends to injure a hunter's con- dition more than a journey on the day after a severe run with hounds. It is a time when the loose box is most essentially necessary for the resting of his wearied and jaded limbs. Under such circumstances a horse would not be fit to come again oftener than once in a fortnight ; therefore to make it a general practice was out of the question. The only alternative was that of keeping horses in the country within reach of whatever pack of hounds were chosen to hunt with. The Royal Stag-hounds at one period took pre- cedence in the estimation of the aristocratic and fashionable devotees of Diana, and they still have a few fixtures, Hayes, Bedfont, and the Magpies, within about thirteen miles of London ; but their best country cannot be reached under twenty miles. Croydon formerly attracted the fast men from the east ; and fox- hunting, as I have been informed, was perpetuated in those parts ; but I speak not from experience, never having hunted in Surrey, with the exception of a few days with Colonel Sumner's hounds. Irrespective of the inconvenience connected with the horse department, another obstacle stood prominently in the way of the London sportsman's pleasure, that of getting to the place of meeting himself. To ride a hack twenty miles to meet hounds, hunt all day and return afterwards, was an exertion few would venture to en- 220 RECORDS OF THE CHASE counter. A gig was one mode of conveyance, posting another; the first uncomfortable, the latter expensive. I think I have now stated sufficient to show how many difficulties beset the sportsman in former days who was compelled to reside in London ; we will now take a view of his amended position in 1854. Never having hunted from London myself I cannot speak from experience ; and therefore to avoid leading any of my readers astray, I have sought information from gentlemen accustomed to do so, and therefore insert their kind communications. " Dear Sir, " As you requested me, I send you the result of my experience in hunting from London. " To the metropolitan sportsman of the present day steam (or rather the production through its agency, the rail) is of incalculable value. It was at first considered that the railways would eventually result in the total destruction of fox-hunting, as the trains would sweep the lines at the time the hounds were in chase of their game, to the utter annihilation of the whole pack, if they did not operate as a check upon the wily animal in making his point altogether. Experience has, how- ever, proved that such is not the case, or a rare occur- rence. Not only do they enable the Londoner to select a superior pack of hounds and a good country as the arena of his day's diversion; but they afford facilities previously unattempted to the provincialist to trans- port himself and his horse to distant meets of adjoining hunts far beyond his reach in former times, even had he sent his horse over-night to sleep at the nearest hotel — a practice which was fraught with great inconvenience and considerable expense, as, in addition to the wear and tear on the road to the legs of a used hunter, I have known many horses off their feed in a strange stable ; besides which, the change of temperature in winter which he would have to encounter would be very likely to operate prejudicially upon his condition. At the present period, a man residing in London may on any day in the week select to hunt with any of the numerous packs of fox or stag-hounds within fifty miles in the vicinity of the various railways, and either take his HUNTING FROM LONDON 221 horse on the Kne, and return after hunting with a day- ticket, or send him the day before. "The North-western Hne I should say decidedly affords the greatest advantages; as on that line a man may reach Lord Dacre's hounds in the neighbourhood of Watford, Boxmoor, or Berkhamptead at the cost, self and horse, of from 15s. to £l 4s. ; or Lord Lonsdale's fox-hounds, his lordship's harriers, and Baron Rothschild's stag-hounds, from Tring or Leighton Buzzard, at from 30s. to 35s. ; from Leighton Buzzard or Bletchley, Mr. Selby Lownde's hounds could have been reached last year (since which this country has been taken by Lord Southampton and added to his own). From Wolverton, and then ex- tending beyond the circuit of fifty miles, Blisworth and Weedon take you within reach of Lord Southampton's original country and the Pytchley ; from Rugby, other parts of the Pytchley, the Atherstone and Warwick- shire ; from Aylesbury (a branch of the North-western line) may be reached Baron Rothschild's stag-hounds and Mr. Drake's ; from Winslow and Buckingham on the Bletchley and Oxford line, Lord Southampton's and Mr. Drake's ; on the Bletchley and Bedford line the Oakley may be reached. '• I have frequently hunted from London with the Pj-tchley, Warwickshire, Atherstone, and Quorn hounds, leaving Euston Square by the half-past six train in the morning, and returning the same evening, and have occasionally gone down by the nine o'clock express with Sir R. Sutton, when the hounds have met at twelve o'clock, in order to enable him to travel by this train; this, however, is an exceptional case. I have met Baron Rothschild's hounds at seven o'clock in the morning, in the neighbourhood of the kennels at Mentmore, (about three miles from the Leighton station), and having had a very good run of one hour and a half over the finest grass country in England, taking the deer about four miles beyond Aylesbury, have been back in London about half-past eleven in the morning; on the other hand, I have left London as late as twelve o'clock to meet these hounds in the Vale of Aylesbury, and seen a run of two hours, returning to London in time for a late dinner. This proves that the Vale of Aylesbury affords facilities for hunting to a man whose time is valuable that no other country 222 RECORDS OF THE CHASE can afford ; as although the usual hour these hounds meet is about half-past eleven, yet the Baron has frequently a bye-day, especially at the end of the season, when the meet is arranged so as to enable one to return to London before one o'clock. " I remember eleven years since, when Captain Conningham kept the Surrey stag-hounds, leaving London at one o'clock in the afternoon on a hack to meet these hounds at Walton Heath. This deer was enlarged at three o'clock, and afforded a capital run of two hours and a half; Captain Conningham, who was in the 11th (Lord Cardigan's regiment), then quartered at Hounslow, being obliged to appear on parade in the morning, these hounds frequently met as late as one, two, or three o'clock. The Dublin Garrison stag-hounds, for the same reason, never meet earlier than one o'clock. I have, however, never heard of any com- plaint made by the gentlemen who hunt with that pack of the day being too short to test the powers of endurance of their gallant steeds. At the pace these hounds go (be it remembered they are never stopped when once laid on, as in this country), forty-five minutes are enough to satisfy most men and horses also. The officers are also in the habit of larking to the meet ; on some occasions I have heard of them running a drag about eight miles in forty-five minutes, over the strong country in the neighbourhood of Dublin. " With the exception of Yorkshire and Devonshire, there is no county in England where so many packs are kennelled as in Hampshire, which is a singular coincidence, inasmuch as its area is perhaps rather less than the average, and it is not celebrated as a crack country, there being but little grass, and the hill country lieing very adverse to scent. There are, how- ever, many staunch fox preserves, as well as good sportsmen. At the present time there are nine packs which hunt in this county; viz., Mr. Assheton Smith, of Tidworth, who also hunts part of Wilts ; the Vine ; the H.H. ; the Hambledon ; the Hursley ; the New Forest ; Mr. Wheble's, and Mr. Garth's, between whom the late Sir John Cope's country is divided ; they also hunt part of Berks ; and the Isle of Wight fox-hounds. Colonel George Wyndham used also to hunt part of Hampshire, having one or two meets in Woolmer Forest, although this country has not been hunted for HUNTING FROM LONDON 223 some seasons, and I understand is claimed by the H.H. and the Hambledon Hunts also. The South-western Railway affords great facilities for hunting with either of the above packs in Hampshire, as nearly all the meets of the H. H. can be reached from Alton (a branch of this line), or from Winchfield, Basingstoke, or on Tuesdays from the Winchester stations, by the train which leaves the Waterloo station at seven o'clock. Mr. Garth's and Mr. Wheble's hounds may generally be reached from the Maidenhead, Twyford, Reading, Mortimer, Farnborough, Winchfield, or Basingstoke stations. The Vine from Basingstoke or the Andover Road stations'. Mr. Assheton Smith's, about three days in a fortnight from the Andover Road station at Clatford Oak-cuts, Longstock, Hurstbourne Tarrant, etc. ■■' The Hursley, from the Winchester station, two days in the week, Mondays and Fridays. The Hambledon generally two days' a week, from Winchester or Bishopstoke. The New Forest oc- casionally at certain periods adjoining the South- ampton and Dorchester line, which passes through the forest, or by the Southampton and Salisbury line, at the Chandlers Ford or Romsey stations. " The system of issuing hunting tickets at a lower rate than season tickets for a period of six months, has been of great advantage to fox-hunters residing in London. On the North-western line, tickets were given to Leighton, Tring and Aylesbury, for £10 for the season ; and I understand this privilege is to be extended next season to Blisworth, Weedon and Rugby. " On the Great Western line may be reached, from Slough and Maidenhead, the Queen's Stag-hounds, and from Farringdon Road and Didcot, Mr. Morrell's and the Old Berkshire; from Newbury and Hungerford, the Craven ; from Swindon and Cricklade, the Vale of White Horse; also the Duke of Beaufort's, near Chippenham, whose meets principally lie near the Gloster line of rail ; many of these meets may be reached from London by the early trains in the morning. " On the Brighton line, the Old Surrey at Croydon, Reigate and from Dorking, on the South Eastern. The Crawley and the Horsham on the Brighton line, from the Three Bridges station. The Surrey Union likewise, from Guildford to Ash, on the line to Farnham. 224 RECORDS OF THE CHASE " On the Direct Northern line, within twenty miles of London, the Puckeridge ; also Mr. Henley Greaves', late Mr. Coriyers' ; further down the line Lord Fitz- william's. Yours, &c., " London, June, 1853. "Dear Sir, " You have often asked me why I keep my horses in London during the winter. To explain this, I must give you a sketch of my hunting career. "In my twenty-eighth year I found myself obliged to live in London. My property was very moderate. I had no occupation ; and having but little taste for literary pursuits, I had great difficulty in employing my time. In this position, although I was altogether ignorant of riding, I purchased a horse and amused my- self for some months riding in the Parks. This I tired of in the winter, and thought if I knew the meets of some private pack of hounds my horse would carry me. I very soon found among my acquaintances a gentle- man who rode in Surrey. It happened that the following week the fox-hounds met at Locks Bottom ; and my friend very kindly made arrangements that my horse should be taken to Bromley to sleep ; and the liveryman at whose stable my horse stood found me a pony to get to Bromley on in the morning. The following morning I therefore made my first appear- ance at the covert side. I was rather late, owing to my horse, just before leaving the high road, selecting the dirtiest part to make a false step and throw me. For- tunately we were neither of us hurt ; but I was very dirty, and in this plight I presented myself at the meet, where my friend was waiting alone, the hounds having been thrown into covert close by. " Surrey has long maintained its character for sure and quick finds ; and this was no exception, for in ten minutes hounds and horses were away, and I found my- self in a ploughed field, galloping as fast as my horse could. I got through a gate into a second field ; but here I was pounded. I was quite ignorant of putting my horse at a fence ; and he seemed equally so of jumping one. After some time a gentleman returned with, ' Well, it's all over. We have had a capital HUNTING FROM LONDON 225 run,' &c. &c. I could make no reply, but jogged back to the inn, jumped on my pony, and reached home in very good time for dinner. " My first day convinced me that riding to hounds was a sport I should like, but that I had a very great deal to learn; and when I next met my friend he kindly told me ' it was very necessary that either the rider or horse should understand his business; that if both were ignorant, nothing but difficulties would assail us; whereas a little knowledge on either side would quickly improve both.' " I took the hint at once ; and before the next day was over, ' Osborn,' of Gray's Inn, supplied me with as good a little horse as ever went across country. He was not very fast ; but nothing could get him down : and to this animal's cleverness I attribute the nerve I have since ridden with. To tell you the falls I got, although my horse never came down, would occupy a volume : but I persevered, from the absurd belief that a seat across country was only to be gained by this method ; whereas I am now convinced that a man at any age may learn to ride to hounds by taking lessons of a hunting riding-master, and thus save himself the bruises and hurts he must otherwise encounter. *' I placed my hunter in a livery-stable in Surrey, where 80 tolOO horses always stood. I rode three days a fortnight to fox-hounds. The gentlemen in the field, without an exception, showed me the greatest kindness ; and hunting, I soon decided, was the finest sport I had ever enjoyed. At the end of the season my horse was rested ; and during the summer I purchased a second hunter, which, when in condition, fully bore out the character given with him. "The commencement of this season found me pos- sessed of two hunters. My London hack I had broken to harness ; and he took me down on hunting-mornings to the stable where my horses stood. I hunted in this countr\' for two years ; and, with the exception of a severe cut from a flint, which laid one of my horses up for some time, I rode regularly to hounds three times a week. "I now went, 'just for one day,' to see the * Queen's,' at that time under the management of Lord Kinnaird ; and having a capital run in the grass country induced me at once to move my horses to Hayes, where p 226 RECORDS OF THE CHASE a person was recommended to me to take charge of them with others belonging to gentlemen who regularly rode to the stag-hounds. " I rode regularly with these hounds and went with them into the Vale of Aylesbury for their, at that time, annual week's hunting. This country I found so superior that although I hunted through the season with the Queen's, I longed often for the large pastures which the Vale presented. The next summer I en- deavoured to make arrangements ; but there being at that time no hunting livery-stables in the Vale, I looked about for a groom who thoroughly understood his business. I succeeded, as I thought, in this ; and engaged a middle-aged man. He was married ; but his wife and family were to be left in London, and he was to travel the country with me. " Early in November my servant left London with three hunters. The horses were, I think, as good as any that I have ever been possessed of; but, arising, as I now believe, entirely from my servant's ignorance, nothing but misfortune attended me. Within a fort- night my best horse was reported blind, my young mare would not eat, and the other, going wrong, I had changed for one altogether out of condition ; and the twenty-eighth day from my leaving London found my servant back again. I had, during that short time, in fact, knocked up five horses ; and prudence prevented me continuing a career so ruinous. " I considered this as a run of ill luck that will attend all at times, and, to make the best of it, kept only two young mares, and towards the end of the season had a few days with the Queen's hounds. My groom was the last to whom I thought I could attribute blame. He induced me to change my horses often ; my tradesmen were blamed or changed by him with every appearance of consulting only my interest. '*I now purchased a fine, powerful, well-bred horse — my servant could not even find fault with him — and as I had now three sound young horses I anticipated a more successful season. To each condition-balls were given freely ; and day by day, as the month of October passed, I had reason to be better pleased with the account given me of their progress. This state of things was not to last long; for on going one morning to the stable my favourite mare 'was all wrong;' and HUNTING FROM LONDON 227 on the vet. seeing her, he proclaimed the beast to be suffering from enlargement of the heart, persuaded me to allow her to be moved to his stable, where she was cupped and physicked. She was then reported as unfit for ever hunting again; and I was recommended to part with her. That very night I had a communica- tion from a customer of the vefs ; and the next morning a bargain was struck between us ; he taking the mare, sick as she then was, having first contracted with the doctor to get her well for a stated sum. " My misfortunes did not end here. My new horse was reported to me as refusing his food; and, as my groom now announced, 'He's no use to us;' and so here again I was forced to change. It, however, happened that a friend wanted an animal, admired mine, heard my story of his non-feeding propensity, asked my price, and took him off my hands. "Three days after I met my friend; asked, of course, how the horse fed. * Why,' said he, 'I particularly noticed him. The first day he came to me he ate five feeds, and looked round for more. I rode him forty miles this morning; and the last mile he was as fresh as the first. I never possessed an animal of such en- durance,' &c. &c. This was quite enough. I now for the first time questioned the honesty of my groom. He excused himself by hinting the horse might have been ill from change of stable or water, or something else that an artful man has ready on similar emergencies. '* A second year I trusted him in the country, but within three weeks he returned home, three or four horses being knocked up. I now, therefore, attributed all my misfortune to bad stable-management. I now found it necessary to pay myself some attention to this, and gained on every occasion all the information I could. My groom and I soon parted. I only pos- sessed one mare when he left : her I sent at once to livery hunting stables. When she arrived there, in spite of all the condition-balls that had been forced down her throat, she was not fit to go. She, however, daily improved and carried me one day a week to stag- hounds through that season, and finished quite fresh enough to hack through the summer. I engaged a young man as groom, who only professed to strap to a horse and turn him out clean. I ordered every thing in the stable, and discarded physic and messing of all kinds. 228 RECORDS OF THE CHASE " The following autumn I dreaded a repetition of the ill luck of the two preceding winters, and therefore determined to keep my horses at home, and try what hunting I could meet with, travelling them by rail. I soon found from London the railways offer great facil- ities. The Eastern Counties gives me the command of Essex ; the Brighton line takes me into Surrey ; the Great Western always puts me within distance of the Quorn's, and very frequently the old Berkshire ; while the North Western commands Lord Lonsdale's country, Baron Rothschild's, the best meets of Lord Southamp- ton, very frequently Lord Dacre's, and occasionally the Oakley. " I find my railway expenses- — a day ticket for my horse and first class return for myself — for thirty miles, from £l Is. to £1 5s. ; for forty miles, from £1 7s. to £1 10s. I scarcely ever exceed this distance, for a man must be a glutton if he is dissatisfied with this range. " The only caution I take in travelling my horse is having a good suit of clothes for him to travel m. My groom walks him to the railway in the morning, and knows the hours of my probable arrival in the evening; he is always waiting there, and takes my horse home, where every attention is paid to him. In the country I find a servant superfluous ; the ostler of the inns I stop at will get the horse comfortable under my direction. " I do not mean to state for a moment but that a horse would be saved fatigue if he was as well attended to in the country as when he reaches home ; but I can- not depend on this, and therefore I am convinced my personal inspection of the stable more than com- pensates for the additional fatigue the horse undergoes ; added to this, if an accident happens I have him at home, and as we generally have a frost of a month or so it is then to me a source of very great pleasure to go when I please into my stable. " It is now many years that I have made the railways my covert hackneys. I am never so much behind time that the hounds are away on my reaching the meet, and I find my horses carry me as safely as those always standing in country quarters. " After hunting I consider some little care necessary\ I make it a rule to see my horse have a bucket of gruel, and the top dirt rubbed off before his clothing is put HUNTING FROM LONDON 229 on. I am also particular in not allowing the animal to stand about while a railway carriage is turned to the siding to load him. This I get arranged before the horse leaves the stable ; and to these little precautions I attribute the good luck that has always attended my horses travelling. *'And having now told my sto]l*y, I trust you will not again attempt to argue against my plan; but, if you feel inclined to have an occasional day from London, I shall be delighted to meet you at the railway station, and assist in superintending your travelling arrangements. Ever yours, Both these letters are so thoroughly explanatory^ of the means which a sportsman residing in London may avail himself of to enjoy his hunting, that any additions from me would be superfluous. I must, how- ever, introduce a few words on the effect which travelling by rail produces on the condition of horses, and the treatment which they require. In the case of a horse being conveyed by rail to the vicinity of the place of meeting on the morning of hunting, it entails the necessity of his being disturbed at an early hour to go through the regular process of dressing and feeding. On returning, if the distance from London exceeds fifty miles, it is scarcely possible to reach the terminus before eight o'clock in the evening, unless a fox is found and affords a run early in the day, or that the day's sport is abbreviated by leaving before the hounds have finished drawing, a mortification which few persons would inflict upon themselves, having incurred the expense and trouble of a journey to enjoy a full day's sport. When time will permit, it is very desirable to have a horse thoroughly dressed at the stables connected with the railway station prior to his being placed on the line ; and by all means his legs and feet should be washed, and afterwards bandaged. To perform all this, I think it is almost imperative to take a servant 230 RECORDS OF THE CHASE down. In my experience of ostlers at inns, I never found many of them of much use in dressing dirty hunters ; not, perhaps, in all cases from a disinclination to work, because an extra quart of beer will always excite that energy, but because they do not know how to set about it, and very frequently, when assisting my own servants, and consequently acting under their directions, I have noticed that many ostlers are more in the way than otherwise. On the subject of gruel I must also make a remark, that it should on all occasions be boiled, whether it be made of wheat-flour or oatmeal ; the former of which I prefer. When made in the manner very commonly practised — that is, some oatmeal stirred up with a small quantity of cold water, to which boiling water is added, and cold water again supplied to make it of the required temperature — it contains no virtue whatever; in fact, will sometimes produce cholic. It is the mucilage formed by boiling in which the balsamic and nutritive properties are contained ; and that mucilage must be produced before the substance is given to the horse ; in other words, he cannot concoct it in his stomach. Many of my friends have argued this point with me, assuming if the horse takes a pint of oatmeal, which, being divested of the husks, may be considered equivalent in amount of nourishment to a quart of oats, and that pint of oatmeal is infused in water, he will derive the same benefit he would from a quart of oats, which is by no means the case. When a horse eats a quart of oats he masticates them ; they pass into the stomach in the ordinary way, through the agency of those functions which are provided by nature for con- veying food to that receptacle, and, finally, by the digestive organs, they assist in the nourishment of the body. But oatmeal infused in tepid water is vastly different in its quality. In that liquid state it contains very little nourishment, and, quickly passing into the intestines, is carried off like undigested food. Similar remarks apply to bran mashes. RAILWAY ACCOMMODATION 231 There are several objects attained by having horses thoroughly dressed before they are put mto the railway boxes. Much of the risk of taking cold is diminished. The dirt and perspiration, clogging up the pores of the skin, must have an injurious effect upon the coat and consequently the system generally if suffered to remain when the horses are not in action; and, if last not least, the great saving of time when they arrive at their home stables, where, very little being requisite in the way of dressing, two active men will be able to perform every- thing that is necessary and have a horse shut up in half an hour. Rest to a tired hunter is of the utmost im- portance ; humanity demands for him the most scrupulous attention, and interest goes hand in hand. Horses can come out again so much sooner if they are carefully managed in this respect than if they are dis- turbed till a late hour in the evening and uselessly har- assed on the following day. Knowing the injurious effects which are produced by long railway journeys on the day of hunting, if I were to hunt from London I should adopt one of the two following plans : I would either keep my horses in the country, or confine myself to hunting within five-and- thirty miles of town, so that I might generally have my horse in his own stable by six o'clock. There is, how- ever, an objection to this, for there is very little good country within that distance. Duly considering all things, I should certainly prefer keeping my horses in the country ; for although the difficulties which my kind correspondent enumerates would have great weight, still there are many things which, being balanced against each other, must award the preference to that arrangement. I am rather at a loss to know how a horse can be got into hunting condition in London, where there are none but hard roads to exercise upon. I should much prefer the country within reach of Bletchley, Wolverton, Blisworth, or Weedon, on the London and Birmingham line, to that of Berkhamp- stead or Tring. If I selected the Great Western line as 232 RECORDS OF THE CHASE a means of communication with sylvan pastimes, I should choose the vicinity of Didcot, Steventon, Farringdon, Shrivenham, Swindon, or even as far as Chippenham, to that around Slough, Twyford, or Reading. To indulge in those favouritisms, it would scarcely ever be possible to regain the London terminus before 8. 30. p.m., an hour sadly too late to be accom- panied by a hunter, if his condition is regarded with ordinary attention. I can quite enter into the difficulty of finding an efficient servant to take charge of two or three hunters uncontrolled by his master's daily inspection. Two horses are quite as much as a man can do justice to, having to go to covert twice or thrice in the week. In a general way, a man who keeps a couple of hunters experiences more difficulty in meeting with a good ser- vant to perform the duty of taking charge of them than he does in filling any other vocation in which domestic servants are employed. A person who keeps a large stud necessarily employs an efficient groom, who has authority over the helpers and ought to have sufficient experience in the treatment of hunters on their return from the chase to be able to adopt all ordinary remedies in the event of casual accidents. Such men are not very numerous : when they are met with they require high wages : and, moreover, they do not like to work single-handed, in which they are correct, for a hunter cannot be dressed, when he returns from the field, with the requisite expedition unless two men, or a man and boy, be employed. In small establishments the assistance of a gardener or other odd man may he called in with advantage. Gentlemen who hunt from London must, in my humble opinion, find it most convenient and econom- ical to keep their horses in the country ; for their horses will certainly come out oftener than when harassed by frequent journeys on the rail. Much, I am ready to admit, depends on the temper of the animal ; but it is the great length of time he must be on his legs which RAILWAY ACCOMMODATION 233 appears to be an obstacle not to be overcome. A man experiences very little fatigue when travelling fifty or sixty miles in a first-class railway carriage : he may enjoy his repose all the way, if so inclined ; and, by taking a suit of clothes to exchange for those in which he has been hunting — a very necessary precaution — he is perfectly comfortable. If he has had the good fortune to see a good day's sport, he may dream of it over again in the greatest luxury of enjoyment. On the point of economy much is gained by keeping the horses down the line. The expense of taking a horse dowii and returning from thirty to forty miles, including return-ticket, gruel, &c., will average from fifteen to twenty shillings; taking it at seventeen and sixpence twice a week, allowing an interval of three or four weeks' frost, it may be computed at thirty pounds for the season ; half that sum given to an experienced trustworthy groom, as additional wages, would ensure the services of a man who may be de- pended upon. If two or more friends engage stabling in the country and keep their horses together, one head groom will take charge of the whole establishment, and with a number of helpers in proportion to the number of horses, the expenses will be again diminished. This plan has been adopted by some of my acquaintance, and it has worked quite satisfactorily. There are also several hunting livery-stables where horses are taken great care of and where, for a stated sum, everything is provided, including a man to take them to covert. I refrain from enumerating any, because frequent changes must of necessity take place : those which were in the highest repute last season may be superseded by others; and it is ver>^ easy for any sportsman, after having selected the countn^^ he intends to hunt in, to make local inquiries for the most suitable accommoda- tion. There is another plan which I would suggest avail- able to those who desire to hunt from London, pro- viding they are not disposed to encumber themselves 234 RECORDS OF THE CHASE with studs of hunters. Any number of horses may be engaged either for the season, for a month, or even for a day, which obviates all anxiety. The purveyor undertakes to provide a certain number of horses for a stipulated sum, and to have one at the appointed place of meeting when required. He runs all risks of accidents, provides servants, and exonerates the hirer from all trouble, which, to those who have other engagements, is often of considerable importance. If it is practicable for a man to have his horse frequently under his own inspection it is certainly more agreeable ; but, as that is generally a subject of some difficulty to a gentleman who has engagements in London, the custom of hiring hunters may be adopted with success. Lend me thine ear, courteous reader, if you are an inhabitant of the great metropolis, and I will whisper a secret to you, not to be imparted to your dearest friend. Perad venture you would delight to take your pleasure with the merry harrier ; to see the hare trailed up to her form, started and hunted through her intricate mazes ; to compare the steady close working of the harrier with the dashing style of the fox-hound. Whither would you lead me ? I think I hear you exclaim. To Brighton, to meet the far-famed harriers of that marine metropolis, or the Brookside ? No ; within five miles of Oxford Street, at the rural village of Neasden, you will find a most superior, well- appointed pack of harriers, admirably hunted by Mr. Hall ; and although they do not advertise their ap- pointments, they will be most courteously supplied to any gentleman who will leave his card with Mr. Hall. Within ten miles of the General Post Office, if you choose to go further afield, point your horse's head for Stratford, proceed through Snaresbrook to Woodford, in Essex, and there you will meet as complete a little pack as your most fastidious notions of rural pastime can devise. They hunt twice a week — Tuesdays and Saturdays. As I am credibly informed, they are con- ducted on the most quiet and gentlemanly principles HARRIERS 235 by Mr. Henry Vigne; and, as there are hares to be found in the forest, good sport is generally obtained with them. Should the chase lead you further from town than the place at which you commenced hunting, or should your horse be tired, the Eastern Counties Railway will enable you to return to London. CHAPTER XIV SCENT AND SEASONS There are few subjects of greater interest to the sports- man, or which occasion more frequent inquiries whether it is hkely to prove good or bad, than scent ; but this is not remarkable, inasmuch as the success of the day is subservient to its condition. The difficult question cannot be elucidated till the wonderful faculty of the hound solves the mystery. It concerns all classes : fox-hunters, hare-hunters, stag-hunters, and those who, with their pointers and double barrels, range the fields in pursuit of the feathered denizens of stubbles and turnips. Although the practised savant evades an absolute reply with caution, still will he en- deavour indirectly to draw forth an opinion, his day's enjoyment being so immediately connected with the phenomenon. There are many causes which have a tendency to affect the scent. The atmosphere is universally ad- mitted as the principal agent; but we must go further into the inquiry and examine to what extent and under what circumstances the atmosphere affects the evapor- ative and absorbent properties of the earth; and al- though it is impossible to control the elements, some conclusions may be drawn how under certain circum- stances a day's sport is most likely to be obtained. Somerville, with his wonted talent, makes a few re- marks on the subject, and comes to this conclusion : " Thus on the air Depend the hunter's hopes." This must not, however, be taken in an abstract sense ; INDICATIONS OF SCENT 237 which I will endeavour to demonstrate by pointing out how the atmosphere in connection with other causes affects ' the hunter's hopes.' The nature of the soil, in combination with the state of the atmosphere, is a means whereby the scent is influenced, for it is the effect produced under those circumstances occasioning evaporation or absorption which to a great degree regulates the amount of scent. Acting differently on arable and grass lands, variations are recognised; and extending this principle to the vales and the hills, similar properties are brought into action. When the evaporation from the earth is in a very active state there is seldom, if ever, any scent; this is obvious, because the evaporation dispels the particles of scent as they ascend, above the line where the hound can wind them ; and it follows evidently that on such days the most favourable places for hunting are those which are the least susceptible of the influ- ences. It often happens when riding to covert that a countryman is passing along the road smoking his pipe, and I have invariably remarked that if I could wind * the baccy ' pretty strongly, there has been a good scent, and the reverse if it is scarcely perceptible. This last incident is conclusive proof that the aroma ascends to a moderate height through the medium of the atmosphere. The steam from a railway engine affords also a strong indication. That will sometimes be seen to rise perpendicularly, at other times it floats, as it were, in the air, and occasionally it descends immediately, apparently traversing the earth in a dense cloud. In both the first and the last cases there is scarcely any scent; but in the second case it may be recognised as a favourable criterion. A frosty air has a powerful effect on scent, during which, in shaded situations, it will frequently be good, whereas in those situations where the sun has power there will be none at all. Evaporation is more active on arable land than on grass, and every tyro knows which holds the best scent. 238 RECORDS OF THE CHASE On arable land in the highest state of cultivation, or rather pulverisation, evaporation is more extensive than on soils of a retentive nature, and from that cause heavy clays are more favourable than the light loamy and sandy districts. Land which has been recently ploughed is also more subservient to evaporative influences than that which has remained dormant for some time. The general condition of the atmosphere may be nearly similar over a considerable tract of country, while the principles of evaporation may vary in certain localities from the reasons already suggested. And this is not unusual, because we know that it often rains at one place while it is quite fine at another. Scent generally fails on roads ; but that is not an invariable rule, for sometimes it will be better there than in some other place; foxes, however, do not usually frequent such lines, except for short intervals. It will sometimes happen that there is an excellent scent on dry fallows, even when the dust is flying, which most sportsmen will acknowledge who have hunted with Earl Fitzhardinge's hounds in their Cheltenham country, during the spring of the year. When the scent is good there, it is seldom so in the Berkeley Vale, and vice versa. The latter is all grass ; the former, especially on the Cotswold Hills, is prin- cipally arable. On the light sandy soils in the Albrighton country I never saw or heard of there being a good scent in dry weather. The nature of that land is essentially different from that on Cotswold Hills. Arable land which has been drained is not generally favourable to fox-hunting, and, as I apprehend, it is more readily acted upon by the elements in the quantity of evaporation given forth. It is a generally received opinion that when the country is overcharged with moisture the scent will not lie. Beckford entertained that notion, although I must observe that many of his remarks on this point, what- ever might have been the events which occasioned them in his time, are overruled by modern instances. He BECKFORD ON SCENT 239 says, *' Scent scarcely ever lies well with a north or an east wind; a southerly wind without rain, and a westerly wind that is not rough, are most favourable." A poet who gave an excellent description of one of the best runs ever seen in Leicestershire commences his narrative, " With the wind at north-east, most for- biddingly keen;" and subsequent experience attests the truth of this effusion, for it generally happens that the best-scenting days are those when the wind has something of the east in its course. When the earth is perfectly saturated with rain scent has been known to lie well. Of this I may introduce as an example the season of 1852 and 1853 ; nevertheless I do not take it to be a general consequence; but this adds confirmation to the opinion that it is the evapora- tion which regulates the amount of scent, while the force of evaporation is produced by the condition of the air. It may be observed that pure water, although it weakens a scent in passing through it, does not abso- lutely destroy it. This may be determined by smoking tobacco through a hookah, which renders the nicotian weed milder but does not annihilate the perfume. I have seen hounds carry a scent where the land has been flooded three inches deep or more. It is not a common case, because foxes do not often put it to the test by selecting such ground ; never, in fact, unless it intervenes between them and some favourite point. From this it is evident that the scent exudes from the body of the animal and is held for a certain time sus- pended in the atmosphere. It is also quite clear in those cases that very little evaporation from the earth is taking place. Under some circumstances the earth absorbs moisture from the air; that is when the land is dry and the air dense, moist and heavy% in which con- dition, I believe, the scent cannot be good. We must, therefore, come to this conclusion, that when the evaporation is very great, or, on the other hand, the absorption of moisture by the earth is exten- 240 RECORDS OF THE CHASE sive, the scent will be affected in the ratio of either principle prevailing. In healthy districts, although the land is generally of a light sandy nature, the scent is usually good, most probably because the foxes touching the heath leave particles of their perfume on the sprays. The same cause exists in coverts where there is much foggy grass ; but just after the leaves have fallen in woodlands the scent generally fails, as I take it, in consequence of the leaves checking the process of evaporation. Some persons attribute this to the wind blowing the leaves about and consequently shifting them ; but how can that be the case where there is little or no wind stirring ? There is no doubt a great distinction in the degrees of scent emitted by different foxes, and also by the same foxes under certain influences and various circumstances. The bodily health of the animal will occasion this. When the fox ig in a state of exhaustion, or, as the term is known to sportsmen, when he is sinking, the scent usually fails. The same is observable with vixens when heavy in cub, at which time I ap- prehend the quality, if not also the quantity, of scent is altered. The pace at which foxes are moving, I make no doubt, affects the scent materially; for when they are just creeping along, as they often do, in covert out of sight, hounds will sometimes actually run over them. Somerville notices what I conceive to be one of the elements by which a good or bad scent is regulated — ■ namely evaporation, but takes no notice of absorption ; he expresses himself very eloquently on the manner in which the scent is emitted from the fox, and as I can- not find language equally appropriate, I shall quote his words : — " The blood that from the heart incessant rolls In many a crimson tide, then liere and there In smaller rills disparted, as it flows Propell'd, the serous particles evade SOMERVILLE ON SCENT 241 Thro' th' open pores, and with the ambient air Entangling mix. As fuming vapours rise, And hang upon the gently purling brook, There by th' incumbent atmosphere compress'd, The panting chase grows warmer as he flies, And through the network of the skin perspires; Leaves a long-steaming trail behind, which by The cooler air condens'd, remains, unless By some rude storm dispers'd, or rarefied By the meridian sun's intenser heat. To ev'ry shrub the warm effluvia cling, Hang on the grass, impregnate earth and skies." That every animal, although of the same species, emits a different scent under various circumstances there cannot exist a doubt ; otherwise the blood-hound could not hunt the deer which he is first encouraged to pursue through herds of the same kind. Blood-hounds which have been taught to trace the human species are unerring in their object ; and applying this property more diffusely I need only observe that common curs, if sagacious, can distinguish the course their masters have taken, even through crowded cities. Here we find an additional authority in Somerville, who describes the method adopted on the borders of England and Scot- land in olden times of tracing the prowling caitiffs who made free with other people's flocks and herds. The blood-hound having been led to the spot where the depredation was committed, he continues : — "His busy nose the steaming vapour snuffs Inquisitive, nor leaves one turf untried. Till, conscious of the recent stains, his heart Beats quick; his snufiBing nose, his active tail, Attest his joy; then with deep op'ning mouth. That makes the welkin tremble, he proclaims Th' audacious felon ; foot by foot he marks His winding way, while all the list'ning crowd Applaud his reas'nings. O'er the wat'ry ford, Q 242 RECORDS OF THE CHASE Dry sandy heaths, and stony barren hills, O'er beaten paths, with men and beasts distain'd, Unerring he pursues; till at the cot Arrived, and seizing by his guilty throat The caitiff vile, redeems the captive prey : So exquisitely delicate his sense!" There are also circumstances connected with finding which will have some influence over the scent. If a fox steals away from covert and has time to jog leisurely along, the scent is generally weak ; but if he waits to be found and takes two or three turns round the covert just to circulate his blood before ' he breaks away,' it is much more in favour of a run. There are many herbs and shrubs which are inimical to scent, especially the wild garUc, spearmint, and other strong-smelling plants. Laurel, I am confident, produces the same effect ; for I never saw hounds run into pleasure- grounds about gentlemen's houses where the ordinary evergreens are cultivated, that the scent did not fail. The foil of foot-people is more injurious than is gener- ally supposed, and much more so than that of horses, cattle, or sheep. The line of country which a fox selects with reference to the point from whence the wind blows, has a decided effect on the scent. If he runs up-wlnd, as every sports- man is aware, the hounds are generally enabled to follow him at a killing pace ; the same favourable result usually attends a side-wind ; but if the fox runs down- wind, unless the state of the atmosphere is propitious, the ability of the hounds to follow will be diminished. It is quite clear, however, that a fox emits just the same amount of scent in either case, but the power to catch that scent is materially influenced by the wind. Beckford says, "If a fox should run up the wind when first found, and afterwards turn, he will seldom, if ever, turn again." But this is not the fact, or perhaps, foxes have changed their propensities since that gentleman came to this conclusion. Some foxes will endeavour to SCENT AND TEMPERATURE 243 make their points whether up-wind or down. In the event of their being hard-pressed when running up- wind, they will very probably turn from distress, and finding the hounds not pursuing them with equal vigour, they will often continue the latter course for some distance, and very often recovering their strength, will again endeavour to make their first point. There is no rule under such circumstances. \^Tien we fairly consider all the events by which scent is effected, it cannot be a matter of surprise that it should vary so materially. It is possible that they may all combine to render it good or bad, or partially so, as certain influences prevail. The density of the atmos- phere may be ascertained by consulting the barometer; that being on the ascendant is a favourable indication ; when falling, the reverse ; but then we are unable to foresee to what extent it may affect the evaporation or absorption on particular descriptions of land. More- over, we cannot tell what line of country a fox may think fit to select, whether his course will be up-wind or down, or whether he be one of those animals which carry a strong perfume about them. Equality of temperature is an event which very materially affects the scent; if the weather throughout the hunting season be invariably changing, first-rate sport cannot be obtained. By some old memorandums I find the season of 1830 and 1831 was very wet, and afforded an average amount of sport ; the succeeding one was rough in the extreme, much rain fell at the com- mencement, followed by snow, which continued till late in the spring; the sport of that winter was wretched. In the year of 1833 and 1834 it was remarkably mild and open, with little frost till February and March, and from the succession of rains it was a severe time for the horses. The following winter was very changeable ; it was dry at the beginning, sharp frosts set in about Christmas ; and we had much sleet, snow, and rain in March. Sport was uncertain, some packs had their share, others none at all. In 1835 and 1836 the scent 244 RECORDS OF THE CHASE was good till Christmas, at which time we had frost and snow with variable temperature till March, when it was dry and dusty, and scent very changeable. My memorandums from that date till 1840 being deficient, I cannot fill up the interval from memory, but I find that season was generally fair, and more than an average of sport resulted till after Christmas, when the weather became very changeable, and sport followed suit. The following year was somewhat similar. The year 1843 was ushered in with a remarkably fine warm and bright day, and the weather subsequently became very uncertain, sometimes frosty, at others warm, and I shall never forget the heat for the time of year on the 20th March, when Lord Gifford's hounds found a fox in Hayley Wood and killed him in Oakley Wood, with a very bad scent ; it was the heat that enabled the hounds to taste their fox. The scent was very uncertain during this spring. Subsequent seasons do not afford particular instances till that of 1845-46, which may be characterised as a dry one. There was very little frost; and hounds in general had more than an average of runs. The year 1849-50 was a bad season generally; there was a considerable quantity of frost. It is a general opinion if the scent has not been good and a frost commences that it will improve afterwards ; but I do not find that the opinion is borne out by facts. The year following was exceedingly good, while that of 1851-2, although the weather was very open and ap- parently favourable for hunting, was decidedly the worst-scenting season I can bear in remembrance — a complaint made by almost every master of hounds in the kingdom. To make amends for that, the leist winter was perhaps the best ever known. It is fairly entitled to the superlative degree for its excellence as the preceding one was for its deficiency. Rain fell early in October and continued to inundate the country to an unprecedented degree. The opinion that an excessive quantity of wet is un- favourable to scent was completely confuted by the SCENT AND WEATHER 245 results of the season 1852-3. Never was the land more completely saturated or the sport throughout the kingdom more generally good. A singular fact connected with this season is worthy of notice. Although an abundance of sport had been shown, far exceeding the average, with nearly every pack of fox-hounds throughout the kingdom, and every country had been unusually deep and severe for horses, besides that the assemblages of sportsmen at the covert-side had exceeded those of any preceding year, yet accidents to men or horses were very rare. Doubt- less there were some fatal to the equine race which have not gained publicity ; but I believe none of serious consequence happened to their riders. To what cause or causes this good fortune may be attributed I am not prepared to state; probably to a combination of causes. Mother Earth was never in a more tender mood to receive into her affectionate embraces her numerous family of venatic sons ambitiously wooing the fates in the enterprising vicissitudes of the chase. The accomplishment of riding is more generally practised and understood ; for it usually happens that the most unsophisticated 'muffs ' are the most likely to meet with accidents. There is another circumstance which although not exactly connected with scent is very intimately con- nected with the sport, that is riding to hounds. In the early days of fox-hunting — that is in the time of Meynell and Corbet — hard-riding, jealous m_en were not numerous, since which they have increased to an extraordinary degree. How many foxes have escaped, how many good runs have been lost from this cause alone ! I do not insert these remarks with a view to suppress that general ardour and enthusiasm which assist in making fox-hunting the noblest and most distinguished of our national amusements ; quite the reverse. My motive is to offer such hints to the un- initiated that they may be able to gain enviable dis- tinction, which they cannot do if they destroy that 246 RECORDS OF THE CHASE sport which is the means of affording opportunities of accomplishing the object of their ambition. In the fashionable and populous countries, where two hundred or more assemble at the place of meeting, with the utmost caution such numbers cannot fail in some cases to impede the operation of hounds and huntsmen. Where the coverts are extensive, persons riding about in all directions occasion much mischief; when gorse coverts are being drawn the field is usually collected to one point ; but then when the fox breaks away what a rush for a start ! This is a critical moment; before the hounds have settled to the scent they are invariably pressed upon, which, added to their natural excitement, will render the steadiest pack hasty. Hundreds of foxes are lost by this in- cautious proceeding. But let us take another case ; when the fox is found in a large woodland, he attempts to break covert and is headed back ; if, however, he does go away and hounds are doing their work to per- fection, ambitious horsemen press cruelly upon them ; and when the fox makes the least deviation from the line, the hounds are driven off the scent. So few men observe, as they ought to do, the difference between hounds running with and without a scent ; in other words, how far they bring it. I remember a circumstance with the Atherstone hounds some years since, which impressed me very strongly with the difficulties a huntsman has to con- tend against where there is a very large attendance of sportsmen. They drew the gorse at Combe, which was so thick in the bottom that although there was a fox in it they could not induce him to break covert, and the hounds were taken away to find another, when the fox left his quarters and was viewed away. The hoimds were hallooed back, and being laid on the scent ran him towards the railway, where, the em- bankment being high the horsemen made for the arches and, as it happened, there were two at a distance less than a mile apart. This caused many to speculate ; A RUN WITH THE ATHERSTONE 247 some went to the right and others to the left, whilst a portion of the field kept with the hounds, which were pointing about midway between the arches, till they arrived close to the railway, when they turned to the right on land already foiled by the horses ; and more- over, seeing so many a-head, they (the hounds) kept on without ever speaking to the scent some distance. On arriving at the arch, concluding the fox had gone through, Thurlow made his cast under it, but could not hit the scent. The fact was the fox on coming to the railroad turned and ran parallel with it as already mentioned ; but as the hounds had not been actually hunting him for nearly half a mile it was impossible to say exactly at what point they had left the scent. Under such circumstances there was nothing to guide the huntsman in his cast ; his only alternative was to hold his hounds forward, still bearing to the right, when at length he hit upon his fox again ; but so much time had been lost that the scent failed considerably, and a brilliant burst was lost. After much slow hunting the hounds got up to their fox and killed him ; yet the beauty of the day's sport was destroyed by those ambitious, speculating gentlemen, who, not con- tent with riding fairly to the hounds, by skirting got before them in a most provoking manner. A skirting horseman is as bad as a skirting hound, and both ought to be drafted. I could mention many other instances of a similar character, although none more decided ; and this is quite sufficient to point out the mischief oc- casioned by such inconsiderate and reckless riding. A sportsman accustomed to a provincial country, where hounds enjoy plenty of room to do their work un- molested by a crowd of horsemen, is surprised when he visits a populous hunt to see the huntsman the moment the hounds come to a check make a wide cast, and that without giving the hounds time to make theirs ac- cording to the orthodox rule of hunting ; and perchance our provincial friend condemns the huntsman's prac- tice; but on reflection it wUl often be found to be the 248 RECORDS OF THE CHASE only alternative. To render this intelligible, let us suppose a fox found in a gorse covert, with two or three hundred ardent spirits jealous of distinction. The fox 'breaks away' and the hounds leave the covert in a body; but before they can well settle to the scent they are pressed upon ; however, in a few minutes they get to work, and are scoring along at a merrj^ pace. Many are riding the line, others are skirting, that is riding to a point which they conceive the fox will make for. After running some distance the fox turns, either from being blown or from being headed — perchance to make good his point ; at all events the hounds come to a check; in all probability they have over-run the scent and have been driven still further beyond it by the horsemen; if the huntsman is in his place and at- tentive to what is passing he will detect the contretemps and make his cast accordingly, but it must be a wide and speculative one. In the event of a check, provided there are not more than some twenty horsemen, the most judicious plan is to leave the hounds to themselves : if they have room to work they will make their own cast, and if they have over-run the scent, which probably they may have done, they know how far they brought it; they will re- turn to the spot and in all probability recover it ; they have time to feel for it, and their instinct guides them. But if the aforesaid number of horsemen be multiplied by ten, it is quite another affair. A fox will seldom turn back in the face of such a phalanx ; if he does it in an open country he is nearly certain to be viewed ; but he may have been headed back before the field had arrived at the particular spot, and still endeavour to make good his original point ; under such circumstances the scent has been ridden over, for the field is dispersed and it is very likely the flanks both right and left ex- tend a quarter of a mile — often wider — from the line the hounds have been running. There is no alternative in such cases but to make a cast at once beyond where the ground has been foiled by the horses; and, there- OVER-RIDING HOUNDS 249 fore, it must be wide. To attempt to pick through them would be a hopeless endeavour. The operations of huntsmen who have large fields to contend against are obviously more perplexing than of those who hunt hounds in provincial countries, where there are but a few horsemen out and most if not all of them sports- men. There are many hard riding men who affect to know nothing about hounds or hunting, who regard hounds simply as objects to ride after ; in short, they think it derogatory to be supposed to understand any of the details. All I can say of them is that I think they lose a vast deal of the interest which is to be derived from the chase — peradventure some of them are better versed in the mysteries of woodcraft than they profess to be. There are also a vast number of persons who follow hounds, who certainly possess very superficial ideas of the incidents which are most intimately con- nected with hunting, and yet they often indulge them- selves in the happy delusion that they are perfect masters of the art. If they were to attempt the most trifling performance they would speedily proclaim their inefficiency. Unfortunately, though, they are the most prone to express opinions which are neither founded on experience or reality. It very frequently happens that when hounds fail to show sport every reason but the correct one is raised against the unlucky master and the huntsman. Some will exclaim that the huntsman is too slow, others that he is too fast ; others will argue that the hounds are too high bred, or too lusty, or too light, or too small for the country, or too big; when in most cases the only obstacle is want of scent, a phenomenon which human nature cannot control. It is too commonly a custom to express opinions respecting huntsmen; but it is a subject which ought to be delicately treated. Their bread is dependent upon their characters and proficiencies, and it is an unmanly act to injure the reputation of another from 250 RECORDS OF THE CHASE opinions which, after all, may be erroneous. If a hunts- man misconducts himself he is clearly open to censure ; but a remark made touching a man's ability to show sport is quite another affair; there may be reasons which superficial observers cannot be acquainted with : at the same time there is no reason why a hiuitsman or any other person should forget propriety of conduct. This, however, very rarely applies ; in fact I know of only one man of the present day to whom such blame can be attached, and of him all I know is from report ; yet if the reports be true — which, however, I do not doubt — he certainly ought not to be brought into the field. Uncourteous behaviour is reprehensible in all classes, in none more than in a huntsman. Taking them as a body they are entitled to our best considera- tion ; they work hard in their calling ; they are exposed to many risks and to the vicissitudes of the weather to afford sport for those who can choose to encounter similar inconveniences. It appears to be a matter of surprise that a fund or club has never been instituted for the assistance or support of well-conducted, deserving huntsmen and whippers-in, upon a similar principle with the Bentinck Testimonial Fund. It is true that when a servant has been any length of time in the employment of a noble- man or gentleman of wealth he sometimes receives a pension from his master when age and infirmities render him incapable of continuing the performance of his duties ; but there are many very deserving men who are not so well provided for. It might be urged, further, that the establishment of such a fund would operate in deterring noblemen and gentlemen, masters of hounds, from exercising their liberality in behalf of their own servants ; but if such an argument were held good it would apply more especially with regard to jockeys. There are very few of respectability or eminence who have not served wealthy patrons, for whom they have won large sums of money, and yet in A HUNTSMAN'S FUND 251 their old age jockeys have been sometimes left with scanty means of existence. To promote so good a purpose surely every sports- man, every man who enters the field to participate in the thrilling pleasures of the chase, would be anxious to contribute and secure for those men who so frequently risk their lives and limbs in the service of fox-hunting a comfortable annuity when age, accidents, or in- firmities render them incapable of ' active service.' Englishmen are bountiful to excess in many things, especially when a combination of good intentions can be displayed and the subject is taken up by persons of influence and energy. It is the beginning that imposes the difficulty; that overcome, there can be no doubt that the fund would flourish most extensively. CHAPTER XV HABITS AND CUSTOMS No kingdom enjoys the same opportunities of partici- pating in field sports as merry England ; neither is there any other nation where the same social inter- course sheds its genial influence through all classes. There is a freemasonry which binds all who engage in the delightful excitements of the chase with ties para- mount to those of any other amusement. It produces acquaintance, promotes friendship, and affords a topic of highly interesting conversation. While it establishes health it inures the rising generation to activity and disregard for danger. The inducements to enjoy a country life are possibly in some measure diminished by the facility for travelling afforded by the railways, but still fox-hunting has a good tendency in that respect. Landlords are brought into communication with their tenants to the manifest advantage of the latter, among whom considerable sums of money are circulated through various channels connected with the chase. If the landed proprietor were to be deprived of his rural amusements and attraction to his country seat he would naturally seek his pastime elsewhere. By the union of interests everything that is agreeable, satis- factory, and profitable is produced. Hunting, of all other amusements, maintains and is maintained by that union. One country gentleman may be fond of shooting; he may not hunt, but yet he preserves the foxes for those who do ; and he gains by that act of courtesy a vast deal more social pleasure, and the interchanges of friendship produce for him infinitely BRITISH SPORT 253 greater satisfaction than a few brace of pheasants could afford. If a farmer feels annoyed at seeing his fields ridden over, he remembers the fact that horses and servants are maintained upon the produce of his land, and therefore its value is considerably enhanced. The progress of civilisation has exercised a decided influence on the affairs of woodcraft in an equal ratio with other pursuits, and thus many changes have been introduced. Is this to be regarded as an evil omen ? I think quite the reverse. If the social manners and habits of Englishmen had alone advanced in refine- ment, and the customs connected with field sports had remained stationary, a chasm would have been opened which would not readily be closed. Had such been the case, it would be incompatible for a man of cultivated mind and modern education to enter into those amuse- ments. If the spirits were not congenial, the enjoy- ment would be curtailed. Instead of the union which is promoted by fox-hunting, there would have been a division in society. The auguries of a few prejudiced persons predicted that the changes which have taken place would occasion the downfall of British sports, and with it the distinc- tion of the British character — auguries which happily have not been realised, neither is there any cause for apprehension. At no period did the chase ever stand so highly in popular estimation as at present. There may be some individuals who would exult if all manly enjoyments were exterminated, and perhaps others who are envious of everything that undergoes a change — much more so if it is an improvement on ancient customs — who have for several years uttered grave warnings that fox-hunting was hastening to destruc- tion. Comparing the customs of past and present days, which have been enumerated in these pages, such a construction is quite at variance with facts. The irregularity which presided over the arrangements for hunting certain districts must have entailed consider- able inconvenience and annoyance, literally excluding 254 RECORDS OF THE CHASE many from participating in the sport during a great part of the season unless they moved with the hounds from place to place — an event entailing great expense. The early hour for the commencement of operation* — daybreak — although perfectly congenial with the social customs of our grandfathers, who were wont to dine at one, would be tantamount to exclusion when con- sulting the popular taste and habits of the present period. Intent upon the destruction of the vulpine race as our forefathers were — for neither Beckford nor Somerville utters a syllable about the preservation of foxes, an early hour was in some respects desirable. The poet says : — *' For these nocturnal thieves, huntsman, prepare Thy sharpest vengeance. Oh ! how glorious 'tis To right th' oppress'd, and bring the felon vile To just disgrace! Ere yet the morning peep. Or stars retire from the first blush of day. With thy far echoing voice alarm thy pack And rouse thy bold compeers." There were many of the most zealous advocates and steady supporters of the chase who recognised in steeple-chasing an attraction which would seduce the rising generation from the legitimate amusement of their forefathers ; nor were those apprehensions alto- gether groundless. When at its zenith it probably had that effect to a certain extent ; but the ill-savoured pro- ceedings which have pervaded a host of speculators en- gaged in questionable performances have driven modern sportsmen possessed of either wealth or reputa- tion away from the arena. As an inducement to enlist under the banner of steeple-chasing distinction betting was a powerful auxiliary, and on that rock the argosy has split. Happily the hunting field has never been made the nucleus for betting transactions ; if that ever were to be the case it would quickly fall from its high estate. STEEPLE-CHASING 255 The partisans of steeple-chasing — and at one period they were numerous — urged that it would prove bene- ficial to hunting, by reason of the encouragement it offered to persons to breed a description of horses par- ticularly adapted to the field. That, however, has turned out to be quite a mistaken notion, for nine- tenths of the steeple-chase horses are worthless as hunters. But without enrolling myself among the admirers of steeple-chasing I fancy that some advan- tages may have arisen from it by the example of good horsemanship. It must be acknowledged that the style of riding of the present day is far superior to that of 1825. Many of my readers will probably express as- tonishment at this remark, and exclaim that the taste for steeple-chasing causes men to over-ride hounds and occasions a vast deal of mischief. Yet here let me observe that a man may be a very superior horseman and yet have that self-control not to press unfairly upon hounds. I have often noticed men who have no pre- tensions as horsemen creating the greatest confusion ; and perhaps some notion of their own incompetency added to a little rivalry, or jealousy, or some equally insufficient cause, is the ostensible motive. Following a huntsman when he is making his cast is a pretty certain indication that the moment the hounds get upon the scent it is the intention of the person who perpetrates so unsportmanlike an act to set off and ride before they are steadily settled to their work. A good horseman, having confidence in his ability to secure a good place, will not be so over anxious. Where there was one good horseman thirty years ago there are twenty now. In those days there were but few who had the slightest idea of holding their horses together, of selecting the soundest and best ground to ride over, or of looking forward for the most practicable part of the fence ; but with a loose rein, sitting on the horse's back like a sack of grain, you would see the greater portion of those who followed hounds pounding away, as long as the hounds kept on and their horses 256 RECORDS OF THE CHASE had the ability to go. There were a few who rode well, and some of them are still going; but the numbers are limited in comparison with the younger men. To maintain a good place with hounds with the least number of falls is more the order of the day than it was wont to be. Tumbling over fences is not altogether a desirable method of crossing a country ; at any rate it is more amusing to the spectators than the performers ; but when it is performed it should be done artistically, for there is much art in falling, in order to avoid acci- dents and loss of time. But it must not be inferred that any man shall ride to hounds without having falls ; such a doctrine would be absurd; indeed, if security could be effected against such risks one half of the charms of hunting would be exterminated. The glorious uncertainty which is at- tendant upon the chase as well as racing constitutes the excitement, the essence of pleasure. Coming to the conclusion that falls are inevitable, it is a consideration how a man may fall most advan- tageously. Peradventure some gentlemen would be am- bitious to fall gracefully, an accomplishment not readily to be acquired ; others may be content if they can acquire the habit of falling safely, no doubt the most desirable; and in this there is as much difference in men as there is in their style of riding. Coolness and activity are qualifications with which all are not en- dowed alike, and on those enviable exertions the safety of a ' falling hero ' is greatly dependent. When a purl is inevitable, the great object is to get clear of the horse as quickly as possible, in order to avoid his rolling over his rider : some men will spin out of the way with wonderful alacrity, get on their legs, catch their horses as they (the horses) are in the act of rising, remount and start again as if nothing had happened ; while others come down to the ground * a burster,' and lie there as if they were killed, yet in all probability they are not much hurt. Falls are no disparagement to men's abilities as horsemen unless thev be of a cer- ON FALLS 257 tain class, who are readily distinguished by their awk- wardness, and even they can sometimes turn their mis- adventure to account in the estimation of their lady loves when they meet them 'on parade' at Cheltenham or Leamington. I remember a genius of this kind falling over a single rail about two feet high, and riding about afterwards inquiring of every person with whom he had the slightest speaking acquaintance, if they had seen him ' get his fall,' anxious to impress every one with the fact. Having accomplished that purpose he rode off to Cheltenham with a similar intention, al- though he lived five or six miles from that place. Some people make themselves strangely ridiculous. With men possessing any pretensions to the character of horsemen falls are regarded as indicating a sports- manlike determination to ride to hounds at all risks ; and falls are the fortune of war. The general opinion is opposed to strong timber as being the most prolific of danger, especially with a horse that is blown. I doubt whether blind ditches are not more objectionable. A horse that is accustomed to carpentry knows pretty well that it will not yield and will make every effort to rise, whereas more care- lessness is frequently evinced at squire traps. Unless a man is quick in getting up after a fall, it is obvious that it would be better to have gone a short distance out of the line for a more practicable place. When a horse gets away from his rider in a run it may happen that they do not enter into partnership again till the fun is over; and it is not a dignified position or an enviable condition for an ardent gentleman sports- man to be seen making his way across the fields in top boots, entreating every person who passes him to catch his horse. A friend of mine some years ago, on making his debut in Warwickshire, on which occasion the hounds had a verj'^ severe run, had the misfortune to lose his horse very early in the day in those large fields near Woolford Wood. The hounds went straight away and the horse after them, and my friend, not knowing R 258 RECORDS OF THE CHASE anything of the country, succeeded in reaching Halford Bridge, where he procured a conveyance to take him to Leamington, leaving his horse to his fate. That however was fortuitous, as a gentleman residing in the country kindly had him taken to his stable and properly attended to till his owner, hearing where he was, sent for him on the following day. The horse had kept up with the hounds throughout the run, and with the exception of having lost three shoes was none the worse for his single-handed exploit. In those jolly days when the road was in force and sporting travellers enjoyed their journeys on the box- seat of the coaches, when an appointment to one which passed through a good country was a favour regarded as a little fortune, an anecdote was wont to be related of a man who had been working over some middle ground making an application to a London proprietor for a coach, and having exhausted all his rhetoric in self-commendation concluded by saying he had driven many years and had never had his coach overturned. This, which he thought would be the greatest recom- mendation, afforded the coach proprietor, who wished for a favourable pretext, an opportunity of dismissing the applicant most peremptorily. " Then you won't do for us," said he to the astonished knight of the ribbons; "our coaches are constantly being over- turned, and a man who has never had any practice will never be able to set them on their wheels again." If any aspiring young sportsman, having passed his novitiate in a country where the fences are light, priding himself on the paucity of falls he may have ex- perienced, should visit Northamptonshire or any of the other strongly fenced countries, he will find himself precisely in the same dilemma as the disappointed coachman ; for although he may not have to set a coach upon her wheels, he may have to set his horse upon his legs ; in other words, to release him from a ditch, a pro- cess which is often easily accomplished by a means very simple, though not very generally resorted to. DRESS 259 When a horse gets into a ditch upon his back much difficulty is often experienced in extricating him. Countrymen are sought for to assist, and sometimes a team of horses is brought into requisition. By passing a stirrup leather through the stirrup iron so as to in- crease the length of that which is attached to the saddle, and procuring assistance to pull forward at them in such a direction that the girths of the saddle will assist the animal's exertions, while another person endeavours to raise the horse's neck and shoulders, the animal may generally be extricated from his difficulty without any other auxiliary, unless the ditch be very deep and inaccessible. The changes which have taken place in the manners and customs of sportsmen have had a corresponding in- fluence on dress, and it is rather singular that the costume of the present day is very similar to that of the commencement of the present century. How many of the old school have expostulated in dolorous cadence at the discontinuance of the brown-topped boot, de- claring when that characteristic appointment went out of fashion that the enthusiasm of fox-hunting had lost its vitality. They must be highly gratified now that the subject of their regret is reinstated in favour. It would be difficult to explain in what way the chase has at any period been influenced by the colour of a boot- top. At the present period the tint of the boot-top is so perfectly subservient to the taste of the wearer that no man shall be denounced as outri, let his choice of colour be what it may. Dark brown approximating to black, with every shade between that and cream colour to pure white, have each their supporters. Other tops are seen absolutely blushing at the valet's eccentricity; while some turn blue at the confusion of shades by which they are surrounded. Peradventure it is argued that much attention to dress is incompatible with the ardor venandi which distinguishes the sportsman; that it divides the thoughts, in fact, from the ostensible object. But I 260 RECORDS OF THE CHASE would inquire were not our grandsires as punctilious in their costumes as any ' well got-up ' gentleman of the present day ? Were they not as proud of their quaint little pig-tails as a ' swell ' of '53 is of his imperial, and is there as much consistency in one appendage as in the other ? The long-waisted, long-skirted, loose-made, straight-cut single-breasted coat, with a black velvet cap, leather breeches, and brown-topped boots, were in vogue fifty years ago. There is very little difference in the present fashion ; none, except that the skirts of the coat are shortened. They were certainly not cut with so much regard to becoming contour, but then they were generally proportioned by some rural pro- fessor. A journey to London was not an event to be accomplished with very great facility, and country gentlemen were contented to patronise country tailors. Not that there are many of the metropolitan artistes of the present day, highly accomplished as they are in other articles of dress, who can turn out a well-made hunting-coat. They are so apt to fall into an extreme by making it either too precise or too slang-like in the cut; and of all things on earth a slang-looking red coat is the greatest abomination. I never could get a hunting- coat made so well by any other person as Gray of water- proof driving-cape celebrity, though I may say I have seen some good ones turned out by Poole of SavUle Row. The celebrated purveyor of leathers of olden times resided at Tarporley in Cheshire, whose name was White, and in his day there was no one equal to him ; at least so my old friends were used to state ; and much as they are worn now, there are but few who turn them out scientifically. Preston, and Hammond of London, and Whiting of Bisley in Gloucestershire, are undeniable hands. Our forefathers were contented with boots of homely manufacture, and the village professor, no doubt, turned them out in a rough and ready manner ; nor do I appre- hend the London makers were much superior till Hoby, Bartley, and Bum set the example by turning out DRESS 261 hunting-boots neat and sporting-like. The long black, amphibious-looking, half-militar}^, half-snipe-shooting, boots may be convenient to itinerant sportsmen, but they are exceedingly unbecoming. Although we have returned nearly to the fashion of the year 1800, the changes that have taken place since that period in the cut and fashion of a sportsman's costume are conspicuous. About five-and-thirty years ago very short-waisted coats, with remarkably narrow skirts, were worn; the bodies and sleeves were tight, and most miserable garments they were; literally dress coats worn in the hunting-field. The narrow skirts afforded no protection to the thighs from wet or in- clement weather; and they were accompanied by white cords equally disagreeable. The top of the boots were very short, and they were scoured white to match the cords ; altogether no design of costume could be more inconsistent, and yet if a man presumed to wear any- thing not quite in accordance with the fashion he was looked upon as a most uncouth monster. Leathers and hunting-caps were quite out of date about the year 1825, and if any gentleman sportsman had presumed to make his appearance in such toggery, his nearest friends would have exercised their charity by a speedy arrange- ment to relieve him from all intellectual responsibility. In this respect as in many others we have arrived at great improvement. Free trade and freedom of costume go hand in hand, and a man may now wear whatever suits his fancy without incurring the risk of being cut by his most intimate acquaintance because the cut of his coat happens to be different from that of other persons. By slow degrees these inconsistencies of dress were reformed a propos of time about the period when the Reform Bill was passed, and they have continued to improve. The fashion of wearing leathers was resusci- tated some twenty years ago, I believe, in consequence of the stewards of Croxton Park ra-ces, Lords Wilton and Forester and Mr. Maxse, appearing in them on the 262 RECORDS OF THE CHASE course. Lord Wilton would have to wear them as a part of his racing costume ; and in order that the dress of the stewards should be uniform, his lordship's colleagues most probably adopted the same encase- ments; after which they found favour in Leicestershire, and the fashion naturally spread into other countries. To attain distinction in the style of dress suitable for the field is a matter of some difficulty. There are many men who dress well for the ball-room, the promenade, or for ordinary equestrian exercise — who have exquisite taste on those occasions, but who do not evince the same propriety in the hunting-field. Patent-leather boots and satin scarfs are not calculated to withstand the effects of ploughed fields, deep muddy lanes, and bull- finches ; nevertheless we do occasionally see such per- petrations at Cheltenham and Leamington. Mr. Delme Radcliffe, with good taste, eschews black cravats with top-boots under any circumstances ; and although a blue bird's-eye is often worn by the most punctilious in dress, it certainly does not carry the cor- rectness of costume which appertains to the white. It is in proper keeping with neatness and the most scrupulous attention to cleanliness. Any one fastidious in dress of the present day is generally recognised in a coat somewhat of the fol- lowing description. It may be single or double- breasted, made of a good strong cloth, cut nearly straight, with the corners of the skirts just rounded off; the waist made to come down nearly to the cantle of the saddle, to afford protection to the back from cold and wet; the collar moderate in height, and made to turn up in the event of rain ; the sleeves large, with inner cuffs of elastic fabric. The body of the coat should be made to fit loosely, as it will be less subject to admit rain; at the same time if it is extravagantly loose it will be very cold. Caps are unquestionably preferable to hats for many reasons : they afford greater protection to the head in the event of falls ; they are not so liable to come off either from the effects SADDLES AND BRIDLES 263 of the wind or coming in contact with branches of trees or hedges. However correctly a man may be * got up ' himself, unless the saddles and bridles he uses are * in concat- enation accordingly ' the effect will be lost — the snob will peep out. The old-fashioned saddles, such as we see in paintings of horses of the last century, although they have been evidently improved upon in workman- ship were quite correct in form. They were made straight in the seat, not like the Huzzar-fashioned saddles introduced some thirty or forty years since and perseveringly made to this day by one of the most eminent saddlers in London. The importance of a good saddle will be properly appreciated by any man who has once had a bad one. A huge, ill-contrived, spongy, heavy, Dutch-built production is an abomina- tion not to be endured. A miller's pad is preferable. The old-fashioned straight seat should be observed, very low in the cantle, and the pommel not higher than is absolutely necessary to clear the horse's withers. The skirts of a saddle should be cut in conformity with the make of the rider's thighs, and the consequent position of his legs. A man who with short thick thighs sits very upright in his seat requires the skirts of his saddle to be cut straighter than one who is moulded on a more horseman-like model, with thinner and longer thighs, and who sits with his legs forward. The thickness of the padding in the skirts is also a subject worthy of attention. For the purpose of affording a more secure purchase for the knees and legs some saddlers make them very thick, which is certainly objectionable : by extending the knees so far apart the power of the clip is reduced, or at any rate it causes more exertion to bring it into effect. In passing through coverts, or going through stiff fences, the thickness of the stuffing is obviously an impediment. The ease and comfort of the rider are better provided for with a moderate portion of stuffing, and the skirts cut in a position suitable to his seat. 264 RECORDS OF THE CHASE The appendages to saddles which have been intro- duced of late years are by no means sportsmanlike or ornamental. One of these is a contrivance for a drinking fiask, made in the fashion of a horn-case ; and a horse carrying the insignia may be mistaken for that of the master of the hounds or the huntsman — an affec- tation which some persons may be silly enough to emulate. Canteens for provisions, emporiums for cigars and spare shoes, are occasionally seen suspended from the sides. I could not avoid noticing a saddle which I saw recently with all these fittings at Bath, made by Mr. Hunt, which at first I imagined was destined for some sporting emigrant about to proceed to a country where it would be necessary to carry a supply equal to a week's consumption ; but on inquiry I found that was not the case. Mr. Hunt deserves all praise for the ingenuity of the contrivances, which were extended even to an apparatus for lighting cigars, quaintly inserted under one of the flaps, and which in my ignorance I mistook for some mechanical device. Assuredly saddle-makers in the country have im- proved exceedingly within the last ten years in their manner of finishing those important articles ; and a man need not to despair of obtaining one at Bath, Worcester, Cheltenham, Shrewsbury, Leamington, and other towns : but if he desires to have a superior one he must go to a first-rate London house, such as ^Vhippy's, Oldacre's, or Heaven's ; for be it remembered most of the others in the great metropolis are only on an equality with the country makers. Forming a part of the sportsman's paraphernalia a whip is not the most insignificant article. Steeple- chasing has the credit of having introduced into the hunting-field an implement similar to the racing-whip, but with a strong hook at the head. The crop without the thong preceded this ; and that, in all probability, was the parent of the steeple-chase invention. Even a short hooked stick was in vogue at one period with young gentlemen who aspired to consequential and WHIPS 265 slang-like notoriety. A neat, light whip, with rather a short thong, is the most consistent in the hand of a sportsman. It may, perhaps, be objected that as a gentleman who is a mere spectator is not about to act the part of a whipper-in the thong is an unnecessary and useless encumbrance : but that is not exactly cor- rect; there are times when it is useful. When in covert, for example, while passing along a ride hounds often come suddenly very close to the heels of the horses, which will occasion some to lash out. The whip being held out, with the thong in a pendulous state, will act as a caution and prevent an accident. The same thing frequently happens in a road; and every gentleman who goes out to enjoy a day's sport must feel ex- 'cessively annoyed if any little want of care and atten- tion on his part should be the cause of injurj' to a valuable hound. The appointments do not appear to be complete unless there is a thong to the whip ; but the application of it to the hounds by a stranger would doubtless be an act of the most egregious impropriety. I once saw an individual arrayed in pink — the only insignia of the sportsman about him, I must observe — as he was riding through a covert strike a hound most vigorously with his whip. The hound was industriously feeling for a cold scent ; and I could not avoid inquiring the cause of such an indiscreet assault. The reply was that he wanted to send the hound on to the others ; and yet it was one of the leading hounds. If such an act had been perpetrated in the presence of many masters of hounds their benedictions would not have been inaudible or their expressions restrained to the mildest terms. Certainly persons who do not observe more decorum in the use of their whips would do well to leave the thongs at home. CHAPTER XVI SPORT AND CHARACTER The general character of the English sportsman un- doubtedly never stood so high, if it be fairly investi- gated, as it does at the present period, and it is a gratifying fact that their numbers are daily increasing. But it is necessary to observe the distinction between the sportsman and the sporting man ; one is the genuine, the other the assumed condition. Of the latter I think comparatively their numbers are on the decrease. In these remarks I must be understood as confining my observations within the circle connected with the chase, totally exclusive of all the host which has sprung up on the speculative fabric of the turf. The term of sportsman, if properly interpreted, signifies a man who delights in the legitimate sports of the field, whether it be racing, hunting, shooting, or fishing. And he enjoys the sport only when it is con- ducted according to fair and honourable practices, in which with becoming spirit he can participate. In this category all classes, with the distinction of their respective stations, may be enrolled, from the most affluent peer to the poorest peasant. If either were to transgress the conventional rules of sporting he would lose caste, as the poacher does who snares the hares and pheasants. The difference between the sportsman and the sporting man is very clear and distinct ; the former is replete with high bearing, hospitality, integrity of purpose, manliness, candour, frankness, a SPORTSMEN AND SPORTING MEN 267 zealous desire to contribute to the amusement, hap- piness, and welfare of all his fellow beings ; he is generously liberal, and his purse is ever open according to its capacity to relieve distress. Zealously devoted to sport, he enters into it con amore, watching every event with interest ; thus he derives all the enjoyments the pursuit is capable of affording. The sporting man, on the other hand, is quite a different character. He professes to be fond of field sports because he imagines it raises him in the estimation of his unsophisticated companions, and he fancies he deceives others into the same impressions. The most interesting occurrences in the chase or other sporting events are unheeded, be- cause he is scarcely able, even if willing, to appreciate them. He may or he may not be a hard-riding man; but if he is his presence with hounds is a source of regret, because he never fails to over-ride them when he has an opportunity, for the sake of distinction, which is his greatest idol. The manners of the gentleman are innate in the sportsman, though assumed by the sporting-man, who mingles some little inapplicable technicalities with slang — sure indication of a vulgar mind. Refinement has made its way to the covert side as well as into the more polished spheres of social inter- course. Courtesy and decorum are as necessary in the field as in the drawing-room, and the same observance of etiquette which stamps the gentleman in one situa- tion accompanies him in the other. Rivalry comes into effect principally in a run, and is very inoffensive in its nature. Some ardent spirits are ambitious of the lead, while others are perfectly indifferent who may be before or behind them, so long as they are in a position to see the hounds perform their work. Perchance the latter are the most zealous in the good cause. If gentle- men would not ride quite so close to hounds and to each other as they usually do, it would be more con- ducive to sport and personal convenience. One man may come in contact with another in an open field, no insult or annoyance is intended, neither is any injury 268 RECORDS OF THE CHASE sustained; a mutual apology ensues and sets all right. But on approaching a fence it is a different affair. In case the one who is leading happens to fall and another is following close on his heels, the great probability is that the latter cannot stop his horse in time, and, there- fore, rides over his companion. This is an unwarrant- able custom, but too frequently practised in the fast and fashionable countries. There is also another great evil in this unworkman-like style of riding. Many horses will go perfectly safe, cool, and collected at their fences when not too closely pressed, but will rush at them when they find others close on their quarters ; a similar degree of excitement prevails with many hunters when they are following very near to others. Attempting to go up and take the lead of another on approaching a fence is yet more unsportsman-like. Ambitious gentlemen who desire to make up lost ground had far better take another line by riding at a fresh place than by following others, if it be through a gap. The notion that fox-hunting is on the decline is quite at variance with facts. The comparisons which I have endeavoured to draw with accuracy in these pages must rebut such an assertion. Many of the manners and customs of the chase have been altered to suit the tastes, the habits, and the convenience of the present generation; but those changes do not denote decline. If any country becomes vacant there are numerous candidates for the honour of hunting it ; and every season the numbers who assemble at the covert side are on the increase. It is an argument with those who are jealous of all changes that there are not so many who go out from a pure love of hunting and the details connected therewith as there were in former days. At the same time that I am not in a position to admit that conclusion, it would be inadmissible to scrutinise the motive of every individual who comes out to meet hounds. Whether a man derives his enjoyment from admiring a fine pack of hounds in first-rate condition, SPORTSMEN AND SPORTING MEN 269 from seeing them draw for and find their fox in a true sporting style, racing and hunting their game, and finally killing in the most perfect manner, assisted by a clever huntsman; or whether he merely comes out as an almost unobservant, unobtrusive addition to the group, so that he conducts himself with propriety, not in any way interrupting sport or doing mischief by heading foxes and overriding hounds, he ought to be, and I think is, invariably welcomed at the covert side, even if he merely comes there to show himself ; and he ought also to be numbered as one participating in and patronising the sports of the field. There are, however, many excellent sportsmen, who may be easily recognised by a stranger, attendant upon all the popular packs of the day. They may be seen, ere they have exchanged the horses they have ridden to covert for their hunters, scrutinising the pack, and making anxious inquiries of the huntsman and whips, by whom they are received with civility, attention, and respect ; but if a snob approaches he is greeted with a request not to bring his horse among the hounds, lest he should kick them. At the same time a great number of those who have arrived will be seen in groups at a distance from the pack, evidently careless and pro- bably ignorant of the condition of hounds, and appar- ently apprehensive of approaching too near. Some- times that caution arises from a consciousness of mischievous riding on a previous day and the expectation of receiving a merited remonstrance from the master of the hounds. Many of those who hunt constantly do not care one jot how a fox is found, or how the pack performs the duties ; neither do they think or care whether a gallop is the effect of chance or the scientific management of the master and huntsman. They may only go out to ride, or perchance from a less ostensible motive — for the sake of saying they hunt ; but still the numerical force proclaims the fact that as a national amusement fox-hunting is held in the highest estimation. 270 RECORDS OF THE CHASE A distinction may be drawn between a taste for the science of fox-hunting and that of a taste merely for hunting. The former may be understood as combining a knowledge of all the minutiae connected with the chase, such as breeding hounds, the most celebrated blood, the peculiar propensities of certain hounds, con- dition, style of drawing coverts, finding, pace, hunting, steadiness, stoutness, and all the good or bad pro- perties for which hounds are distinguished. To be con- versant with these a man must be a true lover of hunting, and enjoy opportunities of cultivating his observations to an extent not on all occasions avail- able, or compatible with other engagements. Yet I must make the remark that the more intimately a man is acquainted with the details which may be classed with the science of fox-hunting, the more he will be gratified with that popular amusement. A man may not be in a position to study the means which are adapted to bring a pack of hounds to the covert side in that state of perfection which is essential for the pur- pose of showing sport. These are matters, it must be admitted, in which the public do not necessarily bear a part in the accomplishment, but there are many little items connected with field management and discipline which are not only essential to the enjoyment of a day's sport but an acquaintance with which is neces- sary in order to avoid interruption to the sport of those who are assembled. Unless a man devotes his attention to the hounds when they are drawing for their fox he loses in all probability the first act in the most interesting scene of the day — the find — and when the fox is on his legs, without paying attention to the proceedings of the pack a man can form no idea in what direction the fox will most probably break covert. Neglecting this, he may probably be in a situation to head the varmint back again, for which he is severely remonstrated with by the master of the hounds ; or being on the opposite side of the covert loses the start ; either of which events produce feelings INCIDENTS IN THE FIELD 271 of mortification. The only alternative for one who is a novice or is indifferent to the very interesting events so happily blended with fox-hunting, is to mingle with the crowd, and when the fox breaks covert to content himself with following a leader or leaders, as the case may be. The fox having got clear of the covert, the hounds having settled down to the scent and being seen scoring away at a racing pace, every man has a chance of riding and exhibiting his prowess ; but here it is absolutely necessary he should pay attention to passing events if he has obtained the enviable position of show- ing himself in the first flight ; just having done so some change may take place ; either the hounds overrun the scent and come to a check, or gain a covert. The hero ambitious of riding fame, if he should have assisted in pressing the hounds beyond the line, sustains a double mortification — firstly from the censure of the master of the hounds, and secondly from the conviction that he has not only defeated his own purpose and interest but also interrupted the sport of his companions by his own inadvertence. Towards the conclusion of the last, and about the commencement of the present, century, there were very few regular packs of hounds kept comparatively to what we now have. Each pack ranged over a great extent of country, and they seldom hunted more than three days in the week. There were, no doubt, several scratch packs, or trencher packs as they were termed, which were kept at walks throughout the winter, used for the purpose of hunting fox or hare ; but they could not come under the denomination of regular establish- ments, the chief of which consisted of the Dukes of Rutland and Beaufort's ; those of the Earls Yarborough, Berkeley, Fitzwilliam, Scarborough, Spencer, Stam- ford and Warrington ; Sir R. Pulestone ; Messrs. Meynell, Corbet, Forester, Warde, Childe, Lambton, Poyntz, and Heron. If we add to these about half a dozen packs of minor fame, exclusive of the trencher packs, the total number will not amount to twenty- 272 RECORDS OF THE CHASE five. At the present date (1854) the following list exhibits nearly four times that number — The Albrighton The Atherstone The Bads worth The Duke of Beaufort's The Bedale The Belvoir The Berkshire The Blackmore Vale The Bramham Moor The Brocklesby The Burton The Cambridgeshire The Cheshire The Cleveland Mr. Colyer's The Craven The Crawley and Horsham The South Devon The South Down Mr. Drake's The Durham County Lord Eleho's The East Essex The Essex and Suffolk The Essex Union The South Essex Mr. Farquh arson's Earl Fitzhardinge's Earl Fitzwilliam's The Four Barrow Mr. Furze's Mr. Garth's The H. H. Mr. Henley Greave's The Hambledon The Haydon The Herefordshire The Holderness The Hursley The Hurworth Mr. Meynell Ingram's Isle of Wight The Kent The Ludlow Mr. Lumley's Mr. Lushington's The Monmouthshire Mr. Morgan's Sir Charles Morgan's The New Forest Mr. Newton's The Oakley Mr. Phillip's Mr. Lort Phillip's The Puckeridge The Pytchley The Quorn The Raby The Rufford Mr. Russell's Sir H. Seale's The Shropshire The Sinnington Mr. T. A. Smith's The West Somerset Lord Southampton's The North Staffordshire The Suffolk The Surrey Union The East Sussex The Tindale The Tiverton Mr. Trelawney's The United Pack The Vale of White Horse The South Wilts The South W^old The North Warwickshire The W^arwickshire The Wheatland Mr. Wheble's Mr. Willoughby's (late Sir T. Sykes) The Worcestershire The Wye Side Sir W. W. Wynn's PACKS OF HOUNDS 273 The Ledbury Col. Wyndham's Lord Lonsdale's The York and Ainsty Wales The Begelly Mr. Powell's The Carmarthenshire The Stone Hall The Cresselly The Teify Side The Goggerddan Three of these packs hunt six days in the week, three five days, about two or three and twenty four days, six or seven and twenty three days, and the remainder two, some of them occasionally varying according to circumstances ; but the average may be laid as nearly as possible at three days in the week. Thus we have to all intents and purposes four times as much hunting as our ancestors enjoyed. Those noblemen and gentlemen whom I have en- umerated as masters of hounds some fifty years since maintained their establishments entirely at their own expense, whereas more than three-fourths of those which are now at work are kept by subscription, and there are many very forcible arguments which may be urged in favour of that custom. There are but few noblemen or gentlemen so overwhelmed with money and otherwise circumstanced as to render their incurring all the ex- penses a matter of propriety, even if they were so dis- posed. Sons and heirs-at-law may not think it fair that the expenses of a sport which affords health and amuse- ment to thousands should fall upon the shoulders of an individual ancestor; nor would it be any consolation to a son on coming into possession of an encumbered estate to know that the difficulties which surround him were incurred by the expenses of keeping hounds for the amusement of the county. It is not unfrequently a very difficult task to meet with a gentleman duly qualified to take the management of a pack of hounds. The undertaking involves a number of little events which are never dreamt of by a novice, and thus so many give 274 RECORDS OF THE CHASE up their task after a year or two's probation. A man must either be possessed of very ample funds and some zeal for the good cause, or a vast deal of zeal backed by a liberal subscription ; and considering the immense number of persons who are daily in the habit of meeting hounds during the winter season, there is no justifiable reason why subscriptions should not be liberal in the extreme. Gentlemen who fairly consider the matter, whether they live in London, Cheltenham, Leamington, or any other place, ought to bear in mind the heavy expenses and responsibilities in which a master of hounds involves himself, and when participating m the amusements should at least contribute to the expenses. The appointments of nearly every pack of hounds are advertised. It is a notice, or, in fact, an invitation to join them, and it was introduced when the popularity of fox-hunting was rising. The first intimation of the kind that I have been able to discover was about forty years ago, when the publishers of newspapers were de- sirous to charge masters of hounds for the insertion which they are now glad to give as an essential piece of intelligence. It is a question which I have frequently heard dis- cussed whether the slow hoimds of ancient days did not afford more sport than the speedy ones of the present. Here it must be observed that the speed of a single hound does not decide the speed of the pack. It is the head they carry, and their quickness in turning with the scent or recovering it when lost, which constitute the pace. This is, no doubt, a subject on which it is rather hazardous to express an opinion ; but those of the present day are decidedly best adapted for our purposes. The number of foxes killed by any particu- lar pack of hounds affords no criterion of the sport they have enjoyed. I cannot subscribe to the opinion that a slow hound shall be capable of hunting a colder scent than a fast one. Perhaps speed may inculcate the idea of impetuosity, and thus if a fast hound will not take time to feel for and make out a cold scent, he may be EXTRAORDINARY RUNS 275 deficient in that respect, which is more the result of temper and management than capacity. There is always a distinction to be made between a fast hound and a quick one. The hound which is quick in turning with the scent and hitting it off after a check will get nearer to his fox than one that may be individually more speedy, if the latter is not quick in his work. A slow hound, even if he be able to hunt a cold scent, must always labour under this disadvantage : not being able to get forward with it so speedily when running there must be a great probability of its dying away when a fox makes for a distant point. As specimens of the stoutness occasionally evinced by hounds and foxes the two following accounts of runs are in all probability unequalled in the annals of fox hunting. The first was with the Bel voir hounds, the other with Lord Drumlanrig's ; and the communication was from his lordship to the Editor of BeWs Life. There are just eighteen years between the date of the two, and the run with Lord Drumlanrig's hounds serves to corroborate my remarks respecting the stout- ness and superiority of mountain foxes. On Tuesday, December 18th, 1833, the Duke of Rutland's hounds met at Newton Toll-bar, the wind south-west and the atmosphere cold. A little before twelve the hounds were thrown into Falkingham Gorse, which held a varmint old fox that for three seasons had beaten this pack over the same line of country, and was still left to beat them again. Almost at the first dash of the hounds into covert, he broke gallantly * away,' and was viewed with his head pointing for his accustomed line, and " Now for the Fens," was reiter- ated through the field. He went away at a rattling pace with the hounds almost close to his brush, passing Threckingham Town-end near the Lincoln road, on to Spanby and Swaton Bridge-end, turned to Thorpe Latimer for Car Dyke, up to which point Lord Forester, Messrs. Charles and Robert Manners, Mr. Housman, and a few others, were well up with the 276 RECORDS OF THE CHASE hounds, but the dyke proved a stopper. Mr. Willerton was the only gentleman who crossed the dyke, which he accomplished with great difficulty. The others made for a place that was fordable, and after losing a considerable space of time got on to the line, when inquiries were made which way the hounds had gone. " Straight away, and only one gentleman with them," was the answer, and all put forward at best pace, hoping a check would let them in. A more formidable place than the Car Dyke then presented itself, the Helpringham Eau, a deep bottomless drain, some fifty feet wide. Mr. Willerton crossed this also, but the hounds were out of sight. The second whip followed Mr. Willerton's example, and with the exception of Goosey and Mr. Tindle, who, after riding some two hours and a half in the direction of Boston, came up with the hounds at last : no one else saw anything of the run. Goosey got to his hounds just as it was getting dark, and being then thirty-four miles from home in a strange country, thought it prudent to whip off, and reached the kennel about half-past one the next morning. During the last half-hour the fox was never above ten minutes before the hounds, and latterly they were frequently in the same field together. He was one of the coolest hands ever known ; and after crossing one of the fen drains he was seen to go into a stackyard and rub his sides against a stack, starting off as soon as he heard the hounds approaching. When they whipped off he was not five minutes before them ; and took up his quarters that night in a shed within two hundred yards of the place. The distance was thirty-seven miles from point to point without any turnings, and considering all things could not be less than forty-five miles. The run lasted three hours and thirty-seven minutes, with only three or four short checks. Comment is unnecessary; it serves to show what hounds can do by themselves on a good-scenting day when unmolested bv a crowd of horsemen. WITH LORD DRUMLANRIG'S 277 We have here another example of a similar kind, of more recent date. A runaway Run in the Hills of Dumfriesshire. " Mr. Editor, " Mr. Smith has said that there are foxes who will beat any hounds in any country; and it was Mr. Delme Radcliffe, I believe, who, without flatly contradicting Mr. Smith, expressed a wish that some of his friends might be allowed to tackle these long- striding customers, and try their chance with them before subscribing to so startling a doctrine. I am too young a hand, and I have yet too much to learn in the * noble science ' to decide between such great author- ities ; but I had yesterday (and I wish they had both been with me) over the wildest and over the best- scenting country I know of in the world, a run, con- sidering all that occurred, the most extraordinary I not only ever rode to, but ever heard of in the annals of fox-hunting. I am induced to send you the following particulars as a tribute not to what the riders did, but as a tribute which is fairly due to what a fox really can do when found in a strange country, and when determined to go home. " Our meet was Carmichael, the extreme west fixture in the country. The morning was very misty, and it was nearly twelve o'clock before the hounds were put into cover. We did not find at Carmichael, and went back three miles to the Barr Cover, a small larch wood of about seven acres on the side of a steep hill, but which always holds a fox. We found instanter. I viewed the fox away, and the hounds coming handy to my holloa, were settled well on him before he had three minutes' start of us. I looked at my watch ; it pointed to twenty minutes past one o'clock. At four o'clock the same evening, five and twenty miles off, as direct as the crow flies, my hounds were last seen; and, from all I can learn, they were carrying a good head beyond Durrisdeer, near Sanquhar, going right in the direction of the Lead Hills. " I can give little or no description of the run. I had two horses out, and I rode both of them to a stand- still before reaching Lock Katterick, twelve miles from 278 RECORDS OF THE CHASE deficient in that respect, which is more the result of whip, and Mr. Bordell, from Dumfries, got thus far, but no farther. If ever the hounds checked, it was un- known to me ; for after the first twenty minutes neither I nor any one was within a mile of them. Indeed, had it not been for the sheep we should never have guessed their line even ; our first field was a plough field — a good long one it was — but after that heather and grass every yard of the way — right through the hills we went : but the hills were not steep, and had this run been in March or in October no better galloping ground could have been wished for ; after the wet weather, how- ever, it was very sticky. " I cannot tell you if the hounds killed. I cannot tell you even where they ran to. I know not even if ever I shall see them all again. My whip and I slept at Thornhill last night : and we have been all day blowing our horns on the hills— and have recovered six couples of hounds — the rest of them may have returned to the kennels thirty miles off. We start for there at nine o'clock to-night. Not only is it, I think, a great feat for a fox, with only three minutes' start, to have reached a country five and twenty miles off in less than three hours, but when on the hills to-day we were shown by the shepherds (and they could have had no object in telling an untruth) a positive precipice, what we call in Scotland a scan, up which the fox and hounds went. Camp Cleuch was the name of the place. This scan is full of earths, and it was natural to sup- pose that this was the fox's point from the commence- ment of his journey, since he went to it at all. But it appears that afterwards this same fox or a fresh fox came down into the low country again ; at any rate the hounds did, and they were last seen, or rather heard, running past Durrisdeer, three miles beyond Camp Cleuch. " I believe, without vanity, that so extraordinary a feat for a fox to perform deserves to be chronicled, and this is my sole object : from what I hear of my hounds they carried a head and did their best — angels could do no more. Recollect that our fox did not steal away, but was pressed from the very beginning of the run; and I may add that so small a fox was he that I re- marked to a farmer who was near me, soon after he broke cover, ' This is only a cub, and if he attempts WITH LORD DRUMLANRIG'S 279 the moor country, we shall run into him directly ! ' If ever I recover my hounds and have another run, I will let you know. Drumlanrig." Thornhill, Saturday, December 20, 1851." *' Mr. Editor, " I am well aware that it is not the usual practice for a M.F.H. to publish himself the feats performed in his own country' or by his own hounds ; but I trust that in this single instance a conscientious desire to do full justice to the gallant heart and to the powers of endurance which on Friday last were so wonderfully exhibited by our Barr Cover fox in his flight into Nithsdale, may plead successfully against imputation either of vanity or presumption on my part. Peace be to his manes! for he lived not to tell his own tale, but died on the banks of the River Nith, five miles from the town of Sanquhar. Eheu quorum pars non Jul! I only heard this last crowning piece of news to-day, having returned into that part of the country in search of two hounds who are still missing. The rest, I may mention, all made their appearance at the kennel between six and eleven o'clock the day after the run. My first whip and I have ridden the run back- wards since this morning; at least enough of the ground (by the help of a road which runs for several miles parallel to the line we went on Friday) to have gained a perfect knowledge of the country gone over, both as regards its nature and its extent. I have lived in Dumfriesshire all my life, and I remember five different packs of hounds here ; but I neither myself ever crossed this part of the country before, nor does the oldest inhabitant, as far as I can discover, recollect seeing or hearing of hounds crossing it beyond the first six miles of our run. " I believe on my word that this run can hardly be paralleled. The hounds — five or six couple of them at least — were settled well on their fox while he was still in my view. I can swear that for the first six miles they never checked for one single instant ; after that I am hardly an authority ; for, getting a fall over a stone wall, I lost sight of them, and never was able again to recover my lost ground. Mr. Charles Hope Johnston, and Joseph Graham, the first whip — who passed me 280 RECORDS OF THE CHASE while on the ground — from that point continued to lead, but saw little more of the hounds than I did ; but I have spoken to several shepherds and farmers on my way home to-day, and, except for about half a minute, I have no evidence — indeed, strong presumptive evi- dence to the contrary — that the hounds ever checked at all. The fox was killed in the River Nith, two miles above Durrisdeer, and this latter-named place is as the crow flies more than twenty miles from the Barr Cover. There were two bends in the run — one a sweep round by the left in the early part of the run, as if going to Dalswinton, a common line for a fox to take in this part of the country ; then, changing his mind, or at any rate his course, he held on upwards : many miles further on after passing Queensbury, and upon entering the Duke of Buccleuch's property, he dodged round a farm-house, tried to enter some sheds, and failing in such attempts, he turned in full view both of hounds and several farm- servants, and went right up a steep mountain called Camp Cleuch. Here they disappeared ; but presently returned into the low country over the far shoulder of this mountain, about two miles off, and in full view of the herd on this farm ; from thence they held on to Durrisdeer, where both fox and hounds were seen by a Mr. Dickson, who declares that they were running in view. It was, however, ten miles further on, in the actual bed of the River Nith, that the hounds were seen eating this truly gallant fox — Quseque ipsa non vidi. The clergyman's son was passing by on the high road, and is my informant on this most truly grand announcement. May I not say, finis coronal opus? "Now for the time ; it was, as I said in my last, exactly by my watch twenty minutes after one o'clock when I viewed the fox away. I was told the next morning that at four o'clock the hounds were last seen running past Durrisdeer. It was, however, as I well remember, very dark at four o'clock according to my watch; and on further inquiry, I am positively told by the Duke of Buccleuch's gamekeeper among others, that the day was still quite clear when the hounds passed that place. It must consequently have been rather under the two hours and a half from the find at the Barr Cover to the kill in the Nith, half way be- tween Thornhill and Sanquhar, and I am prepared to prove that the ground gone over is as near, if not WITH LORD DRUMLANRIG'S 281 nearer thirty, than five and twenty miles. As to the nature of the ground, it was perfection for hounds ; heather, and green grassy hills ; with the exception of the Camp Cleuch, there was little or no steep ground gone over. Had this run taken place in the month of March, when the moors are dry, no true lover of a wild, real fox-hunting run need, with a thorough-bred horse, have desired, even for mere riding's sake, a greater treat ; as it was, the recent rain had made the hills very sticky. And now, Mr. Editor, farewell. I have en- deavoured to do full credit to the memory and to the stout heart of this most extraordinary fox ; his equals have, I venture to submit, been rarely known. Floreat scientia — esto perpetua. Drumlanrig." Glen Stuart, Monday. CHAPTER XVII THE OBJECTS OF HUNTING When hunting was first adopted by man it was un- deniably for the purpose of procuring food, subsequently for the destruction of ferocious beasts ; and experience soon added another and not less interesting motive. However necessary the possession of the precious metal is to procure the blandishments of social life, without health the possessor is not in a condition to appreciate and enjoy the boon. The discovery was made in very early times that strong exercise was essential to the promotion of bodily health and vigour. It is reasonable to presume that in all ages those who were not com- pelled to labour for their daily existence required some stimulus to exertion, and although the ancient inhabitants of Great Britain had not to contend against many of the evils which accompany luxurious in- dulgence, yet the science of medicine was but imper- fectly understood. Hence the energetic engagements of the chase were earnestly recommended as an anti- dote to plethoric disorders by the earliest writers upon, and advocates of, the soul-stirring amusement. Whether a man reposes under the conviction that he follows the chase inspired only with the pure love of sport — whether he is actuated by the influential sway of fashion or whether he adopts the life of a sportsman ostensibly for the promotion of his health — still the object is attained, and each devotee to the chaste goddess is at the same time courting Hygeia according to the most pleasing interpretation of his own fancy. The sportsman's season may be dated from the 12th of August, commencing with grouse shooting, to which CUB-HUNTING 283 deer-stalking and fishing may be claimed as auxiliaries. The gay attractions of the metropolis have lost their charms, and all who have the power have assuredly the will to quit that murky atmosphere and feast their appetite on rural pastimes. Cub-hunting usually com- mences about the same period as grouse-shooting; but it is a sport in which few of the present day are dis- {xjsed to join. Does not this rather denote that our grandsires were more devoted to sylvan pleasures than the present generation, when the former would brave the inclemency of a dreary, peradventure tempestuous, ride to covert on a dark morning in December, in order to commence operations at break of day ? Yet few will now arise from their couch to greet the sun in all his splendour on a beautiful autumnal morning. The truth is that our habits have changed, and inclinations are extensively subservient to habits. The avocations of shooting and numerous other engagements afford legitimate pretexts for the sportsman of 1853 not at- tending to the tutelage of the merry pack during their probationary course of cub-hunting. It must also be observed that there is now a diversity of amusements open to the enjoyment of all who are fortunate enough to possess the means of paying for them. Yachting ranks among the most attractive, and with fair weather the month of September and part of October may be passed agreeably on the sea-coast. There are several reasons why cub-hunting is not a favourite amusement with every man who at a more advanced season is devotedly attached to fox-hunting. The most extensive woodlands are selected, for the purpose of driving the foxes from their strongholds, and by frequently disturbing them in those quarters induce them to resort to the small coverts which, being kept scrupulously quiet, are to be regarded as certain places of finding when the season is more advanced. Another object being that of killing the cubs, the old foxes are permitted to break away, while the juveniles are headed back. Such woodland pastime does not 284 RECORDS OF THE CHASE assimilate with the taste of hard riders, who desire nothing but a burst over the open; and the fox-hunter who comes out for fashion's sake must necessarily repudiate such practices. The fields are therefore numerically small and exclusively select, consisting principally of the master of the hounds, obviously anxious to watch the expanding instinct of his young entry. A few true devotees of the chase, and probably a farmer or two residing in the neighbourhood, usually form the little group. Those who confine their hunting generally to one pack of hounds naturally acquire an interest in all their proceedings. As the soldier describes the glorious achievements of the regiment to which he belongs, so does the sportsman proudly boast of the prowess of the pack which he identifies as that to which he belongs : and each makes the distinction from all others as our regiment and our hounds. With them much gratifica- tion is obtained in cub-hunting; they participate with the master in the promising conduct of the rising generation. The first touch on the horn or the first challenge of the hound is sufficient to awaken them from their slumbers ; they enter into the sport with enthusiasm and delight. Every year, and every season of the year, opens with a series of anticipations con- templative of forthcoming destinies which await the pleasures, the interests, and the vicissitudes which are in store. The sportsman entertains sanguine hopes that the foxes are plentiful, that the young hounds will enter favourably, and that a good-scenting season will assist them in the development of their powers. The approach of the hunting-season brings to new life a host of pleasing engagements and joyful expecta- tions. The daily progress of the hunter's condition as the time draws near is a source of interest ahke with those who are enabled to keep large studs and those who are compelled to confine their limits to a single horse. Possibly it proves an excuse for a brief visit to the metropolis to replenish the wardrobe, the OPENING FIXTURES 285 saddlery department, or other of the sportsman's requisites, which the last season's campaign had rendered unfit for actual service. I am unable to discover the custom which was adopted by the great Mr. Meynell of bidding welcome to the first day of the season, and am therefore led to the conclusion that there was no general rule observed ; but it has been the practice for many years with the Quom Hounds to meet at Kirby Gate on the first Monday in November. It is a glorious sight and worth going a long distance to enjoy, when the best horses, belonging to the best men in the best country in England are in attendance. Can there be a man whose soul is so inanimate as not to be aroused by such a gladsome festival } If there be one in this unhappy condition I would beseech him, as he loves himself, his kindred, and his country, to hie him to the joyful cry. It will dispel his lethargic dreams, elevate his hopes, beguile his cares, and render his temper gracious. At the time when Mr. Corbet hunted Warwickshire it was customary for the members of the club to meet at their head-quarters, Stratford-on-Avon, on the first Monday in November ; and on that day the Lord Willoughby de Broke tendered his hospitalities to a numerous party at dinner. It was an example worthy of imita- tion, and added much grace to the auspicious occasion. The hospitable mansion Tidworth House is thrown open by Mr. T. A. Smith on the first regular hunting- day in the respective seasons. To say that it equals Kirby Gate in the exhibition of the equestrian order would be a transgression of the truth, for the sur- rounding country does not contain or require such studs ; but the canine members of this celebrated establishment cannot be excelled, and it is a treat of which every sportsman should avail himself if within reach. Every visitor is welcomed and ushered through the magnificently appointed rooms, where a repast is laid out of everything tempting to the appetite and gratify- ing to the palate. This festival usually takes place on 286 RECORDS OF THE CHASE the Thursday which falls nearest to the 1st of November. A splendid conservatory containing choice plants leads from the house to the stables, which are on these occasions thrown open for the inspection of the visitors. There is a covered ride, appropriated to the use of the stud in bad weather, rather more than a furlong in extent — a. convenience of great advantage ; and everything which wealth and good judgment can suggest is carefully provided both for hounds and horses. A similar practice was observed by the late Sir John Cope during the time he hunted the Bramshill country, and is still continued by his successor Mr. Wheble. Gloomy associations are wont to be connected with the month of November ; but the pleasures of the chase are well calculated to remove them. The cheering sound of the horn rouses the sportsman from his reverie, and gives new life to his soul. '' The echoing hills and chiding hounds invite;" and fox-hunting dispels all our cares. Wonderful changes have taken place within the last few years in our social policy. Trade has flourished to an unprecedented extent ; and the enjoyments of the chase are available among a vast number of her Majesty's liege subjects who in former days were precluded from participating in the amusement. None have derived greater benefit from these changes than those whose inclinations or occupations involve the necessity of a residence in the metropolis. Nothing can more effectu- ally minister to their health and pleasure than fox- hunting. It is an acceptable relaxation from daily occupations ; and the clear atmosphere of the country is an agreeable change for the murky clouds of London. When railways were first introduced grave forebodings were expressed that they would be the cause of exter- minating fox-hunting, and several masters of hounds expressed their intentions of giving up their establish- ments ; intentions which, it is almost needless to observe, have not in any one instance been put into effect. Fears were anticipated that foxes would run the line, and the hounds following them, in the event of a train coming FOXES AND RAILWAYS 287 at the time, that the whole pack would be destroyed. These apprehensions were fortunately groundless, for the railways are lines which foxes repudiate. The principal effect which railroads produce is causing foxes to run short; for they are not even partial to crossing them, and I have observed several instances of their running parallel with the railroads when not hard pressed. The accommodations which railways afford are more than commensurate with the evils; and a fox- hunter desirous to do so may vary the scene of his venatic pleasures with great ease and at a comparatively trifling cost; not forgetting, however, to be provided with a change of clothes, to be put on before he returns after the day's sport. Nothing is more conducive to rheumatic affections and colds than travelling in any kind of carriage without changing the dress. Even if there has not been any rain to wet the garments, the perspiration produced by the exertion of riding causes a dampness peculiarly disagreeable and dangerous. Unaccustomed to exercise, the human frame is not in a state to bear even moderate efforts without fatigue. Condition is of great importance to man, and those who lead sedentary lives will find it greatly conducive to their convenience if they will undergo some probationary work prior to the commencement of the hunting season. Shooting for those who have the inclination and oppor- tunity to engage in it is an excellent introduction. Without strong exercise the body soon accumulates a deposit of fat, in every respect opposed to quick and laborious pursuits, and in a state of comparative in- activity the muscles lose much of their power. Fasting to the excess which jockeys practise is not necessary to enjoy the privileges of the hunting-field, unless for per- sons who have become corpulent and unwieldy. To those it may be recommended as decidedly advan- tageous, but a few walks in two or three extra flannel waistcoats, and proportionate abstemious living pre- viously to taking the field, will be found highly con- ducive to condition and the perfect enjoyment of the 288 RECORDS OF THE CHASE chase. I offer this suggestion with the greatest con- fidence from my own experience. When Heaton Park races were in fashion, I was always in the habit of reducing myself to ride the light weights, after which I kept myself in condition till the hunting season com- menced, and I experienced the benefit of doing so. It will be generally conceded that when a man is oppressed with fatigue much of the pleasure which he may derive from any amusement is considerably diminished. One who is accustomed to dancing experiences no incon- venience on the following day; while those who are out of practice can scarcely move. And thus it is with horse exercise. Unless a man is constantly in the saddle, or taking other strong exercise, the first day's hunting tires him exceedingly. Perhaps many sports- men may exclaim against restriction on their appetites for the sake of hunting, but those who will not refrain from luxurious indulgences must be content to com- promise their enjoyments in other ways. A simple light dinner with two or three glasses of wine after hunting prepares a man for the following day, when he arises fresh and vigorous ; whereas a rich repast with an abundance of wine or spirits occasions indigestion, head- ache, and nervous debility, in which state no man can enjoy himself, much less is he in a comfortable con- dition to ride over a country. The expenses attendant upon keeping hounds do not appear to have varied greatly for many years. An alteration in the price of horse provender naturally makes some difference, but not to any great extent. There are so many little items which a master of hounds has to provide for, which do not fluctuate. At the present period, the number of fox-hunting establish- ments kept up in England and Wales, according to the list at page 272, amounts to ninety-six ; there may be a few more, but they are unimportant ones. To show the increase : in 1830 sixty-eight packs of hounds were compounded for; in 1850 eighty-four, according to the returns of assessed taxes. Some of these are main- COST OF HOUNDS 289 tained with princely magnificence at an expense not under £3500 or £4000 per annum. The average may be estimated at £1400 a year, which makes a total of £126,000, circulated through the medium of hounds and horses. That is, however, a trifle compared with the expenditure of those gentlemen who compose the fields, of which it is difficult to form an estimate. The Yorkshire Gazette published an article last year cal- culating that there were one thousand hunting men in that county, keeping on an average four horses each, at a cost of £50 for each horse per annum. It appears a high estimate, but Yorkshire is a great horse- breeding county and is particularly celebrated for its sportsmen. Taking one country with another, and averaging the number of horses kept in each for the exclusive purposes of hunting at one hundred and seventy — which from observation and the best data I can obtain I believe to be near the mark — we have fifteen thousand three hundred horses employed in this service. According to the proportion in Yorkshire this appears to be a very low computation ; but it must be remembered that many of the two days a-week packs are not in populous countries, and many of the at- tendants upon them do not keep more than a single horse. Calculating the keep of each horse at £40 a year— still below the Yorkshire estimate — ^the aggre- gate amount will be £6800, which, added to £1400 for the expenses of the hounds, causes an expenditure of £8200 per annum, as the average allowance for the ninety packs, which is circulated in the agricultural districts. To this may be added a host of contingent expenses which it would be utterly impossible to com- pute. In everj'^ hunting country, and with the exception of the mining or over-populous districts, there are very few parts of England which are not hunted ; the resident farmers or other persons breeding, rearing, or purchasing horses likely to make hunters can, if kept in condition, always command remunerative prices for T 290 RECORDS OF THE CHASE them, without the trouble of taking them from home. If they cannot sell them to their landlords or the gentlemen who hunt in the country they can to the dealers, who are always on the look-out for horses of character. It is the interest of every landlord and every farmer, whether they participate in the pleasures of the chase or not, to promote it to the utmost of their ability. Well-got hay and well-harvested oats will always command a higher price in a popular hunting district than elsewhere. The farmers will sometimes say that gentlemen generally buy their oats from the dealers, which is true, but then the dealers buy them from the farmers who grow them, and there is a reason why the custom is generally most convenient to the consumer. He can have them from the dealer, who keeps a stock, in any quantity and at any time he may require them ; but he can only procure them, except in a few instances, from the farmer when it suits him to thrash. Farmers also argue that the dealers supply foreign oats ; but he is a bad judge who ever gives his hunters any oats that have been shipped, even if he buys them at a reduced price. If we impartially canvass the social and practical condition of the chase, together with all its attendant customs, advantages, and interests, we must come to the most satisfactory conclusions. Since fox-hunting has been established as a national amusement, the present facilities for participating in the soul-stirring pursuit have never been exceeded, I may justly add, equalled. Every part of England capable of affording sport is aroused in due season with the enlivening sound of horn and hound. The unfriendly prejudice which at one period existed among a few preservers of game against the foxes is almost obsolete. Experience has convinced them that they may have game for them- selves and foxes for the recreation of their friends. It has long since been determined that a gentleman who devotes his winter mornings to fox-hunting is not on that account an unfit companion for the drawing- FLOREAT SCIENTIA! 291 room in the evening. Like all other engagements it must be subservient to change, yet it does not follow that the changes will be prejudicial ; and likewise it may be subject to those reactions which are inseparable with most of the affairs of life. But withal there is reason to feel convinced that fox-hunting is in every respect in the ascendant, and let us express the hope that the echoing hills, in responding to the welcome chorus of hounds and horn, will long bear testimony to the grateful assurance. THE END.